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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday baptised 28 babies during Mass in the Sistine chapel, telling their families that Jesus’ first sermon was the sound of his crying in the stable at Bethlehem.

Surrounded by the sounds of baby noises, the Pope gave a short, off-the-cuff homily on the faith which is given to children in Baptism. Faith, he said, does not just mean reciting the Creed on Sundays, but rather it means believing in the truth, trusting in God and teaching others with the example of our lives.

Faith, the Pope continued, is also the light which grows in our hearts – that’s why a lighted candle is given to every person being baptized. In the early years of the Church, he noted, baptism was called ‘illumination’ to show the way in which faith helps us see things in a different light. To the parents who had brought their children to be baptized, he said “you have the task of making that faith grow, of nurturing it, so that it may bear witness to others”.

As the sounds of crying grew louder, the Pope joked that the concert had begun. The babies are crying, he said, because they are in an unfamiliar place, or because they had to get up early, or sometimes simply because they hear another child crying. Jesus did just the same, Pope Francis said, adding that he liked to think of Our Lord’s first sermon as his crying in the stable. And if your children are crying because they are hungry, the Pope told the mothers present, then go ahead and feed them, just as Mary breastfed Jesus. 

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(Vatican Radio) Speaking to pilgrims gathered in a freezing St Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Francis asked for prayers for all those living and dying on the streets at this time of year.

The Pope’s words came during his Angelus address at the end of Mass marking the feast of Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan. As Jesus came to be baptised, the Pope said, John the Baptist tries to stop him, saying he is the one who should be baptised by Jesus. But, the Pope continued, Jesus came down to earth to close the gap between God and man, to fulfill God’s will and to show that God remains close to us, his children.

As Jesus was baptized, the voice of God was heard saying “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” and a dove was seen as a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Pope said that was the moment when Jesus began his public mission, in the style of a humble servant. All disciples of Christ, he said, must use that same missionary style, not shouting or scolding people, not with arrogance or imposition, but firmly and gently with the example of their own lives.

After praying the Angelus prayer, the Pope remembered the homeless and especially those who’ve died during the extreme cold weather. May the Lord warm our hearts to be able to help those who live on the streets, he said.

The Pope’s almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, told Vatican Radio yesterday that the three hostels run by the Vatican, close to St Peter’s and to Termini train station, will remain open 24 hours a day while the cold weather continues. He said a number of cars have also been made available for those who wish to remain on the streets, while special thermal sleeping bags and gloves are being provided to try and protect the homeless from the freezing temperatures. 

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Vatican City, Jan 8, 2017 / 05:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Sunday baptized 28 babies during Mass in the Sistine Chapel, reminding parents that by asking for the Sacrament of Baptism, the gift of faith, for their child, they have a responsibility to guard it and to help it deepen.

“The faith is to believe what is the Truth,” he said Jan. 8. “God the Father who sent His Son, and the Spirit who gives life. But faith is also to trust in God, and that you must teach them, with your example, with your life.”

Pope St. John Paul II started the custom for the Pope to baptize babies in the Sistine Chapel on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.

The Baptism of the Lord is typically celebrated by the Church on the Sunday following Jan. 6, which is the Feast of the Epiphany, unless in a particular country the Epiphany is celebrated on Jan. 7 or 8, as it is in the US, then the Baptism of the Lord is celebrated on the Monday following.

Faith, Pope Francis said, “must be lived,” it is a journey which must be walked, which must give “witness.”

“And the faith is light: in the Baptism ceremony you will be given a lighted candle, as in the early days of the Church. And for this reason Baptism, in those days, was called ‘illumination,’ because faith illuminates the heart, makes things seen with a different light,” he said.

During Mass, the Pope baptized 15 baby boys and 13 baby girls. During the homily, when some started to cry, Francis commented on the “concert” which was starting in the chapel, saying that he likes to think that Jesus’ first sermon was a cry while in the stable in Bethlehem.

He also assured mothers not to worry about nursing their baby if he or she needed to be fed, they should do so “without fear, with total normality,” just as Mary nursed the baby Jesus.

“You asked the faith,” Pope Francis reminded the parents. “The Church gives the faith to your children through Baptism, and you have the task to make it grow, preserve it, and it becomes a testimony to all the others. This is the meaning of this ceremony.”

Concluding, he noted how the task for parents of growing and guarding the faith in their children is a “testimony for all of us: even for us clergy, priests, bishops, everyone."

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Khartoum, Sudan, Jan 8, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Charges have been dropped against one Christian pastor in Sudan, but another pastor could face execution for what his defenders say are trumped-up charges based on animosity toward their religion.

In November 2015, Kuwa Shamal and Hassan Abduraheem attended a Christian conference where Abduraheem was a speaker, according to the American Center for Law and Justice, which is supporting the pastors.

During his speech, Abduraheem showed a picture of a young man who was beaten badly for attending a demonstration. The pastor said he was helping pay for his medical treatment.

In December 2015, the two pastors were arrested by Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Services, which claimed their financial aid constituted support for rebel forces in the country's South Kordofan region, part of which is contested with South Sudan.

The American Center for Law and Justice alleged that the charges were “trumped-up” and said the two were on trial for their Christian faith.

A judge dropped all charges against Shamal Jan. 2 and released him to his family.

Abduraheem and two other men standing trial continue to face many charges, including espionage and agitating hatred between classes. They could be sentenced to death if convicted. Their fellow defendants are Petr Jasek, a Christian aid worker from the Czech Republic, and Abdulmonem Abdumawla Issa Abdumawla, a graduate student and activist from Darfur.

Shamal and Abduraheem's case was noted on Twitter in August 2016 by David Saperstein, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.
    
The American Center for Law and Justice welcomed the end of charges against Shamal, while continguing to call for prayer and advocacy for Abduraheem.

At least 90 percent of Sudan's population is Muslim, and sharia is the source of the nation's legislation. Apostasy from Islam is punishable by the death penalty.

Since 1999, the U.S. state department has listed Sudan as a country of particular concern due to religious freedom violations.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which advises the U.S. government, has said in a recent report that Sudan’s government “continues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief.” The report noted that the country’s “restrictive interpretation” of sharia is imposed on both Muslims and non-Muslims.

International Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need noted in its 2016 Religious Freedom Report that Sudan's constitution was amended to “widen and increase” the power of the National Intelligence and Security Services, which has impacted “human resources issues and the prosecution of individuals, media outlets and organisations for alleged breaches of the law.”

Open Doors' 2016 World Watch List ranked Sudan eighth in a list of 50 countries where Christians are most persecuted.

Meriam Ibrahim, a Christian woman who had been sentenced to death for alleged apostasy from Islam, was evacuated from her Sudanese homeland in July 2014. She was allowed to leave Sudan only after several months of imprisonment, and intense international pressure was brought to bear on her situation.

Sudan scored a 12 out of 100 in Transparency International's 2015 Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking ahead of only Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia.

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