peace Tag

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
schoenstatt.org Editorial Staff • Every year, the Vatican publishes the Holy Father’s intentions for each month of the year: they reference the current challenges confronting humanity. They have always been disseminated in different ways: in parish bulletins, Catholic radio stations, and diocesan websites, in summary by every conceivable avenue. Or as they say, business as usual. This is how it has been until this year. On Wednesday, 6 January, the Epiphany of the Lord, the project, “the Pope Video§, was launched, in which the Holy Father explained his intentions forRead More
FRANCIS IN ROME – CHRISTMAS IN THE HOLY YEAR OF MERCY• “Where God is born, peace is born. And where peace is born, there is no longer room for hatred and for war.” Merry Christmas to Rome and the whole world. As is tradition, Pope Francis gave his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing from the main balcony of the gallery above St. Peter’s Basilica to several thousand Catholics. In the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis called for peace among the Israelis and Palestinians, condemned “brutal acts of terrorism” by the IslamicRead More
FRANCIS IN ROME • In the first Angelus of 2016, the Pope extended an invitation to open “the doors of our heart to Christ” and warned against the “evil that lies in wait at our door and our hearts to enter.” In order to prevent it from entering, Francis invited the faithful to always carry a Gospel in their pockets and to read “a passage every day.” Complete text of the Angelus on 3 January 2016 Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday! The liturgy of today, the second Sunday afterRead More
BURUNDI, Chiara Santomiero/Aleteia Team • “During the night, the police arrived arresting people, and the next day it was known that they were dead. We found cadavers in the streets. There is now total insecurity.” This is told to Aleteia by a source from the Church in Bujumbura, the capital of Burundi. The person asks for anonymity for security reasons. They also took some Salesian religious, but fortunately, they were freed the next day. “Fear overcomes everyone – continues the source – thousands of persons have gone to other partsRead More
POPE FRANCIS IN AFRICA, by Sarah-Leah Pimentel • After meeting the leaders of the Central African Republic (CAR), Pope Francis visited a refugee camp, administered the sacrament of reconciliation to a gathering of young people and celebrated two masses. Thousands came to see Francis despite a security lockdown Despite the fears of security, people turned out in large numbers to meet with Pope Francis. Journal de Bangui described the atmosphere as follows: “Despite the security threats and the fear that is now a part of their daily lives, the CentralRead More
POPE FRANCIS IN AFRICA, Sarah-Leah Pimentel • Pope Francis’s message in the Central African Republic (CAR) was a call to peace and encouragement for the people of this war torn country to find healing and reconciliation. This leg of the Pope Francis’ trip was possibly the most dangerous. In a country reeling from various waves of violence between the mostly Muslim Seleka rebels and the predominately Christian anti-balaka vigilante groups, there were real fears that Pope Francis could be targeted. To protect him, UN troops, 900 members of a FrenchRead More
POPE FRANCIS IN AFRICA, by Sarah-Leah Pimentel • Pope Francis landed in Nairobi, Kenya, on 25 November on the first leg of his trip to Africa, a pastoral visit that will also include Uganda and the Central African Republic. Shortly after arriving in Nairobi, Pope Francis met with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other political leaders. Kenyatta: “I ask for your prayers” The Kenyan president, who is himself a Catholic, began by asking the pontiff to pray for him in his aim to fight corruption within his own government. KenyanRead More
SYNOD OF BISHOPS • Francis today (9 October) urged the Synod participants gathered in the Vatican to pray for reconciliation and peace in the Middle East and also in Africa, and called on the international community to help resolve the conflicts in the region. “In resuming this morning the work of the General Congregation, I invite you to dedicate the prayer of the Third Hour to the intention of reconciliation and peace in the Middle East. We are painfully struck and we follow with great concern what is happening inRead More
SYNOD OF BISHOPS, homily by Cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa • “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Cor. 13:11) We begin this Synod with great joy. It is a journey that began two years ago and it is a great pleasure to meet again as brothers, as we have just heard. Brothers, who come from the four corners of the world summonedRead More