(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis, continuing his catechesis on Christian hope at his Wednesday General Audience, told pilgrims that God’s hope calls us to be “channels of humility and simplicity for all.”
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report
“The hope that we have been given does not separate us from others, nor does it lead us to discredit or marginalize them.”
Those were Pope Francis’ words at his weekly General Audience in the Paul VI Hall on Wednesday as he continued his catechesis on Christian hope, dedicating his audience to the theme “Hope does not disappoint”.
The Pope underlined that God does not have favourites and does not exclude anyone, but opens his home to all human beings beginning with the least.
Hope, the Holy Father remarked, “is a gift of which we are called to become ‘channels’, with humility ‘and simplicity’, for all.”
During his catechesis and drawing inspiration from St Paul, Pope Francis said that “as children we were always taught that it is not good to boast. Yet, Saint Paul surprises us by twice telling us to boast.” This Saint, continued the Holy Father, tells us “to boast of the abundant grace we receive in Jesus Christ” through the gifts of faith and love.
When we do this, the Pope observed, “we know God’s peace, which flows into our lives and relationships.”
According to St Paul, Pope Francis said, afflictions too can be something to boost about. For God’s peace is not the absence of fears, disappointments, or suffering, he explained, “ but rather, it reminds us that God loves us and is always with us.”
In remarks to Polish pilgrims on Wednesday, the Pope also recalled, Patrons of Europe, Saints Cyril and Methodius.
Even today, he said, “ they remind Europe, and all of us, of the need to maintain the unity of faith, tradition, Christian culture and to live the Gospel each day.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, has returned from a visit to Prague in the Czech Republic (9-11 February) upon the invitation of the Czech Foreign Minister, Lubomír Zaorálek.
During the visit, Archbishop Gallagher met with several civil authorities and bishops.
He met with Czech Foreign Minister, Lubomír Zaorálek, on 10 February.
An article in the Osservatore Romano said their meeting was cordial, touching on topics including the ‘good relations between the Holy See and the Czech Republic, the role of the Catholic Church in Czech society, where it is particularly involved in charitable, educational, and healthcare activities, as well as the latest developments in the hoped for Bilateral Accord’.
Regarding international concerns, the two foreign ministers discussed the ‘prospects for the future of the European Union, migratory flows, terrorism, conflicts in the Middle East, and development on the African continent’.
Finally, Mr. Zaorálek renewed the invitation – already extended by Czech President Miloš Zeman – for Pope Francis to make an Apostolic Journey to the Czech Republic.
Archbishop Gallagher subsequently met with the Culture Minister Daniel Herman and Ambassador Štefan Füle.
He also met several representatives of the Czech hierarchy, including Cardinal Dominik Duka, Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, and the Archbishop of Olomouc, Jan Graubner.
During the meetings, they spoke about the various pastoral challenges in the country, such as the ‘welcoming of migrants, the future of the European project, and the worrying situation of Christians in some areas of the Middle East’.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday greeted pilgrims and tourists during his weekly General Audience tellling them to rejoice in God’s gift of love.
Find Pope’s Francis’ English language remarks read out at the General Audience below
Dear Brothers and Sisters: As children we were always taught that it is not good to boast. For when we boast about who we are or what we have, we disrespect those who are less fortunate. Yet, Saint Paul surprises us by twice telling us to boast. First, he tells us to boast of the abundant grace we receive in Jesus Christ through the gift of faith. God has created all things as a gift of love, through which he makes known his plan of salvation fulfilled in Jesus. He invites us to make this grace the cause of all our praise and joy. When we do this, we know God’s peace, which flows into our lives and relationships. But Saint Paul also tells us to boast of our afflictions. For God’s peace is not the absence of fears, disappointments, or suffering. Rather, it reminds us that God loves us and is always with us. This peace, Saint Paul says, bears patience, for even in the most difficult moments, we know that the mercy and goodness of the Lord remain with us, that nothing can separate us from God. Christian hope then is not based on who we are or what we are capable of, but on God’s love for each one of us. May we be instruments of hope, so that our greatest boast will be of a Father who excludes no one, but opens his home to all. And may we be a people who sustain one another with this message of Christian hope.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) A newly published book dedicated to Chapter 8 of Pope Francis’ s Post Synodal Apostolic Exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” was presented on Tuesday in the Vatican.
Written by Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio , President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, the 30-page booklet, is published by LEV, the Vatican publishing house.
Presenting the book, Father Maurizio Gronchi , theologian, professor at Rome’s Pontifical Urbaniana University and consultant at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and veteran journalist Orazio La Rocca , expert in Vatican affairs.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni :
La Rocca explained the publication aims to provide clear and simple guidelines for all readers who are interested in better understanding the Apostolic Exhortation’s chapter dedicated to the Church’s ministry of those who find themselves living outside the traditional boundaries of marriage.
“I had asked myself whether the doubts that had been raised regarding a possible violation of the Church’s doctrine could be founded; after reading this book it is clear that this is not so” he said.
La Rocca pointed out that Chapter 8 offers us a new perspective on how the Church views society that changes, and that it is imbued in the Pope’s call for mercy and his appeal to reach out to those who are most wounded, most excluded, most in need of God’s message of love and salvation.
He recalled some of the points of the original Papal document saying that Saint Pope John Paul II proposed the so-called “law of gradualness” in the knowledge that the human being “knows, loves and accomplishes moral good by different stages of growth”.
La Rocca highlighted the document’s admonition to men of the Church not to condemn anyone forever, but to consider a pastoral approach towards people who have contracted a civil marriage, who are divorced and remarried, or simply living together but who are seeking to have their situation transformed into the full reality of marriage and family in conformity with the Gospel.
And he quoted the Pope’s words “never to forget that the Church’s task is often like that of a field hospital”.
All this, he said, is part of Pope Francis’ reiterated call to enter into dialogue with the other and to enter into other people’s lives with the power of tenderness.
Coccopalmiero does this, La Rocca said, using a simple and direct language which is accessible to all, “so much so, he continued, I will personally give copies of it to two ‘good Catholic’ friends of mine who are suffering the consequences of “irregular” situations but would like to feel more included in the life of the Church.
Father Gronchi observed that the backbone of Cardinal Coccopalmiero’s book is provided by excerpts from the Apostolic Exhortation itself that have been selected, introduced and eventually elaborated upon by the author himself.
He pointed out that Coccopalmiero, who is a top Vatican canonist, has used a pastoral approach in the writing of this book, effectively breaking down any barriers that may exist between doctrine and pastoral ministry.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, on Monday said “it is the obligation of the international community, in accord with the U.N. Charter, to protect civilians and their critical infrastructure from the brutality and barbarity of terrorist groups.”
The Vatican diplomat was speaking during a debate on Protection of Critical Infrastructure against Terrorist Attacks.
“This common goal will be achieved most quickly and effectively through an unselfish sharing of critical information and best practices, of resources and technologies among States, in particular with those States least capable of protecting their critical infrastructure and populations from terrorist attacks,” Archbishop Auza said.
The full text of Archbishop Auza’s intervention is below
Intervention of H.E. Archbishop Bernardito Auza
Apostolic Nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations United Nations Security Council Open Debate on Protection of Critical Infrastructure against Terrorist Attacks
New York, 13 February 2017
Mr. President,
The open-ended litany of terrorist attacks in cities and villages continues to remind us of the threat of terrorist attacks to civilian infrastructure and thus to civilians populations. This wave of terror, which considers innocent civilians as legitimate targets of violence either directly or indirectly through the destruction of the civil infrastructure on which they depend, must be counteracted by the actions of a unified International Community.
Recent conflicts in the area of ancient Mesopotamia have had a devastating impact on ancient ethnic, religious and cultural minorities that for millennia have inhabited the region. Parties to these conflicts have purposefully sought to destroy the cultural fabric and the historical rootedness of these communities in the region by destroying their religious and cultural heritage sites. The intentional destruction of the infrastructure critical to the survival of these communities — such as schools, hospitals, water supplies and places of worship — has become a strategy to annihilate them collectively, immiserating and eradicating them by attacking the structures that give them a modicum of communal existence.
It is the obligation of the international community, in accord with the U.N. Charter, to protect civilians and their critical infrastructure from the brutality and barbarity of terrorist groups. Part of this obligation is to heighten public awareness of this terrorist tactic and to urge States to maintain a high level of critical infrastructure protection and resilience, as well as public preparedness in case of an attack, to prevent as much as possible the disruption of critical services and the loss of human life.
More effective and lasting measures to protect critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks must therefore be based on policies that reject the unfettered pursuit of profit and narrow geopolitical interests, even at the cost of the destruction of critical civil infrastructure. In this regard, my delegation wishes to reiterate the Holy See’s appeal to weapon-producing nations severely to limit and control the manufacture and sale of weapons, ammunitions and technologies to unstable countries and regions of the world where the likelihood of their illegal use or their falling into the hands of non-State actors remains a real and present danger.
The International Community must also address the role of organized crime in the sale or barter of weapons capable of destroying critical infrastructure. States should be urged to collaborate in this area at both the international and regional levels through the sharing of information and best practices, coordinated policies and joint border controls.
The world must act to prevent terrorists from having access to financial support by terror sponsors. The borderless nature of the terrorist groups perpetrating the destruction of critical infrastructure requires the international community to control cyber technologies that violent groups use to recruit new adherents, finance their activities and coordinate terror attacks.
Mr. President,
Pope Francis has spoken on a number of occasions of our age as a time of war, namely, “a third world war that is being fought piecemeal, one in which we daily witness savage crimes, brutal massacres and senseless destruction,”1 like the destruction of infrastructures critical to the existence of entire populations.
The International Community must come together as one to put an end to this “war fought piecemeal.” This unity is necessary if the International Community is going to achieve the shared objective of protecting critical infrastructure against terrorist attacks. This common goal will be achieved most quickly and effectively through an unselfish sharing of critical information and best practices, of resources and technologies among States, in particular with those States least capable of protecting their critical infrastructure and populations from terrorist attacks.
Thank you, Mr. President.
1 Pope Francis. Visit to the Military Memorial of Redipuglia (Italy) on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, 13 September 2014. Also Pope Francis, Homily on the Divine Mercy Sunday, Rome, 2015.
(from Vatican Radio)…