(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia-Herzegovina, has welcomed the news of Pope Francis’s upcoming visit to Sarajevo.
Speaking to Vatican Radio immediately after the Pope’s announcement to visit the nation on June 6, he describes the Papal visit as not only useful, but necessary.
Listen :
“We are very happy about this news of the Papal visit to Sarajevo and everyone is awaiting” he says.
Archbishop Pezzuto explains that the nation, and the city of Sarajevo, “the Jerusalem of Europe, is a place where a lot of cultures, religions and also Christian confessions gather together”.
And he points out that especially considering the fact of the recent war from which the country is still emerging “the message of the Pope in view of peace and re-building a society” is fundamental.
“In this context – he says – I am sure that the visit of the Pope, of Pope Francis, will be not only be useful, but necessary for the local Catholic Church and for all the religions that are here”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
Pope Francis announced on Sunday that he intends to visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, on June 6.
The surprise announcement came as he addressed the crowds in St. Peter’s Square after the recitation of the Angelus prayer.
Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni :
“God willing” – the Pope said –“On Saturday 6 June I will travel to Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina.” And he asked for prayers so his one-day visit would encourage Bosnia’s Catholic population as well as `’give rise to the development of good and contribute to the consolidation of brotherhood and peace, inter-religious dialogue and friendship.”
The nation, that was part of the former Yugoslavia, was ravaged by the 1992-95 war which took over 100,000 lives. Thousands of people, including Muslim Bosnians and Catholic Croats, were killed or taken to concentration camps during Serb efforts in 1992 to drive out non-Serbs. The prosecution of war crimes suspects is still ongoing.
Meanwhile, during his Sunday catechesis Pope Francis reflected on the Gospel of Mark according to whom ‘when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority’.
And the Pope invited the faithful to listen to the Word of God, to receive its teaching and to announce it to others.
He explained that in the words of a ‘human’ Jesus there was all the authority of God and every word that he utters corresponds to truth.
The Gospel, Francis continued, “does not oppress people; to the contrary: it frees those who are enslaved by the evil spirits of this world: the spirit of vanity, of attachment to money, of pride, of sensuality… the Gospel changes our hearts, it transforms evil inclinations into good proposals”.
“The Gospel is capable of changing people!” he said.
Pope Francis concluded his catechesis inviting all to have daily contact with the Gospel, to read a passage every day, to meditate upon its teachings. And he invited the faithful to carry a copy of the Gospel “in your pocket, in your bag”, allowing oneself “to be nurtured every day by this infinite source of salvation”.
(from Vatican Radio)…
The general prayer intention of the Holy Father Pope Francis, for the month of February, is for prisoners, especially the young, that they may be able to rebuild lives of dignity. One of the first gestures of Pope Francis, soon after his March 13, 2013 election, moved or rather shocked the world. He broke with tradition and celebrated Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper in the Holy Week in a juvenile prison of Rome, instead of a Rome Basilica, washing and kissing the feet of 12 young detainees of different nationalities and faiths, including two women. “This sign is a caress from Jesus, because Jesus came exactly for this, to serve and to help us,” the Pope told them in unscripted remarks. Since then, he has shown his closeness with prisoners on several times. On one such occasion in to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in July 2013, he told young prisoners to have courage “look to the future”. Each prisoner is a person made in the image and likeness of God, someone for whom Jesus suffered and died. They and prisoners around the world need our prayers in order to learn to live a life of dignity in often dehumanizing circumstances. In the ‘throwaway culture’ of today, as Pope Francis calls it, it’s easy to forget those who are locked away from society. This month the Holy Father wants us to join him in praying for them that they may not give up hope and be able to rebuild their lives.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Vatican Tribunal opened its 86th session on Saturday morning. At the Mass to mark the occasion, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the application of the law must be both rigorous and compassionate. But its application must also be free of vengeance and of popular notions of justice, he told the judges and members of the Vatican Tribunal.
Listen:
The cardinal made reference to the teachings of Saint John Bosco, whose feast the Church celebrated on Saturday. In particular, he referenced John Bosco’s preventive system, which combines formation through reason, an openness to God, and the compassionate treatment of persons. The saint, he said, condemned repressive and vengeful methods.
The cardinal then noted that the judicial system has a preventive and educative function.
“And your qualified service… if you want to be effective,” he said, “must be anchored in a higher vision of faith.”
“The law, although necessary, is not enough,” he continued. It “is a means to achieve justice, and therefore, to lead us to the good.”
“Only reference to the supernatural dimension…can show a judge that necessary clarity for the proper understanding of the human soul, which allows the formulation of a just and fair judgment in which…(there is) a flicker of compassion, that is, of love and of the ability to take on the suffering of others, even of those who are judged.”
He reminded the judges and members of the Tribunal that the primary source of all law in the Vatican City State is canon law, whose ultimate goal is the salvation of souls. He also invited them to combine “the certitude of the law” with “that fairness of natural law,” found in the Gospel.
May all the activities of the tribunal, he said, be “inspired in the constant effort to combine the necessary rigor of the law and legal certainty…with compassion.”
Following the Mass, the Tribunal’s Promoter for Justice, Gian Piero Milano, gave his opening address for the new judicial year. He spoke of the disturbing increase in the case law of financial crime and corruption. This is “a veritable plague,” which affects an inviolable right of the individual to his human dignity, he said.
He spoke of the process of reform launched by Benedict XVI and intensified by Pope Francis citing, for example, the establishment of the Council and of the Secretariat for the Economy. He also referred to the Motu Proprio of July 2013, which punishes certain crimes committed against the security, fundamental interests or assets of the Holy See and creates significant changes for the Vatican Tribunals.
Regarding crimes against minors, the promoter said there are ongoing investigation measures being put in place, including an initiative related to crimes against children committed abroad by a public official of the Holy See, including those with diplomatic duties and archbishops. This initiative is assumed to activate tools of international judicial cooperation, he said.
Regarding the prevention and fight against money laundering, the promoter noted that a Motu Proprio in August two years ago introduced “strict requirements” on cross-border transportation of cash. As a result, he said, checks were performed on more than 4,000 people and 7,000 vehicles entering and leaving the Vatican in the past year.
With the globalization of crime, the Promoter said the Vatican Tribunal has experienced an increase in international cooperation, with 10 requests for legal assistance from foreign countries, of which eight were from Italy.
The Promoter said there has also been a call for the introduction of specific provisions for the crime of usury, which is not currently in the code of law. Milano concluded his address by stating there were six arrests in the past year.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday received members of Italy’s National Federation of Farmers, who are this year celebrating the 70th anniversary of their foundation.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report.
Pope Francis told the farmers present in the Clementine Hall that there is no humanity without the cultivation of the earth, as there is also no life without good food that is produced for men and women of every continent.
This shows, underlined the Holy Father, that agriculture has a pivotal role.
In his prepared remarks to the farmers, the Pope reflected on as he put it, two critical points. He said, “the Second Vatican Council recalled the universal destination of the goods of the earth,” but, Pope Francis added, “in fact the dominant economic system excludes many from their correct use.” The Holy Father went on to say that, “absolutizing market rules, a culture of waste and waste that in the case of food has unacceptable proportions, together with other factors, cause misery and suffering for many families.” Therefore, the Pope continued, the system of production and distribution of food must be radically rethought.
In his second point, the Holy Father said it was important to remember that man is called not only to cultivate the land, but also to preserve it. In a time of climate change the Pope noted, this is difficult, that is why, he said, it is so vital that nations are able to work together to protect creation.
Finally, Pope Francis invited the farmers, in the spirit of St Francis, to love the land as Mother earth, and proposed that they make an alliance with it, so that it can continue to be, the source of life for the entire human family.
(from Vatican Radio)…