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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with participants in a Conference organized by the national Office for Pastoral Care for Vocations of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

The theme of the conference is “Arise, go forth, and fear not. Vocations and sanctity: I am on a mission.”

Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:

During the encounter, Pope Francis set aside his prepared remarks and spoke off-the-cuff to the 800 seminarians and religious men and women present.

Recalling the conference’s theme, the Holy Father asked himself aloud, “How many young people, boys and girls, today hear in their heart that ‘Arise’, and how many – priests, consecrated men and women – close the door? And they wind up frustrated.”

To remedy this situation, the Pope offered several thoughts on ways to increase vocations to religious life and the priesthood.

“The doors are opened through prayer, though good will, through risk,” he said. “Jesus told us that the first way to have vocations is prayer, but not all are convinced of this.”

Rather, he went on, “Pray with the heart, with your life, with everything.”

Speaking about the role of bishops in vocations, the Holy Father said their “first task is prayer; the second is to proclaim the Gospel”.

The third recommendation he offered was to “Open the doors so that [young people] may enter our churches.”

“To receive vocations, hospitality is key”, the Pope continued, it is necessary to be particularly devoted to listening, to be able to “waste time” in order to hear and understand the questions and desires of young people and to practice the “apostolate of the ear”.

The fourth and final recommendation Pope Francis made regarded the witness of the messenger. “May they see you live what you preach, that which brought you to become priests, sisters, and lay people who work with strength in the House of the Lord.”

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Vatican City, Jan 5, 2017 / 11:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During an audience with people from the areas devastated by earthquakes in Central Italy, Pope Francis emphasized the need to move forward with hope, closeness and solidarity, rather than a false sense of optimism.

“The pain is great...the wounds of the heart are there,” the Pope told thousands of people gathered in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall for the Jan. 5 audience.

He recalled how when visiting the earthquake zones in October he met the sister and parents of a little boy who was crushed under the rubble, as well as a couple who had lost their small twins.

“Now I meet you who have lost the center of your families,” he said, explaining that while the process of rebuilding is important, it's not something superficial.

Rebuilding the heart, above all, is not the rosy idea that “tomorrow will be better, it isn't optimism,” he said, adding that “there’s no room for optimism here.”

While an optimistic attitude is useful for brief moments to energize or to carry a person forward, “it’s not substantial,” he said, noting that what is needed above all is hope.

“Yes for hope, but no for optimism...Today hope is needed to rebuild, which is done with your hands.”

Pope Francis met with thousands of individuals and families from the towns devastated when a 6.2-magnitude quake hit the town of Norcia, about 65 miles northeast of Rome, Aug. 24, killing nearly 300 people.

Most of the victims were from the town of Amatrice, known for being the birthplace of the common “Amatriciana” pasta dish.

During the audience, Pope Francis listened to two testimonies and took notes, tossing his prepared speech and speaking off-the-cuff to the families, many of whom are still without homes.

In his speech, Francis said when he woke up the morning of the quake and saw the news, he felt both the need to go to the people in the area, as well as “a lot of pain. And with this pain I went to celebrate Mass that day.”

After setting his speech aside, the Pope took words and phrases mentioned by the two men who gave their testimonies – a husband and father named Raffaele, and a parish priest named Fr. Luciano – and offered his own reflection on them.

“I wanted to take your words and make them mine,” he said, adding that in their situation, “the worst thing you can do is give a sermon! It’s the worst. So I wanted to take what your hearts said and make it my own and say it with you.”

The Pope first turned to the importance of “rebuilding,” which was the focus on Raffaele's testimony, specifically the need to “rebuild hearts even before houses. To rebuild the social and human fabric.”

Starting again doesn't mean staying rooted in one's pain or letting it consume, but rather moving forward and allowing oneself to “rebuild that pain” into something new, he said, adding “no letting oneself be.”

He then turned to the image of hands, specifically of how hands were used to embrace loved ones, to guide them to safety and to free people from the rubble.

In order to really rebuild, both the “heart and the hands” are necessary, he said, pointing to the hands “with which God, like an artisan, made the world. The hands that heal.”

Francis said he always likes to bless the hands of doctors and nurses, because they are used to heal people, and pointed to the hands of the many people who have helped the quake victims “to go out of this nightmare, this pain.”

At times the thought of asking “why?” comes to mind, he said, but noted that there are some questions “that don’t have an answer.”

Turning to the testimony given by the priest, Pope Francis recalled how in his speech Fr. Luciano said that despite the devastation, many people chose to stay in order “to not hurt our land more...to not hurt more what is already wounded.”

Focusing on the word “wound,” the Pope noted that “everyone has suffered something,” whether it is the loss of a house, parent or child. In these instances, “the tenderness of the heart” expressed in “silence and in caresses” helps to not make the wound worse, he said.

However, he pointed to how this tenderness also “makes miracles in the moment of pain,” noting that there were also moments of reconciliation between people, who put their differences aside and came together in a moment of suffering through a hug, a kiss and even through tears.

“Crying only does good; it’s an expression to ourselves and to God,” he said, but added that “crying together is better.”

Pope Francis then pointed to how in his testimony, Raffaele said that while his family is safe, “our life is not the same” after the quake.

“It’s true, we came out healthy, but we lost. Saved, but defeated,” Francis said, noting that “the wounds heal, but the scars will remain forever. And they will be a reminder of this moment of pain” and that things will never be like they were before.

However, the Pope also highlighted the virtues Fr. Luciano said he saw in the people after the earthquake. The priest said he was especially moved by the “fortitude, patience and mutual solidarity of my people.”

Francis said that just as Fr. Luciano was proud of his people, he is also proud of the priests in the area who chose to stay, rather than abandoning their people and their land in a time of need.

“This is good, to have pastors who when they see a wolf don't run away. We lost, yes, we lost many things; houses, families, but we have become a great family in another way.”

The Pope closed his speech by focusing on the importance of closeness, explaining that to stay close to one another “makes us more human, good people, more courageous.”

He also told the people not to lose the ability to dream in the process of rebuilding, urging them to have “the courage to dream one more time” as they move forward.

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Washington D.C., Jan 5, 2017 / 01:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic Church can be a force for healing race relations, said the U.S. bishops’ task force on racism and peace in a newly released report.

“We find ourselves at a critically important moment for our individual communities and our nation as a whole,” Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta said in the report’s introduction. “The Church has a tremendous opportunity and, we believe, an equally tremendous responsibility to bring people together in prayer and dialogue, to begin anew the vital work of fostering healing and lasting peace.”

Efforts to “root out racism” and “create healthy dynamics in our neighborhoods” are long-term projects, said the archbishop, who had served as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2001 to 2004.

He wrote the introduction to the report of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Special Task Force to Promote Peace in Our Communities, released Jan. 5.

The report follows several high-profile incidents in past months in which African-American men died during encounters with police officers. Several deadly ambushes of police officers also added to tensions.

“A statement from the full body of bishops on racism is more important than ever,” the report said.

The task force had held listening sessions with bishops from communities that had suffered violence and unrest. It interviewed key individuals including law enforcement and a student who demonstrated in Ferguson, Missouri and Charleston, S.C. 

The task force said prayer is essential. It encouraged bishops to initiate opportunities to pray for peace in their communities throughout the year at Masses, rosaries, and interreligious work. It recommended dialogues with local community members, including religious leaders, law enforcement officers and youth, about issues that move towards concrete action. The task force also discussed funding opportunities for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.

Archbishop Gregory chaired the task force with several other bishops. He had summarized the report in a presentation at the U.S. bishops’ fall general assembly.

“The Church is at her absolute best when she is a bold and prophetic voice for the power of the love upon which our faith is based, the love of Jesus Christ,” the archbishop said.

The report included the Prayer for Peace in Our Communities, released in September 2016.

“Fill us with your mercy so that we, in turn, may be merciful to others,” the prayer asks God. “Strip away pride, suspicion, and racism so that we may seek peace and justice in our communities.”

“Surrounded by violence and cries for justice, we hear your voice telling us what is required: ‘Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God’.” 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World

By Michelle Martin

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Shara Funches' eyes scanned the rows of crosses set up on the sidewalk just north of the Chicago River on Michigan Avenue, a main thoroughfare through downtown.

Funches was looking for the cross bearing the name of her godson, Devon Almon, 23, who was gunned down on the Eisenhower Expressway Sept. 29.

"I had to be here for him. But also for all the kids who died. It just has to stop. It's just sad. All the mothers, all the fathers, robbed," Funches said.

She was one of hundreds of people who joined a Dec. 31 march on Michigan Avenue organized by Father Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Parish on the city's South Side, to remember those who died by gun violence in 2016.

The Chicago Police Department recorded 762 murders in 2016. Father Pfleger told the marchers there were nearly 800 crosses for them to carry.

The name of a victim, along with their age and date of death, was written on each 24-inch wooden cross built by Greg Zanis of Aurora, Illinois. Family members and loved ones of victims were joined by strangers who came to bear witness to the toll of the violence that has shaken the community.

Vic Doucette, a parishioner at St. Francis Xavier Parish in suburban Wilmette, came with his wife to show solidarity with families who have lost someone to violence.

"It draws attention to the issue," Doucette said. "It gives people an opportunity to express their feelings and be witness to those who are suffering. We need to do something."

Opening the march, Father Pfleger told the group that the violence will not end until everyone gets involved.

"We're protesting violence," he said. "Who are we calling to get involved? Everyone ... every elected official; every government agency; every business and corporation; every mosque and synagogue and church; every law enforcement official; every parent, neighbor and resident; and every citizen from children to elders. Everyone.

"We are calling on all of Chicago to take a stand against violence. We are calling on Chicagoans: Get personally involved. We must level the playing field. We need jobs. We need the education system invested in. We need to re-establish police and community relationships. We need community and economic development. We need to make a choice, a decision, against violence.

"Peace does not just happen. Peace is created," the outspoken priest continued. "The Bible says, 'Blessed are peacemakers,' not the peacekeepers, because peacekeeping is business as usual. Peacemakers create peace and make the atmosphere where justice and peace stand together."

Father Pfleger also called for accountability for gun traffickers and gun shops that make illegal sales.

"This is not a West Side problem. This is not a South Side problem. This is a Chicago problem. The reason we're on Michigan Avenue (is) because this is a Chicago problem. And until everybody in Chicago decides it's a problem, we're not going to end it," he said.

Cross-maker Zanis said he was heartbroken by the continuing violence. He has made crosses to remember victims of violence for years, including those killed in the mass shootings in Littleton, Colorado, and Newtown, Connecticut.

"I just don't know what else to do," he said.

He had planned to display the crosses in Chicago over the New Year holiday, and when Father Pfleger approached him with the idea of the march, he agreed to bring the crosses.

The march proceeded in near silence, led by Father Pfleger and others, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson. They took turns reading the list of victims' names.

Larren Davis was astonished by the rows of crosses, some seven deep, waiting to be claimed and carried. Davis' son, Sentwali Davis, 37, was robbed of his cellphone, shot in the head and left in an alley Oct. 22.

"They have no leads in the case," Davis said. "The detectives don't even return our calls. The supervisor says they're overwhelmed."

Davis said he passed people ice skating in Millennium Park on his way to the march.

"They should be out here now," he said. "Everything should be stopped. We're in a war zone. Homeland Security should be right here."

Dolores Castaneda was among the Catholics who joined the march. She helped carry a banner from the Padres Angeles group at St. Agnes of Bohemia Parish in Chicago. The banner had photos of parishioners recently killed by violence.

"We support the family when somebody dies through violence. St. Agnes will support them in their time of need," said Castaneda, adding that her own daughter had been shot, but survived. "Everybody in the community is touched by violence."

Father Don Nevins, St. Agnes of Bohemia pastor, said parishioners felt it was important to participate after hosting their own anti-violence march in November.

"It's not just a situation in the African-American community," Father Nevins said. "It's very much in the Hispanic community as well."

After the march, Father Pfleger said he was heartened by the response.

"Look at this group," he said. "It's black and white and brown. And it's going to take all of us to solve this."

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Martin is a staff writer at the Catholic New World, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago.

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