Pope: The Christian's path means "allowing oneself to be stripped bare" and "being open to the Lord's surprises"

"A blessing for India". He was the first Indian to cover the office of Prefect in the Vatican. He was the first to reach out to China. A great pastoral and diplomatic experience. Afflicted by various diseases, he was "a martyr of the mission".

The bishop apparently arrived at Wenzhou airport, but did not go home.  Government officials took him to an unknown place. His priests did not see him at home. According to the latest figures, Wenzhou Catholics number 130,000.

In Aleppo, up to two-thirds of the Christian population has left the city, about half has left the rest of the country. Jobs must be provided for those who remain, education to their children, and "spiritual support" so that they can continue the mission of "bearing witnesses to Christ" in a Muslim-majority country. Next week, the cardinal will meet with the pope.

The conference begins tomorrow and continues until June 21. Joint work was blocked in 2002 over allegations of "proselytism" against the Russian Catholic Church. Change of climate after the meeting between Francis and Kirill in Havana in 2016. Russians prefer to talk about common mission to the world rather than unity of the united Church in the first 10 centuries.

Francis opened the ecclesial conference of the diocese of Rome on youth education. In a society devastated and dominated by consumerism, try to offer the possibility of harmonious growth not only on a personal level but also a social and spiritual level.

Pope Francis celebrated the Corpus Domini Mass this Sunday following the Italian, not the Vatican liturgical calendar. Today, if we leave “our memories behind [. . .] living only for the moment, we risk remaining ever on the surface of things”. The Eucharist is a “living remembrance that comforts us with God’s love”. It “is not a sacrament ‘for me’; it is the sacrament of the many, who form one body”. The procession made its way from St John Lateran to Saint Mary Major. The canopy with the ostensory was followed by the "holy faithful people of God".

During the Angelus, Pope Francis mentioned World Refugee Day, on 20 June, whose theme is "‘With Refugees. Now more than ever we need to stand with Refugees.’ “[M]eeting refugees in person dissipates distorted fears and ideologies, and becomes a factor of growth in humanity”. The pontiff will go on pilgrimage to Bozzolo (Mantova) and Barbiana (Florence) to honour the memory of Don Primo Mazzolari and Don Lorenzo Milani, whose testimony "the world still needs today". Tonight, the pontiff will lead the Corpus Domini Mass in St John in Lateran, and the Eucharistic procession to Saint Mary Major.

On 21 May, Pope Francis announced his nomination, a surprise for Laos’s 50,000- strong Catholic community. It is a “baby Church” that experiences the first proclamation and is turned towards Tribals and animists. "Some of the most serious problems are the shortage of personnel and the quality of education,” the prelate said. "Some people think that being a cardinal is an honour,” but for Mgr Mangkhanekhoun it means advising the pope on how to “solve problems.”

The bishop is recognised by the Holy See but not by the government. He was held for 27 days during which he attended a “religious seminar" to convince him to join the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association and force the Vatican to appoint right away a coadjutor bishop from the official community.

Only if we accept that we are made of clay can the "extraordinary power of God” come to us and give us fullness, salvation, happiness, and the joy of being saved, thus receiving the Lord's "treasure".

Francis has written the preface to a book that is an interview with Card. Tukson titled "Corrosion". Today, even just "imagining the future" is a very difficult undertaking, corruption even undermines the "hope" that an improvement is possible.

"Much of man’s narcissism is born from a feeling of solitude." Lack of love is the source of many apparently inexplicable behaviors: "Not being or not feeling loved as a teenager, can lead to violence."

We ask for grace "to be clinging, rooted in the fullness of the promises in Christ Jesus that is 'yes', our total 'yes', and bringing this fullness with the salt and light of our testimony to others to give glory to the Father who is in heavens. "

Francis' Message for the First World Day of the Poor, instituted by him. "Let us never forget that, for Christ’s disciples, poverty is above all a call to follow Jesus in his own poverty." "Poverty is an interior attitude that avoids looking upon money, career and luxury as our goal in life and the condition for our happiness.  Poverty instead creates the conditions for freely shouldering our personal and social responsibilities, despite our limitations, with trust in God’s closeness and the support of his grace."

"The Christian community, even with all human limits, can become a reflection of the communion of the Trinity, of its goodness and beauty. But this necessarily goes through the experience of God's mercy, of His forgiveness. " Itala Mela proclaimed Blessed yesterday, in La Spezia.