Rome, Italy, Mar 21, 2015 / 01:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- While Pope Francis was giving some advice to the religious, priests and seminarians of Naples on Saturday, a miracle occurred: a vial of dried blood from a fourth century saint liquefied. This stunning but locally known and accepted phenomenon is said to happen three times a year: May 1, Sept. 19, which is the saint's feast day, and Dec. 16. The last time this occured with a Pope was in 1848 with Pius IX. It didn't happen when St. John Paul II visited the city in October of 1979, or when Benedict XVI went in October of 2007. The blood belongs to St. Januarius, Patron of Naples and former bishop and martyr of the city, whose bones are also preserved in the cathedral. He's believed to have been martyred during the infamous persecution of Christians during the rule of the Roman emperor Diocletian, who retired in 305. On March 21, at the end of the meeting with priests, religious and seminarians in the cathedral of Naples, the Pope gave a blessing with the relic. When received by the cardinal of the diocese, Crescenzio Sepe, the blood was still solid on one side of the vial. When Pope Francis returned the reliquary, the cardinal told him: “It seems that St. Januarius loves the Pope, because the blood is already half liquefied.” For the miracle to occur, it's necessary to wait several minutes before the dried, red-colored mass confined to one side of the reliquary becomes blood that covers the entire glass. Francis quipped in response: “you can see that the saint only loves us a little. We have to convert more,” drawing laughter from those within earshot. Read more

Rome, Italy, Mar 21, 2015 / 12:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a wide-ranging, off-the-cuff speech to priests and religious in Naples, Pope Francis addressed various challenges of consecrated life, emphasizing above all the importance of poverty and resisti... Read more

Rome, Italy, Mar 21, 2015 / 08:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During his one-day trip to Naples, Pope Francis made a stop at the local prison where he reminded inmates that God is rich in mercy and that nothing – even incarceration – can keep them from his love. After spending the morning on March 21 celebrating Mass and issuing tough words on the city's notorious struggle with corruption, Pope Francis in the afternoon visited the “Giuseppe Salvia” prison of Poggioreale. The Pope greeted the board of directors and the prison's police and employees along the corridor leading to the chapel. He then greeted inmates in the square in front of the church and had lunch with a group of them, answering two questions that they asked.Below is the full text of Pope Francis' remarks: This encounter allows me to express my closeness to you, and I do it bringing you the word and love of Jesus, who came to the earth to make our hope full and died on the cross to save each one of us. Sometimes it happens that you feel disappointed, discouraged, abandoned by all: but God does not forget his children, he never abandons them! He is always at our side, especially in times of trial; he is a father "rich in mercy" who always turns his serene and benevolent gaze on us, always waits for us with open arms. This is a certainty which instills consolation and hope, especially in moments of difficulty and sadness. Even if we have done wrong in life, the Lord does not tire of showing us the path of return and encounter with him. The love of Jesus for each one of us is a source of consolation and hope. It's a fundamental certainty for us: nothing can ever separate us from the love of God! Not even the bars of a prison. The only thing that can separate us from him is our sin; but if we acknowledge and confess it with sincere repentance, even that sin becomes a place of encounter with him, because he is mercy. Dear brothers, I know your painful situations: many letters arrive to me - some very moving - from penitentiaries all over the world. The prisoners too often are kept in conditions unworthy of the human person, and later they fail to reintegrate into society. But thanks to God there also directors, chaplains, educators, pastoral workers who know how to be close to you in the right way. And there are some good and meaningful experiences of inclusion. We have to work on this, develop these positive experiences, which make a different attitude grow in civil society and also the community of the Church. At the base of this commitment there is the conviction that love can always transform the human person. And so a place of marginalization, as a prison can be in the negative sense, can become a place of inclusion and of stimulus for the whole of society, because it is more just, more attentive to the people. I invite you to live each day, each moment in the presence of God, to whom belongs the future of the world and of man. This is the Christian hope: the future is in the hands of God! History makes sense because it is inhabited by the goodness of God. Therefore, even in the midst of so many problems, even serious, let's not lose hope in the infinite mercy of God and his providence. With this sure hope, let us prepare ourselves for Easter, now approaching, (by) decisively orienting our lives to the Lord and keeping alive in ourselves the flame of his love.The above text is published as Pope Francis' full, prepared remarks issued by the Holy See press office. Read more

Rome, Italy, Mar 21, 2015 / 05:39 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Addressing the crowds in Naples' notorious outskirts of Scampia, Pope Francis gave a verbal slap to corrupt leaders who exploit local laborers, charging that they “cannot claim to be Christian.” Speaking off the cuff during his one-day trip to the city March 21, the Pope also warned that every person is capable of being corrupt, and that no one should feel exempt from this temptation. “If we close the door to migrants, if we take job and dignity away from people, this is called corruption. And all of us are capable of being corrupt, none of us can say 'I will never be corrupt,'” the Pope said. Pope Francis added that human nature always contends with a strong pull “to slide toward easy business, toward the wrongdoings, toward crime, toward the exploitation of people.” “How much corruption is in the world! If we hear this word, it’s a bad word, since a corrupt thing is a rotten thing. If we find the corpse of an animal, it's rotten, and it stinks… and corruption stinks, the man who let corruption inside of him is corrupt, and so he stinks.” In his mostly impromptu speech, Pope Francis also spoke immigration and job exploitation, following a series of three questions posed to him by a Filipino woman who migrated to Scampia, a worker who voiced the concerns of unemployed people, and the president of the Naples Court. According to Pope Francis, “one of the negative signs of our times is the lack of work for young people. Just think that more than 40 per cent of young people under 25 are unemployed. This is serious! What can an unemployed young person do? What future can they have?” A voice from the crowd yelled: “The Camorra” – which is the name for organized crime Naples. Pope Francis stressed that “real issue is not feeding these people, it is not that we (don't) have charities that can feed this people…the real issue is that these people cannot earn their food through their labor, and when you don’t earn bread, you lose dignity…this lack of work robs us of our dignity,” the Pope said. “We cannot stay silent! We have to fight against this system, we have to defend the dignity of citizens, of men and women, of young people,” the Pope exclaimed. The Pope also pointed his finger at what he called “the half job,” that is, “the exploitation of people.” Pope Francis gave an example of a young woman who was offered a job working 11 hours a day for 600 euros per month, with no insurance or pension fund, and that she was told that “if she had refused, many people were seeking that job.” “This is slavery, this is exploitation. It is not human, it is not Christian. If someone doing this described himself as a Christian, he is a liar,” the Pope underscored. Speaking about immigrants, the Pope responded to the Filipino immigrant who asked the Pope to stress that migrants are sons of God. “Is it really needed to say this? Are migrants second class human beings? Our brother and sister migrants must feel that they are sons of God, and that they are migrants like we are… since all of us are migrants toward another land, where each of us will go… all of us are migrants in the path of life, none of us will remain forever on earth… all of us will go to visit God!” Read more

Rome, Italy, Mar 21, 2015 / 05:10 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis told the people of Naples – a city ravaged by crime and mafia violence – that change is possible, and encouraged those involved in organized crime to convert and work toward a better future. “It's time for Naples surrender: this is my wish and my prayer for a city that has so much spiritual, cultural and human potential, and above all so much capacity to love,” the Pope told those present at his March 21 Mass. The future of Naples “is not resigned to fold in on itself, but to open to the world with confidence,” he said, adding that “to hope is already to resist evil…to hope is to wager on the mercy of God, who is Father and always forgives and forgives everything.” Pope Francis' Mass, held in Naples’ Piazza Plebiscito, took place during his March 21 day trip to the city and neighboring Pompeii. After paying a brief visit to Pompeii’s shrine housing a miraculous image of Our Lady of the Rosary, Pope Francis took a helicopter to Naples, where he met with people from various social classes and spoke harsh words against corruption, saying that “a corrupt society stinks like a rotting corpse!” In his homily during Mass, Francis pointed out how the guards sent by the chief priests to arrest Jesus in the Gospel came back dumbfounded and empty-handed, saying that “No man has ever spoken like this!” Jesus’ words are powerful, he said,   but can sometimes cause an interior conflict because although we hear their “the charm, beauty and truth,”   we reject them because “they make us question ourselves and is costs us too much to observe them.” However, it is only Jesus and his words of mercy that can heal the wounds inflicted on hearts and society. When hearts open to the Gospel, he noted, that is when “the world begins to change and humanity rises again! If we welcome and we live the Word of Jesus every day, we are resurrected with him.” Francis spoke of Lent as a time to allow oneself to be open to this change as the Church journeys toward Easter, saying that it is a time when the hope of rising with Christ is “rekindled.” “May the grace of this Easter not arrive in vain for the people of God in this city! May the grace of the Resurrection be welcomed by each one of you, because Naples is full of hope in Christ the Lord!” he said, and called particularly on the youth to be open to “the power of the Risen Jesus.” Pope Francis told the inhabitants of Naples not to give up hope, and urged them not to give in “to the lure of quick profits or dishonest income.” He encouraged them to react with firm resistance in the face of organizations that exploit or corrupt the youth, the poor and the weak, as well as the “cynic drug trade” and other crimes plaguing the city. “Corruption and crime don't disfigure the face of this beautiful city!” the Pope affirmed, and called on all those involved in organized crime, including their accomplices, to convert back to the path of love and justice. “Let yourselves find the mercy of God! With the grace of God, which forgives all, it's possible to return to an honest life,” he said, explaining that “the tears of the mothers of Naples,” as well as those of Mary, are begging for this. Referring to Jesus’ words in the Gospel, Francis said that the Word of God is powerful, and seeks to reach everyone without exclusion, especially those on the peripheries of society. This word receives its strength not from the world, but from the Lord, he said, explaining that God’s power “is that of love: a love which doesn't know limits, a love which makes us love the other before ourselves.” “The word of Jesus, the Holy Gospel, teaches that the truly blessed are the poor in spirit, the non-violent, the meek, the workers of peace and justice. This is the strength that changes the world!” Each person and parish is called to go beyond our own “fences” and bring this message to everyone, the Pope said, so that the Church can be a sanctuary and source of hope for the poor, elderly and those in need. “Go and welcome: this is the heartbeat of the Mother Church, and of all her children,” he observed. Pope Francis closed his homily saying that God is both the source of joy and reason for our hope, and emphasized that the Lord lives among us in our cities. “God lives in Naples!” he said, and prayed that the Lord’s grace sustain the city’s inhabitants “on your journey of faith, hope and charity, your good resolutions and your plans of moral and social redemption.” Today’s condemnation of criminal activities, drug abuse and violence due to organized crime is not the first time Francis has been outspoken on the issue. Last June during a one day trip to the diocese of Cassano all’Jonio, roughly 165 miles south of Naples, the Pope spoke harsh words against the local mafia, known as the 'Ndrangheta. He called them “adorers of evil” and said that all who have chosen the “evil road, such as the mobsters, (are) not in communion with God. They are ‘excommunicated.’” Last month Francis received members of the diocese in audience at the Vatican, where he repeated his condemnation and plea of conversion for all who participate in organized crime. No one can “call themselves Christians and violate the dignity of the person; those who belong to the Christian community cannot program or carry out acts of violence against others and against the environment,” he said during the audience, and called for a public conversion of mafia criminals. Read more