(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with hundreds of Italians from the archdiocese of Spoleto-Norcia, devastated by a series of powerful earthquakes over the past six months. The central Italian town of Amatrice and surrounding areas were hit by a 6.3 magnitude quake in August which killed nearly 300 people. Other powerful quakes caused major damage in the same region on October 26th and 30th, with the latest tremors reported in Spoleto last Monday, January 2nd. Philippa Hitchen reports: Around 800 people, led by their Bishop Renato Boccardo and local civic authoraties, travelled to Rome for the audience in the Paul VI hall. Many of them had lost their houses, livelihoods and friends or family members in the largest earthquakes which reduced parts of many towns and villages to piles of rubble. Pope Francis sat and listened as a survivor and a local parish priest described the immense suffering of people, now seeking to rebuild their shattered communities. In his off-the-cuff response, the Pope said the worst thing to do in such circumstances was to offer a prepared sermon, but instead he reflected on the work of physical, mental and spiritual reconstruction that has been taking place throughout the region. Pope Francis spoke of the wounds which have affected those who’ve lost their loved ones and the importance of crying together as they seek to heal the pain. He spoke too of the healing hands of doctors, nurses, firemen and all those who worked together to pull survivors from the rubble or offer help to those most in need. Finally the Pope spoke of the spirit of solidarity and nearness of which is vital for the reconstruction process. While everyone affected by the earthquakes will continue to bear scars, he said it’s important to find the courage to dream again. Sharing and remaining close together, he said, makes us more courageous and more human as we face this daunting task. The Pope’s words come three months after he made a surprise visit to Amatrice and two neighbouring towns to meet with survivors and relatives of victims. During the visit, he said he had not come to make speeches, but simply to be close to those suffering and to pray with all those affected by the earthquakes. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with participants in a Conference organized by the national Office for Pastoral Care for Vocations of the Italian Episcopal Conference. The theme of the conference is “Arise, go forth, and fear not. Vocations and sanctity: I am on a mission.” During the encounter, Pope Francis spoke off-the-cuff; his extemporaneous remarks will be published when they become available.
In prepared remarks, which were consigned to participants, the Pope said, “The complete and generous ‘yes’ of a life that is given is like a spring of water, hidden for a time deep within the earth, that is waiting to gush forth in a stream of purity and freshness.” Young people, he continued, “have a need to quench their thirst and then continue on their journey of discovery.”
The duty of calling for and accompanying vocations requires “passion and a sense of gratitude”, the Pope said: the passion of personal involvement and care for those who are called; and gratitude “of service in the Church that involves great respect” for those who are called to be “companions on the journey.”
“In order to be credible and to be in harmony with young people,” the Pope continued, it is necessary to be particularly devoted to listening, to be able to “waste time” in order to hear and understand the questions and desires of young people.
Recalling the theme of the conference, Pope Francis said it is important to be convinced that “I am on a mission,” and not simply that “I have a mission.” “To be continually on a mission requires courage, daring, imagination, and a desire to go beyond, to go further,” again recalling the theme, “Arise, go forth, and fear not.”
The Holy Father concluded his written remarks with the plea, “May we feel ourselves pushed by the Holy Spirit to identify new ways in the proclamation of the Gospel of vocation, to be men and women who, as sentinels, know how to welcome the rays of light of a new dawn, in a renewed experience of faith and of passion for the Church and for the Kingdom of God.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
The Catholic Church in Goa, India is hosting a six day Mother Teresa International Film Festival starting from January 5. The Festival will screen Indian and international films based on the life and work of the Albanian-born saint.
A press statement issued by the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, Goa, said that the aim of the festival “is to make known the life and works of Mother Teresa so that all may be inspired by her life to serve the society”.
The event is a part of a series of celebratory events being organised by the Church in honour of Mother Teresa, the statement added. As part of the festival, films will be screened at venues in Panaji as well as in Margao.
Some of the films which will be screened at the six-day festival, which kicks off on January 5, are “In the name of God’s poor” (USA), “All for God’s Love” (India), “Mother Teresa and Me” (UK), “The Fifth World” (Spain) and “Nirmal Hriday” (India). (UCAN)
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday continued his series of reflections on Christian hope, speaking of the inconsolable pain of a parent losing a child. The Pope focused his words on the Old Testament figure of Rachel, wife of Jacob, who is described by the prophet Jeremiah as weeping bitter tears for her children in exile.
Philippa Hitchen reports:
In the book of Genesis, we learn that Rachel died in childbirth, giving life to her second son, Benjamin. But the prophet Jeremiah talks about her inconsolable grief at the loss of her children who’ve been sent into exile.
There are no words or gestures, the Pope said, that can console a mother faced with the tragedy of losing a child.
There are many mothers today, he went on, who are crying and inconsolable, unable to accept the senseless death of a child. Rachel’s pain, he said, encapsulates the suffering of all mothers and the tears of all people who weep for an irreparable loss.
This story, the Pope said, teaches us how delicate and difficult it is to console another person’s grief. Before speaking of hope, he said, we must share in their tears and if we can’t find words to do that, then it’s better to keep silent, offering only a gesture or a caress instead.
And yet God responds to Rachel’s tears, the Pope said, promising that her children will return to their homeland. The bitter tears of the woman who dies in childbirth become the seeds of new life and generate new hope.
In a similar way, he said, the death of Christ on the Cross offers life and hope to the innocent children of Bethlehem who are murdered by King Herod in the days following Jesus’ birth.
Pope Francis spoke of his own reaction to people who ask difficult questions about why children suffer. “I don’t know what to reply”, he said, “I simply say, ‘Look at the Cross: God gave us his Son, he suffered and perhaps you will find a reply there”.
The Son of God entered into our human suffering, the Pope concluded, sharing our pain and welcoming death. From the Cross, he gave new life to Mary, making her the mother of all believers. Through Mary’s and Rachel’s tears, he fulfills the words of the prophet and generates new hope.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday expressed his “sorrow and concern” upon hearing news of the prison riots that took place Monday in Brazil. More than 50 people were killed, making the riots the deadliest to hit Brazil in two decades.
During his General Audience on Wednesday, the Holy Father called for prayer “for those who have died, for their families, for all the inmates of that prison, and for those who work there.” The Pope also renewed his appeal “that prisons might be places of re-education and re-integration into society; and that the conditions of life of prisoners might be worthy of human persons.”
Brazil’s justice minister on Tuesday proposed an overhaul of the penal system to tackle chronic prison overcrowding The minister, Alexandre de Moraes, said his country needed to improve conditions in jails, which are home to an estimated 600,000 inmates, after visiting the prison in the jungle city of Manaus.
(from Vatican Radio)…