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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis greeted thousands of young volunteers from Italy’s National Civil Service in the Paul the VI hall in the Vatican on Saturday, telling them that they were precious asset to their country.

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Speaking to the estimated 7 thousand young people from Italy’s National Civil Service, the Pope told them they were a dynamic and valued force in their country, especially he added, for the weakest in society.

The Holy Father went on to say that having a united society is the goal of every civilized community that wants to be egalitarian and fraternal. But he underlined, that this unity is betrayed,  “every time we witness passively the increasing inequality between different social partners or between the nations of the world.”

Pope Francis said, that these attitudes are an affront to our society because they create a culture of indifference and oppression, as well as an inward looking behaviour.

The Pope told the young people present that they were being called on to show how it is possible to think and act differently through their projects with the National Civil Service, such as the protection of the environment and educational projects.

Another area of ??action, he pointed out was migration, saying that migrants and refugees need to be rescued and integrated into the social fabric of society.

The Holy Father also highlighted the extraordinary effort that is required to help  people affected by the recent earthquakes in Central Italy. “All these realities, he added,  “become occasions for you to grow and share experiences, knowledge and sensitivity.

In conclusion the Pope expressed the hope that the young people would follow the path that gives them full meaning and joy to their lives, and invited them to look to Jesus as a perfect model of humanity.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday morning addressed the winners of the 2016 Ratzinger Prize, Msgr Inos Biffi and Ioannis Kourempeles, in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.

Listen to Ann Schneible’s report:

Awarded by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, the Ratzinger Prize is given as a sign of the Church’s gratitude to scholars and professors who have stood out for their scientific research in the theological field. 

Msgr Biffi, a professor, and internationally renowned theologian and liturgist, was awarded the prize for his Opera Omnia, a collection of his writings, most of which are on theology and medieval philosophy.

The other winner, Prof Kourempeles is a member of the Orthodox Church, is associate professor in the Department of Theology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

In his address to the winners, Pope Francis began by expressing “great affection” and “gratitude” for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, as he “continues to accompany us even now in his prayer.”

“The depth of Joseph Ratzinger’s thought, firmly founded upon Scripture and the [Church] Fathers, and always nourished by faith and prayer, helps us to remain open to the horizons of eternity, thus giving meaning even to our hopes and our human responsibilities,” the Holy Father said.

The Pope spoke of Benedict XVI’s richness in “thought and magisterium,  which knew how to center on the essential reference points of our Christian life, the person of Jesus Christ, charity, hope, faith.  And the whole Church will be forever grateful.”

Pope Francis went on to congratulate the winners of the 2016 Ratzinger Prize; Msgr Biffi who received the award in recognition of his career as a “great theologian”, and Prof Kourempeles for his work in exploring the “richness of the encounter between Ratzinger’s thought and Orthodox theology”.

He concluded by praying that the Lord might always bless them and their “service to his kingdom.”

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Vatican City, Nov 26, 2016 / 03:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After hearing of the death of Fidel Castro, former president and leader communist revolution in Cuba, late Friday evening, Pope Francis sent a telegram offering his prayers for the deceased and the entire nation.

“Upon receiving the sad news of the passing of your dear brother, His Excellency Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, former president of the Council of the State and of the Government of the Republic of Cuba, I express my sentiments of sympathy,” the Nov. 26 telegram, signed by Pope Francis read.

Addressed to Fidel’s brother and the current president of Cuba, Raul Castro, the telegram expressed the Pope’s closeness to the members of the Castro family, the Cuban government and the entire people “of this beloved nation.”

“At the same time, I offer prayers to the Lord for his rest and I entrust the entire Cuban people to the maternal intercession of Our Lady of Cobre, Patroness of this country,” Francis said.

In an unexpected televised statement the evening of Nov. 25 local time in Havana, Raul Castro announced that his brother had passed away earlier that evening at the age of 90.

Fidel, who ruled the island nation as a one-party state for nearly 50 years before passing the reigns to his brother in 2008 due to health reasons, died Friday night local time in Havana, having been the longest serving non-royal leader of the 20th century.

According to his Raul Castro’s statement, Fidel will be cremated Saturday, and his death will be followed by several days of national mourning on the island. Raul ended his address shouting his brother’s revolutionary slogan “towards victory, always!” BBC News reports.

Born in the southeastern Oriente province of Cuba in 1926, Fidel Castro went on to lead a largescale rebellion in the country that eventually claimed victory, resulting in his election as Prime Minister and the adoption of Soviet-style communism throughout the island nation.

After serving several years in prison for inciting an unsuccessful rebellion in 1953, Castro was released under amnesty in 1955, and in 1956 began a guerilla war against the government that ultimately led to the ousting of former dictator Fulgencio Batista, and his election as PM, making him the youngest leader in Latin America at the time at age 32.

Castro’s nearly 50 year reign was marked by stormy moments such as the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 that severed ties between the U.S. and Cuba, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 that nearly started a global nuclear war when Castro agreed that USSR forces could deploy nuclear weapons in Cuba.

Despite the fact that the majority of the world eventually adopted Western-style democracy and other formerly communist regimes such as China and Vietnam had embraced capitalism, Castro held tight to his commitment to socialism.

Accused of various human rights and religious freedom abuses, Castro was handed a crippling U.S. trade embargo following the Bay of Pigs invasion, and survived several assassination plots. He handed over power to his brother Raul in 2006 due to health reasons, and officially stood down as president in 2008.

However, despite the tensions under Castro’s leadership, his regime always maintained open communication and dialogue with the Vatican, making it the only communist nation with which the Holy See never broke ties.

In fact, Fidel Castro met with three Pope’s during his lifetime: St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, who played a key role in helping to broker the restoration of diplomatic ties between the U.S. and Cuba.

In 1996, Fidel Castro was received by St. John Paul II in the Vatican, signaling a strengthening in dialogue between the two countries. This encounter eventually paved the way for John Paul II’s historic visit to Cuba in 1998, marking the first time a Pope ever set foot on the island.

Benedict XVI followed in his predecessors’ footsteps, traveling to Cuba in 2012 in a move that signaled a new opening on the part of Cuba to the world. Throughout the visit, Raul Castro was frequently at the Pope's side in a show of his desire to update Cuba, and give importance to the visit.

Pope Francis himself followed suit in 2015, shortly after the U.S. and Cuba announced that they would be taking formal steps to restore diplomatic ties.

On Dec. 17, 2014, the U.S. and Cuba announced a prisoner exchange as well as the desire to lift the U.S. embargo on travel and trade.

Although the Obama administration had made small changes to existing policy starting in 2009, including Cuban-Americans having a limited freedom to travel between the countries and send money to Cuba, in 2013 secret talks between diplomats began to open up relations, aided by the support of the Vatican.

Pope Francis made a personal phone call to both U.S. president Barack Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro to come to a deal, particularly regarding diplomacy and long-held prisoners.

Full diplomatic relations were then officially restored as of midnight July 20, 2015, and embassies were re-opened and flags raised later in the day as an outward sign of the diplomatic thaw.

When he stepped foot in Havana Sept.19, 2015, for a brief visit to Cuba ahead of his trip to the United States, Pope Francis told officials that the recent normalization of relations between the two countries was a sign of hope and victory.

“For some months now, we have witnessed an event which fills us with hope: the process of normalizing relations between two peoples following years of estrangement,” he said.

Quoting Cuban hero and tireless fighter for the country’s independence, José Martí, Francis said the restoration of ties “is a sign of the victory of the culture of encounter and dialogue, ‘the system of universal growth’ over ‘the forever-dead system of groups and dynasties.’”

He urged political leaders continue down this path and to “develop all its potentialities” as a sign of the service they are called to on behalf of the “peace and well-being of their peoples, of all America, and as an example of reconciliation for the entire world.”

During his visit, Francis met briefly with Fidel Castro to talk about the problems of contemporary society and to exchange books.

Raul Castro had visited the Vatican May 10, 2015, just a few months before Pope Francis’ visit, to speak about the Pope’s trip as well as his role in restoring relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

After their meeting, Raul thanked Francis for his active role in helping restore ties between the two nations, and suggested that he return to the Church in the future. “I will start praying again and return to the Church” if the Pope continues what he has been doing, he said.

The president’s admiration and appreciation for Pope Francis was made even clearer when earlier this month, in response to an appeal made by the Pope for governments to grant clemency to prisoners, he released 787 prisoners in Cuba.

After celebrating Mass for prisoners in St. Peter’s Basilica Nov. 6, Pope Francis in his Angelus address asked that as part of the Jubilee of Mercy, competent global authorities would consider granting clemency to eligible inmates.

Legally speaking, clemency is a power given to a public official, such as a mayor, governor or the president, to in some way modify or lower the harshness of a punishment or sentence imposed on a prisoner.

In response, Castro pardoned 787 inmates including women, young and sick prisoners who had committed minor crimes, but nothing “extremely dangerous” such as murder or rape, a statement on the front page of Granma said.

The statement noted clearly that the Council of State, led by President Raul Castro, issued the pardons “in response to the call by Pope Francis to heads of state in the Holy Year of Mercy.” In choosing the prisoners, the State took into account the crimes committed, the prisoners’ conduct and the time serves so far.

 

This article was updated at 2p.m. local time in Rome to include the telegram from Pope Francis on the occasion of the death of Fidel Castro.

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Indianapolis, Ind., Nov 26, 2016 / 05:02 am (CNA).- With the September debut of the new T.V. series The Exorcist, based on the horror film series of the same name from the 1970s, another wave of fascination with the supernatural has also surfaced.

In an article prior to the show’s launch, Lance Higdon, writing for pop culture website Vice, explored the world of exorcism, a phenomenon mysterious to many inside and outside the Church.

Higdon recalled that in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in May, director William Friedkin, of the original “The Exorcism” film series, claimed that he had been invited to the Vatican to see - and film - an exorcism in real life.

A Vatican spokesman denied the claim to AFP, noting that the Vatican does not have an official exorcist. The spokesman said it may have been possible that Friedkin was mistaking the Vatican for another Catholic entity.

Fr. Vincent Lampert is a Vatican-trained exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and a parish priest. He has travelled around the country speaking about the supernatural and his experiences as an exorcist.

In e-mail comments, he told CNA that it would be forbidden for any Catholic priest to allow an outside party to witness or film an exorcism.

“Filming an exorcism is not allowed because it must be performed in such a way that it manifest the faith of the church and that no one can consider it as a magical or superstitious activity,” he said.

It would also be prohibited for the protection of the possessed person, he added.

Another claim about exorcisms in the Vice article is in its headline: “Latin Is Still The Best Language for Fighting Satan.”

The article cited a comment made by exorcist Fr. Gary Thomas, as reported by the site The New Liturgical Movement. After a talk he gave in February, Fr. Thomas commented that “The Devil hates Latin, it is the universal language of the Church.”

Until very recently (2014), an English translation of the rite of exorcism had not been approved by the Church. When further questioned, Fr. Thomas said that in his experience and in talking to other exorcists, while the Vatican has approved translations of the rite in multiple languages, Latin seems to be the most effective.

However, that the exorcist is a man of God is actually far more important than the language of the rite used, Fr. Lampert noted.  

“There are many who claim that Latin is the most powerful language for exorcisms,” he said.

“It is my experience that as opposed to the language that is being used that the exorcist be a man of God. In my opinion this is the most effective weapon.”

When asked whether or not he would recommend people watch the new exorcism series, Fr. Lampert said that there can be benefits as well as dangers to shows that deal with the demonic and the supernatural.

“If watching these types of shows helps people understand the reality of evil then there is a benefit,” he said. “The danger would be for someone to become unduly fascinated with evil.”

Recently updated rules of the Catholic rite of exorcism state that a person who believes they are possessed must first rule out mental illness before seeking an exorcism. If the rite of exorcism is still needed, they may seek out a priest who has been trained and appointed as exorcist for his diocese by his Bishop.

The International Association of Exorcists (AIE) also meets annually in Rome to discuss demonic possession from both theological and scientific perspectives.

Recently, an AIE spokesman told CNA that the rise of occult and demonic activity had become a “pastoral emergency.”

 

This article was originally published Sept. 27, 2016.

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(Vatican Radio) Former President Fidel Castro, has died at age 90. His brother President Raul Castro said on state television that his older brother died at 10:29 p.m. Friday. 

Fidel Castro ruled Cuba as a one-party state for almost 50 years before Raul took over eight years ago.

Listen to James Blears’ report:

An era of Revolution, which shook and changed the World passes, with the death of Fidel Castro, the architect of the Cuban Revolution. 

Until the very end of his life, just ten years shy of a century, Fidel Castro was a hard line Marxist revolutionary.  He ruled Cuba for almost fifty years and through ten US Presidential terms.  He gave up smoking Cuba`s most famous product, cherished by rich capitalists.  But it was a serious gastric ailment, and a botched operation which so nearly claimed his life in 2006. It  convinced him to release his iron grip on the reigns of power in 2008, officially handing them over to his younger, quieter, less charismatic but more pragmatic brother Raul, who made the announcement of Fidel`s death on State Television on Friday evening.

The Cuban missile crisis in 1962, bringing the World within an eyelash of nuclear war, was to define Cuba`s future at the sharp end of the Cold War.

The visit of Pope Saint John Paul II in 1998 started the thaw, and confirmed that although Fidel was a lifelong communist, the education he had received from the Jesuits meant his claims of atheism were confounded.  The downfall of the Eastern bloc had plunged Cuba into economic poverty, only somewhat eased by the help of Venezuela`s Hugo Chavez.  Raul`s gradual and cautious reforms led to the once unthinkable restoration of diplomatic relations with Washington in 2014. 

Imprisoned following his unsuccessful attack on the Monclova Barracks in 1953, Fidel wrote his own epitaph commenting: "History will absolve me."  Now with his passing,  we will see if this indeed comes to pass.

In addition to his meeting with John Paul II, Castro had also met with Pope Emeritius Benedict XVI and most recently Pope Francis on their Papal visits to the country.

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