Pope Francis’ next environmental document to be called ‘Laudate Deum’

Vatican City, Dec 12, 2019 / 10:15 am (CNA).- Pope Francis’ message for the 2020 World Day of Peace released Thursday calls for openness to dialogue, commitment to forgiveness, and an ecological conversion.

“The world does not need empty words but convinced witnesses, peacemakers who are open to a dialogue that rejects exclusion or manipulation,” Pope Francis said in his peace message released Dec. 12.

“We cannot truly achieve peace without a convinced dialogue between men and women who seek the truth beyond ideologies and differing opinions. Peace must be built up continually; it is a journey made together in constant pursuit of the common good, truthfulness and respect for law,” he said.

Pope Francis said that war often begins with “the inability to accept the diversity of others,” which fosters attitudes of “domination born of selfishness and pride.”

“War is fueled by a perversion of relationships, by hegemonic ambitions, by abuses of power, by fear of others and by seeing diversity as an obstacle. And these, in turn, are aggravated by the experience of war,” he said.

He noted that entire nations have struggled to “break free of the chains of exploitation and corruption that fuel hatred and violence.”

“Our human community bears, in its memory and its flesh, the scars of ever more devastating wars and conflicts that affect especially the poor and the vulnerable,” the pope said.

Pope Francis recalled his meeting with survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on his recent apostolic journey to Japan. He said that their testimony bears witness to succeeding generations of the unspeakable suffering and horror caused by the bombings.

The pope reiterated his message that nuclear deterrence can only produce “the illusion of security.”

“We cannot claim to maintain stability in the world through the fear of annihilation, in a volatile situation, suspended on the brink of a nuclear abyss and enclosed behind walls of indifference,” he said.
Pope Francis said that the answer to breaking today’s unhealthy mentality of threats and fear is to pursue “a genuine fraternity based on our common origin from God” through dialogue and mutual trust.

Only by choosing “the path of respect can we break the spiral of vengeance,” he said, underlining the importance of forgiveness by quoting Christ’s command to forgive not “seven times, but seventy times seven.”

“This path of reconciliation is a summons to discover in the depths of our heart the power of forgiveness and the capacity to acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters. When we learn to live in forgiveness, we grow in our capacity to become men and women of peace,” he said.

For Christians, confession is a part of the peace process because it “renews individuals and communities” and “bids us to keep our gaze fixed on Jesus, who reconciled all things … by making peace through the blood of his cross,” the pope said.

The sacrament “requires us to set aside every act of violence in thought, word and deed, whether against our neighbours or against God’s creation,” he said.

The World Day of Peace – instituted by St. Paul VI in 1968 – is celebrated each year on the first day of January. The pope provides a special message for the occasion, which is sent to all foreign ministers around the world.

The pope’s message for the 2020 World Day of Peace is entitled, “Peace as a Journey of Hope: Dialogue, Reconciliation and Ecological Conversion.”

“The ecological conversion for which we are appealing will lead us to a new way of looking at life, as we consider the generosity of the Creator who has given us the earth and called us to a share it in joy and moderation,” Pope Francis said.

“All this gives us deeper motivation and a new way to dwell in our common home, to accept our differences, to respect and celebrate the life that we have received and share, and to seek living conditions and models of society that favour the continued flourishing of life and the development of the common good of the entire human family,” he said.

At a press conference on the peace message, Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, said faith in God’s covenant implies care for the weakest members of society and for the environment as God’s creation.

In his peace message, Pope Francis said that democracy can be an important paradigm for the peace process, provided that it is “grounded in justice and a commitment to protect the rights of every person, especially the weak and marginalized.”

“Setting out on a journey of peace is a challenge made all the more complex because the interests at stake in relationships between people, communities and nations, are numerous and conflicting. We must first appeal to people’s moral conscience and to personal and political will,” he said.

“The desire for peace lies deep within the human heart, and we should not resign ourselves to seeking anything less than this,” Pope Francis said.

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Vatican City, Dec 1, 2018 / 09:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Advent season begins, it is a good time to reflect on the Christian call to joyful expectancy, finding hope and consolation in waiting for Christ, Pope Francis said Saturday.

“We Chri… […]

Vatican City, Feb 28, 2018 / 04:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that having Mass centered around the altar in commemoration of Jesus’ sacrifice is meant to remind faithful that the cross is the first Christian altar on which Christ made his own offering.

During the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the Church uses various signs to “continually makes present the sacrifice of the new covenant sealed by Jesus on the cross,” the Pope said Feb. 28, adding that “this was the first Christian altar.”

“When we draw close to the altar during Mass, our memory goes to the altar of the cross where the first sacrifice was made,” he said, and encouraged Catholics to reflect on this when they go to Mass.

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims attending his general audience, which this week was divided into two areas due to the cold temperatures in Rome – the main group was in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, while the overflow watched the audience from inside St. Peter’s Basilica, instead of the square outside, where chairs are still dusted with white from Monday’s rare snowfall.

The Pope focused on the Liturgy of the Eucharist as part of his ongoing catechesis on the Mass, noting how during this part the priest celebrating imitates several gestures that Jesus made during the Last Supper: the presentation of the gifts, the Eucharistic Prayer, the breaking of the bread and Communion.

During the presentation of the gifts, Francis said members of the congregation should bring the bread and wine to the priest, “because they signify the spiritual offering of the Church gathered there for the Eucharist.”

Even if they don’t bring their own bread from home as was the custom in the past, “the rite of the presentation of these gifts preserves their spiritual value and meaning.”

In ordination Masses for priests, the bishop gives the new priest the bread and wine, saying “receive the offering of the holy people for the Eucharistic sacrifice,” which is important to remember, Francis said, because in the bread and wine is offered “the commitment of the faithful to make themselves, obedient to the divine word, a sacrifice pleasing to God the omnipotent Father for the good of all his holy Church.”

“Thus, the lives of the faithful, their suffering, their prayer, their work, are united to those of Christ and to his total offering, and in this way they take on a new value.”

While our own offering is small, “Christ needs this little bit – like what happened in the multiplication of the the bread – to transform it into the Eucharistic gift which nourishes and unites everyone in his body which is the Church,” he said.

In off-the-cuff remarks, the Pope noted that God asks us for little, “but he gives us a lot. In daily life he asks us for good will, for an open heart, he asks us to want to be better, and in giving himself in the Eucharist, he asks us for these symbolic gifts, which then become his body and blood.”

A concrete image of the prayer and offerings made during Mass is the use of incense, he said, noting that the perfumed smoke is symbolic of these gifts rising to heaven.

“By incensing the offerings, the cross, the altar, the priest and the people, the priest visibly manifests the offertory bond that unites all these realities to the sacrifice of Christ,” he said, and told attendees to remember that “the first altar is the cross, and on the altar we bring the small gifts we have.”

Francis then noted that after placing the bread and wine on the altar, the celebrant asks God to accept the gifts that the Church has offered, which signifies “the wonderful exchange between our poverty and his wealth.”

“In the bread and wine we present him with the offering of our lives, so that it is transformed by the Holy Spirit in the sacrifice of Christ and becomes with him one offering pleasing to the Father,” he said.

The gift of self made in the Mass, he said, can help bring light to one’s daily activities and relationships, as well as the suffering and joy that might be encountered. This, he said, will help Christians “to build and earthly city in the light of the Gospel.”

Pope Francis closed his audience urging faithful not to forget the altar in Mass always refers to “the first altar of the cross. And to the altar we bring the little we have in our gifts, the bread and wine, which then becomes the abundance that Jesus gives us.”

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