Pope on first Sunday of Lent: Now is the time for conversion

Vatican City, Nov 10, 2017 / 05:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a key speech on the global effort to eradicate nuclear arms, Pope Francis called the weapons immoral and said they should be made illegal in war, but he also voiced hope that despite pessimism, things are moving in the right direction.

In a Nov. 10 audience with participants in a Vatican symposium on nuclear disarmament, the Pope said “a healthy realism continues to shine a light of hope on our unruly world,” particularly on the nuclear front.

Pointing to the international treaty passed at the United Nations in July, Francis said this is a concrete sign that progress is being made in the effort to eliminate nuclear arms, and called the treaty “a historic vote,” in which the majority of the international community “determined that nuclear weapons are not only immoral, but must also be considered an illegal means of warfare.”

The employment of nuclear devices, whether intentionally or through accidental detonation, he said, would cause “catastrophic humanitarian and environmental effects.”

Organized by the Pontifical Council for Integral Human Development, the Nov. 10-11 symposium is the first global gathering on this topic since the approval of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations July 7.

Until the treaty, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not explicitly banned by any international document. As the Pope pointed out in his speech, chemical weapons, biological weapons, anti-human mines and cluster bombs had all been explicitly prohibited in previous international conventions.

He praised the treaty as also being largely the result of humanitarian initiatives sponsored by the collaboration of civil society, states, international organizations, churches, academies and experts.

Ultimately, to achieve a world without nuclear weapons requires a change of heart, not just laws, he said, saying we must renew our focus on the integral development of the human person as an “indissoluble unity of soul and body, of contemplation and action.”

This approach gives hope that it’s possible, the Pope said, adding that the perspective goes contrary to our own pessimism and the criticisms of those who see the effort to totally eliminate weapons of mass destruction as “idealistic.”

Quoting St. John XXIII’s 1963 encyclical “Pacem in Terris,” Francis said, “unless this process of disarmament be thoroughgoing and complete, and reach men’s very souls, it is impossible to stop the arms race, or to reduce armaments, or – and this is the main thing – ultimately to abolish them entirely.”

Reiterating the many statements he’s made on the topic, Pope Francis said the escalation of the arms race and the expense it requires means money is taken away from what should be the real priorities: “the fight against poverty, the promotion of peace and the undertaking of educational, ecological and healthcare projects.”

As a permanent observer to the United Nations, the Holy See has played an integral role in the negotiations of the treaty banning nuclear weapons. This role has included casting a procedural vote on the treaty earlier this year, which is a right the Holy See doesn’t have for every issue, further underlining the their concern regarding nuclear weapons.

During talks on nuclear weapons at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Pope Francis said the treaty, which was still being negotiated at the time, was inspired by “ethical and moral arguments,” and was an “exercise in hope.”

On that occasion, he voiced his hope that the treaty would be “a decisive step along the road towards a world without nuclear weapons.” And while this is “a significantly complex and long-term goal, it is not beyond our reach.”

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Pope Francis greets a woman religious at a Mass on the World Day of Consecrated Life, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, on Feb. 2, 2024, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, May 30, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Thursday addressed a message to participants in a conference on consecrated religious life currently taking place in Brazil.

In his message, he expressed his gratitude for “the immense gift of the vocation to consecrated life which, in its most diverse charisms, enriches ecclesial communion and contributes greatly to the mission of the Church throughout the world.”

The pontiff noted that in many places “the first proclamation of the Gospel is made by consecrated men and women, who take up with great commitment and with the dedication of their lives the mandate of the Lord.”

The Holy Father also said that “the gift of vocation must be safeguarded and cultivated every day, so that it produces good fruits in the life of each religious.”

Pope Francis expressed his joy for the theme chosen for the conference, which is the exhortation that Jesus made to the apostles at the Last Supper: “Remain in my love.”

According to Pope Francis, “to live the divine call well, it is necessary to remain in his love, through constant dialogue with Jesus in daily prayer and fidelity to the vows that so beautifully express our consecration.”

The pope also said that “the consecrated life, if it remains firm in the love of the Lord, sees beauty. It sees that poverty is not a titanic effort but rather a much greater freedom, which gives us God and others as true riches.”

The consecrated life “sees that chastity is not austere sterility but the way to love without possessing. It sees that obedience is not discipline but victory over our unruliness as exemplified by Jesus,” he said, recalling his homily of Feb. 1, 2020, on the occasion of the World Day of Consecrated Life.

Finally, he encouraged the attendees to live the present “sustained by the mysticism of the specific charisms of each religious family and [by being] prophetically committed to the proclamation of the Gospel.”

He also invited them to “look to the future with hope” and not to forget “to pray for me.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Vatican City, Jan 4, 2018 / 05:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday Pope Francis offered his prayer for the 48 people who died in a gruesome bus accident in Pasamayo earlier this week, voicing words of comfort to families of the victims and all who were wounded.

In a Jan. 4 telegram, the Pope said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the painful news of the traffic accident in Pasamayo,” and offered prayers “for the eternal repose of the deceased.”

Signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the telegram conveyed Pope Francis’ consolation “to the families who weep for such a grievous loss,” and assured of his his spiritual closeness to the wounded.

The telegram closed asking that God would “pour out on all the gifts of spiritual serenity and Christian hope,” and imparting Francis’ “heartfelt apostolic blessing” to all those who are affected.

It comes after at least 48 people were killed when a bus collided with a tractor-trailer on a narrow road along Peru’s coast Tuesday.

In the accident, which took place in the Peruvian city of Pasamayo, about 43 miles north of Lima, the bus plunged form the highway onto the rocks below, killing the majority of the 57 passengers on board.

Due to its proximity to the cliff and the heavy fog that frequently shrouds visibility, the stretch of highway where the accident happened is often called “the Devil’s Curve.”

Numerous people have died in previous accidents on that stretch of highway. In 2015 some 37 people died in an accident involving three buses and a truck, and in 2013 at least 51 of Peru’s Quechua indigenous people died when their bus fell from the cliff into a river.

According to the Washington Post, only six people survived Tuesday’s incident, and three are still missing.

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