Vatican City, May 28, 2016 / 09:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The story of a young migrant girl who drowned at sea was at the heart of Pope Francis' address to some 400 children who on Saturday had traveled to the Vatican from the southern Italian region of Calabria. Speaking off the cuff to the children who had arrived by the “Treno per Bambini” – “Children's Train” – and who represented various religions, cultures, and ethnicities, the Pope asked them to come up with a name for the unknown girl. “Let us think of this little girl: what was her name? I do not know: a little girl with no name,” the pontiff said, according to Vatican Radio's translation. “Each of you give her the name you would like, each in his heart. She is in heaven, she is looking on us.” Pope Francis told the story of the little girl as it was recounted to him by a rescue worker who had attempted to save the child, only to succeed in saving her lifejacket. “He brought me this jacket,” the pontiff said, showing the life jacket to the children, “and with tears in his eyes he said to me, 'Father, I couldn’t do it – there was a little girl on the waves, and I did all I could, but I couldn’t save her: only her life vest was left.'” “I do not (tell you this because I) want you to be sad, but (because) you are brave and you (should) know the truth: they are in danger –  many boys and girls, small children, men, women – they are in danger,” he said. The annual “Treno per Bambini,” which brings a group of young boys and girls, is an initiative of the Pontifical Council of Culture. The theme of this year's event is “Carried by waves,” which is meant to evoke the image of both danger and hope experienced by migrants, reports Vatican Radio. Among the initiatives involved in the event are the John XXIII Association, and the “Quattrocanti” Children’s Orchestra of Palermo, which brings together boys and girls of eight different ethnicities. The principal of a school in Vibo Marina, Mary Salvia, brought with her to the At the May 28 event Vatican money which had been collected by the school for the children of Lesbos, along with a letter signed by her students. “We children promise that we will welcome anyone who arrives in our country,” said the letter, which was read to Pope Francis by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture: “we shall never consider anyone who has a different skin color, or who speaks a different language, or who professes a different religion from ours, a dangerous enemy.” During the Saturday afternoon encounter with the pontiff, one of the children asked what it means “to be Pope.” He responded: ( do) the good that I can do.” “I feel that Jesus called me to this: Jesus wanted me to be a Christian, and a Christian must do (the good he can),” he said; “and Jesus also wanted me to be a priest, and a bishop – and a priest and a bishop must do (the good they can); I feel that Jesus is calling me to do this – that’s what I feel.” Read more

Vatican City, May 28, 2016 / 06:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Saturday, Pope Francis met with the president of the Republic of Singapore, marking 35 years of diplomatic relations between the Southeast Asian country and the Holy See, and the first ever state visit by a Singaporean president to a Pope. During the visit, President Tony Tan Keng Yam and the pontiff addressed topics relating to “the importance of interreligious and intercultural dialogue for the promotion of human rights, stability, justice and peace in south-east Asia,” according to a statement by the Holy See press office. The “cordial discussion” also addressed the “good relations between the Holy See and Singapore,” and the “collaboration between the Church and the State, especially in the educational and social fields,” the statement continues. After the meeting, Pope Francis gave President Tan a medal of peace, explaining how government is about bringing people together. The Pope then presented a copy of his encyclical Laudato, Si' to the president, who in turn thanked the pontiff for speaking out about climate change, saying: “it is a big problem.” The president for his part gave the pontiff an etching of Singapore's Gardens by the Bay nature park, and a book of about the country's exotic flowers. President Tan also met with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, along with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States. The May 28 meeting at the Vatican comes at the final leg of the president's week-long State Visit, during which he stopped in Rome and Venice. Diplomatic relations between Singapore and the Holy See officially began June 24, 1981 under the pontificate of St. John Paul II. Since 1965, Singapore has also had relations with Italy, one of the first countries to recognize its status of independence. Read more

Vatican City, May 27, 2016 / 11:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When Pope Francis met with the Sons of Divine Providence – also known as the Orionine Fathers – on Friday, he urged them to be faithful to the charism of their founder, St. Luigi Orione. So what is this charism? “Don Orione recommended that you 'seek out and treat the wounds of the people, cure their infirmities, and reach out to them morally and materially: in this way your action would be not only effective, but profoundly Christian and saving,'” Pope Francis reminded the Orionines May 27 at the Vatican's Clementine Hall. The Orionines are gathered in rome for their 14th General Chapter, at which they elected a new superior general, Father Tarcisio Vieira. The Sons of Divine Providence were founded by St. Luigi Orione in 1893, while he was still a seminarian. St. Orione was born in Italy in 1872, and he was a student at the Valdocco Oratory in Turin, which was operated by St. John Bosco. His motto was “do good to all; harm no one.” When he entered the seminary, St. Orione was inspired by the work of the Salesians, and decided to found his own oratory to educated the poor boys of Tortona. The next year, 1893, he began a boarding school for orphans, from which his religious congregation grew. He was ordained a priest in 1895, and seminarians and priests were gathering around him to form what would become the Sons of Divine Providence. The order was given canonical approval by Bishop Igino Bandi of Tortona in 1903. Their work expanded to operating schools, boarding houses, agricultural schools, and charitable and welfare works across Italy, with several associated congregations being founded, as well. The order expanded to Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Palestine, Poland, Rhodes, the United States, England, and Albania, before St. Orione's death in 1940. He was canonized in 2004. There are now approximately 1,000 Orionine priests and brothers serving the poor in 32 countries around the world. “We are all on our way in following Jesus,” Pope Francis told the members of the congregation who were present at the general chapter. “The whole Church is called to follow with Jesus the paths of the world to encounter today's humanity which is in need, as Don Orione wrote, of 'the bread of the body and the divine balsam of faith'. He recalled that St. Orione called them to be “servants of Christ and of the poor,” and that their path in doing this must “always unite the two dimension of your life: the personal and the apostolic.” “You have been called and consecrated by God to remain with Jesus and to serve him in the poor and the excluded of society. In them, you touch and serve the body of Christ and grow in union with him,  always keeping watch to ensure faith does not become ideology, charity is not reduced to philanthropy, and the Church does not end up as an NGO.” The Pope told the Sons of Divine Providence that their being servants of Christ “qualifies all you are and all you do, guaranteeing your apostolic effectiveness and rendering fruitful your service.” He brought up St. Orione's commendation that his community treat the wounds of the people, saying that “I encourage you to follow these directions, which are very true!” “In this way, you will not only imitate Jesus the Good Samaritan, but you will also offer to the people the joy of encountering Jesus and the salvation he brings to all.” Pope Francis reminded the Orionines that “the proclamation of the Gospel, especially in our times, requires great love for the Lord, together with particular initiative. I have heard that while the Founder was still alive, in some places they called you 'the running priests', because they always saw you on the move, amid the people, with the rapid pace of those who care.” “With Don Orione, I too exhort you not to remain enclosed within your particular environment, but to 'go out'. There is a great need for priests and religious who do not stay only in their institutions of charity – necessary though they may be – but who also know how to take to all places, even the most distant, the perfume of Christ's charity.” He urged them, “Never lose sight of the Church, or of your religious community; rather, your heart must be there in your ‘cenacle’, but then you must go out to bring God's mercy to all, without distinction.” The Pope told the Orionines that “your service to the Church will be more effective the more you apply yourselves to care for your personal closeness to Christ and to your spiritual formation. Bearing witness to the beauty of consecration, the good life of religious 'servants of Christ and of the poor', you will set an example to the young. Life generates life, and the holy and content religious inspires new vocations.” Read more