PAPAL CATECHESIS ON FOURTH CARDINAL VIRTUE OF TEMPERANCE – POPE FRANCIS ASKS RELEASE OF PRISONERS OF WAR, DECRIES TORTURE

PAPAL CATECHESIS ON FOURTH CARDINAL VIRTUE OF TEMPERANCE

During his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis focused on the fourth and final cardinal virtue of temperance, saying that our ability to have power over ourselves will help us savour all we have in life, in a much more meaningful and joyful way, akin to sipping a glass of wine, rather than drinking it all at once.

(Vatican news)

Faced with pleasures, the Pope said, the temperate person acts judiciously.

“The free course of impulses and total license accorded to pleasures end up backfiring on us, plunging us into a state of boredom,” the Pope said. “How many people who have wanted to try everything voraciously have found themselves losing the taste for everything!”

Given this, he explained, we should enjoy moderately.

“For example, to appreciate a good wine,” the Pope observed, is “to taste it in small sips,” rather than drinking it all at once.

The temperate person, Pope Francis said, knows how to weigh words and dose them well. “He does not allow a moment’s anger to ruin relationships and friendships that can then only be rebuilt with difficulty,” especially, the Pope said, “in family life, where inhibitions are lower, we all run the risk of not keeping tensions, irritations and anger in check.”

He acknowledged that they know the time to speak and to be silent, both in the right measure, knowing how to control their own irascibility.

“This does not mean we always find him with a peaceful and smiling face,” the Pope said, recognizing that at times it is necessary to be indignant, “but always in the right way.”

A word of rebuke, he said, is at times healthier than a sour, rancorous silence. “The temperate person knows that nothing is more uncomfortable than correcting another person, but he also knows that it is necessary.”

Moreover, the Catechism says that temperance “ensures the will’s mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable,” noting the temperate person “directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion, and does not follow the base desires, but restrains the appetites.”

POPE FRANCIS ASKS RELEASE OF PRISONERS OF WAR, DECRIES TORTURE

Pope Francis turns his attention to prisoners of war, prays for their freedom and denounces the tortures many of them are subjected to.

By Linda Bordoni (vatican news)

Pope Francis on Wednesday highlighted the plight of prisoners of war in conflict-stricken countries.

“Our thoughts, at this moment, [the thoughts] of all of us, go to the peoples at war,” he said, speaking off-cuff at the end of the General Audience.

“We think of the Holy Land, of Palestine, of Israel. We think of Ukraine, tormented Ukraine. We think of the prisoners of war…”

And raising an appeal for their liberation, the Pope said:

“May the Lord move wills so they may all be freed.”

Adding to his appeal Pope Francis had special thoughts for those prisoners who are subjected to torture.

The torture of prisoners is a horrible thing, it is not human,” he decried, “We think of so many kinds of torture that wound the dignity of the person, and of so many tortured people… May the Lord help everyone and bless everyone.”

“We think of so many kinds of torture that wound the dignity of the person.”

FORTITUDE ENSURES FIRMNESS IN DIFFICULTIES, CONSTANCY IN THE PURSUIT OF THE GOOD

FORTITUDE ENSURES FIRMNESS IN DIFFICULTIES, CONSTANCY IN THE PURSUIT OF THE GOOD

The weekly general audience was held in a sunny St. Peter’s Square this morning and Pope Francis continued his catechesis on virtues, having previously dedicated a series of talks on vices.

“Dear brothers and sisters,” he began, “in our continuing catechesis on the virtues, we now consider fortitude, which the Catechism defines as ‘the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good’.  (Vatican media photos)

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“With the help of this virtue,” he noted, “we are strengthened in our daily efforts, sustained by grace, to resist temptation and to overcome all obstacles to living fully our new life in Christ. Those obstacles may be from within, such as fear, anxiety or guilt, or from without, such as trials, tribulations or persecution. Cultivating the virtue of fortitude makes us take seriously the reality of evil and actively combat all forms of injustice in the world around us.

The Pope then explained that “Fortitude is a fundamental virtue because it takes the challenge of evil in the world seriously. Some pretend it does not exist, that everything is going fine, that human will is not sometimes blind, that dark forces that bring death do not lurk in history. But it suffices to leaf through a history book, or unfortunately even the newspapers, to discover the nefarious deeds of which we are partly victims and partly perpetrators: wars, violence, slavery, oppression of the poor, wounds that have never healed and continue to bleed. The virtue of fortitude makes us react and cry out “no”, an emphatic “no” to all of this.

Francis emphasized that “In our comfortable Western world, which has watered everything down somewhat, which has transformed the pursuit of perfection into a simple organic development, which has no need for struggle because everything looks the same, we sometimes feel a healthy nostalgia for prophets.

“But,” he said, “disruptive, visionary people are very rare. There’s a need for someone who can rouse us from the soft place in which we have lain down and make us resolutely repeat our ‘no’ to evil and to everything that leads to indifference. ‘No’ to evil and ‘no” to indifference; ’yes’ to progress, to the path that moves us forward, and for this we must fight.”

“May the example of fortitude and perseverance shown by Jesus and the saints,” Franics concluded, “encourage us in our journey of Christian faith and confirm our trust in the risen Christ’s definitive victory over sin and death.”

PAPAL CATECHESIS ON JUSTICE, “THE BASIS OF PEACE” – POPE FRANCIS RENEWS APPEAL FOR CEASEFIRE IN GAZA, DECRIES KILLING OF WORLD KITCHEN STAFF VOLUNTEERS – POPE PRAYS FOR PEOPLE SLAIN IN WAR, RECALLS UKRAINIAN SOLDIER OLEKSANDR, HOLDS HIS ROSARY

PAPAL CATECHESIS ON JUSTICE, “THE BASIS OF PEACE”

Pope Francis, presiding at the weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square focused the catechesis on the virtue of justice, noting at the start that ,“Without justice, there is no peace!”

He said the Catechism describes justice as “the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbour” (No. 1807). Justice is not only a virtue to be practiced by individuals; it is above all a social virtue, for it is directed to the creation of communities in which each person is treated in accordance with his or her innate dignity. Justice is thus the basis of peace.”

The Holy Father explained that ,“the practice of justice demands the practice of other virtues, such as honesty, integrity, respect for law and commitment to the common good. Jesus calls blessed those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (cf. Mt 5:6). How greatly our world, riven by war and manifest inequality, needs men and women firmly committed to the pursuit of justice, so that the human family can live and flourish in unity, solidarity and peace.”

To see the video: Pope at Audience: The righteous and upright will find happiness – Vatican News

POPE FRANCIS RENEWS APPEAL FOR CEASEFIRE IN GAZA, DECRIES KILLING OF WORLD KITCHEN STAFF VOLUNTEERS

At the end of the general audience catechesis and summaries in different languages, Pope Francis made this appeal:

“Unfortunately, sad news continues to come from the Middle East. I reiterate my firm call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. I express my deep regret for the volunteers killed while engaged in the distribution of humanitarian aid in Gaza. I pray for them and their families. I renew my appeal for the exhausted and suffering civilian population to be given access to humanitarian aid and for the hostages to be released immediately. Let us avoid all irresponsible attempts to broaden the conflict in the region, and let us work so that this and other wars that continue to bring death and suffering to so many parts of the world may end as soon as possible. Let us pray and work tirelessly for weapons to be silenced and for peace to reign once again.”

The 7 slain volunteers worked with the World Central Kitchen.

POPE PRAYS FOR PEOPLE SLAIN IN WAR, RECALLS UKRAINIAN SOLDIER OLEKSANDR, HOLDS HIS ROSARY

Continuing his appeals for peace, the Holy Father spoke of Ukraine and a young soldier, killed in action, whose rosary he held at the audience:

“And let us not forget tormented Ukraine; so many dead! I hold in my hands a rosary and a book of the New Testament left by a soldier who died in the war. This boy was called Oleksandr, Alexander, and he was 23 years old. Alexander read the New Testament and the Psalms, and in the Book of Psalms he had underlined Psalm 130: “Out of the depths I cry to thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice!”. This 23-year-old boy died in Avdiïvka, in the war. He had his life ahead of him. And this is his rosary and his New Testament, which he read and prayed. I would like us to take a moment of silence, all of us, thinking about this boy and many others like him who died in this folly of war. War always destroys! Let us think of them, and let us pray.” (video at 53:08: Pope at Audience: The righteous and upright will find happiness – Vatican News)

 

 

 

Pope Francis recalls a slain Ukrainian soldier, 23-year-old Oleksandr, who was kille

“OF ALL VICES, PRIDE IS THE GREAT QUEEN,” SALVATION IS THROUGH HUMILITY

“OF ALL VICES, PRIDE IS THE GREAT QUEEN,” SALVATION IS THROUGH HUMILITY

Today’s general audience was held in St. Peter’s Square. It was a nice day but for pilgrims who have to arrive early to get their seats in the square, the morning temperatures can be cold. The audience generally runs from 9 to 10am and the temps are not that warm in that hour!

As you can see by these photos from EWTN’S Daniel Ibanez, Pope Francis toured the square in the white papal jeep before ascending to the stage area.

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Once seated, the Holy Father began the weekly audience by stating, “today’s catechesis will be read by Monsignor Giroli, one of my helpers, because I still have a cold and cannot read well. Thank you!”

Msgr. Pierluigi Giroli is an official from the Secretariat of State. The multi-language summaries of the main catechesis were read by Vatican employees.

The weekly audience catechesis cycle on virtues and vices closes today with the pope looking at pride and humility.

“In our catechetical journey on the vices and virtues, today we come to the last of the vices: pride,” he began. “The ancient Greeks defined it with a word that could be translated “excessive splendor.” Indeed, pride is self-exaltation, conceit, vanity. The term also appears in that series of vices that Jesus lists to explain that evil always comes from the heart of man. The proud man is one who thinks he is much more than he really is; one who frets about being recognized as greater than others, always wants to see his own merits recognized, and despises others, deeming them inferior to himself.

“Of all vices, pride is the great queen,” continued the Pope. “It is no accident that, in the Divine Comedy, Dante places it in the very first level of purgatory: those who give in to this vice are far from God, and the correction of this evil requires time and effort, more than any other battle to which the Christian is called.

The Holy Father then outlined what he called “the long list of symptoms that reveal a person’s succumbing to the vice of pride, noting it is an evil with an obvious physical appearance: the proud man is haughty, he has a “stiff neck,” that is, he has a stiff neck that does not bend. He is a man easily led to scornful judgment: with no reason, he passes irrevocable judgments on others, who seem to him hopelessly inept and incapable.

Continuing that thought, Francis said the haughty man, “forgets that Jesus in the Gospels assigned us very few moral precepts, but on one of them he was uncompromising: never judge. You realize that you are dealing with a proud person when, on offering him a little constructive criticism, or making a completely harmless remark, he reacts in an exaggerated manner, as if someone had offended his majesty: he goes into a rage, shouts, interrupts relations with others in a resentful manner.

Concluding the catechesis on pride, the Pope said “salvation comes through humility, the true remedy for every act of pride. In the Magnificat, Mary sings of the God who by His power scatters the proud in the sick thoughts of their hearts. It is useless to steal anything from God, as the proud hope to do, because after all He wants to give us everything. This is why the apostle James, to his community wounded by infighting originating in pride, writes, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble”

Pope Francis then urged “dear brothers and sisters, let us take advantage of this Lent to fight against our pride.”

 

FYI – POPE HOLDS GENERAL AUDIENCE, VISITS ROME HOSPITAL FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS – POPE FRANCIS VISITS ROME HOSPITAL FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS – WEEKLY CATECHESIS ON VIRTUES AND VICES FOCUSES ON ENVY AND VAINGLORY

11 years ago this evening, Pope Benedict XVI resigned the papacy and the doors of Castelgandolo, where he was staying, were slowly closed at 8 pm. Thank you for your years as the Successor of Peter!

I played a role in the EWTN coverage of that day, one of the most remarkable and emotional moments of my personal and professional life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=NvtBYIXc7YY

FYI

A woman has left 5.3 million euros (around $5.7 million) in her will for the restoration of La Madeleine church in Paris, France, where she used to meet her husband at lunchtimes (French report, Wikipedia). (Starting Seven, Luke Coppen, The Pillar)

The Pontifical Academy for Life moves from the Via della Conciliazione to Rome’s Piazza San Calisto.https://english.katholisch.de/artikel/51419-moving-away-from-the-vatican-pontifical-academy-for-life-relocates?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email   (Starting Seven, Luke Coppen).

POPE HOLDS GENERAL AUDIENCE, VISITS ROME HOSPITAL FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS

Pope Francis, arriving in the Paul VI Hall in his wheelchair for the weekly general audience, told the faithful “I still have a bit of a cold which is why I asked Monsignor Ciampanelli to read today’s catechesis.” Msgr. Ciampanelli is an official of the Secretariat of State.

Before the general audience, the Holy Father met with Armenia’s Catholic bishops at which time Msgr. Ciampanelli also read the papal discourse.

After he left the Paul VI Hall, it was reported that the Pope, in a white Fiat 500 car with tinted windows, filmed by Italy’s RAI television, was taken to the Fatebenefratelli Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola hospital.  Run by the Fratebenefratelli order, the hospital was known as Giovanni Calibita Fatebenefratelli. Its name was changed on September 1, 2022 to Fatebenefratelli Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola.

The Holy See Press Office confirmed media reports in a terse statement only at 12:45: “After the general audience Pope Francis went to the Gemelli Isola Tiberina Hospital for some diagnostic tests. At the end, he returned to the Vatican.”

(JFL: Sunday was the first time in a week that we saw or heard from Pope Francis.  We only know that last week he was on retreat, a week about which we have no details. How did the Pope spend his time? Did someone come in and share thoughts with him or preach to him? Importantly, we do not know if perhaps he was already feeling unwell during the week of spiritual exercises. If indeed he was not 100 perccnt all or part of the time, that would be a telling sign.)

POPE FRANCIS VISITS ROME HOSPITAL FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTS

Following the weekly General Audience, Pope Francis, who has been suffering from mild flu symptoms in the past days, visits Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on the Tiber Island for some diagnostic tests.

By Vatican News

A statement released by the Holy See Press Office on Wednesday said Pope Francis visited the Gemelli Hospital on Rome’s Tiber Island straight after the General Audience, where he underwent some diagnostic tests. Following the tests, he was driven back to the Vatican.

Some scheduled papal audiences were cancelled in the past days as a precautionary measure due to flu symptoms the Pope was experiencing.

On Wednesday morning, at the beginning of the Wednesday General Audience, he explained to those present in the Paul VI Hall that he still had a “cold”  and he asked one of his collaborators, Monsignor Filippo Ciampanelli, to read the catechesis for him.

Immediately after the audience, he was driven to the Rome hospital on the Tiber Island, which is very close to the Vatican.

On Sunday, he recited the Angelus as usual, appearing at the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square.

The Holy See Press Office meanwhile has confirmed the Pope will receive German Chancellor, Olaf Scholtz, in audience on Saturday, 2 March, as planned.

WEEKLY CATECHESIS ON VIRTUES AND VICES FOCUSES ON ENVY AND VAINGLORY

Reading the papal catechesis for Pope Francis, Msgr. Ciampanelli began, “In our catechesis on the virtues and the vices, we now turn to envy and vainglory.

“Let us start with envy. If we read Holy Scripture, it appears to us as one of the oldest vices: Cain’s hatred of Abel is unleashed when he realizes that his brother’s sacrifices are pleasing to God. Cain was the firstborn of Adam and Eve, he had taken the largest share of his father’s inheritance; yet, it is enough for Abel, the younger brother, to succeed in a small feat, for Cain to become enraged. The face of the envious man is always sad: he’s always looking down, he seems to be continually investigating the ground; but in reality, he sees nothing, because his mind is wrapped up in thoughts full of wickedness. Envy, if unchecked, leads to hatred of the other. Abel would be killed at the hands of Cain, who could not bear his brother’s happiness.

Vatican media…

PIX

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At envy’s basis, the Holy Father suggested, is a relationship of hate and love. “One desires the evil for the other, but secretly desires to be like him. “His good fortune seems to us an injustice: surely, we think to ourselves,  we would deserve his successes or good fortune much more!”

At the root of this vice, he noted, is “a false idea of God,” where “we do not accept that God has His own ‘math,’ different from ours.”

“Vainglory, says the Pope, “goes hand in hand with the demon of envy, and together these two vices are characteristic of a person who aspires to be the centre of the world, free to exploit everything and everyone, the object of all praise and love. Vainglory is an inflated and baseless self-esteem. The vainglorious person possesses an unwieldy “I”: he has no empathy and takes no notice of the fact that there are other people in the world besides him. His relationships are always instrumental, marked by the dominating the other. His person, his accomplishments, his achievements must be shown to everyone: he is a perpetual beggar for attention. And if at times his qualities are not recognized, he becomes fiercely angry. Others are unfair, they do not understand, they are not up to it.

“Saint Paul’s example of boasting of his weakness rather than achievements offers an effective way for overcoming vainglory. May we, like him, know that God’s grace is sufficient, since his power is made perfect in weakness, and all the more gladly boast of our weaknesses, that the power of Christ may set us free for a more generous love of others.”

POPE REFLECTS ON ACEDIA, LAZINESS, AT GENERAL AUDIENCE – A LIVING MARTYR: POPE FRANCIS PAYS TRIBUTE TO CARDINAL IMPRISONED FOR THREE DECADES

I learned a new word by listening to today’s general audience. As I heard the Pope say “acedia,” and then explain it as laziness, I wondered how for how many other people present at the audience, this was also a new word, instead of the one they would use in their native language for laziness. Just remember acedia when I give you a quiz!

POPE REFLECTS ON ACEDIA, LAZINESS, AT GENERAL AUDIENCE

The Vatican website each week offers the full catechesis of the Holy Father at the general audience, always recited in Italian, as well as a summary in each of the 8 languages used at the audience. Those same summaries are read at the weekly audience by a staff member of a Vatican office. Following is the summary of today’s papal reflections on acedia:

In our reflections on the vices and virtues, we now consider acedia or sloth, which, although associated in English with laziness, is above all a deep spiritual apathy, manifested by discontent and aversion to attentive prayer and growth in our relationship with God. According to the monastic tradition, this “noonday devil” is best overcome by the patience of faith. This includes accepting the poverty or dark night of faith, which then enables us, by God’s grace, to sense the divine presence and to continue to reach out to God. The saints themselves show us that perseverance in time of temptation leads us to set practical goals, however small, for our daily life and moves us to lean on Jesus, who always remains with us.

For the full catechesis in English, click on the following link. The Pope appears in the Paul VI audience hall at 4:22 but you might just want to watch the crowd before that.

At 48:50, the Pope speaks movingly of martyrs, yesterday’s and modern day martyrs, and welcomes 95-year old Cardinal Ernest Simoni from Albania who, under communist rule, spent 28 years in prison. Very moving images!

https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2024/2/14/udienza-generale.html

A LIVING MARTYR: POPE FRANCIS PAYS TRIBUTE TO CARDINAL IMPRISONED FOR THREE DECADES

At his weekly general audience, Pope Francis pays tribute to Cardinal Ernest Simoni, who was imprisoned by the Communist regime in Albania for twenty-eight years.

By Joseph Tulloch (Vatican news)

At the end of this week’s general Audience, Pope Francis laid aside his prepared remarks and offered a long, unscripted greeting to one of his visitors.

After discussing the history of Christian martyrdom in ancient Rome, the Pope noted that today, too, there are many martyrs all across the world, and offered a special greeting to Cardinal Ernest Simoni, who he described as a “living martyr”,

Twenty-eight years imprisonment
Born in the village of Troshani, northern Albania, in 1928, Ernest Simoni began his studies for the priesthood within the Franciscan order when he was just ten years old

In 1948, the Franciscan convent where he was staying was looted by agents of the Communist regime. The friars were shot and the novices expelled.

Despite this, Simoni continued his theological studies in secret, and was clandestinely ordained a priest in 1956.

In 1963, after Christmas Mass, Simoni was arrested and imprisoned. He remained behind bars for twenty-eight years, facing both solitary confinement and many years of hard labour.

Pope Francis met Fr Simoni during his visit to Albania in September 2014, and was brought to tears when listening to him discussing his sufferings. After returning to Rome, the Pope decided to make the elderly priest a Cardinal.

The Pope’s words
Pope Francis began his tribute to Cardinal Simoni with a reference to the many Christian martyrs buried all around them in the Vatican.

“All of us have read, have heard, the stories of the early martyrs of the Church,” he said. “Even here, where the Vatican is now, there is a cemetery, and many were executed here.”

“But, even today,” the Pope stressed, “there are many martyrs all over the world: many, perhaps more than at the beginning. There are many persecuted for their faith.”

He then introduced Cardinal Simoni, noting that he “lived 28 years in prison” as a result of the Communist persecution of the Church in Albania which, he said, was “perhaps the cruelest” of its kind.

Cardinal Simoni “continues to bear witness,” the Pope stressed. “He is now 95 years old, and he continues to work for the Church without becoming discouraged.”

After his release from prison in the 1990s, Cardinal Simoni forgave his jailers, and resumed his service as a priest, with a special focus on promoting reconciliation in post-Communist Albania.

“Dear brother,” Pope Francis concluded, “I thank you for your witness.”

CHINA: CONSECRATION OF THE NEW BISHOP OF SHAOWU – POPE FRANCIS: “WRATH, A PARTICULARLY DARK VICE”

More on the Sunday killing of a man in a Catholic Church in Istanbul on Sunday, January 28:  https://english.katholisch.de/artikel/50727-victim-in-catholic-church-in-istanbul-was-not-a-christian?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

There seems to be a bit of positive news from China as we have read in recent days, including today, with the appointment and installation of 3 new Catholic bishops. There has been a lot of criticism since the September 22, 2018 agreement signed between the Holy See and China about the appointment of bishops (and renewed in 2020 and 2022).

Basically, the communist Chinese government (PCC) was allowed to name the men they wanted as bishops but the Pope does have the right to disagree with the choice. Full disclosure, I have been one of the main critics of this agreement for reasons I have explained many times in this column and on Facebook.

I assume there was a quid pro quo in each of these recent cases. Is there room to feel positive that three new bishops will minister well to the Catholics in China and also be (allowed to be) active evangelizers?

Acts of the Apostles (at the Ascension): “But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I am hopeful but also a realist.

Following is the news about today’s consecration of the new bishop of Shaowu. After that are links to the two stories about the other new Chinese bishops.

I think Pope Francis’ general audience catechesis on wrath is so important today. Wrath, ire, anger, rage, outrage, indignation, call it what you will but there is so much wrath in the world today. Look at social discourse. Look at political parties. Look at some posts on the Internet.  Let’s listen to and reflect on what Francis said.

CHINA: CONSECRATION OF THE NEW BISHOP OF SHAOWU

Fr. Pietro Wu Yishun has been consecrated as the new Bishop of Shaowu (Minbei) in the Chinese province of Fujian, taking place according to the framework of the Provisional Agreement.

By Vatican News

On Wednesday, 31 January, the new bishop of Shaowu (Minbei) in the Chinese province of Fujian was consecrated.

Father Pietro Wu Yishun was appointed by Pope Francis on 16 December 2023.

The appointment was announced on Wednesday by the Holy See Press Office following his episcopal consecration, as set out in the framework of the Provisional Agreement between the Holy See and the People’s Republic of China.

Bishop Pietro Wu Yishun was born on 7 December 1964. He was ordained a priest on 15 August, 1992, for the Diocese of Xiamen.

Later sent to Minbei, he served there as a pastor, holding various roles, including being the parish priest of Nanping and responsible for the Apostolic Prefectures of Shaowu and Jian’ou.

Catholic community in Fujian province
The consecration liturgy of the new bishop, reported by the Vatican’s Fides news agency, took place in the Chengguan parish of the Jianyang district, dedicated to the Nativity of Mary, in the city of Nanping (Fujian province).

Bishop Giuseppe Li Shan of Beijing presided over the consecration. Three other Chinese bishops, around eighty priests from various dioceses in China, and over 360 lay faithful participated in the liturgy.

The life of the ecclesial community in the diocese of Shaowu (Minbei), according to Fides, is woven with the ordinary gestures of catechism, liturgies, prayers, charitable works, and the succession of months dedicated each year to St. Joseph, Mary, the Sacred Heart, and the Rosary.

Churches of ancient origin are restored and recovered, and pastoral initiatives are shared according to the priorities suggested by the Pope.

Thus, the diocesan parishes celebrated specific initiatives during the Pauline Year, proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI, and the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, announced by Pope Francis.

Prayers were offered in the diocesan parishes for the success of the Olympics and the end of the pandemic. In the face of earthquakes and natural disasters, funds and relief goods are collected for the affected populations.

During the Year of Mercy, concluded Fides, the diocesan community designated two ancient churches, built more than 110 years ago, as sanctuaries with Holy Doors to pass through, thus living communion with the universal Church and the Successor of Peter.

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-01/china-bishop-taddeo-wang-yuesheng-zhengzhou-consecrated.html

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-01/bishop-consecrated-for-new-diocese-of-weifang-china.html

POPE FRANCIS: “WRATH, A PARTICULARLY DARK VICE”

Continuing his weekly catechesis on virtues and vices, Pope Francis opened today’s general audience by explaining, “it is time to reflect on the vice of wrath. It is a particularly dark vice, and it is perhaps the easiest to detect from a physical point of view. The person dominated by wrath finds it difficult to hide this impulse: you can recognize it from the movements of his body, his aggressiveness, his laboured breathing, his grim and frowning expression.”

“In its most acute manifestation, ” he continued, “wrath is a vice that concedes no respite. If it is born of an injustice suffered (or believed to be suffered), often it is unleashed not against the offender, but against the first unfortunate victim. There are men who withhold their rage in the workplace, showing themselves to be calm and composed, but at home they become unbearable for the wife and children. Wrath is a pervasive vice: it is capable of depriving us of sleep, of barring the way to reason and thought.” (Vatican photos)

One of the results of wrath, said the Holy Father, is that “it destroys human relationships. It expresses the incapacity to accept the diversity of others, especially when their life choices diverge from our own. It does not stop at the misconduct of one person, but throws everything into the cauldron: it is the other person, the other as he or she is, the other as such, who provokes anger and resentment. One begins to detest the tone of their voice, their trivial everyday gestures, their ways of reasoning and feeling.”

Pope Francis noted that “Wrath makes us lose lucidity, doesn’t it? Because one of the characteristics of wrath, at times, is that sometimes it fails to mitigate with time. In these cases, even distance and silence, instead of easing the burden of mistakes, magnifies them. For this reason, the Apostle Paul – as we have heard – recommends to Christians to face up to the problem straight away, and to attempt reconciliation: “Do not let the sun go down on your anger” (Eph 4:26). It is important that everything dissipate immediately, before sundown. If some misunderstanding arises during the day, and two people can no longer understand each other, perceiving themselves as far apart, the night cannot be handed over to the devil.!

Importantly, the Pope also explained that “the passions are to some extent unconscious: they happen, they are life experiences. We are not responsible for the onset of wrath, but always for its development. And at times it is good for anger to be vented in the right way. If a person were never to (feel) anger, if a person did not become indignant at an injustice, if he did not feel something quivering in his gut at the oppression of the weak, it would mean that the person was not human, must less a Christian.

Francis ended by noting that “holy indignation exists, which is not wrath but an inner movement, a holy indignation. Jesus knew it several times in His life (cf. Mk 3.5): He never responded to evil with evil, but in His soul, He felt this sentiment, and in the case of the merchants in the Temple, He performed a strong and prophetic action, dictated not by wrath, but by zeal for the house of the Lord (cf. Mt 21:12-13). We must distinguish well: zeal, holy indignation, is one thing; wrath, which is bad, is another.”

POPE SAYS “EMBRACE PURE LOVE, BEWARE OF LUST”

At the start of the general audience today, the Pope announced that a circus would perform for the pilgrims present in the Paul VI Hall. To see that performance, go to minute 40 of this video of the general audience:  https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-01/pope-at-audience-resist-the-vice-of-lust.html

Here are some Vatican photos:

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My summary of the audience catechesis is a bit longer than usual but the Holy Father’s words on love are very beautiful and powerful and bear repeating.

POPE SAYS “EMBRACE PURE LOVE, BEWARE OF LUST”

Beginning today’s general audience. Pope Francis told the faithful who filled the Paul VI Hall, “today, let us listen well to the catechesis, because afterwards there will be a circus that will perform for us.

“Let us continue our journey concerning vices and virtues. The ancient Fathers teach us that, after gluttony, the second ‘demon’ – that is, vice – that is always crouching at the door of the heart is that of lust, called porneia in Greek. While gluttony is voracity with regard to food, this second vice is a kind of ‘voracity’ with regard to another person, that is, the poisoned bond that human beings have with each other, especially in the sphere of sexuality.”

“Be careful,” Francis emphasized, “in Christianity, there is no condemnation of the sexual instinct. There is no condemnation. A book of the Bible, the Song of Songs, is a wonderful poem of love between two lovers. However, this beautiful dimension, the sexual dimension, the dimension of love, of our humanity is not without its dangers, so much so that St Paul already had to address the issue in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. St Paul writes: “It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and of a kind that is not found even among pagans” (5:1). The Apostle’s reproach concerns precisely an unhealthy handling of sexuality by some Christians.”

The Holy Father then goes on to “look at the human experience, the experience of falling in love. There are so many newlyweds here: you can talk about this.

Why this mystery happens, and why it is such a shattering experience in people’s lives, none of us know. One person falls in love with another, falling in love just happens. It is one of the most astonishing realities of existence. Most of the songs you hear on the radio are about this: loves that shine, loves that are always sought and never attained, loves that are full of joy, or that torment us to the point of tears.”

The Pope then turned to the vice that is opposed to love: “In our catechesis on the virtues and the vices, we now turn to lust, which is opposed to the beauty of that love which the Creator has implanted in our hearts and called us to cultivate in our relations with others, especially by the responsible use of our sexuality. Lust poisons the purity of love by turning it from a chaste, patient and generous acceptance of another person in all the mysterious richness of his or her being, into a egotistic desire for possession and immediate satisfaction. God’s gift of sexuality, which finds sublime expression in conjugal love, is at the service of human fulfilment and authentic freedom, whereas lust enchains us in selfishness and emptiness. May our hearts always treasure the beauty of love, which shares in the mystery of God’s own unconditional love for us, created in his own image.”

Pope Francis exclaimed that, “This ‘garden’ where wonders are multiplied is not, however, safe from evil. It is defiled by the demon of lust, and this vice is particularly odious, for at least two reasons. At least two.

“First, because it destroys relationships between peoples. To prove such a reality, unfortunately, the daily news is sufficient. How many relationships that began in the best of ways have then turned into toxic relationships, of possession of the other, To love is to respect the other, to seek his or her happiness, to cultivate empathy for his or her feelings, to dispose oneself in the knowledge of a body, a psychology, and a soul that are not our own, and that must be contemplated for the beauty they bear. That is love, and love is beautiful. Lust, on the other hand, makes a mockery of all this: lust plunders, it robs, it consumes in haste, it does not want to listen to the other but only to its own need and pleasure;

“But there is a second reason why lust is a dangerous vice. Among all human pleasures, sexuality has a powerful voice. It involves all the senses; it dwells both in the body and in the psyche, and this is very beautiful;…Sexual pleasure that is a gift from God is undermined by pornography: satisfaction without relationship that can generate forms of addiction. We have to defend love, the love of the heart, of the mind, of the body, pure love in the giving of oneself to the other. And this is the beauty of sexual intercourse.”

In concluding remarks, Francis said, “Winning the battle against lust, against the “objectification” of the other, can be a lifelong endeavour. But the prize of this battle is the most important of all, because it is preserving that beauty that God wrote into His creation when He imagined love between man and woman. …  That beauty that makes us believe that building a story together is better than going in search of adventures – there are so many Don Juans out there; building a story together is better than going in search of adventures; cultivating tenderness is better than bowing to the demon of possession – true love does not possess, it gives itself; serving is better than conquering. Because if there is no love, life is sad, it is sad loneliness.”

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POPE AT AUDIENCE: KEEP WATCH OVER THE HEART, RECOGNIZE AND REJECT EVIL

POPE AT AUDIENCE: KEEP WATCH OVER THE HEART, RECOGNIZE AND REJECT EVIL

Beginning a new series of catecheses on the virtues and the vices opposed to them, Pope Francis at his weekly general audience explains how the Scriptures and the masters of the spiritual life urge us to reject evil at its root and highlights the importance of safeguarding the heart.

By Thaddeus Jones

Pope Francis welcomed pilgrims attending his general audience in the Paul VI Hall on this Wednesday, just two days after Christmas. His catechesis opened a new series looking at the virtues and the vices opposed to them with an introduction on safeguarding the heart.

The pitfall of pride

Beginning with Scripture, the Pope looked at how the Book of Genesis presents the dynamic of evil and temptation as recounted in the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The snake, a hidden and slow-moving creature, represents the danger of temptation and sin.

The snake begins to converse with Adam and Eve and does so by sowing gossip and doubts in their minds about God’s intentions and care for them, with trick questions about the tree of the garden and whether they could really eat of its fruit or not, even though prohibited by God, the Pope recounted.

The prohibition on eating from this tree of the knowledge of good and evil marked a “measure of wisdom,” the Pope explained, and not a restriction in the use of reason but a way to help understand that there are human limits and that we are not omnipotent.

The temptation to want to be masters of good and evil is a problem even today, he pointed out, and “the most dangerous pitfall for the human heart.” These stirrings of sin can threaten “our closeness to the Lord and our obedience to his loving plan for our lives.”

The Fall

The story of Adam and Eve shows that they did not manage to resist the temptation of the serpent, who sowed doubts in their minds about God, and they caved into them, leading to the collapse of their harmonious life in Eden, said the Pope.

So, evil did not enter human life in a clamorous way, the Pope observed, but slowly and subtly through thoughts, nurturing doubts, and giving into them to finally being ensnared by its enticements.

On alert to the wiles of the devil

The Pope emphasized that the devil, tempting us to do evil, tries to draw us away from God through cunning and astuteness, and that we must never, ever dialogue with him.

He pointed out that Jesus never dialogued with the devil; he cast him out. In the desert, where Jesus was tempted by the devil, he did not dialogue but simply responded with the words of Scripture, the Word of God.

When faced with temptation, we close the door to it, he underscored, saying here there can be no dialogue; we must watch over our hearts.

Click here for photos of todays audience: General Audience – Activities of the Holy Father Pope Francis | Vatican.va

Watching over the heart

In conclusion, the Pope recommended we watch over our hearts, following the example of the saints as well.

May we all ask for God’s grace to help us learn this practice, he said, the wisdom of guarding the treasure of our hearts with the Lord’s help, always there by our side.

 

NATIVITY SCENE TEACHES SIMPLICITY AND JOY, POPE SAYS AT AUDIENCE

We really need to reflect on the beauty and simplicity of Pope Francis’ words at today’s general audience. We need peace and quiet and simplicity and beauty – and yes, joy, true joy, lots of joy – in a world that seems to give us so much violence, war, division in societies, even in our beloved Church.

And it may sound simplistic but remember, Jesus IS the reason for the season!

NATIVITY SCENE TEACHES SIMPLICITY AND JOY, POPE SAYS AT AUDIENCE

In his final general audience before Christmas, Pope Francis returned to the image of the creche, and specifically the first Nativity scene inaugurated 800 years ago by St Francis of Assisi.

By Christopher Wells (Vatican news)

What was the saint’s intention in organizing a living Nativity in the small Umbrian town of Greccio? the Pope asked. St Francis, he explained, wasn’t trying “to create a beautiful work of art, but, through the Nativity scene, to provoke amazement at the extreme humility of the Lord, at the hardships He suffered, for love of us, in the poor grotto of Bethlehem.”

This is the wonderful nativity scene in the Paul VI Hall that features the Holy Family, St. Francis and St. Clare –

The Pope focused on the word “amazement,” saying that in the face of the mystery of the incarnation of the Word, of the birth of Jesus, we need this religious attitude of amazement.

Simplicity and joy
Pope Francis went on to identify two chief characteristics of the Nativity scene: soberness and joy.

The first characteristic contrasts with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season the consumerism that too often marks Christmas. Instead, “the Nativity scene was created to bring us back to what truly matters: to God Who comes to dwell among us.”

The Pope went on to consider the characteristic of the true joy inspired by the Nativity scene.

The joy of Christmas, he said, does not come from sumptuous presents or lavish celebrations, but instead is “the joy that overflows from the heart that has tangibly experienced “the closeness of Jesus, the tenderness of God, Who does not leave us alone, but stands with those who are alone.”

The source of hope and joy
Pope Francis compared the Nativity scene to a well from which we can draw the nearness of God, “the source of hope and joy.”

The Nativity scene, he said, “is like a living Gospel, a domestic Gospel.” And like the well in the Bible, the Nativity scene “is a place of encounter where, we bring to Jeus the expectations and worries of life, just as the shepherds of Bethlehem and the people of Greccio did.”

And if, the Pope said, when we stand before the Nativity scene, “we entrust to Jesus all we hold dear, we too will experience ‘great joy’.”

“Let us go before the Nativity scene,” Pope Francis said in conclusion, encouraging everyone to look upon the scene in the manger and to allow themselves to feel something within.