The canonisation ceremony will be held on 14 October. Paul VI – who beatified the young worker on 1 December 1963 during the Council - and Mgr Romero will be canonised on the same day, as will Fr Francesco Spinelli, founder of the Institute of the Adorers Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament; Fr Vincenzo Romano, and Sister Maria Caterina Kasper, foundress of the Institute of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ.
Pope 'deeply saddened’ for Japan’s flood victims
| VATICAN – JAPANThe Son of God overturns every human scheme: it is not the disciples who washed the feet of the Lord, but the Lord who washed the feet of the disciples. This is a cause for scandal and disbelief, not only in that era, in every age, even today ". Francis also jokingly refers to the world cup. "I see Brazilian flags - he said. Take courage - he added - there is always next time! ".
Francis is in Bari, Italy, together with the Catholic and Orthodox patriarchs of Middle Eastern Churches for a day of prayer for peace. "We want to give a voice to those who have none, to those who can only wipe away their tears. For the Middle East today is weeping, suffering and silent as others trample upon those lands in search of power or riches".
At the end of a closed-door meeting with leaders of the different Christian realities, Francis said that "war is the offspring of power and poverty. It is defeated by renouncing the logic of supremacy and eradicating misery". Many conflicts have also been fomented by forms of fundamentalism and fanaticism. Equal rights for all citizens, whatever their faith.
The millions of refugees in Lebanon, rebuilding Syria, the drama of migrants, collaboration between the Churches: an interview of the "Secretary of State" of the Moscow Patriarchate a few hours after the ecumenical prayer meeting in Bari, together with Pope Francis and the patriarchs of the East.
Francis celebrates Mass on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his visit to the island of Lampedusa. The "sterile hypocrisy of those who do not want to 'get their hands dirty'", is "a temptation that is also present in our day, which translates into a closure towards those who are entitled, like us, to security and a condition of dignified life, and that builds walls, real or imaginary, instead of bridges".
Receiving the participants in the International Conference on Saving the Common Home and the Future of Life on Earth, on the third anniversary of the encyclical Laudato si ', Francis states that "reducing greenhouse gases requires honesty, courage and responsibility, above all on the part of those countries which are more powerful and pollute the most"
The disappearance of a child who was sold has "nothing to do with the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity". The nuns are victims of "many myths [. . .] information distorted and false news” as well as “baseless innuendo". Sr Prema gives her version of events and defends her congregation. Only two weeks before, the authorities described the children’s home involved as an “excellent environment for the care of children”. Now they have been taken by social services.
Many Pakistanis are in Rome for the official celebration of his elevation. Political leaders, members of civil society groups and community leaders appreciate him. “He is a leader who has lived through the different and tormented phases of Pakistani history,” said one observer. He “is a strong voice for minorities in Pakistan,” said another.
On the solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Pope Francis blessed the palliums for the metropolitan archbishops appointed during the year (including three from Asia). He prayed together with the delegate of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople at the tomb of Peter. “We too have been brought back to life, healed, renewed and filled with hope by the anointing of the Holy One,” he said. “Like Peter, we [. . .] will always be tempted to hear those “whisperings” of the evil One, which will become a stumbling stone for the mission." He warned against "empty forms of triumphalism". Meanwhile, “millions of people continue to ask the question: “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?
