Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 12:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis challenged massive crowds of young people at World Youth Day's final vigil to step away from the “sofa” of comfort and convenience, and respond to Christ's call to transform a suffering world. “Today Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, is calling you to leave your mark on history,” the Pope told the estimated 1.6 million people attending Saturday's vigil at the “Campus Misericordiae” – or “Field of Mercy.” In his address, the pontiff warned against opting “for ease and convenience, for confusing happiness with consumption,” because then “we end up paying a high price indeed: we lose our freedom.” “Jesus,” however, “is the Lord of risk, of the eternal 'more',” he said. “Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths.”   Saturday's WYD vigil marks the end of Pope Francis' second to last day of his July 27-31 trip to Poland for the international youth event. The address was delivered after hearing the testimonies of three young people, including a young woman named Rand who described the daily horrors which the people in her home country of Syria experience. The gathering of so many young people from countries torn by conflict, war, and other atrocities makes it so that the sufferings experienced by young people in these regions “are no longer anonymous, something we read about in the papers,” the Pope said. “They have a name, they have a face, they have a story, they are close at hand,” he said referring to the suffering which young people like Rand have experienced, coming from war-torn Syria. The extent of these situations cannot be appreciated by viewing them through a cell phone screen or computer, he said. He asked for prayers for all those affected by war in Syria and other parts of the world in order that, “once and for all, may we realize that nothing justifies shedding the blood of a brother or sister; that nothing is more precious than the person next to us.” The Pope also acknowledged the testimonies of struggle and inner conflict delivered by the two other young people, Natalia – a former fashion magazine journalist – and Miguel – a former drug addict. “Both of you are a living sign of what God’s mercy wants to accomplish in us,” he said. Pope Francis stressed that now is not the time to denounce those fighting or to tear people down. “We have no desire to conquer hatred with more hatred, violence with more violence, terror with more terror,” he said. Rather, the name which should be given to the response to war is “fraternity,” “brotherhood,” “communion,” and “family.” “We celebrate the fact that coming from different cultures, we have come together to pray,” he said. “Let our best word, our best argument, be our unity in prayer.” “Let us also place before the Lord your own “battles”, the interior struggles that each of your carries in his or her heart.” At this point, the Pope invited everyone to join hands for a moment of silent prayer, which he said afterwords reminded him of the scene of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. “Picturing them can help us come to appreciate all that God dreams of accomplishing in our lives, in us and with us,” he said. On that day, the disciples huddled behind locked doors, paralyzed by the fear of persecution, the Pope recounted. “Then, in that situation, something spectacular, something grandiose, occurred,” he said. “The Holy Spirit and tongues as of fire came to rest upon each of them, propelling them towards an undreamt-of adventure.” Like the disciples, the young people who gave their testimonies know “the fear and anguish born of knowing that leaving home might mean never again seeing their loved ones, the fear of not feeling appreciated or loved, the fear of having no choices.” “Thinking that in this world, in our cities and our communities, there is no longer any room to grow, to dream, to create, to gaze at new horizons – in a word to live – is one of the worst things that can happen to us in life,” he said. “When we are paralyzed, we miss the magic of encountering others, making friends, sharing dreams, walking at the side of others.” Pope Francis warned against a more dangerous kind of paralysis, which he described as “sofa-happiness” – in other words, the paralysis of confusing happiness with the sense of comfort, freeing us up to escape into the world of videogames and the computer, all the while keeping us at home with the illusion of safety.   “That is probably the most harmful and insidious form of paralysis, since little by little, without even realizing it, we start to nod off, to grow drowsy and dull while others – perhaps more alert than we are, but not necessarily better – decide our future for us,” he said. “For many people, that is more convenient than having young people who are alert and searching, trying to respond to God’s dream and to all the restlessness present in the human heart.” The Pope challenged young people not to “vegetate” in a comfortable life, but reminded them of their call “to leave a mark.” “But when we opt for ease and convenience, for confusing happiness with consumption, then we end up paying a high price indeed: we lose our freedom,” he said. “This is itself a great form of paralysis, whenever we start thinking that happiness is the same as comfort and convenience, that being happy means going through life asleep or on tranquillizers, that the only way to be happy is to live in a haze.” In contrast to this life of “sofa-happy” paralysis, Pope Francis said,  “Jesus is the Lord of risk, of the eternal 'more'.” “Jesus is not the Lord of comfort, security and ease. Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths.”   He told young people to take the path of the “craziness” of our God, by which he means caring for those in need, be they neighbors, prisoners, friends, refugees, or migrants. Although some might say such a life is for only a “chosen few,” the Pope cited the testimony of Miguel who said that one you are entrusted with responsibility, you begin “to understand that God was asking something of you.” “That is the secret, dear friends, and all of us are called to share in it. God expects something from you. God wants something from you. God hopes in you. God comes to break down all our fences.” “God comes to break open everything that keeps you closed in. He is encouraging you to dream. He wants to make you see that, with you, the world can be different.” “For the fact is, unless you offer the best of yourselves, the world will never be different.” It is not a time for young “couch potatoes,” the Pope said, but for protagonists of history. “History today calls us to defend our dignity and not to let others decide our future,” he said. For those concerned about their own limitations and sins, Pope Francis assured young people that the Lord is not concerned with what he have been or done, but “about everything we have to give, all the love we are capable of spreading.” “Jesus is inviting you, calling you, to leave your mark on life, to leave a mark on history, your own and that of many others as well,” he said. The Pope spoke of young people's role in teaching adults “how to live in diversity, in dialogue, to experience multiculturalism not as a threat but an opportunity.” “Have the courage to teach us that it is easier to build bridges than walls!” Concluding his address to the young people, the Pope said: “Today Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, is calling you to leave your mark on history.” “He, who is truth, is asking you to abandon the paths of rejection, division and emptiness,” he said. “Are you up to this? What answer will you give, with your hands and with your feet, to the Lord, who is the way, the truth and the life?”#PopeFrancis gives the blessing after adoration at #WYD2016. "For the sake of his sorrowful passion..." #Krakow2016 pic.twitter.com/oJCnyRkN3Q — Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) July 30, 2016 Read more

Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 11:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Before heading to an evening prayer vigil with youth, Pope Francis made an unannounced stop at a Franciscan monastery housing the relics of two martyrs, where he prayed for peace and an end to v... Read more

Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 09:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The weaker we are, the more God's mercy can transform our lives. Pope Francis made these impromptu remarks on Saturday to crowds of young people gathered outside of Krakow’s St. John Paul II shrine. “Today, the Lord wants us to feel ever more profoundly his great mercy,” the Pope said in a short, impromptu speech, delivered right after his visit to the Polish city’s Divine Mercy shrine. “May we never turn away from Jesus!” Pope Francis shared these thoughts to a group of young people who are in Poland for World Youth Day moments before entering the St. John Paul II shrine to pass through its Holy Door, hear confessions, and celebrate Mass for priests and religious men and women. We may think that we are the “worst” on account of our sins and weaknesses, the Pope told the youth. However, this is how God prefers us to be, in order that “his mercy may spread.” “Let us take advantage of these days to receive all of the mercy of Jesus!” Pope Francis proceeded to lead the young people in praying the Hail Mary before bestowing on them his blessing. “And please, I ask you to pray for me.” Before his brief encounter with the young people, the pontiff paid a visit to the shrine of the Divine Mercy where the body of St. Faustina Kowalska are interred. There, he venerated the relics of the Polish saint and mystic, during a brief ceremony attended by some 300 people, including members of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, St. Faustina’s own order. While there, Pope Francis signed the sanctuary’s guestbook with the words: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifices.” The words refer to a passage from the Gospel of Matthew which the Pope has often referred to in the past. Venerated by the Church as the “Apostle of Divine Mercy,” St. Faustina (1905-1938) reported numerous visions of Jesus throughout her life which she recorded in her diary. Many of the devotions relating to the feast of Divine Mercy, established on the first Sunday of Easter by St. John Paul II, were inspired by her writings. Saturday marks the second to last day of Pope Francis’ July 27-31 apostolic journey to Poland where he is leading World Youth Day celebrations. Read more

Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 09:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The weaker we are, the more God's mercy can transform our lives. Pope Francis made these impromptu remarks on Saturday to crowds of young people gathered outside of Krakow’s St. John Paul II shrine. “Today, the Lord wants us to feel ever more profoundly his great mercy,” the Pope said in a short, impromptu speech, delivered right after his visit to the Polish city’s Divine Mercy shrine. “May we never turn away from Jesus!” Pope Francis shared these thoughts to a group of young people who are in Poland for World Youth Day moments before entering the St. John Paul II shrine to pass through its Holy Door, hear confessions, and celebrate Mass for priests and religious men and women. We may think that we are the “worst” on account of our sins and weaknesses, the Pope told the youth. However, this is how God prefers us to be, in order that “his mercy may spread.” “Let us take advantage of these days to receive all of the mercy of Jesus!” Pope Francis proceeded to lead the young people in praying the Hail Mary before bestowing on them his blessing. “And please, I ask you to pray for me.” Before his brief encounter with the young people, the pontiff paid a visit to the shrine of the Divine Mercy where the body of St. Faustina Kowalska are interred. There, he venerated the relics of the Polish saint and mystic, during a brief ceremony attended by some 300 people, including members of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, St. Faustina’s own order. While there, Pope Francis signed the sanctuary’s guestbook with the words: “I desire mercy, and not sacrifices.” The words refer to a passage from the Gospel of Matthew which the Pope has often referred to in the past. Venerated by the Church as the “Apostle of Divine Mercy,” St. Faustina (1905-1938) reported numerous visions of Jesus throughout her life which she recorded in her diary. Many of the devotions relating to the feast of Divine Mercy, established on the first Sunday of Easter by St. John Paul II, were inspired by her writings. Saturday marks the second to last day of Pope Francis’ July 27-31 apostolic journey to Poland where he is leading World Youth Day celebrations. Read more

Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 04:24 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During Mass celebrated at the shrine of St. John Paul II in Krakow, Pope Francis challenged the priests, religious, and seminarians present in the congregation, saying true disciples are not content with mediocrity, but rather they rejoice in the mission of evangelization. “The life of Jesus’ closest disciples, which is what we are called to be, is shaped by concrete love, a love, in other words, marked by service and availability,” the Pope told the congregation during Saturday's Mass. “Finding their happiness in the Lord, they are not content with a life of mediocrity, but burn with the desire to bear witness and reach out to others,” he said. “Rather than just getting by, they rejoice to evangelize.” The pontiff also reminded the Polish priests and religious men and women present to remember their own call to become Jesus' disciples, turning to the Gospel which, he said, is an “open book” in which we are to continue writing with our own works of mercy. “It is the story of our own calling, the voice of the love that attracted us and transformed our life, leading us to leave everything at his word and to follow him,” he said. The July 30 Mass at the Sanctuary of St. John Paul II in Krakow was attended by some 2,000 bishops, priests, religious men and women, and seminarians within the shrine itself, with an additional 5,000 taking part from outside. Before Mass, the Pope heard the confessions of eight young people, including a priest, from various countries. Earlier, he passed through the Jubilee of Mercy Holy Door of the St. John Paul II sanctuary. Saturday's celebration, which started a bit ahead of schedule, marks the beginning of the pontiff's second to last day in Poland, where he is leading World Youth Day celebrations in Krakow. Pope Francis centered his homily for the Mass on the day's Gospel reading, in which Jesus appears to his disciples after Easter and sends them out into the world on mission. “Jesus sends,” the Pope said. “From the beginning, he wants his to be a Church on the move, a Church that goes out into the world.” Francis noted how, when Jesus arrived in the scene, the disciples had “closed the doors out of fear.” Instead, “he wants them to open the doors and go out to spread God’s pardon and peace, with the power of the Holy Spirit,” the Pope said. This call to go out on mission is also addressed to us, the pontiff told those present. “How can we fail to hear its echo in the great appeal of Saint John Paul II: 'Open the doors'?” He spoke of the temptation of priests and consecrated person to remain closed off, either out of fear or convenience. “But Jesus directs us to a one-way street: that of going forth from ourselves,” he said. “It is a one-way trip, with no return ticket. It involves making an exodus from ourselves, losing our lives for his sake.” “In other words, the life of Jesus’ closest disciples, which is what we are called to be, is shaped by concrete love, a love, in other words, marked by service and availability.” Addressing the congregation, Francis explained how those “who choose to model their entire life on Jesus” relinquish the right to choose where they are sent, and even their houses do not belong to them. This is “because the Church and the world are the open spaces of their mission, he said. They do not build their lives on “shaky foundations of worldly power,” nor do they compromise evangelization for comforts, the pontiff said. They do not “waste time planning a secure future, lest they risk becoming isolated and gloomy, enclosed within the narrow walls of a joyless and desperate self-centredness.” “Finding their happiness in the Lord, they are not content with a life of mediocrity, but burn with the desire to bear witness and reach out to others,” he explained. “Rather than just getting by, they rejoice to evangelize.” Pope Francis turned his reflection to the scene in the day's Gospel which recounts St. Thomas, who had previously doubted the resurrection, encountering the risen Christ. The hesitant and somewhat stubborn St. Thomas “is a bit like us,” the Pope said, and therefore “we find him likeable.” “Without knowing it, he gives us a great gift: he brings us closer to God, because God does not hide from those who seek him.” The Pope stressed to the congregation of priests and religious the importance of putting “our humanity in contact with the flesh of the Lord,” like Thomas who touched the wounds of Jesus. “That is the way to seek God: through prayer that is transparent and unafraid to hand over to him our troubles, our struggles and our resistance,” he said. “Jesus’ heart is won over by sincere openness, by hearts capable of acknowledging and grieving over their weakness, yet trusting that precisely there God’s mercy will be active.” The Pope explained how Jesus wants hearts that are “truly consecrated,” which are “open and tender towards the weak,” and which “do not dissimulate before those whom the Church appoints as our guides.” He added that disciples are not afraid of asking questions, but rather “have the courage to face their misgivings and bring them to the Lord, to their formators and superiors, without calculations or reticence.” Recalling the words of St. Thomas when he came to believe in Jesus' resurrection – “My Lord and my God” – Francis encouraged the daily recitation of this acclamation, saying to the Lord: “You are my one treasure, the path I must follow, the core of my life, my all.” In the Gospel, it is said that all of the signs that Jesus performed have not been written down, the Pope observed. Although one could say no other signs are needed beyond the “great sign of his mercy,” he said there is still room for signs “needing to be worked by us, who have received the Spirit of love and are called to spread mercy.” “It might be said that the Gospel, the living book of God’s mercy that must be continually read and reread, still has many blank pages left,” the pontiff said. “It remains an open book that we are called to write in the same style, by the works of mercy we practice.” Pope Francis turned his reflection to Mary, and asked for her intercession that we might be given “the grace to be living writers of the Gospel,” taking “concrete care of the wounds of Jesus” and those in need, including the sick and migrants. “May the Virgin Mary help us to spend ourselves completely for the good of the faithful entrusted to us, and to show concern for one another as true brothers and sisters in the communion of the Church, our holy Mother.” Concluding his homily to the priests and religious men and women in the congregation, the Pope reminded them of the “very personal page of the book of God's mercy” held in each of their hearts. “It is the story of our own calling, the voice of the love that attracted us and transformed our life, leading us to leave everything at his word and to follow him,” he said. “Today let us gratefully rekindle the memory of his call, which is stronger than any resistance and weariness on our part.” Read more

Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With political discourse taking a turn for the nasty(er) as the U.S. presidential elections draw near, are youth disillusioned by the inflammatory, insulting remarks that have come to define this year's race? “You hear two things among the young people that in one way would bother them and challenge them and discourage them,” Cardinal Dolan told journalists July 29, speaking from his own personal experience. One of these things, he said, is “a sort of meanness, an incivility, an inability to lift people up instead of dragging them down that they discover in political discourse. Not only here, but throughout the world.” The other, he noted, is the “legitimate understandable” fear that comes in the face of violence, terrorism and religious persecution. However, the cardinal said that when speaks with youth, what he hears instead is that these two things “become diving boards to prayer. They become rocket launchers. They don't depress (youth),” but rather, youth say “we need to pray even harder.” Cardinal Dolan spoke to journalists during a short media briefing after leading the July 29 morning session of catechesis for WYD and celebrating Mass for the thousands of young people who attended the session. During the briefing, it was noted that while four years ago Cardinal Dolan had prayed for civility at both party conventions, this year, the political environment has clearly taken turn for the worst. Instead of being civil, the rhetoric of this election cycle has largely involved personal attacks against the other candidate and derogatory remarks about certain races and nationalities. The year has also been plagued by an increase in terrorist attacks throughout the world, including in Western nations. However, Cardinal Dolan said from what he’s seen, instead of becoming depressed or discouraged, youth are responding with prayer and action. As an example, he cited the brutal July 26 murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel by sympathizers with the Islamic State in Rouen, France, which took place on the eve of the launch of WYD in Krakow. Not only do the young people talk about it, “they cry about it. They didn’t know him, but they know about him and they say ‘what are we going to do?’” the cardinal said. “That’s what our young people are saying. So what do you do? In the eyes of the world when you get problems, when you get discouraging and depressing things like…a meanness and a nastiness in politics.” While a worldly response tells us tempts us to be just as unkind, mean and vindictive in return, “our young people, they know this is not the way. They know there has to be something else.” Cardinal Dolan then recalled hearing Archbishop Bashar Warda, who heads the Chaldean archdiocese of Erbil, Iraq, speak during one of the WYD catechesis sessions. While it would be perfectly understandable for him to have “a nervous breakdown” given his current situation, Cardinal Dolan said that instead, Warda shared how in his nation “people are coming back to Christ.” “They’ve exhausted all other options. Politics isn’t working, nations aren’t coming to their aid, weapons have only exacerbated things. Reprisals, vindictiveness, anger, division. It ain’t workin,” the cardinal said, explaining that according to Warda, Iraqi Christians “are saying wow, we need our faith more than ever.” In July 29 comments to CNA, Cardinal Dolan said that he was moved “more than ever” by the testimony of a young Iraqi woman who spoke during the catechesis earlier that morning. She was born in a refugee camp in Turkey after her family was forced to leave their homes due to bombing in 1991. While she and her family were eventually able to move to Detroit, several of her relatives still living in Iraq have been killed amid the country’s ongoing violence and political instability. Though it’s hard to forgive those who have murdered her relatives, she prays daily for ISIS’ conversion. Her story, the cardinal said, was especially impactful given his recent trip to Erbil in April of this year. He again noted how, according to Archbishop Warda, “it’s phenomenal” that Christianity in Iraq “is undergoing revival as it’s being persecuted. As it’s literally having it’s head cut off, it’s religion is being strengthened.” Despite the fact that many of these people have lost their homes, lost children, or had to leave their parents behind because they couldn’t make the journey, they are still at Mass singing and building their homes and schools. Recalling his the Warda’s words, Dolan said this is because the only thing the people have left “is their faith, and they’ve learned, ‘put not you trust in princes.’” “You think they’re going to trust politicians, they’re going to trust weapons, they’re going to trust reprisal, they’re going to trust violence, they’re going to trust blood oaths?” he asked. “No, all of them have bombed miserably, so they’re saying what do we got?” The answer, he said, is that “maybe we ought to start listening to the Gospel again, maybe we ought to take our faith seriously, so you see this revival there. It’s phenomenal.” It’s this attitude he sees reflected in American Catholic youth in the run-up up to this year’s presidential election, though not on quite as drastic of a scale. “You saw this young lady today, if anybody should have been cynical, sarcastic, depressed, despaired, spitting in God's face, it was she,” but “she's just the opposite isn’t she? So you talk about inspiration, wow.” Read more

Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With political discourse taking a turn for the nasty(er) as the U.S. presidential elections draw near, are youth disillusioned by the inflammatory, insulting remarks that have come to define this year's race? “You hear two things among the young people that in one way would bother them and challenge them and discourage them,” Cardinal Dolan told journalists July 29, speaking from his own personal experience. One of these things, he said, is “a sort of meanness, an incivility, an inability to lift people up instead of dragging them down that they discover in political discourse. Not only here, but throughout the world.” The other, he noted, is the “legitimate understandable” fear that comes in the face of violence, terrorism and religious persecution. However, the cardinal said that when speaks with youth, what he hears instead is that these two things “become diving boards to prayer. They become rocket launchers. They don't depress (youth),” but rather, youth say “we need to pray even harder.” Cardinal Dolan spoke to journalists during a short media briefing after leading the July 29 morning session of catechesis for WYD and celebrating Mass for the thousands of young people who attended the session. During the briefing, it was noted that while four years ago Cardinal Dolan had prayed for civility at both party conventions, this year, the political environment has clearly taken turn for the worst. Instead of being civil, the rhetoric of this election cycle has largely involved personal attacks against the other candidate and derogatory remarks about certain races and nationalities. The year has also been plagued by an increase in terrorist attacks throughout the world, including in Western nations. However, Cardinal Dolan said from what he’s seen, instead of becoming depressed or discouraged, youth are responding with prayer and action. As an example, he cited the brutal July 26 murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel by sympathizers with the Islamic State in Rouen, France, which took place on the eve of the launch of WYD in Krakow. Not only do the young people talk about it, “they cry about it. They didn’t know him, but they know about him and they say ‘what are we going to do?’” the cardinal said. “That’s what our young people are saying. So what do you do? In the eyes of the world when you get problems, when you get discouraging and depressing things like…a meanness and a nastiness in politics.” While a worldly response tells us tempts us to be just as unkind, mean and vindictive in return, “our young people, they know this is not the way. They know there has to be something else.” Cardinal Dolan then recalled hearing Archbishop Bashar Warda, who heads the Chaldean archdiocese of Erbil, Iraq, speak during one of the WYD catechesis sessions. While it would be perfectly understandable for him to have “a nervous breakdown” given his current situation, Cardinal Dolan said that instead, Warda shared how in his nation “people are coming back to Christ.” “They’ve exhausted all other options. Politics isn’t working, nations aren’t coming to their aid, weapons have only exacerbated things. Reprisals, vindictiveness, anger, division. It ain’t workin,” the cardinal said, explaining that according to Warda, Iraqi Christians “are saying wow, we need our faith more than ever.” In July 29 comments to CNA, Cardinal Dolan said that he was moved “more than ever” by the testimony of a young Iraqi woman who spoke during the catechesis earlier that morning. She was born in a refugee camp in Turkey after her family was forced to leave their homes due to bombing in 1991. While she and her family were eventually able to move to Detroit, several of her relatives still living in Iraq have been killed amid the country’s ongoing violence and political instability. Though it’s hard to forgive those who have murdered her relatives, she prays daily for ISIS’ conversion. Her story, the cardinal said, was especially impactful given his recent trip to Erbil in April of this year. He again noted how, according to Archbishop Warda, “it’s phenomenal” that Christianity in Iraq “is undergoing revival as it’s being persecuted. As it’s literally having it’s head cut off, it’s religion is being strengthened.” Despite the fact that many of these people have lost their homes, lost children, or had to leave their parents behind because they couldn’t make the journey, they are still at Mass singing and building their homes and schools. Recalling his the Warda’s words, Dolan said this is because the only thing the people have left “is their faith, and they’ve learned, ‘put not you trust in princes.’” “You think they’re going to trust politicians, they’re going to trust weapons, they’re going to trust reprisal, they’re going to trust violence, they’re going to trust blood oaths?” he asked. “No, all of them have bombed miserably, so they’re saying what do we got?” The answer, he said, is that “maybe we ought to start listening to the Gospel again, maybe we ought to take our faith seriously, so you see this revival there. It’s phenomenal.” It’s this attitude he sees reflected in American Catholic youth in the run-up up to this year’s presidential election, though not on quite as drastic of a scale. “You saw this young lady today, if anybody should have been cynical, sarcastic, depressed, despaired, spitting in God's face, it was she,” but “she's just the opposite isn’t she? So you talk about inspiration, wow.” Read more

Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- With political discourse taking a turn for the nasty(er) as the U.S. presidential elections draw near, are youth disillusioned by the inflammatory, insulting remarks that have come to define this year's race? “You hear two things among the young people that in one way would bother them and challenge them and discourage them,” Cardinal Dolan told journalists July 29, speaking from his own personal experience. One of these things, he said, is “a sort of meanness, an incivility, an inability to lift people up instead of dragging them down that they discover in political discourse. Not only here, but throughout the world.” The other, he noted, is the “legitimate understandable” fear that comes in the face of violence, terrorism and religious persecution. However, the cardinal said that when speaks with youth, what he hears instead is that these two things “become diving boards to prayer. They become rocket launchers. They don't depress (youth),” but rather, youth say “we need to pray even harder.” Cardinal Dolan spoke to journalists during a short media briefing after leading the July 29 morning session of catechesis for WYD and celebrating Mass for the thousands of young people who attended the session. During the briefing, it was noted that while four years ago Cardinal Dolan had prayed for civility at both party conventions, this year, the political environment has clearly taken turn for the worst. Instead of being civil, the rhetoric of this election cycle has largely involved personal attacks against the other candidate and derogatory remarks about certain races and nationalities. The year has also been plagued by an increase in terrorist attacks throughout the world, including in Western nations. However, Cardinal Dolan said from what he’s seen, instead of becoming depressed or discouraged, youth are responding with prayer and action. As an example, he cited the brutal July 26 murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel by sympathizers with the Islamic State in Rouen, France, which took place on the eve of the launch of WYD in Krakow. Not only do the young people talk about it, “they cry about it. They didn’t know him, but they know about him and they say ‘what are we going to do?’” the cardinal said. “That’s what our young people are saying. So what do you do? In the eyes of the world when you get problems, when you get discouraging and depressing things like…a meanness and a nastiness in politics.” While a worldly response tells us tempts us to be just as unkind, mean and vindictive in return, “our young people, they know this is not the way. They know there has to be something else.” Cardinal Dolan then recalled hearing Archbishop Bashar Warda, who heads the Chaldean archdiocese of Erbil, Iraq, speak during one of the WYD catechesis sessions. While it would be perfectly understandable for him to have “a nervous breakdown” given his current situation, Cardinal Dolan said that instead, Warda shared how in his nation “people are coming back to Christ.” “They’ve exhausted all other options. Politics isn’t working, nations aren’t coming to their aid, weapons have only exacerbated things. Reprisals, vindictiveness, anger, division. It ain’t workin,” the cardinal said, explaining that according to Warda, Iraqi Christians “are saying wow, we need our faith more than ever.” In July 29 comments to CNA, Cardinal Dolan said that he was moved “more than ever” by the testimony of a young Iraqi woman who spoke during the catechesis earlier that morning. She was born in a refugee camp in Turkey after her family was forced to leave their homes due to bombing in 1991. While she and her family were eventually able to move to Detroit, several of her relatives still living in Iraq have been killed amid the country’s ongoing violence and political instability. Though it’s hard to forgive those who have murdered her relatives, she prays daily for ISIS’ conversion. Her story, the cardinal said, was especially impactful given his recent trip to Erbil in April of this year. He again noted how, according to Archbishop Warda, “it’s phenomenal” that Christianity in Iraq “is undergoing revival as it’s being persecuted. As it’s literally having it’s head cut off, it’s religion is being strengthened.” Despite the fact that many of these people have lost their homes, lost children, or had to leave their parents behind because they couldn’t make the journey, they are still at Mass singing and building their homes and schools. Recalling his the Warda’s words, Dolan said this is because the only thing the people have left “is their faith, and they’ve learned, ‘put not you trust in princes.’” “You think they’re going to trust politicians, they’re going to trust weapons, they’re going to trust reprisal, they’re going to trust violence, they’re going to trust blood oaths?” he asked. “No, all of them have bombed miserably, so they’re saying what do we got?” The answer, he said, is that “maybe we ought to start listening to the Gospel again, maybe we ought to take our faith seriously, so you see this revival there. It’s phenomenal.” It’s this attitude he sees reflected in American Catholic youth in the run-up up to this year’s presidential election, though not on quite as drastic of a scale. “You saw this young lady today, if anybody should have been cynical, sarcastic, depressed, despaired, spitting in God's face, it was she,” but “she's just the opposite isn’t she? So you talk about inspiration, wow.” Read more

Bielsko-Biala, Poland, Jul 29, 2016 / 05:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp welcomed Pope Francis’ Friday visit and asked the world to remember the suffering that took place there. “It is important for me and I am very excited,” Lidia Maksimovic, 75, told journalists at the camp July 29. “It is not possible to forget about these horrible things and it is important also that people would come here and would see and learn what happened here. So that all that happened here would never happen again.” Maksimovic is a survivor of the Auschwitz-Brikenau concentration camp run by the Nazis in Poland. As many as 1.5 million people died at the Auschwitz complex, including St. Maximilian Kolbe. On Friday Pope Francis visited several parts of the complex. He prayed in silence for several minutes at the courtyard of the original camp, known as Auschwitz I. He was then taken by car to the infamous Block 11 building. There, he was welcomed by Poland’s Prime Minister, Beata Szydlo. He prayed for a moment in silence. Among those present for his visit was a group of ten men and women who had survived the Holocaust, among whom was Maksimovic. Her family was of Russian origin living in Nazi-occupied territory in what is now Belarus. The Nazis suspected them of collaborating with the Soviet Union, and they were shipped to Auschwitz with about 1,500 other civilians. She was stripped naked and tattooed with a number on her arm. She was three years old. “I was numbered in my left hand as a prisoner. I have it from my childhood,” she told CNA. Part of the camp served as a laboratory for Nazi doctor Josef Mengele’s human experiments. “We were divided into two groups. I belonged to the group of strong and healthy children from which Doctor Mengele personally choose the children for his targets for medical experiments,” Maksimovic said. “The most difficult time for us, for mothers and children was the moment of numbering and division,” she said. “They divided children from the mothers. Moms hugged their children and did not want to leave them, but babies were pulled out from their embraces and thrown out as animals. All women were crying. Kicking them, the Nazis forced them to go out to the specially prepared barracks.” “We as children saw our mothers take off all their clothes and then they were shaved. We children could not recognize our mothers because we have never seen them in that conditions,” she said.   “Then our moms were dressed in those clothes which you can see here presented at the museum. They were blue and gray uniforms with wooden shoes.” The children were sent to the children’s barracks. “We were looking to the other children, to the places where they lived and it was horrible, not like you see it now,” she said. “Now everything is clean… at that time, it was dirty and excrement was around. There were no toilets or clean water.” It took nearly 20 years for her to be reunited with her mother following the liberation of the camps by Allied forces. Pope Francis chose to maintain silence in prayer and not give remarks at Auschwitz. Maksimovic considered this a good choice. “This place is the place of silence,” she said. “If someone can say something, they have to say that people have suffered here and were lowered to the very bottom.”     "In the hands of young people is the future of the world, and what the world will look like depends on them. It is important that the youth know what happened here in this place, (so that they do) not allow it to happen again." Lidia Maksimovic (Bocarova) 75 years, is one of the survivors of the Birkenau concentration camp. Born into a Russian family, Lidia was not a Jew; nonetheless, the Nazis imprisoned her in the camp for 2 years. The ID number tattooed on her arm has remained her whole life. ???? by Alan Holdren / @catholicnewsagency A photo posted by Catholic News Agency (@catholicnewsagency) on Jul 29, 2016 at 6:36am PDT Read more