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.
On the day the Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary into heaven, the pontiff said that life is a project of love, not a meaningless journey. Our Lady is a metaphor for the "earthly pilgrimage" and an example of service. Francis ended with a plea for peace in Ukraine and the Holy Land, expressing “concern” for the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the fires in Greece.
The Feast of Sts Peter and Paul in St Peter's Basilica the bestowing of the pallium on 42 archbishops appointed in the last year. At the Angelus: "If it is not service, authority becomes dictatorship". Data from last year's St Peter's Pence collections released by the Holy See: 48.4 million euro collected for the Pope's charity, in Asia 33 of the projects financed.
After the Marian prayer of the Angelus, the pontiff again urged the faithful to pray for peace in Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, northern Congo. He also called for negotiations. He also remembered Franciscan brothers” who “honour the Church of Rome. In his Gospel commentary, he stressed that Jesus “makes us courageous.”
He made the appeal during the Regina Caeli in the name of the Risen One "who frees us”. For the Solemnity of the Ascension, which is being celebrated today in Italy, the faithful may ask if the desire for eternal life “alive in me?” Francis spoke about the “wisdom of the heart” on World Day of Social Communications and expressed gratitude to all mothers on their feast day.
