(Vatican Radio) The Message of Pope Francis for the World Day of Prayer for Creation was presented on Thursday at a Press Conference in the Holy See Press Office.
Presentations were given by the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Cardinal Peter Turkson; the Secretary for the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Bishop Brian Farrell; and the author of the book The Guardian of Mercy, Terence Ward.
The full text of the prepared remarks are below
Press Conference / Conferenza Stampa, 1.09.2016
Presentation of the Message of Pope Francis, “Show Mercy to our Common Home” for the celebration of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson
Last year, following the launch of his encyclical Laudato Si’, Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church would follow the good example our Orthodox brothers and sisters and institute a “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.” This is in recognition of the leadership of the beloved Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, who has long understood that when human beings abuse the gifts of creation, they commit sin. The idea of a common day of prayer for our common home came at the suggestion of his representative, my brother Metropolitan Ioannis of Pergamon, who—to my great joy—came to Rome to help launch the encyclical last year. We also stand together with other Christian communities and with other religions too—because care for our common home is something that truly unites us all.
When Pope Francis announced that the Catholic Church would also mark this day of prayer for creation, he noted that it would “offer individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.”
So for a first papal message for the Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation to come during this Jubilee Year of Mercy is very appropriate. For we are being asked to show mercy to our common home—to acknowledge and repent for our sins against creation, and to amend our ways through the merciful grace of God.
The first step in this process is to humbly acknowledge the harm we are doing to the earth through pollution, the scandalous destruction of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, and the spectre of climate change—which seems nearer and more dangerous with each passing year. And to realize that when we hurt the earth, we also hurt the poor, whom God loves without limit.
Pope Francis is asking us to be honest with ourselves and acknowledge that this is sin—sin against creation, against the poor, against those who have not yet been born. This means that we must examine our consciences and repent. I realize that this is not the way we traditionally think about sin. These are sins, Pope Francis says, that “we have not hitherto acknowledged and confessed.”
But we are now called upon to do so. This means we need to take a long and hard look at our lifestyles, especially when they reflect a “disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary.”
But it goes even deeper. A genuine examination of conscience would recognize not only our individual failings but also our institutional failings. As Pope Francis says, “we are participants in a system that ‘has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature.’” This implicates all of us in one way or another.
If we truly desire to repent, we can confess our sins against the Creator, creation, and our brothers and sisters. And “the merciful grace of God received in the sacrament will help us to do so.”
Once we have done this, Pope Francis says, we are ready to amend our lives and change course. This adjustment also has an individual and institutional dimension. Individually, we are called to “ecological conversion” in our daily lives. We should not think that our efforts—even our small gestures—don’t matter. Virtue, including ecological virtue, can be infectious—one person’s good example can encourage others to do better.
Yet individual initiative, important though it is, is not sufficient to turn the ship around. Ecological conversion entails not only individual conversion, but community conversion too. We need a conversion of economics and politics—away from an obsession with short-term and self-centred financial or electoral gains, and toward a true appreciation of the common good.
This is brought into stark relief when we consider the sustainable development agenda. Pope Francis praises the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement on climate change last year. But for this agenda to succeed, it will require a heroic amount of political will and a heroic effort by business and economic interests. This too is part of what Pope Francis means by a “firm purpose of amendment.”
Yet are we seeing that adjustment? Are we amending our ways? On climate change, the global community has drawn a red line under a rise in global temperatures of 2 degrees Celsius. This is will require a complete shift away from fossil fuels toward renewables by about 2070. This is a momentous undertaking. But have we as a society truly deliberated on what this means, and what it will take to get there? We have not. And the Paris Agreement puts 2 degrees Celsius as the upper limit, and asks us to try to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius instead. This is exponentially more difficult, and it will require an even stronger “firm purpose of amendment.” Are we up to the task?
This is the responsibility of all of us. Pope Francis says it is up to citizens to insist that these commitments are honoured, and to advocate for more ambitious goals. As one example from Laudato Si’, he suggests that social pressure—including from boycotting certain products—can force businesses to consider their environmental footprint and patterns of production. The same logic animates the fossil fuel divestment movement.
Let us also not forget the global solidarity dimension. As part of paying down their “ecological debt” to their poorer neighbours, richer countries need to provide them with needed financial and technical support. This too is a component of the “firm purpose of amendment.”
Following this amendment of our lives and institutions, Pope Francis is calling us toward a new work of mercy. For as he says, “nothing unites us to God more than an act of mercy, for it is by mercy that the Lord forgives our sins and gives us the grace to practice acts of mercy in his name.” This is really the final step of ecological conversion, a true internalization of an ecological sensibility. So we are being asked to complement both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy with care for our common home.
To sum up, then: this Message is the next logical step after Laudato Si’, for it is showing us how to internalize its teaching in our lives and in our world. It is asking us to live Laudato Si’! Are we ready to respond to the Holy Father’s invitation – and challenge?
Press Conference for the presentation of Pope Francis’ Message
for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation
1 September 2016
Bishop Brian Farrell
All Christians, East and West, pray that God will continue to sustain and bless the work of his hands “until all the earth sings the praises of his Name” (cf. Psalm 66). Christians of all traditions are familiar with prayers for the harvest, for rain, for the end of shortage or for help during natural disasters. For example, the Roman Book of Blessings provides blessings for fields and flocks, our homes, food, and more. To bless is to recognize that everything – the whole of creation and all its parts – are a gift of God’s inexpressible love, a gift he entrusted to our human care and labour as the way of providing for common human needs.
It is a great sign of ecumenical progress that Christians in all churches are joining together in prayer at the same time to praise God for his work, to seek his protection of it and to re-commit themselves to safeguarding it.
In the time of the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios (1989), the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to dedicate 1 September, the beginning of the liturgical year in the Orthodox calendar, to prayer for the safeguarding of creation. On that day the Orthodox liturgy reads the biblical account of the creation of the world.
For his part Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew has given particular attention to the theme of the care of creation, so much so that he has been called “the green Patriarch”. Among the initiatives he has promoted are the scientific Conferences on the island of Chalki and the inter-Christian Symposia on the safeguarding of the precious resource of water, with the participation of Catholic representatives.
Patriarch Bartholomews’s engagement was underlined in Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Sì. For this reason Metropolitan Ioannis Zizioulas was invited to take part in the press conference to present the encyclical in June of last year.
On that occasion Metropolitan Zizioulas launched the idea of a joint day of prayer for the care of creation.
The Holy Father gladly took up the idea and last year established the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation in the Catholic Church, to be celebrated each year on 1 September, coinciding with the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Throughout the Christian world, the Holy Father’s decision was greatly appreciated.
The World Council of Churches had already dedicated the period between 1 September and 4 October, the feast of Saint Francis, to prayer and reflection on safeguarding creation. The Anglican Communion too celebrates such a day on 1 September. The day dedicated to prayer for the care of creation by the Moscow Patriarchate is the first Sunday of September, because 1 September is already a holiday for the opening of the school year.
The fact is that there is broad ecumenical agreement on this important issue. Significantly for this year, the Secretary General of the World Council of Churches, Dr. Olav Fykse Tveit, uses a video message to encourage the faithful of the member churches to pray for this intention. Likewise, the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences together with the Conference of European Churches and the European Christian Environmental Network have published a common message.
The hope is that on the occasion of the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation members of all confessions will come together for prayer and collaboration in common actions regarding this issue, also at the diocesan and parochial levels.
In today’s Message, Show Mercy to Our Common Home, the Holy Father underlines the connection between our responsibility towards creation and our prayer and reflection during the Jubilee Year of Mercy. He calls us to conversion: to name and deal with the selfishness that has caused a disproportionate over-use of the world’s resources, to deepen repentance, and to cultivate a “merciful heart.” These are the very sentiments that fill the Orthodox “Vespers for the Preservation of Creation”, a very beautiful prayer of praise and supplication to God for the earth and all its inhabitants.
In sharing that prayer, conversion and “merciful heart”, Christians are united at a very deep level in spite of the visible divisions between them. This spiritual communion motivates them to do things together to answer the challenge of safeguarding the environment by ‘changing course’. As today’s Message says, our culture of prosperity is distorted and our desire to consume more than what is really necessary is disordered. We must change our attitudes and our actions. All Christians together are called to make this change.
Intervention of di Terence Ward, author of the book The Guardian of Mercy
On a day of creation and being Irish, I could not avoid sporting some green.
I was invited to briefly speak on this “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” because of my recent book The Guardian of Mercy , Il guardiano della Misericordia. The story centers on a Caravaggio masterpiece in Naples called The Seven Acts of Mercy and how it changed the life of its Guardian. This story happens to also be in remarkable harmony with the Pope’s message.
All sacred traditions speak to Compassion and Human Solidarity which remain the cornerstone of every faith. Voices echo across great distances and time, chanting the same refrain. From the Torah to the Koran, from the Annalects to the words of Ashoka. And, in our New Testament.
Originally, in Matthew 25, there were 6 acts of mercy: Jesus said: “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.”
In the medieval period, a 7th was added, Burying the Dead.
In our modern times, we have all seen Pope Francis perform all these acts of mercy. And now he has added an 8th work of mercy. And, HE SHARES IT WITH THE ENTIRE WORLD — Caring for our Common Home. Groundbreaking and Visionary. Ecumenical and Ecological.
ONE COULD ARGUE THAT THIS IS THE HIGHEST WORK OF MERCY because it includes all the others. A modern work of mercy for our modern epoch. Ecumenical above all. And deeply linked to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who has long spoken about the ecological sin of harming creation. In turn, Pope Francis has focused on the devastation of the environment and the suffering of the poor”. He asks us to” hear the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”
TODAY, Pope Francis renews his dialogue with “EVERY PERSON LIVING ON THIS PLANET,” a dialogue that he began in Laudato Si.
And NOW it is perfectly clear why his Encyclical was released during this Year of Mercy.
WE ARE ALL TIED TOGETHER. NO MAN IS AN ISLAND. We ARE BOUND TO CREATION AS STEWARDS of CREATION.
The secular French philosopher Edgar Morin hailed LAUDATO SI as a “call for a new civilization.” Bill McKibben, the noted ecologist, says “it may be the most important document in recent times.”
The Pope’s vision reaches far beyond any political labels. His critique is not simply an environmental treatise. It is a breathtaking moral, social, economic, and spiritual commentary on our modern epoch; fundamentally questioning our style of life.
“Intergenerational solidarity is not optional,” he reminds us, “the world we received also belongs to those who will follow us.”
And with this announcement today, Pope Francis cements his Year of Mercy by adding to his powerful message in Laudato Si.
1. THE FIRST STEP. THE HOLY FATHER TODAY CALLS TO US TO EXAMINE OUR CONSCIENCE.
Be aware that we are not disconnected from the rest of nature but joined in universal communion. Acknowledge our contribution, big or small, in the destruction of creation.
2. THE SECOND STEP IS TO BEGIN TO CHANGE COURSE
Think of concrete actions, however small. Avoid plastic, reduce water, separate your garbage, use public transport, help others, and turn off lights.
Never think that these are too small. Seek a way to enjoy life’s gifts while controlling consumption. Shun short-term thinking in both business and politics, quick financial gain or electoral greed.
Begin to consider a lifestyle that cares for Nature. The Common Good.
And ask what sort of world we want to leave behind.
DO WE WANT TO TRY TO BE GOOD ANCESTORS
3. EMBRACE THIS NEW WORK OF MERCY
Nothing elevates us more than an act of mercy. The objective is sacred– human life and all it embraces.
Simple daily gestures break the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness.
On the larger scale, Citizens should absolutely insist that their govts. and companies act responsibly to honor the Paris Climate Change Agreement…and should advocate for more ambitious goals.
Governor Jerry Brown of California, at the Conference of Mayors here last year said: “we need to think of instances where radical change occurred. Being right here in Rome where we can walk through the ruins of a great Roman Empire gives us an example. It was defeated not by another empire, but by 12 Galileans who had no money, who didn’t even speak Latin, but who began the process of taking down the Empire and replacing it with Christianity.”
And we need to remember it was Gandhi, who overthrew the British Empire. A man with a little cloth wrapped around his body, who now speaks more about where we are than Winston Churchill or any politician.”
So, our Holy Father’s message is embrace this NEW WORK OF MERCY – large and small – care for the common home.
My final question is how would Caravaggio have rendered this 8th work of Mercy into his masterpiece? I leave this for you to imagine….
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has issued a Message to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Taken from the Extraordinary Jubilee Year and his encyclical letter, Laudato si’ , the theme of the Holy Father’ Message is: Show mercy to our common home .
Below, please find the full text
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MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CARE OF CREATION
1 SEPTEMBER 2016
Show Mercy to our Common Home
United with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, and with the support of other Churches and Christian communities, the Catholic Church today marks the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation”. This Day offers “individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.” [1]
It is most encouraging that concern for the future of our planet is shared by the Churches and Christian communities, together with other religions. Indeed, in past decades numerous efforts have been made by religious leaders and organizations to call public attention to the dangers of an irresponsible exploitation of our planet. Here I would mention Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who, like his predecessor Patriarch Dimitrios, has long spoken out against the sin of harming creation and has drawn attention to the moral and spiritual crisis at the root of environmental problems. In response to a growing concern for the integrity of creation, the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu in 2007 proposed celebrating a “Time for Creation” during the five weeks between 1 September (the Orthodox commemoration of God’s creation) and 4 October (the commemoration of Francis of Assisi in the Catholic Church and some other Western traditions). This initiative, supported by the World Council of Churches, has since inspired many ecumenical activities in different parts of the world. It is also encouraging that throughout the world similar initiatives promoting environmental justice, concern for the poor and responsible social commitment have been bringing together people, especially young people, from diverse religious backgrounds. Christians or not, as people of faith and goodwill, we should be united in showing mercy to the earth as our common home and cherishing the world in which we live as a place for sharing and communion.
1. The earth cries out …
With this Message, I renew my dialogue with “every person living on this planet” ( Laudato Si’ , 3) about the sufferings of the poor and the devastation of the environment. God gave us a bountiful garden, but we have turned it into a polluted wasteland of “debris, desolation and filth” (ibid., 161). We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behaviour. “Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right” (ibid., 33).
Global warming continues, due in part to human activity: 2015 was the warmest year on record, and 2016 will likely be warmer still. This is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires and extreme weather events. Climate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis. The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact.
As an integral ecology emphasizes, human beings are deeply connected with all of creation. When we mistreat nature, we also mistreat human beings. At the same time, each creature has its own intrinsic value that must be respected. Let us hear “ both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” ( Laudato Si’ , 49), and do our best to ensure an appropriate and timely response.
2. … for we have sinned
God gave us the earth “to till and to keep” ( Gen 2:15) in a balanced and respectful way. To till too much, to keep too little, is to sin.
My brother, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has courageously and prophetically continued to point out our sins against creation. “For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins.” Further, “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God.” [2]
In the light of what is happening to our common home, may the present Jubilee of Mercy summon the Christian faithful “to profound interior conversion” ( Laudato Si’ , 217), sustained particularly by the sacrament of Penance. During this Jubilee Year, let us learn to implore God’s mercy for those sins against creation that we have not hitherto acknowledged and confessed. Let us likewise commit ourselves to taking concrete steps towards ecological conversion, which requires a clear recognition of our responsibility to ourselves, our neighbours, creation and the Creator (ibid., 10 and 229).
3. An examination of conscience and repentance
The first step in this process is always an examination of conscience, which involves “gratitude and gratuitousness, a recognition that the world is God’s loving gift, and that we are called quietly to imitate his generosity in self-sacrifice and good works… It also entails a loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion. As believers, we do not look at the world from without but from within, conscious of the bonds with which the Father has linked us to all beings” ( Laudato Si’ , 220).
Turning to this bountiful and merciful Father who awaits the return of each of his children, we can acknowledge our sins against creation, the poor and future generations. “Inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage,” we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation.” [3] This is the first step on the path of conversion.
In 2000, also a Jubilee Year, my predecessor Saint John Paul II asked Catholics to make amends for past and present religious intolerance, as well as for injustice towards Jews, women, indigenous peoples, immigrants, the poor and the unborn. In this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, I invite everyone to do likewise. As individuals, we have grown comfortable with certain lifestyles shaped by a distorted culture of prosperity and a “disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary” ( Laudato Si’ , 123), and we are participants in a system that “has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature.” [4] Let us repent of the harm we are doing to our common home.
After a serious examination of conscience and moved by sincere repentance, we can confess our sins against the Creator, against creation, and against our brothers and sisters. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church presents the confessional as the place where the truth makes us free.” [5] We know that “God is greater than our sin,” [6] than all our sins, including those against the environment. We confess them because we are penitent and desire to change. The merciful grace of God received in the sacrament will help us to do so.
4. Changing course
Examining our consciences, repentance and confession to our Father who is rich in mercy lead to a firm purpose of amendment . This in turn must translate into concrete ways of thinking and acting that are more respectful of creation. For example: “avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices” ( Laudato Si’ , 211). We must not think that these efforts are too small to improve our world. They “call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread” and encourage “a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption” (ibid., 212, 222).
In the same way, the resolve to live differently should affect our various contributions to shaping the culture and society in which we live. Indeed, “care for nature is part of a lifestyle which includes the capacity for living together and communion” ( Laudato Si’ , 228). Economics and politics, society and culture cannot be dominated by thinking only of the short-term and immediate financial or electoral gains. Instead, they urgently need to be redirected to the common good, which includes sustainability and care for creation.
One concrete case is the “ecological debt” between the global north and south (cf. Laudato Si’ , 51-2). Repaying it would require treating the environments of poorer nations with care and providing the financial resources and technical assistance needed to help them deal with climate change and promote sustainable development.
The protection of our common home requires a growing global political consensus. Along these lines, I am gratified that in September 2015 the nations of the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, and that, in December 2015, they approved the Paris Agreement on climate change, which set the demanding yet fundamental goal of halting the rise of the global temperature. Now governments are obliged to honour the commitments they made, while businesses must also responsibly do their part. It is up to citizens to insist that this happen, and indeed to advocate for even more ambitious goals.
Changing course thus means “keeping the original commandment to preserve creation from all harm, both for our sake and for the sake of our fellow human beings.” [7] A single question can keep our eyes fixed on the goal: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” ( Laudato Si’ , 160).
5. A new work of mercy
“Nothing unites us to God more than an act of mercy, for it is by mercy that the Lord forgives our sins and gives us the grace to practise acts of mercy in his name.” [8]
To paraphrase Saint James, “we can say that mercy without works is dead … In our rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world, many new forms of poverty are appearing. In response to them, we need to be creative in developing new and practical forms of charitable outreach as concrete expressions of the way of mercy.” [9]
The Christian life involves the practice of the traditional seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy. [10] “We usually think of the works of mercy individually and in relation to a specific initiative: hospitals for the sick, soup kitchens for the hungry, shelters for the homeless, schools for those to be educated, the confessional and spiritual direction for those needing counsel and forgiveness… But if we look at the works of mercy as a whole, we see that the object of mercy is human life itself and everything it embraces.” [11]
Obviously “human life itself and everything it embraces” includes care for our common home. So let me propose a complement to the two traditional sets of seven: may the works of mercy also include care for our common home .
As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a “grateful contemplation of God’s world” ( Laudato Si , 214) which “allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us” (ibid., 85). As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home requires “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness” and “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world” (ibid., 230-31).
6. In conclusion, let us pray
Despite our sins and the daunting challenges before us, we never lose heart. “The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us… for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly impels us to find new ways forward” ( Laudato Si , 13; 245). In a particular way, let us pray on 1 September, and indeed throughout the year:
“O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
who are so precious in your eyes…
God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth” (ibid., 246),
God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness
and convey your mercy throughout our common home.
Praise be to you!
Amen.
[1] Letter for the Establishment of the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” (6 August 2015).
[2] Address in Santa Barbara, California (8 November 1997).
[3] Bartholomew I, Message for the Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation (1 September 2012).
[4] Address to the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia (9 July 2015).
[5] Third Meditation , Retreat during the Jubilee for Priests, Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome (2 June 2016).
[6] General Audience of 30 March 2016.
[7] Bartholomew I, Message for the Day of Prayer for the Protection of Creation , 1.9.1997.
[8] First Meditation , Retreat during the Jubilee for Priests, Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Rome (2 June 2016).
[9] General Audience of 30 June 2016.
[10] The corporal works of mercy are feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, visiting the sick, visiting the imprisoned, burying the dead. The spiritual works of mercy are counselling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing sinners, consoling the afflicted, forgiving offenses, bearing patiently those who do us ill, praying for the living and the dead.
[11] Third Meditation , Retreat for the Jubilee for Priests, Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome (2 June 2016).
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has expressed appreciation for the opening of the 20th Renovabis Congress taking place in Freising, Germany.
The event, from 31 August to 2 September focusses on the theme “Witnessing to the Gospel – Shaping the World. The Role of Religious Orders in Central and Eastern Europe”.
A message from the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, on behalf of Pope Francis highlights his profound belief that the Lord’s call to bring peace and mercy to mankind continues to be an urgent and significant one in today’s world.
This – the message continues – is especially true for missionaries who leave the safety of their homelands to bring the light of the Gospel and the solidarity of the Church to the ends of the earth.
To respond to the Lord’s call in this way, the message says, is a constant witness of God’s love for each creature.
The message of good wishes to the participants of the congress concludes with the wish that this kind of testimony may contribute to the building of a society based on dignity and social responsibility, and that they may become the ‘architects of a new society’.
As explained on the website of the congress itself: “The role and the activities of orders within today’s Central and Eastern European societies will be focal points during the congress. In addition to a short introduction concerning the development of the life of religious orders during the 20th century, especially related to the awakening or restart after the political-societal upheavals 25 years ago, the congress will also deal with the commitment of individual religious orders in the fields of school, caritas, pastoral aid and refugee relief. In addition to that, several workshops and a ‘Market of Possibilities’ will illustrate the variety of the religious life in the 21st century. Another important subject will be the perspectives of religious orders within the following decades”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis addressed the participants in a major international gathering of the European Society of Cardiology on Wednesday. The 5-day World Congress of the European Society of Cardiology has been meeting in Rome at the city’s New Fairgrounds since August 27 th to explore the role of teamwork in researching, diagnosing and treating cardiovascular illness. Pope Francis spoke to the participants on the final day of their convention.
In his remarks , the Holy Father reaffirmed the Church’s constant support for and recognition of the importance of scientific research and care for the scientists who carry it out. “Nature, in all its complexity, and the human mind, are created by God; their richness must be studied by skilled men and women, in the knowledge that the advancement of the philosophical and empirical sciences, as well as professional care in favour of the weakest and most infirm, is a service that is part of God’s plan,” he said.
Click below to hear our report
The Pope went on to say, “The sciences alone, however, whether natural or physical, are not sufficient to understand the mystery contained within each person: when man is viewed in his totality,” he continued, “we are able to have a profound understanding of the poorest, those most in need, and the marginalized.”
Pope Francis stressed that such a vision needs to inform research and caregiving, if they are really to serve authentic human flourishing. “In this way,” he said, “the [poor, needy, and marginalized] will benefit from your care and the support and assistance offered by the public and private health sectors.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday addressed the World Congress of the European Society of Cardiology, which has been meeting in Rome since August 27 th to explore the role of teamwork caring for patients with cardiovascular illness. Below, please find the full text of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning! I was pleased to accept the invitation of the Executive Committee of the European Society of Cardiology to meet with you on the occasion of this World Congress which brings together cardiologists from various countries. I am particularly grateful to Professor Fausto Pinto for his kind words and, through him, I thank each of you for the scientific work in these days of study and discussion, but above all for your dedication to so many who are sick.
You look after the heart. How much symbolism is enshrined in this word! How many hopes are contained in this human organ! In your hands you hold the beating core of the human body, and as such your responsibility is very great! I am sure that as you find yourselves before this book of life with its many pages yet to be discovered, you are filled with trepidation and awe.
The Magisterium of the Church has always affirmed the importance of scientific research for human life and health. The Church not only accompanies you along this demanding path, but also promotes your cause and wishes to support you. The Church understands that efforts directed to the authentic good of the person are actions always inspired by God. Nature, in all its complexity, and the human mind, are created by God; their richness must be studied by skilled men and women, in the knowledge that the advancement of the philosophical and empirical sciences, as well as professional care in favour of the weakest and most infirm, is a service that is part of God’s plan. Openness to the grace of God, an openness which comes through faith, does not weaken human reason, but rather leads it towards knowledge of a truth which is wider and of greater benefit to humanity.
At the same time, we know that the scientist, in his or her research, is never neutral, in as much as each one has their own history, their way of being and of thinking. Every scientist requires, in a sense, a purification; through this process, the toxins which poison the mind’s pursuit of truth and certainty are removed, and this enables a more incisive understanding of the meaning of things. We cannot deny that our knowledge, even our most precise and scientific knowledge, needs to progress by asking questions and finding answers concerning the origin, meaning and finality of reality; and this includes man. The sciences alone, however, whether natural or physical, are not sufficient to understand the mystery contained within each person. When man is viewed in his totality – allow me to emphasize this point – we are able to have a profound understanding of the poorest, those most in need, and the marginalized. In this way, they will benefit from your care and the support and assistance offered by the public and private health sectors.
By means of your invaluable work, you contribute to the healing of physical illness and are able to perceive that there are laws engraved within human nature that no one can tamper with, but rather must be “discovered, respected and cooperated with” so that life may correspond ever more to the designs of the Creator (cf. Gaudium et Spes , 36). For this reason, it is important that men and women of science, as they examine themselves in the light of that great mystery of human existence, do not give in to the temptation to suppress the truth (cf. Rom 1:18).
With these sentiments, I renew my appreciation for your work. I ask the Lord to bless your research and medical care, so that everyone may receive relief from their suffering, a greater quality of life and an increasing sense of hope.
(from Vatican Radio)…