Vatican City, Nov 20, 2016 / 03:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday Pope Francis closed the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica, officially marking the end of the Jubilee of Mercy, which he said is a reminder that love is at the core of God’s attitude, rather than power and prestige. “This Year of Mercy invites us to rediscover the core, to return to what is essential,” the Pope said Nov. 20, the Feast of Christ the King. The “time of mercy” lived during the Jubilee serves as a call to look to “the true face of our King,” and to rediscover “the youthful, beautiful face of the Church, the face that is radiant when it is welcoming, free, faithful, poor in means but rich in love, on mission.” Mercy, he said, takes us “to the heart of the Gospel, urges us to give up habits and practices which may be obstacles to serving the Kingdom of God” and urges us to align ourselves “only in the perennial and humble kingship of Jesus, not in submission to the precarious regalities and changing powers of every age.” Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for Mass marking the end of the Jubilee of Mercy. He first announced the Jubilee during a March 13, 2015, penitential liturgy inside the basilica. In an unprecedented move, the Pope jump-started the Holy Year by opening the Holy Door in Bangui Nov. 29, 2015, – 10 days before the Holy Year officially began Dec. 8, 2015. Not only did it mark the first time a Pope had opened a Holy Door outside of Rome, but the act was also seen as a strong sign of solidarity with the war-torn country. After closing the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica – the last one open in the world – the Pope processed to the square outside, where he celebrated Mass with the 70,000 pilgrims present, according to Vatican security.  #PopeFrancis closes Holy Door of St Peter's Basilica before Mass, marking close of @Jubilee_va of #Mercy pic.twitter.com/yiscskZROD — Elise Harris (@eharris_it) November 20, 2016   In his homily, the Pope pointed to the day’s Gospel from Luke, in which Christ, “the Chosen One, the King” appears “without power or glory: he is on the cross, where he seems more to be conquered than conqueror.” Jesus’ kingship, he said, “is paradoxical:” his crown is made of thorns, he has no scepter, no “luxurious clothing” or “shiny rings” on his fingers, but is instead pierced with nails and sold for 30 pieces of silver. Francis noted that glory of God's kingdom “is not power as defined by this world, but the love of God, a love capable of encountering and healing all things.” Christ “lowered himself to us out of this love, he lived our human misery, he suffered the lowest point of our human condition” of betrayal and abandonment. However, “he did not condemn us, nor did he conquer us, and he never disregarded our freedom,” but instead “paved the way with a humble love that forgives all things.” In celebrating the Feast of Christ the King, we proclaim his victory over death “with the sole power of love,” Pope Francis said, but cautioned that it would mean “very little” if we believed Jesus was King of the universe, but didn’t “make him Lord of our lives.” He pointed to three different figures in the Gospel representing the different attitudes we can have: naming them as the people who are looking on, those near the cross, and the criminal crucified next to Jesus. Those who stood by and merely watched as Jesus was crucified without saying a word were the same ones who pressed “in on Jesus when they needed something, and who now keep their distance.” Francis said that we too can keep our distance, preferring “to remain at the window, to stand apart, rather than draw near and be with him.” However, a people who are holy and “have Jesus as their King, are called to follow his way of tangible love.” Pointing to the second group, which included leaders, soldiers and a criminal, the Pope noted how they “all mock Jesus. They provoke him in the same way: ‘Save yourself!’” This temptation, he said, “is worse than that of the people. They tempt Jesus, just as the devil did at the beginning of the Gospel to give up reigning as God wills, and instead to reign according to the world’s ways,” preferring to save himself over others. “It is the most terrible temptation, the first and the last of the Gospel,” he said, but noted that when faced with this attack, “Jesus does not speak, he does not react. He does not defend himself.” Rather, the Lord “continues rather to love; he forgives, he lives this moment of trial according to the Father’s will, certain that love will bear fruit.” The Pope stressed that we are called to “struggle against this temptation” and fix our eyes on the Crucified Jesus, becoming “ever more faithful to him.” “The lure of power and success seem an easy, quick way to spread the Gospel; we soon forget how the Kingdom of God works,” he said, but said the Jubilee of Mercy directs our focus to what's essential. Turning to the third figure, the thief who begs Jesus to remember him, Pope Francis said this person in “simply looking at Jesus, believed in his kingdom.” Instead of being “closed in on himself,” the man, despite his sins and errors, “turned to Jesus. He asked to be remembered, and he experienced God’s mercy.” “As soon as we give God the chance, he remembers us. He is ready to completely and forever cancel our sin,” Francis said, explaining that unlike our own, God’s memory “does not record evil that has been done or keep score of injustices experienced.” “God has no memory of sin, but only of us, of each of us, we who are his beloved children. And he believes that it is always possible to start anew, to raise ourselves up.” Pope Francis encouraged pilgrims to pray for the grace to never close the doors “of reconciliation and pardon,” explaining that just God believes in us beyond any of our own merits, “so too we are called to instill hope and provide opportunities to others.” “Even if the Holy Door closes, the true door of mercy which is the heart of Christ always remains open wide for us,” he said noting that it is from “the lacerated side of the Risen One” that mercy, consolation and hope flow until the end of time. He offered thanks for the many pilgrims who during the Jubilee crossed the Holy Door away from “the clamor” of daily news and tasted the “great goodness” of the Lord, and asked Mary to intercede for us as the Holy Year comes to an end. “May our Blessed Lady accompany us...She is Mother of Mercy, to whom we entrust ourselves: every situation we are in, every prayer we make, when lifted up to his merciful eyes, will find an answer.” After celebrating Mass, Pope Francis led pilgrims in praying the Angelus, telling them to give thanks to God “for the gift that the Holy Year of Mercy has been for the Church and for many people of goodwill.” He also offered a special greeting to the sick, and to the delegation of the Italian government who were also present at Mass, including Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella. At the end of the celebration Pope Francis also signed his new apostolic letter “Misericordia et misera,” set to be published Nov. 21 and which is addressed to the entire Church “to live continue to live mercy with the same intensity experienced during the entire Extraordinary Jubilee,” according to a communique from the Vatican Press Office. In a gesture meant to represent the entire People of God, he handed a copy to people from several different states and stages in life, including Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, one of the larges dioceses in the world; Archbishop Leo William Cushley of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh; two priests from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Brazil who served as Missionaries of Mercy during the Jubilee; a permanent deacon from the diocese of Rome together with his family; two religious sisters from Mexico and South Korea; a family – children, parents and grandparents included – from the United States; a young engaged couple, two mothers who teach catechesis in Rome and one person who was disabled and one who was ill. <blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Francis is here to close the last Holy Door. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YearOfMercy?src=hash">#YearOfMercy</a> <a href="https://t.co/KISBcTI4s0">pic.twitter.com/KISBcTI4s0</a></p>&mdash; Ines San Martin (@inesanma) <a href="https://twitter.com/inesanma/status/800261292296720385">November 20, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>   Read more

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2016 / 07:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After becoming the first prelate from Bangladesh to ever get a red hat, newly-elevated Cardinal Patrick D'Rozario said his country is waiting for the Pope’s visit in 2017, which will not only rejuvenate the Church, but will help strengthen interfaith ties. Pope Francis’ visit to Bangladesh will be “a great event for the whole Church in the country, especially for interreligious harmony, the rights of government workers and for climate change,” Cardinal D'Rozario told journalists Nov. 19, after being elevated as cardinal earlier that day. “He’s a kind of ‘spiritual guru,’ the Holy Father,” the cardinal said, predicting the visit will “boost-up the spirituality, the communion of all the people.” When asked when the Pope’s Bangladesh visit will take place, the new cardinal joked “I’m going to take him there right now!” Turning practical, he said that due to the country’s hot season and monsoon season, the trip will likely take place in the second half of 2017 at the end of the year. Cardinal D'Rozario, the Archbishop of Dhaka, was one of 17 priests and bishops to be made a cardinal by Pope Francis during a special consistory Saturday, set to coincide with the close of the Jubilee of Mercy. True to the Pope’s style, many of the new cardinals named by Francis come from small countries or islands that have never before had a cardinal, as well as from countries which present particular challenges in terms of pastoral outreach, such as those stricken with violence or persecution. Cardinal D'Rozario is the first-ever cardinal from Bangladesh. Other countries with their first cardinal include the Central African Republic, Mauritius Island, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Lesotho and Albania. Speaking to journalists, the cardinal said the Pope’s visit to Bangladesh will also serve as a stimulus to strengthen community bonds weakened by recent acts of terrorism. On July 1 Islamic terrorists laid siege to a restaurant in Bangladesh, killing 20 people. The attack took place just as Muslims in the midst of the month of Ramadan were about to break their fast at sundown. According to Cardinal D'Rozario, such attacks “are very foreign to our culture,” which has enjoyed interreligious harmony and dialogue “for many, many years. So this is something foreign.” He noted how for the past nine months he has been working with the government and other religious leaders in the country “in order to build that communion again.” The cardinal also reflected on his feelings about his elevation to the College of Cardinals. When he first got the news, he said, “I could not believe it, I could not accept it.” He said he was moved by the letter Pope Francis sent him, in which the pontiff emphasized that “when the people come and wish you and greet you, remember the Lord is gazing on you. He is up there gazing, looking at you.” Another of the new cardinals is Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga of Bangui in the Central African Republic. The country was Pope Francis’ first stop last November as part of his tour of Africa. For Cardinal Nzapalainga, the consistory “is a very great day for us,” particularly “because the Pope came to Central Africa to open the Holy Door.” In an unprecedented move, the Pope jump-started the Jubilee of Mercy by opening the Holy Door in Bangui Nov. 29, 10 days before the Holy Year officially began. Not only did it mark the first time a Pope had opened a Holy Door outside of Rome, but the act was also seen as a strong sign of solidarity with the war-torn country. The Central African Republic’s president Faustin-Archange Touadéra, was also present for the consistory alongside the President of the Assembly, the lower house of the country’s parliament, and the country’s Imam. Given the presence of both religious and governmental leaders at his official elevation ceremony, Cardinal Nzapalainga said, “we think that it’s something more than for us, it’s something for the whole Church in Africa and the whole country.”   Read more

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2016 / 02:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When Pope Francis spoke out sharply against the “virus of polarization,” three new American cardinals saw a chance for a serious examination of conscience. “I thought it was very timely, what the Holy Father said,” Cardinal Joseph Tobin told journalists Nov. 19. He said that for him, the first thing to do in response is “to examine ourselves in the Church, to see whether we have unconsciously appropriated this virus” or somehow justified it “when it actually serves to divide.” To do this, he said, could likely be considered “a resistance to the acts of the Holy Spirit.” Cardinal Tobin was among 17 priests and bishops who came to St. Peter’s Basilica from around the world to receive a red hat from Pope Francis Saturday during a special consistory set to coincide with the end of the Jubilee of Mercy. The cardinal is currently Archbishop of Indianapolis but will head the Archdiocese of Newark to take over for retiring Archbishop John Myers. Pope Francis gave a homily during the consistory earlier in the morning, saying that we live in an age “of grave global problems and issues,” and in which “polarization and exclusion are burgeoning and considered the only way to resolve conflicts.” “How many situations of uncertainty and suffering are sown by this growing animosity between peoples, between us,” he said, stressing that this attitude also infiltrates the Church in her communities, meetings and even priests. “The virus of polarization and animosity permeates our way of thinking, feeling and acting,” the Pope said, stressing to the cardinals that “we are not immune from this and we need to take care lest such attitudes find a place in our hearts.” Another U.S. bishop elevated alongside Tobin was Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who was previously the Bishop of Dallas until the Pope in August tapped him as the head of the Vatican’s new Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. In response to the Pope’s homily, Cardinal Farrell told journalists he thinks the message Francis wants to convey is that “we all need to be a little more concerned and merciful and compassionate to each of our brothers and sisters” as the Year of Mercy comes to an end. “We all need to learn how to respect each other. We can disagree on many points, but we need to enter into dialogue and conversation with each other. That’s what I believe the Holy Father wanted and that’s what I believe the Year of Mercy is all about,” he said. He said mercy must continue “and we must live it” People can talk “all they want to about every theological problem we have in the world,” but if it isn’t done in a spirit of charity, it’s empty, he said. Similarly, newly-elevated Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago told journalists after getting his red biretta that the Pope’s use of the word “virus” was spot-on, “because animosity can be contagious and it can be enflamed with circumstances that would allow it to be so.” The cardinal said he believes this does happen and that this virus “does feed on itself,” but he also noted Francis’ insistence that “each one of us have a responsibility to break that cycle of animosity.” When it comes to his own personal ministry in the Chicago archdiocese, Cardinal Cupich said he is inspired by Pope Francis “to see the world like he does, to have that more global outlook,” giving more attention to poverty and persecution. He noted that in a brief conversation with Pope Francis before the consistory, he assured the Pope of his obedience to the Church and to the Petrine ministry. In addition to Cardinals Tobin, Farrell and Cupich, 14 other priests and bishops were elevated to the cardinalate. Many of them come from the world’s peripheries. As in previous years, Francis has stuck close to his vision of having a broader, more universal representation of the Church in the College of Cardinals. He has elevated many bishops from small countries or islands that have never before had a cardinal, as well as from countries which present particular challenges in terms of pastoral outreach, such as those suffering violence or persecution. Out of the Pope's new nominations, seven come from countries that have previously never had a cardinal, including: the Central African Republic, Bangladesh, Mauritius Island, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Lesotho and Albania. Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who attended the consistory, told CAN that while the Pope frequently speaks about the need to go out to the world’s peripheries, “these one have done it.” He noted that there are “many people in the Church that don’t know about the existence of these places,” so now to now have a cardinal there is “an indication of the vision of the Holy Father for the universality, the catholicity, of the Church.” The cardinal also spoke about the new cardinals’ brief encounter with Benedict XVI after the consistory, explaining that “all of them are very happy.” He said to see Benedict now is “a joy.” Cardinal O’Malley said the Year of Mercy has been the most successful Holy Year he has ever experienced. “It touched the batteries of the entire world,” he said, adding “thousands of people returned to the sacraments, they understood how to practice mercy, how to forgive one another. It was really a spiritual success.” Read more

Vatican City, Nov 19, 2016 / 03:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Saturday Pope Francis handed a red hat to 17 new cardinals, warning them against the danger of falling into polemics and animosity and encouraging them to be close to their people, imitating God’s mercy. “Ours is an age of grave global problems and issues. We live at a time in which polarization and exclusion are burgeoning and considered the only way to resolve conflicts,” the Pope said Nov. 19. Using the current global migration crisis as an example, he noted how easy it is to view those considered to be “strangers” to be seen as a threat, and to “take on the status of an enemy.” Whether it’s because they have different customs, different colored skin, a different language, a lower social class or even because they have a different faith, these people are often marginalized and “without our realizing it, this way of thinking becomes part of the way we live and act.” “Everything and everyone then begins to savor of animosity. Little by little, our differences turn into symptoms of hostility, threats and violence,” Pope Francis said, noting that this has an especially hard impact on the defenseless “because their voice is weak and silenced by this pathology of indifference!” “How many situations of uncertainty and suffering are sown by this growing animosity between peoples, between us,” he said, stressing that this attitude also infiltrates the Church in her communities, meetings and even priests. “The virus of polarization and animosity permeates our way of thinking, feeling and acting,” the Pope said, stressing to the cardinals that “we are not immune from this and we need to take care lest such attitudes find a place in our hearts.” Should this happen, it would be a direct contradiction of “the richness and universality of the Church,” which can be tangible felt within in the College of Cardinals. “We come from distant lands; we have different traditions, skin color, languages and social backgrounds; we think differently and we celebrate our faith in a variety of rites,” Francis said, adding that “none of this makes us enemies; instead, it is one of our greatest riches.” Pope Francis spoke to 16 of the 17 bishops and priests he tapped to get a red hat last month, the only absentee being Bishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I, Emeritus of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho, for health reasons. Coming from 11 nations and 5 continents, the new cardinals represent the Pope’s vision of having a broader, more universal representation of the Church. In addition to having three Americans – Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis and Bishop Kevin Farrell, prefect of the new Congregation for Laity, Family and Life – the appointees include many from small countries or islands that have never before had a cardinal, as well as from countries which present particular challenges in terms of pastoral outreach, such as those stricken with violence or persecution. In his homily, Francis pointed to the day’s Gospel from Luke, in which Jesus tells his disciples to “set out” and go to the plains to meet the people, rather than staying on top of the mountain. “The Lord thus shows the Apostles, and ourselves, that the true heights are reached on the plain, while the plain reminds us that the heights are found in a gaze and above all in a call: Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful,” he said. He then pointed to four “exhortations” that he said molds the vocation of the apostles “through real, everyday situation,” which he named as to “love, do good, bless and pray.” These “are four things we can easily do for our friends and for those more or less close to us” or that we like, he said, but noted they are much more difficult to do for our enemies. When we think of our enemies or those whom we don’t like, our first reaction is often “to dismiss, discredit or curse them,” he said, noting how we frequently “try to demonize them, so as to have a sacred justification for dismissing them.” “But Jesus tells us to do exactly the opposite with our enemies, those who hate us, those who curse us or slander us. We are to love them, to do good to them, to bless them and to pray for them.” Pope Francis then turned to what he said are “the hallmarks” of Jesus' message, where his “power and secret” are hidden. The first aspect of this “secret” is that “my enemy is someone I must love,” he said, explaining that “in God’s heart there are no enemies. God only has sons and daughters.” “We are the ones who raise walls, build barriers and label people. God has sons and daughters, precisely so that no one will be turned away...No matter how sullied our hands may be, God cannot be stopped from placing in those hands the Life he wishes to bestow on us.” The Pope concluded his homily by pointing to Jesus continues to invite us “to spend our lives sustaining our people in hope, so that they can be signs of reconciliation.” “As the Church, we are constantly being asked to open our eyes to see the wounds of so many of our brothers and sisters deprived of their dignity, deprived in their dignity,” he said and urged the cardinals to “cherish in your own heart” the summons to be “merciful like the Father.” In addition to the three American cardinals elevated during the consistory, others of voting age include: Archbishop Mario Zenari, who is and will remain apostolic nuncio to the “beloved and martyred” Syria; Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga of Bangui; Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid; Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brazil; Archbishop Patrick D'Rozario of Dakha, Bangladesh; Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela; Archbishop Joseph de Kesel of Malines Brussels; Bishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, Mauritius Island; Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico and Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. In addition to the 13 new electoral cardinals, Francis has nominated four others who are of non-voting age due to their notable service to the Church: Anthony Soter Fernandez, Archbishop Emeritus of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Renato Corti, Archbishop Emeritus of Novara and Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I, Bishop Emeritus of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho. Additionally, he nominated Fr Ernest Simoni, an Albanian priest from the diocese of Shkodra, whose testimony of the persecution of the Albanian Church under the communist regime the Pope cried at during his 2014 daytrip to the country. The consistory will be the third of Pope Francis’ pontificate, the most recent of which took place last year on Valentine’s Day. With the 17 new cardinal-elects included, the number of voting cardinals comes to 121, and the number of non-voters to 107, for a grand total of 228. Read more

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2016 / 01:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Friday Pope Francis stopped by a formation course for bishops on the new marriage nullity process, telling attendees that as bishops, and now as local judges in annulment cases, they must pursue the truth, but never exclude those whose marriages have failed. The Church, “who is embodied in the sad stories and sufferings of the people,” bends down to the poor “and to those who are far away from the ecclesial community or consider themselves outside of it due to their marital failure,” the Pope said Nov. 18. Despite whatever distance couples who find themselves in this situation might feel, “they are and remain incorporated in Christ in virtue of their baptism,” Francis said. He stressed that the Church has always had the attitude of a mother “who welcomes and loves, following the example of Jesus the Good Samaritan.” Because of this, it is the responsibility of bishops to never “consider them strangers to the Body of Christ, which is the Church.” Pope Francis spoke to bishops currently in Rome to participate in a Nov. 17-19 formation course on the new, streamlined annulment process rolled out last year. He reformed the process for the causes of marriage nullity in December 2015, giving the possibility of a stronger role to local bishops, among other things. According to the new norms, the bishop may act as a judge in cases of nullity, and can use a swifter process than is typical when nullity is “sustained by particularly evident arguments.” The reformed process was officially put into place by two documents, Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus (The Lord Jesus, a meek judge) and Mitis et misericors Iesus (Jesus, meek and merciful), which reformed the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, respectively. In addition to the increased role open to the local bishop, the reform also dropped the requirement of an automatic appeal when one tribunal found a marriage to be null, and ensured that the process would be free of charge. It also established that each diocese must have its own tribunal. Pope Francis' reforms were intended to simply and streamline the process, while also safeguarding the indissolubility of marriage. His visit to the Rota for the course fell nearly one year after the new process went into effect Dec. 8, 2015, coinciding with the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the launch of the Jubilee of Mercy. The Roman Rota is one of three tribunals in the Roman Curia, and is the court of higher instance, usually at the appellate stage, with the purpose of safeguarding rights within the Church. In his speech to course participants, Pope Francis said that bishops, while having been made “teachers of the faith” through their consecration, must also “continually learn.” To learn in this sense, he said, “is to understand the needs and questions of humanity today and to look for answers in the Word of God and in the truth of the faith.” He pointed to Bl. Paul VI’s 1975 apostolic exhortation Evangelii nuntiandi, in which the late Roman Pontiff encouraged evangelization efforts to take place “not in a superficial way,” but by “descending into the concrete situations of people.” “Attention to people is the underlying theological and ecclesial motive for this formation course,” the Pope said, adding that spiritual health and “the salus animarum (salvation of souls)” of the persons entrusted to them “is the end of every pastoral action.” The mission of a bishop, he said, is ultimately expressed in the First Letter of Saint Peter, in which the apostle encourages pastors at the time to tend to their flock not because they are forced to, “but willingly, as would God,” and to do so with “a generous heart” while providing an example for the flock. “In this perspective, it is necessary to decisively eliminate every impediment of a worldly nature which makes it difficult for a large number of faithful to access ecclesiastical tribunals,” he said, stressing that economic or organizational problems “cannot be an obstacle to the canonical verification of the validity of marriage.” Francis then spoke of the “healthy relationship” between justice and charity, explaining that Church law can’t ignore “the fundamental principle of salus animarum.” Because of this, ecclesiastical tribunals “are called to be a tangible expression of a diaconal service of the laws in regard to this primary end,” he said, noting that the salvation of souls indicates “the horizon of mercy.” Pope Francis noted that the questions the bishops bring from their own dioceses and experience of marriage pastoral ministry “require answers and actions that are not always easy.” However, he voiced his confidence that the course would help them to find “the most appropriate approach to the various problems,” and thanked the Dean of the Rota, Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto, as well as the other speakers, who included Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, for their “competent legal, theological, and pastoral contribution.” Pope Francis closed his speech by encouraging the bishops to return to their dioceses “enriched with notions and useful tips in order to perform your ministry more effectively, especially regarding the new marriage process.” This process, he said, is “an important help” in terms of to growing their flocks in imitation of Christ the Good Shepherd, “from whom we must daily learn the wise search of the unum necessarium (one thing necessary): the salvation of souls.” He prayed that the Holy Spirit, who “invisibly but truly guides the Church,” would help both them “and also the Successor of Peter to respond with availability and humility to the cry of help of so many of our brothers and sisters who need to discover the truth of their marriage and their ways of life.” Read more

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2016 / 12:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Friday had a question for priests: “Are you attached to money?” “The house of our Lord God is a house of prayer. Our encounter with the Lord (is) with the God of... Read more

Vatican City, Nov 18, 2016 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a lengthy new interview, Pope Francis opened up about his thoughts on the Jubilee of Mercy as well as progress made in the field of ecumenism, both of which he said have roots in the Second Vat... Read more