(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday participated in the opening ceremony of the 2015 edition of the Milan Expo – the Universal Exhibition that the northern Italian city of Milan is hosting from May 1 to October 31, 2015, which this year is focusing on the theme: Feeding the planet – energy for life .
Over the course of the Expo’s six-month run, more than 140 participating countries are to showcase the best of their technology and demonstrate its usefulness in the cause of eradicating hunger and achieving global food security. In addition to the exhibitor nations, the Expo also involves international organizations, and expects to welcome over 20 million visitors to its 1.1 million square meters of exhibition area.
In a video message prepared for the inauguration on Friday, May 1, Pope Francis said, “I would like to make myself the spokesman for all our brothers and sisters, Christians and also non-Christians, as children whom God loves and for whom He gave His life: He broke the bread, which is the flesh of his Son become Man; He taught us to ask God the Father, ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’ The Expo is a propitious occasion to globalize solidarity. Let us not waste it, but make the very most of it.”
The Expo organizers hope the event will serve as a platform for the exchange of ideas and shared solutions to the problem of food security, and give everyone – visitors and participants – the opportunity to discover and taste some of the world’s most delicious foods, while learning more about the best of the agri-food and gastronomic traditions of each of the exhibitor countries.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) T o mark International Labour Day which coincides with the Feast day of Saint Joseph the worker, Veronica Scarisbrick takes a look at the special devotion Pope Francis has for this Saint. As well as focus briefly on one of the social issues central to his thinking: the dignity of labour.
Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick :
Let’s begin with his devotion to Saint Joseph as there’s quite a list of things that connect Pope Francis to this saint. Among them the choice of the date for the beginning of his pontificate the 19th of March, Saint Joseph’s feast day, and the choice of the nard flower symbolic of this saint on his coat of arms. Then in July 2013 his decision to consecrate Vatican City State not just to Saint Michael, as had been previously planned, but to Saint Joseph as well. And on a more personal note his admission to cherishing a wooden statue representing a dormant Saint Joseph, dressed in gold trimmed dark green and red garments according to Hispanic iconography, by which he places prayer requests. Simply because as he mentioned when he confided to us this personal gesture: “ He’s a carpenter and he gets the job done, even though he sometimes makes you wait”.
As for what links Pope Francis to Saint Joseph, International Labour Day and workers why not shine the spotlight on his words the 1st of May 2013, so the very first year of his pontificate, during his weekly general audience. Words which focus precisely on work and the figure of Saint Joseph. In a special way on the role played by Joseph as the legal father who teaches his son his skills as a carpenter in the workshop in Nazareth on a daily basis and shares with him, the efforts, the commitment, the satisfactions and problems that come with the job.
On this occasion Pope Francis goes on to remind us of the dignity and importance of work. The Book of Genesis, he says, tells us that God created man and woman entrusting them with the task of filling the earth and subduing it, which does not mean exploiting it, but nurturing and protecting it, caring for it through their work: “Work is part of God’s loving plan, we are called to cultivate and care for all the goods of creation and in this way participate in the work of creation! Work is fundamental to the dignity of a person… it gives you the ability to maintain yourself, your family, to contribute to the growth of your nation. And here I think of the difficulties which, in various countries, today afflicts the world of work and business; I think of how many, and not just young people, are unemployed, many times due to a purely economic conception of society, which seeks selfish profit, beyond the parameters of social justice. I wish to extend an invitation to solidarity to everyone, and I would like to encourage those in public office to make every effort to give new impetus to employment, this means caring for the dignity of the person, but above all I’d like to say do not lose hope; St. Joseph also experienced moments of difficulty, but he never lost faith and was able to overcome them, in the certainty that God never abandons us. And then I would like to speak especially to you young people: be committed to your daily duties, your study, your work, to relationships of friendship, to helping towards others; your future also depends on how you live these precious years of your life. Do not be afraid of commitment, of sacrifice and do not look with fear towards the future; keep your hope alive: there is always a light on the horizon”.
But while Pope Francis on this occasion shares with us words of encouragemen as we’ve just noticed he also chooses to highlight some of the evils of society in the area of work and denounces once again, the practice some companies have of adopting policies that favour profit over human dignity or even human life. And then uses an image to express how fundamental work is to the dignity of the person:”… work to use an image ‘anoints’ with dignity, fills us with dignity, makes us similar to God who has worked and still works, who also acts”.
One last word perhaps: let’s hope the prayer requests that Pope Francis places by the reclining and dormant figure of Saint Joseph are eventually answered…As he once assured us, they always are!
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday evening in the Paul VI Hall greeted the Cusillos in Christianity movement who are in Rome for their European meeting and who are celebrating the 50 th anniversary of the group in Italy. There was also a questions to the Holy Father from members of the movement Cursillos in Christianity is a Catholic movement that was founded by a group of laymen in 1944 in Majorca, Spain. The charism of the Cursillo focuses on giving Christian lay people the tools needed to become effective Christian leaders over the course of a three-day weekend. They in turn are asked to take what they have learned back out into the world. In his prepared remarks the Pope told the estimated 7,000 cursillista’s gathered in the Paul VI Hall that they were called to build on the charism that the Lord has entrusted to them. He said the pioneers of the movement were authentic missionaries and did not hesitate to take the initiative and bravely approach people, to help them on their journey of faith. The Holy Father urged those present to follow their example, and the infinite love of Christ that frees and transforms lives He said, I encourage you to go beyond”, faithful to your charism! To keep alive the zeal, the fire of the Spirit that always compels the followers of Christ to reach those on the peripheries, to “step out of their comfort zone and have the courage to reach all the suburbs that need the light of the Gospel”. Pope Francis finally urged the participants to help the men and women of today to discover the beauty of faith and a life of grace, but in a way that is guided by humility. Listen to this report
(from Vatican Radio)…
(VIS) During the last meeting of the Council of Cardinals to assist the Holy Father in the governance of the universal Church and to draw up a plan for the revision of the apostolic constitution “Pastor bonus” on the Roman Curia (13-15 April 2015), the final report of the committee charged with proposing reform of Vatican communications, the so-called Vatican Media Committee (VMC), was examined. The Council of Cardinals subsequently proposed to His Holiness the institution of a commission to study this final report and to suggest feasible approaches to its implementation. The proposal was favourably accepted by the Holy Father, who on 23 April decided to institute the commission and to appoint its members. The new commission will be chaired by Msgr. Dario Edoardo Vigano, director of the Vatican Television Centre, and its members will be: Paolo Nusiner, director general of the daily newspaper “Avvenire”, Nuova Editoriale Italiana, Milan; Msgr. Lucio Adrian Ruiz, head of the Vatican Internet Service, directorate of Telecommunications of the Governorate of Vatican City State; Fr. Antonio Spadaro, S.J., director of “La Civiltà Cattolica”; and Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. (from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday urged Italian Catholics to spread a culture of justice and peace, support families in difficulties and show solidarity with the world’s poorest and most needy. His words came during an audience with two Catholic associations, the Community of Christian Life in Italy and the Missionary League for Italian Students.
The two associations have come together to work on a joint project calling for greater support on the part of Europe in welcoming migrants from overseas and to help Christians in Syria. They were encouraged in their efforts by the Pope who outlined three guidelines to help them in their mission. First of all, he urged those present to do their utmost to spread a culture of justice and peace to help counter a culture of illegality, corruption and conflict. He also told them it was important to strive for such ideals through the world of politics.
Pope Francis said his second guideline was to encourage them to get involved in pastoral work in support of the family unit and especially to reach out to those families who are in difficulty or who have drifted away from the Church.
Thirdly, he encouraged them to go beyond their own boundaries and provide support and welcome to the world’s poorest and most needy. Noting their twinning project with Syria, the Pope urged the associations to continue showing their love and closeness towards the suffering population in that war-torn country. He also encouraged their projects for welcoming migrants in Sicily and spoke about the importance of educating and providing a testimony to young people about these issues through Italy’s school network.
During the audience, Pope Francis was presented with an unusual gift, a drone bearing the Vatican colours and the papal emblem, which came from students at a Jesuit school in Rome.
(from Vatican Radio)…