Vatican

Vatican City, Apr 15, 2020 / 08:05 am (CNA).- Pope Francis prayed for the elderly who are afraid of dying alone at his morning Mass on Wednesday.

“Let us pray today for the elderly, especially for those who are isolated or in nursing homes. They are afraid, afraid of dying alone,” Pope Francis said before Mass on April 15.

The pope said that the elderly are “our roots, our story, our history,” and asked the Lord to be close to them as the world faces the coronavirus pandemic.

As COVID-19 has led to the deaths of more than 125,000 people worldwide, dioceses have sought creative solutions to bring the sacraments to the elderly and the dying. In Chicago, a team of 24 priest volunteers — all under age 60 — administer sacramental anointing of the sick to Catholics with the coronavirus.

In his homily, Pope Francis said that God is faithful to his promises. “Our faithfulness is nothing but a response to God’s faithfulness,” he said.

“Our God is a God who works overtime,” the pope said. “Like that shepherd who, when he returns home, realizes that he is missing a sheep and goes, goes back to look for the sheep that has been lost there.”

“God’s faithfulness always precedes us, and our faithfulness is always the answer to that fidelity that precedes us,” he said.

Speaking from the chapel of his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, the pope said that God is patient with his people, as he was with the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus in the Gospel of John.

“God’s faithfulness is a patient faithfulness: he has patience with his people, listens to them, guides them,” the pope said.

At the end of the Mass, Pope Francis dedicated a moment of prayer to Mary as the “Regina Coeli” Marian antiphon for the Easter season was sung in Latin:

“Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia.
For he whom you did merit to bear, alleluia,
Has risen, as he said, alleluia.
Pray for us to God, alleluia.
Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia.
For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.”

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Vatican City, Apr 15, 2020 / 07:25 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Wednesday accepted the resignation of Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli, appointing Brooklyn pastor Fr. Kevin J. Sweeney to be his successor as head of the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey.

Serratell… […]

Vatican City, Apr 15, 2020 / 04:30 am (CNA).- Peace is often misunderstood today as a subjective psychological idea, Pope Francis said Wednesday, stressing that true peace is found in Christ’s sacrificial love.

“Those who have learned and exercise the art of peace are called children of God, they know that there is no reconciliation without the gift of one’s own life, and that peace must always be sought,” Pope Francis said April 15.

The pope said that there is a widespread sense today that “peace” means “a sort of inner tranquility,” but this idea is deficient and can hinder personal growth.

“This is a modern, psychological and more subjective idea. Peace is commonly thought to be quiet, harmony, internal balance. This … meaning is incomplete and cannot be absolutized, because restlessness can be an important moment of growth in life,” he explained.

“Many times it is the Lord himself who sows uneasiness in us to go to meet him, to find him,” he said.

“It can happen that inner tranquility corresponds to a domesticated conscience and not to a true spiritual redemption,” he warned.

Speaking via livestream due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis quoted Christ’s words in the Gospel of John: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you.”

“Many times the Lord must be a ‘sign of contradiction’, shaking our false certainties, to bring us to salvation,” Francis said. 

“And at that moment there seems to be no peace, but it is the Lord who puts us on this path to reach the peace that He himself will give us,” he added.

Jesus is the prince of peace, who fulfilled the Hebrew concept of shalom  by reconciling all things and making “peace with the blood of his cross,” the pope said.

Pope Francis explained that the biblical notion of shalom means “abundance, prosperity, well-being.”

“When in Hebrew we wish shalom, we wish for a beautiful, full, prosperous life, but also according to truth and justice, which will be fulfilled in the Messiah, prince of peace,” he said.

He said that peace is not “the fruit of one’s own abilities,” but a “manifestation of the grace received from Christ.”

Pope Francis’ meditation on peace was a part of an ongoing weekly catechesis on the Beatitudes. 

This week, the pope focused on the seventh Beatitude given by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter five of the Gospel of Matthew: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

The pope said that this beatitude, the seventh one, is the most active.

“Love by its nature is creative — love is always creative — and seeks reconciliation at any cost,” he said.

In his message to Polish pilgrims, the pope noted that next weekend is Divine Mercy Sunday, and quoted St. Faustina’s diary: “Humanity will not find peace until it turns to the source of my mercy.”

“True shalom and true inner balance flow from the peace of Christ, which comes from his Cross and generates a new humanity, embodied in an infinite host of inventive and creative saints, who have always devised new ways to love,” the pope said.

“The saints build peace. This life as children of God, who because of the blood of Christ seek and find their brothers, is true happiness. Blessed are those who go this way,”  Pope Francis said.

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Vatican City, Apr 14, 2020 / 06:19 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis phoned Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York Tuesday to express his concern for the people of New York during the coronavirus pandemic. More than 10,000 deaths in the city are being attributed to … […]

Vatican City, Apr 14, 2020 / 04:00 am (CNA).- In uncertain times, our ultimate goal should be to remain faithful to the Lord rather than to seek our own security, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass Tuesday.

Speaking from the chapel of his Vatican residence, the Casa Santa Marta, April 14, the pope said: “Many times when we feel secure we begin to make our plans and slowly move away from the Lord; we do not remain faithful. And my security is not what the Lord gives me. It is an idol.”

To Christians who object that they do not bow before idols, he said: “No, perhaps you do not kneel, but that you seek them and so many times in your heart you worship idols, it is true. Many times. Your own safety opens the door to idols.”

Pope Francis reflected on the Second Book of Chronicles, which describes how King Rehoboam, the first leader of the Kingdom of Judah, became complacent and departed from the law of the Lord, taking his people with him.

“But is your own safety bad?” the pope asked. “No, it’s a grace. Be secure, but also be sure that the Lord is with me. But when there is safety and I am at the center, I turn away from the Lord, like King Rehoboam, I become unfaithful.” 

“It is so difficult to remain faithful. The whole history of Israel, and then the whole history of the Church, is full of infidelity. Full. Full of selfishness, full of its own certainties that make the people of God move away from the Lord, lose that fidelity, the grace of fidelity.” 

Focusing on the day’s second reading (Acts 2:36-41), in which Peter calls people to repentance on the day of Pentecost, the pope said: “To convert is this: to return to being faithful. Fidelity, that human attitude which is not so common in people’s lives, in our lives. There are always illusions that attract attention, and many times we want to hide behind these illusions. Fidelity: in good times and bad times.”

The pope said that the day’s Gospel reading (John 20:11-18) offered an “icon of fidelity”: the image of a weeping Mary Magdalene keeping vigil beside Jesus’ tomb. 

“She was there,” he said, “faithful, faced with the impossible, faced with tragedy … A weak but faithful woman. The icon of fidelity of this Mary of Magdala, apostle to the apostles.”

Inspired by Mary Magdalene, we should pray for the gift of faithfulness, the pope said.

“Let us ask the Lord today for the grace of fidelity: to give thanks when He gives us certainties, but never think that they are ‘my’ certainties and always, look beyond one’s own certainties; the grace of being faithful even before the tombs, before the collapse of so many illusions.”

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

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

At the start of Mass, the pope prayed that the challenges of the coronavirus crisis would help people to overcome their differences.  

“Let us pray that the Lord will give us the grace of unity among us,” he said. “May the difficulties of this time make us discover the communion among us, the unity that is always superior to any division.”
 

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Vatican City, Apr 13, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis made a surprise phone call after the Easter Vigil to a religious sister treating coronavirus patients as a doctor on call in the hard-hit Italian region of Bergamo.

Dr. Angel Bipendu, a member… […]

Vatican City, Apr 13, 2020 / 06:30 am (CNA).- Pope Francis has urged Catholics to pray for women who are currently caring for children, aiding the elderly, or working in healthcare or law enforcement amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In an address livestreamed from the library of the Apostolic Palace April 13, he noted that women were the first to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead. 

“Today I would like to recall with you what many women do, even during this health crisis, to take care of others: women doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers and prison officers, employees of shops for basic necessities… and many mothers and sisters who find themselves locked in their homes with the whole family, with children, the elderly, the disabled,” he said.

Speaking immediately after he had recited the traditional Easter prayer, the Regina Coeli, he noted that the lockdown might place some women at greater risk of domestic violence.

“Sometimes they are at risk of being subjected to violence, due to a living situation in which they bear a burden that is far too heavy,” he said. “Let us pray for them, that the Lord may give them strength and that our communities may support them together with their families.”

In remarks before the Regina Coeli, the pope recalled that today is known in Italy as Lunedì dell’Angelo (Monday of the Angel, also known as Pasquetta), when “the joyful proclamation of Christ’s Resurrection resounds”.

Standing beneath Pietro Perugino’s painting of the Resurrection, he said: “If Christ is risen, it is possible to look with confidence at every event of our existence, even the most difficult ones, full of anguish and uncertainty. This is the Paschal message that we are called to proclaim, with words and above all with the witness of life.” 

“May this joyful news resound in our homes and in our hearts: ‘Christ, my hope, is risen!’ (Easter Sequence). This certainty strengthens the faith of every baptized person and encourages especially those who are facing greater suffering and difficulties.” 

“May the Virgin Mary, silent witness of the death and resurrection of her Son Jesus, help us to believe strongly in this mystery of salvation which, welcomed with faith, can change our lives.”

After his address, the pope went to the window of the Apostolic Palace, where he would normally deliver his Regina Coeli address. He looked out over a nearly empty St. Peter’s Square and delivered his blessing.

At the end of the Regina Coeli, Pope Francis noted that some countries are seeing large numbers of infections and deaths as a result of the coronavirus, including Italy, the United States, Spain and France. 

“I pray for them all. And don’t forget that the pope prays for you, he is close to you,” he concluded.

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Rome, Italy, Apr 13, 2020 / 05:00 am (CNA).- In his Easter message, the president of Caritas Internationalis called on governments to ensure access to healthcare and social protections for all amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle… […]

Vatican City, Apr 13, 2020 / 03:15 am (CNA).- We face a fundamental choice as we seek to resolve the coronavirus crisis, Pope Francis said during his morning Mass Monday.

Commenting on the day’s Gospel reading (Mt 28:8-15), which describes the risen Christ’s appearance to Mary Magdalene and Mary of Clopas, the pope said April 13: “The Gospel proposes a choice that also applies today: the hope of Jesus’ resurrection and nostalgia for the tomb.” 

“Thus, in finding solutions to this pandemic, the choice will be between life, the resurrection of the people, and the god of money.”

“If you choose money, you choose the way of hunger, slavery, wars, arms factories, uneducated children… there is the tomb. Lord — it is the prayer of the pope — help us to choose the good of the people, without ever falling into the tomb of mammon,” he said, according to a transcription of his homily by Vatican News.

He began the Mass by praying that researchers and political leaders would make the correct choices for those they serve. 

He said: “Let us pray today for the rulers, the scientists, the politicians, who have begun to study the way out, the post-pandemic, this ‘after’ that has already begun: that they find the right way, always in favor of the people.”

Speaking from the chapel of his Vatican residence, the Casa Santa Marta, he noted that in the Gospel reading Jesus entrusted women with a message for his disciples.

“God always begins with women, always,” the pope observed. “They open roads. They do not doubt: they know; they have seen him, they have touched him. They have also seen the empty tomb.”

He then reflected on the soldiers guarding Jesus’ tomb, who accepted a large sum of money in return for saying that Christ’s body had been stolen at night by his disciples. 

The pope said: “These poor people do not understand, they are afraid because life is at stake… and they have gone to the priests, to the doctors of the law. And they have paid: they have paid the silence, and this, dear brothers and sisters, is not a bribe: this is pure corruption, pure corruption.”

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

He concluded his homily: “May the Lord, both in our personal life and in our social life, always help us to choose the proclamation: the proclamation on the horizon is always available, is open, always; lead us to choose the good of the people. And never fall into the tomb of the god of money.”

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Vatican City, Apr 12, 2020 / 06:15 pm (CNA).- In an Easter letter to members of popular movements and organizations, Pope Francis suggested that the coronavirus crisis may be an occasion to consider a universal basic wage.

“I know that you have … […]