Franco Pisano

Born in Milan in 1827, he took part in the Five Days of Milan. Missionary in Oceania, he founded the Sisters of Reparation upon his return to Italy.

The decision taken "considering the considerable flow of people who go to Medjugorje and the abundant fruits of grace that came from it". But this does not mean authentication of the supposed apparitions.

The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue issued a message addressed to Muslims on the occasion of Ramadan, noting that “We Muslims and Christians are called to open ourselves to others, knowing and recognizing them as brothers and sisters. In this way, we can tear down walls raised out of fear and ignorance and seek together to build bridges of friendship that are fundamental for the good of all humanity.”

His conversion on the road to Damascus is a "turning of the page in the history of Salvation". "Let us look for new paths, this will do us all good! Provided they are the paths of the Lord. But move forward: forward in the depths of prayer, in the depth of docility, of the heart open to the voice of God. And so the true changes are made in the Church, with people who know how to fight for the small and the great things ”.

The real problem, before being political and social, is linked to a distance: "This is the problem of today: if you tell me that it is a political problem, a social problem, a cultural problem, a language problem: they are secondary things. The problem is a problem of distance between the mind and the heart. This: it is a problem of distance ”.

In a new Motu proprio Francis establishes the obligation of priests and bishops to report allegations of abuse and any attempt to cover up cases of abuse. " The crimes of sexual abuse offend Our Lord, cause physical, psychological and spiritual damage to the victims and harm the community of the faithful."

At the general audience, Francis retraces the stages of the visit to Bulgaria and Northern Macedonia. The "tenderness" of the sisters of Mother Teresa in Skopje, the "step forward" with the Orthodox in the meeting with the Patriarch Neofit and the interreligious meeting for peace. "Even today there is a need for passionate and creative evangelizers, so that the Gospel may reach those who do not yet know it and can irrigate the lands where the ancient Christian roots have dried up".

An interfaith meeting with young people and a meeting with priests ended Francis' day in Skopje. “Think of Mother Teresa,” he said. “[W]hen she lived here, she could not have imagined where her life would have ended up. Yet she kept dreaming and tried to see the face of her great love, Jesus, and to discover it in all those people on the sides of the road.”

In Skopje, Francis praised North Macedonia’s openness to migrants, backing its quest for membership in the European Union. The Mass was dedicated to the “hunger for God”. For him, “We have become accustomed to eating the stale bread of disinformation and ending up as prisoners of dishonour, labels and ignominy.”

Francis in Skopje, the birthplace of the Saint, blessed the first stone of the sanctuary dedicated to her. "From here we pray to you: intercede with Jesus / so that we also obtain the grace / to be vigilant and attentive to the cry of the poor, / of those who are deprived of their rights, / of the sick, the marginalized, the last".

In a meeting on peace with Orthodox, Jewish, Protestant, Armenians, and Muslim clerics, Francis called for cooperation to achieve the human right of peace. Religious, political and cultural leaders must work together to this end in their own domain.

In his meeting with the Catholic community in the church of St. Michael the Archangel in Rakovsky, Pope Francis urges them to live as builders of hope. "He who loves does not waste time crying on himself, but he always sees something concrete that he can do". To love others without paying attention to the "adjectives", but to the "nouns": "this is a person, in the image of God". Find ways to "translate the love God has for us in a concrete and understandable way".