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Tag: Global

Pope Francis set to depart for visit Georgia, Azerbaijan on Apostolic Journey

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis sets off on a three-day Apostolic Journey to Georgia and Azerbaijan on Friday, as a continuation of the pastoral visit he began to the Caucuses region with his trip to Armenia last June.
Ecumenical challenges will be at the heart of his encounters in Georgia, alongside the task of encouraging the small Catholic community in the predominantly Orthodox nation.
Listen to Philippa Hitchen’s report from Tbilisi:

When Pope John Paul II visited this former Soviet nation, it was only the second time he had travelled to a majority Orthodox country. Just a decade on from the fall of the Berlin wall, he was pursuing his vision of reconciliation between the East and Western Churches so that Europe could, as he put it, breathe with both lungs again.
His trip to Romania earlier in the year had been hailed as a step in that direction, as he and Patriarch Teoctist made history by attending liturgies in Catholic and Orthodox churches.
Not so in Georgia though, where it was President Eduard Shevardnadze, the former Soviet foreign minister, who had to persuade Patriarch Elia to invite the pope, while Orthodox leaders warned worshippers to stay away from a papal Mass at the sports stadium in Tbilisi.
So what can Pope Francis expect and what progress has been made on the ecumenical scene in this country where Catholics, of 3 different rites, make up less than 2 percent of the population?
At one level relations remain difficult, as Georgia’s ambassador to the Holy See told me frankly ahead of the papal visit. The Orthodox Church here did not take part in the pan-Orthodox Council last June, did not approve of the document signed by the international dialogue commission in Chieti last week and does not take part in other ecumenical bodies like the World Council of Churches.
Two days before the pope’s arrival, the English speaking ‘Georgia Today’ paper ran a ‘Focus on Church wars’, detailing protests by a handful of ultra-nationalist agitators and arch-conservative priests.
But at a deeper level, the patient dialogue has produced results, with the same Patriarch Elia this time sending official representatives to the papal Mass at the sports stadium on Saturday morning.
Over the past two decades the local Caritas, the Camilian fathers, Salesian sisters and others have built trust and respect through their hospitals and schools, drop-in centres and soup kitchens for the poorest people living in the run down suburbs and rural areas. More recently they’ve also been providing support for refugees fleeing from the conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
While the Orthodox Church is recognised in the Constitution as playing a special part in the country’s history, Catholics have been quietly working wherever they can at parish level to provide spiritual and practical support to all people in need.
The Apostolic Administrator of the Latin Church, Mgr Giuseppe Pasotto puts its neatly when he says “we are free to be who we are, with nothing to defend and everything to give”.
So there are no Vatican flags or papal posters plastered on the walls here – only photos of the candidates in next week’s parliamentary elections. Don’t expect any ecumenical breakthrough or even the kind of warm embraces that we saw the pope receiving from other Orthodox leaders in Assisi recently.
But what the pope will do is to strengthen the small but vibrant Catholic Church here. He’ll bring a much needed message of peace to the still volatile region. And I wouldn’t mind betting that he will somehow find ways of furthering that vision of reconciliation begun by Pope John Paul 17 years ago.
(from Vatican Radio)…

Theme for the 2017 World Day for Social Communications

(Vatican Radio)  The theme for the Church’s 2017 World Day for Social Communications was published on Thursday. The theme or motto chosen for this event is: “Fear not, for I am with you” (Is 43.5). Communicating hope and trust in our time. 
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope Francis turns his thoughts to Mexico during Audience

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Wednesday invited the people of Mexico to sing the ‘Guadalupana,’ a traditional hymn to Our Lady of Guadalupe, for the suffering of the nation’s people.
The Holy Father’s remarks came during his greetings to Spanish-speaking pilgrims at the weekly General Audience .
“Pray for all those who suffer for any reason or who feel abandoned, so that looking at the Crucified, they are able to discover and feel the comfort and forgiveness of Christ, the Face of the Father’s Mercy,” Pope Francis said.
The murder of three priests has made headlines in Mexico, and Pope Francis sent a telegram strongly condemning the “brutal attacks.”
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope lights torch for Family Week in Rome at audience

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis lit a symbolic torch at his Wednesday General Audience for the ‘Week of the Family‘ event to be held by the Diocese of Rome on 2-8 October.
The Holy Father said the flame was a ‘symbol of the love of Roman families and those of the whole world’.
The ‘Week of the Family’ seeks to highlight the centrality of the family in Rome and to rediscover its beauty.
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope Francis offers condolences after death of Shimon Peres

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a telegram expressing his “heartfelt condolences” to the people of Israel upon learning of the death of their former President, Shimon Peres. He died on Wednesday at the age of 93.
“I fondly recall my time with Mr Peres at the Vatican and renew my great appreciation for the late President’s tireless efforts in favour of peace,” Pope Francis said.
On June 8, 2014, Pope Francis hosted the historic prayer meeting in the Vatican Gardens with then-President Peres and the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. The meeting came just weeks after Peres welcomed him to Israel during the Holy Father’s May 2014 trip to the Holy Land. The two men had previously met on April 30, 2013, at the Vatican.
Pope Francis met with Peres again at the Vatican in September of 2014, two months after he left office. The two men met for the last time on June 20, this year.
 “As the State of Israel mourns Mr Peres, I hope that his memory and many years of service will inspire us all to work with ever greater urgency for peace and reconciliation between peoples,” –  Pope Francis continued in his telegram – “In this way, his legacy will truly be honoured and the common good for which he so diligently laboured will find new expressions, as humanity strives to advance on the path towards enduring peace. With the assurance of my prayers for all who grieve, especially for the Peres family, I invoke the divine blessings of consolation and strength upon the nation.”
 
The full text of the telegram of Pope Francis is below
 
His Excellency Reuven Rivlin President of the State of Israel
I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of His Excellency Shimon Peres, and I wish to convey to you and to all the people of Israel my heartfelt condolences. I fondly recall my time with Mr Peres at the Vatican and renew my great appreciation for the late President’s tireless efforts in favour of peace. As the State of Israel mourns Mr Peres, I hope that his memory and many years of service will inspire us all to work with ever greater urgency for peace and reconciliation between peoples. In this way, his legacy will truly be honoured and the common good for which he so diligently laboured will find new expressions, as humanity strives to advance on the path towards enduring peace. With the assurance of my prayers for all who grieve, especially for the Peres family, I invoke the divine blessings of consolation and strength upon the nation.
FRANCISCUS PP.
(from Vatican Radio)…