(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday had lunch with a dozen young people serving as volunteers for World Youth Day in the Polish city of Krakow.
The private encounter took place in the residence of the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, following a morning Mass for priests and religious in the shrine dedicated to the Polish pope, Saint John Paul II.
The young men and women invited to join the Pope for lunch came from all the different continents and included representatives from New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Italy, Columbia, as well as the host nation, Poland. After the meal, they invited him to pose for a selfie with them as a souvenir of this very special occasion.
Each one of them was able to ask Pope Francis a question, to which he replied with the help of an interpreter. Speaking at a press conference after the meal, one of the volunteers said she asked him how he felt following his election to the pontificate in March 2013, to which he replied: “I felt a bit of peace, and I haven’t lost this peace.” Another young woman asked Francis for some advice and his answer was: “Don’t give up hope”, adding that it’s important for young people to be themselves “in these times, these crucial moments.”
After lunch, the Pope took some time to rest at the residence, ahead of a prayer vigil with young people in the Campus Misericordiae or Field of Mercy venue on the outskirts of Krakow. The venue contains two new charitable centres, a day care for the elderly and a storage building for food parcels donated by local parishes for those most in need. Both buildings were constructed as a permanent reminder of the theme for this year’s World Youth Day, taken from St Matthew’s Gospel: ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday visited the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Krakow and heard confession for several young World Youth Day pilgrims, before celebrating Mass for priests, religious and seminarians in the nearby sanctuary dedicated to his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
Our special correspondent in Krakow, Lydia O’Kane reports on the morning activities of the Pope’s penultimate day in Poland…..
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The Sanctuary of Divine Mercy is one of the most important shrines in Poland and welcomes millions of people every year.
They come to venerate the image of Jesus, I trust in You, painted with blue and red rays emanating from his heart.
It is housed in the chapel of the convent of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and it was here on Friday that Pope Francis came to pray.
Outside in the grounds, meanwhile, and under the heat of the sun pilgrims, young and old, sat on the grass, some with babies on their laps others with children on their shoulders, soaking up the atmosphere of this Papal visit
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”, is the theme of this World Youth Day, so it was entirely fitting that the Holy Father should be here to visit this place of pilgrimage , so synonymous with the promoters of Divine Mercy, Sr Faustina Kowalska and St John Paul II.
After hearing the confessions of a number of young people, and passing through the Holy Door of this purpose built shrine devoted to the Merciful Jesus, the Pope travelled the short distance to the Sanctuary of St John Paul II to celebrate Mass for Priests, Religious, Consecrated Persons and Seminarians.
As the Pope entered this sanctuary dedicated to his illustrious predecessor, the golden mosaics created by Fr Marko Ivan Rupnik glistened and the faces of the nuns in their distinctive habits beamed.
One of the key messages of Pope Francis’ pontificate has been the Mercy of God and in his homily he told those present that each of them held in his or her heart “a very personal page of the book of God’s mercy. It is the story of our own calling, he said, “the voice of the love that attracted us and transformed our life, leading us to leave everything at his word and to follow him.”
The Pope stressed that the Gospel of God’s Mercy remained “an open book that we are called to write in the same style, by the works of mercy we practice.” Jesus, he added, “wants hearts that are open and tender towards the weak, never hearts that are hardened.”
Recalling the words of Saint John Paul II, Pope Francis urged those called to the religious life not to remain closed in, but to “open the doors” and live out the Mercy of God. And in a final gesture at the end of this celebration, Pope Francis bowed his head at the relic of this other messenger of Mercy, Saint John Paul II.
(from Vatican Radio)…
Bulletin for 7/31/2016
(Vatican Radio) On Saturday morning, Pope Francis paid a visit to the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Krakow. He began his visit at the Chapel of St Faustina Kowalska, where he was greeted by the Superior General of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy and the Superior of the Convent. While there, he blessed a large picture of the Divine Mercy, and later prayed before the tomb of St Faustina. At the conclusion of his visit, the Holy Father signed the guest book, adding, in Spanish, the words, “I desire mercy, and not sacrifices.”
Leaving the convent, the Pope arrived at the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy. From the terrace, he greeted the young people gathered in the “field of confessions”: “The Lord today wants us to feel His mercy even more deeply,” the Pope said. “Never distance yourself from Jesus! Even if, because of our sins and our failings, we feel we are the worst, He prefers us that way – thus His mercy spreads out. Let us all profit this day by receiving the mercy of Jesus.”
At the conclusion of his remarks, Pope Francis led the young people in a prayer to the “Mother of Mercy,” and asked them to please pray for him.
During his visit to the sanctuary, Pope Francis also walked through the Holy Door established at the church for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis heard the confessions of young pilgrims to World Youth Day in Krakow on Saturday. The moment of recollection and sacramental reconciliation took place at the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy just outside the host city on the morning of the penultimate day of the week-long gathering.
The Holy Father heard the confessions of five different young people.
The Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy is the focal point of a devotion given to St. Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun and mystic, whom Pope St. John Paul II canonized, and whose devotion he helped spread throughout the world.
(from Vatican Radio)…