VOLUME 1, ISSUE 45  •  DECEMBER 5, 2015

Table of Contents

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VATICAN NEWS

Africa abuzz ahead of Pope’s visit, Ugandan archbishop says

Pope Francis to open Bangui’s Holy Door while in Central African Republic

The Pope in a war zone – what his visit means to Central African Republic

Pope Francis sends greetings to Africa ahead of this week’s trip

Pope Francis in Kenya: No matter what our divisions, we must work for peace

En route to Kenya, Pope Francis confirms Mexico trip

Pope to Kenyan families: ‘Radiate God’s love’

Pope in Kenya: Interreligious dialogue not an option, but a necessity

Pope off-the-cuff to priests, religious: Indifference makes God vomit

Without cooperation we don’t move forward, Pope says at U.N. in Kenya

What you have is worth more than money – the Pope to Kenya’s poor

Full text of Pope Francis’ powerful, unscripted talk with Kenya’s youth

Pope praises Ugandans for helping refugees rebuild their lives

Pope to Ugandan catechists: Your work is not easy, but it is important

Like the martyrs, witness to Jesus with your life, Pope tells Ugandans

Pope Francis’ road map for the faith? Serve the poor

Pope to Ugandan youth: You are a people of martyrs

Pope Francis’ three words for Ugandan religious: Memory, fidelity and prayer

Pope advocates for peace, unity in Central African Republic

Pope to displaced persons: Peace is impossible without tolerance, forgiveness

Christians can find unity in suffering, Pope Francis tells Evangelicals in Central African Republic

Christ’s love will overcome devastation, Pope Francis tells Central Africans

Be like a banana – Pope Francis off-the-cuff to Central African youth

‘Can I go’ to them? Pope Francis’ stunning response to alleged murders

Seeking peace and mercy, Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of Bangui

Pope to Central African Christians: Be artisans of renewal in your country

Pope calls Central African Christians, Muslims to unite against violence

Pope Francis to journalist’s condom question: The problem is much bigger

Full text of Pope’s in-flight interview from Africa to Rome

Put ethics at heart of climate talks, Vatican says at Paris summit

Pope Francis to youth: Have you thought about being a missionary?

Make the Jubilee of Mercy a ‘revolution of tenderness,’ Pope urges

Jihadists arrested for threats against Pope Francis, no specific plot known

‘Saint Nicholas’ makes surprise appearance in Saint Peter’s Square

A car chapel? It’s a real thing and Pope Francis blessed one

WORLD NEWS

Pope Francis is going to Kenya, and here’s what people are talking about

As Pope’s visit nears, Ugandans fight external push for contraception

Africa’s bishops offer Pope Francis prayers and a warm welcome

Yesterday’s martyrs, today’s priests: The legacy of the Venerable English College

Protect unborn lives, don’t end them: Northern Ireland abortion ruling criticized

Spain’s Catholics protest blasphemous art exhibit, but city council won’t act

In Chile, massive Marian pilgrimage to open Year of Mercy

Prayer ad before Star Wars movie gets nixed in the UK

U.S. NEWS

Struggle with porn? The Church can help you, U.S. bishops say

Pro-life groups condemn Planned Parenthood shooting, pray for victims

Miracle or fungus? Utah diocese investigates ‘bleeding’ Host

Seek mercy, not violence – Denver’s archbishop on Planned Parenthood shooting

San Bernardino bishop offers prayers in wake of mass shooting

U.S. Senate votes to defund Planned Parenthood, but veto is expected

FEATURES

The ‘Waze’ of Providence

Remembering the American Churchwomen martyred in El Salvador

The Pact of the Catacombs is still relevant today

‘The Danish Girl’ and ‘Carol’ make for a static, morally confused movie going experience this weekend

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • December 6, 2015

Monday • December 7, 2015

Tuesday • December 8, 2015

Wednesday • December 9, 2015

Thursday • December 10, 2015

Friday • December 11, 2015

Saturday • December 12, 2015

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Volume 1, Issue 45 • December 5, 2015

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VATICAN NEWS

Africa abuzz ahead of Pope’s visit, Ugandan archbishop says

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • October 29, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims before the General Audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, Aug. 19, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — For Ugandan Archbishop John Baptist Odama, the upcoming visit of Pope Francis is like the visit of a spiritual ‘grandfather’ who offers encouragement and a sense of identity.

“It is very wonderful, we are very excited in the country about the coming of the Pope,” the archbishop said.

Head of Uganda’s Gulu archdiocese and president of the Ugandan Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Odama spoke with CNA about the Pope’s upcoming trip during the recent Synod of Bishops on the Family in Rome.

“For us, we see him as a grandfather coming to the home of the child … coming to see how this child is (living) the family life in his home.”

Pope Francis’ presence will strengthen the Ugandan people, the archbishop said, “giving us a sense of identity and a sense that we belong, and he is our father and we are also his children and he is guiding us to our ultimate father, God.”

The Vatican officially confirmed the Pope’s Nov. 25-30 trip to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic Sept. 10.

Francis himself had first announced his intention to travel to Africa – specifically the Central African Republic and Uganda – during a news conference while returning from a trip to Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January.

He confirmed the plans in a June 12 meeting with hundreds of priests from around the world participating in the Third World Priests Retreat in the Basilica of St. John Lateran when he answered a question from an African priest about when he planned to visit.

The Pope’s schedule for the trip – packed with interreligious encounters and focus on the poor – was released earlier this month. He will set foot in Kenya first, where he will stay from Nov. 25-27, before moving on to Uganda Nov. 27-29. His last stop will be the Central African Republic, from Nov. 29-30.

His visit falls just ahead of the Central African Republic’s presidential transition, and just after the 50th anniversary of the canonization of the Uganda Martyrs.

Saint Charles Lwanga and his 21 companions were killed by the king in the 1880s alongside 23 Anglican converts to Christianity for refusing to recant their faith, and were canonized Oct. 18, 1964, by Bl. Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Preparations have already begun for the celebration of the Golden Anniversary of the canonization, with the local Church holding a diocese-wide conference on the 22 saints.

The Shrine of both the Anglican and Catholic martyrs at Namugongo will be Francis’ first main stop in Uganda.

After arriving at the Ugandan airport of Entebbe the evening of Nov. 27, the Pope will head to the shrine the next morning, where he will celebrate Mass.

Later he is scheduled to meet with youth and visit a charity center before heading back to the archbishop’s residence, where he will meet with the country’s bishops before holding an audience with priests, religious and seminarians. He will depart for the Central African Republic the next morning.

In his comments to CNA, Archbishop Odama noted that the country is buzzing with preparations, both on the level of the government and the local Church.

While the government of Uganda is taking care of practical things that don’t necessarily have to do with Catholics, those who practice the Catholic faith are busy organizing the Pope’s Mass at the Namugongo shrine, “where so many people will come with all the interest and enthusiasm.”

Archbishop Odama said that Pope Francis will likely encourage Ugandans to be like the martyrs, and “to follow the example of his brothers and sisters who died for us.”

Francis, he said, “is coming to encourage us in that one. So we look with great hope and are preparing ourselves. I think God will bless his visit and it will be a joy for us all.”

Before heading to Uganda, Pope Francis will visit Kenya, where he will meet with their president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and the local authorities after his arrival in Nairobi.

Over the next two days, the Pope is scheduled to hold an interreligious meeting, celebrate Mass at the University of Nairobi, pay a visit to the United Nations Office in Nairobi and hold an audience with the country’s priests, religious and seminarians.

He will also travel to Nairobi’s poor Kangemi neighborhood and meet with Kenya’s bishops before departing for Uganda.

After Uganda, Pope Francis will make his final stop in the war-torn Central African Republic. Once he lands in Bangui the morning of Nov. 29, he will visit with the country’s civic leaders and interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza.

The Pope will then visit a refugee camp before holding separate audiences with the country’s bishops and Evangelical community. Later that day he will celebrate Mass with priests, religious, catechists and youth at the Cathedral of Bangui.

After celebrating Mass, Pope Francis will hear the confessions of some young people before leading a prayer vigil in front of the cathedral.

Before heading back to Rome Nov. 30, Francis will meet with the country’s Muslim community in the central Mosque of Koudoukou and celebrate Mass at the Barthélémy Boganda Sports Complex. He is expected to arrive back to Rome at close to 7 p.m. local time.

Please see below for the Pope’s full schedule:

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015

7:45 a.m. Departure from Rome Fiumicino to Nairobi, Kenya

5:00 p.m. Arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi

Welcome ceremony at the State House

6:00 p.m. Courtesy visit to the President of the Republic at the State House in Nairobi

6:30 p.m. Meeting with the civil authorities of Kenya and with the diplomatic corps

Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015

8:15 a.m. Interreligious and Ecumenical Meeting in the Salon of the Apostolic Nunciature in Nairobi

10:00 a.m. Holy Mass on the Campus of the University of Nairobi

3:45 p.m. Meeting with clergy, religious men and women, and seminarians, at the athletic field of St Mary’s School

5:30 p.m. Visit to the United Nations Office in Nairobi (U.N.O.N.)

Friday, Nov. 27, 2015

8:30 a.m. Visit to the poor neighborhood of Kangemi in Nairobi

10:00 a.m. Meeting with young people in Kasarani Stadium

11:15 a.m. Meeting with the Bishops of Kenya in the VIP room of the Stadium

3:10 p.m. Farewell ceremony at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi

3:15 p.m. Departure by air from Nairobi for Entebbe

4:50 p.m. Arrival at Entebbe International Airport in Uganda

Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015

8:30 a.m. Visit to the Anglican Sanctuary of the Martyrs at Namugongo

9:00 a.m. Visit to the Catholic Sanctuary of the Martyrs at Namugongo

9:30 a.m. Holy Mass for the Martyrs of Uganda in the area of the Catholic Sanctuary

3:15 p.m. Meeting with youth at Kololo Air Strip in Kampala

5:00 p.m. Visit to the House of Charity of Nalukolongo

6:00 p.m. Meeting with the Bishops of Uganda in the Residence of the Archbishop

7:00 p.m. Meeting with priests, religious men and women, and seminarians in the Cathedral

Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015

9:00 a.m. Farewell ceremony at the Airport of Entebbe

9:15 a.m. Departure by air from Entebbe for Bangui in the Central African Republic

10:00 a.m. Arrival at M’Poko International Airport of Bangui and Welcome ceremony

11:00 a.m. Courtesy visit to the president of the state of transition in the Presidential Palace “de la Renaissance”

11:30 a.m. Meeting with civic leaders and with the diplomatic corps

12:15 p.m. Visit to a refugee camp

1:00 p.m. Meeting with the Bishops of the Central African Republic

4:00 p.m. Meeting with the Evangelical Community at the headquarters of FATEB (the Faculty of Evangelical Theology of Bangui)

5:00 p.m. Holy Mass with priests, religious men and women, catechists, and young people at the Cathedral of Bangui

7:00 p.m. Confessions of some young people; and the beginning of the Vigil of Prayer in front of the Cathedral

Monday, Nov. 30, 2015

8:15 a.m. Meeting with the Muslim community in the central Mosque of Koudoukou in Bangui

9:30 a.m. Holy Mass in the Stadium at the Barthélémy Boganda Sports Complex

12:15 p.m. Departure ceremony at M’Poko International Airport of Bangui

12:30 p.m. Departure by air for Rome

6:45 p.m. Arrival at Rome/Ciampino Airport

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis to open Bangui’s Holy Door while in Central African Republic

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • November 1, 2015

Pope Francis before the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica during the convocation of the Jubilee of Mercy, April 11, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — On Sunday Pope Francis announced that he will jump-start the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the diocese of Bangui’s Holy Door while in the Central African Republic, as a sign of prayer and solidarity for the war-torn nation.

“To manifest the prayerful closeness of the entire Church to this afflicted and tormented nation and to exhort all Central Africans to increasingly be witnesses of mercy and reconciliation, Sunday, Nov. 29, I plan to open the Holy Door of the Cathedral of Bangui,” the Pope said Nov. 1.

One of the novelties for the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy is that for the first time Holy Doors will be designated in every diocese throughout the world.

Each of the four major basilicas in Rome has a holy door, which are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is intended to symbolically illustrate the idea that the Church’s faithful are offered an “extraordinary path” toward salvation during the time of jubilee.

As part of the Holy Year for Mercy, holy doors will for the first time be designated in dioceses, and will be located either in the cathedral, in a church of special significance or a shrine of particular importance for pilgrimages.

Though the Jubilee for Mercy doesn’t begin until Dec. 8, Pope Francis has decided to open the Holy Door in the Central African Republic’s capital 10 days early, during his Nov. 25-30 visit to the African continent.

Francis made the announcement on the Solemnity of All Saints, after leading pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the traditional Angelus prayer.

He is scheduled to make stops in three countries while in Africa later this month. He will set foot in Kenya first, where he will stay from Nov. 25-27, before moving on to Uganda Nov. 27-29. His last stop will be the Central African Republic, from Nov. 29-30.

Pope Francis’ visit to the Central African Republic comes in the midst of an ongoing, violent conflict.

According to BBC News, the majority of tensions began in March 2013 when several bands of mainly Muslim rebel groups formed an alliance, taking the name Seleka. They left their strongholds in the north of the country and made their way south, seizing power from then-president Francois Bozize.

Since then, fear, uncertainty and violence have swept over the country in a conflict that has so far left some 6,000 people dead.

In remarks after the Angelus, Pope Francis noted that recent episodes of violence “have tightened the delicate situation” in the CAR over the past few days, and are a source of “great concern.”

“I make an appeal to all parties involved to put an end to this circle of violence,” he said, and offered his spiritual closeness to the Camboni Fathers of the parish of Our Lady of Fatima in Bangui, where many refugees have fled.

The Pope assured his solidarity with the local Catholics, with the other religious confessions in the country and with the Central African nation as a whole, “which is so sorely tested, while making every effort to overcome divisions and return to the path of peace.”

After opening the Holy Door in Bangui, Francis will open the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica when the jubilee officially begins Dec. 8.

St. John Lateran’s door will open Dec. 13, St. Mary Major’s Jan. 1, 2016, while that of St. Paul Outside the Walls will open Jan. 26, 2016.

Francis announced the jubilee during a March 13 penitential service, the second anniversary of his papal election. It will open Dec. 8 – the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – and will close Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

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VATICAN NEWS

The Pope in a war zone – what his visit means to Central African Republic

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • November 22, 2015

Pope Francis at the Vatican on April 3, 2014. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis’ visit to the Central African Republic next week will be the first time he steps into an active war zone. It is a meaningful visit for locals which portrays the image of father coming to console his suffering children.

“In the minds and hearts of the people (Pope Francis) is a great figure,” Fr. Hervé Hubert Koyassambia-Kozondo said in an interview with CNA. So to hear his message from within the borders of their own country “is very, very meaningful.”

Even a month ago images of Francis could be seen throughout the country through TV and the media, he said, explaining that the Pope is being talked about daily, so he’s “already there in reality.”

To see the Pope in person in their own community isn’t something that happens every day for citizens of the Central African Republic, he said, but for many will only happen “once in their lives.”

“So they are waiting for him and they will welcome him as a true pastor of the universal Church. I like to say father, as a father, truly.”

Francis’ words will be welcomed especially by the country’s Christian population, the Catholics in particular. “What the Pope says in favor of peace will have a lot of weight,” he said, but stressed that this peace must also be worked for.

Fr. Kozondo is from the archdiocese of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, and is currently studying in Rome. He spoke with journalists ahead of Pope Francis’ Nov. 29-30 visit to the country, as part of a wider visit to the African continent.

Pope Francis will be in Africa Nov. 25-30, and is scheduled to make stops in three countries. He will set foot in Kenya first, where he will stay from Nov. 25-27, before moving on to Uganda Nov. 27-29. His last stop will be the Central African Republic, from Nov. 29-30.

The last pontiff to visit the CAR was St. John Paul II in 1985, as part of a larger trip to Togo, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zaire and Kenya.

Likely the greatest challenge Francis will face in the Central African Republic is the fact that the visit marks the first time he will be stepping into an active war zone, with new deaths reported daily.

The majority of tensions began in late 2012 when several bands of mainly Muslim rebel groups formed an alliance, taking the name Seleka. They left their strongholds in the north of the country and made their way south, seizing power from then-president Francois Bozize.

Since then, fear, uncertainty and violence have swept over the country in a conflict that has so far left some 6,000 people dead.

The country will hold both presidential and parliamentary elections Dec. 27, after they were postponed in October due to violence and instability. Interim president Catherine Samba-Panza, who has so far struggled to keep peace, will not be a candidate.

In his comments to journalists, Fr. Kozondo remarked that the greatest challenge the Church faces is “the deplorable situation of the country,” as well as the grave lack of security.

“There are many armed people, and (the government forces) still haven’t been able to disarm them,” he said, adding that “armed people with bad intentions can’t be something stable in terms of peace.”

“Disarmament is needed, but the country doesn’t have the means to disarm. So it must count on foreign or external help to act.”

Though the country has seen coups throughout their history, the priest explained that this one is different due the fact it is fueled by arms from foreigners, and because Christians are being targeted.

With a population of just over 1 million, roughly 36 percent are Catholic and 44 percent are Protestants, with the remaining 20 percent divided evenly among Muslims and local religions.

Fr. Kozondo said the rebels launched their attacks in part due to the ethnic exclusivity of the former government, as the country has always had ethnic divisions, and politicians usually represent certain ones.

However, when the various Muslim rebel groups banded together in 2012, foreign mercenaries helped in seizing weapons, many of whom were from Chad and Sudan. Therefore, many of the fighters are foreigners who don’t speak the local Sango language.

This detail compounded with the fact that attacks targeted cities that weren’t strategically useful in conquering the country – as well as innocent civilians, state structures and symbols representing the nation’s patrimony – made the people wonder their intentions were for “something more, not only a desire to conquer the power,” the priest said.

A second characteristic which has made this conflict unusual compared to those of the past is that amid the various rebellions, it was obvious attacks were “directed toward Christians, against churches and religious structures, against the social Christian structures.”

The systematic violence toward Christian persons and the destruction of Church properties is what fueled the current anti-Muslim sentiments, he said, because what people saw is that “it wasn’t just a rebellion that sought to conquer the country, but also sought to destroy everything that was Christian.”

Before the conflict erupted in 2012 relations with Islam had been relatively peaceful, Fr. Kozondo said, explaining that though they are a minority, Muslims in CAR have always been well integrated and economically powerful because of their savvy in negotiating different affairs.

Fr. Kozondo said that another challenge is to re-establish the authority of the State, because they have lost control of the situation since the radicals began their offensive, leading ordinary citizens to take up arms.

Once citizens saw that the country’s army was ineffective against the rebels, they formed a resistance group, known as anti-balaka, because there was “no one to defend the population.”

The population feels that they don’t have any protection, “so they organize on their own to defend themselves,” the priest observed.

However, he clarified what he referred to as a media farce depicting the “anti-balaka” resistance group as radical Christians who have taken up arms against the Muslims.

Though the group is depicted as being exclusively Christian, Fr. Kozondo said he believes this image was “created by the media to imprint in the mind of the people.”

He told CNA that while there are certainly Christians, Catholics and Protestants included, who have taken up arms, “They don’t do it in the name of Christianity.”

“They don’t do it with means that come from the Church or something organized by the Church. They don’t do it from a Christian push, something that comes in the name of the Christian faith, this no. It’s not a Christian group that goes around in a sullen way against Muslims.”

Fr. Kozondo explained that the bishops and the episcopal conference have repeatedly denounced the idea that the “anti-balaka” group is being pushed by Christians.

In fact, Catholic and Protestant leaders in CAR have joined forces alongside moderate Muslims to give a concrete, pastoral response to the situation, particularly regarding the large number of refugees and those internally displaced by the fighting.

“There are many people whose homes were destroyed or who don’t find themselves in safety,” the priest said, noting that many have either fled to nearby countries or are even taking refuge “in the forests.”

Fighting now includes the element of revenge-killings, the priest said, explaining that in the capital, Bangui, there is a Muslim quarter entirely closed off to Christians which is particularly dangerous.

Inside, there is “a strong presence of jihadists and extremists” who have killed either non-Muslims or moderate Muslims seeking to enter and offer assistance to those inside, as well as to help those who want to leave get out.

“What happens is if they kill someone there, there is also a revenge to kill a Muslim in another area. If a Muslim is killed, there is also a revenge on their part,” Fr. Kozondo observed.

“The things are also a situation of uncertainty. Today everything is ok. Tomorrow if someone is killed, something could erupt. This is what it’s becoming. Then, the civil population is in the middle.”

Pope Francis himself is scheduled to visit the quarter Nov. 30, his last day in Africa, for a meeting with CAR’s Muslim community at the central Mosque of Koudoukou. Though many have advised against the decision, as of now it’s still on the Pope’s slate.

Additionally, the Pope is also scheduled to visit a refugee camp that houses 1000-2000 people the same day he lands in Bangui, Nov. 29, after meeting with the country’s authorities and interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza.

During a Nov. 19 press briefing, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said that Francis is visiting CAR precisely “to show that he’s close to the people who suffer. So that’s why it’s his first stop after meeting the authorities.”

After visiting the refugee camp, the Pope is slated to meet with the different Evangelical communities in CAR at the FATEB Headquarters (Evangelical Faculty of Theology of Bangui).

It’s a meeting, Fr. Lombardi said, directed “against the violence,” and will therefore draw together major Church leaders from the Catholic and Evangelical communities, as well as an imam, “seeking to build dialogue and peace.”

In recent weeks speculation has arisen as to whether Pope Francis will decide to call off his visit to CAR completely due to the ongoing violence.

On Nov. 16, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, suggested that while the plan as of now remains the same, the days in CAR could be cut off at the last minute.

Speaking with journalists after a conference in Rome organized by the Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi (Rome Pilgrim Office), Cardinal Parolin said that as far as Africa goes “the three stops remain, but we’ll see depending on the situation on the ground.”

In a Nov. 11 article, French newspaper Le Monde reported that officials at the French Ministry of Defense said the 900 French troops on the ground in CAR wouldn’t be able to guarantee the Pope’s safety, and would only be able to protect him at the airport.

The head of the Vatican’s security forces, Domenico Giani, is currently in CAR for a final assessment of the situation ahead of the Pope’s arrival in Africa next week.

However, instead of flying back to Rome and traveling with Francis on board the papal plane as usual, he will stay, and meet the Pope directly in Kenya.

Fr. Lombardi stressed that Giani’s presence doesn’t signify anything new, and that as of now “nothing has changed.”

“We’re monitoring,” he said, adding that final decisions will be made “as the trip continues.”

The spokesman also announced that Cardinal Parolin will not be with the Pope in CAR, but will leave after Uganda in order to go to Paris for the launch of the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 United Nations Climate Change Conference.

Fr. Kozondo said that people are very enthusiastic for the Pope’s visit, and many believe it will be “a turning point” for the country.

“They are preparing a lot every day,” he said, explaining that there is also an effort to quell the violence, so that Francis finds “a better situation” when he arrives.

He told CNA that he believes the first step to working for lasting peace is “disarmament,” which is something that so far the country has been unable to achieve.

“Without this, there will be people who don’t feel safe,” he said, explaining that when people don’t feel safe, they will continue to organize in an autonomous way to defend themselves.

“It’s very dangerous, very harmful when you can no longer protect the people, and the people organize themselves on their own. That is what we’re living.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis sends greetings to Africa ahead of this week’s trip

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • November 23, 2015

Pope Francis waves during the Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square on November 22, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Pope Francis sent two video messages Monday ahead of his tri-nation visit to Africa, speaking his intent to bring “consolation and hope” to the region while serving as a “minister of the Gospel.”

In the message sent to the people of the Central African Republic, Pope Francis – speaking in French – referenced the “joy which pervades me” on the occasion of the visit, while acknowledging the ongoing violence which has brought suffering to the war-torn nation.

“Your dear country has for too long been affected by a violent situation and by insecurity of which many of you have been innocent victims,” the Pope said, according to Vatican Radio’s translation.

The CAR is currently in the midst of of an ongoing conflict. The majority of tensions began in late 2012 when several bands of mainly Muslim rebel groups formed an alliance, taking the name Seleka. They left their strongholds in the north of the country and made their way south, seizing power from then-president Francois Bozize.

Since then, fear, uncertainty and violence have swept over the country in a conflict that has so far left some 6,000 people dead.

The scheduled Nov. 29-30 trip to the CAR would mark Pope Francis’ first time in an active war zone, with new deaths reported daily.

“The goal of my visit is, above all, to bring you, in the name of Christ, the comfort of consolation and hope,” the pontiff said in the message.

“I hope with all my heart that my visit may contribute, in one way or another, to alleviate your wounds and to favor conditions for a better, more serene future for Central Africa and all its inhabitants.”

Pope Francis is set to begin his tri-nation African tour from Nov. 25-30, with scheduled visits to Kenya, Uganda, and finally the CAR. The journey marks the pontiff’s first trip to the continent since his election to the papacy.

“Let us pass to the other side” is the theme of the visit, the Pope observed in the CAR video message. This theme, he continued, theme invites Christian communities “to look ahead with determination,” while encouraging “each person to renew their own relationship with God and with their brothers and sisters to build a new, more just and fraternal world.”

Earlier this month, Pope Francis said that he would open the diocese of Bangui’s Holy Door while in the Central African Republic ahead of the Year of Mercy, which officially starts Dec. 8, as a sign of prayer and solidarity for the conflict-ridden nation.

Francis announced the jubilee during a March 13 penitential service, the second anniversary of his papal election. It will open Dec. 8 – the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – and will close Nov. 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

The last pontiff to visit the CAR was St. John Paul II in 1985, as part of a larger trip to Togo, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zaire and Kenya.

Pope Francis also issued a joint video message to the people of Kenya and Uganda, in which expressed his hope that the visit will “confirm” the Catholic communities of the region as they testify to the Gospel.

“I am coming as a minister of the Gospel, to proclaim the love of Jesus Christ and his message of reconciliation, forgiveness and peace,” the Pope said.

Speaking in English, the pontiff said the aim of his visit will be “to confirm the Catholic community in its worship of God and witness of the Gospel, which teaches the dignity of every man and woman, and commands us to open our hearts to others, especially the poor and those in need.”

Expressing his desire to encounter and offer a “word of encouragement” the Kenyan and Ugandan people, the Pope noted the need for today’s people of faith and good will to support one another as children of God.

“We are living at a time when religious believers, and persons of good will everywhere, are called to foster mutual understanding and respect, and to support each other as members of our one human family,” he said, “for all of us are God’s children.”

Pope Francis cited his planned visit with young people as one of the highlights of his visit to the region.

Young people, he said, “are your greatest resource and our most promising hope for a future of solidarity, peace and progress.”

The Pope concluded by acknowledging the hard work involved in the preparations for his visit, and offered his thanks. He asked everyone to pray that his visit to Kenya and Uganda would “be a source of hope and encouragement to all.”

“Upon you and your families I invoke God’s blessings of joy and peace!”

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Pope Francis in Kenya: No matter what our divisions, we must work for peace

by CNA/EWTN News • November 25, 2015

Pope Francis addresses Kenya’s president and other civic leaders in Nairobi on Nov. 25, 2015. (EWTN)

Nairobi, Kenya — Pope Francis began his trip to Africa in Kenya, where he praised the “young and vibrant nation” and encouraged Kenyans to continue working for peace in their country.

“Experience shows that violence, conflict and terrorism feed on fear, mistrust, and the despair born of poverty and frustration,” Pope Francis said Nov. 25 during his first public address in Kenya.

His arrival in the capital of Nairobi marks the first part of his Nov. 25-30 visit to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

The Pope greeted President Uhuru Kenyatta, government leaders and members of the diplomatic corps who received him at Nairobi’s State House.

Pope Francis said that Kenya’s public officials have a special responsibility to work to protect peace and to secure a just society.

“To the extent that our societies experience divisions, whether ethnic, religious or economic, all men and women of good will are called to work for reconciliation and peace, forgiveness and healing.”

Kenya has suffered major terrorist acts in recent years. Last April, 147 people were killed when Al-Shabab militants opened fire on students at Garissa University in northeastern Kenya. The killers singled out those who identified as Christians. In 2013, 67 people were killed when terrorists attacked shoppers at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi.

Pope Francis noted the need for courage.

“Ultimately, the struggle against these enemies of peace and prosperity must be carried out by men and women who fearlessly believe in, and bear honest witness to, the great spiritual and political values which inspired the birth of the nation,” he said.

The Pope praised the “richly diverse” nation of Kenya, saying that it plays an important role in the region as other countries work to create “a multiethnic society which is truly harmonious, just and inclusive.”

The natural beauty and resources of the country are laudable, but so is the “strong appreciation” and “culture of conservation” that Kenyan people have for it, he said.

The “grave environmental crisis” that humanity faces today requires “an even greater sensitivity to the relationship between human beings and nature” and support for “responsible models of economic development.”

Young people in particular represent any nation’s “most valuable resource.” The Pope said that protecting the young is “the best way we can ensure a future worthy of the wisdom and spiritual values dear to their elders, values which are the very heart and soul of a people.”

“We have a responsibility to pass on the beauty of nature in its integrity to future generations, and an obligation to exercise a just stewardship of the gifts we have received.”

Pope Francis assured those present of the Church’s continued support for the country through education and charitable works.

The Pope gave President Kenyatta a drawing of the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica by the architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The drawing dates back to the 17th century.

President Kenyatta, in his remarks welcoming the Pope, noted the great opportunities and challenges facing Kenya, including efforts to promote highest standards in government, inclusivity and peace while also addressing environmental problems.

The president noted the Catholic Church’s role as a “strong partner” in social and economic development in Kenya. The Church is the largest non-state provider of health care and runs numerous organizations for orphans and vulnerable children.

The Church’s network of Catholic schools includes 8,000 primary and secondary schools, five colleges and a university. Kenya’s president noted that he too is a beneficiary of Catholic schools.

President Kenyatta’s remarks closed with a prayer request: “Holy Father, I ask you to pray for Kenya, that God will hear us, that he will heal this land.”

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En route to Kenya, Pope Francis confirms Mexico trip

by CNA/EWTN News • November 25, 2015

Pope Francis touches the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Dec. 12, 2014. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Aboard the papal plane — Before his plane landed in Kenya on Wednesday, Pope Francis confirmed to reporters that he would indeed visit Mexico early next year.

Valentina Alazraki of Mexico’s Noticieros Televisa confirmed to CNA that Pope Francis told her his trip to Mexico would include four cities, not three.

He said his trip will include a visit to the town of Ciudad Juarez on the Mexican-U.S. border.

The Holy See Press Office has not officially announced the trip, but rumors, reports and announcements have been building.

The vice director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Ciro Benedettini, told CNA on Oct. 6 that the Pope was seriously considering a trip to Mexico next year. He said that if the trip takes place, an agenda is expected to be released in November.

On Nov. 1 Cardinal Norberto Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico City, announced that Pope Francis would visit Mexico the week of Feb. 12.

Back in March, Pope Francis told the Mexican media group Televisa 1 that he wished to make a weeklong trip to the country, with visits to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Ciudad Juarez.

Mexico will be Pope Francis’ fourth trip to the Americas. He visited Brazil for World Youth Day in August 2013. In July of 2014 he traveled to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay. He visited the United States and Cuba Sept. 19-27.

In March 2015 Pope Francis said that for his U.S. trip he had hoped to enter the country from the Mexican border. However, such an effort would have caused “a bit of havoc” and he did not want to visit Mexico without visiting the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Pope Francis is visiting Africa from Nov. 25-30. He is scheduled to stop in Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

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Pope to Kenyan families: ‘Radiate God’s love’

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • November 26, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the University of Nairobi on Nov. 26, 2015. (Martha Calderón/CNA)

Nairobi, Kenya — Pope Francis Thursday praised Kenya’s traditional family values, particularly their respect for children and the elderly. He also made an appeal for the youth to use these values as a guide to ending discrimination and injustice in the future.

“The health of any society depends on the health of its families,” the Pope told Mass attendees at Kenya’s Nairobi University Nov. 26.

“Kenyan society has long been blessed with strong family life, a deep respect for the wisdom of the elderly and love for children,” he said, and noted that families are important in the plan of God.

It’s for the sake of our families and the good of society that children must be welcomed “as a blessing for our world,” and that the dignity of every man and woman must be defended, since we are all part of one human family, he said.

“We are also called to resist practices which foster arrogance in men, hurt or demean women, and threaten the life of the innocent unborn.”

While everyone is called to respect others and reach out to those in need, Francis said that Christian families have a special task: “to radiate God’s love, and to spread the life-giving waters of his Spirit.”

This is especially important today, he said, when the growth of materialism and indifference are “new deserts” growing in society.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the University of Nairobi on the second day of his Nov. 25-30 African tour, which includes stops in Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

Before heading to the university campus, he met with Kenya’s interreligious and ecumenical leaders at the Apostolic Nunciature. After the Mass, he will meet with the country’s priests, religious and seminarians before closing the day at the office of the United Nations in Nairobi.

In his homily, Francis focused on the promises offered by God in the day’s readings, namely, Isaiah’s assurance that God will give the people his blessing, give water to the thirsty, and make their people flourish.

This promise is fulfilled not only with the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but also whenever the Gospel is preached, “and new peoples become members of God’s family, the Church.”

“Today we rejoice that it was fulfilled in this land. Through the preaching of the Gospel, you too became part of the great Christian family,” the Pope said, explaining that Christian families play a special role in spreading God’s word.

He then pointed to another promise God made in Psalm 23, that we will dwell in the house of the Lord for eternity.

God also fulfills this promise in the life of the Church, particularly through the sacraments.

“They make us more faithful disciples of the divine Master, vessels of mercy and loving kindness in a world wounded by selfishness, sin and division.”

Francis said that it is with the gift of the sacraments that Kenya’s men and women can continue building their country in civil harmony and brotherly solidarity. He stressed that the sacraments must be shared with the youth in particular, who are the future of society.

The Pope then made an appeal to Kenya’s youth, asking that “the great values of Africa’s traditions, the wisdom and truth of God’s word, and the generous idealism of your youth guide you in working to shape a society which is ever more just, inclusive and respectful of human dignity.”

He asked that they always be aware of the needs of the poor, and work to “reject everything that leads to prejudice and discrimination, for these things, we know, are not of God.”

Jesus gives us the foundation to be able to construct this society, which begins by building our personal lives on the Word of God, Pope Francis said.

He pointed to Jesus’ “missionary mandate” after the Resurrection to make disciples of all nations, explaining that this “that is the charge which the Lord gives to each of us.”

“He asks us to be missionary disciples, men and women who radiate the truth, beauty and life-changing power of the Gospel. Men and women who are channels of God’s grace, who enable his mercy, kindness and truth to become the building blocks of a house that stands firm.”

Francis closed by praying that the Lord would guide those present and their families on the path of goodness and mercy, and that they would be blessed with peace.

Before leaving, he offered a brief prayer for them in Swahili: “Mungu awabariki! Mungu abariki Kenya!” meaning “God bless you! God bless you Kenya!”

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Pope in Kenya: Interreligious dialogue not an option, but a necessity

by CNA/EWTN News • November 26, 2015

Pope Francis walks with Pres. Uhuru Kenyatta at the State House in Nairobi, Kenya on Nov. 26, 2015. (Martha Calderón/CNA)

Nairobi, Kenya — In light of recent terror attacks in Kenya and abroad, Pope Francis began the second day of his trip to Africa stressing the need for interreligious leaders to work together for peace.

In a morning meeting on Nov. 26 with interreligious and ecumenical leaders at the apostolic nunciature in Nairobi, Kenya, Pope Francis said while ecumenical relationships can be demanding, they are not optional.

“… ecumenical and interreligious dialogue is not a luxury. It is not something extra or optional, but essential, something which our world, wounded by conflict and division, increasingly needs,” the Pope said.

Not only is it essential for peace, he added, but interreligious dialogue can be a rich source of enlightenment and becomes an “important service to the common good.”

His comments come just two weeks after six coordinated attacks in Paris, perpetrated by ISIS, left at least 128 people dead.

The Pope’s address also falls seven months after terrorists killed 147 students at Garissa University College in Garissa, Kenya, and four months after gunmen killed 14 quarry workers in Mandera. In 2013, 67 people were killed when terrorists attacked shoppers at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi.Each of these attacks were carried out by al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate operating out of the neighboring country of Somalia.

“I know that the barbarous attacks on Westgate Mall, Garissa University College and Mandera are fresh in your minds,” he said. “All too often, young people are being radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear, and to tear at the very fabric of our societies.”

“How important it is that we be seen as prophets of peace, peacemakers who invite others to live in peace, harmony and mutual respect!”

The Holy Father also stressed the importance of never committing violence in the name of God, and prayed for the conversion of heart of all those who perpetrated violence in the name of religion.

He closed his address recalling the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second Vatican Council, saying that he hoped the Church continued her commitment to ecumenical dialogue and friendship.

“As we look to the future, let us pray that all men and women will see themselves as brothers and sisters, peacefully united in and through our differences. Let us pray for peace!”

This story is according to Pope Francis’ prepared remarks to interreligious leaders.

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Pope off-the-cuff to priests, religious: Indifference makes God vomit

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • November 26, 2015

Pope Francis speaks to priests, religious and seminarians at St. Mary’s school in Nairobi on Nov. 26, 2015. (Screenshot/CTV)

Nairobi, Kenya — Pope Francis tossed his prepared remarks aside for a meeting with Kenyan priests, religious and seminarians, telling them that if anything disgusts God, it’s the attitude of indifference.

He also gave some practical advice, such as keeping the Lord at the center of their lives through prayer and the sacraments, and stressed that the Church is not a business, but rather a mystery intended to serve others.

“Remember Jesus Christ crucified. When a priest or religious forgets Christ crucified, poor person. He has fallen in an ugly sin, a sin which God detests, which makes the Lord vomit,” the Pope said Nov. 26.

“He has fallen into the sin of indifference, of lukewarmness. Dear priests and religious men and women, be careful not to fall into the sin of indifference.”

Francis met with Kenyan priests, religious men and women, and seminarians from every diocese in Kenya on the sports field of St. Mary’s School in Nairobi Nov. 26, his first full day in the country.

His Nov. 25-27 visit to Kenya is part of a larger African tour that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic.

Before giving his speech, Pope Francis heard from Bishop Anthony Ireri Mukobo, I.M.C., Apostolic Vicar of Isiolo and Chairman for the Commission for Clergy and Religious of the Kenyan bishops conference, as well as Sr. Michael Marie Rottinghaus from the Association of Sisterhoods of Kenya (AOSK).

Both Bishop Mukobo and Sr. Rottinghaus thanked Pope Francis for the Year for Consecrated Life, which opened Nov. 30, 2014, and closes Feb. 2, 2016.

After setting his prepared remarks aside, Francis spoke freely in Spanish, with his official translator Msgr. Mark Miles giving simultaneous translation into English.

The Pope began his reflections by noting how “the Lord has chosen all of you, he has chosen all of us,” and that he began his work “the day he saw us in baptism.”

He noted how in the Gospel there were some who wanted to follow Jesus, but Jesus said no. Following the Lord on the path of priesthood or consecrated life means “you have to go through the door, and the door is Christ,” he said, adding that Jesus is the one who calls and does the work.

When people try to go “through the window” like those in the Gospel, this “isn’t useful,” Francis continued, and asked that if anyone sees someone who’s trying to live a consecrated vocation but doesn’t have one, “embrace him and explain that it’s better for them to go.”

“It’s better for them to go because that work that didn’t begin with the Lord Jesus through the doorway will not end well.” Doing this, he said, helps us to understand what it means to be called and chosen by God.

Pope Francis then noted that there are some who don’t know why God calls them, but feel it in their heart. These people, he said, “should be at peace because the Lord will make them understand why.”

He cautioned against those who have a true call, but are influenced by the desire for power. He pointed to the mother of James and John as an example, when she asked for them to have positions at his right and left hand.

“There is the temptation to follow the Lord out of ambition, ambition of money, ambition for power,” he said, noting that each person can probably say this thought has crossed their minds.

For others, however, “it took seed in the heart as a weed,” he said, adding that in following Jesus, “there is no place for ambition or richness or to be a really important person in the world.”

“I tell you this seriously, because in the Church we know it’s not a business, it’s not an NGO. The Church is a mystery, the mystery of Christ’s gaze upon each one of us, who says follow,” he said.

The Pope then noted that Jesus calls, “he doesn’t canonize us,” but asks us to serve as the sinners we are.

Pointing to the apostles, Francis observed how the Gospel only tells us of one that cried: Peter, who realized he was a sinner who had betrayed the Lord.

“But then Jesus made him a pope. Who understands Jesus?! He’s a mystery. Never stop weeping,” he said, adding that when the tears of a priest or religious run dry “then something is wrong.”

Francis then turned to the importance of prayer in the life of a priest or religious, explaining that when a consecrated person stops praying, their “soul becomes shriveled and dry like those dried figs. They’re ugly. They’re not attractive.”

“The soul of a priest or religious who doesn’t pray is an ugly soul. I ask forgiveness but that’s how it is.”

He also stressed the importance of having an attitude of service, particularly toward the poor, children and the elderly, as well as “those who are not even aware of their own pride in themselves.”

Pope Francis said he’s impressed whenever he meets a priest or consecrated person who has spent their life working in a hospital or mission. These people, he said, “serve others and don’t allow themselves to be served by others.”

He closed by thanking those present “for following Jesus, for every time you feel sinners, for every caress of tenderness you show others who need it.”

“Thanks for all the times you helped a person to die in peace. Thank you for giving hope in life. Thanks for letting yourselves be forgiven, to be helped and corrected,” he said, and asked for their prayers.

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Without cooperation we don’t move forward, Pope says at U.N. in Kenya

by CNA/EWTN News • November 26, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square during the Wednesday general audience on May 28, 2014. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Nairobi, Kenya — Speaking at the United Nations office in Nairobi, Kenya, Pope Francis said on Thursday that working together is necessary to conquer problems, whether in the realms of politics, health, or development.

No country “can act independently of a common responsibility. If we truly desire positive change, we have to humbly accept our interdependence, Pope Francis said Nov. 26, repeating his words from an Address to Popular Movements this July.

The Pope was in Kenya Nov. 25-27 as part of a larger African tour that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic later this week.

“The problem arises whenever we think of interdependence as a synonym for domination, or the subjection of some to the interests of others, of the powerless to the powerful,” the Pope explained to those gathered at the U.N. hall. “What is needed is sincere and open dialogue, with responsible cooperation on the part of all: political authorities, the scientific community, the business world and civil society.”

When politics, science and business work together, with the “human person and human dignity the point of departure and the goal of everything,” he said, substantial change can occur.

Such a shift requires not only political and technical solutions, the Holy Father said, but also “a process of education which proposes new ways of living. A new culture … a culture of care – care for oneself, care for others, care for the environment.”

This new culture will shape humanity’s response on challenges ranging from blood diamonds and organ trafficking to malaria and environmental concerns, he said.

On his way to the hall, the Pope was asked to plant a tree in the United Nations Centre park.

“I was happy to carry out this simple symbolic act, which is so meaningful in many cultures,” he said, adding that the act is both “an invitation to continue the battle against phenomena like deforestation and desertification” and “an incentive to keep trusting, hoping, and above all working in practice to reverse all those situations of injustice and deterioration which we currently experience.”

He noted the upcoming climate change conference in Paris, saying, “It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects.”

The Pope called for the upcoming conference to help develop a new energy system “which depends on a minimal use of fossil fuels, aims at energy efficiency and makes use of energy sources with little or no carbon content.” At the same time, the poor and underprivileged must be taken into account, he said.

Therefore, the upcoming conference must have “three complex and interdependent goals: lessening the impact of climate change, fighting poverty and ensuring respect for human dignity.”

He warned that “the culture of deterioration and waste” has human victims, questioning whether the modern world is “growing accustomed to the suffering of others, as if it were something normal.”

The Pope drew attention to an increasing number of migrants fleeing poverty that is aggravated by environmental degradation.

He also warned of urbanization accompanied all too often by social breakdown, drug trafficking and use, violence, and a loss of identity. Efforts must be made, he said, to work for the right to land, lodging and labor, as well as to promote city planning and maintenance that take into account views of local residents and alleviate poverty.

Regarding medical developments, the Pope said that treaties dealing with intellectual property, especially in the areas of pharmaceutics and biotechnology, should ensure that all people have access to basic medical treatment, regardless of poverty or location.

“Certain health issues, like the elimination of malaria and tuberculosis, treatment of so-called orphan diseases, and neglected sectors of tropical medicine, require urgent political attention, above and beyond all other commercial or political interests,” he added.

“In the context of economic relationships between States and between peoples, we cannot be silent about forms of illegal trafficking which arise in situations of poverty and in turn lead to greater poverty and exclusion,” he continued. “Illegal trade in diamonds and precious stones, rare metals or those of great strategic value, wood, biological material and animal products, such as ivory trafficking and the relative killing of elephants, fuels political instability, organized crime and terrorism.”

Concluding, the Pope stressed the importance of “regional cooperation,” offering prayers that such joint efforts “may be vigorously pursued and always take into account the common good of the sons and daughters of this land.”

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What you have is worth more than money – the Pope to Kenya’s poor

by CNA/EWTN News • November 26, 2015

Pope Francis meets with members and beneficiaries of the Community of Sant’Egidio in Nairobi Kenya on Nov. 26, 2015. (Community of Sant’Egidio)

Nairobi, Kenya — During his tri-nation visit to Africa this week, Pope Francis made a stop at a slum in Nairobi and praised those he met for their love of and emphasis on community and relationships – over what he called a vacuous, “unbridled consumption” that often plagues the West.

“I want in first place to uphold these values which you practice, values which are not quoted in the stock exchange, are not subject to speculation, and have no market price,” the Pope said during the Nov. 27 meeting at a Jesuit church in the Kangemi neighborhood.

“I congratulate you, I accompany you and I want you to know that the Lord never forgets you. The path of Jesus began on the peripheries, it goes from the poor and with the poor, towards others.”

Your values, he added, are “grounded in the fact each human being is more important than the god of money. Thank you for reminding us that another type of culture is possible.”

The Pope was in Kenya Nov. 25-27 as part of a larger African tour that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic later this week.

In addition to addressing the United Nations office in Nairobi during his stay in the country, the Pope also visited local priests, seminarians and religious. Tossing his prepared remarks to the latter aside, he issued a frank warning to them that if anything disgusts God, it’s the attitude of indifference.

He also gave some practical advice, such as keeping the Lord at the center of their lives through prayer and the sacraments, and stressed that the Church is not a business, but rather a mystery intended to serve others.

On the afternoon of Nov. 26, Pope Francis attended a gathering at the football field of the local St. Mary’s School, where representatives of Community of Sant’Egidio came with those who’ve benefitted from the organization in different cities throughout Kenya.

The community has helped fight AIDS in the country, treating more than 11,000 people. According to Sant’Egidio, Pope Francis wanted to personally greet all of the children present who’d been born healthy, thanks to the program.

In his talk with the neighborhood on Friday, the Pope clarified that his praise for their valuing the most important things in life in “no way entails a disregard for the dreadful injustice of urban exclusion.”

“These are wounds inflicted by minorities who cling to power and wealth, who selfishly squander while a growing majority is forced to flee to abandoned, filthy and run-down peripheries,” he said.

“One very serious problem in this regard is the lack of access to infrastructures and basic services,” the Pope added.

“By this I mean toilets, sewers, drains, refuse collection, electricity, roads, as well as schools, hospitals, recreational and sport centers, studios and workshops for artists and craftsmen. I refer in particular to access to drinking water.”

“To deny a family water, under any bureaucratic pretext whatsoever, is a great injustice, especially when one profits from this need,” he said.

Pope Francis also lamented the “situation of indifference and hostility” experienced by poor neighborhoods, which he said is “aggravated when violence spreads and criminal organizations, serving economic or political interests, use children and young people as ‘canon fodder’ for their ruthless business affairs.”

“These realities which I have just mentioned are not a random combination of unrelated problems,” he noted. “They are a consequence of new forms of colonialism.”

In response to this, “we need to go beyond the mere proclamation of rights which are not respected in practice, to implementing concrete and systematic initiatives capable of improving the overall living situation, and planning new urban developments of good quality for housing future generations.”

“The social and environmental debt owed to the poor of cities can be paid by respecting their sacred right to the ‘three Ls’: Land, Lodging, Labour,” he emphasized. “This is not a question of philanthropy; rather it is a duty incumbent upon all of us.”

Francis then called for practical provision for every family, including: “dignified housing, access to drinking water, a toilet, reliable sources of energy for lighting, cooking and improving their homes.”

He also insisted “that every neighborhood has streets, squares, schools, hospitals, areas for sport, recreation and art; that basic services are provided to each of you.”

Pope Francis then concluded his remarks by calling on “all Christians, and their pastors in particular, to renew their missionary zeal, to take initiative in the face of so many situations of injustice, to be involved in their neighbours’ problems, to accompany them in their struggles, to protect the fruits of their communitarian labour and to celebrate together each victory, large or small.”

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Full text of Pope Francis’ powerful, unscripted talk with Kenya’s youth

by CNA/EWTN News • November 27, 2015

Pope Francis arrives to meet with youth at Kasarani stadium in Kenya on Nov. 27, 2015. (Martha Caldarón/CNA)

Nairobi, Kenya — An impassioned Pope Francis went off-the-cuff in a vast, widespread speech to Kenyan youth, touching on challenging topics such as how to stop youth from being recruited to terrorist activities.

The encounter fell on the Pope’s last day in Kenya. His Nov. 25-27 visit to the country was part of a larger African tour that will also take him to Uganda and the Central African Republic later this week.

Before meeting the youth, Francis traveled to Nairobi’s slum-neighborhood of Kangemi, where he praised those he met for their strong emphasis on community and relationships and condemned what he called a vacuous, “unbridled consumption” that often plagues the West.

In his speech to youth, the Pope responded in Spanish to questions posed by youths Lineth and Manuel, who gave their testimonies on current challenges they face, including issues stemming from corruption, tribalism, and the radicalization of youth who are recruited into terrorist activities.

Francis in response delivered lengthy, powerful answers with his own anecdotes, revealing that he carries a rosary and a pocket-sized Stations of the Cross with him every day, which he said keep him from losing hope.

Below please find CNA’s full transcript of the Pope’s speech in Spanish, assisted by the simultaneous translation of Pope Francis’ official translator, Msgr. Mark Miles:

Thank you very much for the rosary you prayed for me. Thank you for your enthusiastic presence here. I have something to say on the basis of all the questions asked by Lineth and Manuel.

(In response to Lineth’s questions):

Why do divisions, wars and death occur? Fanaticism and divisions among young people? Why is there that desire to destroy?

In the first page of the Bible, after all those wonderful things that the Lord had done, a brother kills another brother. The spirit of evil takes us to destruction. And the spirit takes us to a lack of unity. It takes us to tribalism corruption and drugs. It takes us to destruction out of fanaticism. How do we make it such that fanatical idealism doesn’t rob us of a brother or sister. There is a word that might seem uncomfortable to the ear but i don’t want to avoid it.

A man or a woman loses their humanity when they forget how to pray. Because they feel powerful. Because they don’t feel the need to ask the Lord for help, in the face of so many tragedies.

Life is full of difficulties. Are there different ways of looking at difficulties? Does it stop you, or do you regard them as as real opportunity? To all of you is open the choice. For me, is this a path of destruction or an opportunity to overcome this difficulty for me, my family, this country?

Young people: we don’t live in heaven, we live on earth. And earth is full of difficulties and invitations that will lead you astray to evil. But there is something all of you have. The capacity to choose. Which path do you want to choose? Which of these two do I want?

There are some other difficulties you mention. And before that a question. Do you want to overcome challenges or be overcome by them?

Are you like the sportsman who come here (to the stadium). Or those who sold the tickets to others and put the money in their pockets. You have to choose.

Tribalism. It can destroy. It can mean having your hands hidden behind your backs. And have a stone in each hand to throw to others. Tribalism can only be overcome with your ear, your heart, and your hand.

(Ask yourselves): What is your culture? Why are you like this? Why do your cousins have these customs? Do they feel inferior or superior?

Once we’ve heard the response in our ears than it passes to our hearts and then I extend my hand. If you don’t dialogue with each other then you’re going to have division like a worm that grows in society

Yesterday was pronounced as a day of prayer and reconciliation. I want to invite you all today, to the young, to invite Lineth and Manuel to come up now, and that we hold each other’s hands, let’s hold hands together. Let’s stand up as a sign against tribalism. We are all a nation, that’s how our hearts must be.

Tribalism isn’t just raising our hands today, it’s an expression of our desire, our hearts, and this tribalism is a work we must carry out every day against this tendency. You have to listen to others, it’s a work of opening your heart.

(On the question of corruption): I ask myself, can we justify corruption? Just for the mere fact that everyone is corrupt? How can we be christians and overcome this evil of corruption? In my country a young 20 year old dedicated himself to politics. He studied with great vigor he went here and there and he obtained a job. And one day he had to decide: about which things he had to buy. And he asked for three quotes. He studied these three quotes and chose the cheapest, the easiest, and he took it to his boss so his boss could sign off on it and he said why do you choose this one? (He replied) because you have to choose what is easiest for the finances of a country. No (his boss replied) you have to choose that which gives more money in your pocket. But I came to carry out politics for the good of the nation (the young man said), and the boss replied: I do politics to rob, to steal.

One example and it’s not just in politics, in all areas of life, also in the Vatican. These are cases of corruption.

Corruption is something that eats inside, like sugar. Sweet, we like it, it’s easy. And then we end up in a bad way. So much sugar that we end up being diabetic or our country ends up being diabetic. Each time when we accept a bribe and we put it in our pockets, we destroy our hearts. we destroy our personalities, and we destroy our country. Please, don’t develop that taste for that sugar which is called corruption. You might say ‘but Holy Father, I see many who are corrupt. I see so many people who are sold. Just for a little bit of money. Without worrying about the livelihood of others.’

As in everything you have to make a start. If you don’t want corruption in lives, hearts and country, start now, yourselves. Because if you don’t start than the person that’s beside you won’t start.

Corruption moreover takes away our joy, our peace. Corrupt people don’t live in peace. What I’m about to tell you really happened. In my city, my home town, a man died and we all knew that he was corrupt. I asked a few days after, ‘how did the funeral go’? And a lady with a great sense of humor replied: ‘they couldn’t close the coffin properly because they wanted to put inside the coffin all the money he had robbed.’

What you rob through corruption will stay here. But also, what will remain is that the hearts of many men and women are wounded by these examples of corruption. What will remain behind was all the lack of good that could have been done. It will remain in the children who suffer.

Young people: corruption is not a path to life, it’s a path to death.

There was one question, how to use means of communication, to spread the message of Christ, and to promote good initiatives so that you can make a difference. The first means of communicating is the words, the smiles, the gestures. The first gesture is being close to others. The first gesture to trying look for friendship with others.

If you speak well among yourselves then you can accept each other as brothers and sisters, even if you’re from different tribes. If you’re closest to the poor to those who are abandoned to … those who are completely rejected, those gestures of communication are much more contagious than any channel on TV.

These questions and these thoughts can help you. But ask Jesus from your hearts, pray to the Lord. So that he can give you the strength to destroy tribalism and hold each others hand as brothers and sisters. So that you have the courage to not be corrupted, Offering yourselves for others, by offering a gestures, a word a smile your expressions of closeness.

(In response to Manuel’s questions):

I am worried about the first thing he said. What can we do to stop young people being recruited into radicalization? What can we do after they have been recruited to try to get them to come back? To answer this we have to ask why do young people full of ideals allow themselves to be radicalized in this way? They leave their friends, their tribe, their country. They leave their lives behind in order to learn how to kill. This is question which you yourselves must pose to all people in authority. If a young woman or man has no work, cannot study, what can he or she do? A life of delinquency, falling into drug abuse, or even into suicide. In Europe the statistics of suicide are not published. They get involved or seduced into an activity which leads them into a bad path. The first thing we have to do to stop a young person from being recruited is education and work.

If a young person has no work than what future awaits him or her? And that’s where the idea of being seduced or recruited comes in.

Even if there are small opportunities, without them what can they do? That is the danger. It’s a social danger which is beyond us and it’s even beyond the country because it depends on an international system that is unjust. It’s the injustice of having an economic system where the person is not the center but rather the god of money.

Pray! But (pray) really hard. God is much stronger than any recruitment campaign. And then, speak with tenderness, understanding and love and with great patience to invite them to come watch some football, to walk with you, to be together in your group, don’t allow them to remain on their own.

Transitory things that end up destroying you. A question Manuel asked. It’s a question that a professor in theology might ask. How can we understand that God is our father, how to see his hand in the tragedies of life, how can we find God’s peace? This question men and women all over the world ask themselves. And they can’t find the reason. And there are some questions that you can turn around in your minds over and over again and never find the answer. How can I see the hand of God in tragedy? I was going to say there’s just one response but no, there’s no response. There is a path. To look at the Son of God. God endured death to save all of us. God became a tragedy. God allowed himself to be destroyed on the cross.

When you don’t understand something, when desperation hits you then look at the cross. That is the great failure of God, that is the destruction of God, and it’s a challenge to our faith. And this is hope, because history did not end in that failure. Rather it’s in the resurrection of Christ that renewed all of us.

I am going to tell you something personal. It’s 12 (o’clock) are you hungry? (Laughter and cheers).

I am going to tell you something private. In my pocket I always carry two thing: a rosary to pray something which seems odd, this is here is the history of God’s failure, it’s the way of the cross, a small way of the cross, as Jesus suffered and when they condemned him right up to where he was buried with these two things I do the best I can. And thanks to these two things, I never lose hope.

A last question from our theologian friend Manuel, what word can you offer to young people who don’t experience love in their families. How is it possible to come out of this experience?

Everywhere, there are abandoned children, either at birth or as life progressed they were abandoned and they don’t feel love from their families.

This is why family is so important. Defend the family. Defend the family always. everywhere there’s not only kids who are abandoned but also elderly are abandoned with no one to visit to them with no-one to love them,

How do you come out of this very negative experience? There is one remedy, one remedy alone, to come out of these experiences. To do that which you did not receive. If you didn’t receive understanding, then be understanding with others

If you felt pain of loneliness come close to those who are alone, flesh is cured by flesh and God became flesh in order to cure us, let’s do the same ourselves.

Well then, before the umpire sounds the bell, it’s time to close. I thank you from my heart, first that you came, second that you allow me to speak in my mother tongue. I am really grateful you prayed so many rosaries for me. And please, I ask you to pray for me. Because I too need those prayers and very much so. I count on your prayers and before leaving, if we stand now and pray to our heavenly father who has only one defect - he can’t stop being a father.

God bless you all, the father the son and the holy spirit - thank you very much.

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Pope praises Ugandans for helping refugees rebuild their lives

by CNA/EWTN News • November 27, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates Mass for the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple in St. Peter’s Basilica on Feb. 2, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Entebbe, Uganda — Pope Francis praised the Ugandan people for showing “outstanding concern” for refugees in a time when our world is witnessing an unprecedented movement of people fleeing violence and injustice.

“Here in East Africa, Uganda has shown outstanding concern for welcoming refugees, enabling them to rebuild their lives in security and to sense the dignity which comes from earning one’s livelihood through honest labor,” he told members of Uganda’s diplomatic corps at the State House in Entebbe Nov. 27.

In recent years, Uganda has welcomed more than 150,000 Sudanese refugees fleeing violence that followed the declaration of their independence in 2011.

“How we deal with them is a test of our humanity, our respect for human dignity, and above all our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in need,” the Holy Father said.

Pope Francis said his primary reason for visiting their country is to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Ugandan martyrs’ canonization by Pope Paul VI, but also as a sign of “friendship, esteem and encouragement for all the people of this great nation.”

Saint Charles Lwanga and his 21 companions were killed by the king in the 1880s alongside 23 Anglican converts to Christianity for refusing to recant their faith, and were canonized Oct. 18, 1964, by Bl. Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Their sacrifice is a witness to Uganda’s motto: “For God and My Country” and marks them as “true national heroes,” the Pope remarked.

“They remind us of the importance that faith, moral rectitude and commitment to the common good have played, and continue to play, in the cultural, economic and political life of this country,” he said.

These values are especially relevant to the diplomatic corps and public officials “who are charged with ensuring good and transparent governance, integral human development, a broad participation in national life, as well as a wise and just description of the goods which the Creator has so richly bestowed upon these lands.”

The most abundant blessing that Uganda has is in its people, Pope Francis said, particularly the youth who need to have “opportunities for education and gainful employment” and elderly, who “are the living memory of every people.”

“Their wisdom and experience should always be valued as a compass which can enable society to find the right direction in confronting the challenges of the present with integrity, wisdom and vision,” he said of the elderly.

The pontiff added that although his trip is short, he also wants to use it as an encouragement to “the many quiet efforts being made to care for the poor, the sick and those in trouble of any kind.”

“In so many ways,” he said, “our world is growing closer, yet at the same time we see with concern the globalization of a ‘throwaway culture’ which blinds us to spiritual values, hardens our hearts before the needs of the poor, and robs our young of hope.”

He closed by saying by imparting a simple blessing in Swahili – “Mungu awabariki!” which means simply, “God bless you!”

Uganda is the second leg of the Holy Father’s three country tour of Africa from Nov. 25-30. His trip began with a stop in Kenya and will end with a visit to Central African Republic.

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Pope to Ugandan catechists: Your work is not easy, but it is important

by CNA/EWTN News • November 27, 2015

Pope Francis arrives in Uganda. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

Munyonyo, Uganda — Speaking with catechists and teachers in Uganda, Pope Francis on Friday offered encouragement and stressed that witnessing the faith is critical for the growth of the Church.

“Even when the task seems too much, the resources too few, the obstacles too great, it should never be forgotten that yours is a holy work,” he said.

“The Holy Spirit is present wherever the name of Christ is proclaimed. He is in our midst whenever we lift up our hearts and minds to God in prayer. He will give you the light and strength you need!”

Pope Francis arrived in Uganda Nov. 27 as part of a larger African tour. He had previously been visiting Kenya and will next go to the Central African Republic.

His visit to Uganda comes just after the 50th anniversary of the canonization of the Uganda Martyrs.

Saint Charles Lwanga and his 21 companions were killed by the king in the 1880s alongside 23 Anglican converts to Christianity for refusing to recant their faith, and were canonized Oct. 18, 1964, by Bl. Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Speaking to the catechists gathered before him, Pope Francis commented on what it means to be a teacher of the Christian faith.

“‘Teacher!’ What a beautiful name this is! Jesus is our first and greatest teacher,” the Pope reflected. “Saint Paul tells us that Jesus gave his Church not only apostles and pastors, but also teachers, to build up the whole body in faith and love.”

“Together with the bishops, priests and deacons who are ordained to preach the Gospel and care for the Lord’s flock, you, as catechists, play an outstanding part in bringing the Good News to every village and homestead in your country,” he said.

Pope Francis thanked the teachers and catechists for their sacrifices, zeal and devotion.

“Thank you for your dedication, your example, your closeness to God’s people in their daily lives, and all the many ways you plant and nurture the seeds of faith throughout this vast land,” he continued. “Thank you especially for teaching our children and young people how to pray. I know that your work, although rewarding, is not easy.”

The Pope called for bishops and priests to support their local catechists with doctrinal, spiritual and pastoral formation, helping them to persevere and be more effective in their witness.

He stressed the importance of the job of catechesis, saying, “You teach what Jesus taught, you instruct adults and help parents to raise their children in the faith, and you bring the joy and hope of eternal life to all.”

In addition, he called on the teachers to offer an example of prayer, forgiveness and Eucharist.

“The message you bring will take root all the more firmly in people’s hearts if you are not only a teacher but also a witness,” he said.

It was the faithful witness of the Ugandan martyrs that helped the Christian community in the nation to flourish, the Pope observed.

“They testified to the truth which sets men free; they were willing to shed their blood to be faithful to what they knew was good and beautiful and true.”

While the king was determined to wipe out the Christians, he failed and “(a)fter seeing the fearless testimony of Saint Andrew Kaggwa and his companions, Christians in Uganda became even more convinced of Christ’s promises.”

Pope Francis concluded his remarks by asking for the intercession of the Ugandan martyrs and encouraging the catechists to offer a grace-filled witness of God’s truth and joy.

“Go forth without fear to every town and village in this country, to spread the good seed of God’s word, and trust in his promise that you will come back rejoicing, with sheaves full from the harvest,” he said.

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Like the martyrs, witness to Jesus with your life, Pope tells Ugandans

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • November 28, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Shrine of the Uganda martyrs at Namugono on Nov. 28, 2015. (Martha Calderon/EWTN)

Kampala, Uganda — Marking his first full day in Uganda with Mass to celebrate the nation’s martyrs, Pope Francis said the call to be missionary disciples falls on all of us, whether at home or abroad, with our families or among our enemies.

“Like the Apostles and the Uganda martyrs before us, we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit to become missionary disciples called to go forth and bring the Gospel to all,” the Pope said Nov. 28, presiding over Mass at the Catholic Shrine of the Martyrs of Namugongo.

“If, like the martyrs, we daily fan into flame the gift of the Spirit who dwells in our hearts, then we will surely become the missionary disciples which Christ calls us to be.”

Throughout his homily, the Pope reflected on how those who nurture the Holy Spirit in their lives desire to share what they have received with others.

“This openness to others begins first in the family, in our homes where charity and forgiveness are learned, and the mercy and love of God made known in our parents’ love. It finds expression too in our care for the elderly and the poor, the widowed and the orphaned.”

The Pope added that this openness extends not only to our loved ones, but to our enemies as well.

“To our families and friends certainly, but also to those whom we do not know, especially those who might be unfriendly, even hostile, to us.”

Uganda is the second country in Pope Francis’ tri-nation African tour from Nov. 25-30. The Pope began his trip with a stop in Kenya, and will conclude the journey with a visit to the Central African Republic.

Pope Francis’ Nov. 27-28 trip to Uganda comes one year on from the 50th anniversary of the canonization of the Uganda Martyrs.

Saint Charles Lwanga and his 21 companions were killed by the king in the 1880s, alongside 23 Anglican converts to Christianity for refusing to recant their faith. They were canonized Oct. 18, 1964, by Bl. Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Pope Francis praised the martyrs’ witness of love for Christ and the Church as having gone “to the end of the earth,” as well as the sacrifice of the Anglican martyrs, which he said testified to Christ through the “ecumenism of blood.”

“All these witnesses nurtured the gift of the Holy Spirit in their lives and freely gave testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ, even at the cost of their lives, many at such a young age.”

This “gift of the Spirit” which we also received in Baptism to make us God’s children brings with it the call to be witnesses of Jesus “and make him everywhere known and loved,” the Pope said.

“Every day we are called to deepen the Holy Spirit’s presence in our life, to ‘fan into flame’ the gift of his divine love so that we may be a source of wisdom and strength to others.”

Pope Francis stressed that the gift of the Holy Spirit is not for ourselves alone, but is meant to be shared.

“We do not receive the gift of the Spirit for ourselves alone, but to build up one another in faith, hope and love.”

The Pope considered the example of Saints Joseph Mkasa and Charles Lwanga who, having been catechized by others, wanted to share what they received. In doing this, they risked their lives, and the lives of the young boys under their care.

“Because they had tended to their faith and deepened their love of God, they were fearless in bringing Christ to others, even at the cost of their lives.”

“Their faith became witness; today, venerated as martyrs, their example continues to inspire people throughout the world. They continue to proclaim Jesus Christ and the power of his Cross.”

Pope Francis challenged us to be witnesses to Christ to everyone: our families, strangers, and even those who are “hostile to us.”

The martyrs’ witness shows that worldly pleasure and power “do not bring lasting joy,” the Pope said.

“Rather, fidelity to God, honesty and integrity of life, and genuine concern for the good of others bring us that peace which the world cannot give,” he said.

“This does not diminish our concern for this world, as if we only look to the life to come,” he added.

“Instead, it gives purpose to our lives in this world, and helps us to reach out to those in need, to cooperate with others for the common good, and to build a more just society which promotes human dignity, defends God’s gift of life and protects the wonders of nature, his creation and our common home.”

Pope Francis concluded by calling for the intercession of the martyrs and Mary, to enkindle the Holy Spirit within us.

“This legacy is not served by an occasional remembrance, or by being enshrined in a museum as a precious jewel,” he said.

“Rather, we honour them, and all the saints, when we carry on their witness to Christ, in our homes and neighbourhoods, in our workplaces and civil society, whether we never leave our homes or we go to the farthest corner of the world.”

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Pope Francis’ road map for the faith? Serve the poor

by CNA/EWTN News • November 28, 2015

Pope Francis addresses residents and staff at the House of Charity near Kampala, Uganda on Nov. 28, 2015. (Screenshot/CTV)

Kampala, Uganda — The world is marked by growing indifference, but Christians cannot forget Christ’s call to serve the poor, Pope Francis stressed in his speech this afternoon at the House of Charity in Nalukolongo, Uganda.

“I appeal to all parishes and communities in Uganda – and the rest of Africa – not to forget the poor. Not to forget the poor!” the Pope repeated. “The Gospel commands us to go out to the peripheries of society, and to find Christ in the suffering and those in need.”

“The Lord tells us, in no uncertain terms, that is what he will judge us on!”

Pope Francis said indifference and selfishness are spreading in many parts of the world. He lamented a growing throwaway culture, which he said victimizes the unborn, the young, and the elderly. He also decried human trafficking and neglect of the elderly.

So how can Christians respond to this growing culture of indifference? Parishes and families can open their doors and hearts to the poor, the Pope said.

“This is the royal road of Christian discipleship,” he said. “Our families need to become ever more evident signs of God’s patient and merciful love, not only for our children and elders, but for all those in need. Our parishes must not close their doors, or their ears, to the cry of the poor.”

“In this way we show that people count more than things. That who we are is more important than what we possess. In this way we bear witness to the Lord who came not to be served, but to serve.”

The House of Charity is located in Nalukolongo, a suburb of Uganda’s capital Kampala. It was founded in 1978 to serve the poor, sick, and disabled. Today, it has more than 100 residents from Uganda and neighboring nations. The House of Charity is run by the Good Samaritan Sisters, whom Pope Francis commended in his address for their “years of quiet and joyful service in this apostolate.”

“This is a place which has always been associated with the Church’s outreach to the poor, the handicapped, the sick,” the Pope said. “This is a home. Here you can find love and care; here you can feel the presence of Jesus, our brother, who loves each of us with God’s own love.”

The Pope then entrusted the House of Charity and its residents to Mary’s loving protection and promised his own prayers for the ministry’s continued service to the poor and witness to the Christian faith.

“By simple gestures, by simple prayerful actions which honor Christ in the least of his brothers and sisters, we can bring the power of his love into our world, and truly change it.”

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Pope to Ugandan youth: You are a people of martyrs

by CNA/EWTN News • November 28, 2015

Ugandan youth greeted Pope Francis with welcome signs and big smiles today during a meeting at Kampala’s airport on Nov. 28, 2015. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

Kampala, Uganda — On his last day in Uganda, Pope Francis heard testimonies of suffering from young people and praised Ugandan’s faith, which he said comes from the martyrs who have come before them.

“All of you, be aware, be aware that you are a people of martyrs,” the Pope said in Spanish, with the help of an interpreter into English, during the youth encounter at the Kololo Air Strip in Kampala.

“Through your own veins runs the blood of martyrs, and that’s why you have such a strong faith and life that you enjoy now.”

Pope Francis reflected on the example of the martyrs, saying “in order to live, we have to die … but, through that death, there is light for all.”

The pontiff’s meeting with young people was one of the last events in his Nov. 27-28 visit to Uganda, the second country in his tri-nation African tour which began Nov. 25 with his stop in Kenya, and will conclude Nov. 30 with his visit to the Central African Republic.

Before addressing the young people, Pope Francis heard several testimonies, including that of a young woman named Winnie who lost both parents as a child and who is herself HIV positive, and a young man named Emmanuel who had spent several months in captivity in 2003 after being kidnapped by Lord’s Resistance Army rebels.

In her testimony, Winnie, 24, spoke of the challenge of losing her parents at the age of seven, and of managing her disease.

“Take charge of your life because God loves you and he wants you to continue bear witness amidst all the challenges faced by young people,” she told Pope Francis.

The other testimony came from Emmanuel who shared his story of being one of 41 students kidnapped from Sacred Heart Minor Seminary, Lacor. He and his fellow prisoners were tortured, while others were killed. He managed to escape captivity after three months, and has since earned a degree in business administration, but asked for prayers for the eleven seminarians still in captivity.

“To those who tortured us, am glad my heart has found love, forgiveness, peace and joy. They are all forgiven because Jesus Christ broke the power of death by suffering on the Cross,” Emmanuel said.

After listening to these testimonies “with great pain in my heart,” Pope Francis spoke on the meaning of negative experiences and suffering.

Reflecting on Winnie’s testimony, the Pope explained that Jesus can perform “great miracles” in life.

“A wall can be transformed into a path towards the future,” he said. “There’s always the possibility of opening a door, a horizon to the future, and to open it through the Power of Jesus.”

“Winnie transformed her depression and bad experiences into hope. This isn’t magic. This is the work of Jesus Christ, because Jesus is Lord. Jesus can do everything.”

The pontiff said Jesus had experienced the greatest sufferings in history, having been “insulted, rejected, and murdered,” but was Risen from the dead.

“He can do the same in us with every single thing that we experience, because Jesus is Lord.”

Pope Francis turned his reflection to the witness given by Emmanuel who managed to escape from a brutal captivity.

“A light is like a seed. In order to live, we have to die. And dying sometimes like Emmanuel’s friends – Dying as Charles Lwanga died, and the martyrs – but, through that death there is light for all.

“If I can transform the negative into positive, I am triumphant in the Lord. But, that can only be done with the grace of Jesus Christ.”

The Pope then issued a challenge to the young people present: “Are you ready in life to transform all your negative experiences into positive ones? Are you ready to transform hate into love? Are you ready to transform war into peace?”

At one point during the address, the interpreter’s microphone stopped working, prompting Pope Francis to use the minor mishap to illustrate his point.

“When we’re not working properly (like the microphone), who do we have to turn to for help? Jesus!”

“He can tear down all the walls that lie before you.”

Pope Francis stressed the importance of prayer to the young people present. In the fight against oppression, in the fight against HIV, the Pope said to ask Jesus for help, and to fight against these challenges with prayer.

In particular, he urged them to pray to Jesus and Mary, saying: “When we have a problem, the first thing we can do is go to our mother. Pray to Mary, our mother.”

“Pray to the Lord Jesus, because he is the only Lord,” the Pope said.

He went on to remind the young people: “In the Church, we are not orphans, because we have Mary our mother.”

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Pope Francis’ three words for Ugandan religious: Memory, fidelity and prayer

by CNA/EWTN News • November 28, 2015

Three religious sisters attend Mass for the martyrs of Uganda on Nov. 28, 2015. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

Kampala, Uganda — Pope Francis wrapped up his public appearances in Uganda with an address to the priests, religious and seminarians of the country at the Cathedral in Kampala.

In an off-the-cuff homily in the Jesuit tradition – brief, with three main points – Pope Francis reflected on three words: memory, fidelity and prayer.

The greatest treasure of the memory of the Ugandan people is the witness of their martyrs, the Holy Father said.

“As I said to the young people today, through the veins of young people and all Ugandan people is flowing the blood of the martyrs,” Pope Francis said.

“Please don’t lose the memory of this great seed.”

Pope Francis’ Nov. 27-28 trip to Uganda, the second of three countries on his trip to Africa, comes one year after the 50th anniversary of the canonization of the Uganda Martyrs.

Saint Charles Lwanga and his 21 companions were killed by the king in the 1880s, alongside 23 Anglican converts to Christianity for refusing to recant their faith. They were canonized Oct. 18, 1964, by Bl. Pope Paul VI in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Ask for the grace never to forget but to keep alive their memory,” Pope Francis said.

In order to keep the memory of the martyrs alive, it must live on in the faithful witness of priests and religious today, he added.

“You are part of the future glory (of the Church),” the Pope said.

All clergy and religious are called “to be witnesses just as the martyrs laid down their lives for the Gospel.”

The Pope then reflected on fidelity, and the need for clergy and religious to be faithful to the memory of the martyrs as well as to their own vocations.

One way to show this fidelity, the Pope suggested, is to keep the missionary spirit alive within the country of Uganda.

“Fidelity means having a bishop that is generous in offering priests to a neighboring diocese that needs clergy,” he said.

It also means “persevering in one’s vocation, and I want to thank here especially the example of fidelity that I received in the House of Charity - fidelity to the poor, to the infirm, the disabled, because Christ is there,” he said, referencing his earlier visit to the House of Charity in Nalukolongo, Uganda.

The Holy Father then emphasized the need for prayer as the only thing that makes possible the witness of memory and fidelity.

“If a religious or a priest stops praying, because he or she has too much work, then he or she has begun to lose their memory and to lose their fidelity,” he said.

Prayer also means regular confession, to ensure that one is not living a double life as a religious, the Pope added.

“If you are a sinner, ask for forgiveness, but don’t keep hidden what God doesn’t want to remain hidden.”

At the conclusion of his address, the Pope called on the intercession of the martyrs of Uganda, and asked all those present to pray for him. He then led the clergy and religious in the Hail Mary.

The Pope will conclude his trip to Africa in the Central African Republic, which he will visit Nov. 29-30.

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Pope advocates for peace, unity in Central African Republic

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • November 29, 2015

Pope Francis arrives in the Central African Republic on Nov 29, 2015. (Martha Calderón/CNA)

Bangui, Central African Republic — After landing in the war-torn Central African Republic, Pope Francis urged the country’s leaders to work for peace and reconciliation, particularly through disarmament and a stable administration.

“As the Central African Republic progressively moves, in spite of difficulties, towards the normalization of its social and political life … I come as a pilgrim of peace and an apostle of hope,” the Pope said Nov. 29.

He praised the efforts made by both national and international authorities in working to find a solution to current tensions, and expressed his hope that the country’s coming elections would allow the CAR “to embark serenely on new chapter of its history.”

Pope Francis landed in the Central African capitol of Bangui the morning of Nov. 29. His Nov. 29-30 visit to CAR comes at the end of a larger tour of the African continent that also took him to Kenya and Uganda, and falls just one month ahead of the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

The CAR is the riskiest trip Francis has made since his election, since it marks the first time he steps into an active war zone.

The majority of tensions began in late 2012 when several bands of mainly Muslim rebel groups formed an alliance, taking the name Seleka. They left their strongholds in the north of the country and made their way south, seizing power from then-president Francois Bozize.

Since then, fear, uncertainty and violence have swept over the country in a conflict that has so far left some 6,000 people dead.

The country will hold both presidential and parliamentary elections Dec. 27, after they were postponed in October due to violence and instability. Interim president Catherine Samba-Panza, who has so far struggled to keep peace, will not be a candidate.

The last pontiff to visit the CAR was St. John Paul II in 1985, as part of a larger trip to Togo, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zaire and Kenya.

In his remarks to the country’s authorities, Francis recalled the Central African motto “unity-dignity-labor,” which he said is a “sure compass” by which the authorities can guide the future of the country.

The Pope said unity is a cardinal virtue in maintaining harmony among peoples, and must be built on diversity while avoiding the temptation “of fear of others, of the unfamiliar, of what is not part of our ethnic group, our political views or our religious confession.”

Rather than fear, unity “calls for creating and promoting a synthesis of the richness which each person has to offer.”

Francis also spoke on the importance of upholding the dignity of each person, and referred to the Central African axiom “Zo kwe zo,” meaning that in the country “everybody is somebody.”

“Each person has dignity,” he said, explaining that everything possible must be done in order to protect the dignity and status of the human person.

Part of upholding this dignity means that those who enjoy decent living look for ways to help the poor attain better living conditions rather than seeking privileges for themselves, he said, noting the importance of access to education, healthcare, decent housing and the fight against malnutrition.

Pope Francis also spoke on the importance of labor, and encouraged Central Africans to make wise use of the country’s resources, particularly its rich biodiversity.

He stressed the need for public authorities to maintain “upright conduct and administration,” in their duties. They must be “the first to embody consistently the values of unity, dignity and labor, serving as models for their compatriots,” he said.

Calling to mind the role of evangelization in the country, Francis greeted his brother bishops, and assured the Church’s closeness in promoting the common good, particularly through efforts toward peace and reconciliation.

The Pope closed by encouraging both the international community as well as local authorities to work for solidarity and the advancement of the country, “especially in the areas of reconciliation, disarmament, peacekeeping, health care and the cultivation of a sound administration at all levels.”

He praised the CAR’s natural and cultural richness, and prayed that the people Central Africa as well as its leaders and partners, would “always appreciate the value of these gifts by working ceaselessly for unity, human dignity and a peace based on justice.”

In a symbolic gesture, Pope Francis is set to jump-start the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the diocese of Bangui’s Holy Door during Mass the evening of Nov. 29.

Though the Jubilee for Mercy doesn’t begin until Dec. 8, Pope Francis has decided to open the Holy Door in the Central African Republic’s capital 10 days early as a sign of prayer and solidarity with the war-torn nation.

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Pope to displaced persons: Peace is impossible without tolerance, forgiveness

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • November 29, 2015

Children at the Saint Sauveur refugee camp in Bangui, Central African Republic welcome Pope Francis on Nov. 29, 2015. (Screenshot/CTV)

Bangui, Central African Republic — Pope Francis’ first stop after arriving in the Central African Republic Sunday was to a refugee camp housing thousands of persons displaced by the country’s ongoing conflict.

Upon his arrival at the camp Nov. 29, the Pope was greeted by children living there, who held up signs displaying words such as “peace,” “love,” “unity,” and “pardon.”

After greeting the children, Francis made his way through the camp before speaking briefly off-the-cuff to its inhabitants.

“I saw what the children have written (on the signs),” he said, explaining that “we must work and pray; do everything (possible) for peace.”

However, he cautioned that “peace without love, without friendship, without tolerance, without forgiveness, isn’t possible. Each one of us must do something.”

The Pope then expressed his desire that all Central Africans would have “great peace among you … regardless of ethnicity, culture, religion, or social status.”

Located at the parish of St. Sauveur in Bangui, the camp is home to 1,000-2,000 people displaced by violence and conflict.

Pope Francis’ Nov. 29-30 visit to the Central African Republic comes at the end of a larger tour of the African continent. Before arriving, he also visited Kenya and Uganda.

The stop in CAR also marks the first time since his election that Francis has set foot in an active war-zone. The conflict, which has largely religious and ethnic roots, has so far left some 6,000 dead, and many thousands of persons displaced.

Armed conflict began in late 2012 when several bands of mainly Muslim rebel groups formed an alliance, taking the name Seleka. They left their strongholds in the north of the country and made their way south, seizing power from then-president Francois Bozize.

Since then, fear and uncertainty have gripped the nation, and the country’s current leadership has struggled to maintain peace, leading ordinary citizens to take up arms.

The fighting has been compounded by the fact that Christians were being targeted once the rebels launched their offensive, leading to anti-Muslim sentiments and revenge attacks on Muslims.

At a Nov. 19 press briefing, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi said Pope Francis is visiting CAR precisely “to show that he’s close to the people who suffer.”

This, he said, is also why the refugee camp was Francis’ first stop after meeting the authorities.

In his comments to the refugees, Pope Francis stressed that no matter their religious or ethnic background, everyone must be in peace, “everyone! Because we are all brothers.”

He asked those present to repeat it aloud, noting that “because we are all brothers, we want peace.” He then gave them his blessing and asked for their prayers before heading to the apostolic nunciature for a private meeting with the country’s bishops.

In another symbolic gesture, Pope Francis is set to jump-start the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the Archdiocese of Bangui’s Holy Door during Mass at their cathedral the evening of Nov. 29.

Though the Jubilee for Mercy doesn’t begin until Dec. 8, Francis announced earlier this month that he decided to open the Holy Door in the Central African Republic’s capital 10 days early as a sign of prayer and solidarity with the war-torn nation.

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Christians can find unity in suffering, Pope Francis tells Evangelicals in Central African Republic

by CNA/EWTN News • November 29, 2015

Central Africans gathered in Bangui to greet Pope Francis on Nov. 29, 2015. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

Bangui, Central African Republic — The path to Christian unity includes shared suffering, Pope Francis told the Central African Republic’s evangelical Christian communities on Sunday, exhorting them to continue showing charity amid war and violence.

“God makes no distinctions between those who suffer. I have often called this the ecumenism of blood. All our communities suffer indiscriminately as a result of injustice and the blind hatred unleashed by the devil,” he said Nov. 29.

He especially expressed his closeness to a pastor whose home, which served as a meeting place for his community church, was ransacked and set on fire.

“In these difficult circumstances, the Lord keeps asking us to demonstrate to everyone his tenderness, compassion and mercy,” he said.

The Pope’s comments came at a gathering at the Evangelical Faculty of Theology in the Central African Republic’s capital, Bangui. He is in the country Nov. 29-30 at the close of his visit to Africa, having previously visited Kenya and Uganda.

Pope Francis told the Evangelical communities that such suffering and shared mission are a “providential opportunity for us to advance together on the path of unity.”

“How could the Father refuse the grace of unity, albeit still imperfect, to his children who suffer together and, in different situations, join in serving their brothers and sisters?” he asked.

The Central African Republic suffered tensions that erupted into war in late 2012. Predominantly Muslim rebel groups in the country’s north formed an alliance and called themselves Seleka. They traveled to the capital and seized power from its then-president.

In reaction, some Central Africans formed self-defense groups called the anti-balaka. Some of these groups, mainly composed of Christians, began attacking Muslims out of revenge, and the conflict took on a sectarian character.

At least 6,000 people have been killed in the fighting, with many more displaced. The country is now governed by an interim president. It will hold presidential and parliamentary elections Dec. 27. The elections had been postponed in October due to violence and instability.

The Pope reflected on how the violence has caused great suffering for Central Africans.

“This makes the proclamation of the Gospel all the more necessary and urgent,” he said. “For it is Christ’s own flesh which suffers in his dearest sons and daughters: the poorest of his people, the infirm, the elderly, the abandoned, children without parents or left to themselves without guidance and education. There are also those who have been scarred in soul or body by hatred and violence, those whom war has deprived of everything: work, home and loved ones.”

Pope Francis characterized the lack of Christian unity as a scandal that is contrary to God’s will.

“It is also a scandal when we consider the hatred and violence which are tearing humanity apart, and the many forms of opposition which the Gospel of Christ encounters.”

He encouraged the Evangelicals to continue common service in charity, as “a witness to Christ which builds up unity.” He also encouraged them to commit to prayer and common reflection so as to help achieve greater mutual understanding, trust, and friendship.

“All of us are here in the service of the risen Lord who assembles us today; and, by virtue of the common baptism we have received, we are sent to proclaim the joy of the Gospel to men and women of this beloved country of Central Africa.”

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Christ’s love will overcome devastation, Pope Francis tells Central Africans

by CNA/EWTN News • November 29, 2015

Pope Francis delivers his homily during Mass in the Cathedral of Bangui, Central African Republic on Nov. 29, 2015. (EWTN)

Bangui, Central African Republic — In the Central African Republic on Sunday, Pope Francis delivered a homily emphasizing that God’s powerful love can overcome “unprecedented devastation.” He called on Christians to be leaders in showing mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation.

“The salvation of God which we await is also flavored with love,” the Pope said Nov. 29. “In preparing for the mystery of Christmas, we relive the pilgrimage which prepared God’s people to receive the Son, who came to reveal that God is not only righteousness, but also and above all love.”

“In every place, even and especially in those places where violence, hatred, injustice and persecution hold sway, Christians are called to give witness to this God who is love,” he said in his homily for the First Sunday of Advent.

God’s salvation has “an invincible power which will make it ultimately prevail,” he said.

The Pope said Mass in Bangui’s cathedral with priests, vowed religious, catechists, and young people. Bangui is the capital of the Central African Republic, which has been an active war zone since 2012, when a violent uprising led to the overthrow of the president.

About 6,000 persons have been killed in the fighting, with thousands more displaced. Elections originally scheduled for October will now be held Dec. 27.

In this context, Pope Francis reflected on the “terrible signs” ahead of the Second Coming.

“It is amid unprecedented devastation that Jesus wishes to show his great power, his incomparable glory and the power of that love which stops at nothing, even before the falling of the heavens, the conflagration of the world or the tumult of the seas,” the Pope said.

“God is stronger than all else. This conviction gives to the believer serenity, courage and the strength to persevere in good amid the greatest hardships,” he continued. “Even when the powers of Hell are unleashed, Christians must rise to the summons, their heads held high, and be ready to brave blows in this battle over which God will have the last word. And that word will be love!”

The Pope also had special words for those involved in conflict: “To all those who make unjust use of the weapons of this world, I make this appeal: lay down these instruments of death! Arm yourselves instead with righteousness, with love and mercy, the authentic guarantors of peace.”

The Pope stressed the need for “a spirit of communion.”

“Having experienced forgiveness ourselves, we must forgive others in turn,” he said. He reflected on the vocation to Christian perfection and one of its essentials: “the love of our enemies, which protects us from the temptation to seek revenge and from the spiral of endless retaliation.”

“Jesus placed special emphasis on this aspect of the Christian testimony,” he said. “Those who evangelize must therefore be first and foremost practitioners of forgiveness, specialists in reconciliation, experts in mercy.”

Pope Francis voiced his great affection for all Central African priests, consecrated religious, and pastoral workers. He sent greetings to Central Africans who are sick, elderly, and wounded.

“Some of them are perhaps despairing and listless, asking only for alms, the alms of bread, the alms of justice, the alms of attention and goodness,” he said. The Pope offered God’s “strength and power,” which can “bring us healing, set us on our feet and enable us to embark on a new life.”

He encouraged Christians to free themselves from “divisive notions of family and blood” in order

to “build a Church which is God’s family, open to everyone, concerned for those most in need.”

In the Sunday readings, Pope Francis said, the happiness that God promises is presented as justice.

“Advent is a time when we strive to open our hearts to receive the Savior, who alone is just and the sole Judge able to give to each his or her due,” he said. “Here as elsewhere, countless men and women thirst for respect, for justice, for equality, yet see no positive signs on the horizon. These are the ones to whom he comes to bring the gift of his justice.”

The Pope said Christ “comes to enrich our personal and collective histories, our dashed hopes and our sterile yearnings.”

“And he sends us to proclaim, especially to those oppressed by the powerful of this world or weighed down by the burden of their sins, that ‘Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell securely’,” he said, citing the Prophet Jeremiah.

The Pope said that because God is righteousness and justice, “Christians are called in the world to work for a peace founded on justice.”

He exhorted the congregation of Bangui’s cathedral to follow their vocation to make incarnate “the very heart of God in the midst of your fellow citizens,” and prayed that God would strengthen them in holiness.

Immediately preceding the Mass, Pope Francis ‘jump-started’ the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the Holy Door of the cathedral.

Though the Jubilee for Mercy doesn’t begin until Dec. 8, Francis announced earlier this month that he had decided to open the Holy Door in the Central African Republic’s capital 10 days early as a sign of prayer and solidarity with the war-torn nation.

Opening the Holy Door, Pope Francis proclaimed, “We all pray for peace, mercy, reconciliation, pardon, love. Throughout the Central African Republic and in all the nations of the world which suffer war, let us pray for peace. And together we all pray for love and peace. We pray together.”

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Be like a banana – Pope Francis off-the-cuff to Central African youth

by CNA/EWTN News • November 29, 2015

Pope Francis speaks to youth in the Central African Republic on Nov. 29, 2015. (Screenshot/EWTN)

Bangui, Central African Republic — During his meeting with the youth of the Central African Republic, Pope Francis gave spontaneous comments in response to a young local who asked the Holy Father’s advice about living in a war-torn country.

“We have been taken by heavy winds and violence … these challenges remain numerous,” the young man told the Holy Father, pointing out that the symbol of their country was the banana tree because it is resistant and life-giving.

The young man expressed that he and many of his friends are tempted to leave the violence and difficulties of their homeland in the Central African Republic. Since 2012, over 6,000 people in the CAR have died from violence spread by Muslim rebel groups challenging the country’s presidential power.

Pope Francis’ visit to the CAR is the most dangerous yet, as the country is considered to be an active war zone.

The pontiff held his encounter with the youth outside of Bangui’s Notre-Dame Cathedral on Nov. 29. It included a short, unprepared address and was followed by the administration of the sacrament of confession and a prayer vigil.

Below is CNA’s full transcript of Pope Francis’ remarks to Central African youth:

This friend who spoke in all of your name said that your symbol is the banana tree, because the banana is the symbol of life, it always grows, always produces, gives life, nutrients, energy.

The banana plant is very resistant. I think that this tells us very clearly the way that’s proposed to us during this difficult time of war: the way of resistance.

Dear friends, some of you want to go away, some of you want to leave. But escaping from the challenges that life presents is never a resolution.

We need to resist, to have the courage to resist, to fight so that good can come. Those who flee do not have the courage to give life.

The banana gives life and continues to reproduce, giving more and more life because it resists, because it remains, because it’s there.

Some of you might ask me ‘but father, what can we do? how do we resist?’ I’m going to say to or three things that may be helpful for you in order to resist.

First of all, prayer! Prayer is powerful, prayer conquers evil, prayer brings us nearer to God who is all powerful. I’m going to ask you a question: Do you pray? I don’t hear you! (cheers). Don’t forget.

The second thing I’d like to say is work for peace. Peace is not found in a document you sign. That just remains there. Peace is found every day and peace is something that is done by hand, it’s something that artisans do, it’s done with one’s own life.

But some of you might ask: ‘how can I be an artisan of peace?’

First, Never hate! And if someone does evil toward you, try to forgive – never hate. A lot of forgiveness. (Say together) ‘no hate, a lot of forgiveness.’

And if you don’t have hate in your heart, if you will be a victor. And then you will be a victor of the most important battle of life: victors of love, and out of love comes peace.

Do you want to be conquered or do you want to be victors: what do you want?

The path of love – and can one love an enemy? Yes. Can we pardon those who’ve done us wrong? Yes. Thus with love and with forgiveness, you will be conquerors. With love you will be victorious in life, love always wins, love will never allow you to be conquered.

I wish you all the best – think of the banana. Think of resisting before difficulty. Escaping, going far away, is not a solution. You need to be courageous. Have you understood what it means to be courageous? Courageous and forgiving, courageous and loving, courageous and being peaceful.

Are we agreed? (cheers). Let’s say together: courage, love, reconciliation, peace!

Dear friends, I am very happy to meet with you. Today we opened this door, this means the door of the mercy of God. Entrust yourselves to God, because he is merciful, he is love. He is able to give you peace.

And so I told you at the beginning to pray: in order to resist, to love, and to be artisans of peace. Thank you so much for your presence. Now I will go inside to hear some of your confessions. Are you ready to resist? Yes or no? (cheers). Are you ready to fight for peace? Are you ready in your heart? Is your heart ready to forgive? Is your heart ready to be reconciled? Is your heart ready to love this beautiful country?

And now I go back to what I said in the beginning: is your heart ready to pray? And now, I ask you, to pray for me! So that I might be a good bishop. So that I might be a good Pope. Will you promise to pray for me? Now I give you my blessing. To you and to your families, a blessing, asking the Lord to give you love and peace.

Good evening, and pray for me!

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‘Can I go’ to them? Pope Francis’ stunning response to alleged murders

by CNA/EWTN News • November 29, 2015

Pope Francis prays with journalists on the papal flight en route to South Korea on Aug. 14, 2014. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Bangui, Central African Republic — Reported violence near a mosque Pope Francis is slated to visit in Central African Republic caused the pontiff to reply with an immediate “can I go (be with them)?” according to a bishop who was standing close by.

After hearing of the alleged death of three youth this morning in a neighborhood of Bangui, capital of the Central African Republic, Pope Francis voiced his desire to go the area, though it wasn’t in the schedule.

However, the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Franco Coppola, advised him against going, since it’s a dangerous area.

This is what the Bishop Juan José Aguirre of Bangassou told Spanish agency COPE during the lunch between Pope Francis and the country’s bishops.

Bishop Aguirre asked for prayers for the nation following the tragic reports that a number of people in the Fatima neighborhood of the capitol had been killed.

He explained that “this morning with all of the joy that there was in Bangui, with all of this overflowing joy … at 1.5 kilometers (from the place where Pope Francis ate with the bishops) three people were killed in the Fatima neighborhood.”

“I was with the Holy Father and I told him: Holiness, this morning three people were killed in this barrio (neighborhood) where there is a parish nearby, where there are three Comboni missionaries and 500 displaced persons.”

After hearing this, “the Pope immediately asked the Nuncio: ‘can I go, can I go?’ and the Nuncio replied: ‘no, Holiness, it is very dangerous.’”

In a Nov. 29 report for Vatican Insider, Italian Vaticanista Andrea Tornielli reported that the youth had been killed with machine guns as they tried to leave Our Lady of Fatima parish in Bangui.

The church is run by the Comboni missionaries, and is located in a Muslim area where Pope Francis is scheduled to go tomorrow morning to visit the city’s most important mosque.

“They would be people hiding in the parish to avoid the Seleka militants,” Tornielli said.

In his report, Tornielli said the act occurred at 8:00a.m. local time Nov. 29. According to Notre Dame Radio of Bangui, the youth were Christians who were trying to return to their houses, which had been burned by the Seleka militants who control the area.

Details of the incident, however, are still unclear. Tornielli reported that the head of the Vatican Gendarmerie, Domenico Giani, said later that only two had died instead of three. UN sources said the event was an episode of common crime, and that “there is no relation to the papal visit.”

Additionally, sources from the Comboni missionaries themselves later said it’s possible that no one died at all.

Tornielli said the ambiguity surrounding the details of the event is “a sign of the confusion that reigns in the city and, above all, in the Muslim neighborhood, where the Fatima parish is located.”

Until now, he said, “the only thing certain is the story of the Spanish bishop (Juan José Aguirre of Bangassou) and the reaction of the Pope, who would have immediately wanted to go to where the events took place.

On Nov. 30, his last day in Africa, Pope Francis is scheduled for a meeting with CAR’s Muslim community at the central Mosque of Koudoukou. Though many have advised against the decision, as of now it’s still on the Pope’s slate.

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Seeking peace and mercy, Pope Francis opens the Holy Door of Bangui

by CNA/EWTN News • November 29, 2015

Pope Francis opens the Holy Doors of Bangui’s cathedral on Nov. 29, 2015. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

Bangui, Central African Republic —”Bangui is today the spiritual capital of the world,” Pope Francis said as he opened the Holy Door of Bangui’s cathedral on Sunday — the first time a Pope has opened a Holy Door outside Rome.

Pope Francis proclaimed: “We all pray for peace, mercy, reconciliation, pardon, love. Throughout the Central African Republic and in all the nations of the world which suffer war, let us pray for peace. And together we all pray for love and peace. We pray together.”

The Pope opened the Holy Door in the Central African Republic’s capital before the beginning of Sunday Mass Nov. 29.

The Jubilee of Mercy does not begin until Dec. 8, but Pope Francis decided to open the Holy Door in the cathedral of Bangui as a sign of prayer and solidarity with the country.

The Central African Republic is an active warzone following the December 2012 uprising which led to the overthrow of the president. About 6,000 people have died in the conflict, with several thousands more displaced.

The rite of the opening of the Holy Door is intended to symbolize that the Church’s faithful are offered an “extraordinary path” toward salvation during the time of jubilee.

As part of the Holy Year for Mercy, holy doors for the first time will be designated in dioceses. These will be located either in the cathedral, in a church of special significance or a shrine of particular importance for pilgrimages.

Each of the four major basilicas in Rome has a holy door. These are normally sealed shut from the inside so that they cannot be opened. The doors are only opened during jubilee years so that pilgrims can enter through them in order to gain the plenary indulgence that is connected with the jubilee.

Pope Francis’ Sunday homily emphasized that the power of God’s love can overcome “unprecedented devastation.” He called on Christians to be leaders in showing mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. He also called on those involved in unjust conflict to lay down their weapons.

“Arm yourselves instead with righteousness, with love and mercy, the authentic guarantors of peace,” he said.

Pope Francis will open the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome when the Holy Year officially begins Dec. 8.

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Pope to Central African Christians: Be artisans of renewal in your country

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • November 30, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at Barthélémy Boganda Stadium, Central African Republic on Nov. 30, 2015. (Screenshot/EWTN)

Bangui, Central African Republic — During the final Mass of his first visit to Africa, Pope Francis called the Christians of the Central African Republic (CAR) to be missionaries in their nation, bringing renewal amid suffering, and hope for eternal life.

“Christians of Central Africa, each of you are called to be, through perseverance in faith and missionary commitment, artisans of the human and spiritual renewal of your country,” the Pope said Nov. 30 at Barthélémy Boganda Stadium, on his last full day in the CAR.

“Dear Central Africans, may you look to the future and, strengthened by the distance you have already come, resolutely determine to begin a new chapter in the Christian history of your country, to set out towards new horizons, to put out into the deep.”

Pope Francis arrived Sunday in the CAR, the final stop of his tri-nation visit to Africa. It also marks the pontiff’s first time in an active war zone, with new deaths reported daily.

The last pontiff to visit the CAR was St. John Paul II in 1985, as part of a larger trip to Togo, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zaire and Kenya.

Pope Francis centered his homily on the day’s first reading, which demonstrates St. Paul’s “enthusiasm and missionary drive” with the words: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Rom 10:15).

These words inspire gratitude for the faith received, the Pope said, while also inspiring “us to reflect with amazement on the great missionary effort which – not long ago – first brought the joy of the Gospel to this beloved land of Central Africa.”

“It is good, especially in times of difficulty, trials and suffering, when the future is uncertain and we feel weary and apprehensive, to come together before the Lord. To come together, as we do today, to rejoice in his presence and in the new life and the salvation which he offers us.”

Pope Francis reflected how the Lord invites us to “another shore,” which refers to eternal life.

“Looking towards the world to come has always been a source of strength for Christians, of the poor, of the least, on their earthly pilgrimage,” the pontiff said.

“Eternal life is not an illusion; it is not a flight from the world. It is a powerful reality which calls out to us and challenges us to persevere in faith and love.”

However, in working towards eternal life, we are called to transform our lives, and the lives of those around us, the Pope said.

“Those who believe receive the very life of Christ, which enables them to love God and their brothers and sisters in a new way and to bring to birth a world renewed by love.”

Pope Francis called us to give thanks to God for giving us strength and inspiring in us solidarity, generosity, and joy, even amid physical and spiritual suffering, violence, and fears for the future.

“Let us thank him for his gift of courage, which inspires us to forge bonds of friendship, to dialogue with those who are different than ourselves, to forgive those who have wronged us, and to work to build a more just and fraternal society in which no one is abandoned,” he said.

“In all these things, the Risen Christ takes us by the hand and guides us,” the Pope continued.

“I join you in thanking the Lord in his mercy for all the beautiful, generous and courageous things he has enabled you to accomplish in your families and communities during these eventful years in the life of your country.”

Nonetheless, Pope Francis stressed that we have not yet arrived at our ultimate destination, and are in need of a “renewed missionary zeal.”

“All the baptized need to continually break with the remnants of the old Adam, the man of sin, ever ready to rise up again at the prompting of the devil,” he said.

“How often this happens in our world and in these times of conflict, hate and war! How easy it is to be led into selfishness, distrust, violence, destructiveness, vengeance, indifference to and exploitation of those who are most vulnerable.”

Pope Francis said the Year of Mercy is an occasion for Christian communities, which are “called to holiness,” to ask forgiveness for their their “all too frequent reluctance and hesitation in bearing witness to the Gospel.”

“Each of us, in his or her heart, can ask the crucial question of where we stand with Jesus, asking what we have already accepted – or refused to accept – in responding to his call to follow him more closely.”

Those who bring the “Good News” of the Gospel resounds especially in difficult times, and does so in the CAR, the Pope said.

“It resounds in our hearts, our families, our parishes, wherever we live. It invites us to persevere in enthusiasm for mission, for that mission which needs new ‘bearers of good news,’ ever more numerous, generous, joyful and holy.”

“We are all called to be, each of us, these messengers whom our brothers and sisters of every ethnic group, religion and culture, await, often without knowing it. For how can our brothers and sisters believe in Christ – Saint Paul asks – if the Word is neither proclaimed nor heard?”

Pope Francis said for us to follow the example of the Apostles in hoping for the future, knowing that Jesus is accompanying us to the “other shore,” which is “at hand.”

“He is risen from the dead; henceforth the trials and sufferings which we experience are always opportunities opening up to a new future, provided we are willing to follow him.”

The Pope concluded by asking for the intercession of Mary “who by sharing in the Passion of her Son, now shares in his perfect joy, protect you and encourage you on this path of hope.”

On Sunday, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of Bangui’s cathedral on Sunday — the first time a Pope has opened a Holy Door outside Rome.

The Jubilee of Mercy does not begin until Dec. 8, but pontiff decided to open the Holy Door in the cathedral of Bangui as a sign of prayer and solidarity with the country.

The Central African Republic is an active warzone following the December 2012 uprising which led to the overthrow of the president. About 6,000 people have died in the conflict, with several thousands more displaced.

Pope Francis’ Nov. 25-30 African journey also included visits to Kenya, Uganda, and finally the CAR, marking first trip to the continent.

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Pope calls Central African Christians, Muslims to unite against violence

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • November 30, 2015

Pope Francis at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on June 17, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Bangui, Central African Republic — Christians and Muslims must unite against acts which “disfigure the Face of God” by promoting peace, Pope Francis told Islamic representatives on the final day of his visit the war-torn Central African Republic (CAR).

“Those who claim to believe in God must also be men and women of peace,” the Pope said at the Nov. 30 encounter at the Mosque of Koudoukou in the CAR capital Bangui, recalling the long history of peaceful coexistence among people of different religions.

“Christians, Muslims and members of the traditional religions have lived together in peace for many years,” the pontiff said, adding: “We are well aware that the recent events and acts of violence which have shaken your country were not grounded in properly religious motives.”

Pope Francis arrived Sunday in the CAR, the final stop of his tri-nation visit to Africa. It also marks the pontiff’s first time in an active war zone.

“Christians and Muslims are brothers and sisters. We must therefore consider ourselves and conduct ourselves as such,” he said.

“They ought, therefore, to remain united in working for an end to every act which, from whatever side, disfigures the Face of God and whose ultimate aim is to defend particular interests by any and all means, to the detriment of the common good.”

“Together, we must say no to hatred, to revenge and to violence, particularly that violence which is perpetrated in the name of a religion or of God himself. God is peace, salam.”

The CAR became embroiled in violence in December 2012 when several bands of mainly Muslim rebel groups formed an alliance, taking the name Seleka. They left their strongholds in the north of the country and made their way south, seizing power from then-president Francois Bozize. Since then, some 6,000 people have died in the conflict, with several thousands more displaced.

The country will hold both presidential and parliamentary elections Dec. 27, after they were postponed in October due to violence and instability. Interim President Catherine Samba-Panza, who has so far struggled to keep peace, will not be a candidate.

Pope Francis went forward with the scheduled visit to the Koudoukou mosque despite security concerns. These fears were exacerbated by reports Saturday of three young people being killed in a nearby neighborhood, although it was later announced that no one died, and that the youths had been found.

In his address at the mosque, the Pope expressed his gratitude for the work done by Christian and Muslim leaders to re-establish “harmony and fraternity among all.”

The pontiff went on to acknowledge the acts of solidarity shown by Christians and Muslims towards persons of other religions by “welcoming them and defending them during this latest crisis in your country, as well as in other parts of the world.”

“We cannot fail to express hope that the forthcoming national consultations will provide the country with leaders capable of bringing Central Africans together, thus becoming symbols of national unity rather than merely representatives of one or another faction.”

The Pope called for the CAR, which is “situated in the heart of Africa,” to be a place of welcome for everyone – regardless of ethnicity, political affiliation, or religion – which in turn will encourage the rest of the continent to follow in its footsteps.

“It will prove a positive influence and help extinguish the smouldering tensions which prevent Africans from benefiting from that development which they deserve and to which they have a right.”

Pope Francis concluded his address by inviting those present to “pray and work for reconciliation, fraternity and solidarity among all people, without forgetting those who have suffered the most as a result of recent events.”

The Pope’s visit to the CAR is the last stop of his Nov. 25-30 African journey which included visits to Kenya and Uganda.

St. John Paul II was the last pontiff to visit CAR when he stopped there briefly in 1985 as part of a larger trip to Togo, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Zaire and Kenya.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis to journalist’s condom question: The problem is much bigger

by CNA/EWTN News • November 30, 2015

Pope Francis speaks to journalists on the papal plane on his way to Strasbourg, France on Nov. 25, 2014. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — On a Nov. 30 in-flight press conference returning from his trip to Africa, Pope Francis said that efforts to push the Church to allow condom use to prevent HIV are too narrow and do not see the whole picture.

A journalist asked the Pope about HIV in Africa, saying, “We know that prevention is key. We know that condoms are not the only method of solving the epidemic, but it’s an important part of the answer. Is it not time for the Church to change its position on the matter? To allow the use of condoms to prevent more infections?”

“The question seems too small to me, it also seems like a partial question,” the Pope replied.

He continued in his response: “Yes, it’s one of the methods. The moral of the Church on this point is found here faced with a perplexity: the fifth or sixth commandment? Defend life, or that sexual relations are open to life? But this isn’t the problem.”

“The problem is bigger,” the Pope said. “This question makes me think of one they once asked Jesus: ‘Tell me, teacher, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Is it obligatory to heal?’ This question, ‘Is doing this lawful,’ … but malnutrition, the development of the person, slave labor, the lack of drinking water, these are the problems.”

“Let’s not talk about if one can use this type of patch or that for a small wound, the serious wound is social injustice, environmental injustice,” Pope Francis continued. “I don’t like to go down to reflections on such case studies when people die due to a lack of water, hunger, environment … when all are cured, when there aren’t these illnesses, tragedies, that man makes, whether for social injustice or to earn more money – I think of the trafficking of arms – when these problems are no longer there, I think we can ask the question ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’”

He concluded, “Because, if the trafficking of arms continues, wars are the biggest cause of mortality … I would say not to think about whether it’s lawful or not to heal on the Sabbath, I would say to humanity: “make justice,” and when all are cured, when there is no more injustice, we can talk about the Sabbath.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Full text of Pope’s in-flight interview from Africa to Rome

by CNA/EWTN News • November 30, 2015

Pope Francis speaks with journalists on the papal plane on the return flight to Rome on August 18, 2014. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — In a Q&A with journalists on his way from Africa back to Rome, Pope Francis answered questions posed by journalists from across the world. He touched on inter-religious relations, the role of the media, and his favorite memories from Africa.

Please read below for the full English transcription of the Q&A:

Fr. Lombardi: Holy Father, welcome to this encounter, which by now is a tradition we all wait for. We are grateful that after such an intense trip you still want to find the time for us. We understand well how available you are to help us.

Before beginning with the questions, I would like, in the name of some colleagues, thank the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), who organized the live feed from the Central African Republic. The feed was televised throughout the world from Central Africa, and was possible thanks to the EBU. So I thank them on behalf of everyone.

Now, as usual, we thought to begin with our guests from countries where we went. We have four Kenyans, and two questions from them now.

Bernard Namuname, Kenya Daily Nation: Your Holiness, I greet you. While in Kenya you met with poor families from Kangemi, you listened to their stories of exclusion from basic human rights, such as a lack of access to clean water. The same day you went to the Kasarani stadium where you met the youth, and they also told you their stories of exclusion because of selfish human greed and corruption. What were you feeling as you listened to their stories? And what should be done to end the injustices? Thank you.

Pope Francis: On this problem, I have spoke strongly at least three times. The first time was at the meeting of the popular movements in the Vatican, the second at the meeting of the popular movements in Santa Cruz della Sierra (Bolivia). Then two other times: in the (document) Evangelii Gaudium and then very strongly in the encyclical Laudato Si’. I don’t remember the statistics, so I ask you not to publish them, because I don’t know if they are true or not, but I believe that 80 percent of the world’s riches are in the hands of 17 percent of the population. I don’t know if it’s true, but if it isn’t true … (He asks if someone knows the statistics to say so, in order to be precise.)

There’s an economic system where money is at the center, the god of money. I remember that once a great French ambassador told me this expression – and he was not Catholic – “Nous sommes tombés de l’idolâtrie de l’argent” (speaks in French, “We have fallen into the idolatry of money”). If things continue like this, then the world will continue like this.

You asked me what I felt hearing the testimonies of the youth and at Kangemi. I spoke clearly about rights. I felt pain. I thought, how is it that people do not notice? I felt great pain. Yesterday, for example, I went to a pediatric hospital, the only one in Bangui and maybe in the country, and in the intensive care unit they do not have instruments of oxygen. There were many malnourished children there, many of them, and doctor told me that the majority of them will die soon because they have a very bad malaria and are seriously malnourished.

I don’t want to give a homily, but the Lord always rebuked the people of Israel … that we accept and adore, because the word is god, idolatry. Idolatry is when a man or woman loses their identity card for being a child of God, and prefers to look for a god according to their own measure. That’s the beginning. If mankind does not change we will continue to have more miseries, tragedies, wars, children who die of hunger, of injustice. What does one think of those who have 80 percent of the world’s wealth in their hands? And this is not communism. This is the truth. But the truth is not easy to see. Thank you for this question.

Michael Mumo Makau, 98.4 Capital FM Radio (Kenya): What is your most memorable moment of this your first trip to Africa? Are you coming back to the continent anytime soon? And where is your immediate next trip to?

Pope Francis: Let’s start with the last question. If things go well, I believe the next trip will be in Mexico. The details are not yet defined. Second: Will I return to Africa? I don’t know. I am old and the trips are difficult.

And the first question, what was it? The moment I remember? The crowds. That joy. That capacity celebrate on an empty stomach. But for me, Africa was a surprise. I thought, God surprises us, but even Africa surprises us. There were many moments. But the crowds, They felt visited. They have a very great sense of welcome. I saw in the three nations that they had this sense of welcome because they were happy to feel visited. Moreover, each nation has its own identity. Kenya is a little more modern, developed. Uganda has the identity of martyrs. The Ugandan people, both Catholic and Anglicans, venerate the martyrs. I was at both shrines. The Anglican one, and then the Catholic. The memory of the martyrs is their ‘identity card,’ the courage to give their lives for a cause. The Central African Republic: the desire for peace, for reconciliation, for pardon. Until four years ago they had lived together – Catholics, Protestants, Muslims – like brothers! Yesterday, I went to the Evangelicals, who work hard. And then they came to Mass in the evening. Today I went to the mosque. I prayed in the mosque. Even the Imam got into the popemobile to take a ride around the small stadium. These are small gestures, is that which they want. Because, there is a small group. I think that is Christian, or they say they are Christian, which is is very violent. I don’t really understand this. But, it’s not ISIS, it’s another thing. It’s Christian. (The people) want peace. Now, they are having elections. They have chosen a state of transition. They have chosen that woman, who was mayor to be President of the Transition, and she now organizes the elections. But, they are seeking peace, reconciliation, not hate. Not hate.

Phil Pulella, Reuters: In Uganda you spoke off the cuff and you said corruption exists everywhere, and also in the Vatican. My question is this: what is the importance of the press, the free, secular press in rooting out corruption wherever it is found?

Pope Francis: The free press, secular and also religious, but professional; because the press, secular or religious, must be professional. It’s important that they are truly professional, that the news isn’t manipulated. For me it’s important, because the denunciation of corruption, of injustice, is good work, because there is corruption. And then the one in charge must do something, make a judgment, a tribunal. The professional press must tell everything, without falling into the three most common sins: misinformation, to tell one half but not the other; calumny, which is not professional – when there is no professionality, you dirty the other person, with or without truth; and defamation, to take away the good name of the person who right now hasn’t done anything wrong to anyone, maybe it’s something from the past. These are the three defects that are an attack against the professionality of the press. We need professionality, what’s right: things are like this and this. And on corruption? To see the data well and say it: this, this and this. If there is corruption, they should say it. And if a journalist, if they are truly professional, gets it wrong, he should excuse himself. Things go very well like this.

Philippine De Saint-Pierre, KTO (France): Holiness, good afternoon, you paid homage to the platform created by the archbishop, the imam and the pastor of Bangui. Today more than ever, we know that fundamentalism threatens the entire planet. We also saw this in Paris. Before this danger, do you think that religious leaders should intervene more in the political field? (Pope Francis asks for clarification) … the religious “dignitaries,” bishops and imams?

Pope Francis: “To intervene in the political field.” If that means to make politics, no. Whoever is a priest, pastor, imam, rabbi, this is his vocation, but they make a “live politics” by preaching values. True values. And one of the greatest values is the fraternity among us. We are all children of God. We have the same father. In this sense, we have to make politics of unity, reconciliation. A word that I don’t like, but I have to use it is “tolerance.” But, not only tolerance, co-existence, friendship. That’s how it is. Fundamentalism is a sickness that exists in all religions. We Catholics have some, not just some, so many, who believe they have the absolute truth and they move forward with calumnies, with defamation and they hurt (people), they hurt. And, I say this because it’s my Church, also us, all of us. It must be combatted. Religious fundamentalism isn’t religious. Why? Because God is lacking. It’s idolatrous, as money is idolatrous. Making politics in the sense of convincing these people who have this tendency is a politics that we religious leaders must make, but fundamentalism that ends up always in tragedy or in crime, in a bad thing comes about in all religions a little bit.

Cristiana Caricato, TV2000 (Italy): Holy Father, while we were in Bangui this morning, in Rome there was a new audience of the trial of Msgr. Vallejo Balda, Chaouqui, (Maio) and two journalists. I’d like to ask you, and this is a question that many people have also asked us: why these two appointments? How was it possible that in the process of reform that you began, two people like this were able to enter into a commission like the COSEA? Do you think you made an error?

Pope Francis: I think an error was made. Msgr Vallejo Balda entered for the role he had and he had it up until now. He was secretary of the Prefecture of Economic Affairs. (That’s how) he entered. How she entered, I am not sure, but I think I’m right – but I think, and I am not sure, I think that it was he who introduced her as a woman who knew the world of commerce and such, no? They worked. When the work was done, the members of that commission that was called COSEA remained in some of their posts in the Vatican. Vallejo Balda was one. But, the woman, Chaouqui did not remain in the Vatican because she entered with the commission and she didn’t remain. Some say she was upset about this, but the judges will tell us the truth about the intentions, how they did it. For me, it was not a surprise. I didn’t lose any sleep because it showed the work that had begun with the commission of cardinals, the C9, of seeking out corruption and things that don’t work. And here, I want to say something, not about Vallejo Balda and Chaouqui, but everything. And then I’ll come back to this if you want.

The word “corruption,” one of the two Kenyans mentioned it. 13 days before John Paul II died, in that Via Crucis the then-Cardinal Ratzinger who was leading the Via Crucis spoke of the filth in the Church. He denounced it first. Then, in the Easter Octave after this Good Friday, Pope John Paul II died and he became pope. But, in the pro-eligendo pontefice Mass, he was Dean – or he was Camerlengo, no Dean – he spoke about the same thing, and we elected him for that freedom in saying things. So since then, it’s been in the air that in the Vatican, there is corruption. There is corruption there.

On this trial: I gave the judges the concrete charges, because what is important to the defense is the formulation of the accusations. I didn’t read the actual, technical charges, no? I would have liked to finish it before Dec 8 for the Year of Mercy, but I don’t think they’ll be able to do it, because I would like all of the lawyers who are defending to have the (necessary) amount of time to defend, that they have the freedom of defense. All of them. As they’re chosen, then (inaudible). But corruption has been around for a long time.

Caricato: What do you plan to do? How do you plan to proceed so these things don’t happen again?

Pope Francis: I just thank God that Lucrezia Borgia isn’t around. (laughs) But, I don’t know, continue with the cardinals, with the commissions to clean.

Nestor Ponguta Puerto, Radio Colombia: Holiness, first of all thanks for all you have done for peace in our country, in Colombia and all you’ve done in the world. On this occasion, I’d like to ask you a timely question: There’s a specific theme that has to do with that “change of political chess” in Latin America that has brought even in your country Mr. Macri after more than 12 years of Kirchnerism, now things are changing a bit, what do you think of these new changes of how a new direction is taking over on the Latin American continent from which you come?

Pope Francis: I have heard some opinions, but honestly on this geopolitical question in this moment, I really don’t know what to say, I don’t know because there are problems in many countries on this line. But, really I don’t why or where it started. I truly don’t know. That there are many Latin American countries in this situation of a few changes in their routes is true, but I don’t know how to explain it.

Juergen Baetz, DPA (Germany): Your Holiness, HIV is ravaging Africa. Medication means more people now live longer, but the epidemic continues. In Uganda alone there were 135,000 new infections of HIV, in Kenya it’s worse. It’s the greatest cause of death in Africa. Your Holiness, you have met with HIV positive children, you heard a moving testimony in Uganda. Yet you have said very little on the issue. We know that prevention is key. We know that condoms are not the only method of solving the epidemic, but it’s an important part of the answer. Is it not time for the Church to change it’s position on the matter? To allow the use of condoms to prevent more infections?

Pope Francis: The question seems too small to me, it also seems like a partial question. Yes, it’s one of the methods. The moral of the Church on this point is found here faced with a perplexity: the fifth or sixth commandment? Defend life, or that sexual relations are open to life? But this isn’t the problem. The problem is bigger … this question makes me think of one they once asked Jesus: “Tell me, teacher, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath? Is it obligatory to heal?” This question, “is doing this lawful,”… but malnutrition, the development of the person, slave labor, the lack of drinking water, these are the problems. Let’s not talk about if one can use this type of patch or that for a small wound, the serious wound is social injustice, environmental injustice, injustice that … I don’t like to go down to reflections on such case studies when people die due to a lack of water, hunger, environment … when all are cured, when there aren’t these illnesses, tragedies, that man makes, whether for social injustice or to earn more money, I think of the trafficking of arms, when these problems are no longer there, I think we can ask the question “is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” Because, if the trafficking of arms continues, wars are the biggest cause of mortality … I would say not to think about whether it’s lawful or not to heal on the Sabbath, I would say to humanity: “make justice,” and when all are cured, when there is no more injustice, we can talk about the Sabbath.

Marco Ansaldo, Repubblica: Holiness, I’d like to ask you a question like this because in the last week there were two big events on which the media were focused: one was your trip to Africa, for which all of us are obviously happy that it has concluded with a big success from every point of view, the other was a crisis on an international level between Russia and Turkey, with Turkey that shot down a Russian airplane for crossing into a Turkish airspace for 17 seconds with accusations, not pardons from one side and the other which blew up into a crisis … which frankly we didn’t need during this Third World War that you speak about fought “piecemeal” in our world. So, my question is, what is the position of the Vatican in this? And I’d like to go beyond (and ask) if you have thought about going for the 101st anniversary of the events in Armenia that will take place next year, just as you did last year in Turkey.

Pope Francis: Last year, I promised the three patriarchs that I would go. The promise is there. I don’t know if it can happen, but the promise is there.

Then, the wars. Wars happen for ambitions. Wars, I speak of wars not for defending oneself against an unjust aggressor but wars are an industry. In history, we’ve seen so many times that in a nation, the balance sheets aren’t going well, “Ah, let’s fight a war” and the offset is over. War is a business, a business of weapons. Terrorists, do they make weapons? Yeah, maybe just little ones. Who gives them to them to make war? There an entire network of interests where there is money or power behind, either imperial or joint power. But we have been at war for years and more all the time. The pieces are fewer and bigger. What do I think? I don’t know what the Vatican thinks, but what do I think? (laughs) That wars are a sin. They are against humanity. They destroy humanity. They are a cause of exploitation, of human trafficking, of so many things. They must be stopped. At the United Nations, twice I said this word, both in Kenya and in New York, that your work not be a “declarationist” nominalism, that it be effective, that they make peace. They do so many things. Here in Africa, I saw how the “Blue helmets” work. But this isn’t sufficient. Wars don’t come from God. God is a God of peace. God made the world. God made everything beautiful and then, according to the Biblical account, one brother kills another. It’s the first war, the first world war, between brothers. That’s what comes to me and it pains me greatly.

Francois Beaudonnet, France Television: Holy Father, even though I’m French, I’d like to ask you a question in Spanish. Today, in Paris the conference on climate change is going on. You have made a great effort to make everything turn out well. Do we expect too much from this conference? Are we sure that the COP21 will be the beginning of the solution?

Pope Francis: I am not sure. I am not sure. But, I can tell you: (it’s) now or never. But, from the first that was in Tokyo, no. They did few things. Every year, the problems are more serious. Speaking to a meeting of university students about what world we want to leave our children, one said, “But are you sure there will be children in this generation? We’ve reached the limit. We’re on the verge of suicide, to use a strong word. And, I’m sure that nearly the entirety of all of those in Paris for the COP21 have this awareness and want to do something. The other day, I read that in Greenland, the glaciers have lost thousands of tons. In the Pacific, there’s a nation buying land from another nation to move the country because within 20 years it won’t be there any more. I am confident, I’m confident that these people will do something because I’m sure that they have the good will to do it. And I hope it happens and I pray it happens.

Delia Gallagher, CNN: You’ve made many gestures of respect toward Muslims. I was wondering, what does Islam and the teaching of the prophet Mohammed have to say to the world today?

Pope Francis: They have virtues, many virtues and these virtues are constructive. I also have the experience of friendship – it’s a strong word, friendship – with a Muslim, a world leader, we can talk, and he had his beliefs and I had mine, he prayed and I prayed. (There are) many values, prayer for example, fasting, religious values. Also other virtues … We can’t cancel out a religious because there are some, or even many fundamentalist groups at a certain point in history. It’s true, wars between religions have always been there throughout history, always. We also need to ask for forgiveness, Catherine de’Medici was no saint, and that 30 years war, that night of St. Bartholomew, we must also ask for forgiveness from the fundamentalist extremists in the religious wars.

But they have virtues, one can dialogue with them. Today I was at a mosque, an Imam prayed with me, he wanted to go around the small stadium with me in the popemobile, where there were many who couldn’t enter, and in the popemobile there was the Pope and an Imam. It was possible to speak. As everywhere, there are people with religious values, there are people who don’t … how many wars, not only religious, wars we Christians have made. It wasn’t the Muslims who did the Sack of Rome. They have virtues.

Martha Calderon, Catholic News Agency: Holiness, we know you’re going to Mexico, we’d like to know a little bit more about that trip and also in that line are you going to visit nations that are experiencing problems? Do you think perhaps about visiting Colombia or possibly in the future other nations of Latin America like Peru for example that you once mentioned?

Pope Francis: Yeah, trips at my age aren’t healthy. One can survive them but they are leaving their mark. I’m going to Mexico. First, I’d like to visit Our Lady, because she’s the Mother of America, for this I’m going to Mexico City. If the Virgin of Guadalupe wasn’t there, I wouldn’t go to Mexico City for the criteria of the trip: to visit three or four cities that have never been visited by the Popes, but I will go to Mexico City for the Virgin.

Then, I’ll go to Chiapas, in the south, at the Guatemala border, then I’ll go to Morelia and almost certainly, on the way back to Rome, I’ll take perhaps a day, perhaps less in Ciudad Juarez. About the visit to other Latin American countries: In 2017, I have been invited to go to Aparecida, the other patroness of America of the Portuguese language, because there are two, no? From there I would be able to visit another country, as there I’ll celebrate Mass but I don’t know. There aren’t plans.

Mark Masai, National Media of Kenya: First of all, thanks for visiting Kenya and Africa. You’re welcome back to Kenya for a rest, not to work. Now this was your first visit and everyone was worried about security. What would you tell the world that thinks that Africa is only war-torn and full of destruction?

Pope Francis: Africa is a victim. Africa has always been exploited by other powers. From Africa, they came to America, sold as slaves. There are powers that only seek to take the great wealth of Africa, possibly the richest continent. But, they don’t think about helping to grow the nation, that they may work, that all may have work. Exploitation. Africa is a martyr, a martyr of exploitation. Those who say that from Africa come all calamities and all wars perhaps don’t understand well the damage they certain forms of development do to humanity. It’s for this that I love Africa, because Africa has been a victim of other powers.

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VATICAN NEWS

Put ethics at heart of climate talks, Vatican says at Paris summit

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • December 1, 2015

(Unsplash/Catholic News Agency)

Paris, France — In his speech at the COP-21 climate summit in Paris, the Vatican’s Secretary of State urged global leaders to orient their discussion toward a clear ethical objective, one that puts the human person, the poor in particular, at the center.

Outlining three key pillars for a “global and transformative agreement” on how to address the problem of climate change, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Nov. 30 that the first consists of “the adoption of a clear ethical orientation, which inspires the motives and goals of the agreement to be implemented.”

It’s both the most vulnerable and future generations who are most impacted by climate change, he said, noting that these people often have no blame themselves.

Faced with growing concern surrounding the environment, the cardinal stressed that we can’t let ourselves become isolated by social or political barriers.

“We are one human family and that there is no room for the so-called globalization of indifference,” he said, adding that the urgency of the situation calls for “the widest possible collaboration” in order to formulate a common, concrete plan.

It’s important, he said, “that this agreement is centered on the recognition both of the ethical imperative to act in a context of global solidarity, and of the common but differing responsibility of each person, according to their ability and condition.”

Cardinal Parolin spoke at the opening of the Conference of Parties, an annual gathering aimed at tackling issues related to climate change on a global, political level.

Taking place in Paris Nov. 30-Dec. 11, the summit is hosting leaders from 150 nations, in addition to 40,000 delegates from 195 countries, CNN reports.

The goal of the discussion is to reach an agreement on legally binding reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. The reductions are intended to hold global average temperatures under a two degrees Celsius increase over preindustrial global temperatures, according to CNN.

In his remarks, Cardinal Parolin recalled Pope Francis’ recent comments at the United Nations office in Nairobi, Kenya, in which the pontiff said that working together is necessary to conquer problems, whether they involve politics, health, or development.

The Pope again addressed the climate issue on his Nov. 30 flight back to Rome, telling journalists during an in-flight press conference that society is “on the verge of suicide, to use a strong word.”

“I’m sure that nearly the entirety of all of those in Paris for the COP-21 have this awareness and want to do something,” he said, adding that he hopes and prays the conference will be the beginning of a solution.

Cardinal Parolin echoed the Pope’s words in Nairobi, highlighting three objectives for the Paris summit that Pope Francis himself outlined at the U.N. headquarters there: “to alleviate the impacts of climate change, to fight poverty and to make the dignity of the human person flourish.”

In addition to moving forward with a clear ethical orientation, the agreement sought must also look not only at how it will be implemented, but must above all “transmit clear signals which guide the conduct of all relevant parties,” the cardinal explained.

These “signals,” he said, must be communicated not only through governments, but all levels of society, including local authorities, civil society and the business and scientific communities.

Achieving a low-carbon economy aimed at an integral human development depends on how leaders collaborate in adopting “that human genius which is able to make human dignity flourish,” Parolin said.

He mentioned the promotion of renewable energies, dematerialization, the proper management of forests, sustainable food security and the fight against food waste as possible means, in addition to the proper use of technologies and the need to combat “ineffective and at times unfair subsidies.”

A third pillar the cardinal outlined was a long-term vision into the future, he said, adding that the COP-21 conference isn’t just a point of arrival or departure, but rather “a crucial phase of the course that certainly doesn’t end with 2015.”

The agreement they reach, he said, ought to include a review of the commitments made as well as a series of “follow-ups” that are transparent, effective and dynamic.

A change in lifestyle is also necessary, particularly when it comes to sustainable models of production and consumption, Cardinal Parolin said, adding that “the current way of living, with the culture of waste, is unsustainable.”

He stressed the importance of proper education and formation in creating sustainable lifestyles. Technical solutions, he said, are not enough if education is lacking.

The cardinal closed his address by voicing his hope that the three pillars he outlined would help in achieving the objectives expressed by Pope Francis: “to alleviate the impacts of climate change, to fight poverty and to allow the dignity of the human being to flourish.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis to youth: Have you thought about being a missionary?

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • December 2, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square before his Wednesday general audience on Dec. 2, 2015. (Daniel Ibañez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis’ recent trip to Africa was the focal point of his general audience today, during which he emphasized the key role that missionaries play on the continent, and asked youth to consider it as an option for their future.

“To the youth: think about what you want to do with your life. It’s the moment to think and to ask the Lord to make his will known to you,” the Pope said Dec. 2.

Recalling the many missionaries he met while in Africa last week, Francis pleaded with the youth that whatever they decide to do, “please, don’t exclude this possibility of becoming missionaries, to bring love, humanity and faith to other countries.”

The Pope spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his first general audience after returning from Africa. He traveled to the continent for a Nov. 25-30 visit that took him to Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

He spoke about his experience in each country, calling Kenya a land “blessed with great human and natural resources.”

The Pope addressed the U.N. headquarters while in Nairobi, Kenya’s capitol, advocating for environmental protection and the need to create sustainable, equitable and inclusive models of development. He also had strong words for the youth in creating peace and fraternity.

On his visit to Uganda, “the land of the Martyrs,” Francis said he was able to encourage the Christian community there to continue in their witness of faith and charity, “and thus to be a leaven of hope for society as a whole.”

The final phase of his trip, and the riskiest he has made yet, was to the Central African Republic, where he jump-started the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the first Holy Door in the cathedral of Bangui, the country’s capitol.

Francis said he did this “as a sign of hope and strength” for the suffering country, as well as for all of Central Africa “and for all our brothers and sisters” on the continent.

He then pointed to the special role that missionaries play on the continent, many of whom left their homeland at a young age to serve others, “leading a life of much, much work, at times sleeping on the floor.”

One elderly Italian sister he met in Bangui particularly stood out to the Pope. He recalled how during their brief conversation, the sister, 81, revealed that she had been living in CAR since she was 23 and had brought a child to Bangui on a canoe from the Congo.

Pope Francis noted how this sister had practically spent her whole life there, and explained that there are many more like her.

“This is how missionaries are: courageous,” he said, recalling how the same sister was a nurse before she came, and after studying there to become a midwife, has delivered some 3,280 babies.

“An entire life for life, for the lives of others. And like this sister, there are many, many (others): many sisters, many priests, many religious who burn their lives to announce Jesus Christ. It’s beautiful to see this.”

Francis then turned to the youth, asking them to think about what they are doing in their life and what they want to do.

He asked them to think about this sister and the many others like her who have given their lives in service, often passing away in their missionary assignments.

To be a missionary, he said, “isn’t proselytism,” and noted how the sister he met told him that Muslim women in Bangui go to them, “because they know the sisters are good nurses who heal well, and they don’t do catechesis to convert them!”

“They give witness; then to whoever wants, they give catechesis,” he said, explaining that this is what it means to announce Jesus with one’s life.

Pope Francis closed his reflections by encouraging the youth to consider the possibility of becoming missionaries, “but not to proselytize.” Faith, he said, “is first preached with witness and then with the word. Slowly.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Make the Jubilee of Mercy a ‘revolution of tenderness,’ Pope urges

by CNA/EWTN News • December 2, 2015

Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 7, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis has granted an interview to the official website for the Jubilee of Mercy, in which he expresses his intention that the year be an occasion to encounter God’s tenderness in a world rife with cruelty and atrocities.

“The revolution of tenderness is that which, today, we must cultivate as a fruit of this year of mercy: the tenderness of God toward each one of us,” the Pope told the official Jubilee publication ‘Credere’ in an interview released Dec. 2.

The Roman Pontiff gave the example of an employer who manages the contracts of their employees in such a way as to deprive them of benefits and pensions. Such an employer does not show tenderness, but rather treats his workers as objects, he said.

In today’s world, where we have grown accustomed to hearing about cruelty and atrocities, it is clear that there is need for mercy, he added.

Pope Francis listed some of the atrocities taking place in the world: arms trafficking and production, the brutal murder of the innocent, the exploitation of minors and children. These atrocities constitute “a sacrilege against humanity, since man is sacred. He is the image of the living God,” he said.

“I believe that this is the moment of mercy,” he said. “We are all sinners. All of us carry weight within.”

“It is the year of forgiveness, the year of reconciliation.”

Pope Francis stressed the need to recognize God the Father as merciful, and to focus on healing rather than condemnation.

“The world needs to discover that God is Father, that there is mercy, that cruelty is not the way, that condemnation is not the way, because the Church itself at times follows a strict line, (yields) to the temptation to follow a strict line, the temptation to only stress moral norms, yet how many people are left out.”

He reiterated the image of the Church as a field hospital, a theme he has touched on in the past. “The wounded are cared for, helped to heal, not subjected to tests to analyze their cholesterol.”

Pope Francis said it was his intention to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors in stressing the theme of mercy in the life of the Church. He cited in particular St. John Paul II, with his 1980 encyclical on divine mercy, Dives in misericordia; the canonization of St. Faustina; and the establishment of the feast of Divine Mercy on the octave day of Easter.

“I realized it that it was necessary to do something and continue this tradition.”

The Pope said mercy has been a theme of his pontificate since the very beginning, centering his first Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square and his first homily in the Vatican parish Sant’Anna on mercy.

“It is not a strategy, but came from within: the Holy Spirit wants something.”

Pope Francis was asked about the significance of Divine Mercy for priests and bishops, and the working of mercy in his own life.

“I am a sinner. I feel sinful. I am sure of it,” he said, while adding: “I am a forgiven man. God has looked on me with mercy and forgiven me.”

Pope Francis said he still sins, and goes to confession every 15 or 20 days, “because I need to feel that God’s mercy is still upon me.”

The Roman Pontiff recounted a particular moment in his life where he felt God’s mercy. It was Sept. 21, 1953, during Argentina’s Springtime celebrations. At the age of 17, he was “just a practicing Catholic”: He went to Mass on Sundays and took part in Catholic Action, but nothing beyond this. Passing by a church, he felt the need to go to confession.

“And I don’t know what happened. I walked out different, changed. I returned home with the certainty that I must consecrate myself to the Lord.”

The priest who heard his confession accompanied him for a year, before succumbing to leukemia. Pope Francis said his death caused him to think that God had abandoned him.

“This was the moment in which I came upon God’s mercy,” he said, recalling that Sept. 21 – the day he was called into the Church as a teenager – is the feast of St. Matthew. He therefore drew his episcopal motto from an account by St. Bede of Christ’s call of St. Matthew: “miserando atque eligendo,” or, “By having mercy, by choosing him.”

The journalist asked about how mercy is presented in the Bible as being in the “womb” of God, and how the Jubilee of Mercy is an occasion to reflect on this “maternity” of God and the feminine aspect of the Church.

While there is a “maternal dimension to God,” the Pope acknowledged this way of describing God is not widely understood.

He therefore prefers to speak of “tenderness,” specifically that of a mother: “The tenderness of God, born from the paternal womb: God is father and mother.”

The journalist asked the Pope how the Jubilee of Mercy will bring about a conversion among families, citing St. John XXIII’s famous line in which he told families to return home and “give a caress to your children.”

“When I see the sick, the elderly, I spontaneously caress them,” Pope Francis said. The first gesture made by a mother and father toward their newborn baby, he said, it communicates “I love you.”

Asked what he he would do over the course of the Jubilee to give witness to God’s mercy, the Pope said he would make a “different gesture” on one Friday of each month during the Holy Year.

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VATICAN NEWS

Jihadists arrested for threats against Pope Francis, no specific plot known

by CNA/EWTN News • December 2, 2015

Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 4, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Four alleged terrorist sympathizers who made internet threats against Pope Francis have been arrested. While Italian authorities described them as “highly dangerous,” they said they did not appear to be involved in any specific plot.

“They were threatening the Pope, celebrating the recent attacks in Paris and threatening the former U.S. ambassador to Kosovo,” said Carmine Esposito, a police chief in the northern Italian city of Brescia.

They were arrested on suspicion of “condoning terrorism” and inciting racial hatred, Reuters reports. Their online threats included claims that Francis will be the last Pope.

Four people with citizenship in the Balkan country of Kosovo were arrested Dec. 1 in Italy and Kosovo. Italian police carried out raids in the cities of Brescia, Vicenza and Perugia, the Italian newspaper The Local reports.

Two of the suspects will be expelled from Italy, while a third will be placed under special surveillance. The alleged group leader arrested in Kosovo had combat experience outside the country.

Police said that the alleged terrorist team was a “highly dangerous group” that “propagated the ideology of jihad through social networks.” The team allegedly has links to jihadists in Syria.

The arrests followed a tip from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In the wake of the Islamic State group’s Nov. 13 attacks in Paris which killed over 120 people, the U.S. Embassy in Rome on Nov. 18 warned that St. Peter’s Basilica, Milan’s cathedral, and other prominent locations were potential targets for attack.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, told French daily La Croix that the Vatican could be a target of attacks because of its religious significance and that it was capable of increasing its security.

In the interview, published Nov. 15, Cardinal Parolin also said: “we will not let ourselves be paralyzed by fear.”

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VATICAN NEWS

‘Saint Nicholas’ makes surprise appearance in Saint Peter’s Square

by CNA/EWTN News • December 3, 2015

‘St. Nicholas,’ also known as Wolfgang Georg Kimmig-Liebe, at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 2, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — A surprise visitor to St. Peter’s Square during the general audience yesterday was met with a warm welcome.

A “Saint Nicholas” in full costume came all the way from Germany to offer some holiday cheer.

Wolfgang Georg Kimmig-Liebe is the man who brought the well-known saint to life. And this is not the first time he visited the Vatican – in 2007, he received a blessing from then-Pope Benedict XVI.

For the past 30 years, Kimmig-Liebe has dressed up each Christmas season as the fourth-century bishop with the recognizable red robe, crosier, yellow miter and long white beard.

He travels throughout the world visiting hospitals, schools and markets, where he is received with joy. At the beginning of this year, he even visited a Syrian refugee camp in Turkey.

In a post on his Facebook account, Kimmig-Liebe published a Christmas message:

“My mission is simply the best, I meet people who love peace and life. The Christmas Spirit has begun and is already everywhere … I would really be pleased if in this time we would treat each other with respect and that we would experience a beautiful Christmas Octave.”

Despite possible similarities, Kimmig-Liebe clarified that he is not Santa Claus.

“I have nothing to do with that guy,” he said in an interview with Wolfgang Duschl, head of the bishop’s communications office in Passau, Bavaria.

“The phrase ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ is not part of my vocabulary. A bishop and a saint expresses himself more intelligently than that.”

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VATICAN NEWS

A car chapel? It’s a real thing and Pope Francis blessed one

by CNA/EWTN News • December 3, 2015

Pope Francis blesses a traveling image after the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 2, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — A Marian chapel built into a car – called an “Autocappella” – received a blessing from Pope Francis yesterday just before the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

The mobile chapel belongs to the “Marian Mission of the Rosary of the Shrine of Pompeii” and carries an icon of the Virgin of Pompeii to dioceses around the world.

At the request of a diocese, the mission brings copies of the icon and organizes prayer and

evangelization activities at parishes, schools, hospitals and prisons.

So far, the mission has been to several countries including Italy, the United States, Canada, Australia and Malta.

The original image of Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii is located in the town of Campania, an area located about five minutes away from the ruins of the city of Pompeii, which was destroyed in 79 A.D. by a volcano from Mt. Vesuvius.

The car chapel is among the more interesting things Pope Francis has blessed during his time in the Petrine ministry, including a bishop’s bicycle during the Synod, a “knotted grotto” in Philadelphia, a kid-built satellite bound for space, and even the rains down in Africa (just kidding).

There was a petition circulating prior to the Pope’s visit to the United States, asking him to bless the Metro in Washington, D.C. so that it would start working again, but the Pope was unable to do so during his visit.

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WORLD NEWS

Pope Francis is going to Kenya, and here’s what people are talking about

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • November 6, 2015

Pope Francis poses for a photo with African Bishops outside the Synod Hall, Oct. 23, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — As anticipation mounts in Africa ahead of Pope Francis’ coming visit, one Kenyan bishop said his country is excited to see the Pope’s simplicity and humility in action, especially toward the poor.

“People are very much waiting to see Pope Francis because of what they hear about his way of doing things, the way that he’s simple, he goes to the poor and to the simple,” Bishop James Maria Wainaina Kungu told journalists Oct. 28.

Bishop Kungu oversees the Catholic diocese of Muranga, roughly an hour car ride from the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

He is one of the country’s 38 Catholic bishops, and spoke to journalists in Rome after giving a brief background on Kenya ahead of the Pope’s visit.

Kenya is the first country Pope Francis will visit during his Nov. 25-30 voyage to the African continent before making his way to Uganda and the war-torn Central African Republic.

One of the most characteristically “Franciscan” stops the Pope will make after landing in Kenya is to Nairobi’s Kangemi neighborhood – a slum located, like most shanty areas in the city, on the outskirts of town.

Francis is scheduled to visit Kangemi on his last day in Kenya. After leaving the slum, he will meet with youth and Kenyan bishops before moving onto Entebbe, in Uganda.

Bishop Kungu said that Kenya’s poorest people “are very much expecting to have the Pope,” and will be happy just get a glimpse of him and to have him in their neighborhood. “I believe it is something that people will cherish.”

Catholics in Kenya make up roughly 30 percent of the country’s overwhelming Christian majority. 80 percent of Kenyans are Christian, while Muslims constitute 15-20 percent of the country’s religious make up.

Other traditional religions, as well as some Hindus and Buddhists, are also present, though few.

While Catholics are well integrated into Kenyan society, especially in their parliament, Protestants tend to have a stronger presence, and are more vocal in the public sphere.

Although Catholic relations with Protestants in the country are generally on good terms, the bishop said that a few challenges do exist.

Among these challenges are efforts by some Pentecostals and Evangelicals to convince Catholics to switch denominations.

“Sometimes because they want to get Catholic followers they use language that is a bit hard on our side, and we would wish it doesn’t get used,” Bishop Kungu said.

“(W)e start asking ourselves what have we not done that we could have done to (retain) our Christians, to (retain) our followers.”

Catholics in the country, for their part, try to avoid using means that are “unpleasant or unbecoming,” and instead simply try “to convince our people and other people to join us in a manner that is wholesome and acceptable,” he said.

And a bigger threat looms for the local Church as well: Since 2011 Kenya has seen an uptick in violence near its border with Somalia.

The violent Islamist terror group Al-Shabaab has been responsible for an increased number of attacks, though various Kenyan security experts maintain that radicalized Kenyan youth have been hired by the terrorists to carry them out.

Just in April, 147 students – mostly Christian, separated from their Muslim colleagues at the start of the attack – were massacred at Kenya’s Garissa University College at the hands of Somalian Al-Shebaab gunmen.

Five Kenyans were among the suspects arrested after the April 2 attack. They are said to have supplied the attackers with weapons. One of the four terrorists killed by the police has reportedly been identified as the son of a district chief in the north-east of Kenya.

Terrorism in the country has for the most part been isolated to the north. But due to the recent episodes, religious fanaticism is a topic the Pope could discuss while there.

Other cultural challenges Kenyans face are heightened attitudes of consumerism, individualism and homosexual unions – things the country “has never dealt with before,” but which are seeping in through an increase in globalization, the bishop said.

While vocations in Kenya have always tended to be high, Bishop Kungu said that some of these new challenges, particularly materialism, are making it more difficult to yes to a vocation to the consecrated life.

According to the Vatican blog “Il Sismografo,” Kenya currently has 1,830 diocesan priests, 914 priests who are members of religious orders, 798 religious men who are not ordained to the priesthood, 5,505 professed women religious and 550 lay missionaries.

Though Kenya used to have a higher number of vocations, the country still has “enough,” the bishop said, adding that “if you work for them, if you look for vocations you will get them.”

He stressed the importance of having good formation from the beginning in order to avoid some of the negative influences coming in through television, the radio and advertisements.

While you can’t stop youth from seeing these things, the bishop explained that his diocese is currently trying to form a strong foundation to help youth “make the correct choices when it comes to the point of making the choices.”

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WORLD NEWS

As Pope’s visit nears, Ugandans fight external push for contraception

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • November 12, 2015

African woman at the Niger River. (Sergi Lopez Roig via shutterstock.com)

Rome, Italy — One topic Ugandans expect Pope Francis to address in his upcoming visit to the country is the push by certain Western powers to enforce the use of contraception as a central means of fighting AIDS.

“A good portion of Ugandans do think that the best approach in the fight against AIDS is that of abstinence and fidelity. Abstain and be faithful,” Fr. Herman-Joseph Kalungi told journalists Oct. 30.

However, despite the strong stance many Ugandans take in favor of sexual abstinence and monogamy, the priest said that “there is external pressure on the government.”

Since Uganda is an impoverished country that depends on foreign aid, a big problem they have is that when the funds come in, “the donor influences the decisions.”

“Although many Ugandans think that abstinence and fidelity are the only sure guarantee, the only sure means of stopping the spread of AIDS, still there is a lot of pressure from outside to promote the use of condoms,” he said.

“Also in the area of reproductive health, to promote the use of contraceptives and birth control. This is mainly a problem from outside.”

Fr. Kalungi is a priest from the Ugandan diocese of Masaka, and is currently studying in Rome. He met with journalists in order to give some background on the country before Pope Francis’ visit during his Nov. 25-30 trip to Africa.

In an Oct. 30 interview with CNA, the priest said that the push for contraception is “a question of some Western forces imposing some customs, imposing some ways of living that are contrary to our culture.”

The spread of the HIV virus has been a serious problem in Uganda since the infection rate for HIV/AIDS skyrocketed in the 1980s-1990s. The country has since worked to find an effective means of both educating people on the risks, and putting a stop to the spread of the virus.

Fr. Kalungi said that the country has made headway, and has succeeded in containing the virus more in recent years.

However, while the promotion of abstinence and marital fidelity have been widely accepted, “there are a lot of immoral forces out there that, in a way is inexplicable to us, want to destroy the moral fiber of the country.”

“That is why they promote contraception, that’s why they promote homosexuality,” he said, explaining that the same approach is often taken when it comes to the problems of hunger and illness.

“Instead of helping us to grow more food, instead of helping us to establish maybe factories or to be able to get medicines … they will suggest you have less children so you don’t have the problem of hunger.”

Though a clear explanation for the pressure is lacking, “I think it’s almost evident that there are some forces out there that directly or indirectly put pressure on the Ugandan society to adopt customs and ways of living that are contrary to the moral fiber that has characterized our people until now,” the priest explained.

He said that when Pope Francis visits the country in just a few weeks’ time, Ugandans expect that he will address the issue, adding that “those that ought to listen are the frontiers of the country.”

Other challenges that currently affect Ugandan society are a lack of political unity and stability, he told journalists. After gaining independence from Britain in 1962, Uganda fell into a series of intermittent conflicts, the most recent of which is the rebellion of the Lord’s Resistance Army.

The conflicts have continued because the young, diverse country was never able to fully establish peace and stability after it gained independence, Fr. Kalungi said.

Though Uganda is experiencing a period of general peace right now, political instability is still an issue.

The country is also facing hunger, illness, and uncontrolled infections coupled with a lack of medical assistance, the priest added.

Education has also been a big concern in the country, Fr. Kalungi said, since a large portion of the population doesn’t have the opportunity to go to school.

In light of these issues, the Church has played a major role contributing to the sector of education and medical services. Until 15 years ago when the government implemented a universal primary education system, the majority of schools were run either by the Catholic or Anglican churches.

According to Fr. Kalungi, 84 percent of Ugandans are Christian, 42 percent of whom are Catholic. Though Catholics maintain good relations with Protestant denominations, the priest said there are some small issues due to some Pentecostals who try to convince Catholics to leave the Church.

Still, the priest told CNA that excitement among the country’s Catholics is soaring high ahead of the Pope’s visit.

“Ugandans are certainly happy to have the Pope visiting them; I should say it is the third time that a Pope is visiting them and … we have longed to have this opportunity again.”

Pope Francis’ Nov. 27-29 visit to Uganda follows that of Pope Paul VI – the first Pope to visit country – in 1969, and St. John Paul II in 1993.

“It’s a great blessing and I think Ugandans are convinced that the very fact that the Pope coming will certainly bring a difference,” he said, adding that the trip isn’t just for Catholics, but will also bring hope and joy “to the heart of every Ugandan … also Anglicans and other Protestants and Muslims.”

Though the country is currently in peace, the priest said the people always need to be encouraged to work for it, and expressed his hope that Pope Francis will exhort everyone to make a continuous effort for peace, and “to reassure us that there is hope and things can be better.”

Fr. Kalungi also raised concerns surrounding some of the topics Francis brought up in his recent environmental encyclical “Laudato Si.”

Among the most urgent environmental concerns for Uganda are deforestation and the loss of the vegetation that covers the country, he said.

Poverty is largely to blame for deforestation, Fr. Kalungi said, since the local population in the affected areas frequently cut down trees for firewood, whereas other, wealthier countries have electricity.

This is the main reason that Fr. Kalungi hopes Pope Francis will speak about development in the country, as a way to attain peace and to alleviate poverty.

“In all (the) different ways to fight the question of poverty, I think that’s where the emphasis should be. Once poverty is fought it will be easier to protect the environment.”

Ugandans are also a hardworking and self-sacrificing people that have a lot of hope and joy, Fr. Kalungi said, and expressed his hope that Pope Francis sees this in the people when he comes.

“Even in the midst of greatest problems Ugandans have been able to go on … when one visits the different trading centers of the villages in the rural areas one sees the youth really working hard to lift themselves out of poverty and I think this is a great resource.”

Ugandans are also a spiritual people who “have a sense of God” inside them, he said, and refer everything to him.

“They are open to the message of the Gospel which they would like to put in practice, in spite our difficulties, our defects and our wretchedness.”

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WORLD NEWS

Africa’s bishops offer Pope Francis prayers and a warm welcome

by CNA/EWTN News • November 24, 2015

Bishops exiting the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall during the Synod of Bishops, Oct. 5, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Accra, Ghana — Ahead of the papal visit to Africa, the continent’s bishops have sent Francis a message of welcome. They emphasized the importance of the family in African society and the need for peace in regions suffering terrorism and violent conflict.

“As representatives of the Church in Africa we warmly welcome the Holy Father, Pope Francis, as he makes his first apostolic visit to our continent,” said the standing committee of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).

They prayed for the success of the Pope’s visit and for God’s “abundant blessings.”

The statement was issued at the close of the bishops’ conferences symposium held in Accra, Ghana Nov. 16-20. Pope Francis will be visiting Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic Nov. 25-30.

“We rejoice that the Holy Father’s visit, coming so soon after the Synod on the Family, will strengthen the faith of our peoples in the Church as Family of God and confirm us in our long-cherished Christian and African values,” the bishops’ committee said.

They stressed that the family is “the fundamental and indispensable pillar” of life in society, the Catholic News Agency for Africa reports.

“We call on all the people of our continent and on all our governments to commit themselves to the sustenance of African families, and protect the fundamental values of our cultures. We reiterate our commitment also to the sustenance and promotion of the institutions of marriage and the family and confirm our unshakeable belief in the sanctity of human life.”

The bishops’ communiqué welcoming the Pope also responded to recent terrorist attacks in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East.

“We condemn all acts of terrorism that have occurred in any part of the world and urge the perpetrators and their sponsors to stop,” they said. The bishops prayed for the dead and for consolation for those who are grieving their deaths.

They cited attacks in France, Lebanon, and Mali, as well as attacks in Nigeria, Kenya, Libya, and Burkina Faso.

The bishops voiced support peace efforts in African countries with violent conflicts.

“We appeal in the name of God to all parties involved in the conflicts in these areas to lay down their arms and embrace the path of dialogue and peace for the sake of posterity,” the committee said.

The bishops praised a memorandum of understanding between SECAM and the African Union, saying it will advance efforts to secure development, human rights, and peace in collaboration with the union’s 54 member states.

The bishops urged all of Africa to reconcile with one another and to reconcile with God, “our Merciful Father.”

“It is only by this means shall we find God’s mercy borne of harmonious co-existence and development,” they said. They prayed that the Virgin Mary will “intercede for us all in our prayers so that our continent, Africa, may experience true love, justice and peace.”

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WORLD NEWS

Yesterday’s martyrs, today’s priests: The legacy of the Venerable English College

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • December 1, 2015

The Martyrs’ Painting by Durante Alberti in the chapel of the Venerable English College in Rome. (Gianluca Gangemi/CNA)

Rome, Italy — While the days are long past that to be a Catholic priest in England is a capital crime, the legacy of the nation’s Rome-based seminary – where centuries earlier 44 men trained for the priesthood before returning home to be martyred – has not been forgotten.

Every year on Martyrs’ Day, Dec. 1, students and staff of the Venerable English College (VEC) celebrate those former students martyred during the English Reformation’s persecution of the Catholic Church.

And for one current student, that history still resonates today.

“The whole English reformation started because Henry VIII wanted a divorce,” said Deacon David Howell of the Archdiocese of Southwark in an interview with CNA. “In our country, again, marriage is under threat. That’s part of our same mission today.”

Deacon Howell cited the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s prefect, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, who has spoken “about the English martyrs as witnesses to marriage.”

Martyr’s Day is celebrated on the anniversary of the martyrdom St. Ralph Sherwin, the first of the seminary’s former students to be killed during the Reformation. In 1581, the young priest was hung, drawn and quartered in Tyburn four months after returning to England. Two other Catholic priests, St. Edmund Campion and St. Alexander Briant, were martyred alongside him.

Formerly a hostel for English and Welsh pilgrims to Rome, the VEC was established in 1579 when it became illegal to train for the priesthood in England. Consequently, seminarians studying at the College knew they would likely be persecuted or killed upon their return as priests.

Between 1581 and 1679, St. Ralph Sherwin and 43 other students of the College were martyred. Of these, 41 have been canonized or beatified.

These martyrs “were incredibly faithful to the teaching of the Church and the papacy, and they had an amazing faith in the sacraments,” said Deacon Howell.

They knew that without the sacraments, “the faith would die” in England, he explained. Therefore “they’re wonderful models of fidelity to the faith and to the sacraments, and they’re also wonderful models of mercy.”

The annual Martyrs’ Day commemorations take place in the seminary’s main chapel, which is lit by candles for the occasion. A student reads a reflection written at the time of the persecutions – this year, a letter written by St. Ralph Sherwin the day before his martyrdom – and the relics of the VEC’s martyrs are displayed on the altar and venerated.

One of the highlights of the evening is the singing of the Te Deum in front of the Martyrs’ Painting, a 16th century image of the Trinity by Durante Alberti which hangs behind the altar. This tradition harkens back to a practice of the seminarians at the time of the Reformation every time news reached them of a former student’s martyrdom.

“If any ever news returned to Rome that one of their brother priests had been put to death in England, the College community would come and gather in front of the painting,” explained VEC vice rector Fr. Mark Harold. “They would sing a hymn of praise to God, Te Deum laudamus,” which is paraphrased in the English hymn “Holy God, we praise thy name”.

“And thus each year in the evening of Dec. 1 the College community gathers in front of this painting and we too in that tradition sing the hymn Te Deum laudamus.”

The VEC’s yearly commemoration of Martyrs’ Day was instituted in the 1930s on the fourth centenary of the English Catholic martyrs, explained VEC rector Msgr. Philip Whitmore. He said its establishment prompted a “great awakening” as to the legacy of the seminary’s martyrs.

“It’s a reminder of our identity, of our mission,” Msgr. Whitmore said.

“We have the great tradition of our forebears who intercede for us with their prayers and give us a wonderful example of dedication, and faith, and courage.”

On the upper level of the College chapel are a series of frescos, depicting the martyrdoms of St. Ralph Sherwin, St. Thomas More, and dozens of others, which originally dated back to the Reformation. The current paintings are based on reproductions of the originals which had been recorded in a book, as the chapel was severely damaged by Napoleon’s forces in the 18th century.

The panels graphically depict the martyrdoms, Fr. Harold said, and are not for the faint of heart. “They’re a vivid reminder to us of what people gave their lives for and what a great sacrifice they made in the name of their faith and that we walk in that tradition.”

“They lived in this house, in this building, and we are literally walking in their footsteps.”

For current student Deacon Howell, the College chapel in particular brings to mind the martyrs who came before him.

“It’s a constant challenge when you enter the Church and think that, in this Church, 44 men received that grace of martyrdom through their prayer and through the Mass they celebrated,” he said.

“It makes me ask myself, ‘what graces am I receiving? What graces am I asking for? Am I asking for that grace to give up my life entirely?’”

“Perhaps I won’t have the same challenges they had, but still I have to have that same self gift. That’s the challenge that comes to mind when I enter the church here.”

Although it has been centuries since a former seminarians of the VEC has been killed for their faith, Msgr. Whitmore says the martyrs nonetheless have something to offer current students.

In bringing the Gospel to England and Wales, Msgr. Whitmore said, these martyrs “give a wonderful example of courage and dedication to the mission to spread the Gospel” in a way that reflects the VEC’s motto: “To set fire to the earth.”

Moreover, the College martyrs are intercessors, he continued. “They support us with their prayers for the very difficult mission that we still have today.”

Although England and Wales constitutes “a different mission,” the rector said, “we encounter all sorts of oppositional sorts of difficulties, even a certain amount of hostility.”

“That courage, that passion, that faith, that commitment the martyrs show is something we need today, and something we need to instill in the new generation of students going out for the mission.”

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WORLD NEWS

Protect unborn lives, don’t end them: Northern Ireland abortion ruling criticized

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • December 2, 2015

A pro-life rally held in Dublin, Ireland on Dec. 4, 2012. (Youth Defence)

Belfast, United Kingdom — Irish pro-life advocates have said Monday’s Northern Ireland court decision against abortion restrictions wrongly ignored the lives of the unborn in the name of fighting human rights violations.

“I’m deeply disappointed by the decision of the High Court,” Michael Kelly, editor of the Dublin-based newspaper The Irish Catholic, told CNA Dec. 1. “I believe the High Court to be profoundly wrong in side-stepping the inescapable fact that abortion ends the life of an innocent child.”

Kelly rejected claims that change in the law would be limited to certain circumstances.

“International experience shows that there is no such thing as limited abortion: once the principle is conceded that it can ever be justified to target the innocent unborn child in the womb for death, wider access to abortion is inevitable.”

Justice Mark Horne of Northern Ireland’s High Court on Nov. 30 ruled that the lack of exceptions in Northern Ireland abortion law violates women’s rights under Article Eight of the European Convention on Human Rights. He said exceptions should be made in cases of fatal fetal abnormality at any time during pregnancy, and also in cases of pregnancy as the result of sexual crime up until the time when the unborn baby can live independently of his or her mother.

He said a woman “has to face all the dangers and problems, emotional or otherwise, of carrying a fetus for which she bears no moral responsibility and is merely a receptacle to carry the child of a rapist and/or a person who has committed incest, or both” and that enforcement of the anti-abortion law “completely ignores the personal circumstances of the victim.”

Horne said that when the unborn baby suffers from abnormalities that will be fatal, “there is no life to protect.”

“There is nothing to weigh in the balance,” the justice added. “When the fetus leaves the womb, it cannot survive independently. It is doomed.”

Niamh Uí Bhriain of the pro-life Life Institute said the ruling was “deeply flawed and discriminatory.” She particularly objected to its treatment of unborn babies with disabilities.

“It is extraordinary to see a High Court judge use such cruel and thoughtless language which will have been enormously hurtful to the majority of parents who carry their sick babies to term and who cherish every moment with their babies, most of whom do live beyond birth,” she said Nov. 30.

Uí Bhriain said she hoped the ruling would be appealed as soon as possible.

Northern Ireland’s Catholic bishops, headed by Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, said it was “profoundly disquieting” that the court weighed one life against another. They said that unborn children are persons and the decision does not change “our duty to respect and protect their right to life.”

“Our day to day pastoral experience teaches us that even in the hardest of hard cases society cannot forget that human life is sacred and always deserving of our utmost protection, compassion and care. The Catholic Church teaches that the duty to care for and protect human life extends equally to a mother and her unborn child in all circumstances,” said the bishops’ Nov. 30 statement.

The bishops cited Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato si’, in which he stressed the need to protect human life at its earliest stages. The Pope warned that the loss of sensitivity towards accepting a new life means “other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away.”

Kelly said the court’s ruling for a right to abortion in the case where the child has been conceived in a crime “takes no account of the fact that abortion means that an innocent child, who played no part in the crime that led to his or her conception, will be killed.” He said such an act would be “further compounding the injustice of the terrible crime of rape.”

He reflected on the overall political climate of the decision.

“Northern Ireland is one of the last places in the western world to resist the push for widespread availability of abortion. It’s no surprise that the region comes under immense pressure from a coalition of so-called human rights groups and pro-choice advocacy organizations (generally funded from overseas).”

“They will have a fight on their hands: amidst decades of sectarian strife, one of the few things that united the vast majority people of Northern Ireland was a revulsion for abortion. Similarly, many politicians are unshakable in their pro-life credentials,” he said.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission had brought the case to the court.

Les Allamby, the body’s chief commissioner, said the result is “historic” and “will be welcomed by many of the vulnerable women and girls who have been faced with these situations.”

The Northern Ireland Assembly has been consistent in opposition to laws that permit abortion, according to Kelly. He said the Human Rights Commission bypassed these institutions.

“This seems like an extreme act of legal activism,” he said of the High Court ruling. “I find it extraordinary that the case to liberalize the law on abortion in Northern Ireland was brought by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, a body set up by the peace treaty of 1998 which brought an end 30 years of sectarian conflict and violence.”

“It seems perverse that a body set up to defend and vindicate human rights actually took a case to the High Court asking that the inalienable right to life of the most vulnerable, children in the womb, be removed from the safety of legal protection.”

Northern Ireland Attorney General John Larkin said he was “profoundly disappointed” in the decision and is considering whether to appeal. An appeal must be filed within six weeks, the BBC reports.

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Spain’s Catholics protest blasphemous art exhibit, but city council won’t act

by Blanca Ruiz (CNA/EWTN News) • December 3, 2015

A demonstration against the blasphemous exhibit in Pamplona on Nov. 26, 2015. (Carlos Beltramo)

Pamplona, Spain — Despite protests from thousands of Spaniards opposed to the desecration of the Eucharist, the Pamplona city council has failed to pass a proposal to remove a sacrilegious art exhibit from a publicly funded exhibition hall.

The exhibit involved the theft of more than 240 consecrated Hosts from Mass. Artist Abel Azcona stole the Hosts by pretending to receive Holy Communion at Mass, and then placed the Hosts on the ground to form the word “pederasty” in Spanish.

“The council has insisted the author remove his work, but the council itself is not going to do it,” Polonia Castellanos, spokeswoman for the Christian Lawyers Association, told CNA.

This was the second time the city council has asked Azcona to remove his exhibit, but they have received no response from him so far.

Photos of the theft of the Hosts and their placement on the ground are shown in Pamplona’s publicly funded Conde Rodezno exhibition hall. The Hosts were laid out on display until a private citizen removed them.

The Pamplona city council is governed by a Basque separatist coalition called Bildu. Maider Beloki, a councilwoman for the city’s Department for Culture, had helped unveil the exhibit.

A Nov. 27 plenary session of the city council did not pass a proposal to remove the exhibit. The proposal came from members of the Unión del Pueblo Navarro (UPN), a center-right regional political party considered.

Enrique Maya, a UPN spokesman, said there was debate over who should pull the exhibit as offensive. In his view, a city government team from the Department of Culture should remove the exhibit photos.

Beloki commented on the debate on behalf of Bildu. She charged that “extreme right wing and fundamentalist religious groups have taken the opportunity to launch a political campaign against the council and its mayor” in order to “limit freedom of speech and to hide the harsh realities that lie behind the controversy.”

Castellanos, however, said the exhibit’s opponents wanted to know what will happen if Ancona doesn’t remove his work as requested by the city council. She said “this kind of behavior could incite civil disobedience.”

“What’s the point if the city council says something has to be done, they don’t do anything about it, and nothing happens?” Castellanos asked.

The Christian Lawyers Association had filed suit against the artist for violating Spanish laws related to religious freedom and respect for religious sentiments. The group said its lawsuit could be expanded to include Beloki.

“If the exhibit continues, after the decision by the full session of the city council, we’re going to expand the lawsuit,” Castellanos said. “The city council has an obvious responsibility.”

Masses of reparation were said Nov. 25 at the cathedrals in Pamplona and Tudela, a municipality about 50 miles south of the city.

Mass attendees were explicitly told that Holy Communion would only be distributed on the tongue and had to be consumed in front of the priest. However, Azcona claimed on Twitter that some attendees stole 32 consecrated Hosts, though there was no way to confirm his claims.

On Nov. 26, some 2,000 people demonstrated in front of the city council building against the art exhibit and called on Mayor Joseba Asirón to remove it. The crowd shouted “Blasphemy isn’t culture!” and “Asirón, pull the display!” Hundreds had protested at the city council building Nov. 23 and Nov. 24. Nearly 400 people prayed the Rosary in front of the art display at the exhibition hall.

More than 100,000 people have signed an internet petition against the blasphemous exhibit.

However, Azcona remains defiant. He claimed on social media that these demonstrations and acts of reparation are “a marvelous continuation of my performance art. Amen.”

Amid the controversy, vandals have sprayed insulting graffiti on several churches in Pamplona, including “hypocritical Church” and “Away with Opus (Dei)”.

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In Chile, massive Marian pilgrimage to open Year of Mercy

by Barbara Bustamante (CNA/EWTN News) • December 4, 2015

Our Immaculate Lady of Lo Vasquez. (Philippus011012 via Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0)

Santiago, Chile — Hundreds of thousands in Chile will visit the Lo Vasquez Shrine this coming December 8 on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, taking part in one of the most well-attended pilgrimages in the country.

Our Immaculate Lady of Lo Vasquez, known in Spanish as “Nuestra Señora Purísima,” is a devotion that dates back to 1850 in Valparaiso, Chile. On Dec. 7 and 8 the shrine draws almost 1 million faithful to central Chile. People come from different parts of the country in a pilgrimage that will conclude Chile’s month of Mary.

This year the pilgrimage will have a special focus: the opening of the Holy Door of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The special year, declared by Pope Francis, is intended to encourage acts of faith, charity and brotherly communion. Specially designated Holy Doors at churches around the world are connected to plenary indulgences for pilgrims during the church year.

Already since Sunday Nov. 29, the Lo Vasquez Shrine has begun to prepare for Feast of the Immaculate Virgin with the start of the novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception of Mary.

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception recognizes that God chose the Virgin Mary to be conceived without sin. It was proclaimed on Dec. 8, 1854 by Pope Pius IX in his papal bull “Ineffabilis Deus,” formalizing the long-held Catholic belief.

This year’s pilgrimage events are based on the theme “Mother of Life, Mother of Mercy.”

On Nov. 29 the pilgrimage’s traditional religious dance festival took place. In this festival, the faithful renew their promises to the Mother of God alongside dancers and musicians.

The chaplain at the Shrine of the Immaculate Virgin of Lo Vasquez, Father Marcelino Toro, explained the event to CNA.

He said the pilgrimage is “primarily an encounter with someone you love.”

“And from that encounter one feels complete contentment, happy to have done something good. This full encounter is with Mary, the Mother who shows us Jesus as the only way, truth and life,” Fr. Toro added.

The priest discussed the renewal encouraged by the Year of Mercy, saying “it has to do with the humble, little heart that’s in need. Consequently, the beginning of the Year of Mercy starts out with this feast of Mary, who lived out mercy in the humility of her heart.”

One of the main activities of this festival is the Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Valparaiso, Gonzalo Duarte. He will open the Holy Door of the Shrine of the Immaculate Virgin and lead the solemn procession with the statue of the Virgin.

The pilgrims who come to the shrine will also be able to go to confession all day long and attend one of many Masses which will start on the hour from midnight to 7 p.m. on Dec. 8.

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Prayer ad before Star Wars movie gets nixed in the UK

by CNA/EWTN News • December 4, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens poster. (Disney and Lucas Films)

London, England — An Anglican effort to show an ad of the Lord’s Prayer in movie theaters before the upcoming Star Wars movie was rejected by leading U.K. theaters, drawing criticism from many sectors.

Carrie Fisher, the actress who returns to play Princess Leia Organa in “The Force Awakens,” was among the critics.

“I have no idea why they would do that,” Fisher told the U.K. newspaper the Mail on Sunday, comparing the ad to the placement of Bibles in hotel rooms.

“I have never seen an advertisement like this, but if the theater is like a hotel room, then they have every right to put up a power of prayer advert.”

The next Star Wars movie opens in the U.K. on Dec. 17, one week before Christmas Eve.

Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head prelate of the Church of England, told the Mail on Sunday he thought it “extraordinary” that an ad for prayer was found inappropriate to be shown the week before Christmas.

“Billions of people across the world pray this prayer on a daily basis. I think they would be astonished and deeply saddened by this decision,” he said Nov. 20. “This advert is about as ‘offensive’ as a carol service or church service on Christmas Day.”

The Archbishop of Canterbury appears in the minute-long ad, as do Christians from all backgrounds. They pray the Lord’s Prayer, also called the Our Father.

Digital Cinema Media, the company that supplies advertising to Britain’s major movie theaters, initially offered the Church of England a discounted price for the ad slot.

It later said that the ad had been rejected by its clients, the three major movie theaters of the U.K.: Odeon, Cineworld and Vue. They said they could not carry religious ads. Executives’ emails said that such ads risked upsetting or offending audiences.

The advertising company also implemented a policy barring ads connected to personal beliefs following objections to ads related to the campaigns for and against the Scottish independence vote in 2014.

Richard Dawkins, an atheist polemicist, objected to the idea that the Lord’s Prayer ads should be barred on the ground they could be offensive.

“If anybody is ‘offended’ by something so trivial as a prayer, they deserve to be offended,” he told The Guardian.

Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was “flabbergasted” that anyone would find the prayer offensive.

The Church of England is considering legal action under the Equality Act.

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U.S. NEWS

Struggle with porn? The Church can help you, U.S. bishops say

by CNA/EWTN News • November 29, 2015

(Unsplash/Catholic News Agency)

Washington, D.C. — For the first time, U.S. bishops have issued a historical pastoral letter specifically addressing the global crisis of pornography, looking at how the industry is affecting the parishioners in their pews and what the Church can do to offer mercy, healing, and hope to recovering pornography users.

“We offer this statement to give a word of hope and healing to those who have been harmed by pornography and to raise awareness of its pervasiveness and harms,” the statement reads, saying the Church wants to offer healing to the families destroyed by pornography and to the individuals who have been exploited by it.

The USCCB officially approved the pastoral letter created by the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth called “Create in Me a Clean Heart” on Nov. 17. The letter addresses the crisis of porn and how the Church is reaching out with mercy to those who fall prey to the thriving billion-dollar pornography industry, which creates an increasing slew of victims and perpetrators every year.

Pornography’s wide acceptance and even at times promotion in today’s global culture has prompted the U.S. bishops to address the crux of the issue: the failure to recognize every human’s innate call to love.

According to the pastoral letter, “every man and woman, whether called to marriage or not, has a fundamental vocation of self-giving, fruitful love in imitation of the Lord.”

The bishops describe pornography, however, as the opposite of love – the love for which every individual is created. Instead, pornography creates “a disordered view of the person, because it is ordered toward use, as of a thing, rather than love, which pertains to persons.”

Pornography also “rejects the equal dignity and complementarity between man and woman and strikes at the heart of God’s plan for communion between persons,” the letter stated.

The bishops also linked pornography as a gateway to other problems, such as: masturbation, addiction, adultery, prostitution, domestic violence, abuse, and sex trafficking. It also leads to a distorted view of human sexuality, and in some cases, damages the capacity for healthy, human intimacy.

Engaging in pornography might appear to some like a harmless, private affair, but the bishops pointed to multiple victims who are involved in the making. Many individuals and children portrayed in pornography are victims of human trafficking and also forced into prostitution, the bishops wrote, citing a study by former litigation attorney and anti-porn advocacy leader Noel Bouche.

The crisis of pornography inflicts deep wounds on many individuals, spouses, and families – including faithful Catholics, they said. Recognizing this danger and the reach of pornography within their own pastoral corners, the U.S. bishops were quick to point out that the Church is waiting to welcome those who are hurting.

“No wound is so deep, however, as to be out of the reach of Christ’s redeeming grace. The Church as a field hospital is called to proclaim the truth of the human person in love,” the letter stated.

“You are beloved sons and daughters of the Father. Be not afraid to approach the altar of mercy and ask for forgiveness. Many good people struggle with this sin. You are not alone,” the bishops said.

For many, use of pornography has become an addiction, or at the very least, desensitizing. Because of this, many individuals will have to seek other help in addition to confession or spiritual direction.

“We wish to specifically address Catholics in a range of circumstances and present opportunities for guidance, healing and grace,” the statement continued.

The bishops recommended counseling, coaching, accountability groups, conferences, and retreats as good options for recovering pornography users. Other tools like online monitoring software, couples therapy, and chastity education are also good resources.

“Freedom from pornography is a daily choice and calls for ongoing formation,” the pastoral letter noted.

Parents also have a responsibility to protect their sons and daughters from the modern-day scourge of pornography. The bishops noted that the average age of children who are exposed to pornography is age eleven, meaning that there are many children who are even younger.

“Parents and guardians, protect your home! Be vigilant about the technology you allow into your home and be sensitive to the prevalence of sexual content in even mainstream television and film and ease by which it comes through the Internet and mobile devices,” the letter stated.

In addition, the bishops encouraged intensified seminary and priestly formation on pastoral care to treat those involved with pornography. Priests, they noted, have a crucial role to play in creating authentic relationships and fraternal support with individuals who want to defeat their struggle with porn.

“God’s grace and concrete help are always available. Healing is always possible,” the bishops noted.

“Trust in and be led by the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s mercy and forgiveness are abundant!”

A full list of USCCB-approved resources on recovering from pornography is available at: usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/pornography/index.cfm.

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U.S. NEWS

Pro-life groups condemn Planned Parenthood shooting, pray for victims

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • November 30, 2015

(Catholic News Agency)

Colorado Springs, CO — After Friday’s shooting at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic killed three but with an official motive for the act not determined, pro-life groups have condemned any act of violence against abortion clinics.

“We condemn violence of any kind against Planned Parenthood, abortionists, or any abortion industry workers,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of Students for Life, in a statement issued hours after the Nov. 27 shootings. “People using violence to promote their views should be held criminally liable for their actions. Period. We pray for the victims and their families of this senseless act.”

The pro-life advocacy group Susan B. Anthony List also offered prayers for the shooting victims and their families. “Violence is never justified. The actions of the shooter are in complete contradiction to the aims of the pro-life movement,” stated Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony List, on Monday.

They also praised police officer Garrett Swasey, who was killed in the line of duty responding to the shooting.

“Officer Garrett Swasey embodies the spirit of the pro-life movement in this tragedy,” Dannelfelser said, adding that he “charged headfirst into danger to protect lives inside their [Planned Parenthood’s] clinic. He believed, as we do, that all lives are equally valuable and worthy of protection.”

The alleged shooter, 57 year-old Robert Lewis Dear, killed three and injured nine at the Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic, and surrendered himself to police after a five-hour standoff. He injured five police officers who responded to the shooting, and killed one. Dear is from North Carolina but lived in an RV in Hartsel, 65 miles west of Colorado Springs.

According to law enforcement sources, he allegedly said “no more baby parts” while in police custody as just one of many remarks, NBC reported. Officials have not confirmed Dear’s motive for the shooting.

That alleged phrase may have been made in reference to a series of videos released by a citizen journalist group Center for Medical Progress detailing Planned Parenthood’s role in offering fetal body parts of babies aborted at their clinics to tissue harvesters for compensation.

Planned Parenthood’s advocacy arm has already circulated a petition connecting the shooting to larger “opposition to Planned Parenthood and access to abortion,” adding that “acts of domestic terrorism do not exist in a vacuum.”

Their petition was addressed to “those who go to unimaginable extremes to close our doors.”

“We fight your legislation to limit reproductive rights and health care in every corner of our country,” the petition stated. “We believe your actions and words hurt women — whether by making it impossible to seek health care or by creating a climate of disrespect and hostility that fosters extremist violence.”

The Center for Medical Progress responded to the shooting with a Dec. 28 statement condemning the “barbaric” act “by a violent madman.”

“We applaud the heroic efforts of law enforcement to stop the violence quickly and rescue the victims, and our thoughts and prayers are with the wounded, the lost, and their families,” the statement added.

Ultimately, “it’s just a little unclear” what, if anything, is behind the shooting, said Jon A. Shields, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, in an interview with CNA. Shields’ areas of expertise include abortion and American culture and politics.

Police have not established an official motive, he insisted, and from the current information Dear’s shooting appears more like other mass shootings perpetrated by a mentally ill lone-wolf gunman than a religiously-motivated act of violence against an abortion clinic.

Dear’s history, which includes arrests for domestic violence and being a “peeping tom,” testimony from a neighbor to the AP that he was incoherent in his conversations, and an alleged interest in BDSM, would not fit with the typical profile of an anti-abortion radical attacking an abortion clinic, Shields added.

“The police officers, as far as I can tell, haven’t established a motive,” he said. “Precisely because [Dear’s] conversations with them seemed utterly incoherent. So I think that too suggests that he’s a schizophrenic or he’s truly disturbed and crazy.”

In contrast, radicals who attacked abortion clinics in the 1980s and 90s, like assassin Paul Hill, “were sort of coldly rational” in their violent agenda, he added, “while Mr. Dear, whatever else he is, he’s not a sober, rational mind. So he does seem different to me.”

Organized acts of violence against abortion clinics, as part of a fringe faction of the pro-life movement, peaked and then fell in the 1980s and 90s, Shields explained in a Monday op-ed for the Washington Post, with an “exception” being the assassination of late-term abortionist Dr. George Tiller in 2009 which was probably an anomaly and not part of any violent trend.

“The shootings in Colorado Springs give us little reason to suspect that a renewed network of violent radicals is targeting abortion providers as they once did in the 1990s,” he concluded.

Dear appeared in court Nov. 30, where he was told he would be charged with first degree murder.

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U.S. NEWS

Miracle or fungus? Utah diocese investigates ‘bleeding’ Host

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • December 1, 2015

Image of “bleeding” Host at St. Francis Xavier Church in Kearns, Utah. (Screenshot/KSTU Fox 13 News)

Salt Lake City, Utah — Some Catholic parishioners in Utah have said a consecrated Host appears to be bleeding, but the Diocese of Salt Lake City is considering whether the change may be due to natural causes.

“The Church does not presume supernatural causes for things that can have a natural explanation. While recognizing that God can work in extraordinary ways, the Church presumes that God ordinarily works through the ministry of the Church and through natural laws,” diocese spokeswoman Susan Dennin told CNA Nov. 30.

Monsignor M. Francis Mannion, who heads the diocese’s investigating committee for the claimed miracle, acknowledged reports of “a bleeding Host” at St. Francis Xavier Church in Kearns, a Salt Lake City suburb.

During Holy Communion at the church Nov. 8, a member of the congregation returned to the celebrant a consecrated Host that was not consumed because it had been given to a child who had not received her first Holy Communion. The priest then placed the Host in an ablution bowl for it to dissolve.

“It stayed there for several days and did not dissolve,” Dennin said. “By the end of the week, the pastor noted a change in the appearance and had notified others in the parish.”

It had developed a red color, and parishioners said the Host appeared to be bleeding.

Dennin said there have been similar documented instances where a Host was dropped on the floor and placed in an ablution bowl. Microscopic analysis of the hosts discovered them “to have been contaminated with wheat mold or fungus – either Neurospora crassa or the red bacterium Serratia marcescens.”

The diocesan administrator, Msgr. Colin F. Bircumshaw, appointed an ad hoc committee chaired by Msgr. Mannion to investigate.

Msgr. Mannion in a Nov. 21 statement rejected rumors that there are current plans for public exposition or adoration of the Host. He said the Host is now in the custody of Msgr. Bircumshaw. The results of the committee investigation will be made public.

“Whatever the outcome of the investigation, we can use this time to renew our faith and devotion in the greatest miracle – the Real Presence of Jesus Christ that takes place at every Mass,” Msgr. Mannion said.

Dennin said the committee has completed its interviews and is now undertaking a scientific investigation.

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Seek mercy, not violence – Denver’s archbishop on Planned Parenthood shooting

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • December 2, 2015

Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver says Mass on July 18, 2012. (Catholic News Agency)

Denver, CO — In the wake of last week’s attack on a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic, Archbishop Samuel Aquila of Denver has rejected all violence in relation to the issue of abortion.

“Hearts can change, people can change. Taking the peaceful approach is one that is absolutely critical,” Archbishop Aquila told CNA Dec. 1. This helps people “encounter the God who is love, who is mercy, the God who helps them to come to understand their own dignity as human persons.”

He cited the case of former abortionist Bernard Nathanson, who performed thousands of abortions before becoming pro-life and having a Christian conversion.

“I think that any time that we resort to violence, it goes against the laws of God and goes against his whole approach to the dignity of the human person,” Archbishop Aquila said.

The Archbishop of Denver’s comments follow the Nov. 28 shooting attack at a Colorado Springs affiliate of the abortion provider Planned Parenthood.

The alleged shooter, 57 year-old Robert Lewis Dear, killed three and injured nine at the Colorado clinic. He surrendered to police after a five-hour standoff, after injuring five police officers who responded to the shooting and killing one. One of the slain first responders, Officer Garrett Swasey of the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs police force, was an elder at a Colorado Springs-area church.

Colorado Springs officials would not comment publicly on Dear’s motive. Some media reports, citing unofficial anonymous sources, said that Dear said “no more baby parts” upon his arrest.

The shootings at Planned Parenthood drew swift criticism from pro-life leaders.

On Nov. 28 Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs voiced prayers for the victims of the attack and those who “experienced the horror of being trapped in or near Planned Parenthood.”

“There is no excuse for this senseless act of violence,” he said.

In the wake of the Colorado Springs attack, some Planned Parenthood supporters renewed their criticisms of the pro-life movement.

However, Archbishop Aquila said the pro-life approach to abortion is “certainly not anti-woman – it’s pro-woman.”

He said the pro-life approach recognizes a woman’s uniqueness in creation and aims to help her see her own dignity.

“She is the one who bears life and creates life. That always deserves to be respected and treated with dignity.”

He said abortion breaks the Fifth Commandment and is always immoral.

However, he explained “we must convert the hearts of people to see the goodness and the dignity of human life.”

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U.S. NEWS

San Bernardino bishop offers prayers in wake of mass shooting

by CNA/EWTN News • December 2, 2015

Employees evacuated by bus from site of mass shootings at Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California on Dec. 2, 2015. (David McNew/Getty Images)

San Bernardino, CA — Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of the Diocese of San Bernardino, Calif. requested prayers and offered his own after at least one gunman left more than a dozen dead at a social services facility in the city.

“Please join me in praying for all of the victims of this horrific incident and their families,” he said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.

“For those who lost their lives, we pray for their eternal rest and God’s strength to their loved ones left behind; for those who are wounded, we pray for their health and healing.”

Late Wednesday morning, at least one gunman opened fire on an event at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, a facility that serves people with developmental disabilities.

The San Bernardino police have confirmed that at least 14 people were killed and at least 14 were wounded in the attack.

Several reports say there may have been up to three gunmen involved in the attack. As of 2:30 p.m. PST, the shooter or shooters remained at large and no arrests have been made.

Police are searching for a black Yukon SUV that drove away from the shooting. FBI and ATF teams are on the scene.

In his statement, Bishop Barnes also offered prayers for the service men and women on the scene. “Let us also ask God to protect the brave men and women in law enforcement who are pursuing the suspects in this case.”

“Our community of San Bernardino has faced great challenges through the years. Let us come together now in unity to bring light to the darkness of this day,” he concluded.

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U.S. NEWS

U.S. Senate votes to defund Planned Parenthood, but veto is expected

by CNA/EWTN News • December 3, 2015

Participants in a student-organized Women Betrayed rally against Planned Parenthood at the U.S. Capitol on July 28, 2015. (Addie Mena/CNA)

Washington, D.C. — The United States Senate voted Thursday to pass a bill that would defund Planned Parenthood, though the White House has said President Obama will veto the legislation.

The defunding of the abortion provider is part of a proposed bill that would partially dismantle President Barack Obama’s 2010 health care legislation.

The vote of 52-47 was largely party line. Two Republicans, Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois, voted against the bill.

While the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to send the bill to Obama, backers of the bill do not have the votes to override a veto.

A nearly party-line vote from the Democratic Party failed to pass an amendment to restore funding by a vote of 54-46 against. Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) had proposed the amendment, which included $1 billion in safety at women’s clinics, the Associated Press reports.

Knowing that Obama will veto the bill, one of its supporters, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) maintained that its “value is to let him know — the president — and others that there’s a big division in this country, and a lot of us don’t like it, and the American people don’t like it,” according to NPR.

On Aug. 3, the Senate had failed to bring to the floor a similar bill that would have blocked federal funding of Planned Parenthood, and the House had passed a bill Oct. 23 which would defund Planned Parenthood and gut key portions of the Affordable Care Act.

Planned Parenthood is the largest abortion provider in the U.S. and has great political influence.

Although direct federal funding for abortion is heavily restricted by U.S. law, the organization receives about $500 million each year in public funds. Most of this funding comes through Medicaid payments and funds from Title X, a federal health program for low-income Americans.

Some pro-life advocates have said such funding should instead go to community and rural health centers which do not fund abortions.

Planned Parenthood has become the center of controversy after the release of a series of undercover investigative video reports by the citizen journalist group Center for Medical Progress. The videos showed Planned Parenthood’s involvement in the offering of fetal body parts of aborted babies to harvesters for compensation.

The video series’ producers have charged that such transactions were illegal under laws that only allow “reasonable” compensation for operational expenses.

Planned Parenthood has denied that it broke any laws and accepted illegal compensation. The organization has announced that it would no longer accept any compensation for fetal tissue.

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FEATURES

The ‘Waze’ of Providence

by Bishop Robert Barron • December 1, 2015

Just after I was named auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, Archbishop Gomez, my new boss, told me to get the Waze app for my iPhone. He explained that it was a splendid way to navigate the often impossible LA traffic. I followed his instructions and have indeed used the app on practically a daily basis since my arrival on the West Coast. Waze not only gives you directions, but it also provides very accurate information regarding time to your destination, obstacles on the road, the presence of police, etc. Most importantly, it routes you around traffic jams, which positively abound in the City of Angels.

Especially in my first days and weeks on the new job, I basically had no idea where I was going-and my duties required that I be all over the place: LAX, Pasadena, Inglewood, Granada Hills, Ventura, Oxnard, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, etc., etc. And often I was required to journey after dark. So I would program an address into the Waze app and then listen to the mechanical female voice as she guided me to my destination. It was often the case that her instructions were counter-intuitive, which was not surprising, given the fact of my disorientation in a new environment. But I gradually learned to trust her as, again and again, she got me where I needed to be.

I’ll confess that my faith in her was sorely tested a few weeks ago. I had left my home in Santa Barbara very early in order to attend a ten o’clock meeting in Los Angeles and was making pretty good time on the 101 expressway. Suddenly, the Waze lady instructed me to get off the highway a good 25 miles from LA. Though skeptical, I followed her advice. She subsequently sent me on a lengthy, circuitous, and rather slow journey through city streets until finally guiding me back to the 101! I was so frustrated that I pounded my fist on the dashboard and expressed (aloud) my dismay. When I got to the meeting, I laid all of this out to one of my episcopal colleagues and explained that I thought there was a glitch in the system. “Oh no,” he quickly responded, “there was a tanker spill this morning on the 101, not far from where she made you exit the road. She probably saved you an hour or two of frustration.”

At that point I saw clearly something that had been forming itself inchoately in my mind, namely, that the Waze app is a particularly powerful spiritual metaphor. As Thomas Merton put it in the opening line of his most famous prayer: “My Lord God, I have no idea where I’m going.” Spiritually speaking, most of us are as I was when I arrived in Los Angeles: lost, disoriented, off-kilter. But we have been provided a Voice and instructed to follow it. The Voice echoes in the Scriptures, of course, but also in the depth of the conscience, in the authoritative teaching of the Church, in the wise counsel of spiritual directors, and in the example of the saints. Does it often, indeed typically, seem counter-intuitive to us? Absolutely. Do we as a matter of course ignore it, presuming that we know better? Sadly, yes. Are there some among us who, in time, learn to trust it, to guide their lives by it, even when it asks them to go by what seem circuitous routes? Happily enough, yes.

There is another feature of the Waze app worth considering in this spiritual context. When you get lost or perhaps decide that you know better than the navigator, she doesn’t upbraid you or compel you to return to the route she had originally chosen. She calmly recalculates and determines the best way to get to your goal, given the choice you have made. God indeed has a plan for each of us. He has determined, in his wisdom and love, the best way for us to get to our goal, which is full union with him. But like Israel of old, we all wander from the path, convinced that we are brighter than the Lord of the universe, or perhaps just enamored of asserting our own freedom. But God never gives up on us; rather, he re-shuffles the deck, recalculates, and sets a new course for us. Watch this process, by the way, as the Scriptural narrative unfolds. And watch it happening, again and again, in your own life: what looks like a complete dead-end turns into a way forward; the wrong path turns, strangely, into the right path.

No matter where you go, Waze can track you and set you on the right road, and this “all-seeing” quality has given us confidence in its direction. As we have learned to trust the mechanical voices of our GPS systems in regard to the relatively trivial matter of finding our way past traffic jams, so may we learn to trust the Voice of the one who, as the Psalmist puts it, “searches us and knows us and discerns our purpose from afar.”

Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries (wordonfire.org). He is the creator of two award-winning documentary series, Catholicism and Catholicism: The New Evangelization.

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FEATURES

Remembering the American Churchwomen martyred in El Salvador

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • December 2, 2015

Thirty-five years ago today, four American Catholic churchwomen — four missionaries — were tortured, raped, shot, and murdered in El Salvador by National Guardsmen of the military-led government.

Two of the women, Sisters Ita Ford, M.M. and Maura Clarke, M.M. were members of the Maryknoll Missionaries, ages 40 and 49, respectively. Sister Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U., age 41, belonged to the Ursuline Order (Cleveland, OH), and Jean Donovan, age 27, a lay missionary, was Sister Dorothy’s associate. In the spirit of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the women served the poor, training catechists, preparing programs, and caring for the many practical necessities of daily life for those unable to care for themselves. As with the Archbishop, they had been under close surveillance by the government.

Events Leading Up to the Murders

The chilling events leading up to the murders were carried out quickly, decisively, and with savage brutality — the essence of assassinations. Below is a summary account of those events.

December 2, Sometime after 9PM

The two Maryknoll churchwomen, Ita and Maura were returning to El Salvador from a two-month regional conference in Managua, Nicaragua. Dorothy and Jean drove to meet them at the airport. They were in a white van. The flight was scheduled for arrival at 9:11 PM. Shortly thereafter, the four left the airport, headed down the main road, homeward bound.

Five uniformed assassins, who changed into civilian clothes, waited for the women in the stealth of night. About fifteen miles from the airport, the attackers stopped the white van and took the women to a semi-secluded location. There they executed the well-planned orders of their commander. The massacred bodies lay exposed at the side of the road.

Local peasants who saw the white van only later reported that they had heard machine-gun fire followed by single shots. The five men fled the scene, reported the peasants. The lights in the van were on, the radio blaring. The van was then set on fire at the side of the airport road. No further details were available.

December 3, Early Morning

Some local residents found the women’s bodies. The authorities, a judge, three members of the civil guard, and two commanders, forced the men to bury the women nearby in a common grave. The local peasant men obeyed, but they informed their parish priest, Fr. Paul Schindler, of the murders. He himself had inquired about Jean and Sister Dorothy. News of the assassinations was dispatched to the local Catholic bishop and the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador, Robert White. Curiously enough, it was the feast day of St. Francis Xavier, the great missionary saint.

December 4

The bodies were exhumed in the presence of fifteen reporters, other missionaries, and Ambassador White. Sister Madeline Dorsey, M.M., from a nearby mission and an eyewitness, describes the scene in her own words: “Then came the painful extraction of the four — piled one on top of the other. Jean was the first, her lovely face destroyed. Dorothy had a tranquil look. Maura’s face was serene but seemed to utter a silent cry, and last little Ita. I went forward to wipe the dirt from her cheek and place her arm at her side. We Sisters fell to our knees in reverence. I felt it was a Resurrection moment. Yes, their dead and abused bodies were there, but I knew their souls were with their living Savior.”

December 5

A Mass of the Resurrection was celebrated by Bishop Arturo Rivera y Damas.

December 6

On the next day, the bodies of Jean Donovan and Sister Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U. were flown back to the United States for burial. In keeping with the tradition of the Maryknoll Missionaries, the bodies of Sisters Ita Ford, M.M. and Maura Clarke, M.M. were buried at their mission in Chalatenango, El Salvador.

Accountability

In 1984, four national guardsmen were convicted of the massacre and were sentenced to thirty years in prison. Their immediate superior was also charged and convicted of the murders. Some of these were subsequently released from prison.

Sister Ita Ford’s brother and attorney, William, has spent more than twenty-five years in the U.S. court system attempting to obtain justice for his sister and the other three slain women. A legal battle has ensued to have these men brought to the United States. The case is not as yet resolved.

Who Were These Churchwomen?

Jean Donovan, raised in an upper middle-class home, was educated in fine schools. On completion of her master’s degree in business from Case Western Reserve University, she took a position as a management consultant in Cleveland. She was engaged to a young physician but felt the call to volunteer for youth ministry with the poor. After completing her training as a lay missionary at Maryknoll, NY, she went to El Salvador in 1977 with Sister Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U.

Some weeks before she died, Jean wrote to a friend: “The Peace Corps left today, and my heart sank low. The danger is extreme, and they were right to leave. … Several times I have decided to leave El Salvador. I almost could, except for the children, the poor, bruised victims of this insanity. Who would care for them? Whose heart could be so staunch as to favor the reasonable thing in a sea of their tears and loneliness? Not mine, dear friend, not mine.”

Sister Dorothy Kazel, O.S.U. first taught in Cleveland and then did missionary work among the Papago Tribe in Arizona. She felt the call to join the mission team of the Diocese of Cleveland. Both she and Jean Donovan worked in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Dorothy was known as “an alleluia from head to toe.” She and Jean worked not far from the mission of the Maryknoll Sisters.

Sister Ita Ford, M.M. was the cousin of Bishop Francis Xavier Ford, M.M., the first seminarian to apply to the newly-established Maryknoll Fathers, founded in 1911. He went to China as a missionary and in 1952 was martyred in a Communist prison camp.

Ita Ford was taught by three religious institutes before entering the Maryknoll Missionaries, the semi-cloistered Visitandine Sisters, the Sisters of St. Joseph, and the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. Prior to entering the convent at Maryknoll, Ita worked as an editor in a publishing company for seven years. As a missionary, she served in Bolivia, Chile, and then finally in El Salvador where she ministered to the needs of the poor.

At the closing Liturgy in Managua, Ita had read a passage from one of the Archbishop’s final homilies: “Christ invites us not to fear persecution because, believe me, brothers and sisters, the one who is committed to the poor must run the same fate as the poor, and in El Salvador we know what the fate of the poor signifies: to disappear, be tortured, to be held captive — and to be found dead.”

Sister Maura Clarke, M.M. was the oldest of the four slain churchwomen. She had spent seventeen years in Nicaragua working against the dictatorship there and was assigned to El Salvador only months before her death. “If we leave the people when they suffer the cross, how credible is our word to them?” she wrote only weeks before her death. “The Church’s role is to accompany those who suffer the most, and to witness our hope in the resurrection.”

The Martyr, Archbishop Oscar Romero

The murders of the women missionaries occurred some ten months after the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero by a similar death squad. He was shot in March 1980 while celebrating Mass and just as he completed a homily on the government’s oppression and civil rights violations against the poor. Archbishop Romero’s cause for canonization was opened in 1997 by Pope John Paul II. On May 23rd, 2015, Pope Francis beatified him.

Like the Archbishop, Jean, Dorothy, Ita, and Maura were martyred for their faith. Like him, they are worthy to have their cause opened for canonization. As martyrs, two miracles would be waived since they died “in perfect charity.”

Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, Brentwood, NY, holds degrees in philosophy (Ph.L.), musicology (Ph.D.), theology (M.A.), and liturgical studies (Ph.D.). She has taught at all levels of Catholic education and writes with a particular focus on a theology of beauty and the sacred arts. Her e-mail address is jroccasalvo@optonline.net.

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FEATURES

The Pact of the Catacombs is still relevant today

by Msgr. M. Francis Mannion • December 3, 2015

On November 16, 1965, near the end of the Second Vatican Council, 42 bishops attending the Council met together in the catacombs of St. Domatilla in Rome, celebrated Mass, and signed a covenant committing themselves to lives of simplicity, frugality, and humility. The document is known as “The Pact of the Catacombs.”

Drawn up anonymously, so as to avoid the appearance of grandstanding on the part of the signatories, the Pact was circulated to all the bishops at the Council, and received about 500 co-signatories (where were the other 1,700 bishops?). It was presented eventually to Pope Paul VI, who received it gratefully.

Here are the more notable “lifestyle” paragraphs of the document:

1. Regarding housing, food, and means of transportation and everything concerning these things, we will seek to live in accordance with the common average level of our people.

2. We renounce forever wealth and its appearance, especially in clothing (expensive materials and brilliant colors), and insignia of precious metals (such things should in effect be evangelical).

3. We refuse to be called in speech or writing by names or titles that signify grandeur and power (Your Eminence, Your Excellency, Monsignor … ). We prefer to be called by the evangelical name of Father.

4. In our comportment and social relations, we will avoid everything that can appear to confer privileges, priorities (for example, banquets given or received, special places in religious services).

5. We will not possess either movable or immobile properties or bank accounts in our names. If it is necessary to possess some property we will place it under the name of our diocese or other social or charitable works.

6. Wherever it is possible we will place the financial and material administration of our diocese to a commission of competent laymen conscious of their apostolic vocation, given that we should be pastors and apostles rather than administrators.

Item 5 was generally found to be too difficult to actualize fully; and item 6 has been effected, at least in part, in perhaps most dioceses of the world.

Retired Bishop Luigi Bettazzi of Ivrea, Italy, now 92, and the last surviving member of the group of bishops who devised the Pact (the names of all signatories eventually became known), said the commitments were personal and individual, not the start of an organized movement.

Bishop Bettazzi said he was “not as strong as Pope Francis” when it came to housing. (He was told by his vicar general that he had to live in the bishop’s residence, and he did so.) But he tried in most areas to follow the Pact successfully, adding that he did not wear the bishop’s ring that all bishops received from Pope Paul VI at the end of Vatican II because it was “ostentatious.”

Bishop Erwin Krautler, ordinary of the impoverished diocese of Xingu in the Amazon basin, and legendary for his simple lifestyle for 35 years, credits the Pact of the Catacombs for the way he conducted his life and ministry.

The approach of the 50th anniversary of the Pact has led to new interest in it, not least because of the way Pope Francis lives so frugally and simply. Bishop Belazzi commented, “God with his grace gave us a pope like Francis, who without having signed the Pact, already led this kind of life and had experience of a simple church, a poor church, a church very close to the poor.”

The Pact of the Catacombs can today inspire clergy to adopt its spirit in ways that are feasible.

Mgr. Mannion is pastor emeritus of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Salt Lake City. He holds a Ph.D. in sacramental theology from The Catholic University of America. He was founding president of The Society for Catholic Liturgy in 1995 and the founding editor of the Society’s journal, Antiphon. At the invitation of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago he founded the Mundelein Liturgical Institute in 2000.

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‘The Danish Girl’ and ‘Carol’ make for a static, morally confused movie going experience this weekend

by Carl Kozlowski • December 4, 2015

In a year in which the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, and a TV landscape in which countless shows like “Modern Family” feature positive gay characters, it’s not surprising that Hollywood is throwing open the doors to filmmakers depicting the issues of gay rights. After all, the mainstream media is eager to support such visions, and films like “Brokeback Mountain,” “Milk” and “The Birdcage” have long shown that gay-friendly films can deliver on a big scale with crossover audiences as well.

And so it is that the nation’s theaters are currently home to two high-profile homosexual-themed films at once: “Carol,” in a story of a repressed lesbian love affair in the 1950s, and “The Danish Girl,” which details the life of Danish painter Lili Elbe, who was the first person on the planet to undergo sex-reassignment surgery to become a transgender person in the 1920s.

Both films feature impressive casts and directorial pedigrees, with “Carol” starring two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett and Oscar nominee Rooney Mara as its secret lovers, and “The Danish Girl” featuring last year’s Best Actor winner Eddie Redmayne as Elbe. “Carol” was directed by Todd Haynes, who has ridden gay-themed material to monetary and awards-season success with the 2002 film “Far From Heaven,” while “Girl” is directed by Tom Hooper, who won an Oscar for helming “The King’s Speech” in 2010.

These are obviously not a pair of movies that at the top of most Catholics’ viewing lists, especially during Christmas season. But amid a slow week between the rush of Thanksgiving-weekend family films and the approaching onslaught of Oscar hopefuls to be released between Dec. 11 and Christmas, this is a slow weekend and I’m just trying to make our readers aware of what’s going on in the culture.

“Carol” is a fictional tale, depicting the story of an upper-crust wife in 1950s New York City named Carol (Blanchett), who finds herself transfixed by a younger saleslady named Therese (Mara) at the perfume counter of a Macy’s-style department store. Cate is trapped in a lifeless marriage to a man named Harge (Kyle Chandler), who is such a one-dimensional paragon of white-privileged patriarchal power that the audience only sees him pining for and demanding loyalty from Carol and doesn’t even learn what he does for a living.

But that’s par for the course with this film, since we also never learn what Therese really wants out of life or why she would abruptly abandon her own serious relationship with a much nicer guy named Richard (Jake Lacy). Carol herself is a cipher much of the time, with the only moments of intrigue coming from the revelation that she had previously engaged in a relationship with her lifelong friend Abby (Sarah Paulson), leaving Harge in despair as he sees her take up with Therese.

A custody battle over their daughter Rindi (names like Harge and Rindi should indicate the isolated bubble-world these characters live in) ensues, including dirty tricks like spying on the new lovers. This creates a couple of surprises and Haynes wrings more tension from the script by Phyllis Nagy towards the end, but the overall effect of “Carol” is strangely inert.

The same is sadly true of “The Danish Girl,” in which Redmayne starts the film as the Danish male painter Einar Wegener before transforming into Lili. Einar is married to fellow painter Gerda (Alicia Vikander), and the two at first seem like any happy young couple as they get frisky multiple times in the first half hour while trying to have a child.

But despite Einar’s seeming red-blooded passion for Gerda, the couple starts engaging in his desire to try on Gerda’s stockings and shoes. This fetish quickly escalates into Gerda taking Einar to shop for women’s clothes, fixing him up as a woman and even taking him out to a swank party while he pretends to be a female cousin named Lili.

Flush with new-found freedom to fully express himself, Einar starts to live as Lili more and more in their private time together. Things get more complicated as Gerda finds that her portraits of Lili are becoming a hot art commodity, and soon the couple have to face the ultimate question of how far should Einar go in his quest to live life as a woman.

On an artistic level aside from Christian moral considerations, “Carol” suffers from the fact that its setting in a time and moral era that has long since passed makes it seem like an instant museum piece. Meanwhile, “The Danish Girl” is a true story that is obviously timed to take advantage of the hoopla surrounding this year’s transgender media figure Caitlyn Jenner, but it too is often emotionally stifled en route to its tragic conclusion.

But both movies wind up being counterintuitive to their own agendas. “Carol” features a woman who wreaks havoc on her marriage, coldly making her husband suffer both social embarrassment and emotional anguish, while also shutting out her past lover Abby as well as Therese when her whims dictate that it’s necessary. Rather than being a sympathetic character, she comes off as a mostly calculating one.

SPOILER ALERT: Meanwhile, “The Danish Girl” offers us a story in which there is nothing but tragedy on every level. Einar’s transformation into Lili eventually destroys his marriage to Gerda, who becomes a supportive friend yet seems helplessly sad by the end, and the first step of the experimental surgery involved leaves him in physical agony that leads to an addiction to painkillers, while the second step goes so wrongly that he never recovers from nearly bleeding to death. END SPOILER

For the record, “Carol” has just a few words of foul language but it does feature a sex scene between the two women in which they are both toplessly nude and implied fully nude for about 30 seconds, plus another scene in which they start kissing and wake up nude under their sheets. “The Danish Girl” has a fully nude scene with the wife having sex with Einar before he starts transforming, and then features him standing naked before a mirror naked with his genitals tucked between his legs, in addition to showing him paying to attend a “peep show” in which a nude woman is running her hands all over her body, and he tries to replicate her actions in order to learn how to look sensual as a woman.

Between the destroyed relationships in both movies and the undeniable fact that Einar’s surgical dream of turning into Lili killed him, it’s hard to see what exactly the filmmakers of “The Danish Girl” and “Carol” are trying to accomplish. They certainly don’t seem likely to appeal to moviegoers in a way that would make them want to follow in their characters’ footsteps.

Carl Kozlowski has been a professional film critic and essayist for the past five years at Pasadena Weekly, in addition to the Christian movie site Movieguide.org, the conservative pop culture site Breitbart.com Big Hollywood, the Christian pop culture magazine Relevant, and New City newspaper in Chicago. He also writes in-depth celebrity interviews for Esquire.com and The Progressive. He is owner of the podcasting site radiotitans.com, which was named one of the Frontier Fifty in 2013 as one of the 50 best talk-radio outlets in the nation by talkers.com and will be re-launching it in January 2014 after a five-month sabbatical. He lives in Los Angeles.

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SUNDAY • DECEMBER 6, 2015

Second Sunday of Advent

First Reading (Bar 5:1-9; NRSVCE)

Take off the garment of your sorrow and affliction, O Jerusalem,

and put on forever the beauty of the glory from God.

Put on the robe of the righteousness that comes from God;

put on your head the diadem of the glory of the Everlasting;

for God will show your splendor everywhere under heaven.

For God will give you evermore the name,

“Righteous Peace, Godly Glory.”

Arise, O Jerusalem, stand upon the height;

look toward the east,

and see your children gathered from west and east

at the word of the Holy One,

rejoicing that God has remembered them.

For they went out from you on foot,

led away by their enemies;

but God will bring them back to you,

carried in glory, as on a royal throne.

For God has ordered that every high mountain

and the everlasting hills be made low

and the valleys filled up, to make level ground,

so that Israel may walk safely in the glory of God.

The woods and every fragrant tree

have shaded Israel at God’s command.

For God will lead Israel with joy,

in the light of his glory,

with the mercy and righteousness that come from him.

Second Reading (Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; NRSVCE)

I constantly pray with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you, because of your sharing in the gospel from the first day until now. I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ. For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight to help you to determine what is best, so that in the day of Christ you may be pure and blameless, having produced the harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.

Gospel Reading (Lk 3:1-6; NRSVCE)

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

“The voice of one crying out in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight.

Every valley shall be filled,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low,

and the crooked shall be made straight,

and the rough ways made smooth;

and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’”

MONDAY • DECEMBER 7, 2015

Memorial of Saint Ambrose

First Reading (Is 35:1-10; NRSVCE)

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,

the desert shall rejoice and blossom;

like the crocus it shall blossom abundantly,

and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,

the majesty of our God.

Strengthen the weak hands,

and make firm the feeble knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful heart,

“Be strong, do not fear!

Here is your God.

He will come with vengeance,

with terrible recompense.

He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped;

then the lame shall leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

the burning sand shall become a pool,

and the thirsty ground springs of water;

the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,

the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

A highway shall be there,

and it shall be called the Holy Way;

the unclean shall not travel on it,

but it shall be for God’s people;

no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.

No lion shall be there,

nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;

they shall not be found there,

but the redeemed shall walk there.

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,

and come to Zion with singing;

everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;

they shall obtain joy and gladness,

and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Gospel Reading (Lk 5:17-26; NRSVCE)

One day while Jesus was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting near by (they had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem); and the power of the Lord was with him to heal. Just then some men came, carrying a paralyzed man on a bed. They were trying to bring him in and lay him before Jesus; but finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus. When he saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” Then the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, “Who is this who is speaking blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” When Jesus perceived their questionings, he answered them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”— he said to the one who was paralyzed —”I say to you, stand up and take your bed and go to your home.” Immediately he stood up before them, took what he had been lying on, and went to his home, glorifying God. Amazement seized all of them, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen strange things today.”

TUESDAY • DECEMBER 8, 2015

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First Reading (Gn 3:9-15, 20; NRSVCE)

The Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you among all animals

and among all wild creatures;

upon your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.

Second Reading (Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; NRSVCE)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.

Gospel Reading (Lk 1:26-38; NRSVCE)

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

WEDNESDAY • DECEMBER 9, 2015

Wednesday of the Second Week of Advent

First Reading (Is 40:25-31; NRSVCE)

To whom then will you compare me,

or who is my equal? says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high and see:

Who created these?

He who brings out their host and numbers them,

calling them all by name;

because he is great in strength,

mighty in power,

not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint,

and strengthens the powerless.

Even youths will faint and be weary,

and the young will fall exhausted;

but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles,

they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint.

Gospel Reading (Mt 11:28-30; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to the crowd, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

THURSDAY • DECEMBER 10, 2015

Thursday of the Second Week of Advent

First Reading (Is 41:13-20; NRSVCE)

For I, the Lord your God,

hold your right hand;

it is I who say to you, “Do not fear,

I will help you.”

Do not fear, you worm Jacob,

you insect Israel!

I will help you, says the Lord;

your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

Now, I will make of you a threshing sledge,

sharp, new, and having teeth;

you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,

and you shall make the hills like chaff.

You shall winnow them and the wind shall carry them away,

and the tempest shall scatter them.

Then you shall rejoice in the Lord;

in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.

When the poor and needy seek water,

and there is none,

and their tongue is parched with thirst,

I the Lord will answer them,

I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

I will open rivers on the bare heights,

and fountains in the midst of the valleys;

I will make the wilderness a pool of water,

and the dry land springs of water.

I will put in the wilderness the cedar,

the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive;

I will set in the desert the cypress,

the plane and the pine together,

so that all may see and know,

all may consider and understand,

that the hand of the Lord has done this,

the Holy One of Israel has created it.

Gospel Reading (Mt 11:11-15; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to the crowd, “Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John came; and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. Let anyone with ears listen!”

FRIDAY • DECEMBER 11, 2015

Friday of the Second Week of Advent

First Reading (Is 48:17-19; NRSVCE)

Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

I am the Lord your God,

who teaches you for your own good,

who leads you in the way you should go.

O that you had paid attention to my commandments!

Then your prosperity would have been like a river,

and your success like the waves of the sea;

your offspring would have been like the sand,

and your descendants like its grains;

their name would never be cut off

or destroyed from before me.

Gospel Reading (Mt 11:16-19; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to the crowd, “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another,

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;

we wailed, and you did not mourn.’

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon’; the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

SATURDAY • DECEMBER 12, 2015

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

First Reading (Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; NRSVCE)

God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,

“Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Messiah.”

Gospel Reading (Lk 1:26-38; NRSVCE)

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.