Papa Francisco Tag

PARAGUAY, Ani Souberlich and Maria Fischer • 12 February was the first anniversary of the blessing of Mother of Tupãrendá House’s (CMT) cornerstone, a center for the social re-insertion of teens, who have had a run-in with the law in Paraguay. The house was built in just six months, and the doors were immediately opened to welcome the participants; currently there are nineteen. Six months have passed where day to day we can witness the “small, great miracles” in the lives of each one of them, six months of importantRead More
BELMONTE ROME, Maria Fischer  • The “Shrine of all of us,” Belmonte Rome’s Shrine, is adorned for Lent – like all the world’s shrines. There are a few purple flowers… Holy Lent has begun that will lead us with our Lord to experience the sorrow and glory of the greatest love of him who gave his life for his friends, in extreme solidarity. “Lent is a new beginning, a path leading to the certain goal of Easter, Christ’s victory over death. This season urgently calls us to conversion. Christians areRead More
COSTA RICA, Maria Fischer with Gonzalo Vega • Voices of the soul. A constitutive element in discovering God’s will in the personal life of Schoenstatters and all Schoenstatt. Voices of the soul and their repercussions on other souls, especially in souls attuned to the same mission.  Discernment in Kentenich terms. On the occasion of his silver anniversary of ordination, Fr. Kentenich stressed that nothing in Schoenstatt had emerged in a theoretical manner, but instead through hundreds of individual contributions, from the best each person had interiorly… Even more, I canRead More
PARAGUAY, José Argüello • A few hours after everything was over, someone found and shared a chapter of the book “Ella es mi mama”, [She is my Mother] Fr. Alexandre Awi’s great Pope Francis interview about his encounters with Mary. ”Santuarizar la cuidad” [Turn the city into a Shrine] is the title of the chapter, it is one of the greatly loved, “Bergoglisms” that verbalize an entire process of life, precisely with this touch of novelty and irritation that the Good News needs in these times of the inflated useRead More
POPE FRANCIS • The Secretariat for Communication of the Holy See on 30 December published a video with the most distinctive images of Pope Francis’ activities for the year that had just ended. Video Which message of Pope Francis touched me the most in 2016? What gesture moved me the most? Original: Spanish. Translation: Sarah-Leah Pimentel, Cape Town, South Africa  Read More
100 HOUSES, Maria Fischer and Ani Souberlich • We are advancing…on the road towards Christmas We, a searching people, a people of waiting, a people of hope… We are advancing…on the road toward Christmas Guided by a star, a star of peace and of solidarity… We are advancing …on the road toward Christmas A single desire guides our steps: to find a child, to find the smile of a child, to find the humanity of a child… We are advancing …on the road toward Christmas Hands extending toward others, theRead More
Germany, Mons. Peter Wolf • On 6 December, Germany’s “friends of Belmonte” travelled overnight by bus, through St. Gotthard Pass towards Rome, and arrived at Belmonte in the morning.  Fr. Daniel Lozano, the Belmonte rector, welcomed them and Fr. Georg Egle, in his homily, spoke about the Salve Regina and their pilgrimage to Rome, which this year would take them through different images of the Blessed Mother in the Eternal City.  After settling in at the TRAI NOI hotel, they visited St Peter’s Basilica, where they admired Michelangelo’s world-famous PietaRead More
Maria Fischer • Pope Francis’ joy was palpable as he spoke about World Youth Day during the first general audience after summer vacation: “Let us begin precisely with the young people, who were the primary reason for the Journey. Once again they have answered the call: they came from all over the world – some of them are even here! [indicating pilgrims in the Hall]. A celebration of colors, of different faces, of languages, of diverse histories. I don’t know how they do it: they speak different languages, but theyRead More
ROME – CUBA, Fr. Rolando Gibert Montes de Oca Valero • I was not aware there was a Marian Jubilee.  I found out about it from a friend’s invitation.  So I thought: the Church wants to give Blessed Mother a gift… but surely she will give us something better, and I began to ask myself what would be the richest gift that Blessed Mother would want to give us… In conjunction with the Jubilee, some friends from the Neo-catechumenal Way invited me to a “Catechetical Symphonic Celebration.”  It was aRead More
PARAGUAY, by Maria Fischer and Ani Souberlich • “Do we have donations for one more house?” Ani Souberlich asked me several weeks ago. “I already asked for the material, it is for one of our families that I promised a roof, and with last week’s rain, they had some misfortune, and they are now practically living under a tree. I would like to help them now…and I want to build this house because it is cold. I will tell you more later!” Two or three days before, the first donationRead More