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Pope prays that “prudence and obedience” will prevent return of pandemic

April 28, 2020 CNA Daily News 2

Vatican City, Apr 28, 2020 / 03:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed that Christians would respond to the lifting of lockdown restrictions with “prudence and obedience” as he celebrated Mass Tuesday.

Speaking from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican residence, April 28, he said: “At this time, when indications have been given to exit out of quarantine, we pray the Lord will grant to His people, all of us, the grace of prudence and obedience to these indications, so that the pandemic does not return.”

The pope was speaking two days after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte unveiled plans for a gradual easing of lockdown measures. The Italian bishops strongly criticized Conte for not setting a date for the resumption of public Masses. 

In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the martyrdom of St. Stephen, described in the Acts of the Apostles (Act 7:51-8:1). He noted that, like Jesus, Stephen was falsely accused of blasphemy as a pretext for his execution. 

There is a pattern, he said, seen in the Bible and down to our present age, which begins with false testimony in order to arrive at “doing justice.” 

He recalled the case of Asia Bibi, a Catholic mother of five who was sentenced to death for blasphemy before the Supreme Court of Pakistan acquitted her in 2018.  

“Let’s think of Asia Bibi, for example, that we have seen: 10 years in prison because she was judged by a slander and a people who want her death,” the pope said. “Faced with this avalanche of false news that creates opinion, many times nothing can be done: nothing can be done.”

He offered the Shoah, the Hebrew term for the Holocaust, as another instance of the same pattern. 

“Opinion was created against a people and then it was normal: ‘Yes, yes: they must be killed, they must be killed’,” he said. 

It is easy to recognize that this is wrong, the pope observed. But we overlook the “small daily lynchings” that take place when we gossip about others. 

“Let’s think about our tongues: many times with our comments we start such lynching. Even in our Christian institutions we have seen so many daily lynchings born out of gossip,” he said.

“May the Lord help us to be righteous in our judgments, not to begin to follow this mass condemnation that provokes gossip.”

After Mass, the pope presided at adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, before leading those watching via livestream in an act of spiritual communion.

Reciting the words of Spanish Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930), he said: “At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself and I offer Thee repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its nothingness and in Thy holy presence. I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist. I desire to receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee.” 

“While waiting for the happiness of sacramental communion, I wish to possess Thee in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to Thee! May Thy love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee.”

Finally, the congregation sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli”.

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Pandemic could take heaviest toll on homeless, says pope

April 27, 2020 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Apr 27, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- The homeless “risk paying the heaviest price” amid the coronavirus crisis, Pope Francis has said in a message to street newspapers.

In a statement dated April 21 but released by the Holy See press office April 27, the pope noted that the pandemic posed a dire threat to the more than 100 publications sold by the homeless worldwide.

Thousands of people depend for their livelihoods on the sale of street newspapers, he said. 

“For many weeks the street newspapers have not been sold and their sellers cannot work,” he observed. “I want to express my closeness to journalists, volunteers, people who live thanks to these projects and who in these times are working with many innovative ideas.”

The pope expressed confidence that, despite the present difficulties, “the great network of street newspapers in the world will come back stronger than before.”

“Looking at the poorest people, in these days, can help us all to become aware of what is really happening to us and of our true condition,” he said. 

“To all of you, [I offer] my message of encouragement and fraternal friendship. Thank you for the work you do, for the information you give and for the stories of hope you tell.”

This is not the first time that Pope Francis has shown his support for street newspapers. In 2015, he gave an interview to a representative of the Dutch paper Straatnieuws. 

Straatnieuws is currently appealing for donations. A message on its website says: “The corona crisis has forced us to stop the distribution of Straatnieuws. So sellers are out of newspapers, out of income. We want to support them. For that, your donation is very much needed.”

The Big Issue, a street newspaper founded in the U.K. in 1991, has launched an appeal to support vendors and to ensure that the magazine weathers the pandemic. 

StreetWise, a street magazine sold in Chicago since 1992, is seeking $300,000 to “sustain and subsidize” its vendors. 

A statement on its website says: “With declining sales, our vendors need support now so they don’t lose their hotel rooms, single room occupancies or apartments and end up on the streets or in a shelter. And because many of them are in immunosuppressed conditions they could get very sick or even die.”

The website quoted Pete Kadens, StreetWise’s chairman emeritus, as saying: “This is literally the difference between life and death for our vendors and fellow Chicagoans — I cannot stress that enough.” 

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Pope prays that pastors will have courage to be close to their people

April 24, 2020 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Apr 24, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed that God would give pastors the courage to be close to their people as he celebrated Mass Friday.

The pope asked that the Lord would “above all teach us not to be afraid of God’s people, not to be afraid to be close to them.”

Speaking from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican residence, April 24, he said that pastors must avoid becoming mere “pastoral business managers” as Jesus wants every priest to have a “shepherd’s heart”.

“The power of the pastor is service,” he said. “He has no other power. When you begin to make mistakes taking other powers your vocation is ruined.”

In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the day’s Gospel, John 6:1-15, in which Jesus used five loaves and two fish to feed a large crowd. He noted that the disciples were tired and did not want the crowd to come between them and the Lord. By contrast, Jesus sought to be close to the people and to teach the disciples how to become true pastors. 

Celebrating Mass before a small congregation due to the coronavirus pandemic, the pope said that the disciples saw themselves as “a privileged class, ‘an aristocracy,’ so to speak,” but that Jesus repeatedly corrected them. 

He gave the examples of when the disciples tried to prevent children from approaching the Lord and he rebuked them (Matthew 19:13-15), and when people on the road to Jericho ordered a blind man to stop crying out “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me” (Luke 18:35-43). 

The pope recalled “a great pastor from a simple, humble neighborhood” who once told him that he wished he could have some rest from his parishioners’ demands. 

“But he realized he was a shepherd and had to be with people,” he said. “And Jesus … teaches the disciples, the apostles, this pastoral attitude that is closeness to the people of God.”

Pope Francis concluded the celebration with adoration and benediction, leading those following via livestream in an act of spiritual communion. 

Those gathered in the chapel then sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli.”

At the start of the Mass, the pope prayed for teachers and students adapting to the new circumstances created by the pandemic.

He said: “We pray today for teachers who have to work so hard to lead lessons via the internet and other media channels and we also pray for students who have to take exams in a way they are not used to. Let us accompany them with prayer.”

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