(Vatican Radio) The witness of God’s merciful love which the Church, as mother, is called to give was at the center of Pope Francis’ Wednesday general audience address.
The catechesis 10 Aug audience, which was held this week in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall, is the latest in a series of addresses connected to the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
Below, please find the official English-language summary of the Pope’s catechesis, which was delivered in Italian:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis for this Holy Year of Mercy, we now consider the miracle of Jesus’ raising of the son of the widow of Nain. Jesus, moved by compassion for the grief of a mother, directly confronts the reality of death and restores life to her young son. This encounter before the town gates can inspire our own encounter with the Lord’s life-giving mercy as we pass through the Holy Door on our Jubilee pilgrimage. We approach that Door bringing with us our entire past, its joys and sorrows, trusting that Jesus will grant us a new beginning and revive our hope in his promises. The new life given to the son of the widow of Nain reminds us that we too have been raised from the dead and given new life in Christ through the grace of baptism. The Church has become our mother and we are called to be witnesses of God’s merciful love before the world. During this Jubilee Year, may we turn once more to Jesus, for he is the Door leading to salvation and new life. May the divine mercy which we have received pass from our hearts to our hands, and find expression in our practice of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent his condolences after the attack on the hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, which killed over 70 people.
The majority of the victims were lawyers who had gathered to mourn the assassination of the president of the Baluchistan Bar Association, Bilal Anwar Kasi, who was killed earlier in the day.
The telegram sent by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin reads:
Deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life following the attack on a hospital in Quetta, His Holiness Pope Francis sends heartfelt condolences to the relatives of the deceased, to the authorities and to the entire nation, as he offers the assurance of his prayers for the many injured victims of this senseless and brutal act of violence. Upon all who mourn and upon all who have been affected by this tragedy, His Holiness invokes the divine gifts of consolation and strength.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis sent a telegramme on Monday expressing his condolences and prayers for the victims of Hurricane Earl in Central America.
Hurricane Earl is estimated to have caused damages in excess of US$50 million and left 13 people dead in the Dominican Republic and at least 45 others in Mexico.
The telegramme – dated 8 August and signed by the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin – was addressed to the Mexican Episcopal Conference.
A Vatican Radio English translation of the telegramme is below:
In the face of the grave damage caused by the hurricane which affected several areas of the country – causing numerous victims and extensive material damage – the Holy Father expresses his affection for the beloved Mexican people, offering his prayers for those who lost their lives and desiring to show his closeness to their families and the victims. At the same time, His Holiness asks the Lord to sustain the will of the authorities and people of Mexico and to awaken in all a spirit of solidarity. He also imparts his Apostolic Blessing.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of His Holiness
(from Vatican Radio)…
“One who knows Jesus Christ can never be a
fundamentalist. The great Gospel narratives, such as the parable of the Good
Samaritan or the Beatitudes, are stories that belong to the cultural history of
Europe, not just to Christians. But the modern culture of freedom has no
guarantee of existence. What we have created must not be called into question
by a new era of passions” that we are likely experiencing. This is one of the
most significant passages of the address given by Cardinal Reinhard Marx,
Archbishop of Munich and Freising, President of the German Bishops’ Conference,
who spoke on Sunday, 7 August, on the final day of the 85 th “Week of the University of Salzburg”. The
event held in the Austrian city was dedicated to the topic of “Passions”. The
cardinal expressed his concern for the spread of “passions” – aggression –
in Europe. “It concerns me that what is emerging is not freedom or human
dignity but exclusion and fear, as well as new nationalisms. What meaning does
the culture of responsibility have today, which, even at the time of the cold
war, represented a prospect for the future?”, the Cardinal asked….
(Vatican Radio) After twenty weeks and 143 posts, including a number of videos, Pope Francis’ Instragram account has now reached more than three million followers. Unlike the Pope’s Twitter account, which goes out in nine different languages, there is only one official Instagram account. Each post, though, is subtitled in numerous languages.
Followers of @franciscus can follow, day by day, the activities of the Holy Father thanks to photos of official events produced by the photography team of L’Osservatore Romano.
Speaking at the launch of the Pope’s Twitter account earlier this year, the Prefect of the Secretariat for Communications, Monsignor Dario Viganò said the decision to open an Instagram account arises from the Pope’s conviction that pictures can reveal many things that words can’t. The aim of this papal Instagram account, he said, is to tell the story of the Pontificate of Pope Francis through images.
(from Vatican Radio)…