(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop at a center for street children in Manila Friday shortly after celebrating mass in the Filipino capital. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi confirmed that the Pope visited a home for street children run by the ANAK-Tnk charitable foundation . Fr. Lombardi said the Pope spent almost a half an hour with some 320 children who celebrated his visit at the centre with songs and dance, hugs and an exchange of brief words.
Fr. Lombardi said the children were gathered in the centre’s courtyard for their meeting with Pope Francis. “It was a very moving moment,” said Fr. Lombardi. The children had prepared small gifts for the Holy Father, including a wooden image of Our Lady – a copy of the one displayed in the centre’s chapel, a photo of the Holy Sacrament amid rubbish for the adoration of group of scavengers, and a mosaic made by a child out of bits of colored paper.
The centre is run by Fr. Mathieu, a French priest, and is home to 20 children while many of the others gathered to greet the Pope are assisted by the foundation in other homes.
ANAK-Tnk launched the letter-writing campaign “Even us?” last September requesting a visit from the Pope. Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, archbishop of Manila, brought a thousand letters from the children, plus a video about the lives of street children, to Pope Francis in Rome at the beginning of October last year.
Concluding his visit with the children with a blessing, Pope Francis went on to have lunch at the nunciature in Manila before an afternoon meeting with families.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis made an unscheduled stop at a center for street children in Manila Friday shortly after celebrating mass in the Filipino capital. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi confirmed that the Pope visited a home for street children run by the ANAK-Tnk charitable foundation. Fr. Lombardi said the Pope spent about half an hour…
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(Vatican Radio) The first full day of Pope Francis’ pastoral visit to the people of the Philippines began with an official welcome from the country’s leader Begnino Aquino in the Malacanan presidential palace in Manila. A private encounter between the Pope and the President was followed by a meeting with the country’s diplomats and political leaders, during which the Holy Father challenged the nation’s ruling class to tackle what he termed the “glaring, and indeed scandalous, social inequalities” that persist in their country today. The head of Vatican Radio’s English Section, Sean Patrick Lovett is in Manila following this papal visit and takes as closer look at what the Pope had to say…. Listen:
The contrast was striking. One moment the Pope was outside, being driven through the streets of Manila amid the raucous noise and confusion of excited crowds – the next he was inside the solemn and austere confines of the Presidential Palace being greeted with hushed and respectful tones by members of the Philippine government and diplomatic corps. The first part of Friday morning’s official welcome ceremony at Malacanan required the Pope to sign the so-called “Golden Book”. This is what he wrote, in English: “On the President and people of this beloved land of the Philippines, I ask Almighty God’s abundant blessings of wisdom, discernment, prosperity and peace”. That’s something new. Not the fact of signing the visitor’s book or invoking blessings of prosperity and peace. It’s that word “discernment”, a very Jesuit word, most often associated with Ignatian spirituality, the simplest meaning of which is “the ability to decide between truth and error, between right and wrong”. It’s the word that set the tone for the Pope’s first public speech here in the Philippines, a speech addressed precisely to those who make the decisions: government leaders, authorities, diplomats, and the President himself. Pope Francis began by repeating the primary reason for his visit to this country: to express his closeness “to those who endured the suffering, loss and devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda”. But he quickly went on to the heart of his message which regarded what he called “the moral imperative of ensuring social justice and respect for human dignity”. The Pope spoke of the need to “break the bonds of injustice and oppression which give rise to glaring, and indeed scandalous, social inequalities”. He called for greater attention to be given the poor and the family, and for greater respect for the rights of conscience, religious freedom and the right to life. “A culture of integrity”, he said, becomes “the moral glue which holds society together”. The Pope concluded by praising efforts “to promote dialogue and cooperation between the followers of the different religions” and expressed his trust that “progress made in bringing peace to the south of the country will result in just solutions” and in respect of the inalienable the rights of all, “including the indigenous peoples and religious minorities”. In his welcome speech, President Benigno Aquino III, began by praising the contribution of the Church in the Philippines during the Marcos dictatorship and its role in the People Power Revolution that brought about the dictator’s downfall in 1986. But he went on to make critical comments aimed at what he called “some members of the clergy” in the Philippines for being silent “before the wrongs of the previous administration” and for “rendering judgement without an appreciation of the facts”. It will be interesting to see how both speeches are commented upon by the media over the next few hours and days. I promise to keep you informed. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Celebrating Mass in Manila’s Cathedral on Friday, Pope Francis urged Catholics in the Philippines to be ambassadors for Christ and ministers of reconciliation, proclaiming the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy and compassion. Speaking to bishops, priests, religious and seminarians gathered in the Cathedral, the Pope said the Church in the Philippines is called to acknowledge and combat the causes of the deeply rooted inequality and injustice which mar the face of Filipino society, plainly contradicting the teaching of Christ.
As Filipinos prepare to mark the fifth century of the arrival of the Church in the Asian nation, the Pope said Catholics must build on that legacy of the past by building a society inspired by the Gospel message of charity, forgiveness and solidarity in the service of the common good.
Please find below the full text of Pope Francis’ homily for the Mass in Manila’s Cathedral
Mass with Bishops, Priests and Religious in Manila’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
16 January 2015
“Do you love me?… Tend my sheep” (Jn 21:15-17). Jesus’ words to Peter in today’s Gospel are the first words I speak to you, dear brother bishops and priests, men and women religious, and young seminarians. These words remind us of something essential. All pastoral ministry is born of love. All consecrated life is a sign of Christ’s reconciling love. Like Saint Therese, in the variety of our vocations, each of us is called, in some way, to be love in the heart of the Church.
I greet all of you with great affection. And I ask you to bring my affection to all your elderly and infirm brothers and sisters, and to all those who cannot join us today. As the Church in the Philippines looks to the fifth centenary of its evangelization, we feel gratitude for the legacy left by so many bishops, priests and religious of past generations. They labored not only to preach the Gospel and build up the Church in this country, but also to forge a society inspired by the Gospel message of charity, forgiveness and solidarity in the service of the common good. Today you carry on that work of love. Like them, you are called to build bridges, to pasture Christ’s flock, and to prepare fresh paths for the Gospel in Asia at the dawn of a new age.
“The love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor 5:14). In today’s first reading Saint Paul tells us that the love we are called to proclaim is a reconciling love, flowing from the heart of the crucified Savior. We are called to be “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:20). Ours is a ministry of reconciliation. We proclaim the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy and compassion. We proclaim the joy of the Gospel. For the Gospel is the promise of God’s grace, which alone can bring wholeness and healing to our broken world. It can inspire the building of a truly just and redeemed social order.
To be an ambassador for Christ means above all to invite everyone to a renewed personal encounter with the Lord Jesus (Evangelii Gaudium, 3). This invitation must be at the core of your commemoration of the evangelization of the Philippines. But the Gospel is also a summons to conversion, to an examination of our consciences, as individuals and as a people. As the Bishops of the Philippines have rightly taught, the Church in the Philippines is called to acknowledge and combat the causes of the deeply rooted inequality and injustice which mar the face of Filipino society, plainly contradicting the teaching of Christ. The Gospel calls individual Christians to live lives of honesty, integrity and concern for the common good. But it also calls Christian communities to create “circles of integrity”, networks of solidarity which can expand to embrace and transform society by their prophetic witness. The poor… The poor are at the centre of the Gospel, are at the heart of the Gospel. If we take away the poor from the Gospel, we cannot understand the whole message of Jesus Christ.
As ambassadors for Christ, we, bishops, priests and religious, ought to be the first to welcome his reconciling grace into our hearts. Saint Paul makes clear what this means. It means rejecting worldly perspectives and seeing all things anew in the light of Christ. It means being the first to examine our consciences, to acknowledge our failings and sins, and to embrace the path of constant conversion. Constant conversion, everyday conversion. How can we proclaim the newness and liberating power of the Cross to others, if we ourselves refuse to allow the word of God to shake our complacency, our fear of change, our petty compromises with the ways of this world, our “spiritual worldliness” (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 93)?
For us priests and consecrated persons, conversion to the newness of the Gospel entails a daily encounter with the Lord in prayer. The saints teach us that this is the source of all apostolic zeal! For religious, living the newness of the Gospel also means finding ever anew in community life and community apostolates the incentive for an ever closer union with the Lord in perfect charity. For all of us, it means living lives that reflect the poverty of Christ, whose entire life was focused on doing the will of the Father and serving others. The great danger to this, of course, is a certain materialism which can creep into our lives and compromise the witness we offer. Only by becoming poor ourselves, by stripping away our complacency, will we be able to identify with the least of our brothers and sisters. We will see things in a new light and thus respond with honesty and integrity to the challenge of proclaiming the radicalism of the Gospel in a society which has grown comfortable with social exclusion, polarization and scandalous inequality.
Here I would like to address a special word to the young priests, religious and seminarians among us. I ask you to share the joy and enthusiasm of your love for Christ and the Church with everyone, but especially with your peers. Be present to young people who may be confused and despondent, yet continue to see the Church as their friend on the journey and a source of hope. Be present to those who, living in the midst of a society burdened by poverty and corruption, are broken in spirit, tempted to give up, to leave school and to live on the streets. Proclaim the beauty and truth of the Christian message to a society which is tempted by confusing presentations of sexuality, marriage and the family. As you know, these realities are increasingly under attack from powerful forces which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and shaped all that is best in your culture.
Filipino culture has, in fact, been shaped by the imagination of faith. Filipinos everywhere are known for their love of God, their fervent piety and their warm devotion to Our Lady and her rosary. This great heritage contains a powerful missionary potential. It is the way in which your people has inculturated the Gospel and continues to embrace its message (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 122). In your efforts to prepare for the fifth centenary, build on this solid foundation.
Christ died for all so that, having died in him, we might live no longer for ourselves but for him (cf. 2 Cor 5:15). Dear brother bishops, priests and religious: I ask Mary, Mother of the Church, to obtain for all of you an outpouring of zeal, so that you may spend yourselves in selfless service to our brothers and sisters. In this way, may the reconciling love of Christ penetrate ever more fully into the fabric of Filipino society and, through you, to the farthest reaches of the world.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Celebrating Mass in Manila’s Cathedral on Friday, Pope Francis urged Catholics in the Philippines to be ambassadors for Christ and ministers of reconciliation, proclaiming the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy and compassion. Speaking to bishops, priests, religious and seminarians gathered in the Cathedral, the Pope said the Church in the Philippines is called…
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