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Pope Addresses Prisoners During Pastoral Visit To Calabria

June 23, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Addresses Prisoners During Pastoral Visit To Calabria

Vatican Radio) The journey towards reintegration into society, said Pope Francis, demands an encounter with God who loves us, knows us, and forgives our sins. This was one of the central themes of the Pope’s discourse to the inmates and staff of the district prison of Castrovillari, Calabria. Saturday’s visit to the prison was his first major encounter during his 12 hour pastoral visit to the southern Italian region. In his address, the Holy Father said that while those in prison must always be treated according to their fundamental human dignity, efforts must also be made by the institution to facilitate effective reintegration into society. When this aim is not achieved, he said, the prison sentence becomes merely an instrument…Continue Reading

Make Your Life A Gift For Others

June 22, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Make Your Life A Gift For Others

2014-06-22 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) God’s love is without limits, and to follow Him, in the Eucharist, is to make our own life a gift. These were some of the reflections made by Pope Francis during his weekly Angelus address this Sunday. Speaking to the crowds which nearly filled Saint Peter’s Square on the hot July morning, the Pope focused on the feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – or Corpus Christi – celebrated in many parishes this Sunday. The Gospel reading for this feast is taken from John, and focusses on Christ’s discourse on the “Bread of Life” which He delivered in the synagogue at Capernaum. “Jesus stresses that he did not come into this…Continue Reading

Pope Warns Against Earthly Treasures Of Money, Power And Prestige

June 21, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Warns Against Earthly Treasures Of Money, Power And Prestige

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday warned of the allure of money, power and prestige which harden the heart and can never bring true happiness. The real Pope Francis based his homily on the Gospel reading for the day where Jesus tells his disciples not to store up treasures for themselves on earth. The first of those earthly treasures, he said, is money which is always at risk from thieves and from the whims of the stock market. Money, he said, is necessary to provide for ourselves and our families, but he warned that those who are always seeking ways of accumulating wealth will end up losing their souls. Another earthly treasure the Pope spoke about is prestige or the…Continue Reading

Pope Francis Leads Corpus Domini Celebrations

June 20, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis Leads Corpus Domini Celebrations

2014-06-20 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Rome’s cathedral Basilica of St John Lateran on Thursday evening, to mark the Solemnity of the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, often known by the abbreviations of its Latin name, Corpus Domini or Corpus Christi. Mass was followed by the traditional torchlight Eucharistic procession, in which parish groups, sodalities and charitable and fraternal organisations of all kinds participate along with ordinary citizens, from the Lateran basilica to the Basilica of St Mary Major. There, the Holy Father led the faithful in a brief moment of Eucharistic adoration and gave Eucharistic benediction. In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on memory – understood as remembrance and recollection,…Continue Reading

Being Church Means A Sense Of Being In God’s Hands

June 19, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Being Church Means A Sense Of Being In God’s Hands

Vatican City, 18 June 2014 (VIS) – During this Wednesday’s general audience Pope Francis began a new series of catechesis on the Church, “like a son who speaks about his mother, about his own family. The Church is not an institution that exists for its own ends, or a private association, an NGO; neither must she limit her view to the clergy or the Vatican. The Church is a far broader entity, open to all humanity, and not born unexpectedly. She was founded by Jesus but consists of a people with a long history behind them, prepared long before Christ Himself”.   “This story, or ‘prehistory’ of the Church, is already found in the pages of the Old Testament. According…Continue Reading

Pope Francis To Italian Magistrates: Be Prudent, Impartial And Models Of Morality:

June 18, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis To Italian Magistrates: Be Prudent, Impartial And Models Of Morality:

2014-06-18 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis met members of Italy’s Superior Council of Magistrates on Tuesday  and urged them to be examples of morality whilst stressing the importance of prudence and impartiality. In his address, he noted legal norms in every country are intended  to protect the freedom and the independence of the judiciary so it has the necessary guarantees to carry out its important and delicate role. Pope Francis said this places the magistrates in a position of particular significance where they need to maintain an incontrovertible impartiality at all times, using objectivity and prudence whilst basing their judgements exclusively on the correct legal norms and above all so they can respond to the voice of their own…Continue Reading

Pope Condemns Corruption In Politics, Business And Church

June 17, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Condemns Corruption In Politics, Business And Church

2014-06-17 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday returned to theme of corruption in the Church and in society, saying those who commit this crime must beg for God’s forgiveness. Speaking at Mass in the chapel of his Santa Marta residence, the Pope said it is always the poor who pay the price for the corruption of others. Philippa Hitchen reports: Pope Francis based his reflections on the reading from the First Book of Kings which tells the story of the murder of Naboth through the greed and corruption of King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. When we embark on the path of corruption, the Pope said, we lose our humanity and sell ourselves, just as the prophet Elijah…Continue Reading

Pope Francis at Monday Mass in Santa Marta

June 16, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Francis at Monday Mass in Santa Marta

2014-06-16 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) The poor are the ones who end up paying for the damage wrought by the corruption of the powerful, whose avidity leaves the poor without the things of which they have need and to which they have a right. This was the theme of the Holy Father’s remarks following the readings of the day at Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta residence. “The only wat to [defeat] the sin of corruption,” he concluded, is “service” to others that purifies the heart.  A “very sad” story  that, even if very old, is still a reflection of one of the most “handy” sins: corruption. Pope Francis reflections turned on the story, told in the…Continue Reading

Pope Releases Message for World Mission Day

June 15, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on Pope Releases Message for World Mission Day

2014-06-15 Vatican Radio (Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has released a message ahead of the 88th World Mission Day, which this year will take place on 19 October. Please find the Pope’s full message in English below: Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today vast numbers of people still do not know Jesus Christ. For this reason, the mission ad gentes continues to be most urgent. All the members of the Church are called to participate in this mission, for the Church is missionary by her very nature: she was born “to go forth”. World Mission Day is a privileged moment when the faithful of various continents engage in prayer and concrete gestures of solidarity in support of the young Churches in mission lands.…Continue Reading

God Prepares Us To Accomplish Our Mission

June 14, 2014 Pope Francis Comments Off on God Prepares Us To Accomplish Our Mission

(Vatican Radio) When the Lord wants to entrust a mission to us, “He prepares us” to do it well. And our response should be based on prayer and fidelity. That was the main thrust of Pope Francis’ homily at the Mass celebrated Friday morning at the Casa Santa Marta. It can happen that one day we are courageous opponents of idolatry in the service of God, and afterwards we become depressed to the point where we want to die because someone, in the course of our mission, has frightened us. It is, and always will be, up to God to balance these two extremes of strength and human frailty, as long as we are faithful to Him. That is what…Continue Reading