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Vatican City, Aug 28, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA).

Pope Francis said Wednesday those who knowingly and intentionally "repel" migrants are committing a grave sin.

Breaking from the current theme of his general audiences Aug. 28, the pope spoke at length about the poor conditions of migrants who attempt to cross a sea or desert to reach safety but who sometimes lose their lives in the process.

"The tragedy is that many, the majority of these deaths, could have been prevented," Francis underlined in his speech to thousands in St. Peter's Square.

"It must be said clearly: There are those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants," he said. "And this, when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin."

Departing from his prepared remarks, the pontiff recalled seeing the heartbreaking viral photo of the wife and child of Pato Crepin, who died in the desert in the summer of 2023 while trying to cross the border into Tunisia on their way to Europe.

Last year, Tunisian authorities were clamping down on irregular immigration by taking people who entered the country to remote areas on the borders with Libya and Algeria.

The country's leader also signed an agreement with the European Union to receive 1 billion euros (about $1.1 billion) in order to stem the area's highly profitable business of smuggling people from Tunisia into Europea via the Mediterranean Sea.

"We all remember the photo of the wife and daughter of Pato, dead from hunger, thirst, in the desert," Pope Francis said. "In the time of satellites and drones, there are migrant men, women, and children that no one must see. They hide them. Only God sees them and hears their cry. This is a cruelty of our civilization."

The Missing Migrants Project, run by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), records that since 2014, an estimated 47,000 people have either died or gone missing while attempting to migrate in Africa, Europe, and the Mediterranean areas. 

Most deaths were caused by drowning, usually while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in unsafe and overcrowded boating vessels.

In his general audience on Wednesday, Pope Francis also waded into political arguments about immigration and borders.

"We can all agree on one thing: Migrants should not be in those seas and in those lethal deserts," he said. "But it is not through more restrictive laws, it is not with the militarization of borders, it is not with rejection that we will obtain this result."

The solution, according to the pope, is to extend safe and legal access routes for migrants so that those who are fleeing war, violence, persecution, and natural disasters can find refuge.

Migrants will stop risking their lives to cross the sea or deserts, he continued, if we promote "a global governance of migration based on justice, fraternity, and solidarity."

In numerous past statements on refugees and migrants, Pope Francis has asked countries to be as welcoming to immigrants as they are able while also acknowledging their right to control their borders and to determine how many migrants and refugees they can safely integrate into their societies.

Paragraph 2241 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church also affirms that "the more prosperous nations are obliged, to the extent they are able, to welcome the foreigner in search of the security and the means of livelihood which he cannot find in his country of origin."

"Political authorities," the catechism continues, "for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants' duties toward their country of adoption."

In his Wednesday audience, Pope Francis recalled a lesson from the Book of Exodus: "You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him."

"The orphan, the widow, and the stranger are the quintessential poor whom God always defends and asks to be defended," he emphasized. 

"There is a Psalm which says to the Lord: 'Thy way was through the sea / Thy path through the great waters' (Ps 77:19). And another says that he 'led his people through the wilderness / for his steadfast love endures forever' (Ps 136:16)," the pope quoted.

"These holy words tell us that, to accompany the people on their journey to freedom, God himself crosses the sea and the desert," Pope Francis said. "[God] does not remain at a distance, no; he shares in the migrants' tragedy, God is there with them, with the migrants, he suffers with them, with the migrants, he weeps and hopes with them, with the migrants."

The pontiff said that while most of us are unable to be on the front lines with the courageous people who, acting as good Samaritans, "do their utmost to rescue and save injured and abandoned migrants on the routes of desperate hope," there are still ways to help — "first and foremost, prayer."

"And I ask you: Do you pray for migrants, for those who come to our lands to save their lives?" he said. 

He also urged cooperation to combat human trafficking and the criminal traffickers who "mercilessly exploit the misery of others" for money.

"Let us join our hearts and forces so that the seas and deserts are not cemeteries but spaces where God may open up roads to freedom and fraternity," he said.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 27, 2024 / 17:27 pm (CNA).

A New York court has temporarily blocked the state's attorney general's efforts to keep a group of faith-based pregnancy centers from promoting abortion pill reversal medications.

The ruling, in the form of a preliminary injunction, comes after Attorney General Letitia James sued 11 faith-based pregnancy centers in the state because their promotion of abortion pill reversal was allegedly spreading "false and misleading" information.

Issued on Aug. 22 by Judge John Sinatra of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, the ruling means that the pregnancy centers can continue promoting these medications as the case proceeds in the courts.

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases and is representing the pregnancy centers in the case, called the ruling a victory for both freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

"Pro-life centers should be free to offer lifesaving info to women who want the choice to save their child," ADF said in a post on X. "The court was right to affirm this while the case proceeds."

What is abortion pill reversal?

Abortion pill reversal — sometimes referred to as APR — is a medication meant to stop a chemical abortion after the process has already been initiated.

While the chemical abortion pill mifepristone works by cutting off progesterone, essentially starving the unborn baby to death, abortion pill reversal can restore progesterone flow in the womb, reversing the effects of mifepristone.

What did the ruling say?

Sinatra wrote that the pregnancy centers are "likely to succeed" in arguing that the attorney general's actions violate their First Amendment right to free speech.  

"The First Amendment protects plaintiffs' [the pregnancy centers'] right to speak freely about [abortion pill reversal] protocol and, more specifically, to say that it is safe and effective for a pregnant woman to use in consultation with her doctor," Sinatra wrote. 

Sinatra also said that "a preliminary injunction is in the public interest" and that "pregnancy centers' statements about the availability of APR [abortion pill reversal] are of interest to women who have begun a chemical abortion and seek ways to save their unborn child's life."

For these reasons, Sinatra temporarily blocked any attempt by the state to keep the pregnancy centers from promoting abortion pill reversal in any way whether online, in person, or through print resources.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 27, 2024 / 18:27 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Conference of Ohio has said a court's temporary elimination of a 24-hour waiting period for abortion shows a "callous disregard" for women considering abortion.

This comes after an Aug. 23 ruling by Franklin County Court of Common Pleas Judge David Young temporarily blocked a state law requiring a woman be given informational materials on abortion, undergo two visits with a physician, and wait 24 hours before obtaining an abortion.

The doctor visits and 24-hour waiting period are designed to both allow the woman time to consider her decision as well as to determine the gestational age of the unborn child.

In his ruling, Young said the 24-hour waiting period violates the Ohio Constitution, citing the 2023 state constitutional amendment guaranteeing a "right to abortion." The amendment, known as Issue 1, was approved by 57% of the state's voters last November. 

As a result of the amendment passing, Ohio's six-week "heartbeat" law was invalidated. Abortion is currently legal in Ohio up to 20 weeks of pregnancy or later if the mother's life is determined to be in danger. 

Young said that certain aspects of the law present an "irreparable harm" to those seeking the constitutional right to abortion and "fail under the amendment because there is no evidence or support to find that they are the least restrictive means to advance the individual's health in accordance with widely accepted and evidence-based standards of care."

Because of this, Young ruled to temporarily block the law while a challenge brought by a Cleveland-based abortion group called Preterm and several other pro-abortion groups works its way through the courts.

In response, Brian Hickey, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Ohio, issued a statement saying "the decision to grant a preliminary injunction for Ohio's 24-hour waiting law shows a callous disregard for the seriousness of a woman's situation who is considering an abortion."

Hickey asserted that "most abortions" are "unwanted or coerced" and that this decision would only worsen the situation.

"With this decision, women will be pressured into having an abortion against their will and without opportunities for coercion screening. It also cheats a woman in need of the opportunity to learn about the people available to accompany her and resources to assist her during her pregnancy and after the birth of her child," he said.

The Ohio bishops were staunchly opposed to the abortion amendment before voters last year. After the amendment's passage, the bishops said it was a "tragic day for women, children, and families in Ohio" and warned it would present new obstacles to the protection of life.

Despite this, Hickey said this week that "the Catholic Church throughout Ohio remains committed to providing the care and support pregnant women in need fear they will lack if they choose life."

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St. Louis, Mo., Aug 27, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

With all eyes on the U.S. presidential matchup on Nov. 5, activists across the country have been mobilizing for more than a year to place abortion-related ballot measures in front of voters. 

The efforts come after the 2022 repeal of Roe v. Wade, which returned to the states the power to legislate on abortion, resulting in nearly half of states enacting strong protections for babies in the womb.

Several of the proposals in front of voters threaten current pro-life protections. At the same time, in other states that do little to protect unborn babies, the proposed measures would make abortion even more widely accessible.

Voters in 10 states will see abortion-related questions on their November ballot, and the majority of those will be proposed constitutional amendments to expand abortion. One state — Nebraska — is in the unusual position of having two competing abortion-related ballot measures, one pro-life and one pro-abortion. One other state, Arkansas, was previously set to vote on a pro-abortion measure before the secretary of state disqualified it.

Here's everything you need to know about these ballot initiatives. 

Arizona

Arizona voters will be allowed to decide whether to add a so-called "right to abortion" to the state constitution, meaning the state will not be able to restrict abortion until the point of "viability," at approximately 24 weeks of pregnancy.

On April 3, Arizona for Abortion Access PAC surpassed the required number of signatures to get its initiative, Proposition 139, on the November ballot. If approved by the people, the amendment would invalidate the state's law protecting unborn life up to 15 weeks as well as most of the state's other pro-life laws. 

In late July, a judge ruled that the phrase "unborn human beings" may not appear in the measure put before voters — a ruling the Arizona Supreme Court later reversed. And in early August, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Melissa Julian rejected a series of claims by Arizona Right to Life that signers of the petition were misled.

Colorado

Advocates on both sides of the abortion debate circulated dueling ballot proposals for 2024, but only the pro-abortion measure managed to get enough signatures to appear on the ballot. 

The pro-life initiative, which would have been added to the state statutory code, would stipulate that a living human child "must not be intentionally dismembered, mutilated, poisoned, scalded, starved, stabbed, given toxic injections known to cause death, left to die of the elements for lack of warmth or nutrition," or otherwise killed. It failed to meet the required number of signatures before the April 18 deadline.

The pro-abortion measure, meanwhile, would affirm state laws that are already in place that allow abortion through all nine months of pregnancy. It would amend the state constitution to say that the government "shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against the exercise of the right to abortion, including prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortion."

Florida

The pro-abortion group Floridians Protecting Freedom successfully gathered enough signatures to place its Right to Abortion Initiative constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

The proposed language of the measure would add a right to abortion before the point of "viability" to the state's constitution if 60% of voters approve. It would also allow for abortions later in pregnancy if a woman's doctor deems it necessary to end the life of her child. 

The Florida attorney general in October 2023 had asked the state Supreme Court to block the effort, arguing that the initiative "does not satisfy the legal requirements for ballot placement."

The court's justices ruled in April that the measure could appear on the ballot.

In Florida, abortion is currently illegal after six weeks of pregnancy with limited exceptions.

Maryland

The proposed Maryland Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment would cement an abortion "right" in the state's constitution and make it impossible for pro-life laws to be enacted. The amendment was added to the ballot by the state Legislature, based on a supermajority vote in both chambers (60%). 

Maryland currently places no gestational limits on abortion. Parental notice is required for a minor to have an abortion.

Missouri

Amendment 3, which was certified to appear on the November ballot after garnering thousands of signatures, would "prohibit any regulation of abortion, including regulations designed to protect women undergoing abortions and prohibit any civil or criminal recourse against anyone who performs an abortion and hurts or kills the pregnant women," according to the secretary of state's office.

Missouri law currently protects unborn babies throughout all of pregnancy with the only exception being cases of "medical emergency."

The Missouri Catholic Conference, which advocates policy on behalf of the state's Catholic bishops, called the measure "an extreme constitutional amendment that legalizes abortion at any stage of pregnancy with no protections for the preborn child, even when the child is capable of feeling pain."

Montana

Ballot Issue No. 14, if passed, would amend the Montana Constitution "to expressly provide a right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion," according to the secretary of state's office.

The initiative would guarantee the right to abortion before fetal viability, enshrining a 1999 Montana Supreme Court ruling that held that pre-viability abortions fall under a constitutional "right to privacy."

The Montana measure would "prohibit the government from denying or burdening the right to abortion before fetal viability," prohibit the government from "denying or burdening access to an abortion" when a doctor determines it is necessary to protect the woman's "life or health," and would "prevent the government from penalizing patients, health care providers, or anyone who assists someone in exercising their right to make and carry out voluntary decisions about their pregnancy."

On March 21, the Montana Supreme Court overturned the state attorney general's block of the measure, holding that Attorney General Austin Knudsen "erred" when his office determined that the proposed pro-abortion ballot measure was "legally insufficient" to be placed on the ballot in this year's election.

Montana's Catholic bishops issued a joint letter in May denouncing the proposed pro-abortion constitutional amendment, calling the initiative an attack on the "recognition of the infinite dignity enjoyed by all persons" that fails to respect "life as a precious gift from God and recognize our sacred duty to nurture and protect every human life."

Nebraska

Nebraska is currently the only U.S. state where voters will consider two conflicting ballot measures related to abortion in November. One proposal would constitutionally enshrine the state's current pro-life protections, and the other would enshrine a constitutional "right" to abortion.

The proposed "Protect Women and Children" amendment would amend the state constitution to outlaw abortion "in the second and third trimesters" except in cases of medical emergencies or when the baby is the result of rape or incest. Nebraska's current state law restricts abortion after roughly 12 weeks.

Meanwhile, the pro-abortion ballot measure would enshrine in the state constitution the "right" to have an abortion until the point of viability or later to protect the health of the pregnant woman.

Because the Nebraska measures are mutually exclusive and cannot both be added to the constitution, the measure with the most "for" votes will be added.

Nevada

Nevadans will vote on a measure in November that would codify already-existing state laws into the state constitution that allow for abortion up to roughly 24 weeks into pregnancy. 

The pro-abortion group leading the initiative, Nevadans for Reproductive Freedom, submitted 200,000 signatures in May, nearly twice what they needed. The Nevada secretary of state's office certified the ballot initiative in late June. 

In Nevada, a simple majority vote in two consecutive elections is required for state constitutional amendments, so it must be approved in 2026 as well.

New York 

A proposed "Equal Rights" amendment to the New York Constitution would bar discrimination based on "pregnancy outcomes" or "gender expression."

On May 7, a New York state court blocked the proposal from reaching the ballot, citing procedural errors. A unanimous appellate court decision on June 18 reversed the lower court ruling, placing the measure back on the ballot.

South Dakota 

The South Dakota secretary of state confirmed in May that a pro-abortion amendment would appear before voters on the November ballot. 

The measure would establish "a constitutional right to an abortion" and allow the fatal procedure through all nine months of pregnancy. Signature-gathering was spearheaded by the pro-abortion group Dakotans for Health. 

Abortion is illegal in South Dakota barring exceptions to save the mother's life.

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Rome, Italy, Aug 26, 2024 / 17:50 pm (CNA).

In an Italian-language book published in April 2023, "Esorcisti contro Satana" ("Exorcists against Satan"), journalist Fabio Marchese Ragona revealed how St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis have confronted the devil throughout their pontificates, promoting the ministry of exorcism or even practicing it.

"Father Gabriele Amorth already decried that in the Church, in the 1980s, there were many bishops who did not believe in exorcisms or in the devil. John Paul II, but also Benedict XVI and Francis, supported this deliverance ministry through their speeches against the action of the evil one," Marchese explained in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner.

In his homilies, Pope Francis has repeatedly mentioned that "the devil enters through the pockets" in reference to the power of corruption.

Speaking with ACI Prensa, Marchese recalled his meeting with the pontiff in preparation for his book on exorcism. "Never dialogue with the devil, because he will win," the Holy Father warned him.

"He makes you believe that everything is good, that you will be successful, and then he traps you, you fall into the abyss and then it's difficult to get up again," the expert recalled the pope saying. 

Marchese, a Vatican journalist with Mediaset (Italian television) with more than 10 years of experience, wrote the book full of stories of victims of possession and testimonies of exorcists who fight against the devil, including a previously unpublished interview with Pope Francis in which he describes how the devil always "tries to attack everyone and sows discord, also in the Church, trying to pit one against another."

Pope Francis, attacked by the devil

The pope admits in this interview that he too has been attacked by the devil, Marchese said. "The devil attacks everyone, but above all those in the hierarchy of the Church. He tempted Jesus and he also does the same with the popes and bishops."

Indeed, in the first chapter of the book, Marchese tells the story of a nun who was freed from diabolic possession and who, during the exorcisms, with a demonic voice, indicated that the devil hated Pope Francis: "Have you seen everything I put that Argentine through?" the devil said to the priest. "But he doesn't go away, he is strong, too much for me."

"I asked the pope," Marchese recalled, "did you know that the devil says that about you? And he answered me: 'Perhaps because I annoy him with prayer and I follow the Gospel.' At the same time, he is certainly pleased when I commit some sin. He seeks the downfall of man, but he has no hope when prayer is present."

In some dioceses in northern Europe there are no exorcists despite the warnings of recent popes, Marchese noted in the interview with ACI Prensa. "Yes, unfortunately it's like that, and I have to agree with Father Gabriele Amorth (1925–2016), who was a great exorcist."

Some popes have performed remote exorcisms

Although some popes have performed remote exorcisms, such as Pius XII and St. John Paul II, there is no evidence that other contemporary pontiffs have done so. Even in times when the devil has manifested himself, such as when Benedict XVI blessed three demoniac youths from a distance after a general audience in 2009, popes have not carried out exorcisms.

St. John XXIII never performed exorcisms and neither did St. Paul VI, who in 1972 commented how "the smoke of Satan had entered through some crack" into the Church. Nor has Pope Francis performed an exorcism, as confirmed in the interview with Marchese, since he prefers that specialized priests do it.

His approach is focused on preventing and combating evil temptations through faith and prayer. The pontiff has not only openly preached against the devil, he also recognized the International Association of Exorcists in June 2014, Marchese noted.

In 2019, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published the book "Rebuking the Devil," which compiles Pope Francis' most important teachings on the prince of lies, "his empty promises and works, and how he can be actively combated."

"The pope tells us how to use powerful spiritual weapons against the devil, including the word of God and the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament," wrote Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, at the presentation of the book.

This updated 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, Aug 26, 2024 / 10:39 am (CNA).

Pope Francis met with 30 relatives of victims of the Port of Beirut explosion in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday, expressing his sorrow and closeness with families suffering due to the ongoing political turmoil in Lebanon.  

"I continue to keep you and your loved ones in my prayers, and I join my tears to your own," the Holy Father shared. "Together with you, I think of all those whose lives were taken by that enormous explosion."

Four years since the deadly blast that killed more than 220 people and injured some 6,500 people in the country's capital, investigations into the actual cause of the explosion remain stalled due to political wrangling.

"Together with you, I ask for truth and justice. All of us know that the issues are complex and difficult and that opposing powers and interests make their influence felt. Yet truth and justice must prevail over all else," the pope expressed to the families present at the private audience. 

"Four years have now gone by. The Lebanese people, and you above all, have a right to words and actions that manifest responsibility and transparency," he added.

The Holy Father praised the "dignity of faith" and the "nobility of hope" of the families he met Monday morning, likening their spirit to that of the cedar tree — the symbol of Lebanon. 

"Cedars invite us to lift our gaze on high, to heaven, to God, who is our hope, a hope that does not disappoint," he said.

He also encouraged them to uphold and live their vocation to be people of peace in the Middle East.

"Lebanon is, and must remain, a project for peace. Its vocation is to be a land where diverse communities live together in concord, setting the common good above individual advantage, a land where different religions and confessions encounter one another in a spirit of fraternity," he said.

The pope also reminded the families present that the local and universal Church is not indifferent to their sufferings but is united to them in action and in prayer.

"I know that your bishops and priests, your men and women religious, are close to you. I thank them from the bottom of my heart for all that they have done and continue to do," he conveyed. 

"You are not alone, and we will never abandon you but express our solidarity with you through prayer and concrete works of charity."

At the conclusion of the meeting, Pope Francis imparted his paternal blessings and entrusted the care of the families to Our Lady of Lebanon.

"May the Virgin Mary from her shrine in Harissa continue to watch over you and all the Lebanese people. I cordially impart my blessing. I assure you of my prayers, and I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you."

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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.

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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. 

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."

"May Mary, who welcomed Jesus, the Word of God … help us to listen to him and never abandon him," the pope prayed.

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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.

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."

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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.

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.

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