Pope Francis waves to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Angelus address on Nov. 10. 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Nov 10, 2024 / 11:34 am (CNA).
During his Angelus address Sunday, Pope Francis asked his listeners to consider the qualities necessary for good leadership.
“Brothers and sisters, can we ask ourselves: How do I behave in my fields of responsibility? Do I act with humility, or do I vaunt my position? Am I generous and respectful with people, or do I treat them in a rude and authoritarian way?” he asked pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.
Reflecting on Sunday’s Gospel reading from St. Mark, Pope Francis said that Jesus denounced people esteemed in the temple, including scribes, who possessed a “hypocritical attitude” and “feigned piety” to attract attention and gain approval from people.
“People revered them beyond appearances, however their behavior often did not correspond to what they said. They were not coherent.”
In contrast to the “corrupt” behavior of some temple officials, the Holy Father highlighted the qualities of Jesus’ leadership that should be imitated by all Christians, particularly those who hold positions of responsibility.
“Indeed with his word and example, as we know, he taught very different things about authority. He spoke about it in terms of self-sacrifice, humble service, maternal and paternal tenderness toward people, especially [toward] those most in need,” the pope elaborated.
During his Nov.10 Angelus address, the Holy Father also encouraged Christians to turn to Our Lady and seek her intercession to overcome the temptation of imposing one’s will, might, and authority over others who are weaker than ourselves.
“May the Virgin Mary help us fight the temptation of hypocrisy in ourselves,” he prayed from the window of the Apostolic Palace.
Pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for Pope Francis’ Angelus address on Nov. 10, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media
Prayers for the world
Following the Angelus prayer in Latin, Pope Francis continued to ask people to pray for the victims of flash floods in Valencia, Spain, and asked them to consider contributing toward charitable and disaster relief efforts in the country to assist families.
The Holy Father also prayed for communities in Flores, Indonesia, following recent volcanic eruptions that have forced thousands to flee their homes.
He also expressed his concern and hope for the people of Mozambique to not “lose trust in justice and in democracy” after weeks of deadly violence following the country’s Oct. 9 general elections.
The ongoing conflicts affecting Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Sudan were also included in the prayers of the Holy Father on Sunday.
“Let us pray for peace throughout the world today,” he said.
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Rome Newsroom, Mar 28, 2022 / 06:45 am (CNA).
The head of a cloistered Benedictine convent in Perugia, central Italy, has said that her community will be closed because the nuns opposed the COVID-19 vaccin… […]
Bishops process into St. Peter’s Basilica for the closing Mass of the first assembly of the Synod on Synodality on Oct. 29, 2023. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Oct 29, 2023 / 07:30 am (CNA).
At the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass, Pope Francis said that God’s love cannot be confined “to our own agenda” and that those who truly want to reform the Catholic Church should follow Jesus’ greatest commandment: to adore God and love others with his love.
“We may have plenty of good ideas on how to reform the Church, but let us remember: to adore God and to love our brothers and sisters with his love, that is the great and perennial reform,” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29.
“We are always at risk of thinking that we can ‘control God,’ that we can confine his love to our own agenda. Instead, the way he acts is always unpredictable, it goes beyond, and consequently, this action of God demands amazement and adoration,” he added.
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
The pope underlined that worship of Jesus in the tabernacle “in every diocese, in every parish, in every community” is necessary in the “struggle against all types of idolatry” in today’s world.
“Let us be vigilant, lest we find that we are putting ourselves at the center rather than him. And let us return to worship. May worship be central for those of us who are pastors: let us devote time every day to intimacy with Jesus the Good Shepherd in the tabernacle. Adoration,” he said.
“Only in this way will we turn to Jesus and not to ourselves. For only through silent adoration will the Word of God live in our words; only in his presence will we be purified, transformed, and renewed by the fire of his Spirit. Brothers and sisters, let us adore the Lord Jesus!”
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
“Brothers and Sisters, the General Assembly of the Synod has now concluded,” he said. “In this ‘conversation of the Spirit,’ we have experienced the loving presence of the Lord and discovered the beauty of fraternity.”
“Today we do not see the full fruit of this process, but with farsightedness, we look to the horizon opening up before us. The Lord will guide us and help us to be a more synodal and more missionary Church, a Church that adores God and serves the women and men of our time, going forth to bring to everyone the consoling joy of the Gospel,” Francis added.
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
In his homily, Pope Francis said that he believed that the conclusion of this stage in the Synod “it is important to look at the ‘principle and foundation’ from which everything begins ever anew: loving God with our whole life and loving our neighbors as ourselves.”
“Not our strategies, our human calculations, the ways of the world, but love of God and neighbor: that is the heart of everything,” he said.
Pope Francis emphasized that adoration and worship are “essential in the life of the Church.”
Patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
“To adore God means to acknowledge in faith that he alone is Lord and that our individual lives, the Church’s pilgrim way, and the ultimate outcome of history all depend on the tenderness of his love. He gives meaning to our lives,” he said.
“Those who worship God reject idols because whereas God liberates, idols enslave,” he added.
“We must constantly struggle against all types of idolatry; not only the worldly kinds, which often stem from vainglory, such as lust for success, self-centredness, greed for money — the devil enters through our pockets let us not forget — the enticements of careerism; but also those forms of idolatry disguised as spirituality: my own spirituality, my religious ideas, my pastoral skills.”
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA
Pope Francis said that being “a worshiping Church and a Church of service” entails “washing the feet of wounded humanity, accompanying those who are frail, weak and cast aside, going out lovingly to encounter the poor.”
Quoting St. John Chrysostom, he said: “The merciful man is as a harbor to those who are in need; and the harbor receives all who are escaping shipwreck, and frees them from danger, whether they be evil or good; whatsoever kind of men they be that are in peril, it receives them into its shelter. You also, when you see a man suffering shipwreck on land through poverty, do not sit in judgment on him, nor require explanations, but relieve his distress.”
Pope Francis at the Synod on Synodality’s closing Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Oct. 29, 2023. Vatican Media
About 5,000 people attended the closing Mass for the Synod on Synodality’s 2023 assembly, according to the Vatican. The Mass concluded with the congregation singing the Marian hymn “Salve Regina.”
Pope Francis thanked all of the cardinals, bishops, priests, religious, and lay people from around the world who traveled to Rome to participate in the Synod. Next year, the delegates will return to the Vatican in October 2024 to take part in the second assembly to advise the pope on the theme: “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission.”
“In expressing my gratitude, I would also like to offer a prayer for all of us: may we grow in our worship of God and in our service to our neighbor. Worship and Service. May the Lord accompany us. Let us go forward with joy,” Pope Francis said.
A detail from a portrait of Pauline Jaricot (1799-1862). / Photo des Œuvres Pontificales Missionnaires de France via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Vatican City, May 16, 2022 / 09:55 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Monday praised the courage of Pauline Ja… […]
4 Comments
Self-sacrifice, genuine humility, kindness, and patience are powerful weapons of mass construction. “The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer” – Mahatma Gandhi
Francis smilingly welcomed US leaders Oekisu and Budeb, CINO supporters of baby-killing with nary a nod toward their or his hypocrisy. ASA Trump garners the votes of the majority of the Catholics in our country, Francis speaks to the hypocrisy only a certain Catholic leader can tell about so well.
Meiron above – Clarify please – Oekisu and Budeb – I’m thinking maybe Budeb is Biden (?).
I did note elsewhere that Francis sent roses or something to what’s-her-name, the Italian abortion-promoting woman.
Not impressed.
Self-sacrifice, genuine humility, kindness, and patience are powerful weapons of mass construction. “The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful then a thousand heads bowing in prayer” – Mahatma Gandhi
Speaking of Pharisees.
Francis smilingly welcomed US leaders Oekisu and Budeb, CINO supporters of baby-killing with nary a nod toward their or his hypocrisy. ASA Trump garners the votes of the majority of the Catholics in our country, Francis speaks to the hypocrisy only a certain Catholic leader can tell about so well.
Meiron above – Clarify please – Oekisu and Budeb – I’m thinking maybe Budeb is Biden (?).
I did note elsewhere that Francis sent roses or something to what’s-her-name, the Italian abortion-promoting woman.
Not impressed.
Yes, my fingers were too far left on the keyboard, but I thought those mistyped names were so good, I left them uncorrected. Pelosi.
Yeah. Emma Bonino, or as mistyped: Wenna Vibubi.