(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message to participants at a conference on pre- and perinatal care taking place at Rome’s Agostino Gemelli Teaching hospital.
The Conference, entitled “Guarding Life: the perinatal hospice, a scientific, ethical and human response to prenatal diagnoses,” is presenting the initial results of therapeutic approaches to care for newborns, including those with grave pathological conditions, developed by the new “Perinatal Hospice” established at the Gemelli Hospital. The Hospice has been established in the context of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis.
In the Message, signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy Father expressed his hope for the continued success of the project “in the service of the person and in the progress of medical science, in constant reference to perennial human and Christian values.” He noted their efforts in “seeking to respond in the best possible way to the poverty which is the situation of the child with grave pathologies, with the greatest possible love, spreading a concept of science that that is directed to service, not selection.”
Pope Francis also praised accomplishments already achieved, and called for “a daily commitment to the actualization of the project of God with concerning life and protecting it with courage and love, with the ‘style’ of nearness and proximity, distancing oneself from the throwaway culture that proposes only an itinerary of death, thinking to eliminate suffering by eliminating those who suffer.”
At the conclusion of the Message, Pope Francis extended his Apostolic Blessing to all those taking part in the Conference.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis began his weekly General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday by greeting people in sign language.
The message of greeting – which involves raising one’s arms, and then turning your hand with the palms out – was for a pilgrimage group from the National Board for the Deaf, which is based in Florence.
There was also a group of pilgrims from the Italian Union of the Blind, based in Latina.
When greeting the sick and infirm at the end of the Audience, Pope Francis invoked Pope St. Gregory VII – whose feast day was being celebrated on Wednesday.
“May he encourage you, dear sick people, to confront your moments of suffering with faith,” Pope Francis said.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) “It is a duty of everyone to protect children, especially those exposed to elevated risk of exploitation, trafficking, and deviant conduct.”
That was the message of Pope Francis for International Missing Children’s Day at his General Audience on Wednesday. Missing Children’s Day was established in the United States by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, four years after the disappearance of 6-year-old Etan Patz in New York City. The date of his disappearance, May 25, was chosen for the annual commemoration. Since 1998 Missing Children’s Day has been commemorated internationally.
In his appeal at the conclusion of the weekly Audience, Pope Francis expressed his hope that “civil and religious authorities might stir consciences and raise awareness, in order to avoid indifference in the face of children on their own, exploited children, and children far from their families and their social context, children who cannot grow-up peacefully or look with hope to the future.”
He invited everyone “to prayer that each of them might be restored to the affection of their loved ones.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) At the conclusion of his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis prayed for the victims of terrorist attacks that took place in Syria on Monday.
“I exhort everyone to pray to the merciful Father, to pray to the Madonna, that [God] might give eternal rest to the victims, and consolation to their families,” the Pope said, “and might convert the hearts of those who sow death and destruction.” He then led the crowd in the Hail Mary
More than 160 people were killed in the coordinated attacks on cities of Jableh and Tartus, government strongholds which had remained relatively untouched throughout the civil war, now in its sixth year.
Funerals for the victims began on Tuesday in Syria.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis centered the catechesis of this week’s Wednesday general audience on the importance of persevering in prayer.
Below, please find the official English-language summary of the Holy Father’s prepared remarks:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis for this Holy Year of Mercy, we now turn to the parable of the unjust judge and the widow ( Lk 18:1-8). In telling us that even an unscrupulous judge will finally render justice to a poor woman because of her persistence, Jesus encourages us to persevere in prayer to our heavenly Father, who is infinitely just and loving. He also assures us that God will not only hear our prayers, but will not delay in answering them (vv. 7-8). The Gospels tell us that Jesus himself prayed constantly. His own intense prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane is a model for our own: it teaches us to present our petitions with complete trust in Father’s gracious will. The parable of the unjust judge and the widow ends with a pointed question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth”? (v. 8). Perseverance in prayer keeps our faith alive and strong. For in that prayer, we experience the compassion of God who, like a Father filled with love and mercy, is ever ready to come to the aid of his children.
(from Vatican Radio)…