Franco Pisano

“Faith is missionary or it is not faith. It is offered, above all, through testimony. If you have faith, you have to go out from yourself, and show it in service of others. Convince by living it. Be open, humble, with open doors. When we do this, the Lord is with us". Introducing the celebration, he invites people to pray for undertakers and funeral services. It is so painful - he said - so sad what they do, and they feel the pain of this pandemic so close to heart".

"A pastor’s power is his service, he has no other power and when he mistakes this with another power he ruins his vocation and becomes, I don't know, a manager of a pastoral enterprise but not a pastor. The structure does not do the pastoral care: the pastor's heart is what does the pastoral care".

The Philippines have some of the world's most overcrowded prisons, a situation made worse by President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs. Health authorities say more than a thousand health workers have been infected, with 26 dead, including 19 doctors.

"Peter was able to go all the way from cowardly to brave with the gift of the Holy Spirit thanks to Jesus' prayer." “Jesus also prays for us; He prays before the Father”.

Police said people living near the cemetery feared that burying people who died from COVID-19 would spread the virus. Dr Simon Hercules was finally laid to rest by a friend the next day.

On the 50th World Earth Day, Francis urges the international community to take care of the common home and the weakest. "It will still be necessary for our children to take to the streets to teach us what is obvious, that is, there is no future for us if we destroy the environment that supports us." "As the tragic coronavirus pandemic is showing us, only together and taking on the most fragile can we overcome global challenges."

“Whenever we look at the crucifix, we find this love. The crucifix is ​​precisely the great book of God's love. " "How many people, how many Christians spend time looking at the crucifix ... and there they find everything, because they understood, the Holy Spirit made them understand that there we find all of the science, all of God’s love, all Christian wisdom".

"The Holy Spirit is the master of harmony" and created harmony within the first Christian community. "Poverty is the mother of the community, poverty is the wall that protects the community". It is divided by money, vanity and chatter.

“Being a Christian is not just fulfilling the Commandments: they must be done, this is true; but if you stop there, you are not a good Christian. To be a good Christian is to let the Spirit enter you and take you, take you where he wants."

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in the Church of the Holy Spirit in the Saxon District, in private, due to the quarantine imposed by the pandemic. The Feast of Divine Mercy was established 20 years ago by John Paul II. “The Lord waits for us to offer him our failings so that he can help us experience his mercy,” said the Pope. During this pandemic, “there is a danger that we will forget those who are left behind.” Instead, “the time has come to eliminate inequalities, to heal the injustice that is undermining the health of the entire human family!” To this end, “let us not think only of our interests, our vested interests.” Lest we forget, “without an all-embracing vision, there will be no future for anyone.” The pontiff extended his Easter greetings to the Eastern Churches.

“One cannot be a Christian without such frankness: if it doesn’t come about, one is not a good Christian. If one doesn’t have courage, if to explain one’s position one slides into ideologies or explanations from single cases, one lacks such frankness, one lacks the Christian style, the freedom to speak, to say everything [i.e.] Courage.”

The risk that the pandemic which prevents participation in celebrations allowing us to make only spiritual communion can transform us into a "virtual" community. "The Church, the Sacraments, the People of God are concrete".