(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, Archbishop Emeritus of Prague, to be his special envoy to the July 5-6 events in Prague, marking the 600th anniversary of the death of John Hus (1369-1415).
In an address to the International Symposium on John Hus in 1999, St John Paul II said the Bohemian church reformer, who was condemned of heresy and burnt at the stake, was a “memorable figure,” particularly for “his moral courage in the face of adversity and death.”
“On the eve of the Great Jubilee, I feel obliged to express deep regret for the cruel death inflicted on John Hus and the resulting wound, a source of conflict and division which was thus opened in the minds and hearts of the Bohemian people,” said St John Paul II.
Hus was born in the Kingdom of Bohemia (now Czech Republic). He was ordained a priest in 1400, and preached reformation in the Church. He was a supporter of some of John Wycliffe’s teachings and was eventually excommunicated, condemned of heresy and killed. His followers came to be known as Hussites.
St John Paul II said “the effort that students can develop to reach a deeper and full understanding of historical truth” was of “crucial importance.”
“Faith has nothing to fear from the commitment of historical research, since the research is also, ultimately, reaching out to the truth that has its source in God,” he continued.
“A figure like John Hus, who was a major point of contention in the past, can now become a subject of dialogue, discussion and common study” in the hope that decisive steps can “be made on the path of reconciliation and true unity in Christ,” the late pope said.
Cardinal Vlk was the architect of a commission, established in 1993, to study the life, work and person of John Hus.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis attended a Swiss Guard ceremony Friday afternoon — unexpected by most of the people present — and addressed the corps, speaking as well about the characteristics of a commander, according to the Gospel. Following the nomination in February of Christoph Graf as the new Commander of the Swiss Guard, the military corps held a ceremony May 1 for the inauguration and blessing of its new flag. Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrated Mass in the Church of the Teutonic Ceremony, located on the grounds of the Vatican. Subsequently, in the Guards Quarter, was the “military act,” which was attended unexpectedly by Pope Francis. After listening Commander Graf’s speech, the Pope addressed those present, expressing his good wishes to the new commander. The Pope said a commander must be man of unity, charity, love, and humility. He urged the new commander to exercise paternity with the guards and to pray that the Holy Spirit will sow and make unity and love grow among all members of the corps. He concluded, recalling the motto of the corps: “Mut und Demut” (Courage and humility). To command evangelically means to serve, he added. After his short speech, the Pope blessed the new commander, the Guards, and their family and friends in attendance. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday made the short trip to Rome’s Janiculum Hill to the Pontifical North American College, the national seminary for the United States.
The College was hosting a day of reflection on Blessed Junipero Serra, the Franciscan missionary to California who will canonized by Pope Francis during his trip to Washington, DC, in September.
Pope Francis said during his homily he wanted to discuss three aspect of the life of Blessed Serra – his missionary zeal, his Marian devotion, and his witness of holiness.
Pope Francis said it was “that heartfelt impulse which seeks to share with those farthest away the gift of encountering Christ: a gift that he had first received and experienced in all its truth and beauty” which drove the Franciscan Missionary to leave everything he knew and go to the ends of the earth.
The Holy Father said this a challenge to us today, and asked if are able “to respond with the same generosity and courage to the call of God, who invites us to leave everything in order to worship him, to follow him, to rediscover him in the face of the poor, to proclaim him to those who have not known Christ and, therefore, have not experienced the embrace of his mercy.”
Pope Francis noted Blessed Junipero wanted to consecrate his life to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to ask her for the grace to open the hearts of the colonizers and indigenous peoples, for the mission he was about to begin. The Pope said you cannot “separate her from the hearts of the American people.”
And finally, Pope Francis pointed out he was one of the founding fathers of the United States, a saintly example of the Church’s universality and special patron of the Hispanic people of the country.
He said this zeal was also true for the many missionaries who brought the Gospel to the New World and, at the same time, defended the indigenous peoples against abuses by the colonizers.
The Pontifical North American College has been at capacity enrollment for four years, reflecting an overall increase in vocations to the priesthood in the United States over the past few years.
The full text of the homily by Pope Francis at the Pontifical North American College is below.
“I have set you to be a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47; cf. Is 49:6). These words of the Lord, in the passage from the Acts of the Apostles which we have just heard, show us the missionary nature of the Church, sent by Jesus to go out and proclaim the Gospel. The disciples experienced this from the first moment when, after the persecution broke out, they left Jerusalem (cf. Acts 8: 1-3). This was true also for the many missionaries who brought the Gospel to the New World and, at the same time, defended the indigenous peoples against abuses by the colonizers. Among these missionaries was Friar Junípero; his work of evangelization reminds us of the first “12 Franciscan apostles” who were pioneers of the Christian faith in Mexico. He ushered in a new springtime of evangelization in those immense territories, extending from Florida to California, which, in the previous two hundred years, had been reached by missionaries from Spain. This was long before the pilgrims of the Mayflower reached the North Atlantic coast.
There are three key aspects to the life and example of Friar Junípero: his missionary zeal, his Marian devotion and his witness of holiness.
First of all, he was a tireless missionary. What made Friar Junípero leave his home and country, his family, university chair and Franciscan community in Mallorca to go to the ends of the earth? Certainly, it was the desire to proclaim the Gospel ad gentes, that heartfelt impulse which seeks to share with those farthest away the gift of encountering Christ: a gift that he had first received and experienced in all its truth and beauty. Like Paul and Barnabas, like the disciples in Antioch and in all of Judea, he was filled with joy and the Holy Spirit in spreading the word of the Lord. Such zeal excites us, it challenges us! These missionary disciples who have encountered Jesus, the Son of God, who have come to know him through his merciful Father, moved by the grace of the Holy Spirit, went out to all the geographical, social and existential peripheries, to bear witness to charity. They challenge us! Sometimes we stop and thoughtfully examine their strengths and, above all, their weaknesses and their shortcomings.
But I wonder if today we are able to respond with the same generosity and courage to the call of God, who invites us to leave everything in order to worship him, to follow him, to rediscover him in the face of the poor, to proclaim him to those who have not known Christ and, therefore, have not experienced the embrace of his mercy. Friar Junípero’s witness calls upon us to get involved, personally, in the mission to the whole continent, which finds its roots in Evangelii Gaudium.
Secondly, Friar Junípero entrusted his missionary activity to the Blessed Virgin Mary. We know that before leaving for California, he wanted to consecrate his life to Our Lady of Guadalupe and to ask her for the grace to open the hearts of the colonizers and indigenous peoples, for the mission he was about to begin. In this prayer we can still see this humble brother kneeling in front of the “Mother of the true God”, the Morenita, who brought her Son to the New World. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was and has been present in the twenty-one missions that Friar Junípero founded along the coast of California. Since then, Our Lady of Guadalupe has become, in fact, the Patroness of the whole American continent. You cannot separate her from the hearts of the American people. She represents our shared roots in this land. Indeed, today’s mission to the continent is entrusted to her, the first, holy missionary disciple, a constant presence and companion, our source of comfort and hope. For she always hears and protects her American children.
Thirdly, brothers and sisters, let us contemplate the witness of holiness given by Friar Junípero. He was one of the founding fathers of the United States, a saintly example of the Church’s universality and special patron of the Hispanic people of the country. In this way may all Americans rediscover their own dignity, and unite themselves ever more closely to Christ and his Church.
With the universal communion of saints and, in particular, with the assembly of American saints, may Friar Junípero Serra accompany us and intercede for us, along with the many other holy men and women who have distinguished themselves through their various charisms:
• contemplatives like Rose of Lima, Mariana of Quito and Teresita de los Andes;
• pastors who bear the scent of Christ and of his sheep, such as Toribio de Mogrovejo, Francois de Laval, and Rafael Guizar Valencia;
• humble workers in the vineyard of the Lord, like Juan Diego and Kateri Tekakwitha;
• servants of the suffering and the marginalized, like Peter Claver, Martín de Porres, Damian of Molokai, Alberto Hurtado and Rose Philippine Duchesne;
• founders of communities consecrated to the service of God and of the poorest, like Frances Cabrini, Elizabeth Ann Seton and Katharine Drexel;
• tireless missionaries, such as Friar Francisco Solano, José de Anchieta, Alonso de Barzana, Maria Antonia de Paz y Figueroa and Jose Gabriel del Rosario Brochero;
• martyrs like Roque Gonzalez, Miguel Pro and Oscar Arnulfo Romero;
and so many other saints and martyrs, whom I do not mention here, but who pray before the Lord for their brothers and sisters who are still pilgrims in those lands.
May a powerful gust of holiness sweep through all the Americas during the coming Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy! Confident in Jesus’ promise, which we heard today in the Gospel, we ask God for this special outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
We ask the Risen Jesus, Lord of all ages, that the life of our American continent may be rooted ever more deeply in the Gospel it has received; that Christ may be ever more present in the lives of individuals, families, peoples and nations, for the greater glory of God. We pray too that this glory may be manifested in the culture of life, brotherhood, solidarity, peace and justice, with a preferential and concrete love for the poor, through the witness of Christians of various confessions and communities, together with believers of other religious traditions, and people of upright conscience and good will. Lord Jesus, we are merely your missionary disciples, your humble co-workers so that your Kingdom may come!
With this heartfelt prayer, I ask Our Lady of Guadalupe, Friar Junípero and all the American saints to lead me and guide me during my approaching apostolic journeys to South America and North America. I ask all of you to keep this intention in your prayers, and to continue to pray for me. Amen.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Faithful from the Diocese of Isernia-Venafro paid a return visit to Pope Francis on Saturday.
The Pope received the pilgrims in an audience and recalled the message of solidarity he shared with them during his pastoral visit last July.
He also spoke of the call of parishes to be missionary communities.
Listen to the report by Laura Ieraci:
“Every parish is called to be a privileged place of listening and of the proclamation of the Gospel; a house of prayer gathered around the Eucharist; a true school of communion, where the ardour of charity prevails over the temptation of a superficial and dry religiosity,” said Pope Francis to pilgrims from the southern Italian Diocese of Isernia-Venafro.
The Pope said he hopes the current Jubilee of the Diocese of Isernia-Venafro and the upcoming Extraordinary Year of Mercy will renew a “vigorous missionary spirit,” especially in parishes, where the communion of the church finds its “most immediate and visible expression.”
Speaking to the pilgrims, the Pope said their local Jubilee is an opportunity to “return to the Gospel,” to reconcile with one’s neighbour and to renew the desire to bring love to the marginalized and to those who suffer.
He noted the many social problems that continue to afflict the southern Italian region, namely sharp unemployment among youth; the lack of adequate social services for families, the elderly, or people with illness or disability.
The Pope said this “worrying situation” requires a “general mobilisation” at all levels of society, both public and private, adding that “concrete steps” in creating employment cannot be postponed.
“Christian hope, founded on the resurrected Christ, and accompanied by a large charitable effort towards those most in need” is what is most called for “when difficulties seem to obfuscate… a better future,” he said.
“Problems are overcome with solidarity,” the pope said, directing his message specifically to young people and to those present, and noting that he issued the same message during his pastoral visit last year.
He concluded, urging the pilgrims to be “witnesses of solidarity” in their cities, families, and places of work.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Prefect of the Congregation for Eastern Churches, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, was the homilist at Divine Liturgy in the Chaldean cathedral of Baghdad on Friday afternoon. The Liturgy and Cardinal Sandri’s participation in it were part of the Prefect’s three-day visit to the country, which began on Friday morning.
Click below to hear our report
The official schedule of Cardinal Sandri’s brief but intense visit includes a cultural excursion to the National Museum, encounters with the country’s Catholic clergy and ecumenical leadership, a trip to Anbar province and the Nineveh Plain to meet with displaced persons – both Christian and Muslim – and with the Caritas team and others assisting them. Cardinal Sandri is also scheduled to meet with diplomats and with Iraqi President Fuad Masum.
In his homily on Friday evening, Cardinal Sandri focused on the reading proclaimed from the Acts of the Apostles, in which St. Paul appears before King Herod Agrippa (Acts 26:1-32). He renewed his call – and the Holy Father’s – for assistance from the international community in favor of all those facing persecution in Iraq, and especially for the country’s suffering and sorely tried Christian community, thanking the UN’s High Representative for Iraq for his presence at the Liturgy.
Cardinal Sandri had particular words of encouragement for the Christians of Iraq. “The Cross of the Son of God continues to be planted in this land,” he said, “in order that the definitive event of the Resurrection might embrace and involve every man – as we read in the Prophet Isaiah and as it is recalled in the Gospel according to St. Luke: ‘All flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”
(from Vatican Radio)…