50,000 dead in Europe; almost 6 thousand in the US. China focuses on imported cases. Numbers remain low in Taiwan. Pyongyang: no case in our country. Nightly curfew imposed in Thailand. GDP growth in Asia-Pacific will slow down to 2.2%.
Yesterday, on Italian television, Francis expressed his closeness to families, especially those with sick members, and to doctors, nurses and all those who provide essential services. Temptation is a process that “changes our hearts from good to bad, that leads along a downward path. It is something that grows, grows, grows slowly, then infects others and ultimately justifies itself.”
Message from the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue on the occasion of Vesakh, the most important holiday for Buddhists. Buddhists are also invited to take part in the event on "Reinventing the Global Compact on education", which will be held in the Vatican on 15 October.
Francis recalls the Virgin Mary’s "seven sorrows". “She didn't ask herself to be a quasi-redeemer or a co-redeemer: no. There is one Redeemer and this title not a dual title. Only disciple and mother. And so, as a mother we must think of her, we must look to her, we must pray to her. She is the Mother”.
“The Christian is a Christian not because he can show the faith of baptism: the faith of baptism is an ID card. You are a Christian if you say yes to the election that God has made of you, if you go behind the promises that the Lord has made to you and if you live a covenant with the Lord: this is Christian life.
The epidemic affects all of Abraham's children and questions those who wonder if Islam is the only true religion, because the virus affects Muslims. The extremists are silent and the joint initiatives between the faithful of the three religions are multiplying.
Being a disciple means letting oneself be guided by the Holy Spirit. For this reason, a disciple of Jesus is someone of Tradition and novelty, a free person, never subject to ideologies.
“We cannot forget the tragedies of our day, because the Passion of the Lord continues in the suffering of men. May your hearts find, in the Cross of Christ, support and comfort in the midst of the tribulations of life".
Jesus came into the world to take our sins on himself and on the cross he really suffered and died. "We have to get used to looking at the crucifix in this light, which is the truest, it is the light of redemption".
“Each of us has our own sins. And if you don't remember them, think a little: you will find them. Thank God if you find them, because if you don't find them, you are corrupt. Each of us has our own sins. We look to the Lord who does justice but who is so merciful ".
At the Angelus, Pope Francis joins the UN secretary general’s appeal because "in countries at war, health systems have collapsed and already reduced health personnel, have often been targeted". A renewed commitment to overcoming rivalries. “Conflicts are not resolved through war!”. Prayer for the sick in nursing homes, for barracks, for prisoners. The explosive problem of overcrowding in prisons. "God's answer to the problem of death is Jesus: 'I am the resurrection and the life'." The Christian is "a reflection of the love and tenderness of God, who frees from death and gifts the victory of life!"
During mass in the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Francis prayed for those who weep: “isolated people, people in quarantine; the elderly alone; hospitalized people and people in therapy; parents who see that since there is no salary, they will not be able to feed their children. " Ask for "the grace to cry", like "Jesus who was not ashamed to cry".
"We pray for families who are beginning to feel the need because of the pandemic." “I often think: they are good people - priests, nuns - who lack the courage to go and serve the poor. Something is missing. What these people were missing, the doctors of the Law. They lost their memory, they lost what Jesus felt in his heart: that he was part of his own people ".
The pontiff holds an "extraordinary moment of prayer" for the end of the coronavirus epidemic. "The Lord asks us and, in the midst of our tempest,” urges to show solidarity and have hope, above all to be converted. “It is a time to get our lives back on track with regard to” the Lord and others.
The devil is responsible for the cruelty against the righteous and for anti-Christian persecution. “Let us think of how the devil treated Jesus with cruelty, but also persecuted Christians; how he tried the most sophisticated means to lead them to apostasy, to move away from God. This is, as we say in everyday language, diabolical; indeed, [it is a] diabolical mind.”
