(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has a sent telegramme to Jozef De Kesel, Archbishop of Mechelen-Brussels following the attacks on Tuesday morning in the Belgian capital Brussels. In the telegramme signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis prays for the victims, the injured and their families and again condemns “blind violence which causes so much suffering.” Please find below a Vatican Radio translation of the Pope’s telegramme. Learning of the attacks in Brussels, which have affected many people, His Holiness Pope Francis entrusts to God’s mercy those who died and he prays for those who have lost relatives. He expresses his deepest sympathy to the injured and their families, and all those who contribute to relief efforts, asking the Lord to bring them comfort and consolation in this ordeal. The Holy Father again condemns the blind violence which causes so much suffering and imploring from God the gift of peace, he entrusts on the bereaved families and the Belgians the benefit of divine blessings. Cardinal Pietro Parolin Secretary of State of His Holiness (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Catholic Bishops of Belgium have issued a statement condemning the deadly terror attacks on the Brussels airport and underground stations on Monday, calling for prayerful solidarity with the victims and for national unity in response to the assault.
Below, please find Vatican Radio’s English translation of the Bisops’ statement
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“The bishops of Belgium are appalled to learn of the attack at Zaventem airport and in the center of Brussels. They share the anguish of thousands of travelers and their families, aviation professionals and the first responders who are once again called to service. They entrust the victims to the prayers of all in this new dramatic situation. Airport chaplains are every day at the service of all and provide the necessary spiritual support. May the whole country live these days with a great sense of civic responsibility.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Henri Albert Gabriel Fèlix Marie Guillaume and his wife, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa Mestre, on Monday.
The private meeting lasted just under a half-hour, and included their Highnesses’ five children, their spouses, and three grandchildren.
The royal family of Luxembourg gave the Holy Father a family portrait, with the Spanish-language dedication, “To our Pope Francis, with the respectful and filial affection our whole family.” Pope Francis gave the family a medal of the pontificate and copies of his Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, and his Encyclical Letter, Laudato si’.
Wire services report Pope Francis then blessed the whole family and asked his guests to pray for him. “We shall, Holy Father, count onus,” assured the Grand Duchess – speaking in French – while the Grand Duke, taking his leave, expressed gratitude to the Holy Father “for everything she does for the Church and the world.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) “God is mercy”: that’s the title chosen by Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti for the meditations for the Via Crucis which will be presided by Pope Francis on the night of Good Friday at the Roman Colosseum. In the texts, which will be published tomorrow by the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the archbishop of Perugia, Italy conveys the message that in response to our fear, pain, persecution and violence, God gives his mercy freely to all. In meditations for each of the 14 stations of the Cross, Cardinal Bassetti recalls the words of St. John Paul II, reflects on the plight of persecuted Christians and the Jews killed in the death camps, and “the victims of all persecution.”
He reminds us to see the face of Christ in the stranger, especially migrants , and to pray for families in difficulty, especially for couples whose marriages are failing, those who have lost their jobs, and for young people who have yet to find stable employment.
Cardinal Bassetti’s meditations also reflect on abused children and “those who have suffered abuse or whose dignity is not respected.”
Modern day martyrs of the recent past like Massimiliano Kolbe and Edith Stein are also raised up in the meditations “as true apostles of the contemporary world.” He points to the love, gratitude and humbleness of Joseph of Arimathea who takes Christ’s body for a “sober” burial and holds up the simplicity of his actions in contrast to the “ostentation, banality and flashiness of the funerals of the powerful of this world.”
With the closing of Christ’s tomb, the Cardinal reflects, it is not death which has triumphed – because in the shadow of this tomb in Jerusalem, he says, God is quietly “working …to generate new grace in man.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
Pope Francis on Monday welcomed in the Vatican Indonesia’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Antonius Agus Sriyono. The 58 year old diplomat presented his credentials to the Pope at a formal ceremony in the Vatican, at the start of his diplomatic mission with the Holy See. A graduate in international relations from Gadjah Mada University, Sriyono later did courses in diplomacy before starting a career in diplomacy. He has held several posts in Indonesia’s foreign ministry as well as in diplomatic missions abroad, such as in the Netherlands, the United Nations and Russia before serving as ambassador to New Zealand, 2010-l 2013.
Muslims form over 87% of Indonesia’s over 255 million population, making it the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world. Catholics make up just 2.8 percent of the population. The Holy See recognized the Republic of Indonesia in 1947 and established an Apostolic Delegation in the country. This was promoted to Apostolic Internunciature in 1950, and in 1965 it became a fully-fledged Apostolic Nunciature, or Vatican Embassy. Two Pope’s have visited the South-East Asian nation, with Blessed Pope Paul VI in 1970 and St. John Paul II in 1989.
(from Vatican Radio)…