Vatican City, Apr 5, 2017 / 11:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis met Wednesday with a delegation of Muslim leaders from Great Britain along with Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster to promote dialogue and collaboration following the deadly attack in London last month. During the private meeting at the Vatican's Paul VI Hall April 5, Pope Francis said the most important job everyone has in this moment is to listen to each other. “I like to think that the most important work that we must do among us today, in humanity, is the work ‘of the ear:’ to listen to each other,” he stated. “To listen to each other, without rushing to answer.” Following the audience with Francis, the group also met with Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. The meetings at the Vatican were organized following an attack on London’s Palace of Westminster March 22. According to the Guardian, four people were killed in the attack, including the police officer who was stabbed and one man believed to be the assailant. About 20 others were reported injured, some severely. Wednesday’s delegation consisted of Muhammad Shahid Raza, chairman of the British Muslim Forum; Ali Raza Rizvi, president of Majilis e Uluma Europe; Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi, director of the General Scottish Ahlul Bayt Society; and Ibrahim Mogra, co-chair of the Christian Muslim Forum. “The ability to listen, this is so important,” the Pope said during the meeting. “It's interesting: when people have this capacity to listen, they speak in a low tone, calmly... Instead, when they do not have this, they speak loudly and shout as well.” “Between brothers, all of us need to talk, to listen to each other and speak slowly, calmly, to search for the way together. And when you listen and speak, you are already on the way,” he said. According to a statement from the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Nichols said they were all “deeply moved” to meet with the Pope. “We draw great inspiration from his leadership and his encouragement to walk together on the road of profound spiritual dialogue.” “I also hope that this moment will help the voice of authentic Islam to be heard clearly. We look forward to our continuing promotion of collaboration at a local level at the service of all in society,” he continued. Moulana Muhammad Shahid Raza called the meeting “a historic moment,” bringing together Christians and Muslims in “unity and solidarity for peace.” “I could see the sincerity and love in his eyes as he offered words of encouragement to all of us as we came together in unity,” said Moulana Sayed Ali Abbas Razawi. “This is an important meeting offering hope for everyone, regardless of religion.” “There is a common humanity to all of us. Some seek to divide people, religions, east versus west, but there is no east or west; there is just our common humanity as we seek a peaceful future for all based on justice and compassion.” Pope Francis sent a letter the day following the London attack expressing his sorrow and solidarity for the victims and their families, and entrusting them and the nation to God’s mercy. “Deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life and of the injuries caused by the attack in central London, His Holiness Pope Francis expresses his prayerful solidarity with all those affected by this tragedy,” a March 23 letter signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin read. The Pope commended the souls of those who died “to the loving mercy of Almighty God,” and prayed for “divine strength and peace upon their grieving families,” while assuring of his prayer for the entire nation. Read more

Vatican City, Apr 5, 2017 / 05:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis expressed his horror at a chemical weapon attack in the province of Idlib in Syria on Tuesday, also expressing his sorrow for the victims of an attack April 3 in St. Petersburg, Russia. “We witness, horrified, the latest events in Syria,” the Pope said April 5. “I strongly deplore the unacceptable massacre that took place yesterday in the province of Idlib, where dozens of civilians were killed, including many children.” “I pray for the victims and their families, and I appeal to the conscience of those who have political responsibility, locally and internationally, so that this tragedy may come to an end and relief be brought to that beloved population who for too long have been devastated by war,” he continued. Francis also offered encouragement to those who, even in a time of insecurity and discomfort, are working to bring help to the people of that region. Reports differ, but at least 70 people, including children, were killed April 4 after being exposed to a toxic gas said to have been dropped from warplanes, the Guardian reports. At least another 100 people are being treated in hospitals in the region. Hours after the initial attack, one hospital treating the injured was also hit. This attack followed one day after a bomb exploded between two metro stops in St. Petersburg, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. Authorities have determined the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber originally from the central Asian Republic of Kyrgyzstan, CNN reports. Another explosive device was later found in the metro system and safely disabled. Pope Francis said Wednesday that his thoughts go out to all those involved in the serious attack. “I entrust to God's mercy those who have tragically died, I express my spiritual closeness to their families and to all those who suffer because of this tragic event,” he said. The Pope’s appeal followed his usual Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square, where he spoke about what it means to accept suffering in our lives, uniting it with the suffering of Jesus on the Cross. St. Peter tells us it is better to suffer “for doing good...than for doing evil,” Francis said. “He does not mean that it is good to suffer, but that, when we suffer for the good, we are in communion with the Lord, who consented to suffer and be placed on the cross for our salvation.” “When then we too, in smaller or larger situations in our lives, accept to suffer for the good,” he continued, “it is as if we sow around us seeds of the resurrection, seeds of life, making shine in the darkness the light of Easter.” This is why the Apostle urges us to not return “evil with evil,” he said, but instead to always wish the other person well. “This blessing is not a formality, is not only a sign of courtesy, but is a great gift that we ourselves have receive and have to ability to share with others,” he said. “It is the proclamation of God, an immense love, that does not end, it never fails, and which constitutes the very foundation of our hope.” Every time we suffer “for righteousness,” we become an “instrument of peace,” the Pope said. This is why the Apostle Peter calls us “blessed” for doing so. St. Peter also tells us to “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,” but this hope is not just a concept or a feeling, but a person, Pope Francis said. Because “Christ is risen,” we recognize that he is not only alive, but present in us and in our brothers and sisters, as well, he said. This means that we must be Christ’s visible signs on earth, taking him as our model of how to live and learning to always act as he would act. We must “emanate” the gentleness of Christ, always showing respect towards others, forgiving those who hurt us, the Pope said. “Yes, because that is what Jesus did, and continues to do through those who make room for him in their hearts and in their lives, aware that evil does not win with evil, but with humility, mercy and meekness." Read more

Vatican City, Apr 4, 2017 / 02:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Charles, Prince of Wales, and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, met Pope Francis Tuesday at the Vatican, shortly after the British prince had received the Renaissance Man of the Year award for his philanthropic work. Charles, 68, is heir to the British throne, and in recent years has drawn attention to the plight of Christians in the Middle East and to his own country's Christian heritage. During the April 4 meeting the Pope and the royal couple discussed topics of mutual interest and exchanged gifts, a release from the British Embassy to the Holy See. Pope Francis gave them a bronze sculpture of an olive branch, while they presented him with food from their private residence, Highgrove House, to be distributed to the poor and homeless.   The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall are received by His Holiness Pope Francis in Vatican City. #RoyalVisitHolySee @Pontifex pic.twitter.com/C2IPgPSAGf — Clarence House (@ClarenceHouse) April 4, 2017   Following the papal audience, Charles and a British diplomat met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, to discuss environmental issues, as well as officials from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue. Charles and Camilla also visited the Vatican Library and Secret Archives, and met at the Venerable English College with Britons working at the Holy See. The royal visit to the Vatican marked the conclusion to the couple's visit to the continent. They visited a Commonwealth cemetery in Vicenza commemorating the First World War, the earthquake-stricken city of Amatrice, and charities helping trafficked persons and the poor. This was their first meeting with Pope Francis. They encountered Benedict XVI in 2009, and Charles met St. John Paul II with his first wife, Diana, at the Vatican in 1985. Read more

Vatican City, Apr 4, 2017 / 11:41 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday Pope Francis spoke about what an ‘integral human development’ looks like, saying that development must include the whole person, both physically and spiritually. “Development does not consist in having the regulation of more and more goods, for just a material well-being,” he said April 4. “Integrating body and soul also means that no development work can really achieve its purpose if it does not respect the place where God is present to us and speaks to our hearts.” In Christ “God and man are not divided and separated. God became man to make of human life, both personal and social, a concrete path to salvation,” he reflected. “So the manifestation of God in Christ – including his acts of healing, liberation, and reconciliation that we are called to propose to the many injured by the roadside – shows the way and the mode of service that the Church intends to offer to the world,” he explained. “In this sense, the very concept of the person, born and matured in Christianity, helps to pursue a fully human development.” Pope Francis spoke April 4 in the Vatican's Synod Hall to participants in a conference hosted by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. The April 3-4 conference, held in honor of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical Populorum Progressio, on the development of peoples, aimed to discuss the question: “who is man?” “What does that mean, today and in the near future, integral development, i.e. development of every person and of the whole man?” Pope Francis asked, borrowing the words of his predecessor in Populorum Progressio. Specifically, Francis said, in the use of the word “integrate,” we can find “a fundamental orientation for the new dicastery,” which was established Jan. 1 of this year. One major integration that has largely been lost, he said, is that of community and the individual. Especially in the West, we have “exalted the individual until they become like an island, as if one can be happy alone,” he said. On the other hand, there are “ideological views and political powers have crushed the person,” he said, taking away their personal liberty. But “the self and the community are not in competition with each other,” he said. They should work together, because it is only within the context of authentic relationships that the “self is able to mature.” “This applies even more to the family, which is the first cell of society and where we learn to live together,” he said. The Pope said another form of integration we can improve is the solidarity between those who have too much and those who have nothing. In considering social integration, we must remember that “everyone has a contribution to offer the whole of society,” he said, “no one is excluded from making something for the good of all. This is both a right and a duty.” He said another essential aspect for this improved development is integration of the different systems: the economy, finance, labor, culture, family life, and religion. “None of them can be free-standing and none of them can be excluded from a concept of integral human development,” he said, this is taking “into account that human life is like an orchestra that sounds good if the different instruments agree and follow a score shared by all.” “The Church never tires of offering this wisdom and her work to the world, in the awareness that integral development is the way of goodness that the human family is called to tread,” the Pope concluded. “I encourage you to pursue this action with patience and perseverance, trusting that the Lord is with us.” Read more