Vatican officials call for ‘solidarity’ in nuclear disarmament after coronavirus pandemic

Vatican City, Oct 11, 2017 / 06:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis said Christians are never bored or hopeless, but know how to wait patiently – even when life is hard, monotonous or unclear – with the knowledge that after the darkness, there is always light.

“The Christian was not made for boredom, but for patience,” the Pope said Oct. 11. This, he said, is because “they know that even in the monotony of days that are always the same a mysterious grace is hidden.”

There are people people “who with the perseverance of their love become like wells that irrigate the desert,” he said, adding that “nothing happens in vain, no situation in which a Christian finds themselves immersed is completely refractory to love.”

“No night is so long that the joy of dawn is forgotten. And the darker the night, the closer it is to dawn,” he said.

And if we stay united to Jesus, “the cold of difficult moments does not paralyze us; and if even the whole world preaches against hope, if it says that the future will only bring obscure clouds, the Christian knows that in that same future there is the return of Christ.”

In the end, “everything will be redeemed. Everything,” he said, noting that there will be suffering and times when “anger and indignation come out.” However, “the sweet and powerful memory of Christ will dispel the temptation to think that this life is wrong.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims during his Oct. 11 general audience in St. Peter’s square, continuing his catechesis on Christian hope. In this week’s speech, he focused on an aspect of hope he called “vigilant waiting.”

Vigilance “is one of the wires of the New Testament,” he said, and pointed to a passage in the Gospel of Luke, in which Jesus tells his disciples: “Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the marriage feast, so that they may open to him at once when he comes and knocks.”

After Jesus’ resurrection, moments of serenity and anguish seemed to “continually alternate,” he said, but noted that despite times of confusion and uncertainty, “Christians never gave up.”

Today too, the world “demands our responsibility, and we take it all and with love,” Pope Francis said. “Jesus wants our existence to be laborious, that we never let our guard down, to welcome with gratitude and wonder every new day given to us by God.”

Every morning is like “a blank page,” he said, which Christians must write with “good works.”

When Jesus returns, “we need to be ready for salvation when it arrives, ready for the encounter” with the Lord, he said, and asked pilgrims in off-the-cuff remarks: “have you thought what that encounter with Jesus will be like, when he comes?”

This encounter, he said, “will be an embrace, an enormous joy, a great joy! We must live in anticipation of this encounter!”

And after having an encounter with Jesus, “we cannot do anything but scrutinize history with trust and hope,” he said.

Using the image of a house, Francis said Jesus is the structure of the house and we are inside, looking at the world from the windows. Because of this, “we do not close in on ourselves, we do not regret with melancholy a past presumed to be golden,” he said.

Instead, “we always look forward, to a future which is not only the work of our hands, but which above all is a constant concern of God’s providence,” he said, adding that “everything that is opaque one day will become light.”

God does not go back on his word, and he “never disappoints,” the Pope said. Rather, the Lord’s will for us “is never nebulous, but is a well-outlined project of salvation.”

“Because of this we do not abandon ourselves to the flow of events with pessimism, as if history were a train that has lost control,” he said, stressing that “resignation is not a Christian virtue.

Nor is it the task of Christians to shrug their shoulders or “bend their backs” in front of a future that seems “inevitable.”

“Those who bring hope to the world are never never remorseful people,” he said, explaining that no one can build peace with “our arms folded.”

‘”There is no builder of peace who in the final count has not compromised their personal peace, taking on the problems of others,” he said, adding that “the remorseful person is not a builder of peace but is lazy, is one who wants to be comfortable.”

Christians, on the other hand, build peace “when it’s risky, when they have the courage to take risks in order to bring good, the good that Jesus has given to us, has given to us as a treasure.”

Pope Francis closed his audience saying the “refrain” of every Christian existence is that “in our world we need nothing but the caress of Christ.”

“What a grace if, in prayer, in the hard days of this life, we hear his voice responding reassuring us: ‘Behold, I will come soon.’”

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Vatican City, May 10, 2020 / 05:30 am (CNA).- We must always remember that we are made for heaven, Pope Francis said in his Regina Coeli address Sunday. 

Speaking in the library of the Apostolic Palace due to the coronavirus pandemic, the pope said May 10: “God is in love with us. We are his children. And for us He has prepared the most worthy and beautiful place: paradise.”  

“Let us not forget: the dwelling place that awaits us is paradise. Here we are passing through. We are made for heaven, for eternal life, to live forever.”

In his reflection before the Regina Coeli, the pope focused on Sunday’s Gospel reading, John 14:1-12, in which Jesus addresses his disciples at the Last Supper. 

He said: “At such a dramatic moment Jesus began by saying: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled.’ He says this to us too in the dramas of life. But how can we make sure that our hearts are not troubled?”

He explained that Jesus offers two remedies for our turmoil. The first is an invitation to us to have faith in him. 

“He knows that in life, the worst anxiety, turmoil, comes from the feeling of not being able to cope, from feeling alone and without reference points before what happens,” he said.

“This anxiety, in which difficulty is added to difficulty, cannot be overcome alone. That is why Jesus asks us to have faith in Him, that is, not to lean on ourselves, but on Him. Because liberation from anguish passes through trust.” 

The Pope said that Jesus’ second remedy is expressed in his words “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places … I am going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

“This is what Jesus did for us: He reserved us a place in heaven,” he said. “He took upon Himself our humanity to take it beyond death, to a new place, in heaven, so that where He is, we might be there also.”

He continued: “Forever: it’s something we can’t even imagine now. But it is even more beautiful to think that this forever will be all in joy, in full communion with God and with others, without any more tears, without rancor, without division and upheaval.”

“But how to reach Paradise? What is the way? Here is the decisive phrase of Jesus. Today he says: ‘I am the way’ [John 14:6]. To ascend to heaven, the way is Jesus: it is to have a living relationship with Him, to imitate Him in love, to follow in His footsteps.”

He urged Christians to ask themselves which way they were following. 

“There are ways that do not lead to heaven: the ways of worldliness, the ways of self-assertion, the ways of selfish power,” he said.

“And there is the way of Jesus, the way of humble love, of prayer, of meekness, of trust, of service to others. It is to go ahead every day asking: ‘Jesus, what do you think of my choice? What would you do in this situation, with these people?’” 

“It will do us good to ask Jesus, who is the way, the directions for heaven. May Our Lady, Queen of Heaven, help us to follow Jesus, who opened heaven for us.”

After reciting the Regina Coeli, the pope recalled two anniversaries. 

The first was the 70th anniversary on May 9 of the Schuman Declaration, which led to the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community.

“It inspired the process of European integration,” he said, “enabling the reconciliation of the peoples of the continent after the Second World War and the long period of stability and peace from which we benefit today.” 

“The spirit of the Schuman Declaration cannot fail to inspire all those with responsibilities in the European Union, called upon to face the social and economic consequences of the pandemic in a spirit of harmony and cooperation.” 

The second anniversary was that of St. John Paul’s first visit to Africa 40 years ago. Francis said that on May 10, 1980, the Polish pope “gave voice to the cry of the people of the Sahel, harshly tried by drought.”

He praised an initiative by young people to plant a million trees in the Sahel region, forming a “Great Green Wall” to combat the effects of desertification. 

“I hope that many will follow the example of solidarity of these young people,” he said.

The pope also noted that May 10 is Mother’s Day in many countries.

He said: “I want to remember all mothers with gratitude and affection, entrusting them to the protection of Mary, our heavenly Mother. My thoughts also go out to the mothers who have passed to the other life and accompany us from heaven.”

He then called for a moment of silent prayer for mothers. 

He concluded: “I wish everyone a good Sunday. Please don’t forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch and goodbye for now.” 

Afterwards, he offered his blessing while overlooking an almost empty St. Peter’s Square. 

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Vatican City, Mar 17, 2017 / 11:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told priests Friday to make confession a priority in their parishes, and, if they want to be good confessors, to have a strong prayer life focused on growing in humility and closeness to the Holy Spirit in order to evangelize.

The confessor, in face, is called daily to go to the peripheries of evil and sin,” the Pope said March 17, adding that “this is an ugly periphery,” but the priest is called to go “and his work represents an authentic pastoral priority.”

“To confess is a pastoral priority,” he said. “Please, may there not be those signs (that say): ‘confessions only Monday and Wednesday, from this time to this time.’”

“Confess each time they ask you,” he said, telling priests that if they are sitting in the confessional praying, “you are there with the confessional open, which is the open heart of God.”

Pope Francis spoke to participants in the Apostolic Penitentiary’s annual course on the internal forum.

The Internal Forum branch of the Apostolic Penitentiary is one of the three tribunals of the Roman Curia and is responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church, particularly sins involving some types of grave matter which require a special form of absolution that only certain priests can administer.

Taking place March 14-17, the course is held every year in Rome and is designed to educate attendees on canon law regarding Confession, as well as what the internal forum does. It is attended by around 500 seminarians in their third year of studies and by priests who wish to participate.

In his speech, the Pope said that to be a good confessor, a priest must be a man of prayer, who is attentive to the Holy Spirit and knows how to discern well, and who also is a good evangelizer.

They must be “a true friend of Jesus the Good Shepherd,” he said, adding that without this friendship, “it will be very hard to mature that paternity which is so necessary in the ministry of Reconciliation.”

This friendship is cultivated primarily through prayer, he said, whether it’s a personal prayer “constantly asking for the gift of pastoral charity,” or a special prayer for “ the exercise of the duty of confessors toward the faithful … who come to us looking for God’s mercy.”

A ministry of confession that is “wrapped in prayer” will be a “credible reflection of God’s mercy” and will help to avoid the “bitterness and misunderstandings” that can at times happen in the confessional.

Confessors must also pray for themselves, the Pope said, specifically to understand well that they themselves are sinners who have been forgiven.  

“One cannot forgive in the Sacrament without the knowledge of having been forgiven first,” he said, adding that prayer is “the first guarantee of avoiding every attitude of harshness, which uselessly judges the sinner and not the sin.”

Francis also stressed the need for priests to pray for the gift of “a wounded heart,” which is able to understand other wounds “and heal them with the oil of mercy,” like the Good Samaritan did to the man on the side of the road.

A priest must also pray for humility and invoke the Holy Spirit, who is the spirit “of discernment and compassion” that allows him to accompany others with prudence.

A confessor must also be “a man of the Spirit, a man of discernment,” who knows how to listen to the Holy Spirit in trying to discern the will of God.

“How much harm is done to the Church from the lack of discernment! How much harm comes to souls from an act that is not rooted in humble listening to the Holy Spirit and the will of God,” he said.

“The confessor does not act according to his own will and does not teach his own doctrine. He is called always to do the will of God alone, in full communion with the Church, of whom he is the minister, that is, a servant.”

Discernment, the Pope said, allows the priest to distinguish individual cases instead of generalizing and putting everyone together in the same category, which helps the penitent to open “the shrine of their own conscience” in order to receive light, peace and mercy.  

This discernment is necessary above all because many people who come to confession find themselves in “desperate situations.” They could also be “spiritually disturbed,” he said, explaining that these cases have to be discerned well, keeping all of “the existential, ecclesial, natural and supernatural” causes in mind.

“When the confessor becomes aware of the presence of genuine spiritual disturbances – that may be in large part psychological, and therefore must be confirmed by means of healthy collaboration with the human sciences – he must not hesitate to refer the issue to those who, in the diocese, are charged with this delicate and necessary ministry, namely, exorcists. But these must be chosen with great care and great prudence.”

Confession must also be a true place of evangelization, Pope Francis said, stressing that “there is no more authentic evangelization than the encounter with the God of mercy, with the God who is mercy.”

“The confessional is then a place of evangelization and therefore of formation,” he said, explaining that in the brief dialogue with the penitent, the confessor is called to discern “what is most useful and what is even necessary for the spiritual path of that brother or sister.”

At times this will mean re-explaining the most basic fundamentals of the faith, “the incandescent core, the kerygma,” without which the experience of God’s love and mercy would be “mute.” Other times it will mean explaining the basics of the moral life, “always in relation to the truth, to the good and to the will of the Lord.”

“It involves a work of ready and intelligent discernment, which can be of great benefit to the faithful,” the Pope said, urging the priests to be good confessors who are “immersed in relation with Christ,” and who are capable of careful discernment and attentive evangelization.

[…]