Church – Francis – Movements Category

From Ingeborg and Richard Sickinger, Vienna, Austria • With Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation about love in the family, a change of paradigm has taken place in pastoral care. A great theme that can be followed through the whole work is a shift of emphasis from the law to the ideal. Cardinal Schönborn, who presented the Papal document on 8 April in Rome, stated in an interview with the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, “This document lifts the discussion onto a higher plane. (…) The Pope speaks of love inRead More
Together for Europe, Press Office – Andrea Fleming • Church leaders support the network “Together for Europe” on 2 July 2016, by sending personal messages; the Council of Europe and the EU Commission confirm their patronage. In the course of the last weeks the official acceptance arrived from the Vatican, and also from the Patriarchate in Istanbul, that Pope Francis and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I will send a personal video message to the large ecumenical rally of the network “Together for Europe” on 2 July in Munich. As earlyRead More
FRANCIS IN ROME — HOLY YEAR OF MERCY • Many Catholics and pilgrims from various countries again gathered in St. Peter’s Square on the third Wednesday of April to attend Pope Francis’ general audience, where he continued his catechetical series on Mercy in the New Testament.   Complete text of the Holy Father’s catechesis on 20 April 2016 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! Today we would like to stop and wonder at an aspect of mercy which is well presented in the passage we heard from the Gospel ofRead More
By María Fischer • On Saturday 16 April, Pope Francis returned from his 13th international apostolic visit, this time to the Greek island of Lesbos. As is customary, before ending each of these trips and returning to the Vatican, the Holy Father went to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to give thanks to the Blessed Mother, the Salus Populi Romani, for her protection during the trip. Before going to Lesbos on Friday, he also went to the Basilica to pray for this brief and very important journey. The PopeRead More
FRANCIS IN ROME – HOLY YEAR OF MERCY • “There is no saint without a past nor a sinner without a future” said Pope Francis in his catechesis during the Wednesday General Audience on 13 April. “The Church is not a community of perfect people, but of disciples on a journey, who follow the Lord because they know they are sinners and in need of his pardon. Thus, Christian life is a school of humility which opens us to grace.” With this, the Pope remarked that “yet, this is preciselyRead More
Francis week by week (11) • The quotation this week is, of course, taken from the Holy Father’s post-synodal Exhortation on love in the family, Amoris Leatitia Let us read and listen this week to the message for the whole church as if spoken to us, a Schoenstatt that proudly calls itself “family” and has taken marriage and family life as one of its main apostolates. No family drops down from heaven perfect­ly formed; families need constantly to grow and mature in the ability to love. This is a never-endingRead More

Posted On 16.04.2016In Francis - Message

Mercy and alms

FRANCIS IN ROME – HOLY YEAR OF MERCY • “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” On Saturday 9 April in the Holy Year, Pope Francis once again presided over the Jubilee Audience before thousands of pilgrims and faithful in St. Peter’s Square. Each of us could ask ourselves: “Am I able to stop and look in the face, in the eye of that person who is asking me? Am I able?” Thus, we must not identify almsgiving with the simple coin offered in haste, without looking atRead More
By Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontificial Council for the Family • For our Church, the Apostolic Exhortation “Amoris Laetitia” is the milestone on a long and winding journey. The Holy Father’s enthusiastic invitation to deal broadly, freely and openly with questions that are real and not just academic resounds throughout this Exhortation. Respecting tradition, it reflects prior synodal documents, the 2015 Wednesday Audience catecheses, and the writings of recent Popes, especially St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI. In line with the development of the magisterium from Vatican II tillRead More
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FRANCIS IN ROME – HOLY YEAR OF MERCY • Continuing with his series of catechesis on mercy in Holy Scriptures, Pope Francis, hafter having reflected on God’s mercy in the Old Testament, began his reflections about how Jesus enacted mercy to the full. At a time of public indignation over the Panama Papers, Pope Francis tells us: “It is on the Cross that Jesus presents the sin of the world to the mercy of the Father: the sin of all people, my sins, your sins, everyone’s sins. There, on theRead More
FRANCIS AT ROME • Pope Francis washed the feet of twelve refugees:  three Muslims, a Hindu, three Christian Copts and five Catholics (four men and a woman) during the Lord’s Supper that he celebrated on Holy Thursday afternoon at the Centro di Accoglienza per Richiedenti  (or CARA) Reception Center for those seeking asylum.  The center is located in Castelnuovo di Porto on the outskirts of Rome, where there are 892 at the center of which 554 are Muslims, 337 are Christians and two are Hindus. Mass was celebrated on theRead More