The post-synodal apostolic exhortation "Querida Amazonia" has been published. A Church alongside the oppressed, who are often indigenous, that respects its cultural traditions, safeguards the environment and people at the same time, proposes sustainable development and strives to propose Jesus in an immense and varied territory, also giving lay people , including women, larger spaces within communities.
Francis uses general audience to speak once again about the war-torn nation. In his continuing catechesis dedicated by the Beatitudes, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted". "Understanding sin is a gift from God, it is a work of the Holy Spirit. “We alone cannot understand sin. It is a grace that we must ask for.
The list of people arrested and put "in isolation" over their concern for the coronavirus is getting longer. It includes: journalist and lawyer Chen Qiushi, philosophy professor Zhou Xuanyi, activist Guo Quan, "martyred" Dr Li Wenliang, Xie Linka of the Tumour Centre of Wuhan Union Hospital, and Liu Wen of the neurology department of the Red Cross Society Hospital. Doubts are growing about the WHO, which hasn’t conducted any independent check. Western countries have isolated China, but have also kept silent about its actions.
"Jesus invites us not to be afraid to live in the world, even if sometimes there are conditions of conflict and sin in it,” said Pope Francis. “Jesus at the last supper did not ask the Father to remove the disciples from the world, but to keep them from the spirit of the evil one." Through people trafficking, "criminal organisations are increasingly using modern means of communication to entice victims through deception.” For Syria, the pontiff calls for “talks and negotiations, in accordance with international humanitarian law, to safeguard the lives and welfare of civilians.”
“Concern for education is concern for future generations and for the future of humanity,” said Francis. “Education is not merely about transmitting concepts; it is an enterprise that demands cooperation on the part of all involved – the family, the school and social, cultural and religious institutions.”
"When we try to boost our visibility, in the Church, in our community, to have a position or something else, that is the way of the world, it is a worldly road, it is not the way of Jesus. And this temptation to be a climber can also happen to pastors”. “But if a shepherd does not follow this path, he is not a disciple of Jesus: he is a climber with a cassock. There is no humility without humiliation. "
Francis received CEOs and presidents of the most important trade fair and event organizers in the world. "International exhibitions contribute to the growth of a culture of encounter, which strengthens the bonds of solidarity and promotes mutual enrichment between members of the human family."
“There are those who have the kingdoms of this world: they have goods and they have comforts. But these are realms that end. The power of men, even the greatest empires, pass and disappear. " "Riches too: the old people taught us that the shroud have no pockets." “Whoever loves the true good more than himself truly reigns. This is the power of God. "
The story of King David who weeps over the death of his son “shows us God’s heart, what the Lord does with us when we move away from Him, what the Lord does when we destroy ourselves with sin, disoriented, lost.” Yet, “In the moment of temptation, in the moment of sin, in the moment in which we distance ourselves from God, let us try to listen to this voice: 'My son, my daughter, why?’”
In Vietnam and other Asian countries, celibacy is accepted as a gift and a responsibility. Vocations also grow in the universal missionary dimension. The great value of the book of Card. Robert Sarah and Benedict XVI on ecclesiastical celibacy. The mud-slinging of two groups in the Church: the ‘Team Francis’ and those anti-Bergoglio. It is time to learn from the Churches of Asia.
The masks are a gift from the Holy See and the Chinese Christian communities in Italy. Card. Konrad Krajewski, the papal almsgiver; director of the Vatican pharmacy, Fr. Thomas Binish; Fr. Vincenzo Handuo, vice-rector of the Pontifical Urbanianum College in charge of organisation. The masks will be distributed in Hubei, Zhejiang, Fujian. China Southern Airlines took care of transporting them for free to China.
At the Angelus, Pope Francis recalls the Day for Life, which this year has as its theme "Open the doors to life". A Haily Mary and an applause for consecrated persons on the day dedicated to them. "Every baptized person has received a vocation to proclaim, to announce Jesus". "The ability to be amazed at the things around us promotes religious experience."
On the 24th World Day of Consecrated Life, celebrated on the day of the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Pope Francis presides over a mass with thousands of representatives of religious orders, communities, societies of apostolic life. "Dear brothers and sisters, we did not deserve religious life; it is a gift of love that we have received". The risk of "seeing things in a worldly way" in religious life. "Do not turn away from the Lord, source of hope".
The ecclesial community must become a place of "intergenerational sharing" and seniors are “the present and the future of the Church.” “They are not only people whom we are called to assist and protect to guard their lives, but they can be actors in a pastoral evangelising ministry, privileged witnesses of God’s faithful love.”
