An aerial view of Tuvalu, an island nation in Polynesia, South Pacific Ocean, Oceania. / Credit: maloff/Shutterstock
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This year Pope Francis did not walk in the Eucharistic procession, but joined at the end for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to offer the Eucharistic blessing. / Credit: Elizabeth Alva/EWTN News
Rome, Italy, Jun 2, 2024 / 16:44 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis gave a solemn blessing with the Blessed Sacrament from the steps of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major on Sunday in the culmination of a Eucharistic procession through the streets of Rome.
Holding the monstrance in his hands, the pope offered the blessing on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi on June 2 following prayers of adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament.
Crowds lined the streets as the Eucharist was carried under a canopy from the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major along the Via Merulana, following the historic route Pope Gregory XIII created for religious processions between the two basilicas during the Jubilee of 1575.
Cardinals, bishops, priests, religious sisters, and families walked together in the one-hour procession singing hymns and reciting prayers. Curious tourists stopped to ask what was happening and onlookers leaned out their windows to watch as the real presence of Christ passed by.
“Beginning from the altar, we will carry the Consecrated Host among the homes of our city,” Pope Francis told the congregation in his homily for the Corpus Christi Mass before the procession.
“We are not doing this to show off, or to flaunt our faith but to invite everyone to participate, in the Bread of the Eucharist, in the new life that Jesus has given us,” he said.
It was the first time that Pope Francis participated in Corpus Christi celebrations in Rome in years.
Health issues prevented the pope from participating in a public Corpus Christi Mass in Rome in 2023 and 2022 and COVID-19 restrictions limited his celebration to Vatican City in 2021 and 2020.
This year Pope Francis did not walk in the Eucharistic procession, but joined at the end for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and to offer the Eucharistic blessing to the crowd.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, served as the primary celebrant at the altar for the Mass at the Lateran basilica. Bishop Baldassare Reina, the vicegerent of the diocese of Rome, carried the Eucharist in the procession.
The last time that the pope led the Corpus Christi procession along the traditional Roman route from the Lateran basilica to St. Mary Major was seven years ago in 2017.
“The Eucharistic bread is the real presence,” Pope Francis said in his homily. “This speaks to us of a God who is not distant and jealous, but close and in solidarity with humanity; a God who does not abandon us but always seeks, waits for, and accompanies us, even to the point of placing himself, helpless, into our hands, subjecting himself to our acceptance or rejection.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, how much need there is in our world for this bread,” Francis said.
“It is urgent to bring back to the world the good and fresh aroma of the bread of love, to continue to hope and rebuild without ever growing weary of what hatred destroys.”
On the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Pope Francis explained that just as Jesus “did not keep his life for himself, but gave it to us,” so too are Christians called to make their lives a gift for others. / Credit: Vatican Media
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Scene of the walled city of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The oldest Governor’s Mansion under the American flag, La Fortaleza, is top right. / Credit: Wikimedia Commons
ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 2, 2024 / 05:50 am (CNA).
The bishops of Puerto Rico have published a pastoral message ahead of this year’s Nov. 5 elections, in which they call on the citizens of the U.S. territory to “decide correctly” through “discernment, contemplating in depth the reality and the history” of the island.
This year, Puerto Rico’s voters will choose their governor, resident commissioner (sole non-voting member of the U.S. Congress), all members of the Puerto Rico Senate and House of Representatives, as well as all 78 mayors of the island’s municipalities.
In addition, for the first time, this Nov. 5 Puerto Rico’s voters will cast a symbolic vote for President and Vice President of the United States. Those ballots will not be tabulated in the official U.S. presidential election, however, which is limited to U.S. citizen voters who are residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
“Knowing how to discern in order to decide well, requires the utmost respect for people. The debate should be about ideas that arise from reality and not about liking a particular person. Prioritizing the essential dignity of each human being will impose on us a sacred respect for others,” the Puerto Rican Bishops’ Conference (CEP) counseled voters, adding that this will elevate the level of dialogue and the debates and foster an atmosphere of respect during the process.
Citing 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Test everything; hold fast what is good,” the bishops exhorted Puerto Ricans to elect representatives who know how to “become servants of the people” in addressing urgent needs. “We must not lose our sense of urgency towards those who are suffering, and it is a duty to identify those who will work together with each other beyond partisan lines, to find authentic and far-reaching solutions,” the bishops emphasized.
In this regard, the CEP also identified more than a dozen top priorities on which candidates and elected officials should focus to improve the situation on the island. These include the protection of children at every stage of life, including the unborn, the protection of vulnerable adults, the protection of the family, the problem of violence and drugs, poverty and the healthcare system.
The “demographic situation” in reference to the aging of the population and low birth rate as well as the “definitive solution of the political status of Puerto Rico” rounded out the priorities.
In conclusion, the bishops emphasized “the importance and nobility” of political activity and the political vocation, which is designed to serve everyone equally, with a special predilection for those who are suffering the most.
The “world of politics,” the bishops observed, demands a level of solidarity “where we are all co-responsible for everyone.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
As I prepare to lead pilgrims in a few weeks along a portion of the “Camino de Santiago, the Way of St. James,” I discovered in my research the story of a Eucharist miracle that […]
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