Vatican City, Nov 10, 2014 / 11:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Christian who causes scandal destroys the faith and a Christian who does not forgive causes scandal – but it is only through the gift of faith that these challenges can be overcome, Pope Francis said. These three themes – the causing of scandal, the need for forgiveness, and faith – were at the center of the Pope's homily during morning Mass at the Santa Marta residence on Nov. 10. “Scandal,” the Pope said, drawing his reflection from Luke's Gospel and the Letter of Paul to Titus, “is to say and profess a way of life – 'I am Christian' – and then to live as a pagan, who believes in nothing.” A Christian who goes to Church at his or her parish, without living as a Christian, is causing scandal, the Pope said. “How often have we heard: I don't go to Church...because it is better to be honest at home and not go,” than to be as those “who go to Church and then do this, this, this.” “Scandal destroys, destroys the faith!” he said. This is why Jesus calls on Christians to remain attentive, “because we are all capable of scandalizing”. Pope Francis also stressed the importance of forgiveness, for “a Christian who is not able to forgive scandalizes: he is not Christian.” The concept of forgiving as we ourselves are forgiven, taught in the Our Father, is not one which can be understood by human logic, the Pope said. Rather than leading to forgiveness, the approach of “human logic” veers towards revenge, hate, and division. Lamenting the many families divided by the lack of forgiveness, he stressed the importance if knowing that, “If I do not forgive,” he said, “I do not have the right – it seems – to be forgiven,” and do not understand what it means to have been forgiven by God. The third theme of Pope Francis' homily touched on the importance of faith. In order to not cause scandal, and to be “always forgiving,” the Pope said, faith is necessary. This is only through “the faith of a merciful Father, of a Son Who gave his life for us, of a Spirit who is within us and helps us to grow, faith in the Church, faith in God's people, baptized, holy.” Faith does not come from books or from attending conferences, Pope Francis said. Rather, “faith is a gift of God which comes to you.” This is why the apostles asked Jesus: “Increase our faith!” Read more

Vatican City, Nov 9, 2014 / 07:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Pope Francis said that it only happened through a long, painful struggle, and warned that there are still many walls that divide the world today. “Wherever there is a wall, there is a closed heart. We need bridges, not walls!” the Pope voiced to those present in St. Peter’s Square for his Nov. 9 Angelus address. He recalled how for many years the Berlin Wall had cut the city in two as a sign of the “ideological division” not only of Europe, but of the whole world. When the Wall fell it happened suddenly, the pontiff observed, saying that although it happened fast, it was only made possible “by the long and arduous efforts of many people who fought, prayed and struggled for this, some even sacrificing their life.” Among those who played a key role by working and praying tirelessly for peace and unity was St Pope John Paul II, he noted, and encouraged those present to work together in building and spreading a culture of encounter. Constructed in 1961, the Berlin Wall was a large concrete barrier built by the German Democratic Republic that divided West Berlin from East Germany and East Berlin. Built to stop people fleeing from communist East Germany to the West, the Wall’s fall in 1989 became a powerful symbol of the end of the Cold War. Within a year of tearing the Wall down, Germany – which was divided after its defeat in World War Two – was once again reunited. The Pope explained that in order to foster unity rather than division, we need a culture “capable of tearing down all the walls that still divide the world, and (that) it will not happen again that innocent people are persecuted and even killed because of their beliefs and of their religion.” In his address the Roman Pontiff also pointed to the day’s feast of the dedication of Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran. Built under Pope Melchiade in the early 300s, the basilica is the oldest Christian church in the world, and serves as Rome’s cathedral. He referred to how the Lateran basilica is often referred to in tradition as the “mother of all the churches of the city and the world,” saying that the term “mother” refers to the work of the Holy Spirit who is manifested there, rather than the building itself. Each time the dedication of a church is celebrated, we are reminded of the essential truth that the material structure is in fact a sign of the Church living and working throughout history, the Bishop of Rome explained. In the day’s Gospel, Jesus reveals the “shocking truth (that) the temple of God is not only the building made of bricks, but it is his body, made up of living stones,” the Pope observed, noting how each person automatically becomes another living stone in this spiritual building through their baptism. The spiritual building, which is the Church’s community of men and women sanctified by the death and resurrection of Christ, calls on each baptized person to live the faith they receive coherently in their daily lives, the Pope continued. “And it's not easy, we all know it, this coherence in life between faith and witness; but we need to go forward and make this daily coherence in our lives,” he said, explaining that a Christian is not known for what he says so much as what he does. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us the grace to live this coherence, the pontiff noted, saying that we should ask for this gift in order to both live the faith courageously and bear witness to charity, which are not separate things, but rather go together. When meditating on the dedication of the Lateran basilica we also reflect on the communion of all churches throughout the world, he said, which motivates us commit ourselves to overcoming all “barriers of enmity and indifference.” By making this commitment, we also commit ourselves “to build bridges of understanding and of dialogue, in order to make the whole world a family of peoples reconciled with each other, brotherly and harmonious,” the pontiff observed. He concluded by pointing out how the Church herself is a sign of anticipation of this reconciliation through her message of hope and witness to the Gospel. Read more

Vatican City, Nov 8, 2014 / 01:18 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes for a 12-year-old Italian boy who died late 1970s as well as seven other men and women, recognizing all for their “heroic virtue.” The Pope... Read more

Vatican City, Nov 8, 2014 / 12:06 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a meeting with members of the Italian Adult Catholic Scouting Movement, Pope Francis stressed the “educative mission” of the family, noting how every vocation is rooted in this fundamental relationship. The Nov. 8 audience with some 7,000 representatives marked the 60th anniversary of the founding of the movement. Pope Francis acknowledged the “apostolic commitment” shown by the scout members, which testifies to the “virtues of loyalty, fraternity, and love of God and neighbor, generously serving the Church and civil community.” Noting how the scouts often use the term “strada” – or “way” – the Holy Father encouraged those present to follow their call to lead the way in the family, in creation, and in the city. As the “primary place for education,” Pope Francis said, the family is the “community of love and life in which every person learns to relate to others and to the world.” “All vocations make their first steps in the family,” the Pope continued. It is important for movements like the scouts to “reaffirm that education in the family constitutes first priority.” The Pope said Christian parents “the educative mission finds its specific source in the Sacrament of marriage, for which the task of bringing up children constitutes a real ministry in the Church.” Pope Francis also reminded the group members to lead the way in care for creation. Questions concerning the environment cannot be ignored, nor reduced to politics. Rather, it “has a moral dimension which touches everyone.”   “Creation,” he said, “is a gift entrusted to us by the hands of the creator.” We, along with the creation which surrounds us, and are moving together toward God to achieve our goal as a “new heaven and new earth.” This “doctrine of our faith” serves as an incentive to strengthen a “responsible and respectful relationship with nature,” the Pope said.   The “close contact with nature” implies “not only a respect” for nature, but a commitment to eliminating waste brought about by a society which tends to throw away what is still usable, and could be “given to those in need”. Finally, Pope Francis called the scouts to “lead the way in the city.” He told participants they are “called to be like yeast which ferments the dough,” and offer their “sincere contribution to the bringing about of the common good.” The Pope stressed the importance of promoting the Gospel values with joy, “in a fair and open debate, with various cultural and social instances.” “In a complex and multicultural society,” he said, “ you can give witness to the love of Jesus for every person with simplicity and humility.” In the city, one “often lives in strenuous situations, and at times is at risk of getting lost, of losing the ability to see the horizon, of sensing God's presence.” What people in such situations need is a “compass,” a “heart” that is close by, “oriented” with the meaning of God. Pope Francis concluded his address to the scouts by urging them to be “good missionary disciples of the Lord Jesus, diligently listening to his word, always having faith in Him, who never disappoints, swelling with him in prayer, seeking to be living stones of the Church community.” Read more

Vatican City, Nov 8, 2014 / 08:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After six years serving as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, Cardinal Raymond Burke has been appointed as Patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Cardinal Burk... Read more