Francis Tag

POPE FRANCIS’ ANGELUS, Maria Fischer • Life could be so easy if everything was black and white, good and bad, true and untrue. But neither life nor human beings are like this. One of the central messages of Pope Francis’ papacy is what he said in his message before the Angelus on 23 July: Today, the Lord helps us to understand that good and evil cannot be identified with specific territories or particular human groups: ‘These are good, these are evil.” This reminds us of the story about Joseph Engling, whenRead More
POPE FRANCIS’ INITIATIVES • At the end yesterday’s General Audience, Pope Francis called everyone to unite themselves to the “one minute for peace” initiative, which will take place on Thursday 8 June at 1300, Roman time, and said that it recalls the meeting in the Vatican Gardens with then Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on 8 June 2014. “Tomorrow at 1300, several countries will renew the initiative: “One minute for peace.” This is a short moment of prayer on the anniversary of my meeting with deceasedRead More
Interview of Fr. Alfredo Pereira, Schoenstatt Father from Paraguay • After working for several years in Italy, exactly in a Roman parish that was entrusted to the Schoenstatt Fathers, and in the university ministry, Fr. Alfredo “Pope” Pereira, Schoenstatt Father from Paraguay, returned to his country in March 2017. – How was your experience in the “Santi Patroni” Parish of Rome? I arrived at Santi Patroni Parish in November 2010 as a deacon. During those first months, I learned Italian and grew part of parish life in a gradual andRead More
FRANCIS – EASTER 2017 • During Easter Sunday Mass celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis broke with tradition and gave a homily that reflected closely on the dramas at play in the world today: ” Let us think a little about our daily problems, the illnesses that each one of us or one of our family members have experienced,” Francis said, and then he asked: “What does the Church say to us today in the light of so many tragedies? Simply this: the stone that was rejected is notRead More
PRAYING WITH POPE FRANCIS – IN COVENANT SOLIDARITY • Last week it was Peru. Now it’s Colombia.  According to the authorities, at least 254 people were killed and more than 200 were injured in flooding and mudslides caused by strong rains in Mocoa, the capital of Colombia’s Putumayo Province in the south east of the country. Some 400 people are also thought to be missing.  Our Holy Father is on a pastoral visit to the Italian diocese of Carpi which was affected by an earthquake in May 2012.  He cameRead More
mendigo
IN PRAYER WITH POPE FRANCIS, Editorial team with material from Pope’s Prayer and AICA • It was an initiative for the Year of Mercy, but it has continued. The Pope Video is a global initiative developed by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network to collaborate in spreading the Holy Father’s monthly prayer intentions about the challenges facing humanity. In this case, the intention is pre-determined, but the new intention, the “last minute intention” is announced during the first Angelus of the month. The last minute intention for February is: Let usRead More
VATICAN/CHILE, Maria Fischer • The worst forest fires registered in Chile’s history are affecting southern Chile. More than 4 million people were deployed to attend to the emergency. Among them were military personnel, firefighters, volunteers and brigades, as well as thirty-seven aircraft, water trucks and heavy machinery to combat the fires. Six deaths have been reported from the worst forest fires in Chile’s history. They have consumed more than 190,000 hectares of forests and farmland in the central and southern part of the country, according to the latest report fromRead More
POPE FRANCIS – By Philip Kosloski, via Aleteia, and Maria Fischer Already from the beginning of his papacy, Pope Francis has demonstrated care and special attention toward humanity’s many challenges and has emphasized, on frequent occasions, his desire to create a “culture of encounter.”  This year, to deepen his cause, Pope Francis has changed the form in which he selects his monthly prayer intentions that he entrusts to the Pope’s World Web of Prayer (previously known as the Apostolate of Prayer). Since 1928, the corresponding Pope has selected two prayerRead More
PARAGUAY, Melissa N. Torres A. • At Fr. Martín Gómez’ request the Professional Women’s Branch took on the apostolate at Good Shepherd prison in Asunción. Since May 2015, every Sunday from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m., Branch volunteers travel through every unit of the prison accompanied by the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign’s Pilgrim Mother. They teach the inmates to pray; they share the Gospel and pray the rosary.  On one of these visits, the mothers from the Amanecer unit expressed their desire to have their children baptized, and incredibly, they alsoRead More
FRANCIS IN ROME • “Then we’ll have a serious conversation with the Blessed Mother and the Lord one of these days,” my friend José A. said, after sharing his thoughts on Whatsapp about Francis’ catechesis on 28 December, where he said: “complaining to the Lord is a way of praying. At times when I hear confession, people say: “I complained to the Lord …”, and I respond: “No, complain! He is the father!”. This is a way of praying: complaining to the Lord, this is good.” He is Father.  TrulyRead More