Vatican City, Jun 18, 2016 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church should always value the transformative power of faith-filled laity who are willing to serve the Gospel, Pope Francis said Friday. “We need well-formed lay people, animated by a sincere and clear faith, whose life has been touched by the personal and merciful love of Christ Jesus,” the Pope told a plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council for the Laity June 17. “We need lay people who take risks, who get their hands dirty, who are not afraid of making mistakes, who go forward. We need lay people with a vision of the future, not confined to the little things of life.” He added that the Church needs lay people who “dare to dream.” Pope Francis said many lay people would willingly and generously serve the Gospel if they were involved and valued by pastors and church institutions. This is part of all Christians’ baptismal vocation, he said. “Baptism makes each one of the lay faithful a missionary disciple of the Lord, salt of the earth, light of the world, and leaven that transforms reality from within,” remarked the Pope. The Second Vatican Council’s mandate aimed to encourage the laity to be increasingly involved in the evangelizing mission of the Church, Pope Francis said, adding that this is not a “delegation” from the Church's hierarchy. Rather, the lay apostolate is “participation in the salvific mission of the Church” destined by God himself by virtue of Christians’ baptism and confirmation. He said the Church must be aware of being “the house of the Father where the doors are always wide open to each person, with his or her weary life.” The Church must be “permanently outgoing” and “an evangelizing community that knows how to take the initiative without fear, to reach out to others, to seek out those who are distant and to reach out to crossroads, to invite in the excluded.” Pope Francis encouraged those present to look to the distant parts of the world and to the many families in difficulty and in need of mercy. He reflected on the lay associations that have had a long history as well as the many movements and new communities that have shown great missionary zeal. He said the Pontifical Council for the Laity has observed and assisted these developments, which include an increased role for women in the Church and the institution of World Youth Days. For Pope Francis, World Youth Days are a “providential gesture” from St. John Paul II and a tool for evangelization of young generations. He reflected on the history of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, which was established under Blessed Paul VI more than 50 years ago. It currently is the subject of curial reform efforts and is set to be suppressed, along with the Pontifical Council for the Family, in September, and replaced with a Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life. Nevertheless, he encouraged the pontifical council to “look anew with hope for the future.” “Much remains to be done, broadening horizons and accepting the new challenges that reality presents to us,” the Roman Pontiff said. Read more

Vatican City, Jun 17, 2016 / 08:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Since 2015, when the refugee crisis reached a fever pitch in Europe, five Syrian families fleeing civil war have found refuge in Italy with the help of the Vatican. As of Thursday, nine more people have been added to that list. “Following the visit of the Holy Father to the Island of Lesvos, in Greece, when he accompanied three families of refugees back to Rome, a second group of nine refugees, including two Christians, arrived in Rome yesterday,” a June 17 communique from the Vatican announced. The refugees, consisting of six adults and three children, arrived to Rome Thursday. They are all Syrian citizens who had been living in the Kara Tepe camp on Lesvos after making the perilous boat ride from Turkey to the small Greek island. According to the Vatican communique, the Vatican Police force, called the “Gendarmeria,” alongside the Interior Ministry of Greece, the Greek Asylum Service, and the Community of Sant’Egidio, who will provide for their housing, all played a role in getting the families to Rome, and accompanied them from Athens to the Eternal City. Pope Francis, true to his knack for making headlines, surprised the world when he brought 12 Syrian refugees on his return flight from Lesvos, a primary entry point for refugees seeking passage into Europe, after making an April 16 daytrip to the small Greek island. Hailing from war-torn Syria, each of the families were Muslim and number 12 people in total, including six children. Two of them are from Damascus, while third is from Deir Azzor, which is now territory occupied ISIS. Their homes had been bombed. According to the AFP news agency, an official of Greece's state refugee coordination agency said the families had all been staying in the same open camp, Kara Tepe, as the latest round of arrivals. They had been selected through a drawing, which they were eligible for as a result of having all their documents in order. Pope Francis had traveled to the island as a sign of concern and solidarity for migrants forced to flee their homelands due to war, violence, hunger and poverty. Lesvos, along with its neighboring island Kos, has been one of the primary destinations for refugees, many of whom are fleeing war in Syrian and Afghanistan, who travel to Turkey in order to make the perilous voyage across the Mediterranean to enter Europe. In 2015 alone more than 1.1 million migrants fleeing war and violence poured into Europe, and the influx has continued, perplexing E.U. leaders as to how to handle the crisis. On Sept. 6, 2015, Pope Francis made an appeal for all European parishes, religious communities, monasteries and shrines to house one refugee family. At the time, the Pope said the two Vatican parishes – St. Peter's Basilica and St. Anne's parish – would also be hosting one family each. A Jan. 14 communique from the Vatican announced that St. Peter’s Basilica provided an apartment for an Eritrean family, consisting of a mother and her five children. The family hosted by St. Anne’s parish is a Christian Syrian family, consisting of the parents and two children. They fled from the Syrian capital of Damascus, and are now living in a Vatican-owned apartment just outside the Vatican walls. They arrived in Italy the same day Pope Francis made his appeal. The Sant’Egidio Community had also assisted the Vatican in welcoming both of these families alongside the Papal Almoner, Bishop Konrad Krajewski. Read more