POPE LANDS IN AFRICA ON 40TH FOREIGN APOSTOLIC TRIP

Two members of the EWTN Rome office, Elias Turk and Gianluca Teseo, are on the papal plane with Pope Francis, his entourage and over 70 other members of the media. They will provide video and photos throughout the trip. You can follow the apostolic trip to the DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and South Sudan on http://www.ewtn.com via news articles and television coverage. Vatican coverage can be found at vaticannews.va (text and video).

POPE LANDS IN AFRICA ON 40^TH FOREIGN APOSTOLIC TRIP

A first bulletin today from the Vatican press office noted that, “this morning, before leaving Casa Santa Marta and heading to the airport, Pope Francis met a dozen migrants and refugees and their families from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan – the two countries he will visit in the coming days – who are staying in Rome’s Centro Astalli. With them was the prefect of the Dicastery for Charity, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski.

Arriving at Fiumicino Airport, the Holy Father’s car stopped briefly near the Monument to the Fallen of Kindu, the 13 Italian airmen killed in the Congo on November 11, 1961. To the victims of that bloody massacre and to all those who lost their lives participating in humanitarian and peace missions, said the press office statement, Pope Francis dedicated a prayer, and then proceeded to the plane that will take him to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan for his 40th apostolic journey. (Vatican media photos)

Boarding the plane –

Once on board the ITA plane, press office director Matteo Bruni introduced Pope Francis to members of the media, noting that there were 75 journalists from 12 countries, including two African nations.

“Good morning and welcome everyone and thank you for accompanying me on this journey,” said Pope Francis. “You’ve been waiting for a year, huh? It’s a beautiful journey, I too would have liked to go to Goma but with the war you can’t go there. It will only it will be Kinshasa and Juba. There we will do everything. Thank you for being here with me and being all together. Thank you for your work which is so good, it helps a lot because it gives people who are interested in that trip the images also your thoughts and reflections on the trip. Thank you so much. I’d like to go around, but I can’t today. I must stay here. I’m a little ashamed to have all of you come here we can greet you from afar. Thank you”

(Elias Turk – EWTN)

After greeting the journalists, Francis noted, “Right now we are crossing over the Sahara, let’s have a little thought of silence, a prayer, for all the people who, looking for a little well-being, a little freedom, have crossed it and have not made it. Many who suffer arrive in the Mediterranean, after crossing the desert, are caught in the lagers and suffer there. Let’s pray for all those people (a moment of silence). Thank you.”

The papal plane landed just after 2:30 pm in Kinshasa, DRC, where the temperature is 88 degrees and the humidity 78 percent. Kinshasa is the same time zone as Italy. The trip was 5,420 kilometers (3,370 miles).

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(Elias Turk – EWTN)

 

 

CHICAGO NATIVE TO HEAD POWERFUL DICASTERY FOR BISHOPS – POPE NAMES MISSIONARY BISHOP TO HEAD DICASTERY FOR BISHOPS

CHICAGO NATIVE TO HEAD POWERFUL DICASTERY FOR BISHOPS

Today was a busy news day in the Vatican, filled with events and meetings and a big appointment, as it often is just before a Pope leaves on a foreign apostolic pilgrimage. In fact, Francis departs tomorrow for the DRC, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and for South Sudan, returning to Rome on February 5. Francis today met with the General Chaptrer of the Order of Malta, Bolivia’s foreign minister and entourage, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and members of the Italian Federation of Water Volleyball.

In big news for both the Vatican and the United States, Pope Francis today appointed a Chicago-born Augustinian missionary, Bishop Robert Francis Prevost, to head the powerful Dicastery for Bishops. He succeeds Cardinal Marc Ouellet whose resignation was announced today as having reached the age limit of 75. Ouellet turned 78 in June of 2022. Accused of sexual assault last year, the cardinal has stated his innocence in writing and a video. In addition, a Vatican preliminary investigation found insufficient evidence to start a formal cause.

Bishop Prevost will take office on April 12 with the title of archbishop-elect.

POPE NAMES MISSIONARY BISHOP TO HEAD DICASTERY FOR BISHOPS

Pope Francis has named Robert Francis Prevost, an Augustinian missionary who has been serving as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, as the new prefect for the Dicastery of Bishops. Bishop Prevost succeeds Cardinal Marc Ouellet, both as prefect and as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

By Vatican News

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the offices of prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, presented, by His Eminence Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., upon reaching the age limit, and has called Bishop Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., until now bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, to succeed him in the same offices, at the same time conferring the title of Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo. He will assume office on 12 April 2023.

Biography of Robert Francis Prevost

Robert Francis Prevost, 67, was born in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., on 14 September 1955. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) in 1977, in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel in St. Louis, and made his solemn vows on 29 August 1981. He studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, graduating with a degree in Theology.

At age 27, he was sent by the Order to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). He received priestly ordination on 19 June 1982. He received his Licentiate in 1984, then was sent to work in the mission in Chulucanas, Piura, Peru (1985-1986).

In 1987 he received his doctorate with the thesis, “The Role of the Local Prior of the Order of St. Augustine.” In the same year he was elected vocations director and missions director of the Augustinian Province of “Mother of Good Counsel.”

In 1988 he was sent to the mission of Trujillo as director of the common formation project for Augustinian aspirants from the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurímac. There he served as community prior (1988-1992), formation director (1988-1998), and teacher of the professed (1992-1998). In the Archdiocese of Trujillo, he was judicial vicar (1989-1998), and professor of Canon Law, Patristics, and Morals in the San Carlos e San Marcelo Major Seminary.

In 1999 he was elected prior provincial of the “Mother of Good Counsel” Province. After two and a half years, the Ordinary General Chapter elected him prior general, a ministry the Order entrusted to him again at the 2007 Ordinary General Chapter.

In October 2013 he returned to his province to be teacher of the professed and vicar provincial; positions he held until Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Perun, on 3 November 2014, elevating him to the episcopal dignity of titular bishop of the Diocese of Sufar. He took canonical possession of the diocese on 7 November in the presence of Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop James Patrick Green; he was ordained bishop on 12 December, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the Cathedral of his diocese.

He has been bishop of Chiclayo since 26 September 2015. He has served as second vice president of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference since March 2018. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and a member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.

LETTER FROM SYNOD LEADERS HIGHLIGHTS CRUCIAL ROLE OF BISHOPS IN SYNODAL PROCESS

Since the start of the Synod on Synodality in 2021, complaints, comments, and questions have come in to the Vatican from around the world – from priests, bishops and laity alike – suggesting that the outcome of the three-year synod process would eventually be determined only by Rome, that the “agenda” would be controlled by a small group of people. Some even suggested that the role of the bishops in this entire process seemed to be diminished.

In answer to those comments, a letter was sent to bishops today from Cardinals Mario Grech, secretary general of the Synod and Jean Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg and general relator of the Synod. It starts:

“As you know, at the conclusion of the consultation stage ‘in the particular Churches’, the Synod 2021-2024 process foresees the celebration of Continental Assemblies. It is in view of this Continental stage that we address all of you, who, in your particular Churches, are the principle and foundation of unity of the holy People of God (cf. LG 23). We do so in the name of our common responsibility for the ongoing synodal process as Bishops of the Church of Christ: there is no exercise of ecclesial synodality without exercise of episcopal collegiality.”

It also says:

“On the eve of the Continental Assemblies, we feel the urgency to share a few considerations for a common understanding of the synodal process, its progress and the meaning of the current Continental stage. There are in fact some who presume to already know what the conclusions of the Synodal Assembly will be. Others would like to impose an agenda on the Synod, with the intention of steering the discussion and determining its outcome. However, the theme that the Pope has assigned to the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops is clear: ‘For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, mission’. This is therefore the sole theme that we are called to explore in each of the stages within the process. The expectations for Synod 2021-2024 are many and varied, but it is not the task of the Assembly to address all the issues being debated in the Church.”

Vatican News has summarized the letter that was published in Italian, English, French, Spanish and Portuguese:

LETTER FROM SYNOD LEADERS HIGHLIGHTS CRUCIAL ROLE OF BISHOPS IN SYNODAL PROCESS

In a letter addressed to all the diocesan and eparchial bishops throughout the world, the General Secretary and the General Relator of the Synod offer considerations on the role of Bishops in the synodal process.

Cardinal Mario Grech and Cardinal Jean Claude Hollerich – respectively the Secretary General and the General Relator of the Synod – have addressed a letter to all the Bishops of the world in which they share “a few considerations for a common understanding of the synodal process, its progress, and the meaning of the current Continental stage.”

Cardinal Grech:

The Cardinals begin by noting that, as Vatican II teaches, each Bishop has “responsibility” for their own particular Church as well as “solicitude for the Universal Church.” The very reason for the synod, they explain, is “to enable the exercise of the latter,” with the current synodal process making “the role of Pastors and their participation in the various stages even more crucial.”

“For a Synodal Church”: the sole theme of the Synod

In their letter, the Cardinals highlight the sole theme of the Synod: “For a Synodal Church: communion, participation, mission.”

“This is therefore the sole theme we are called to explore in each of the stages within the process.”

The exclusive focus on this theme precludes the possibility of other themes being “surreptitiously introduced” by those who would “exploit the Assembly and disregard the consultation of the People of God.”

The Cardinals say “it is understandable” that in the initial phase of the synod, “the scope or margins of the theme were not clearly defined”. However, they say, these have been gradually clarified in subsequent steps. “It is important to remember,” they say, that the syntheses produced in the diocesan stage “are the result of the discernment of the Pastors regarding the contributions made during the consultation of the People of God.” TO CONTINUE: Letter from Synod leaders highlights crucial role of Bishops in synodal process – Vatican News

Also this from Vatican news:There is no synod without a bishop: In an interview with Vatican Radio, the Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, Cardinal Mario Grech, explains the role of the Bishops in the synodal process, and why it is important to highlight that role at this stage in the synodal process. Cardinal Grech: There is no synod without a bishop – Vatican News

 

VATICAN INSIDER: A ROME BUREAU STORY – POPE FRANCIS TO ROMAN ROTA: ALL TRUE MARRIAGE IS A GIFT

VATICAN INSIDER: A ROME BUREAU STORY

This week, in the interview segment of “Vatican Insider,” I present a real ‘insider’ story – that of my colleague in the EWTN Rome bureau, Alexey Gotovsky who hails from Kazakhstan. Learn about his childhood in a country flanked by India, China and Russia and hear about his road to Rome and EWTN.

I could tell so many similar, interesting stories if my only interviews were with the staff of our Rome bureau and other EWTN offices throughout Europe – amazing, talented, very bright people who, on screen or behind the scenes in video and audio editing studios, bring you into the Catholic Church and bring the Church to you!

Here we are in one of our audio studios –

IN THE UNITED STATES, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (stations listed at www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio, or on http://www.ewtn.com. OUTSIDE THE U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” VI airs at 5am and 9pm ET on Saturdays and 6am ET on Sundays. On the GB-IE feed (which is on SKY in the UK and Ireland), VI airs at 5:30am, 12 noon and 10pm CET on Sundays. Both of these feeds are also available on the EWTN app and on www.ewtnradio.net ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN TIME ZONE! For VI archives: go to https://www.ewtn.com/radio/audio-archive and write the name of the guest for whom you are searching in the SEARCH box. Below that, will appear “Vatican Insider” – click on that and the link to that particular episode will appear.

POPE FRANCIS TO ROMAN ROTA: ALL TRUE MARRIAGE IS A GIFT

In his address to the Roman Rota for the opening of the judicial year, Pope Francis says proclaiming the “Gospel of the Family” is one of the essential tasks of the Church.

By Christopher Wells (Vatican news)

There is a “strong need” in the Church and in the world, “to rediscover the meaning and value of the conjugal union between man and woman on which the family is founded,” Pope Francis said on Friday.

Addressing the auditors of the Roman Rota at the beginning of the Church’s judicial year, the Holy Father said the Church has the mission to proclaim the Good News, which includes “illuminating and sustaining the ‘great mystery that is conjugal and family love.’”

Marriage is a gift

The Pope explained that, according to Christian revelation, marriage is more than a ceremony or social event; it is not a mere formality or an abstract ideal, but instead “is a reality with its own precise consistency.”

Given that reality, and the fact that marriage takes place between real men and women with all their limitations and failings, the Pope asked how marriages can be engaging, faithful, and permanent.

The answer, he said, lies in the fact that all true marriages, even non-sacramental marriages, are a gift from God to the spouses.

“Marriage is always a gift! Conjugal fidelity rests on divine fidelity; conjugal fruitfulness rests on divine fruitfulness.”

For this reason, marriage cannot “be reduced to a sentimental plane or to mere selfish satisfactions,” that is, one must reject the idea that a marriage lasts only so long as romantic love does.

Instead, Pope Francis said, “marital love is inseparable from marriage itself, in which fragile and limited human love meets divine love, which is always faithful and merciful.”

We can fulfill Jesus’ command that we “love one another” – which also pertains to marriage – because “it is He Himself who sustains spouses with His grace.”

Marriage is good

Having elaborated on marriage as a gift from God, Pope Francis went on to emphasize that marriage is good – and, in fact, “a good of extraordinary value for everyone,” not just spouses and children, but other families, the Church, and the whole world.

He also emphasized that, “in the Christian economy of salvation, marriage constitutes first and foremost the high road to holiness, a holiness lived out in ordinary life.”

This, the Pope said, “is an essential aspect of the Gospel of the family.”

Turning to the question of marriages in crisis, Pope Francis said the Church must accompany spouses facing difficulties with love and support. The Church’s pastoral response, he said, must involve helping renew the awareness of marriage as an “irrevocable gift.” Without ignoring the contributions of social sciences, this “light on one’s marriage is an essential part of the journey of reconciliation” within marriages.

The Pope recognized that marriage always involves “fragility” – but, he said, “with the help of the Holy Spirit,” difficulties in married life need not lead to a definitive rupture.

 

IN BRIEF

IN BRIEF

POPE SAYS DIGNITY OF WOMEN AND GIRLS MUST BE PROTECTED: He emphasized this when addressing participants in the international conference “Women Building a Culture of Encounter Interreligiously,” organized by the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations and the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue at Rome’s Pontifical Urbaniana University, from January 25 to 27. “The fact that your Conference is devoted to listening to the experiences and perspectives of women is all the more valuable, since our quest for peace must increasingly involve…women. Because women bestow care and life upon the world: they are themselves a path towards peace.” The Holy Father encouraged their important work of sharing insight and best practices. “I am grateful to you for your commitment and effort to foster the dignity of women and girls in particular.” Pope: Dignity of women and girls must be protected – Vatican News

NEVER KEEP UP ON PEACE, POPE TELLS researchers and experts of the European Institute for International Studies in Salamanca.   The Institute’s work in education in international relations aims to prepare leaders to make a difference in the building of a better world. “Peace among men is an essential good for which we must work zealously and fervently beseech God,” Pope Francis said, reiterating his belief that “every war leaves the world worse off than it found it.” Reflecting on the concept of peace, the Pope said peace is a challenge “that it is not simply based on balances of power or on silencing the just demands of the less favoured”; but is instead an “essential good for which we must work zealously and fervently beseech God.” “War is a failure of politics and humanity, a shameful surrender, a defeat in the face of the forces of evil.” Pope Francis: Never give up the struggle for peace – Vatican News

POPE TO PHILANTHROPISTS: PROMOTE INTEGRAL GOOD OF THE PERSON – Greeting members of the Assifero Association, an Italian Association of Foundations and Philanthropic Bodies on its 20th anniversary, Pope Francis congratulated the members for the “clearly Christian-inspired approach with which you have structured your activities.” Francis noted that the Association brings together many private foundations in Italy and abroad that work in various fields “promoting the person and developing healthy and supportive social and economic models. …I would like to recommend that you pay particular attention in your programmes to three important values that, moreover, you already have in mind: the promotion of the integral good of the person; listening to local communities; and closeness to the least, never forgetting that one of God’s values is closeness.” Pope to philanthropists: Promote integral good of the person – Vatican News

 

 

IN BRIEF

To watch solemn vespers at the end of the January 18 to 25 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity in the basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls with Pope Francis, click here at 5:30 pm Rome time: Solemnity of the Conversion of Saint Paul – Celebration of Second Vespers – Activities of the Holy Father Pope Francis | Vatican.va

IN BRIEF

AT GENERAL AUDIENCE, POPE FRANCIS CONTINUES CATECHESES ON APOSTOLIC ZEAL. Pope Francis told the faithful that “each day is a time of grace” and “new opportunity” for those who follow Christ. He explored how Jesus himself chose to present His message, noting that, in the synagogue of Nazareth, at the very beginning of his public ministry, the Lord revealed that, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy, He came to proclaim Good News to the poor and a year of favor from the Lord. The Pope said Jesus communicated with certain essential elements, especially joy, freedom, light, healing and awe.  “One cannot speak of Jesus without joy, because faith is a wonderful love story to be shared…” “The Gospel of Jesus Christ is, as the prophet foretold, a saving message that brings contagious joy, authentic freedom, the promise of spiritual rebirth as God’s beloved sons and daughters, and definitive healing from the oppression of sin and death.” Pope at Audience: Every day is a time of grace – Vatican News

POPE THANKS FAMILIES HOSTING YOUTHS PARTICIPATING IN WYD 2023: Pope Francis sent a video message to Portuguese families who will welcome in their homes the thousands of youths expected at WYD Lisbon 2023, saying their generous hospitality also shows openness to other horizons. Following his video message addressed last week to young people preparing to participate in World Youth Day in Lisbon, Pope Francis has also thanked Portuguese families who will welcome them in their homes during the event. Over 400,000 young people from across the world have already registered to take part in the WYD on 1-6 August 2023. In a video message released Wednesday, the Pope remarked that by welcoming young people in their homes, families not only show generosity, but, most importantly, openness to people of other cultures and to new horizons. Pope thanks families hosting youths participating in WYD 2023 – Vatican News

POPE TO DELEGATION OF THE UKRAINIAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. Pope Francis thanked members of the Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) for their work by describing their witness as a “concrete testimony of peace in a country suffering from war.” Addressing a UCCRO delegation before the general audience on Wednesday, the Pope upheld the collaboration of the member groups, whom he said, together support those in need, defend the rights of the faithful of all denominations and advocate for the respect of human rights. “I give thanks to God because this meeting enables me, in some way, to have close contact with the Ukrainian people, who have always been present in my prayers during these months.” Pope upholds Ukrainian interfaith efforts as concrete testimony of peace – Vatican News

(NOT) JUST ANOTHER TUESDAY….

(NOT) JUST ANOTHER TUESDAY….

January 24 is the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, patron of journalists. The communications office of the diocese of Rome traditionally celebrates the liturgical memory of the saint with a Mass for members of the media at Santa Maria in Montesanto, one of the so-called “twin churches” on Rome’s famed Piazza del Popolo.

This basilica (featured on the left) is also known to Romans as “the church of artists” because, for the last 70 years on Sundays a Mass is celebrated that usually involves people from the world of culture and art. The basilica on the right is Santa Maria dei Miracoli.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, presided at today’s Mass, and delivered the homily to a packed church.

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Though cold, it was such a lovely, sunny day that, after so much rain, I decided to do something extravagant (and usually not on my agenda on a work day!) and have lunch outdoors at Rosati’s, one of the two high end café/restaurants on Pza. del Popolo.

A table with a view…

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What I try to do every day I live in Rome!

(Vatican News provided a summary of Pope Francis’ Message for the 57^th World Day of Social Communications to take place on May 21, 2023, The papal message is traditionally released on the feast of St. Francis de Sales. The theme this year is “Speaking with the heart. ‘The truth in love’” (Eph 4:15): : Pope: Communicating with the heart can curb escalation of war – Vatican News

TODAY’S SAINT: MARIANNE COPE, A SAINT FOR VICTIMS OF LEPROSY – POPE: NEVER FORGET OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WITH HANSEN’S DISEASE

TODAY’S SAINT: MARIANNE COPE, A SAINT FOR VICTIMS OF LEPROSY

(Franciscanmedia.com) – Though leprosy scared off most people in 19th-century Hawaii, that disease sparked great generosity in the woman who came to be known as Mother Marianne of Molokai. Her courage helped tremendously to improve the lives of its victims in Hawaii, a territory annexed to the United States during her lifetime (1898).

Mother Marianne’s generosity and courage were celebrated at her May 14, 2005, beatification in Rome. She was a woman who spoke “the language of truth and love” to the world, said Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the of Saints. Cardinal Martins, who presided at the beatification Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, called her life “a wonderful work of divine grace.” Speaking of her special love for persons suffering from leprosy, he said, “She saw in them the suffering face of Jesus. Like the Good Samaritan, she became their mother.”

Just a few of the photos I took on an early visit to the peninsula of Kalaupapa on the island of Moloka’i. It was here that victims of leprosy were exiled to live (and there are still a few living here today). The heroes of Kalaupapa became saints – Damien and Marianne – and a third one, Joseph Dutton, has had his cause for canonization opened. Damien died of leprosy in 1889.

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On January 23, 1838, a daughter was born to Peter and Barbara Cope of Hessen-Darmstadt, Germany. The girl was named after her mother. Two years later the Cope family emigrated to the United States and settled in Utica, New York. Young Barbara worked in a factory until August 1862, when she went to the Sisters of the Third Order of Saint Francis in Syracuse, New York. After profession in November of the next year, she began teaching at Assumption parish school.

Marianne held the post of superior in several places and was twice the novice mistress of her congregation. A natural leader, three different times she was superior of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse, where she learned much that would be useful during her years in Hawaii.

Elected provincial in 1877, Mother Marianne was unanimously re-elected in 1881. Two years later the Hawaiian government was searching for someone to run the Kakaako Receiving Station for people suspected of having leprosy. More than 50 religious communities in the United States and Canada were asked. When the request was put to the Syracuse sisters, 35 of them volunteered immediately. On October 22, 1883, Mother Marianne and six other sisters left for Hawaii where they took charge of the Kakaako Receiving Station outside Honolulu; on the island of Maui they also opened a hospital and a school for girls.

In 1888, Mother Marianne and two sisters went to Molokai to open a home for “unprotected women and girls” there. The Hawaiian government was quite hesitant to send women for this difficult assignment; they need not have worried about Mother Marianne! On Molokai she took charge of the home that Saint Damien de Veuster had established for men and boys. Mother Marianne changed life on Molokai by introducing cleanliness, pride, and fun to the colony. Bright scarves and pretty dresses for the women were part of her approach.

Awarded the Royal Order of Kapiolani by the Hawaiian government and celebrated in a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson, Mother Marianne continued her work faithfully. Her sisters have attracted vocations among the Hawaiian people and still work on Molokai.

Mother Marianne died on August 9, 1918, was beatified in 2005, and canonized in 2012.

Reflection

The government authorities were reluctant to allow Mother Marianne to be a mother on Molokai. Thirty years of dedication proved their fears unfounded. God grants gifts regardless of human shortsightedness and allows those gifts to flower for the sake of the kingdom.

POPE: NEVER FORGET OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS WITH HANSEN’S DISEASE

In a message to participants in a seminar on Hansen’s disease (or ‘leprosy’) and other neglected tropical diseases, Pope Francis says we must ask ourselves, “Will we bend down to touch and heal the wounds of others?”

By Christopher Wells

“We must not forget these brothers and sisters of ours” who are afflicted by Hansen’s disease.

Pope Francis offered that invitation in a message to an international symposium focusing on serving those afflicted by leprosy and other neglected tropical diseases (NTDs).

The two-day “Leave No One Behind” symposium is underway in Rome (January 23-24) and is sponsored by the French Raoul Follereau Foundation, Italy’s Amici di Raoul Follereau (“Friends of Raoul Follereau”), and the Sasakawa Leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) Initiative, in collaboration with the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The symposium is focused on achieving the goal of “zero leprosy” in the world and establishing societies where no one is left behind due to Hansen’s Disease and other NTDs.

Will we bend down to help others?

In his message Monday, Pope Francis noted that, “the stigma attached to leprosy continues to cause serious human rights violations in various parts of the world.” He insists that we must not ignore a disease that still affects hundreds of thousands of people around the world, especially “in more deprived social contexts.”

Basing his appeal on “the human family’s vocation to fraternity,” Pope Francis calls on everyone to ask, “Will we bend down to heal the wounds of others? Will we stoop to carry one another on our shoulders?” “This is the present challenge, of which we should not be afraid.”

Building an inclusive society

Pope Francis then goes further, urging people to “seize the occasion of World Leprosy Day [the last Sunday in January] to review our models of development and to seek to correct the discrimination they cause.” He added, “This is a propitious occasion to renew our commitment to building an inclusive society that leaves no one on the margins.”

Returning to the specific question of Hansen’s disease, the Pope said we must ask ourselves “how best to work with people with leprosy, treating them fully as persons and recognizing them as the main players in their struggle to participate in basic human rights and live as full members of the community.”

“I hope that this conference will help gather voices from around the world and discuss measures that can be taken to further promote respect for human dignity.”

Pope Francis expressed his sympathy for those suffering from Hansen’s disease, and encouraged them in their efforts to secure spiritual support and medical care. At the same time, he invited Christian communities to allow themselves to be evangelized “by these brothers and sisters” and to be at the forefront of efforts aimed at promoting their full integration into society.

 

VATICAN INSIDER WELCOMES BACK FR. CHRISTOPHER PEARSON

If you’ve been to Italy and had some of its fabulous coffee (in one of many forms and combinations), you will love this story. Even if you haven’t been to Italy, you’ll love this story! How Italy came to be Europe’s coffee capital (thelocal.it)

Why else should you come to Italy? Well, here’s why: Rome is world’s top food destination: Tripadvisor – Wanted in Rome

VATICAN INSIDER WELCOMES BACK FR. CHRISTOPHER PEARSON

In this week’s interview segment, Vatican Insider welcomes back Fr. Christopher Pearson, pastor of Most Precious Blood parish in London. As I mentioned last week in Part I of our conversation, we’ve been friends for over a dozen years, as you will hear in the amusing start of our conversation, and Fr. Christopher was in Rome to concelebrate at the January 5 funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

What links us in friendship is one of Pope Benedict’s major achievements – the creation in 2009 of the Personal Ordinariate, a canonical structure within the Catholic Church established to enable “groups of Anglicans” to join the Catholic Church while preserving elements of their liturgical and spiritual patrimony. Fr. Chris was an Anglican pastor for 15 years and talks about his becoming a Catholic priest. He highlights Benedict’s great desire for Christian Unity, citing the Ordinariate as one example of how that can be achieved.

Fr. Christopher, Maggie McDaniel of Catholic Faith Journeys and I shared a great meal at Taverna Agape while they were in Rome.  Fr. Chris was in Rome to concelebrate Pope emeritus Benedict’s funeral Mass.

Fr. Christopher is always a total delight to be with and you always learn a great deal from him. I am blessed that we are friends! And now Maggie knows him – maybe she’ll do a pilgrimage to the UK and the Ordinariate of Walsingham!

IN THE UNITED STATES, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (stations listed at www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio, or on http://www.ewtn.com. OUTSIDE THE U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” VI airs at 5am and 9pm ET on Saturdays and 6am ET on Sundays. On the GB-IE feed (which is on SKY in the UK and Ireland), VI airs at 5:30am, 12 noon and 10pm CET on Sundays. Both of these feeds are also available on the EWTN app and on www.ewtnradio.net ALWAYS CHECK YOUR OWN TIME ZONE! For VI archives: go to https://www.ewtn.com/radio/audio-archive and write the name of the guest for whom you are searching in the SEARCH box. Below that, will appear “Vatican Insider” – click on that and the link to that particular episode will appear.

 

 

THEME OF WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY: “LEARN TO DO GOOD; SEEK JUSTICE”

THEME OF WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY: “LEARN TO DO GOOD; SEEK JUSTICE”

Yesterday marked the start of the weeklong period in January known as the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, during which the Pope receives delegations from different Christian denominations and, in their presence, celebrates vespers in St. Paul’s Outside the Walls on the January 25th feast of the Conversion of St. Paul.

That will again be the case this year as ecumenical delegations arrive in Rome to mark this week. Today, for example, Pope Francis received a delegation from Finland, and focussed his remarks on “one baptism,” and on the importance of working for Christian unity and reconciliation among Christians and in the world.

“Having received the one baptism, we, as believers, are called above all to give thanks because, starting with the waters of baptism, our very existence has been reconciled with God, with others, and with all creation. As reconciled sons and daughters, we are called to work tirelessly for reconciliation among ourselves, and to be agents of reconciliation in our world.”

Francis also noted that, “As witnesses of faith in Christ, who immersed Himself in the frailty of our human condition, we are duty bound to immerse ourselves in the wounds of all those in need. And to do this together.”

The Holy Father announced this week at the January 15 Angelus, saying, “From 18 to 25 January the traditional Week of prayer for Christian Unity will be held. The theme this year is taken from the prophet Isaiah: “Learn to do good; seek justice” (1:17). Let us thank the Lord who guides his people towards full communion with faithfulness and patience, and let us ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten us and sustain us with his gifts.”

Francis also explained that, “The path towards Christian unity and the path of the synodal conversion of the Church are linked. Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to announce that on Saturday 30 January, in Saint Peter’s Square, an Ecumenical Prayer Vigil will take place, with which we will entrust to God the work of the 16^th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. For the young people who come to the Vigil there will be a special programme throughout the weekend, organized by the Taizé Community. As of now, I invite all brothers and sisters of all the Christian denominations to participate in this gathering of the People of God.”

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is coordinated by the World Council of Churches with the participation of member Churches.