Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, appearing with medical doctors, holds a press conference on Oct. 22, 2024, to speak in opposition to Amendment 4, which would add a right to abortion before the point of viability to Florida’s constitution. / Credit: P… […]
A smiling Pope Francis is depicted on a sign outside the APEC Haus in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on the occasion of the pontiff’s visit, Sept. 7, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Oct 24, 2024 / 15:30 pm (CNA).
Here are some of the most inspiring quotes from Pope Francis in his new encyclical Dilexit Nos on the divine and human love of the heart of Jesus Christ:
“Mere appearances, dishonesty, and deception harm and pervert the heart. Despite our every attempt to appear as something we are not, our heart is the ultimate judge, not of what we show or hide from others, but of who we truly are. It is the basis for any sound life project; nothing worthwhile can be undertaken apart from the heart. False appearances and untruths ultimately leave us empty-handed” (No. 6).
“If we fail to appreciate the specificity of the heart, we miss the messages that the mind alone cannot communicate; we miss out on the richness of our encounters with others; we miss out on poetry. We also lose track of history and our own past, since our real personal history is built with the heart. At the end of our lives, that alone will matter” (No. 11).
“The heart of Christ is ‘ecstasy,’ openness, gift, and encounter. In that heart, we learn to relate to one another in wholesome and happy ways, and to build up in this world God’s kingdom of love and justice. Our hearts, united with the heart of Christ, are capable of working this social miracle” (No. 28).
“In the presence of the heart of Christ, I once more ask the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us. May he pour out the treasures of his light and love, so that our world, which presses forward despite wars, socio-economic disparities, and uses of technology that threaten our humanity, may regain the most important and necessary thing of all: its heart” (No. 31).
“If we find it hard to trust others because we have been hurt by lies, injuries, and disappointments, the Lord whispers in our ear: ‘Take heart, son!’ (Mt 9:2), ‘Take heart, daughter!’ (Mt 9:22). He encourages us to overcome our fear and to realize that, with him at our side, we have nothing to lose” (No. 37).
“Whenever we feel that everyone ignores us, that no one cares what becomes of us, that we are of no importance to anyone, he remains concerned for us” (No. 40).
“I ask, then, that no one make light of the fervent devotion of the holy faithful people of God, which in its popular piety seeks to console Christ. I also encourage everyone to consider whether there might be greater reasonableness, truth, and wisdom in certain demonstrations of love that seek to console the Lord than in the cold, distant, calculated, and nominal acts of love that are at times practiced by those who claim to possess a more reflective, sophisticated, and mature faith” (No. 160).
“Christ asks you never to be ashamed to tell others, with all due discretion and respect, about your friendship with him. He asks that you dare to tell others how good and beautiful it is that you found him” (No. 211).
“In a world where everything is bought and sold, people’s sense of their worth appears increasingly to depend on what they can accumulate with the power of money. We are constantly being pushed to keep buying, consuming, and distracting ourselves, held captive to a demeaning system that prevents us from looking beyond our immediate and petty needs. The love of Christ has no place in this perverse mechanism, yet only that love can set us free from a mad pursuit that no longer has room for a gratuitous love. Christ’s love can give a heart to our world and revive love wherever we think that the ability to love has been definitively lost” (No. 218).
“The wounded side of Christ continues to pour forth that stream which is never exhausted, never passes away, but offers itself time and time again to all those who wish to love as he did. For his love alone can bring about a new humanity” (No. 219).
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Pope Francis speaks at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 23, 2024. An altar painting of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Francesco de Rhoden inside the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Rome, Italy. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA [L] CNA file photo [R]
Rome Newsroom, Oct 24, 2024 / 06:01 am (CNA).
Pope Francis released a new encyclical Dilexit Nos (“He Loved Us”) on Thursday, calling for a renewed understanding of devotion to the Sacred Heart in the modern era and its many pressing challenges.
In the document, the pope argues that the spirituality of the Sacred Heart offers a vital response to what he calls a “liquid society” dominated by technology and consumerism.
Pope Francis writes: “Living as we do in an age of superficiality, rushing frenetically from one thing to another without really knowing why, and ending up as insatiable consumers and slaves to the mechanisms of a market unconcerned about the deeper meaning of our lives, all of us need to rediscover the importance of the heart.”
Subtitled “Letter on the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ,” the document is the first papal encyclical dedicated entirely to the Sacred Heart since Pope Pius XII’s Haurietis Aquas in 1956.
Throughout the document, Francis weaves together traditional elements of Sacred Heart devotion with contemporary concerns, presenting Christ’s heart as the principle unifying reality in a fragmented world.
The document’s release fulfills an announcement made by the pope in June, when he noted that meditating on the Lord’s love can “illuminate the path of ecclesial renewal and say something meaningful to a world that seems to have lost its heart.”
Archbishop Bruno Forte, an Italian theologian and member of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the encyclical to the press together with Sister Antonella Fraccaro, superior general of the Disciples of the Gospel (Discepole del Vangelo) at the Vatican on Oct. 24.
The approximately 30,000-word encyclical draws extensively from Scripture and tradition, featuring insights from St. Thérèse of Lisieux, St. Francis de Sales, and St. Charles de Foucauld.
Released as the Synod on Synodality is concluding its month-long deliberations in Rome, the document emphasizes both personal spirituality and communal missionary commitment.
Francis develops his vision across five chapters, beginning with a philosophical and theological exploration of “the importance of the heart” before moving through reflections on Christ’s actions and words of love, the theological meaning of Sacred Heart devotion, its spiritual dynamics and social implications.
“The algorithms operating in the digital world show that our thoughts and will are much more ‘uniform’ than we had previously thought,” Francis writes, arguing that technological solutions alone cannot address the deeper needs of the human heart.
He emphasizes that the meaning of the word “heart” is not sufficiently captured by biology, psychology, anthropology or any other science.
“In this age of artificial intelligence, we cannot forget that poetry and love are necessary to save our humanity. No algorithm will ever be able to capture, for example, the nostalgia that all of us feel, whatever our age, and wherever we live,” Francis writes.
The pope emphasizes that devotion to the Sacred Heart is not merely a private spiritual practice but has profound implications for social life and human relationships.
“The world can change, beginning with the heart,” he writes, connecting individual transformation with broader social renewal.
The encyclical builds on centuries of Catholic devotion to the Sacred Heart while offering fresh insights for modern challenges. Francis cites extensively from previous papal teachings, particularly from St. John Paul II.
“Devotion to the Sacred Heart, as it developed in Europe two centuries ago, under the impulse of the mystical experiences of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, was a response to Jansenist rigor, which ended up disregarding God’s infinite mercy,” the late pope writes.
“The men and women of the third millennium need the heart of Christ in order to know God and to know themselves; they need it to build the civilization of love.”
In a significant theological and philosophical development, the encyclical engages deeply with modern thought, particularly through its discussion of German philosopher Martin Heidegger’s understanding of human emotion and understanding.
The pope cites Heidegger’s insight that “philosophy does not begin with a pure concept or certainty but with a shock,” as “without deep emotion, thought cannot begin. The first mental image would thus be goosebumps.”
For Francis, this is where the heart comes in as it “listens in a non-metaphoric way to ‘the silent voice’ of being, allowing itself to be tempered and determined by it.”
As the heart can “unify and harmonizing our personal history, which may seem hopelessly fragmented,” the pope writes, it “is the place where everything can make sense.”
“The Gospel tells us this in speaking of Our Lady, who saw things with the heart.”
The document calls for a renewal of traditional Sacred Heart practices on this understanding while emphasizing their contemporary relevance.
“Our communities will succeed in uniting and reconciling differing minds and wills, so that the Spirit can guide us in unity as brothers and sisters. Reconciliation and peace are also born of the heart. The heart of Christ is ‘ecstasy,’ openness, gift and encounter.”
The pope concludes by connecting this spiritual vision to the Church’s broader mission in the modern world, calling for what he — following St. John Paul II — terms a “civilization of love” built on the foundation of Christ’s love.
This vision also connects directly to previous social encyclicals by Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ and Fratelli Tutti, presenting Christ’s love as the foundation for addressing and solving contemporary challenges.
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Parents protest the Montgomery County School Board’s policy blocking them from opting out their children from pro-homosexual and transgender materials. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Becket
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Oct 24, 2024 / 12:30 pm (CNA).
A Maryland school district has pulled two books with “LGBTQ+” characters from its curriculum amid an ongoing legal battle launched by concerned parents vying for the right to opt their children out of classroom lessons they say conflict with their religious faith.
The Washington Post reported on Thursday that it had discovered two books, “Pride Puppy” and “My Rainbow,” had been pulled from the Montgomery County Public Schools’ curriculum after school officials determined that the use of the texts “could require teachers to explicitly teach vocabulary terms outside the context of the lesson.” The administrators have not clarified what they took issue with in the texts.
Both books remain available in school libraries.
Parents from diverse faith backgrounds — including Catholicism, Islam, and Orthodox Christianity — filed suit in May 2023 after the district announced it would no longer allow parents to opt out of lessons featuring literature that touches on homosexuality, transgenderism, and other aspects of gender ideology.
Becket, the religious freedom law firm representing the parents in Mahmoud v. Taylor, argued that the policy infringes upon parental rights and religious freedom that are guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution, Maryland law, and even the board’s own policies.
In May, a federal appeals court ruled that the parents of children in the district did not have the right to opt out or receive notification of lessons featuring the books in advance. Becket has since appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which will decide later whether it will be on the docket.
According to the school district’s database cited by the Washington Post, “My Rainbow” had been used by teachers to help kindergarten through third-grade students “determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development” and to “summarize the key supporting details and ideas.” Based on the life of its authors’ Deshannah and Trinity Neal, the book follows the story of a mother who crafts a rainbow-colored wig for her trans-identifying child.
Designated for pre-K through fifth-grade students, “Pride Puppy” follows the story of a family who attends a pride parade and has been used in the classroom to “ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.”
The books are among 20 sexuality and gender-related children’s books added to the school district’s curriculum in the fall of 2022.
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