At the Angelus, Leo XIV called for prayers “for the injured and the missing, for their families, and for the rescue workers”. He urged “everyone’s concern” to support the populations brought to their knees. An appeal was made for the forgotten Haiti and for peace. On the Gospel: Jesus’ message “goes beyond all expectations”.
In his first Regina Caeli, from the window of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Leo XIV cited the Day of Prayer for the Church in China celebrated yesterday and the tenth anniversary of the publication of the encyclical Laudato Si', noting Pope Francis's appeal "to listen to the twofold cry of the Earth and of the poor." This afternoon, the new pope will be installed in St John Lateran as the bishop of Rome.
Francis among those taking part in the Jubilee of the Sick, in a wheelchair and with oxygen: ‘I wish everyone a good Sunday! Thank you so much’. During the Angelus another appeal: ‘Let there be silence among the weapons, let dialogue resume’. He prayed for peace in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan and other places of conflict, where ‘civilian victims, including many children’ are present. He thanked healthcare workers and invited the faithful to trust in God, who ‘does not abandon’ even in sickness.
During the Angelus, the pope expressed "concern" for South Sudan, where the 2018 peace agreement has collapsed. He calls on all sides to “put aside our differences”. Meanwhile, in Sudan, where an "appalling humanitarian catastrophe" persists, the international community must "increase efforts". Francis called for peace in Ukraine, Palestine and Myanmar, “which is also suffering so much from the earthquake. He told the Missionaries of Mercy that “forgiveness is the source of hope.”
Francis’s conditions are stable at the Rome hospital where he has been treated since 14 February. “I am facing a period of trial, and I join with so many brothers and sisters who are sick: fragile, at this time, like me,” he says in today’s Angelus. He devotes once more thoughts to “countries wounded by war”.
Pope Francis's Angelus text was released this Sunday from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. "I feel in my heart the blessing that is hidden within fragility, which teaches us even more to trust in the Lord,” it reads. While his clinical condition remains stable, the pontiff is grateful for the closeness expressed by the faithful around the world. Commenting on today’s Gospel, he urges people to care for and say honest things to others.
During the Angelus, Francis appealed once again to the international community to uphold humanitarian law in the bloody conflicts that still rage in the world. “No more striking schools, hospitals; no more hitting workplaces! Let us not forget that war is always a defeat, always!”
Today, Feast of the Holy Family, Francis pointed to the nucleus of Nazareth as a 'model'. After Jesus' return to the Temple, Mary "does not accuse, does not judge, but seeks to understand". Closeness to the families of the at least 177 victims of the Muan plane crash in South Korea. The third Holy Door of the Jubilee opened this morning in Rome at the basilica of St John Lateran.
On the first Sunday of Advent, Pope Francis condemns war, calling for respects for Lebanese ceasefire and the appeal to elect a president; his attention for Syria, where Aleppo is under the control of jihadist groups and Ukraine where another tragic winter approaches. The Gospel commentary on hope: ‘God works even in dramatic events’.
On the Solemnity of All Saints and the proclamation of the Beatitudes as the "path of holiness", the pontiff stressed how war is "ignoble, because it is the triumph of the lie". He called on the faithful to pray for Chad hit by a grave terrorist attack and the Valencian community overwhelmed by storm Dana, a huge "environmental catastrophe". He also turned his thoughts to the "153 women and children massacred in Gaza in recent days.”
The end of the Synod was marked with a Mass in the Vatican basilica. The Chair of Saint Peter was exposed, a sign of Church unity. The final document voted by the assembly has been released without an apostolic exhortation by the pontiff. Francis expressed closeness to the communities affected by a tropical storm in the Philippines.
Starting tomorrow, the apostolic journey will take the pontiff to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and Singapore. This morning he prayed and entrusted the trip before the icon of the Virgin Salus Populi Romani in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. “The cry of the wounded Earth is becoming increasingly alarming,” he noted citing the upcoming World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation.
Francis at Angelus: “Let us continue to pray for avenues of peace to open in the Middle East, Ukraine and Myanmar.” "May the life spent for brothers by the martyrs of Uvira inspire paths of reconciliation.
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