Pope Francis appoints first lay head of Roman Curia’s disciplinary commission

Vatican City, Apr 2, 2018 / 05:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Easter Monday, Pope Francis encouraged Christians to celebrate Easter with their community of family and friends, taking time to renew the brotherhood and sisterhood that is a fruit of the Lord&… […]

Vatican City, Nov 5, 2017 / 06:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis offered some punchy advise to both average faithful and people in positions of authority, saying true power is expressed through service and a good example, which Christians must always show to others in humility.

Speaking during his Nov. 5 Angelus address, Pope Francis told pilgrims that “a frequent defect in those who have authority, whether it is civil or ecclesiastical authority, is to demand from others things, even justly, but which they do not put into practice firsthand. They lead a double life.”

He noted how in day’s Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus, whose death is drawing nearer, offers “serious critiques” of the scribes, and at the same time leaves “important signs” for Christians not just of that time, but of all times, including us today.

Jesus, Francis noted, tells his disciples to listen to the scribes and the Pharisees say, because they have the authority to teach on the law, but not to imitate what they do, because “they preach but they do not practice.”

Quoting the day’s Gospel passage, the Pope said the scribes and Pharisees “tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.”

This attitude “is a bad exercise of authority,” which ought to have strength in offering a good example, rather than a show of power, he said.

Real authority “is born from the good example, in order to help others practice what is right and proper, supporting them in the trials that they encounter on the path of good,” Francis said, explaining that authority ultimately ought to be used to help people.

However, if it is exercised badly, “it becomes oppressive, it does not allow people to grow and it creates a climate of mistrust and hostility and even brings corruption.”

When speaking to the Christians in the day’s reading, Pope Francis noted how Jesus gives his disciples some specific instructions, telling them to “Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant.”

As disciples of Jesus, Christians “shouldn’t look for titles of honor, authority or supremacy,” he said, adding that it pains him personally “to see people who psychologically live running behind the vanity of honors.”

“We disciples of Jesus must not do this, but rather, there should be a simple and fraternal attitude among us,” he said, explaining that as Christians, “we are all brothers and we must in no way overwhelm others and look down on them from above. No.”

If we have received certain qualities or authority from God, then we must put these at the service of others, the Pope said, rather than trying to take advantage of them “for our own interests and personal satisfaction.”

Neither should a Christian consider themselves superior to others, he said, adding that a healthy dose of modesty “is essential for an existence that wants to be conformed to the teaching of Jesus, who is meek and humble of heart and came not to be served, but to serve.”

Pope Francis closed his address asking Mary intercede for us so as “to avoid pride and vanity, and to be meek and docile to the love which comes from God for the service of our brothers and sisters, and for their joy, which will also be ours.”

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Vatican City, Apr 18, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed for those caring for people with disabilities during the coronavirus crisis at his morning Mass Saturday. 

Speaking from the chapel of his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, April 18, he said he had received a letter from a religious sister working as a sign language interpreter for deaf people. She told him about the difficulties facing healthcare workers, nurses and doctors looking after disabled patients affected by COVID-19. 

“So let us pray for those who are always at the service of these persons with various disabilities,” he said.

The pope made the comments at the start of the Mass, which was livestreamed due to the pandemic. 

In his homily, he reflected on the day’s first reading (Acts 4:13-21), in which the religious authorities ordered Peter and John not to teach in the name of Jesus. 

The apostles refused to obey, the pope said, replying with “courage and frankness” that it was impossible for them to remain silent about what they had seen and heard. 

Ever since then, he explained, courage and frankness have been the hallmarks of Christian preaching. 

The pope recalled a passage in the Letter to the Hebrews (10:32-35), in which lukewarm Christians are urged to remember their early struggles and regain their confidence and candor.

“You cannot be Christian without this frankness: if it does not come, you are not a good Christian,” he said. “If you don’t have the courage, if to explain your position you slide into ideologies or casuistic explanations, you lack that frankness, you lack that Christian style, the freedom to speak, to say everything.”

Peter and John’s frankness confounded the leaders, elders and scribes, he said.

“Really, they were cornered by frankness: they didn’t know how to get out of it,” he observed. “But it didn’t occur to them to say, ‘Could this be true?’ The heart was already closed, it was hard; the heart was corrupt.”

The pope noted that Peter was not born brave, but had received the gift of parrhesia — a Greek word sometimes translated as “boldness” — from the Holy Spirit. 

“He was a coward, he denied Jesus,” he said. “But what happened now? They [Peter and John] answered: ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.’” 

“But where does this courage come from, this coward who has denied the Lord? What has happened in this man’s heart? The gift of the Holy Spirit: frankness, courage, parrhesia is a gift, a grace that the Holy Spirit gives on the day of Pentecost.” 

“Just after receiving the Holy Spirit they went to preach: a little brave, something new for them. This is consistency, the sign of the Christian, of the true Christian: he is courageous, he says the whole truth because he is consistent.”

Turning to the day’s Gospel reading (Mark 16:9-15), in which the risen Christ reproaches the disciples for not believing reports of his resurrection, the pope noted that Jesus gives them the gift of the Holy Spirit which enables them to carry out their mission to “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

“The mission comes precisely from here, from this gift which makes us courageous, frank in proclaiming the word,” he said.

After Mass, the pope presided at adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, before leading those watching online in a prayer of spiritual communion.

The Pope recalled that tomorrow he would offer Mass at Santo Spirito in Sassia, a church near St. Peter’s Basilica, at 11 a.m local time. 

Finally, those present sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli.”

In his homily, the pope clarified that Christians should be both courageous and prudent. 

“May the Lord always help us to be like this: courageous. This does not mean imprudent: no, no. Courageous. Christian courage is always prudent, but it is courage,” he said.

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