(Vatican Radio) In what has now become a tradition begun by Pope Francis himself three years ago, the Holy Father shared lunch with a group of priests on Holy Thursday 2 April, following the Eucharistic celebration in St. Peter’s Basilica. The bishop of Rome met nine parish priests of the diocese and the superior of…
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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday evening celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Rome’s Rebibbia prison. The Mass was also attended by inmates at a nearby women’s detention centre. During the Mass Pope Francis washed the feet of 6 men and 6 women, including one mother holding her small child in her lap.
During his off-the-cuff homily, Pope Francis focused on the passage of the Gospel reading which said “He loved His own in the world, and He loved them until the end.”
“He loves us without limits, until the end,” Pope Francis said. “He never tires of loving….He loves all of us, so that he would even give his own life for us.”
Pope Francis pointed at individual inmates and said, Jesus gave his life “for you, for you, for you, for me…for everyone, first name and last name. His love is like this…so personal.”
The Holy Father told them God “never tires of loving, as he never tires of embracing us.”
Quoting Isaiah, Pope Francis said: “God’s love has no limits – ‘Even if a mom forgets her child, I won’t forget you.’ That’s God’s love for us.”
During the Rite of the Washing of the Feet, several of the inmates cried as the Pope washed their feet. One woman detainee from Africa was holding her young child, and the Pope washed his feet, too.
Earlier in his homily, the Pope has said in the time of Jesus, washing feet was the work of a slave.
“Jesus is so loving, that he became a slave to serve us, to heal us, to cleanse us,” said Pope Francis.
“I also need to be cleansed by the Lord,” he said. “And for this, pray during this Mass, so that the Lord also washes my sins and stains, too, so that I become more slave-like in the service of people as Jesus did.”
(Charles Collins)
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday evening celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Rome’s Rebibbia prison. The Mass was also attended by inmates at a nearby women’s detention centre. During the Mass Pope Francis washed the feet of 6 men and 6 women, including one mother holding her small child in her lap.…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday evening celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at Rome’s Rebibbia prison. The Mass was also attended by inmates at a nearby women’s detention centre. During the Mass Pope Francis washed the feet of 6 men and 6 women, including one mother holding her small child in her lap.…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) April 2nd is the 10th anniversary of the death of Pope Saint John Paul II, that unforgettable day in 2005 when the eyes of the world were fixed on the Vatican as the Polish Pope lived out his last hours on this earth. So, a decade later, how alive is the memory of Pope John Paul and what were his greatest achievements? Those were the questions that Susy Hodges put to two interviewees. The first was George Weigel, a Catholic scholar and author who wrote a best-selling two volume biography about Pope John Paul II and who was given unprecedented access to the Polish Pope and those who knew him whilst researching his work. The second was Father Leszek Gesiak, the head of Vatican Radio’s Polish Section, who examines the lasting impact of one of the greatest figures in Poland’s history.
Listen to the interviews with George Weigel and with Father Leszek Gesiak :
Weigel said he believed that Pope John Paul’s influence and stature on the world stage has increased in the 10 years since he died: “He looms larger than ever as the man who re-invigorated the Catholic Church for the 21st century.” He also pointed to the Polish Pope’s “pivotal role” in helping to bring about the collapse of communist rule in Europe.
Father Lesek Gesiak too describes the “huge impact” that Pope John Paul II had on the history of Poland and other countries in Europe and his “inspirational” role in the collapse of communism. When asked to sum up Pope John Paul’s greatest achievements, Father Gesiak points to the late Pope’s “very clear doctrinal vision” of the Catholic faith, his position on defending the role of the family and human life and his strong emphasis on the importance of the personal freedoms of human beings, a process which helped set the stage for the toppling of communism and the move towards democracy in central and eastern Europe.
(from Vatican Radio)…