03/06/2014VATICAN Pope: "The Christian style, without the Cross is not Christian, and if the cross is a cross without Jesus, it is not Christian" "We can not think of the Christian life outside of this path. There is always this path that He has travelled first: the path of humility, of humiliation, of self negation to rise up again". Vatican City (AsiaNews)
- "The Christian style, without the cross is not a Christian, and if the cross is
a cross without Jesus,
it is not Christian. The Christian
style takes up the cross with Jesus
and moves forward "on a path that leads to joy."...
03/06/2014VATICAN Pope: Time of mercy, closeness to wounded for entire Church Encountering priests of the diocese of Rome, Francis says that “we must think of the Church today like a ‘field hospital'". "I always carry a small cloth pouch" containing a cross, in memory of a "great confessor", and when I have bad thoughts about someone my hand reaches for it". Confessors must be neither too "lax" nor too "rigorous".
03/05/2014VATICAN Pope: Lent, a time of conversion to be able to "react to the reality of evil that always challenges us " Francis points out two "commitments" for the period leading up to Easter: live the redemptive work of Christ with greater awareness and live our baptism with greater commitment. The "risk of not no longer being shocked by the sad reality that surrounds us", such as violence, injustice, "a society that claims it can make do without God".
03/04/2014VATICAN Pope: Remember that among Christians "there are more martyrs today than in the early days of the Church" "The world does not tolerate the divinity of Christ. It doesn’t tolerate the announcement of the Gospel. It does not tolerate the Beatitudes". "They are condemned because they have a Bible. They can not make the sign of the Cross", "they can not go to Mass, because it is forbidden". How often "does a priest come in secret, among them, they pretend they are having a meal, taking tea and there they celebrate Mass", "so they will not see them".
03/03/2014VATICAN Pope: May God send us priests and nuns free from the idolatry of vanity, power and money "How many young people feel this ' call ' to get closer to Jesus in their hearts, and are enthusiastic " and "want to follow him, but when they have a heart full of something else and are not brave enough to empty it, the take a step back, and that joy becomes sadness".
03/02/2014VATICAN Pope launches "pressing appeal" for Ukraine, for "all initiatives in favor of dialogue and harmony" "This week we begin Lent, which is the journey of the People of God towards Easter, a journey of conversion, to combat evil with the weapons of prayer, fasting and mercy". "The shroud has no pockets! It is better to share, because we bring into Heaven only what we have shared with others".
02/28/2014JAPAN Dena Merriam, leader of the Global Peace Initiative for Women, wins the Niwano Peace Prize The organisation's purpose is to empower women, facilitate reconciliation in conflict and post-conflict areas, and offer spiritual resources to help address critical global problems. Since its founding, the GPIW has organised roundtables in Israel/Palestine, Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Kashmir.
02/27/2014VATICAN Pope: bishops are not managers but witnesses to the Risen Christ who lives for and near his flock Francis chaired a meeting of the Congregation for Bishops today. For him "To identify a bishop, it is not necessary to list his human, intellectual cultural or even pastoral skills". To "choose," we "need to elevate ourselves, to rise to the 'upper level'. We must rise above and overcome any eventual preferences, sympathies, provenances or tendencies to arrive at God's broad horizon".
02/27/2014VATICAN Pope: inconsistency between Christian life and faith causes scandal, "it does so much damage”, it "kills" "If you find yourself in front of an atheist and he tells you that he does not believe in God, you can read him a whole library, where it says that God exists and also prove that God exists, and he will still not believe. But if you give a coherent witness of Christian life to this atheist, something will begin to work in his heart".
02/25/2014VATICAN Pope: war leaves children starving in refugee camps as lords of war who make and sell weapons throw parties "Wars, hatred, enmity - he replied - can not be bought at the market: they are here in our hearts". "This spirit of war, which leads us away from God, is not only far from us" it is "also in our homes”. "How many families are destroyed because the father, the mother is unable to find the path of peace and prefer war".
