POPE FRANCIS VISITS ACADEMY THAT TRAINS VATICAN DIPLOMATS – YAD VASHEM CHAIRMAN: POPE IS FRIEND AND ALLY IN FIGHT AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM – POPE TO SICILIAN PRIESTS: ‘EMBRACE BITTERNESS WITH TENDERNESS’

What’s in a number? Pope Celestine V was 85 when he resigned the papacy after five months in December 1294. Pope Benedict was 85 when he resigned the papacy in February 2013 (he turned 86 that April 16^th). Pope Francis turned 85 last December.

This probably does not mean a thing but it is interesting.

POPE FRANCIS VISITS ACADEMY THAT TRAINS VATICAN DIPLOMATS

From Holy See Press Office this afternoon: “Yesterday afternoon, June 8, Pope Francis visited the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, chatting with the students of the institute. During the conversation, the Pope underlined the importance of being rooted in a priestly spirituality nourished by prayer, as well as the role of the missionary year he wanted as an integral part of the journey of preparation, He indicated as models of holiness for the diplomatic life St. Charles de Foucauld and Saint Peter Favre. At the end of the visit, the Pope returned to the Vatican.”

YAD VASHEM CHAIRMAN: POPE IS FRIEND AND ALLY IN FIGHT AGAINST ANTI-SEMITISM

Pope Francis received in audience Dani Dayan, chairman of the Yad Vashem (World Holocaust Remembrance Center) in Jerusalem, and reiterated his commitment to help fight anti-Semitism.

By Cecilia Mutual & Linda Bordoni

Dani Dayan believes that another step forward was taken on Thursday morning in the fight against anti-Semitism. Speaking to Vatican Radio immediately after meeting in the Vatican with Pope Francis, the Chairman of Yad Vashem described the Pope as a friend and an ally in the mission to defeat anti-Semitism.

Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, is universally recognized as the ultimate source for Holocaust education, documentation and research.

Pope Francis visited Yad Vashem in 2014 during his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. During his speech there, he implored the Lord to “grant us the grace to be ashamed of what men have done,” and cried out “Never again, Lord, never again!”

Noting that he is the first Yad Vashem chairman to be received in a private audience with the Pope, Dayan revealed that the two men share Buenos Aires as their birthplace and were happy to be able to converse in their native Spanish. Yad Vashem Chairman: Pope is friend and ally in fight against anti-Semitism – Vatican News

POPE TO SICILIAN PRIESTS: ‘EMBRACE BITTERNESS WITH TENDERNESS’

Pope Francis met with the bishops and priests of the Italian island of Sicily, and urged them to draw near and show tenderness to the many Sicilians who taste bitterness and disappointment due to a lack of employment opportunities.

By Devin Watkins

The bishops and priests of Sicily met with Pope Francis on Thursday in the Vatican, who encouraged them in their mission to lift up their compatriots. The Pope noted that the Italian island has historically acted as a waypoint for the movement of peoples, who sometimes came as conquerors and at other times as migrants. Each wave of people has left their mark on the local culture.

“This is not to say that it is a happy island, because the condition of insularity profoundly affects Sicilian society, bringing to the fore the contradictions we carry within ourselves. In Sicily we witness attitudes and actions marked by great virtues as well as cruel brutality.”

Pope Francis lamented that many children avoid schooling and turn to a life of crime as a result of high youth unemployment rates, which hover near 50 percent.

Priests as courageous moral guides

In response to this difficult situation, Pope Francis urged the priests and bishops of Sicily to dedicate themselves “completely and exclusively” to proclaiming the Gospel of Christ in the midst of an epochal change.

He pointed to the heroic examples of Blessed Pino Puglisi and Blessed Rosario Livatino, as well as to other lesser-known servants of the Church who sought to push back against the mafia and show Christ’s love to Sicilians.

“This is why people in Sicily still look to priests as spiritual and moral guides, as people who can help improve the civil and social life of the island, support families, and be a point-of-reference for young people. Sicilians have a high and demanding expectation of priests.”

“The current situation in Sicily has been in decline for years,” he said. “One sign is the depopulation of the island, due to low birth rates and mass emigration of young people” who leave to find work elsewhere. Pope to Sicilian priests: ‘Embrace bitterness with tenderness’ – Vatican News

POPE FRANCIS RECEIVES A MARZIPAN SICILIAN CART – THE NEW ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL: PART TWO – CLEARING MINES FROM BAPTISM SITE OF JESUS

Pope Francis tweeted today: Loving and forgiving are tangible and visible signs that faith has transformed our hearts.

POPE FRANCIS RECEIVES A MARZIPAN SICILIAN CART

A story and photo from Vatican Radio’s web page notes that Wednesday at the general audience, Pope Francis was given a marzipan cart in the shape of a migrant boat by a delegation from the archdiocese of Agrigento on the southern coast of Sicily. Countless migrants have arrived here from northern Africa.

Marzipan is an almond and sugar paste which is often used in Sicilian sweets, and the cart was created by students of a pastry school in Agrigento. The delegation was led by Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, archbishop of Agrigento, and included Mayor Lillo Firetto who said the gift was “a sign of Agrigento, the Mediterranean port.”

THE NEW ST. PATRICK’S CATHEDRAL: PART TWO

As I wrote on May 10 in Part One of this story about the multi-year renovation of New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I was absolutely dazzled when I visited the cathedral, not having seen it since its recent restoration. The beauty of every square inch of this massive church was beyond description – everything gleamed and glittered, the stained glass windows, after years of hiding their true colors, are now sublime, the statues beckon to you, as if coming to life.

Following are more photos of some of the glorious altars and the magificent stained glass windows, all cleane to perfection. Several people told me that the newly-cleaned windows made a huge difference in allowing far more light to enter the church than when they were almost black with decades of dust, dirt, smog particles, etc. Some said the windows were now so luminous that it was the first thing they noticed when entering St. Patrick’s.

CLEARING MINES FROM BAPTISM SITE OF JESUS

Vatican Radio reports that the British charity Halo Trust, after reaching an agreement with all Christian denominations in the area, has embarked on a project to clear mines and unexploded ordinance from one of the most sacred Christian sites in the world, where Jesus was baptized in the River Jordan. The one square kilometer site that contains 7 churches and monasteries has been a no-go area for almost 50 years after thousands of mines and booby traps were laid during the 1967 war. Halo Trust’s CEO, Major General James Cowan, told Susy Hodges about this landmark project.

Cowan said the Halo Trust is “very excited” about this important and hugely symbolic project to clear thousands of mines and unexploded ordinance from Jesus’ baptism site along the western bank of the River Jordan. He explained how access to this sacred site, known as Qasr Al-Yahud, with its 7 churches and monasteries, “has been denied to Christians” ever since the 6-day war Arab-Israeli war when the area was heavily mined and booby traps were planted around the churches.

Cowan explained that the Trust has been working “very hard” with both the Israeli and the Palestinian authorities and all the Christian denominations that have churches on the sacred site to acquire permission for the de-mining operation to go-ahead.  Among the 7 churches and monasteries on the mined site is a Franciscan Catholic church. He  pointed out that in 2000, ahead of Pope Saint John Paul’s visit to the River Jordan, a very small area of the mined site was cleared to allow a narrow access to the river enabling pilgrims to come and visit but said “the vast majority (of the site) remains mined.”

Describing the project as an example of a “great ecumenical cooperative spirit,, Cowan said it’s “very uplifting” that this sacred site (where churches were first constructed in 400 AD)  is being “returned to its proper use.” He acknowledged that the negotiations with the various parties were a delicate operation as they are “all aware of how sensitive politics are on the West Bank.” One problem that still remains, said Cowan, is raising the 3 million dollars needed to complete the de-mining operations and he is appealing to all Christians to help fund this project.