Pope Francis Tag

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
PARAGUAY, by José Aníbal Argüello • During the recent Holy Week, 950 youths, the majority of them Paraguayan and those from Brazil, Chile, Argentina, among others, have participated in the Catholic University Missions. We confirmed our Faith, responding to the call that was manifested to us in different ways and through different people to take the message of joy, salvation, hope and love to the people as Christ entrusted to us. “Go therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and ofRead More
By Sebastián Acha, Asunción, Paraguay, a life-long Schoenstatt member who has been a deputy in the Paraguayan Chamber for the last ten years – a contribution in the series: What does the Year of Mercy mean? • In the 1920s José Ortega y Gasset wrote: “The information that best describes the uniqueness of a race is the profile of the models it elects, because nothing reveals the root condition of a man better than the type of woman that he can fall in love with.  Through the choice of 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
BELMONTE, by Maria Fischer • During Holy Week, there were several Schoenstatt pilgrims at Rome from: Costa Rica, Chile, and Paraguay.  Those who saw the transmission of the Holy Mass on Palm Sunday at St. Peter’s Square perhaps saw a Pilgrim Mother raised on high during Pope Francis’ tour. “It is the Pilgrim Mother for expectant mothers and those desiring pregnancy,” commented José Argüello, who belongs to the Rosary Campaign’s Youth Ministry in Paraguay. Many of the Schoenstatters, who were in Rome, also went on pilgrimage to the Belmonte Shrine,Read More
FRANCIS IN ROME – HOLY YEAR OF MERCY • “The Pope with us”: This was the title of their Twitter account. Within the framework of the Holy Year and the ‘Friday of mercy,’ that morning, Pope Francis made a surprise visit to a group of drug addicts and alcoholics in Rome at the Mario Picchi Italian Center of Solidarity. “Do not be afraid,” Francis told them during the conversation. On its website, CEIS states, “It promotes activities and interventions that seek to prevent and to combat the social exclusion ofRead More
ARGENTINA, by Claudia Echenique • On the 22nd Feast of the Sion Shrine, Fr. Juan Pablo Catoggio, General Superior of the Schoenstatt Fathers who at that time was visiting Argentina, said that “love and the infinite mercy of God for his children are perhaps the major points of encounter between Pope Francis and our Father and Founder.  They both have the same desire, the same conviction:  that this message of Mercy reaches modern man today who needs it so much.” All wanted to be present at the Sion Feast ThatRead More
FRANCIS IN MEXICO, by Marcelo José Garza Gómez (2) • On Tuesday, 16 February, I had the opportunity, along with another fifty youths, to participate in the encounter Pope Francis had with the youths of Mexico. The experience was indescribable, tickets were obtained exactly one week before the encounter, and along with twenty other crazy Schoenstatt Youths from Monterrey, we traveled all of Monday night to arrive at the event. Upon entering the stadium everything changed We arrived in the morning, and it was a long wait, the sun wasRead More