(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has thanked the Church in Libya and the ecclesial communities in North Africa for their courage and for being a peaceful presence in an area where freedom of conscience is under threat.
The Pope was addressing members of the Episcopal Conference of North African Bishops, CERNA, who are in the Vatican for their Ad Limina visit.
CERNA gathers prelates from Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya.
“You are one of the peripheries” of the world – he said – and you are the face and the heart with which God reaches out to the people of this periphery.
The courage of Catholics in Libya
Noting that in the past years North Africa has become a land of conquest for more freedom of conscience and dignity as well as a battleground for those who impose change with weapons, the Pope thanked the Church in Libya for the “courage, loyalty and perseverance” shown by clergy, consecrated persons and laypeople who have stood their ground in the face of danger. They are true witnesses of the Gospel, said Francis, thanking them and encouraging them to continue in their efforts to contribute to peace and reconciliation throughout the region.
The need to accept diversity
In his discourse the Pope insisted on the necessity of inter religious dialogue “in order to build where many destroy”.
Charity – he says – is able to open up countless paths that take the breath of the Gospel into diverse cultures and social contexts. And he said that the most effective antidote to violence is getting to know differences and accepting them as wealth and fecundity.
Thus, Pope Francis told the bishops, that it is essential that the religious in their dioceses be trained in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.
Charity reveals God
Pope Francis said that an infallible weapon in the hands of the “Church of encounter” is charity that must be offered to all without distinction. Thanking the North African bishops who, often with humble means, offer the love of Christ and of the Church to the poor, to the sick, to the elderly, to prison inmates and to the many African immigrants who find themselves in North African countries during their journeys of hope. In doing so he said: “you recognize their human dignity and work to raise awareness of such a huge human drama, you show the love that God has for each of them”.
Look to the Saints
The Pope’s discourse also included many pastoral indications such as the need for attention for “permanent formation” of the clergy and spoke of his joy for the contribution offered by religious men and women in this Year of Consecrated Life.
Inviting all consecrated people to make the beauty of their vocations “shine out”, the Pope pointed to Saints Cyprian and Augustin and to the Blessed Charles de Foucault as models to look up to.
And pointing to those contemporary religious who sacrificed their lives in the name of the faith, Pope Francis expressed his happiness that in the past few years many Christian sanctuaries have been restored in Algeria.
The Pope concluded his discourse pointing out that welcoming “all” with “benevolence and without proselytism”, these communities express their will “to be a Church with open doors, always setting out and going forth”.
During the audience the bishops presented the Pope with a document entitled “Servants of Hope” that shines light on the reality of the Church’s presence in North Africa, and motivates its priests to be ministers of hope in an ever-changing situation, where parishes are being rejuvenated by new presences and where the Churches face the great challenge of ministering to migrants.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) It is easy to judge others, but we can only progress on our Christian journey in life if we are capable of judging ourselves first, said Pope Francis at Monday morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta.
The readings of the day focused on the subject of mercy. The Pope, recalling that “we are all sinners” – not “in theory” but in reality – said that the ability to judge oneself is “a Christian virtue, indeed more than a virtue”, it is the first step for those who want to be Christian:
“We are all masters, professors of self-justification: ‘No it wasn’t me, it’s not my fault, maybe yes, but not so much…that’s not the way it is…’. We all have an alibi to explain away our shortcomings, our sins, and we are often to put on a face that says “I do not know,” a face that says ‘I didn’t do it, maybe someone else did’ an innocent face. This is no way to lead a Christian life”.
“It’s easier to blame others” – observed the Pope – but “something strange happens if we try to behave differently: “If we begin to look at the things we are capable of doing, at first we “feel bad, we feel disgust “, yet this in turn “gives us peace and makes us healthy”.
Pope Francis continued, “when I feel envy in my heart and I know that this envy is capable of speaking ill of others and morally assassinating them”, this is “the wisdom of judging oneself”. “If we do not learn this first step in life, we will never, never be able to take other steps on the road of our Christian life, of our spiritual life”:
“The first step is to judge ourselves. Without saying anything out loud. Between you and your conscience. Walking down the street, I pass by a prison and say: “Well, they deserve it” – “Yet do you know that if it weren’t for the grace of God you would be there? Did you ever think that you are capable of doing the things that they have done, even worse?” This is what judging yourself means, not hiding from the roots of sin that are in all of us, the many things we are capable of doing, even if we cannot seen them”.
The Pope stressed another virtue: Shame before God, in a kind of dialogue in which we recognize the shame of our sin and the greatness of God’s mercy:
“To You, Lord, our God, mercy and forgiveness. Shame on me and to You mercy and forgiveness”. This Lent, it would do us all good to have this dialogue with the Lord: self-accusation. Let us ask for mercy. In the Gospel Jesus is clear: “Be merciful as your Father is merciful”. When one learns to accuse oneself first then we are merciful to others: “But, who am I to judge, if I am able to do things that are worse?”.
The phrase: “Who am I to judge another?” obeys Jesus’ exhortation: “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven”. Instead, it highlights – “how we like to judge others, to speak ill of them”.
“May the Lord, in this Lent – said the Pontiff – give us the grace to learn to judge ourselves” in the knowledge that we are capable “of the most evil things” and say, “Have mercy on me, Lord, help me to be ashamed and grant me mercy, so I may be merciful to others”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Before the Angelus the Pope recalled Sunday’s Gospel on the Transfiguration in which Jesus “is at the peak of his public ministry. The Holy Father explained that Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, where the prophecies of the ‘Servant of God’ will be fulfilled. The crowds, he added, facing the prospect of a Messiah that does not fit their earthly expectations, abandoned him. They thought that the Messiah would be a liberator of his country from Roman rule. Listen
Peter, James and John, said Pope Francis, witness Jesus on a high mountain, immersed in prayer, and transfigured before them: his face and his whole person radiated a brilliant light. Jesus, “reveals himself, added the Pope, as the perfect icon of the Father, the irradiation of his glory. He is the fulfilment of Revelation. The instruction for the disciples and for us, noted the Pope is this: ‘Listen to him!’ Listen to Jesus. He is the Saviour: follow him. Jesus’ journey always leads us to happiness. In conclusion, the Holy Father said that “With Peter, James and John”, “we also climb the Mount of Transfiguration and stop in contemplation of the face of Jesus, to receive the message and translate it into our lives, because we too can be transfigured by love. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis following the recitation of the Marian Prayer on Sunday remembered the people of Syria and Iraq saying “Unfortunately, there is no cessation in the dramatic news about violence, kidnapping and harassment against Christians reaching us from Syria and Iraq.
The Pope went on to say that those facing these situations were not forgotten and prayed that the intolerable brutality of which they are victims would soon be at an end.
Listen
The Holy Father reminded the faithful in Saint Peter’s Square that along with members of the Roman Curia, this was the intention he offered at the last Mass of their Spiritual Exercises, which concluded on Friday.
The Pope, at the window of his studio also asked everyone “according to their ability, to work to alleviate the suffering of those who are afflicted, often only because of the faith they profess.
Pope Francis also remembered the people of Venezuela saying that the country was “again living moments of acute tension.” The Holy Father prayed for the victims of violence, in particular, for the boy killed a few days ago in San Cristobal.
He then urged people in the country to reject violence and respect the dignity of every person and the sanctity of human life, encouraging them to take a journey together for the good of the country.
(from Vatican Radio)…
The general prayer intention of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, for the month of March is for researchers – that those involved in scientific research may serve the wellbeing of the whole human person. Many people think that science and religion are in conflict. There are many churchmen among outstanding scientists throughout history. 13th century English Franciscan friar Roger Bacon is regarded as one of the earliest European advocates of the modern scientific method. Nicholas Copernicus is considered the founder of modern astronomy. In 1933 Jesuit Father Georges Lemaitre introduced the “Big Bang” theory about the expanding universe which he called the “hypothesis of the primeval atom” or “Cosmic Egg.” More than 40 lunar craters are named after Jesuit astronomers. Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel is regarded the founder of modern genetics. Science and the Church are not in conflict because both seek the truth. However, where science seeks the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of things, religion seeks the ‘why’. The ‘why’ is important because it ultimately guides how we use the knowledge gained from science. When science and technology are not guided by the higher truths about the dignity of the human person, they end up causing more harm than good. Pope Francis told the Pontifical Academy of Sciences that when humanity acts without wisdom, trying to take the place of God, it ends up destroying creation. We are co-creators, working with God to care for creation according to the Creator’s plan. Let’s therefore join Pope Francis in the month of March in praying for researchers that they may always seek the entire truth and work for the physical and spiritual well-being of all people.
(from Vatican Radio)…