Thursday 18th April 2024

Home » Pope Francis » Recent Articles:

Audience: Wisdom is Seeing with God’s Eyes

April 11, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Audience: Wisdom is Seeing with God’s Eyes

2014-04-09 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis embarked on a new cycle of catechesis this Wednesday, dedicated to the gifts of the Holy Spirit. This week the Holy Father spoke to the tens of thousands present in St Peter’s Square about the gift of wisdom. He warned them not to confuse wisdom with knowledge, for wisdom is not born of intelligence, instead it is being able to see with the eyes of God. Below please find a Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s general audience catechesis: Dear Brothers and Sisters , Today we begin a series of reflections on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the soul, the lifeblood of the Church and of every…Continue Reading

Pope Francis at Mass: Be Vigilant of Dictatorship of Thought

April 10, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis at Mass: Be Vigilant of Dictatorship of Thought

2014-04-10 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) “Even today there is a dictatorship of a narrow line of thought” that kills “people’s freedom, their freedom of conscience”: we must be “vigilant and pray”, said Pope Francis at morning Mass Thursday. God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, but he and his descendants will have to observe the Covenant with the Lord. Pope Francis’ homily takes its cue from the first reading of the day to explain the end of Christ’s message to the Pharisees: their mistake – he notes – was to “detach the commandments from the heart of God”. They thought it enough to merely keep the commandments, but these – the Pope said – “are…Continue Reading

Pope Francis: The Cross Is Not An Ornament But The Mystery Of God’s Love

April 9, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis: The Cross Is Not An Ornament But The Mystery Of God’s Love

Vatican Radio) The relationship between Christianity and the Cross and our own sins was the focus of Pope Francis’s reflections at his Mass on Tuesday in the Santa Marta residence. In his homily, the Pope said Christianity does not exist without the Cross and stressed that we are unable to free ourselves from our sins on our own. The Cross, he said, is not an ornament to place on the altar but is the mystery of God’s love who takes our sins upon himself. He then reflected on the meaning of Jesus’s warning to the Pharisees “You will die in your sin.” “It is impossible for us to free ourselves from sin on our own. It’s impossible. These doctors of…Continue Reading

Pope Francis: God’s Mercy Lovingly Heals The Wounds Of Sin

April 8, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis: God’s Mercy Lovingly Heals The Wounds Of Sin

2014-04-07 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis drew inspiration for his homily on Monday morning, from the Gospel reading that tells of the mercy of Jesus when he does not allow the execution of a woman who was caught in adultery. Speaking to those present for morning Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, the Pope explained the meaning of the words “he who is without sin, cast the first stone”. The reading is well known. It narrates the episode in which the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in the act of adultery. They point out that in the law, Moses commands us to stone such women because adultery is considered a very…Continue Reading

Pope Francis: There Is No Limit To The Divine Mercy

April 7, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis: There Is No Limit To The Divine Mercy

2014-04-06 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis spoke on the day’s Gospel, which relates the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This miracle, the Pope said, “is the culmination of the wonderful ‘signs’ performed by Jesus: an act too great, too clearly divine to be tolerated by the high priests, who, aware of the fact, make the decision to kill Jesus.” Pope Francis reminded the crowd of the words of Jesus, words “words which are forever impressed upon the memory of the Christian community: ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.’” Because…Continue Reading

Pope Francis Interview: “Believers And Non-believers, We’re All Brothers And Sisters”

April 6, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis Interview: “Believers And Non-believers, We’re All Brothers And Sisters”

2014-04-04 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) An interview showing Pope Francis answering questions from a group of Belgian young people has been broadcast on the nation’s public Flemish TV station, VRT. The young people, who were accompanied by Bishop Lucas Van Looy of Ghent, put their questions to the Pope in English and he replied in Italian. Their meeting was filmed on March 31st inside the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. The group of Belgian young people included a non-believer who said she was inspired by the words of Pope Francis. When they began by asking the Pope why he accepted this interview, he replied that he considered it highly valuable to speak about the worries of the young. The Pope…Continue Reading

Pope Francis: Friday Mass in Santa Marta

April 5, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis: Friday Mass in Santa Marta

2014-04-04 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) When we proclaim the Good News, we will inevitably encounter persecution. This was the focus of Pope Francis’ remarks following the readings of the day at Mass on Friday morning in the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. Noting that there are today more martyrs than there were in the early days of the Church, the Holy Father urged the faithful not to be afraid of misunderstanding and persecution. Reflecting on the whole of salvation history, Pope Francis considered the many episodes of persecution experienced by the prophets, as Jesus himself reminds the Pharisees. “In the history of salvation,” said Pope Francis, “in the time of Israel, even in the Church, the prophets were persecuted.”…Continue Reading

The Pope’s Mass at Santa Marta – A friend To Pray With

April 4, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on The Pope’s Mass at Santa Marta – A friend To Pray With

2014-04-04 L’Osservatore Romano In his homily on Thursday morning, April 3, Pope Francis reflected on the nature of prayer. The Pope based his reflection, and the little manual of prayer he proposed, on the day’s first Reading from Exodus (32:7-14), which recounts “Moses’ prayer for his people who had fallen into the grave sin of idolatry”. The Pope introduced his remarks by noting that God reproved Moses, saying to him: “Go down; for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves”. It is as though God wished to distance himself through their dialogue, saying: “I have nothing to do with this people; they are yours, they are no longer mine”. But Moses responds:…Continue Reading

Pope At Mass: The Power Of Real Prayer

April 3, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope At Mass: The Power Of Real Prayer

2014-04-03 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) The dialogue between God on Moses Mount Sinai contained in the first reading of the daily liturgy was the focus of Pope Francis’ homily at Thursday morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta. God wants to punish His people because they have created an idol, the golden calf. Emer McCarthy reports: Moses prays to the Lord to think again. Pope Francis said “this prayer is a real struggle with God. A struggle [on the part of ] the leader of a people to save his people, who are the people of God . Moses speaks freely in front of the Lord and in doing so teaches us how to pray without fear, freely, even with insistence.…Continue Reading

Audience: Marriage, Heart Of God’s Loving Plan For Humanity

April 2, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Audience: Marriage, Heart Of God’s Loving Plan For Humanity

2014-04-02 Vatican Radio  (Vatican Radio)  Married couples should never let the sun set on an argument, instead they must make peace by remembering to always say please, thank you and sorry.  This was Pope Francis’ advise to husbands and wives Wednesday as  he concluded his general audience catechesis on the Sacrament of Marriage. Emer McCarthy reports: As has become tradition, the Pope toured among the cheering crowds in his open topped jeep, alighting to greet a group of children who were vigorously waving flags and banners in greeting. In his general comments in Italian, Pope Francis said : “ When a man and a woman celebrate the sacrament of marriage, God, so to speak, is “mirrored” in them, He marks…Continue Reading