(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will make a two-day apostolic visit to the northern Italian city of Turin, 21-22 June, which will include a moment of prayer before the Shroud of Turin and a visit to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. John Bosco.
The pope’s packed schedule includes visits of other religious institutions and encounters with various groups of people, generally marginalized by society.
Listen to the report by Laura Ieraci:
It is expected to be another early start for Pope Francis on his two-day visit on Sunday to Turin in northern Italy. Leaving Rome on Sunday at 7 a.m., local time, the Pope is expected to arrive in Turin one hour later and set off immediately on a series of encounters.
His first encounter is expected to be with workers in a city square, where a farmer, a factory worker and a business owner are expected to extend their greetings to the Pope. After addressing the workers, the Pope is expected to walk to the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist nearby, where he will spend a few moments in prayer before the Shroud of Turin, revered by many as the burial cloth of Jesus. He is also expected to spend a few moments in prayer before the altar dedicated to a young blessed, born in Turin, Piergiorgio Frassati.
Thousands are then expected to gather for the outdoor papal Mass, after which the Pope is expected to have lunch in the local archbishop’s residence with some inmates from a juvenile detention centre, some immigrants and homeless people, and a family of Roma people.
After lunch, the Pope will spend some private time in prayer at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Consolata, after which he will head to the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of St. John Bosco, who had the Marian basilica built and who founded the communities of Salesian priests and sisters.
The Pope is then expected to meet with those who suffer from illness and disability in the Church of Cottolengo. His last encounter on Sunday is expected to be with thousands of young people in a large city square.
The pace of his second day in Turin is expected be at a bit slower, starting with an ecumenical meeting with some evangelical pastors at the Valdese Temple. After this meeting, expected to last a little more than an hour, the Pope is expected to return to the archbishop’s residence, where he will meet with some of his relatives in private, celebrate a Mass for them and enjoy lunch together with them.
Pope Francis is expected to land at Rome’s Ciampino Airport at 6:30 p.m., Rome time, on Monday.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Biblical Federation on Friday. The CBF is a worldwide association of Episcopal Conferences and more than 200 Catholic Biblical institutions, representatives of which are gathered in the small town of Nemi near Rome from June 18 th -23 rd to explore Sacred Scripture as a source of evangelization, especially in light of the passage from the 1 st Letter of St. John (1:3): “What we have seen and heard we are proclaiming to you.”
Putting aside his prepared remarks for the occasion, which he nevertheless delivered in written form, Pope Francis reflected on two characteristics of Biblical evangelizers and teachers of the faith: parrhesia or ‘frankness’; hypomone or ‘patience’.
For his extemporaneous remarks, Pope Francis drew on the Mass reading of the day, which came from the 2 nd Letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, in which St. Paul lists the hardships and trials he has faced in service of the Gospel, only to conclude that his weakness is his only vaunt (cf. 2 Cor 11:30). Pope Francis also recalled St. Paul’s insistence that his only glory is the Cross of Christ (cf. Gal. 6:14). “This is a Church that is outward-bound,” said Pope Francis, “a martyrial Church: it is a Church that goes through the streets, that goes out on its way.” The Holy Father went on to say, “Accidents happen along the way – as they might to anyone who undertakes a journey – but I prefer a Church wounded in [such an] accident, to a Church that is sick from being closed up and turned in on herelf – a Church with both frankness and patience: the patience that knows how to bear herself up under [adverse] circumstances, and also the tenderness to carry on its shoulders those wounded faithful, who have been put in her charge.”
This 9 th Plenary Assembly of the CBF is the first over which the Federation’s new president, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, Philippines, is presiding, after being elected to succeed Italian Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, who led the organization for more than a dozen years, starting in 2002.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday received the Italian delegation of athletes to the upcoming Special Olympics in the US city of Los Angeles. In remarks prepared for the occasion, Pope Francis praised the athletes for their courage and hard work.
He also praised sport in general as a very positive means of self-discovery, that can help those who practice it to open themselves up to others and learn the valuable lessons of teamwork, common effort, and fair play: an effective means of breaking down barriers of mistrust and discrimination, while building friendship and understanding.
“It is my hope,” said Pope Francis,” “that you all might live the upcoming Games in a joyful, passionate, serene manner: have fun,” he told them, “and make friendships with you brothers and sisters from around the world!”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis warns against the corrupting effects of greed and accumulating wealth for ourselves, saying they are at the root of wars and family divisions. His words came during his homily at his morning Mass on Friday (June 19th) at the Santa Marta residence.
Taking his inspiration from the day’s gospel reading where Jesus warned his disciples not to accumulate treasures on the earth but instead in heaven, the Pope reflects on the many dangers posed by greed and human ambition. He said these vices end up corrupting and enslaving our hearts and rather than accumulating wealth for ourselves we should be using it for the common good.
Greed corrupts and destroys
“In the end this wealth doesn’t give us lasting security. Instead, it tends to reduce your dignity. And this happens in families – so many divided families. And this ambition that destroys and corrupts is also at the root of wars. There are so many wars in our world nowadays because of greed for power and wealth. We can think of the war in our own hearts. As the Lord said, ‘Be on your guard against avarice of any kind.’ Because greed moves forward, moves forward, moves forward… it’s like a flight of steps, the door opens and then vanity comes in — believing ourselves to be important, believing ourselves to be powerful… and then in the end pride (comes). And all the vices come from that, all of them. They are steps but the first step is avarice, that desire to accumulate wealth.”
Pope Francis conceded that it’s not easy for an administrator or politician to use resources for the common good and an honest one can be considered a saint.
“There’s one thing that is true, when the Lord blesses a person who has wealth, he makes him an administrator of those riches for the common good and for the benefit of everybody, not just for that person. And it’s not easy to become an honest administrator because there’s always that temptation of greed, of becoming important. Our world teaches you this and it takes us along that road. We must think about others and realise that what I own is for the benefit of others and nothing that I have now can be taken with me. But if I, as an administrator, use what the Lord gives me for the common good, this sanctifies me, it will make me a saint.
Don’t play with fire
The Pope said we often hear many excuses from people who spend their lives accumulating wealth but he stressed the only treasures we should be storing up are the ones that have value in ‘the handbag of Heaven’.
“It’s difficult, it’s like playing with fire! So many people calm their consciences by giving alms and they give what they have left over. This is not an administrator: the administrator’s job is to take (what is needed) for himself or herself and whatever is left over is given to others, all of it. Administering wealth means a continual stripping away of our own interests and not believing that these riches will save us. It’s fine to accumulate riches, it’s fine to accumulate treasures but only those who have a value, let’s say, in ‘the handbag of Heaven.’ That’s where we should be storing them up!
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed the Patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church, Mor Ignatius Aphram II, to the Vatican on Friday.
In his address to the Patriarch, Pope Francis spoke about the “bonds of unity and fraternity” that unite the Church of Rome to the Church of Antioch, recalling the meetings between Patriarch Mor Ignatius Jacob II and Pope Paul VI in Rome, and between Pope Saint John Paul II and Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka Iwas in Rome and Damascus.
“How much has changed since those first encounters,” Pope Francis exclaimed. The Syrian Orthodox Church, he continued, “is a Church of martyrs from the very beginning, and it is so today, too, in the Middle East, where it continues to endure, together with other Christian communities and other minorities, the terrible sufferings caused by war, violence, and persecutions.” And yet, the Pope said, “it seems that the powers of this world are incapable of finding solutions.”
Pope Francis called for mutual prayers for “all the victims of this brutal violence” and for victims “of all the situations of war present in the world.” He especially remembered two Eastern Archbishops who were kidnapped in Syria more than two years ago, as well as all those who have been deprived of their liberty. The Holy Father also asked for prayers for the grace “to be always ready to forgive” and to always be workers of reconciliation and peace.” This, he said, “is what animates the witness of the martyrs. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of unity in the Church and the instrument of the building up of the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of peace and of justice.”
Pope Francis concluded his message with a call to strengthen the bonds of unity between the Catholic Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church. “Let us hasten our steps along the common path, keeping our gaze fixed on the day when we will be able to celebrate our belonging to the one Church of Christ around the same altar of Sacrifice and of praise.”
Below, please find the complete text of Pope Francis’ address :
Your Holiness,
Your Beatitude,
Dear Brothers,
It is a great joy to be able to welcome you here, close to the tomb of St Peter, so beloved by Rome and Antioch. I give a most cordial welcome to Your Holiness and to the distinguished members of your delegation. I thank you for your words of friendship and spiritual closeness, and I extend my greetings to the Bishops, the clergy, and all the faithful of the Syrian Orthodox Church. “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 1:7).
The visit of your Holiness strengthens the bonds of friendship and fraternity that unite our Churches, the See of Rome and the See of Antioch. Saint Ignatius, the teacher of unity among the faithful in Christ, in his letter to the Magnesians, echoing the prayer pronounced by Jesus at the Last Supper, prays that there be “one prayer, one supplication, one mind, one hope in charity” to gather “as into one temple of God, as to one altar, as to one Jesus Christ, who coming forth from the one Father has returned to Him united” (7:1-2).
When the Patriarch Mor Ignatius Jacob II and Pope Paul VI met here in Rome in 1971, they consciously began what we can call a “holy pilgrimage” toward full communion between our Churches. Signing the Common Declaration on our joint profession of faith in the mystery of the Incarnate Word, true God and true man, they laid the dynamic foundation necessary for that journey that we are undertaking together in obedience to the prayer of the Lord for the unity of the disciples (cf. Jn 17:21-23). Later, the encounters between the Patriarch Mor Ignatius Zakka Iwas and Saint John Paul II, first in Rome and later in Damascus, have marked new steps forward, introducing concrete elements of pastoral collaboration for the good of the faithful.
How much has changed since these first encounters! Yours, Holiness, is a Church of martyrs from the beginning, and it is so today, too, in the Middle East, where it continues to endure, together with other Christian communities and other minorities, the terrible sufferings caused by war, violence, and persecutions. So much suffering! So many innocent victims. In the face of all this, it seems that the powers of this world are incapable of finding solutions.
Holiness, let us pray together for the victims of this brutal violence and of all the situations of war present in the world. In particular we recall Metropolitan Mor Gregorios Ibrahim and Metropolitan Paul Yazigi of the Greek Orthodox Church, abducted together now more than two years ago. Let us recall, too, some priests and many other people, from diverse groups, [who have been] deprived of liberty. Let us ask the Lord, too, for the grace of always being ready to forgive and of being workers of reconciliation and peace. This is what animates the witness of the martyrs. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of unity in the Church and the instrument of the building up of the kingdom of God, which is a kingdom of peace and of justice.
Holiness, dear brothers, in this moment of harsh trial and of sorrow, let us strengthen ever more the bonds of friendship and fraternity between the Catholic Church and the Syrian Orthodox Church. Let us hasten our steps along the common path, keeping our gaze fixed on the day when we will be able to celebrate our belonging to the one Church of Christ around the same altar of Sacrifice and of praise. Let us exchange the treasures of our traditions as spiritual gifts, because that which unites us is much greater than that which divides us.
I make my own the words of your beautiful Syrian prayer: “O Lord, through the intercession of your mother and of all the saints, sanctify our and our dearly departed. May the memory of the Virgin Mary be a blessing for us; may her prayers be strength for our souls. Apostles, martyrs, disciples, and saints, pray for us, that the Lord might give us His mercy.” Amen.
(from Vatican Radio)…