Franco Pisano

The "guardian of Jesus," "reminds us that all those who are seemingly hidden or in the 'second line' have an unparalleled protagonism in the history of salvation" and that they "sustain the lives of us all."

“It is shocking and disturbing that in today’s economies, whose productive activities rely on technological innovations, so much so that we talk about the ‘fourth industrial revolution’, the employment of children in work activities persists in every part of the world. This endangers their health and their mental and physical well-being, and deprives them of the right to education and to live their childhood with joy and serenity.”

"The peripheries are preferred by Jesus," who "continues to manifest himself in the geographical and existential peripheries" and that even today the Church "knows that it is called to announce the good news starting from the peripheries." New cycle of catechesis dedicated to St. Joseph, who "reminds the Church to fix its gaze on what the world deliberately ignores."

During Mass, Francis offered “some advice for making important choices. [. . .] Before deciding, let us imagine that we are standing in front of Jesus, as at the end of life, before Him who is love. And imagining ourselves there, in His presence, at the threshold of eternity, we make the decision for today. [. . .] It may not be the easiest, it may not be the most immediate, but it will be the right one”. The pontiff also announced that “today, World Day of the Poor, registration opens for the Laudato si' platform, which promotes integral ecology.”

Francis travelled to Assisi ahead of the Fifth World Day of the Poor. “It is time for sleeves to be rolled up so dignity can be restored by creating jobs,” he said. “It is time to be scandalised once again before the reality of children who are starving, reduced to slavery, tossed about in the water in the aftermath of a shipwreck, innocent victims of every sort of violence.” Likewise, “It is time that violence against women cease and that they be respected and not treated like bargaining chips.”

"Prayer to the Holy Spirit is spontaneous: it must come from your heart. You must say in moments of difficulty: 'Holy Spirit, come'. The key word is this: 'come'. But you have to say it with your language, with your words. Come, because I am in difficulty, come because I am in darkness, in the dark; come because I do not know what to do; come because I am about to fall. Come. Come."

Francis celebrated Mass to mark the 60th anniversary of Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic, the hospital where he was admitted in July. “It is good for us, in the evening, to look back on the faces we have met, the smiles we have received, the good words.” Such “memories of love [. . .] help our memory [. . .] find itself again: May our memory find itself again.”

The Holy See released a communiqué following talks between Pope Francis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who later also spoke with Secretary of State Card Pietro Parolin. in the press release, the Vatican reiterated its support for a two-state solution in the Holy Land and an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem. It also rejected the “use of weapons, and [. . .] all forms of extremism and fundamentalism.”

The "desires of the flesh" - envy, prejudices, hypocrisies and grudges - should not be pursued, avoiding the temptation to resort to "a preceptual rigidity" that would lead "off the path of freedom and, instead of climbing to the summit, one would return to the bottom."

Francis celebrated Mass at the French military cemetery in Rome. “I am reminded of an inscription at the entrance of a small cemetery in the north. ‘You who pass by, think about your steps, and when thinking about your steps, think about your last one’. You who pass by. Life is a journey; we are all on a journey. All of us, if we want to do something in life, we are on a journey. It is no stroll, not even a labyrinth. No, it is a journey.”

Holiness is "joy and prophecy". Joy because without it "faith becomes a rigorous and oppressive exercise and risks becoming sick with sadness", prophecy because in the Beatitudes Jesus "overturns" worldly criteria: he calls the poor, the afflicted, those who hunger for justice blessed.

The meeting elicits a brief Vatican statement and a warm tweet by the prime minister. Card Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, is “delighted” about the tête-à-tête between the Pope and Modi and the invitation.