Pope Francis greets the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square on Aug. 25, 2024. / Credit: Vatican MediaCNA Staff, Aug 26, 2024 / 11:09 am (CNA).Pope Francis on Sunday sharply denounced the Ukrainian government's recently enacted ban on Russian Orthodox Church worship, arguing that the faithful should not be barred from worshipping as they please.The new Ukrainian law, which passed the country's Parliament on Aug. 20, bans the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukrainian territory. The measure comes roughly two-and-a-half years after Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the two countries' ongoing conflict. The new law further encourages religious organizations in Ukraine, including the Moscow-aligned Ukrainian Orthodox Church, "to break the existing ties with the Russian state," according to the parliamentary news agency.In his Angelus address on Sunday, the Holy Father said he has been "thinking about the laws recently adopted in Ukraine," which he said causes hi...
Pope Francis greets the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square on Aug. 25, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
CNA Staff, Aug 26, 2024 / 11:09 am (CNA).
Pope Francis on Sunday sharply denounced the Ukrainian government's recently enacted ban on Russian Orthodox Church worship, arguing that the faithful should not be barred from worshipping as they please.
The new Ukrainian law, which passed the country's Parliament on Aug. 20, bans the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukrainian territory. The measure comes roughly two-and-a-half years after Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the two countries' ongoing conflict.
The new law further encourages religious organizations in Ukraine, including the Moscow-aligned Ukrainian Orthodox Church, "to break the existing ties with the Russian state," according to the parliamentary news agency.
In his Angelus address on Sunday, the Holy Father said he has been "thinking about the laws recently adopted in Ukraine," which he said causes him to "fear for the freedom of those who pray."
"[T]hose who truly pray always pray for all," the pope said. "A person does not commit evil because of praying. If someone commits evil against his people, he will be guilty for it, but he cannot have committed evil because he prayed."
"So let those who want to pray be allowed to pray in what they consider their Church. Please, let no Christian church be abolished directly or indirectly," Francis said.
"Churches are not to be touched!" he added.
The Ukrainian Parliament's news agency alleged last week that the Russian Orthodox Church has "become a de facto part of the state apparatus of Putin's criminal totalitarian regime."
The church "is used by Russia to justify and support aggression against Ukraine and Putin's insane policies in general," the state agency claimed.
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, last week defended the new law, arguing that the Russian government has used the Orthodox Church "as a tool of militarization."
The new law aims to offer protection against ideology and narratives being pushed about Ukraine being part of the "Russian world," the archbishop argued.
"To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus. Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher designs," Pope Francis said at the end of this Angelus address on Aug. 25. / Credit: Vatican Media.Vatican City, Aug 25, 2024 / 10:08 am (CNA).Pope Francis prayed Sunday for a renewed hope for the people of Nicaragua, where the Catholic Church is experiencing harsh persecution under the regime of President Daniel Ortega."To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus. Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher designs," Pope Francis said at the end of this Angelus address on Aug. 25.The pope entrusted Nicaragua to the protection and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary."May the Immaculate Virgin protect you in times of trial and make you feel her maternal tenderness," he said. "May Our Lady accompany the beloved people of Nicaragua."Persecution of the Church in Nic...
"To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus. Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher designs," Pope Francis said at the end of this Angelus address on Aug. 25. / Credit: Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Aug 25, 2024 / 10:08 am (CNA).
Pope Francis prayed Sunday for a renewed hope for the people of Nicaragua, where the Catholic Church is experiencing harsh persecution under the regime of President Daniel Ortega.
"To the beloved people of Nicaragua: I encourage you to renew your hope in Jesus. Remember that the Holy Spirit always guides history toward higher designs," Pope Francis said at the end of this Angelus address on Aug. 25.
The pope entrusted Nicaragua to the protection and intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
"May the Immaculate Virgin protect you in times of trial and make you feel her maternal tenderness," he said. "May Our Lady accompany the beloved people of Nicaragua."
Persecution of the Church in Nicaragua has intensified in recent years. The government has expelled nuns, taken over ecclesiastical institutions, seized Church assets, shut down Catholic media outlets, and sent priests and bishops to prison or into exile.
The pope's prayer comes just days after the Ortega dictatorship canceled the legal status of 1,500 nonprofit organizations, including hundreds of Catholic organizations, and exiled two more priests to Rome.
According to the newspaper Mosaico, Father Denis Martínez García and Father Leonel Balmaceda from the Dioceses of Matagalpa and Estelí, respectively, were arrested earlier this month and then expelled by the government to Rome.
Both priests come from dioceses that are administered by the formerly imprisoned Bishop Rolando Álvarez, who was exiled to Rome in January.
Pope Francis delivers his Angelus address from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, Aug. 25, 2024. Credit: Vatican Media.
In his Angelus address, the pope reflected on Saint Peter's words to Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68).
Pope Francis pointed out that the disciples did not always understand what Jesus said and did, but even when it was not easy for them to understand, they remained faithful because they had experienced that Jesus was "the answer to the thirst for life, the thirst for joy, and the thirst for love."
"Brothers and sisters … For us, too, it is not easy to follow the Lord, to understand his way of acting, to make his criteria and his examples our own," he said.
"However, the more we stay close to him — the more we adhere to his Gospel, receive his grace in the Sacraments, stay in his company in prayer, imitate him in humility and charity — the more we experience the beauty of having him as a friend, and we realize that only he has 'the words of eternal life,'" Pope Francis said.
After praying the Angelus prayer in Latin with the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square, the pope offered prayers for people suffering from war, particularly in Ukraine and the Holy Land, and for people experiencing health challenges.
Pope Francis expressed his solidarity in particular with the thousands of people affected by mpox, also called monkeypox, a disease rapidly spreading in parts of Africa that has been declared a global health emergency.
"I pray for all those infected, especially the people of the Democratic Republic of Congo who are so tried," he said. "I express my sympathy to the local churches in the countries most affected by this disease and encourage governments and private industries to share available technology and treatments so that no one lacks adequate medical care."
The pope offered greetings to young people with physical and mental disabilities who are currently participating in the "Relay for Inclusion" in Italy.
Pope Francis also greeted new seminarians from the North American College present in St. Peter's Square, encouraging them to live their vocations with joy "because true prayer gives us joy."
Pope Francis greeted new seminarians from the North American College present in St. Peter's Square, encouraging them to live their vocations with joy "because true prayer gives us joy.". Credit: Vatican Media.
"May Mary, who welcomed Jesus, the Word of God … help us to listen to him and never abandon him," the pope prayed.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Christians spend time with Jesus in adoration or receive him in the Eucharist, they cannot help but spread his love with others, Pope Francis said."When you have met Christ in adoration, when you have touched him and received him in the Eucharistic celebration, you can no longer keep him to yourself, but you become a missionary of his love to others," the pope wrote in a letter to Bishop Marie Fabien Raharilamboniaina, president of bishops' conference of Madagascar.In the letter published Aug. 23, Pope Francis praised the country's Eucharistic congress, which, he said, "aims to bring the sons and daughters of your Christian communities back to basics, helping them to rediscover the meaning of Eucharistic adoration and their appetite for spending time with Christ."Encountering Christ in adoration and receiving him at Mass "is a process that helps each person grow into the Christian he or she is called to become," the pope wrote. A concelebrating priest dip...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Christians spend time with Jesus in adoration or receive him in the Eucharist, they cannot help but spread his love with others, Pope Francis said.
"When you have met Christ in adoration, when you have touched him and received him in the Eucharistic celebration, you can no longer keep him to yourself, but you become a missionary of his love to others," the pope wrote in a letter to Bishop Marie Fabien Raharilamboniaina, president of bishops' conference of Madagascar.
In the letter published Aug. 23, Pope Francis praised the country's Eucharistic congress, which, he said, "aims to bring the sons and daughters of your Christian communities back to basics, helping them to rediscover the meaning of Eucharistic adoration and their appetite for spending time with Christ."
Encountering Christ in adoration and receiving him at Mass "is a process that helps each person grow into the Christian he or she is called to become," the pope wrote.
A concelebrating priest dips the host into consecrated wine during Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Oct. 29, 2023, marking the conclusion of the first session of the Synod of Bishops on synodality. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
The congress Aug. 23-26 coincides with preparations for the final assembly of the Synod of Bishops on synodality in October, the pope said, and he prayed that it would help participants in the congress "rediscover the importance of meeting, praying and committing themselves with and for others, following Jesus in the Eucharist."
Pope Francis also asked, "since the faith in the real presence of the Lord is a great challenge," that the young people present at the congress "help their brothers and sisters to have the experience of Jesus in the Eucharist."
"Help them to make their own lives an offering to God, united to that of Jesus on the altar, to make him better known, loved and served," he said.
The pope prayed that the Eucharistic congress would help each attendee "cultivate feelings of charity and solidarity toward all people, especially those in difficulty, for whom the path of life becomes more difficult every day."
"There are many discouraged people who look to the future with skepticism and pessimism, as if nothing can bring them happiness," he said. "Bring them the Lord's hope, be witnesses to his compassion and merciful love."
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Prejudices and preconceptions can block people from finding faith, Pope Francis said, even to the point of making them unable to recognize God standing before them.In the Gospel, the Judeans, who were "scandalized" when Jesus told them he came down from heaven, "are obstructed in their faith by their preconception of his humble origins, and they are obstructed by the presumption therefore that they have nothing to learn from him," the pope said before praying the Angelus in St. Peter's Square Aug. 11.Reflecting on the day's Gospel reading from St. John, Pope Francis urged Christians to "beware of preconceptions and presumptions," like those of the Judeans who were convinced that the Messiah could not come from among ordinary people.Preconceived notions "prevent sincere dialogue" and foment "rigid mindsets" that leave no space for uncomfortable or startling ideas, he said. Pope Francis speaks to visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to pray the...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Prejudices and preconceptions can block people from finding faith, Pope Francis said, even to the point of making them unable to recognize God standing before them.
In the Gospel, the Judeans, who were "scandalized" when Jesus told them he came down from heaven, "are obstructed in their faith by their preconception of his humble origins, and they are obstructed by the presumption therefore that they have nothing to learn from him," the pope said before praying the Angelus in St. Peter's Square Aug. 11.
Reflecting on the day's Gospel reading from St. John, Pope Francis urged Christians to "beware of preconceptions and presumptions," like those of the Judeans who were convinced that the Messiah could not come from among ordinary people.
Preconceived notions "prevent sincere dialogue" and foment "rigid mindsets" that leave no space for uncomfortable or startling ideas, he said.
Pope Francis speaks to visitors gathered in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican to pray the Angelus Aug. 11, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
Despite Jesus' numerous miracles, the pope said, the Judeans failed to recognize him as God "because they carry out their religious practices not so much in order to listen to the Lord, but rather to find in them the confirmation of what they think."
"They are closed to the word of the Lord and look for confirmation of their own thoughts," he said.
Rather than seek an explanation from Jesus, the Judeans murmur among themselves against Jesus "as though to reassure each other of what they are convinced about and they shut themselves in, they are closed up in an impenetrable fortress," Pope Francis said.
As a result, "they are unable to believe," he said. "The closure of the heart -- how much harm it does, how much harm!"
The pope encouraged Christians to take care to listen to God in life and in prayer rather than look to him for "a confirmation of our convictions, our judgments, which are prejudices."
Solely looking to God for confirmation "does not help us to encounter God, to truly encounter him, nor to open ourselves up to the gift of his light and his grace, in order to grow in goodness, to do his will and to overcome failings and difficulties," he said, noting that when people are closed in their way of thinking and praying, "that faith and that prayer are not true."
After praying the Angelus, Pope Francis also recalled the anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which took place Aug. 6 and Aug. 9, 1945, praying for the victims of the bombings and asking for prayers for peace in Ukraine, the Middle East, Sudan and Myanmar.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the world braced for Iran to retaliate for the assassination of a Hamas leader who was staying in the Iranian capital, the Vatican secretary of state pleaded with Iran's new president not to escalate the Middle East conflict.Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, spoke by telephone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian early Aug. 12, according to Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office.The cardinal, Bruni said, "expressed the Holy See's serious concern about what is happening in the Middle East, reiterating the need to avoid in any way the widening of the very serious ongoing conflict and opting instead for dialogue, negotiation and peace."Cardinal Parolin congratulated Pezeshkian on his election in July, Bruni said, and also discussed "issues of common concern" with him.Iran's official news agency, IRNA, had quoted Pezeshkian Aug. 4 as saying the killing July 31 of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for Pezeshkian's i...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As the world braced for Iran to retaliate for the assassination of a Hamas leader who was staying in the Iranian capital, the Vatican secretary of state pleaded with Iran's new president not to escalate the Middle East conflict.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, spoke by telephone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian early Aug. 12, according to Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office.
The cardinal, Bruni said, "expressed the Holy See's serious concern about what is happening in the Middle East, reiterating the need to avoid in any way the widening of the very serious ongoing conflict and opting instead for dialogue, negotiation and peace."
Cardinal Parolin congratulated Pezeshkian on his election in July, Bruni said, and also discussed "issues of common concern" with him.
Iran's official news agency, IRNA, had quoted Pezeshkian Aug. 4 as saying the killing July 31 of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was in Tehran for Pezeshkian's inauguration, was a "big mistake" and "will not go unanswered." Israel was assumed to have been behind the killing.
Pope Francis leads his weekly general audience Aug. 7, 2024, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
Pope Francis, who consistently has called on Israel and Hamas to agree to a cease-fire, for Hamas to release the hostages it captured in October and for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, also has been pleading for caution and restraint since the death of Haniyeh and Israel's acknowledged killing a day earlier of Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur in an airstrike in a Beirut suburb.
"I am following with great concern what is taking place in the Middle East, and I hope that the conflict, already terribly bloody and violent, will not spread even further," the pope had said Aug. 4.
Three days later the pope said he wanted to "reiterate my appeal to all the parties involved so that the conflict does not spread and there may be an immediate cease-fire on all fronts, starting with Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is dire and unsustainable."
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God will not judge people by how many university degrees they earned, but by how well they cared for the poor, Pope Francis told a group of priests and religious women."The Lord won't ask us, 'What did you study?' 'How many degrees do you have?' 'How many works did you accomplish?' No, no. The Lord will say, 'Come with me because I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was persecuted and you protected me,'" the pope said."That is the theme of the final exam on which we will be judged," the pope said Aug. 12 as he met members of the general chapters of the Dominican Missionary Sisters of St. Sixtus, the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary and the Vocationist Fathers.Pope Francis joked that it was "efficient" of the Vatican to group all the general chapter members together in one audience since it is chapter "season" in Rome.All four religious orders, he said, were founded to support...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- God will not judge people by how many university degrees they earned, but by how well they cared for the poor, Pope Francis told a group of priests and religious women.
"The Lord won't ask us, 'What did you study?' 'How many degrees do you have?' 'How many works did you accomplish?' No, no. The Lord will say, 'Come with me because I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was persecuted and you protected me,'" the pope said.
"That is the theme of the final exam on which we will be judged," the pope said Aug. 12 as he met members of the general chapters of the Dominican Missionary Sisters of St. Sixtus, the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary and the Vocationist Fathers.
Pope Francis joked that it was "efficient" of the Vatican to group all the general chapter members together in one audience since it is chapter "season" in Rome.
All four religious orders, he said, were founded to support and educate young people from poor families who would not otherwise receive the education they needed and the guidance necessary to discover their vocations.
Pope Francis shares a moment with members of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary during a meeting at the Vatican Aug. 12, 2024, with members of four religious orders holding their general chapter meetings in Rome. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
The founders of the four orders "saw in them a sign from God for their mission," the pope said. "In the same way, it will also be good for you, especially in these days of community discernment, to keep constantly before your eyes the face of the poor."
"Jesus speaks to us in our neediest brothers and sisters," Pope Francis said, "and in every gift given to them there is a reflection of God's love."
And while the art of spiritual discernment is a specialty of the Vocationist Fathers, the pope told the religious that learning to make decisions by listening to God, to others and to one's own heart is essential for all Christians.
Discernment, he said, involves "prayer, meditation, patient waiting, and then courage and sacrifice" to put into practice that which God, "without ever imposing his will on us, suggests to our hearts."
Having choices is a sign of the freedom God gives to each person, the pope said.
"Our world is in such need of rediscovering the taste and beauty of making a decision, especially regarding definitive choices, which cause a decisive turning point in life, such as the vocational one," he said. Young people need spiritual fathers and mothers to help them understand that "to be free is not to remain eternally at a crossroads, making little 'escapes' to the right and left, without ever really taking a road."
"Being free means betting -- betting! -- on a path, with intelligence and prudence, certainly, but also with boldness and a spirit of renunciation, in order to grow and progress in the dynamic of giving and to be happy and loving according to God's plan," the pope told them.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Mary is not a "motionless wax statue," but a disciple who wants to share the good news of Jesus with everyone and reaches out to help and comfort them, Pope Francis said.Reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter's Square Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption, the pope entrusted to Mary's care the people around the world experiencing war. A group of Scouts wave and cheer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican after joining Pope Francis for the recitation of the Angelus prayer Aug. 15, 2024, the feast of the Assumption of Mary. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)"To Mary, queen of peace, whom we contemplate today in the glory of paradise, I would like once again to entrust the anxieties and sorrows of the people in so many parts of the world who suffer from social tensions and wars. I am thinking particularly of the tormented Ukraine, the Middle East, Palestine, Israel, Sudan and Myanmar.""May our heavenly mother obtain for all consolation and a future of sereni...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Mary is not a "motionless wax statue," but a disciple who wants to share the good news of Jesus with everyone and reaches out to help and comfort them, Pope Francis said.
Reciting the Angelus prayer with visitors in St. Peter's Square Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption, the pope entrusted to Mary's care the people around the world experiencing war.
A group of Scouts wave and cheer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican after joining Pope Francis for the recitation of the Angelus prayer Aug. 15, 2024, the feast of the Assumption of Mary. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
"To Mary, queen of peace, whom we contemplate today in the glory of paradise, I would like once again to entrust the anxieties and sorrows of the people in so many parts of the world who suffer from social tensions and wars. I am thinking particularly of the tormented Ukraine, the Middle East, Palestine, Israel, Sudan and Myanmar."
"May our heavenly mother obtain for all consolation and a future of serenity and concord," the pope said.
As the pope was reciting the prayer, the Vatican press office issued a statement saying that Cardinal Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, the pope's envoy for peace in Ukraine, had a telephone conversation Aug. 14 with Li Hui, the Chinese government's special representative for Eurasian affairs. The two had met in person in Beijing last September to discuss ways China could contribute to peace between Russia and Ukraine.
"During the phone call, great concern was expressed about the situation and the need to foster dialogue between the parties, with appropriate international guarantees for a just and lasting peace," the Vatican statement said. The call took place as Ukraine said its troops were continuing the incursion into Russia, which began Aug. 6.
Writing Aug. 15 in Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops' conference, Cardinal Zuppi said, "There are some signs of peace, solidarity and willingness to dialogue here and there." He pointed to efforts to help children in Ukraine, to free the Hamas hostages in Gaza and the recent exchange of prisoners between the United States and Russia.
But there are also small signs of peace shared whenever one person helps another, he said. "These gestures admittedly are as small as seeds that put down roots that cannot be seen, but they grow."
Pope Francis also told those gathered at the Vatican for the midday prayer that he continues "to follow with concern the very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza," and he called again "for a cease-fire on all fronts, for the release of hostages and for aid to the exhausted population. I encourage everyone to make every effort to ensure that the conflict does not widen and to pursue the avenues of negotiation so that this tragedy ends soon! Let's not forget: War is defeat."
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians are called to be close to their brothers and sisters in the faith, especially to those who are wounded by "injustice, abuse, hatred," Pope Francis said."The whole of humanity, now more than ever, needs the good news of peace, and every Christian is called to announce and share it," he wrote in a letter to the "Nazarat" committee, an Italian organization that supports and prays for persecuted Christians in the Middle East. After Christians were expelled from Iraq's Nineveh Plain by the Islamic State in 2014, a group in Rimini, Italy, began gathering to pray together for persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Nearly 10 years later, the group continues to pray the Rosary together in Rimini's central square on the 20th of each month, and the movement has spread to other cities throughout Italy. "With particular attention toward the many brothers and sisters who live in lands struck by terrible conflict, I wanted to join myself to the joy experienced o...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Christians are called to be close to their brothers and sisters in the faith, especially to those who are wounded by "injustice, abuse, hatred," Pope Francis said.
"The whole of humanity, now more than ever, needs the good news of peace, and every Christian is called to announce and share it," he wrote in a letter to the "Nazarat" committee, an Italian organization that supports and prays for persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
After Christians were expelled from Iraq's Nineveh Plain by the Islamic State in 2014, a group in Rimini, Italy, began gathering to pray together for persecuted Christians in the Middle East. Nearly 10 years later, the group continues to pray the Rosary together in Rimini's central square on the 20th of each month, and the movement has spread to other cities throughout Italy.
"With particular attention toward the many brothers and sisters who live in lands struck by terrible conflict, I wanted to join myself to the joy experienced over the course of 10 years from the birth of this Marian prayer initiative," Pope Francis wrote to organization's coordinator.Pope Francis holds his rosary as he prays for peace in St. Peter's Basilica with members of the assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Vatican Oct. 27, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)
The pope's letter was initially published on the group's Facebook page and its contents were later published by Vatican News Aug. 16.
In the letter, he prayed that "those who adhere to the moments of prayer, with ardent hearts filled by the Spirit, continue to be promoters of a culture of respect toward all, of welcome and of an inclusive fraternity where each person may taste the bread of communion and the happiness of solidarity."
Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignace Joseph III Younan of Antioch also wrote the group to express his gratitude for their "solidarity and sincere compassion for your brothers and sisters persecuted to the point of martyrdom for Jesus' sake," Vatican News reported.
In another message to the "Nazarat" committee, Franciscan Father Bahjat Elia Karakach, parish priest of the Latin Catholic community of Aleppo, Syria, explained the widespread "indifference and complicit silence" of local leaders regarding Christian persecution, Vatican News reported. The Franciscan said the local church's efforts primarily consist of "encouraging young people to stay in our country and be proactive in contributing to its resurgence."
Beginning on the night of Aug. 6, 2014, a raid by Islamic State soldiers forced some 120,000 Christians to leave their settlements in the Ninevah Plain. The "Nazarat" committee began their monthly prayer for persecuted Christians in the Middle East the following Aug. 20, taking their name from the Islamic State soldiers' practice of marking the homes of Christians with the letter "N," for "Nazarat," which means Christian.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When receiving the Eucharist, Catholics should respond with gratitude and awe that Jesus offers himself as nourishment and salvation, Pope Francis said.Jesus "becomes true food and true drink," the pope said. "Thank you, Lord Jesus! Let's say, 'Thank you, thank you' with all our heart," he told visitors and pilgrims who joined him in St. Peter's Square Aug. 18 for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer.In the day's Gospel reading from St. John, Jesus tells the crowd that he is "the living bread that came down from heaven" and that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood will have eternal life.Some were surprised by Jesus' words, and not in a good way, the pope said. But for Catholics, "the bread from heaven is a gift that exceeds all expectations." A group of women religious hold a Brazilian flag as they greet Pope Francis during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Aug. 18, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)"The heavenly bread, which ...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When receiving the Eucharist, Catholics should respond with gratitude and awe that Jesus offers himself as nourishment and salvation, Pope Francis said.
Jesus "becomes true food and true drink," the pope said. "Thank you, Lord Jesus! Let's say, 'Thank you, thank you' with all our heart," he told visitors and pilgrims who joined him in St. Peter's Square Aug. 18 for the midday recitation of the Angelus prayer.
In the day's Gospel reading from St. John, Jesus tells the crowd that he is "the living bread that came down from heaven" and that whoever eats his flesh and drinks his blood will have eternal life.
Some were surprised by Jesus' words, and not in a good way, the pope said. But for Catholics, "the bread from heaven is a gift that exceeds all expectations."
A group of women religious hold a Brazilian flag as they greet Pope Francis during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Aug. 18, 2024. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
"The heavenly bread, which comes from the Father, is the Son himself made flesh for us," he said. More than the bread that human beings need to survive, the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist "satisfies the hunger for hope, the hunger for truth and the hunger for salvation that we all feel not in our stomachs, but in our hearts."
"Every one of us needs the Eucharist," Pope Francis said.
"He saves us, nourishing our lives with his own, and he will do this forever," the pope said. "And it is thanks to him that we can live in communion with God and with each other."
The Eucharist, he said, is not "something magical, no. It is not something that will immediately solve all problems, but it is the very body of Christ that gives hope to the poor and overcomes the arrogance of those who gorge themselves at their expense."
Pope Francis asked Catholics to ponder two questions: "Do I hunger and thirst for salvation, not just for myself, but for all my brothers and sisters? When I receive the Eucharist, which is the miracle of mercy, do I stand in awe before the body of the Lord, who died and rose again for us?"
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Capital punishment promotes a deadly attitude of revenge and denies the possibility of change in the lives of incarcerated people, Pope Francis said."The death penalty is in no way the solution to the violence that can strike innocent people," the pope wrote in the preface to a new book on prison chaplaincy.Capital executions, "far from bringing justice, fuel a sense of revenge that becomes a dangerous poison for the body of our civil societies," the pope wrote. And rather than continue the cycle of violence, governments "should focus on allowing prisoners the opportunity to truly change their lives, rather than investing money and resources in their execution, as if they were human beings no longer worthy of living and to be disposed of."The book featuring the pope's preface, titled "A Christian on Death Row," shares the experiences of Dale Recinella, a lay Catholic prison chaplain and licensed attorney who, along with his wife, has accompanied people on death...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Capital punishment promotes a deadly attitude of revenge and denies the possibility of change in the lives of incarcerated people, Pope Francis said.
"The death penalty is in no way the solution to the violence that can strike innocent people," the pope wrote in the preface to a new book on prison chaplaincy.
Capital executions, "far from bringing justice, fuel a sense of revenge that becomes a dangerous poison for the body of our civil societies," the pope wrote. And rather than continue the cycle of violence, governments "should focus on allowing prisoners the opportunity to truly change their lives, rather than investing money and resources in their execution, as if they were human beings no longer worthy of living and to be disposed of."
The book featuring the pope's preface, titled "A Christian on Death Row," shares the experiences of Dale Recinella, a lay Catholic prison chaplain and licensed attorney who, along with his wife, has accompanied people on death row and in solitary confinement in Florida prisons since 1998. The book, published by the Vatican publishing house, was set to go on sale Aug. 27.
Pope Francis called Recinella's work a "living and passionate witness to God's school of infinite mercy," and he said it is a "great gift to the church and to society in the United States."
In light of the upcoming Holy Year 2025, the pope wrote, Catholics should "collectively call for the abolition of the death penalty."
Pope Francis greets Dale Recinella, a lay Catholic minister in Florida who works with prisoners on death row, during a meeting with members of the Pontifical Academy for Life at the Vatican Sept. 27, 2021. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, center, introduced Recinella to the pope. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
"As the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy taught us, we must never think that there could be a sin, a mistake, or an action of ours that distances us permanently from the Lord. His heart has already been crucified for us," he wrote. "And God can only forgive us."
In 2018, the pope formally changed the Catechism of the Catholic Church to unambiguously oppose the death penalty. While the previous language allowed for the death penalty in extreme cases, the revised entry in the catechism calls the death penalty "inadmissible" and states that the church "works for determination for its abolition worldwide."
In his preface, Pope Francis said that God's infinite mercy toward each person "can also be scandalous," noting the many criticisms and rejections Recinella has faced for his prison ministry. "But is it not true that Jesus welcomed in His embrace a thief condemned to death?" the pope asked.
"Even the most heinous of our sins does not mar our identity in God's eyes: we remain His children, loved by Him, protected by Him and considered precious."
Pope Francis explained that in one loving gaze, "like that of Christ on the cross," incarcerated people "may find a new meaning in their lives and indeed, in their deaths."
Pope Francis greets the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square on Aug. 25, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
