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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said the catechism on its own is not sufficient to truly know Jesus and we need prayer, worship and to recognize ourselves as sinners. His words came during his morning Mass celebrated on Thursday in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence.

The cue for the Pope’s reflections during his homily came from St Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where the Apostle prayed that they may be strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit and that Christ may dwell in their hearts.

Noting that Paul spoke of plunging into the immense sea that is the person of Christ, Pope Francis asked “how can we know Christ, How can we understand His love that is beyond all knowledge?”

“Christ is present in the Gospel and we know Christ by reading the Gospel. And all of us do this, at least we hear the Gospel when we go to Mass. And studying the catechism teaches us who Christ is. But this is not enough. In order to understand the breadth and length and height and depth of Jesus Christ we need to enter into the habit, firstly of praying, as Paul did on his knees: “Father send me the Holy Spirit to know Jesus.”

But in order to truly know Christ, the Pope stressed that prayer on its own is not enough and as Paul said, in addition to praying he “worships this mystery” that is beyond our knowledge and in this spirit of worship or adoration he asks for this grace from the Lord.

“We cannot know the Lord without this habit of worship, to worship in silence, adoration. If I am not mistaken, I believe that this prayer of adoration is the least known by us, it’s the one that we do least. Allow me to say this, waste time in front of the Lord, in front of the mystery of Jesus Christ. Worship him. There in silence, the silence of adoration. He is the Saviour and I worship Him.” 

Pope Francis said the third requirement for truly knowing Christ was to know ourselves and as a result be accustomed to describing ourselves as sinners.

“We cannot worship without accusing ourselves. In order to enter into this bottomless and boundless sea that is the mystery of Jesus Christ, this thing is necessary. (Firstly), prayer:  ‘Father, send me the Holy Spirit so that he leads me to know Jesus.’  Secondly, worship the mystery, enter into the mystery and worship Him. And thirdly, accuse ourselves. ‘I am a man of unclean lips.’ May the Lord give us too this grace that Paul implored for the Ephesians, this grace to know and earn Christ.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday received the President of Burkina Faso, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, who subsequently met with the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.

A statement by the Holy See Press Office described the talks as “cordials,” and said the two men discussed “the existing good relations between the Holy See and Burkina Faso were evoked, underlining among other things the important contribution the Church offers in the fields of education and healthcare.”

The statement continued by saying that in this framework, “the hope was expressed that bilateral relations can be consolidated thanks also to the legal tools provided by international law.”

Attention then turned to the importance of national reconciliation, respect and collaboration between the various religious groups, and the theme of young people and employment.

Finally, there was an exchange of views on some issues of international interest, with particular reference to the current challenges affecting the region.

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India’s Federal Home Minister, Rajnath Singh on Wednesday, paid glowing tributes to Mother Teresa and said that full security will be provided by the government to minorities and “all those who work towards humanity.”

Paying tributes to Mother Teresa at a function in New Delhi, Singh said Mother had come to India to “conquer hearts” with love.

Recalling attacks on minorities on the eve of 2015 assembly election in Delhi, he assured that he would ensure that no such incident occurred either before or after an election in future, an official release said

The Home Minister was speaking at a program organized to commemorate the canonization of Mother Teresa at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.

The event was jointly organised by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, Archdiocese of Delhi, Dioceses of Faridabad and Gurgaon.

Singh said Saint Mother Teresa has always been referred as “Mother” because of the love bestowed by citizens on her.

He said that Alexander had come to India to conquer land but “Saint Mother Teresa came with love to conquer hearts”, the release said.

Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Cardinal George Alencherry and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion, the release said.

(Source: Matters India)

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(Vatican Radio) During the third and final Presidential debate in Las Vegas, Republican nominee Donald Trump refused to confirm whether he would accept the result of the election on 8th November.

Debating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, he also said he expects a key ruling that made abortion legal in America to be overturned if he wins.

Listen to the report: 

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New York City, N.Y., Oct 19, 2016 / 10:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Progress for the world’s children has left out the young victims of war, conflict, and poverty, the Holy See has told the United Nations.

“The dramatic progress made in the reductions in child mortality and increased access to schooling and safe drinking water must strengthen our resolve to bring similar progress to areas in which millions of children still suffer extraordinary indignities each day,” Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the apostolic nuncio leading the Holy See’s permanent observer mission to the U.N., said Oct. 13.

“Millions more children are caught in situations of conflict, trapped in situations of extreme poverty or live in areas of extreme environmental vulnerability. These harrowing situations of children remind us to commit ourselves to fighting the root causes of their sufferings,” the nuncio said in an intervention before a committee of the U.N. General Assembly on the promotion and protection of the rights of children.

“The Holy See notes with particular sadness that the primary cause of today’s mass displacements of populations is man-made: namely, wars and conflicts,” he continued.

Of the 50 million children who have been displaced from their homes, 28 million have been displaced by conflict. Children make up as much as 40 percent of some conflicts’ victims.

“Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such violent brutality: children used as soldiers, suicide bombers, sex slaves, and disposable intelligence-gatherers in the most dangerous military operations,” Archbishop Auza said. “The deliberate destruction of their schools and hospitals in total disregard of international humanitarian law has become a strategy of war.”

The nuncio stressed the global responsibility to help these children: “Since human choices provoke conflicts and wars, it is well within our power and responsibility to address the conflicts and wars that drive millions to become refugees, forced migrants and internally displaced persons, including millions of children.”

The archbishop said the Holy See has made pleas for a common commitment from individual governments and the international community to bring an end to violence, conflict, and hatred.

“While we wait for an end to these conflicts, it is nevertheless urgent to collaborate to alleviate the sufferings of children caught in the snares,” he said.

At the same time, Archbishop Auza found encouragement in research that showed a more than 50 percent reduction in the rate of child mortality under five.

“In the last 15 years, all regions in the world registered major progress in child survival rates. These improvements were particularly significant in sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.

Maternal mortality has also undergone significant reduction, decreasing by 43 percent.
    
“School enrollment, access to safe water and a number of other vital and social indicators also showed steady progress. While these advances happened in a variety of contexts, indicating that progress can be achieved in highly differentiated economic, social and political environments, they were even more impressive in some of the world’s poorest countries,” he said.

At the same time, 16,000 children die every day, often from preventable or treatable causes. Half of the deaths of children under five years old are due to malnutrition and under-nourishment. The existence of about 33 percent of the world’s children are not officially recorded, depriving them of an official nationality and name. Millions of children are infected with HIV; about one third of women aged 20-24 were child brides; and violence against girls is a major problem, according to the archbishop.

“The grave humanitarian crises in many regions of the world have exacerbated this already disheartening picture,” Archbishop Auza said. “Fifty million children around the world are on the move. They are running from conflict, extreme poverty and various forms of abuse and exploitation.”

The numbers of child refugees have increased dramatically.  As many as 90,000 unaccompanied children were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2014, a major jump over previous years.

The migrant and refugee crisis in the Mediterranean Sea was shown in one two-day period this year when 10,000 people were rescued from sinking boats. Of these, 20-40 percent were unaccompanied children.

Refugee and migrant children, especially when unaccompanied, face dangers like human traffickers and other forms of exploitation.

“When a boat sinks, they are the most likely to drown. They are the first ones to suffer hunger and thirst. They are the most vulnerable to extreme weather as they move through deserts and forests,” said the archbishop.

These children need protection and are entitled to the rights guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, he added, stressing the urgent need to ensure measures and policies are in place wherever these children may be found.

The nuncio also spoke of other the violations of childrens’ rights, like child labor. He cited Pope Francis’ appeal to the world to renew its efforts “to remove this cause of modern slavery, which deprives millions of children of some fundamental rights and exposes them to serious dangers.”

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