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Pope Francis returned to Rome Tuesday evening after a 2-day visit to Malmo and Lund in ‎southern Sweden, where he joined the Lutheran World Federation in kicking off a yearlong celebration ‎of 500 years of the Protestant Reformation sparked by Martin Luther that brought ‎about a major split in the Catholic Church.  ‎The Pope had two important events on Monday, Oct. 31.  His first was a common ecumenical prayer service‎ in the evening with the Lutheran World Federation at Lund Cathedral, where the group was founded in 1947.   From there the Pope went to the indoor stadium of Malmo for an ecumenical event with several Christian Churches.  Besides the signing of a Declaration of Intent, entitled “Together in Hope” by ‎Caritas Internationalis and the Lutheran World Federation World Service, pledging to recommit themselves to working together in responding to the world’s humanitarian ‎needs, the Malmo event also featured five testimonies from around the world.  They were ‎Pranita Biswasi from India,  Msgr. Hector Gaviria, Director of Caritas Colombia, Marguerite Barankitse of Burundi, Rose Lokonyen a South Sudanese refugee and athlete, and Chaldean Jesuit Bishop Antoine Audo of Aleppo, Syria.  Today we bring you excerpts from the two Asians - Biswasi and Bishop Audo.

Pranita Biswasi is a 26-year old environmentalist and social activist from Jeypore in eastern India’s Odisha state.  She spoke about climate change that brings much suffering to the poor, saying, those least responsible are the worst affected.

Listen:  

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(Vatican Radio) The Press Office of the Holy See was the scene on Thursday morning for a conference featuring the President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, who presented the final major celebrations associated with the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy at the Vatican: the Jubilee for Prisoners on November 5^th and 6^th; and the Jubilee for the Socially Excluded from November 11^th to 13^th.

Each particular Jubilee will culminate with Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

The Jubilee for Prisoners will involve a contingent of persons currently serving penal sentences in Spain, along with persons of several different nationalities currently incarcerated in Italy, as well as hundreds of people  either released on parole or who have served their sentences and are working to rejoin society. Over 1 thousand people either currently serving time or who have served time in prison are expected to take part in the Jubilee in Rome, according to official estimates from the Council for New Evangelization.

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On Saturday, participants will have the opportunity to confess in the Jubilee churches and make the pilgrimage to the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Mass with the Holy Father is scheduled to begin at 10 AM on Sunday, following an hour-long series of testimonies given by four people whose lives have been changed through the experience of crime and punishment: a prisoner who has experienced conversion, who will speak with the victim with whom he is reconciled; the brother of a victim of a deadly crime who has become the instrument of mercy and forgiveness; a minor who is serving his sentence; and an agent of the Penitentiary Police, who has daily contact with inmates.

“We will listen to their life experience,” explained Archbishop Fisichella, “and we will understand that the theme of mercy is not a theoretical word, but a genuine daily action that often represents a real existential challenge.”

The following weekend, beginning on Friday the 11^th and concluding on Sunday, November 13^th, the Church will mark the Jubilee of Socially Excluded Persons: for anyone and everyone who, due to reasons ranging from economic precariousness to disease, loneliness, or lack of family ties, have difficulties and often remain at the margins of society, without a home or a place to live.

“People,” said Archbishop Fisichella, “we meet every day, people our eyes do not want to see, and from whom we look away.”

The approximately 6 thousand expected participants come from different countries: France, Germany, Portugal, England, Spain, Poland, Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia and Switzerland. The organization started by the French organization Lazare, founded by Etienne Villemain.

Participants will have an intense jubilee program: Friday at 11:30 AM, in the Paul VI Hall, they are scheduled to meet Pope Francis, who will listen to some of their testimonies and at the end will meet with them. In cdifferent churches throughout the city there will be the opportunity to hear testimony on Saturday 10 AM. The churches are: San Salvatore in Lauro for the English language; Santa Monica for Dutch, St. Louis of France for Portuguese; XII Apostles for French; St. John the Baptist of the Florentines for Polish; Santa Maria in Vallicella (Chiesa Nuova) for German; Santa Maria sopra Minerva for Italian; Sant’Andrea della Valle for Spanish and Santa Maria Maddalena in the Campus Martius for Slovak.

Saturday afternoon at 5 PM, there will be a Vigil of Mercy in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which is to be preceded by a brief pilgrimage to the Basilica’s Holy Door, starting from the front gardens.

On Sunday, the Holy Father will preside at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at 10 AM, following which he will lead all the faithful in the recitation of the Angelus prayer.

Sunday, November 13^th, is also to be the closing of the Door of Mercy in all the churches and shrines throughout the world, including in the three Papal Basilicas: at St. Paul Outside the Walls, at 5 PM; at St. John Lateran, at 5:30 PM; at Saint Mary Major 6 PM.

“We are confident,” concluded Archbishop Fisichella, “that these two Jubilee events will be experienced with the same intensity and experience of prayer with which we have seen the entire Jubilee celebrated.”

That enthusiasm was on display October 22^nd, when an extraordinary crowd of 93 thousand people participated – the highest number yet for a Jubilee Audience, Archbishop Fisichella told reporters – in the Extraordinary Jubilee Audience held once each month on a Saturday during the Jubilee Year.

The official website of the Jubilee of Mercy estimates that 19,797,652 people have participated in the Jubilee in Rome through the end of October.

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The Maronite bishops have welcomed the election of General Aoun as 13th president of Lebanese Republic at a meeting held on Wednesday in Bkerkè.

Michel Aoun 81, the former Lebanese army chief, has been elected president of Lebanon, ending more than two years of deadlock surrounding the vacancy.

Now the goal, added the prelates, is the "quick" formation of an "efficient government" that is able to face and solve the old problems - economic crisis, institutional stalemate, domestic terrorism, border wars and reception of refugees - investing the Land of the Cedars.

At their monthly assembly, which was held on Wednesday at the headquarters of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkerké under the chairmanship of Cardinal Beshara Rai, the bishops stressed the joint efforts of all parties in Aoun’s election.

The prelates appreciated the reference in the inaugural speech of the new head of state, to the need for political, economic, administrative and social stability, all seen as key issues as well as the growth of Lebanon. Another priority must be the approval of a new electoral law capable of ensuring the "representativeness" of all parts of the country.

In the document published at the conclusion of their meeting, the Maronite bishops recalled the "critical phase" crossed by the nation, which is a "huge responsibility" for the new head of state and the future executive. The prelates also call for "unity" at a critical moment in the history not only of Lebanon, but throughout the Middle East.

Finally, the Assembly hopes that after two years of instability a new "stage" can now be opened where efforts can focus on "activities of everyday life" and that all means are established by which the Lebanese "can earn their daily bread. " The prelates conclude that the people ask only to live in a nation "worthy of their aspirations," in a country "that will save them from looking elsewhere for conditions to live and work in dignity." (AsiaNews)

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(Vatican Radio) With at least 239 migrants dying in two shipwrecks off the coast of Libya, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Thursday that the EU is “closing down all the avenues” for migrants to reach Europe and therefore there's a "very dangerous situation" with people "racing” to get across the sea before “the gate closes finally.”

Leonard Doyle, the chief spokesperson for the IOM, predicted that as a result of these increased border patrols, more and more people in desperate situations are going “to throw caution to the winds” over the coming weeks in their attempt to get across the sea to Europe in “very unsafe conditions.” Doyle said there was "an absolute antipathy" right across Europe towards these people who are described as "irregular migrants" and whose application as asylum seekers is likely to be rejected. He was interviewed by Susy Hodges. 

Listen to the interview with Leonard Doyle, chief spokesperson for the International Office of Migration:  

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London, England, Nov 3, 2016 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- You might have heard of Phil Mulryne, a Manchester United footballer who's shared the field with David Beckham and brought fame to Ireland with 27 caps – international appearances – in his athletic career.

But now, Mulryne is setting aside his jersey to pursue the vocation of a Catholic Dominican priest.

“This for me was one of the major reasons that attracted me to the religious life,” Mulryne said in a video interview posted by the Daily Mail.

“To give oneself completely to God through the profession of the evangelical councils, to take him as our example and despite our weakness and our defects, trust in Him that he will transform us by his grace, and thus being transformed, communicate the joy in knowing him to everyone we meet – this for me is the ideal of Dominican life and one of the major reasons of what attracted me to the order.”

Mulryne, a 38-year old Irishman, began his career in football as a kid in 1994 when he attended the Manchester United youth academy, and eventually joined the Norwich league in 1999.

His teammates were among the many of his surprised acquaintances to find out that he gave up his global fame and £500,000 in career earnings to pursue the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as a Catholic priest.

“It was a complete shock that he felt this was his calling,” fellow footballer Paul McVeigh said, according to the Daily News.

After a series of major injuries at the end of his career in 2008, Mulryne was faced with the future: how would he spend his post-footballing days?

According to McVeigh, Mulryne began turning “his life around and was doing a lot of charitable work and helping the homeless on a weekly basis.” The Catholic Herald reported that Bishop Noel Treanor of Down and Connor became an influential figure during Mulryne’s conversion, eventually inviting him to enter the seminary.

“I know for a fact that this is not something he took lightly as the training to be ordained as a Catholic priest consists of a two-year philosophy degree, followed by a four-year theology degree and only after that will he finally be qualified as a priest,” McVeigh said.

In 2009, the Irish native entered the Irish Pontifical College in Rome, where he has been pursuing the priesthood through studies in philosophy and theology.

Last week on Oct. 30, he was ordained a deacon in Belfast by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, and is set for priestly ordination in 2017.

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Vatican City, Nov 3, 2016 / 06:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis spoke to representatives of different religions Thursday, telling them that acts of terrorism and violence must be very clearly condemned, while love and mercy – the heart of authentic religion – must be promoted.

“Sadly, not a day passes that we do not hear of acts of violence, conflict, kidnapping, terrorist attacks, killings and destruction,” Pope Francis said, adding that “it is horrible that at times, to justify such barbarism, the name of a religion or the name of God himself is invoked.”

“May there be clear condemnation of these iniquitous attitudes that profane the name of God and sully the religious quest of mankind.”

Instead, he asked that “the aimless paths of disagreement and closed-mindedness” be rejected, and replaced with the path of a “peaceful encounter” among believers.

As part of the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis met with around 200 members of different religions at the Vatican Nov. 3. The representatives included Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and others, who all work in fields related to charity and mercy.

In his speech, the Pope lamented the many attacks against religious freedom, saying that mercy can’t be proclaimed in words alone, but must be manifested in action, and above all, “by a truly merciful way of life marked by disinterested love, fraternal service and sincere sharing.”

“The Church increasingly desires to adopt this way of life,” he said. “The religions are likewise called to this way of life, in order to be, particularly in our own day, messengers of peace and builders of communion.”

Warning against the error of religious syncretism, which blends different religions together, Francis urged unity through dialogue and encounter as a way to combat division and intolerance around the world.

“This is pleasing to God and constitutes an urgent task, responding not only to today’s needs but above all to the summons to love which is the soul of all authentic religion,” he said.

Emphasizing that compassion is the “authentic spirit” of religion, the Pope said we must “draw near to all those living in situations that call for our concern, such as sickness, disability, poverty, injustice and the aftermath of conflicts and migrations.”

“This is a summons rising from the heart of every genuine religious tradition.”

Pope Francis recalled the verse in Isaiah: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even though she may forget, yet I will never forget you,” saying that often we forget and distance ourselves from God, from our neighbor and from history.

“This is the drama of evil, the grim depths to which our freedom can plunge when tempted by evil, ever-present, waiting to strike and bring us down.”

Yet here is where we also find the most amazing aspect of merciful love, he pointed out. The love that does not forget us, but draws near like a mother draws near her child. This is the mercy we thirst for, he said.

The Pope explained how for Catholics, among the most meaningful rites of the Jubilee of Mercy is going through the Holy Door, becoming “fully reconciled” by the mercy of God.

But this also requires that we forgive others, because we receive God’s forgiveness in order to share it. “Forgiveness is surely the greatest gift we can give to others, because it is the most costly,” he explained, yet “it is what makes us most like God.”

In closing he urged those present to reject disagreement and closemindedness, praying that religions may never again, “because of the conduct of some of their followers,” convey a “distorted message, out of tune with that of mercy.”

“May there instead be fostered everywhere the peaceful encounter of believers and genuine religious freedom,” he said. “Here, our responsibility before God, humanity and the future is great; it calls for unremitting effort, without dissimulation.”

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