SUMMARY:
-
THE POPE IN ASSISI: THE CHRISTIAN KNOWS WHERE CHRIST'S WOUNDS ARE
-
DAY OF GRIEF FOLLOWING LAMPEDUSA TRAGEDY: POPE FRANCIS URGES US TO
REJECT WORLDLINESS
-
ONLY THOSE WHO BEAR THEIR YOKE HUMBLY FIND PEACE
-
COUNCIL OF CARDINALS TO MEET FROM 3 TO 5 DECEMBER
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
-
NOTICE
______________________________________
THE
POPE IN ASSISI: THE CHRISTIAN KNOWS WHERE CHRIST'S WOUNDS ARE
Vatican
City, 4 October 2013 (VIS) – The Pope began his pastoral visit to
Assisi to celebrate the feast of St. Francis, patron of Italy. The
Pope's helicopter landed a quarter of an hour ahead of schedule –
at 7.30 a.m. - in the sports field of the Seraphic Institute of
Assisi, where he greeted a group of sick and disabled children. The
Holy Father was accompanied by the eight members of the Council of
Cardinals, who concluded their first meeting in the Vatican yesterday
afternoon. Upon his arrival, the Pope was received by Archbishop
Domenico Sorrentino, bishop of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Gualdo Tadino, the
president of the Italian Senate, Pietro Grasso, and the president of
the Region of Umbria, Catiuscia Marini.
Francis
warmly embraced the children from the Institute and, commenting on
the address given by the director of the Institute, Francesca Maiolo,
he said, “We are among the wounds of Christ … wounds that need to
be acknowledged. … It reminds me of when the Lord Jesus was walking
with the two sad disciples. The Lord Jesus, in the end, showed them
His wounds, and they recognised Him. … And here Jesus is hidden
among these children, in these people. … They need to be listened
to. Perhaps not in the newspapers, as news items: that is a form of
attention that lasts for one, two, three days, and then another piece
of news comes along, and another... They need to be heard by those
who declare themselves Christians”.
“But”,
he added, “when He was resurrected, Jesus was beautiful. His body
bore no bruises, no wounds... Nothing! He was more beautiful! But he
wished to conserve His wounds and to carry them to Heaven. The wounds
of Christ are here and are in Heaven, before the Father”.
The
Holy Father then delivered to Archbishop Sorrentino the address he
had prepared, to be considered as read, and a summary of which we
offer here below.
“My
visit is above all a pilgrimage of love, to pray at the tomb of a man
who, divested of himself, redressed himself in Christ and, following
Christ's example, offered his love to all, especially the poorest and
most abandoned; he loved God's creation with wonder and simplicity.
Arriving here in Assisi, at the city gates, we find this Institute,
which is indeed named 'Seraphic', a name used to describe Francis. It
was founded by a great Franciscan, Blessed Ludovico of Casoria. And
it is right to begin here. St. Francis, who said, in his testament,
'The Lord granted me, Brother Francis, to begin to do penance in this
way: While I was in sin, it seemed very bitter to me to see lepers.
And the Lord Himself led me among them and I had mercy upon them”.
“Society,
unfortunately, is contaminated by a throwaway culture, which is the
opposite of the culture of welcome. And the victims of throwaway
culture are precisely the weakest, the most fragile. In this House, I
see instead the culture of welcome in action. … Thank you for this
sign of love that you offer: this is a sign of true civilisation,
human and Christian! Placing the most disadvantaged people at the
centre of social and political attention! At times, instead, families
find they have to take on the responsibility of caring for them
alone. What can we do? Here, where we see real love, I say to all:
let us multiply the action of this culture of welcome, of works
inspired above all by deep Christian love, love for Christ Crucified,
for the flesh of Christ, works which unite professionalism, qualified
and justly remunerated work with that of volunteers, a most valuable
treasure”.
“To
serve those most in need of assistance enables us to grow in
humanity, because these are true resources of humanity. St. Francis
was a young rich man, with ideals of glory, but Jesus, in the person
of the leper, spoke to him in silence and changed him, making him
understand what was truly of value in life: not wealth, the strength
of arms, earthly glory, but humility, mercy, forgiveness”.
At
the end of the visit, the Pope proceeded to the Church of St. Damian
to pray privately. This was the place where, in 1205, while praying
before the cross, heard Jesus speak to him, asking him to repair His
house. Here, too, in the later years of his life, the 'Poverello'
composed his “Canticle of the Creatures”. On arrival the pontiff
was received by Fr. Michael A. Perry, minister general of the
Franciscan Order of Friars Minor and by the religious community of
the convent. After praying, the Pope proceeded to the bishop's
residence in Assisi, to the room where St. Francis despoiled himself
of the garments given to him by his father, in order to meet with the
poor assisted by Caritas.
DAY
OF GRIEF FOLLOWING LAMPEDUSA TRAGEDY: POPE FRANCIS URGES US TO REJECT
WORLDLINESS
Vatican
City, 4 October 2013 (VIS) – The second stage of Pope Francis'
pastoral visit to Assisi was the bishop's residence. Here, in 1206,
before his father Pietro Bernardone, who, enraged by his son's
conduct, had taken him to trial, and the bishop Guido, representative
of the ecclesial authority to whom the Poverello had appealed,
Francis denuded himself of his rich garments and proclaimed God as
his true father. Moved by this gesture, the bishop embraced him and
covered him with his cape.
In
the “Sala della Spoliazione”, where this episode took place, the
Holy Father met with the poor assisted by Caritas, after listening to
an address by bishop Domenico Sorrentino, who remarked that Francis
was the first pope to visit the room in the last eight hundred years.
The
pontiff, again speaking off the cuff, said that during recent days
the newspapers had speculated about what he would say in that room.
“The Pope will go to despoil the Church there! He will despoil the
bishops, the cardinals, himself!” This, he observed “is a good
opportunity to invite the Church to despoil herself. But we are all
Church! All of us! From the first moment of our baptism, we are all
Church, and we must all take the path of Jesus, who took the path of
despoiling himself. He became a servant; he sought humiliation, unto
the Cross. And if we wish to be Christians, there is no other path”.
“But
some say”, he continued, “can't we follow a more human
Christianity – without the Cross, without Jesus, without denuding
ourselves? In this way we become cake-shop Christians, like beautiful
cakes, exquisite sweets. Beautiful, but not true Christians! Some
might say, 'but what does the Church need to despoil herself of?'
Today she must cast aside a grave sin, which threatens every member
of the Church, all of us: the danger of worldliness. The Christian
cannot co-exist with this worldly spirit. Worldliness leads us to
vanity, self-importance, pride. And this is an idol, it is not God.
It is an idol! And idolatry is the gravest sin of all!”
“When
the media speak of the Church, they believe that the Church means
priests, nuns, bishops, cardinals and the Pope. But we are all
Church, as I have said. And we must all cast aside this worldiness:
the spirit contrary to the beatitudes, the spirit contrary to that of
Jesus. Worldliness is harmful to us. It is so sad to encounter a
worldly Christian, sure within himself of that security that faith
gives him, and sure of the security the world offers him. You cannot
work on both sides. The Church – all of us – must reject
worldliness, which leads to vanity and pride, which are idolatry”.
“Jesus
Himself said, 'No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the
one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve both God and money'. In money He includes
all this worldly spirit: money, vanity, pride, that route... that we
cannot follow … it is sad to erase with one hand what we write with
the other. The Gospel is the Gospel! There is one God, and Jesus
became a servant for us, and the spirit of the world has nothing to
do with this”.
“And
today, many of you”, he said, addressing those present, “have
been despoiled by this savage world, that does not give you work,
that does not offer help; to which it does not matter if there are
children who die of hunger in the world; it does not matter if many
families have nothing to eat, and do not have the dignity of being
able to bring home bread; it does not matter that many people are
forced to flee from slavery and hunger, to flee in search of freedom.
With great sadness we see, so many times, that instead they find
death, as they did yesterday, in Lampedusa: today is a day of grief.
This is what the worldly spirit does. It is entirely ridiculous that
a Christian – a true Christian, a priest, a nun, a bishop, a
cardinal, a Pope, might wish to follow the path of worldliness, which
is a homicidal path. The spirit of worldliness kills! It kills the
soul! It kills people! It kills the Church!”
“When
Francis despoiled himself he was just a young boy, he did not have
the strength for such a gesture. It was the strength of God that
drove him to do this, the strength of God Who wanted to remind us of
what Jesus said to us about the spirit of the world, that which Jesus
begged of His Father, so that the Father might save us from the
spirit of the world”.
“Today,
here”, concluded Pope Francis, “we ask for grace for all
Christians. May the Lord give us all the courage to despoil
ourselves, not of twenty cents, but of the spirit of the world, which
is the leprosy, the cancer of our society! It is the cancer of God's
revelation. The spirit of the world is the enemy of Jesus! I ask the
Lord for the grace of despoiling us of this”.
Finally,
the Pope thanked all of those present for their welcome, and added,
“Pray for me; I need your prayers”.
ONLY
THOSE WHO BEAR THEIR YOKE HUMBLY FIND PEACE
Vatican
City, 4 October 2013 (VIS) – Following his visit to the bishop's
residence, the Holy Father proceeded on foot to the Church of St.
Mary Major. From there he transferred by car to the Upper Basilica
where he was awaited by representatives of government and clergy.
Following greetings, the Pope visited the Crypt to venerate the tomb
of St. Francis, where he prayed for a minute.
The
Holy Father celebrated Holy Mass at 11 a.m. in Piazza San Francesco,
in front of the Basilica. He began his homily by commenting that
Francis has much to tell us today, “not merely with words … but
by his life”. The reality to which he bore witness is that “being
a Christian means having a living relationship with the person of
Jesus; it means putting on Christ, being conformed to him. … Where
did Francis’ journey to Christ begin?” he asked, before
approximately one hundred thousand well-wishers. “It began with the
gaze of the crucified Jesus. With letting Jesus look at us at the
very moment that he gives his life for us and draws us to himself.
Francis experienced this in a special way in the Church of St.
Damian, as he prayed before the cross which I too will have an
opportunity to venerate”. He commented that paradoxically the cross
“does not speak to us about defeat and failure” but rather “it
speaks to us about a death which is life, a death which gives life”.
The
second witness Francis gives us is, the Pope continued, “that
everyone who follows Christ receives true peace, the peace that
Christ alone can give, a peace which the world cannot give. …
Franciscan peace is not something saccharine. Hardly! That is not the
real Saint Francis! Nor is it a kind of pantheistic harmony with
forces of the cosmos… That is not Franciscan either; it is a notion
some people have invented! The peace of Saint Francis is the peace of
Christ, and it is found by those who 'take up' their 'yoke', namely,
Christ’s commandment: Love one another as I have loved you. This
yoke cannot be borne with arrogance, presumption or pride, but only
with meekness and humbleness of heart”.
Thirdly,
the Pope said, “Saint Francis of Assisi bears witness to the need
to respect all that God has created, and that men and women are
called to safeguard and protect, but above all he bears witness to
respect and love for every human being. … Let us respect creation,
let us not be instruments of destruction! Let us respect each human
being. May there be an end to armed conflicts which cover the earth
with blood; may the clash of arms be silenced; and everywhere may
hatred yield to love, injury to pardon, and discord to unity. Let us
listen to the cry of all those who are weeping, who are suffering and
who are dying because of violence, terrorism or war, in the Holy
Land, so dear to Saint Francis, in Syria, throughout the Middle East
and everywhere in the world”.
The
Pope concluded by mentioning that today Italy celebrates St. Francis
as her patron saint, and made a plea to the saint for peace in our
world, asking “that everyone will always work for the common good,
and look more to what unites us, rather than what divides us”.
Following
the eucharistic celebration, the Holy Father transferred by car to
the Centre of St. Mary of the Angels to meet with the poor assisted
there by Caritas.
COUNCIL
OF CARDINALS TO MEET FROM 3 TO 5 DECEMBER
Vatican
City, 4 October 2013 (VIS) – The first meeting of the Council of
Cardinals ended yesterday afternoon, according to a communique from
the Holy See Press Office.
It
was agreed that the next meeting of the Council will take place from
3 to 5 December, to be followed by third meeting in February 2014.
This will enable the work of the Council – especially in this
initial phase – to proceed at a rapid pace.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 4 October 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father accepted the
resignation of Fr. Abbot Dom Martin Werlen, O.S.B., from the pastoral
care of the territorial abbacy of Maria Einsiedeln, Switzerland, upon
reaching the end of his mandate.
NOTICE
Vatican
City, 4 October 2013 (VIS) – The Vatican Information Service will
transmit a special bulletin tomorrow, Saturday 5 October, for Pope
Francis' pastoral visit to Assisi.
You
can find more information at: www.visnews.org
The
news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used,
in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:
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-Vatican Information Service.
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