Sri Lanka

Francis celebrates the Jubilee of Disabled and Sick People: "We are in an age when care for one’s body has become an obsession and a big business. anything imperfect has to be hidden away, since it threatens the happiness and serenity of the privileged few and endangers the dominant model". Jesus is "the doctor who treats with the medicine of love ". An Angelus an appeal against child slavery: "We must renew efforts to remove the causes of this phenomenon."

Francis holds audience with participants in the Convention "... and you will always eat at my table!", Promoted by the Italian national catechetical office disabled persons’ section. He responds to questions posed by two girls with disabilities: "Shaking hands is communion, but many think it is more convenient to ignore diversity". To the priests who do not welcome he proposes "a pastoral ear". The full text of this unscripted speech.

The authorities have approved a draft bill that records the disappeared. Family members will be issued a "certificate of absence". So they can access the properties of the missing relative. Until now they had to sign a death certificate, but the recognition of the remains is often impossible.

In a meeting with a delegation from the World Communion of Reformed Churches, Francis stressed the “urgent need for an ecumenism that, along with theological dialogue aimed at settling traditional doctrinal disagreements between Christians, can promote a shared mission of evangelization and service."

"In order to meet the Lord we must be so: standing upright and on our way; then waiting for Him speak to us, with an open heart; and He will say, ‘It is I’ and there faith becomes strong – [and] is this faith for me to keep? No: It is for us to bring to others, to anoint others with it – it is for mission".

For the first time, during the Mass in St Peter's Square the Gospel will be "dramatized by a group of disabled people." "To date, the number of pilgrims who have come to Rome for different Jubilee events and with a visit to the four basilicas - besides the Holy Door of the Sanctuary of Divine Love - is 9,100,935".

"Let us ask the Lord to teach us, first, to free ourselves of rigidity, to rise above, to be able to worship and praise God; to teach us to reconcile with each other; and also, to teach us how to agree to disagree".

At the wedding "Jesus binds his disciples with a new and definitive covenant," "Jesus' disciples become his family and he founded the Church's faith." "A nuptial feast in which wine is lacking and the newlyweds are embarrassed. But can you imagine ending a wedding feast drinking tea?!".

Roshen Shanaka was killed by police in 2011 during a protest against welfare reform. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa set up a special commission of inquiry, but the results of its investigation have never been made public. Relatives of those wounded in police repression want justice and compensation.

Prayer "is the Christian's battery to produce light". "Salt becomes salt when you give. And this is another attitude of the Christian: Giving oneself; to spice up the lives of others, to flavor many things with the message of the Gospel. Giving of oneself ".

They prevent us from taking the "three steps" that lead to perdition: attachment to riches, vanity and pride. Among all the Beatitudes, Francis has indicates one "that is not the key" to all others, "but it makes us think": "Blessed are the meek." It is “a way of being that brings us so much closer to Jesus. "

Pope Francis receives the Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies marking one hundred years since foundation of the Pontifical Union. "The missionary fervor that consumed the Blessed Paolo Manna still continues today to burn, excite, renew, rethink and reform the service that this work is called to offer to the whole Church ". Mission "belongs to all: the faithful and pastors, married and consecrated virgins, the universal Church and the particular Churches." The full text of the speech.