(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday greeted a delegation of faithful from the Apostolic Administration of the Caucuses who were in Rome to thank the Holy Father for his recent Apostolic Visit to Georgia.
Pope Francis told the delegation their visit brought him many memories of his trip.
“I never thought I would find in Georgia what I saw: The culture, spirituality, a people that praises Jesus Christ as the Savior, because it is a Christian population,” – the Pope said – “It was for me a great joy.”
He said he was also personally impressed by the person of Ilia II of Georgia, saying “I perceived there a man of God.”
While acknowledging the problems faced by the small Catholic community, Pope Francis said he thought they would find a way “without forcing the issue, to slowly walk together.”
The Pope concluded by remarking on the different faithful he met, calling the responsibility of the laypeople “a great thing,” and thanking the priests and religious for their work.
“Go forward!” – Pope Francis said – “This work is like yeast, to make the thing grow. Thank you very much! And do not forget to pray for me.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis invited international students on Thursday to overcome the “globalization of indifference” with “the freshness, actuality, and daring of the Gospel.”
He was speaking to participants of the IV World Congress on the Pastoral Care of International Students, organized by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.
Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:
The theme of the World Congress takes Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium as its focus, examining its contribution to moral challenges in the intellectual world.
The Holy Father invited the students to approach their studies as a springboard to contributing to a healthier society.
He reminded them of the words of St. Paul to Timothy: “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
The Pope went on to contrast the search for intellectual self-realization with a model for the good of all.
“To the modern concept of the intellectual,” he said, “working for the realization of self and in search of personal recognition, often without care for their neighbor, it is necessary to counter with a model built on solidarity, which works for the common good and for peace.”
The Holy Father said the experience of studying abroad “increases self-confidence” by expanding a person’s ability to relate with others, allowing one to “open up without fear to the other”.
Turning to teachers and pastoral workers, the Pope invited them to “instill in young people love for the Gospel, the desire to live it concretely and announce it to others”.
He said, “In this way, young people are formed who thirst for truth and not power, ready to defend their values and live mercy and charity, which are the fundamental pillars for a healthier society.”
The Holy Father went on to say the phenomenon of international students, though promoting an encounter between cultures, can bring to the fore some negative aspects, “like the emergence of certain closures, defense mechanisms before diversity, internal walls which do not allow a person to look their brother or sister in the eye and realize their real needs”.
He said a sad reality is the rise of a “globalization of indifference” which makes a person “incapable of feeling compassion at the outcry of the poor” ( cf. Apos. Exhort. Evangelii Gaudium, 54 ).
In conclusion, Pope Francis said the experience of being an international student has the potential to “produce positive outcomes” on globalization, “with the freshness of the actuality and daring of the Gospel, in order to form new evangelizers ready to infect the world with the joy of Christ, even unto the ends of the earth.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday met the Oscar-winning movie director Martin Scorsese whose latest film “Silence” recounts the persecution of a group of Jesuit missionaries in 17th century Japan. In an interview with Vatican media, Scorsese spoke about his latest movie project, his past films, his life growing up in the noisy slums of New York and why he now values silence so much. Scorsese spoke to Vatican Radio’s Sean Patrick Lovett.
Listen to the interview with the movie director Martin Scorsese:
Scorsese said the making of his latest film “Silence” was a long-term project plagued by obstacles and interruptions due to ill health and other issues. He described how the actual shooting of the film with many of the outdoor scenes filmed in remote mountainous terrain, often ankle-deep in mud, was physically very gruelling for him and all the others involved but he never wanted to abandon the project.
Asked about the film’s title and what silence meant for him, Scorsese explained that it had taken him a long time over the course of his life to learn to seek out and appreciate the value of silence. He described how he grew up in the tenement slums of New York amidst a “cacophony” of sound from the streets and surrounding houses and the only silent place he could find then was in the old St. Patrick’s Cathedral of New York City, saying “I spent a lot of my time there.” Scorsese revealed that as part of his recent quest for more peace and quiet in his life, one of the rooms in his house has been specially sound-proofed.
The Oscar-winning director spoke about some of his earlier films which he said were full of noise and often very “frenetic” but pointed out that in this latest movie there is no music on the soundtrack and instead there are the background sounds of the landscape and the birds. He described it as a way of “finding out what silence sounds like.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday gave his support to an international conference on the protection of the cultural heritage in conflict zones, which is taking place in Abu Dhabi on 2-3 December.
The Safeguarding Endangered Cultural Heritage Conference is being organized by France and the United Arab Emirates under the auspices of UNESCO, the United Nations cultural agency.
The conference will involve representatives from more than 40 countries, as well as public and private institutions involved in heritage conversation.
Pope Francis said the theme is “unfortunately starkly current.”
“In the conviction that the protection of cultural treasures constitutes an essential dimension in the defense of what it is to be human, I hope that this event marks a new step in the process of the implementation of human rights,” the Holy Father said.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has encouraged all believers to pray for each other, and to pray the Lord when we are in need and when we have reason to thank Him.
Concluding his cycle of catecheses dedicated to the corporal works of mercy , the Pope addressed the faithful gathered in the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican for the weekly General Audience and reminded them that although the cycle has reached conclusion, we must continue to practice mercy in our lives.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni :
Speaking of the corporal work of mercy which invites us to bury the dead, Pope Francis said it could appear a strange request. In fact it is sadly meaningful in the present day – he said – when we think of the many people who risk their lives in order to give decent burial to the victims of war who live in fear under constant fire and bombardment.
And for us Christians, he said, burial is an act of great faith because when we lower the bodies of our loved ones into the tomb, we do so in the hope of their resurrection.
Turning to the very last of the spiritual works of mercy: praying for the living and the dead, the Pope said it is especially meaningful in this month of November, when we commemorate all the faithful departed and thank the Lord for having allowed us to partake of their love and their friendship.
What’s more, the Pope said, praying for the living and the dead is an eloquent expression of the communion of saints and reminds us of how we are all united in God’s great family.
“This is why we pray for each other” he said.
And encouraging us all to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit, who knows our deepest desires and hopes, and embrace in our prayer all those in any kind of need, the Pope reminded us not to forget also thank God for the good things in our lives.
Concluding his catechesis, Pope Francis expressed his hope that the 14 corporal and spiritual works of mercy on which we have meditated throughout the Holy Year may continue to inspire and guide us on the path of God’s mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)…