(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis this week presided over the first meeting of the XIV Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops. A statement released on Wednesday said the meeting, which took place from 18-19 April, began with a speech by the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri. In his remarks, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri thanked Pope Francis for his presence, as well as for the recent publication of the , Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Amoris Laetitia. The Ordinary Council then considered the results of the consultation taken to identify the theme of the next Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. The consultation included offices of the Roman Curia, Episcopal Conferences, the Eastern Churches, and the Union of Superiors General. After much discussion, a list of proposed topics was submitted to the Holy Father for his consideration. Finally, the members of the Council discussed the revision of the Ordo of the Synod of Bishops. Bishop Fabio Fabene, the Under-Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, gave a report on the study seminar organized by the Secretariat following the speech given by Pope Francis on October 17, 2015. From earlier group discussions on the matter, it emerged that synodality and collegiality must always be joined with the exercise of the ministry of the Bishop of Rome, in a way which fruitfully combines primacy, collegiality and synodality. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) In his continuing catechesis for this Holy Year of Mercy during his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis drew inspiration from the Gospel episode of Jesus’ dinner at the home of Simon the Pharisee.
He said, “All of us are sinners, so many times we fall into the temptation of hypocrisy, believing that we are better than the other ”, but he continued, look at your sin, all of us need to look at our sins, our mistakes and look to the Lord,” because, he added, “this is the lifeline, the relationship between the sinner and the Lord.”
The Pope was referring to the story from St Luke in which a woman known as a sinner comes up to Jesus, and bathes his feet in her tears and anoints them with precious perfume, but the Pharisee judges the woman by appearances. However, Jesus, underlined the Holy Father, distinguishes between the “sin and the sinner.”
The Lord, continued Pope Francis teaches Simon that “the woman’s act, as an expression of faith and trust in God’s mercy has merited the forgiveness of her sins.”
The Pope told the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square, it is a lesson for us all that “God’s mercy reaches out to everyone; it overcomes prejudice and surmounts all barriers.”
He added, that “through faith in Christ, we too have received the forgiveness of our sins and the new life of grace.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday again appealed for Ukraine, reminding those gathering in St Peter’s Square that for a long time the country’s population has been suffering the consequences of armed conflict, forgotten, he said, by many.
On April 3 rd during his Regina Coeli address the Pope announced a special charity collection to support the people of Ukraine telling the faithful it would be possible to contribute to the collection in all Catholic Churches in Europe on Sunday April 24 th and saying that, “this gesture of charity, beyond alleviating material suffering, expresses my personal closeness and the solidarity of the entire Church”.
On Wednesday, the Holy Father thanked in advance those who will contribute generously to this initiative this weekend.
The Pope also greeted pilgrims from Ukraine and Belarus on the occasion of an international conference marking the 30 th anniversary of the tragedy at Chernobyl. While praying for the victims of the disaster, he expressed gratitude to all those involved in alleviating their suffering.
During the Audience and speaking in Spanish, Pope Francis also expressed his closeness to the people of Ecuador who were hit at the weekend by a massive earthquake which has left over 500 people dead.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Before his General Audience on Wednesday Pope Francis greeted athletes from the Austrian Skiing Federation in the Paul VI complex, telling them they were models especially for young people. But he also reminded them that sport was not just about performance, it was also about the virtues and values that sport represents such as, commitment, perseverance, determination, honesty, solidarity, and team spirit.
“By your example”, the Pope continued, “you contribute to the shaping of society”, adding, “always be messengers of the uniting power of sport and hospitality”.
And alluding to the natural wealth of the country, Pope Francis invited the Federation to be messengers of safeguarding the environment and the beauty of God’s creation.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Hassan Zahida and his wife Nour appear dazed and almost unbelieving they are finally safe. Their two-year-old little boy is happily making mud-cakes and playing with pebbles – just like any other child in the world. They are one of the three families who boarded the plane in Greece with Pope Francis on Saturday at the end of his visit to Lesbos. Here in Rome they are hosted by the Saint Egidio Community that obtained “humanitarian visas” to allow them to make the journey and that is taking care of logistics and helping them find their feet as their requests for asylum are being processed. Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni met them at Saint Egidio premises and asked them to share their feelings as they prepare to hopefully set the foundations for a life of “normality”. Gratitude and appreciation for the gesture and for the stance of Pope Francis – not only for himself but for all refugees – were the first words Hassan expressed followed by a message of encouragement and hope for those who are currently on the move or on the borders and struggling to find protection. He also tells of how he was certainly not expecting to be boarding the papal plane on Saturday afternoon… Listen :
Hassan explains that just a couple of days before leaving Lesbos he had been shopping in the city center when the director of the Kara Tepe refugee camp announced that three families present there would be flown to Italy. He didn’t tell us “about the kind of flight or with whom. He didn’t tell us that it was going to be a special flight with the Pope…” He says he only began to understand what all this meant for his family after having spoken to a Saint Egidio person who arranged their visas and took care of details. Hassan said the Pope met the families at the airport and asked about their stories and situations: “we said to them how much we appreciate the efforts he is making for all refugees – for those detained in the Kara Tepe Camp and in the Morìa Camp and for those on the border between Macedonia and Greece”. He says that his message to those who are still trying to enter Europe is to keep hope alive and wait for a new EU policy which will allow them to move on. He says he is sure things will develop following the Pope’s visit to Lesbos. “We will not forget you and we will do all we can to permit you to come (…) to a safe European country” he says. Hassan says his dream is that his claim for asylum will be accepted here in Italy and that he will be able to build a “new safe life here” especially for his child and for his wife. He says that when they fled the violence in Syria they were hoping to find protection in whatever country would accept them. Hassan tells the story of his dramatic four-month journey that took him and his family from their home town of Damascus where he had been conscripted by the army, to Aleppo where Islamic State militants tried to get them to join the Jihad. He says that aided by human smugglers they managed to reach Turkey where they spent three months and had to pay smugglers, again and again as they “waited for the right moment to cross the water”. Hassan was lucky to have had the opportunity to be registered in Greece before the current deal between the EU and Turkey came into effect, allowing for him to be considered a candidate for a humanitarian visa to Italy. Another condition that played into the hands of the Saint Egidio Community that arranged the “welcome” are his “vulnerability” as family. Individuals have less chance of being granted asylum status. Speaking in French, Hassan’s wife Nour has powerful words of gratitude for Pope Francis: “I want to thank the Pope for his gesture. No religious Muslim leader and no Arab President – and I have said this many times – has done anything like this. One hears that we share the same things – the same language, the same faith- but not a single religious leader or Arab President seems to have felt our pain. Only the Pope. The Pope prayed for us, he felt our suffering, he decided to go to Lesbos to see what is really happening. So I want to say: ‘Thank you! Thank you! Thank you for having saved us” she says. Nour says it is her hope that this gesture can influence others and touch all; that it may help change political positions so that the borders are opened for all refugees: “There are so many difficult situations in the camps; there are so many people in need of help. And they are all ‘normal’ people who have had to abandon everything because of the war… all we want is to live in a place where there is freedom, respect for all people, respect for all religions” she says. (from Vatican Radio)…