400 South Adams Ave. Rayne, La 70578
337-334-2193
stjoseph1872@diolaf.org

Tag: Global

Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to shantytown on outskirts of Rome

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday evening made a surprise visit to a shantytown, a few minutes before he celebrated Mass at the parish of San Michele Arcangelo in the eastern Roman district of Pietralata.
Listen: 

The settlement– called  “Campo Arcobaleno”[ Camp Rainbow] – is 300 metres from the parish church.
“He got out of the car and people were shocked when they saw him in front of their shacks,” said Father Aristide Sana, the pastor of the parish who quickly traveled to the camp when he got word of the visit.
Pope Francis received a boisterous welcome.
“Viva la Papa!” the crowd shouted, engulfing the Pope, chanting and shaking his hand.  Pope Francis asked how many spoke Spanish, and the crowd shouted out “All of us!”
This was not quite true: Many of the residents are from Peru and Ecuador, but many others were from Eritrea, Ukraine, Russia, and other parts of the world.
The ten-minute visit ended with a recitation of the Our Father in Spanish.

(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope Francis: The devil is the root of jealousy, war

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday evening visited the parish of San Michele Arcangelo in the eastern Roman district of Pietralata. The parish is on the peripheries of Rome, and home to 8,000 families.
On his way to the parish, the Holy Father made a surprise visit to a shantytown called  “Campo Arcobaleno”, where he visited with residents for about 10 minutes.
Listen to our report: 

After arriving at the Parish Hall, Pope Francis met with a group of homeless people who are cared for by the Sant’Egidio Community.
“The fact that people do not know your name, and call you ‘homeless’ and you carry this: It is your cross, and your patience,” said Pope Francis. “But there is something in the heart of all of you – of this, please be assured – there is the Holy Spirit.”
He then held a meeting with parents whose children had been baptized in the previous year, and asked them to teach them the Faith well, and lamented there are “Christian children who cannot make the sign of the cross.”
In his meeting with older children, many of whom were part of the Scouting movement, Pope Francis pointed out that wars are not only those – and he asked them to make a list – which kill children in Iraq, Ukraine, and Africa. Wars are come about much earlier in people who do not possess God.
“Who is the father of war?” Pope Francis asked.  “The devil!” the children answered.
Pope Francis said the devil is the “father of hate”, “the father of lies” who seeks disunity.
“But God wants unity,” Pope Francis said. “If in your heart you feel jealousy, this is the beginning of war.  Jealousies are not of God.”
And this is the theme Pope Francis continued during his homily at Mass.
“It is sad when in a family, brothers do not speak because of something stupid,” Pope Francis said.
“Because the devil takes stupidity and makes a world,” he continued. “Then these enmities continue and multiply for years.  It destroys the family: Parents suffer because their children do not speak to each other, or with the wife of a son…And so this jealousy and envy, it is sowed by the devil.  And the only one who can drive out demons is Jesus.  The only one who can heal these things is Jesus. So to each of your: Have yourself healed by Jesus.”
As he often does during parish visits, he urged the congregation to listen to Jesus in the Gospel, to read a passage and ask themselves, what does it say to me?
“Have this daily contact with the Gospel,” Pope Francis said.  “Pray with the Gospel.” 
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope Francis prays for victims of human trafficking

(Vatican Radio) Following the Angleus prayer on Sunday, Pope Francis spoke about first International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking, the promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, the Pontifical Council “Justice and Peace” and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG). The Day of Prayer occurs on 8 February, the liturgical memorial of St. Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese sister who, as a child, was herself a victim of slavery and human trafficking. In his remarks, the Holy Father called for help for “the many men, women, and children who are enslaved, exploited, abused as instruments of labour or of pleasure, who are often tortured and mutilated.” He called on government leaders to act decisively “to remove the causes of this shameful wound… a wound that is unworthy of civil society,” and said that everyone is called to be “a voice for these our brothers and sisters.” Pope Francis concluded his remarks by leading the crowds in praying a “Hail Mary” for all the victims of human trafficking, and for those who are close to them.  (from Vatican Radio)…

Vatican Commission for protection of minors to study issue of accountability

(Vatican Radio) Making the Church a safe place for children and vulnerable adults means having proper protection procedures in place, making sure they are implemented and holding bishops accountable when they are not.
In essence, these are the priorities before the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults which is holding its first full Plenary Assembly since it was set up by Pope Francis in 2013.
Emer McCarthy reports listen:

Speaking to the press Saturday, the Commission President, Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley, said the 17 member Commission’s primary role is to help bishops conferences not just respond to accusations but also to protect minors and vulnerable adults.
To do this the Commission is setting up working groups, with outside consultants, on issues such as outreach to victims, the nature of abuse, Church law governing cases and accountability.
Card. O’ Malley stressed that key to all of the Commissions’ work is collaboration with local churches around the globe and with Vatican dicasteries.  One idea being mooted is workshops for people working in the Roman Curia and for new bishops who come to Rome for orientation courses.
Referring to the Holy Father’s recent letter to Bishops and Religious Superiors on this very issue, Card. O’Malley added that each conference will be asked to name a contact person to work with the Commission for Child Protection.
Another area that comes under the Commission’s mandate is to collaborate with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in ensuring that the guidelines for child protection sent in by the bishops conferences follow best practices.
He said “96 % of bishops conferences have sent their child protection guidelines to the Vatican” adding that the Commission will “reach out” to the remaining 4%, most of whom are from developing churches which may lack the adequate resources for the task.
Here the Cardinal underlined that without norms bishops sometimes improvise when faced with accusations of abuse by clergy, mistakes are made and people are hurt.
In this regard, he said the Child Protection Commission is “very, very concerned” about accountability of bishops and working on policy recommendations for the Holy Father’s approval.
These would include consequences for bishops who do not comply with child protection norms, or respond to allegations
Cardinal O’Malley was joined Saturday by Commission member Peter Saunders from South West London.  Saunders, a survivor of abuse himself, established NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. He told reporters that the accountability of bishops is a central concern of Child Protection Commission, adding that he came to the Vatican “with trepidation”, but the Commission meeting has given him “hope for change”.
Saunders said “There is a determination that what happened to me and others will not happen again”.
Also present Saturday was Sister Kayula Lesa, a Religious Sister of Charity from Zambia, who has extensive experience in education and in child protection. She added that the Church at all levels must protect all minors from abuse not just within the Church, but also in family and wider society.
To this end, the Commission will propose a Day of Prayer for survivors of abuse, for the Holy Father’s approval.
For the audio of the full Press Conference click here 

 
Full text of the Intervention by Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, OFM Cap.
Thank you for your presence here and especially for your interest in Child Protection. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, sent a very important letter to Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences and to Superiors of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, dated February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple. Even the date of the letter is symbolic as we work to make the Temple a safe place to bring children. By means of the letter the Holy Father is presenting the new commission to the Church’s leadership and inviting them to cooperate in the arduous task of working for the safety of children.
The Holy Father reflects on his own experience of meeting persons who had suffered sexual abuse by priests. He writes, “this experience reaffirmed my conviction that everything possible must be done to rid the Church of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors and to open pathways of reconciliation and healing for those who were abused.”
The Holy Father urges Bishops and Religious Superiors to assure the safety of children and vulnerable adults and to offer survivors and their families pastoral care and provide for psychological assistance. The Holy Father urges Bishops and Religious Superiors to meet with survivors and their loved ones. He says, “ such meetings are valuable opportunities for listening
to those who have greatly suffered and for asking their forgiveness.”
Following on the Holy Father’s letter to the Bishops Conferences, I am writing as President of the Commission to request that each conference name a contact person who can help establish a line of communication with the conferences as well as with Religious Superiors. Pope Francis in his letter has spoken of the Circular Letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of May 3, 2011, calling on the Bishops’ Conferences of the world to draw up guidelines for handling cases of sexual abuse of minors by clerics. One of the tasks of the Commission, working with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will be to reach out to help suggest best practices, especially to conferences that are finding it difficult to develop policies. The Commission is also tasked to promote education and child safety programs and to present methods for measuring compliance.
Today I am joined by two of our new members of the Commission. Sister Kayula Lesa, a Religious Sister of Charity from Zambia, has extensive experience in education and in child protection. Sister has worked with refugees and victims of human trafficking, and has served on the African Forum for the Church’s Social Teaching.
We are also joined by Mr. Peter Saunders from South West London. Mr. Saunders established NAPAC, the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, for supporting all survivors and for developing greater resources for responding to child abuse. Yesterday we had the first full day of meetings of the entire seventeen member Commission, with new representation from Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania. I am truly impressed by the wealth of experience and commitment that all the members bring to the Commission.
We are currently working to develop seminars to educate Church leadership in the area of child protection. We hope to offer these programs for members of the Roman Curia and for newly appointed bishops who come to Rome from throughout the world, for orientation programs sponsored by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
The Commission is also preparing materials for a Day of Prayer for all those who have been harmed by sexual abuse. Such an activity underscores our responsibility to work for spiritual healing and also helps raise consciousness among the Catholic community about the scourge of child abuse.
We have also begun to reach out to Catholic funding organizations, to ask them to include some requirements concerning child protection in their guidelines for eligibility for funding. Realizing that many of the countries that need to do the most work to advance child protection are also often terribly lacking in resources, we are asking the funding organizations to award grants in these counties for establishing child protection programs and providing training for Church personnel.
The Commission is establishing a series of working groups to call on the expertise of individuals who are not members but can provide us valuable assistance. We have one working group which has been charged with the task of outreach to survivors who might contribute to our efforts by their participation, especially concerning issues of prevention and sound guidelines.
(from Vatican Radio)…

Pope Francis to business leaders: Prioritize human dignity

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Saturday (February 7th) urged business leaders to prioritize human dignity, and suggested three ways to do this: Firstly, by moving beyond emergencies to the real priorities, secondly, by being witnesses of charity and thirdly, by acting as custodians and not masters of our planet.
His remarks came in a video message that was broadcast to a gathering of 500 international political and business representatives who were in the Italian city of Milan to discuss the theme: Feeding our planet, Energy for Life. This is the theme chosen for the upcoming International Exhibition Expo 2015 that opens in the northern Italian city in May.  
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges: 

Referring to his speech at the World Food and Agricultural Organization last November, Pope Francis said the first concern for all of us when considering the issue of agriculture and food production is the human person and all those who are suffering hunger.  Once again he deplored the paradox of our modern society where there is enough food for everybody on our planet but not all its inhabitants have access to this food and at the same time the excessive consumption and waste of food and the use of it for other means is there before our eyes.  The Pope noted that there are few other issues like hunger that are so likely to be manipulated by governments and the authorities for their own political ends. In order to overcome the temptation of sophisms, he said, “the nominalization of thought which glides over but never touches the reality, I am suggesting three concrete approaches.” 
Moving beyond emergencies to the priorities
Pope Francis said instead of going for provisional emergency proposals we must act decisively to “resolve the structural causes of poverty,” remembering that “the root of all evils is inequality.”  If we really want to solve these problems and not lose ourselves in sophisms we need to tackle the root causes.  And to do this, the Pope stressed, there are urgent choices to make: a rejection of the total autonomy of the markets and of financial speculation.
Be witnesses of charity
Turning to politics which are so often denigrated, Pope Francis asked: what are the starting points for a healthy economic policy and the principle on which political decisions should be based.  The answer, he continued, is “the dignity of the human person and the common good.”  He urged his audience to be courageous in supporting and upholding this principle in the world of politics to help make the earth’s treasures more accessible for everybody. 
Custodians and not masters of the earth
Pope Francis said “our planet is a mother for all of us,” it asks for respect and not violence, or worse still, the arrogance of masters.  We must hand it on to our children, cared for and improved, because it’s a loan they make to us. And it’s not just Christians who should adopt this approach for safeguarding our earth, it’s the responsibility of everyone, he said.  But in order to do that, pointed out the Pope, we need to take care of ourselves and not be afraid of goodness, or rather tenderness.  We need “to safeguard the earth not only with goodness but also with tenderness.”  

(from Vatican Radio)…