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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis takes off for the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Friday for a two-day visit to the majority Orthodox republic.

As well as meeting with religious and civil authorities in Tbilisi, the Pope will travel to the nearby ancient city of Mtskheta, founded in the 5th century BC and famed as one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. The former capital contains many important monuments of early Christian architecture for the Caucuses region, including the 11th century Svetitskhoveli Patriarchal Cathedral.

The visit comes 17 years after Pope John Paul II made a landmark trip to the republic, struggling to rebuild as an independent nation following 70 years of Soviet domination.

Dr Tamara Grdzelidze is an Orthodox theologian, now serving as Georgia’s ambassador to the Holy See. Ahead of the papal visit, she sat down with Philippa Hitchen to talk about expectations for the trip and about the historical difficulties between the Catholic and Orthodox Churches in her country…

Listen to the full interview: 

The ambassador begins by saying that Pope Francis “brings joy to every place he goes so I hope he’ll do this in Georgia as well!” She hopes he will speak to the hearts of Georgians to help them understand the “wisdom and spiritual joy he carries with him”. At the same time, she underlines the significance for the Pope to visit one of the oldest Christian countries in the world.

Speaking of the origins of the Church in the 4th century by a woman known as Nino, she said “It’s a very special start of Christian life in Georgia”. She explains that Nino was a young woman from Cappadocia, who first converted the queen and the king, enabling Christianity to became the official religion of the state.

“Difficult” is the way the ambassador describes the relationship between Orthodox and Catholics in her country, in large part because of the legacy of Soviet culture which still hangs over the nation a quarter of a century after independence. At that time, she says, the Orthodox Church suddenly became independent and has been trying to act as “a national symbol” which puts the Catholic Church “in a difficult position”. On the other hand, she insists, there are many examples of good relationships and good cooperation between the two Churches.

Asked about the ecumenical expectations of this visit, the ambassador notes the way in which Pope Francis “tries to bring on board Christians from all traditions” as he has done through his “renewing of dialogue with the world” on the issue of environmental protection. She points to the many efforts he has made over the past year to reach out to Orthodox leaders, from his meeting with Patriarch Kirill in Cuba, to his visit to Lesbos with Patriarch Bartholomew and the Archbishop of Athens. “He’s trying very much to have good personal relationships with Orthodox leaders” she says, some of whom find it “problematic to talk about doctrinal unity”.

Georgia’s Patriarch Ilia II, the ambassador notes, has enormous influence over people and is “an enormously credible leader” who has led the Church since 1977. She notes how he has “literally renewed the Church life”, she says, in particular pointing to the new flourishing of monastic life, and religious publications which are “all accredited to his leadership”.

Speaking of Church-State relations in Georgia, Ambassador Grdzelidze says “constitutionally the Church is separate from the State”, yet the Constitution also recognizes the special role of the Orthodox Church in the nation’s history. She also mentions the trend of giving compensation to the Church for the deprivations its members suffered during the communist era.

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis will shine the spotlight on the suffering Christian communities in Syria and Iraq as he visits a Chaldean church in Georgia at the start of his 16th pastoral journey abroad.

On the first day of his September 30th to October 2nd visit to the Caucuses region, the Pope will have an important encounter at the Syro-Chaldean church of St Simon the Tanner in Tbilisi, with members of one of the three different rites that make up the small Catholic community in Georgia.

There he will meet with Chaldean bishops from all over the world led by their Patriarch Louis Sako from the Iraqi capital Baghdad. It will be a profoundly spiritual encounter as the Pope joins the Church leaders in prayer for the suffering people of Syria and Iraq, so many of whom have been driven out of their ancestral lands by so-called Islamic State militants.

Cardinal Fernando Filoni is head of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and before that he served as Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq for five years during the Gulf War. Pope Francis has also sent him on humanitarian missions to provide support for Iraqi refugees who have fled from the conflict in their country.

Cardinal Filoni talked to Philippa Hitchen about the importance of the Pope’s encounter in Georgia and about the possibility of peaceful coexistence throughout the Middle East region….

Listen to the interview:

Cardinal Filoni says this encounter is important because many of these patriarchs, bishops and archbishops, met together recently in Amman and will be reporting back to the Holy Father about their concerns and considerations, their preoccupations and their difficulties. “They will present their point of view”, he says and they will listen to the message that the Pope brings to them.

“We don’t think that we can magically solve these problems”, the cardinal says, but the Pope’s presence represents “a good opportunity for our Catholic community to feel they are not forgotten or abandoned”. Though we cannot solve all the material problems, he insists, it is important that “they feel they are at the heart of the Church”, that the Pope is listening to them and that “they are not abandoned. Psychologically, it is very important”, he adds.

Cardinal Filoni says it is not just a problem of the effects of the bombs in Syria and Iraq today but also about the future of Christians in that part of the world. “This is the land where it is possible to live together”, he says, stressing that “it has happened for centuries and we are sure it could happen today”, provided there is the “good will and participation of all, especially the minorities”. In the past, he says, those minorities have felt abandoned or felt the desire to take revenge for situations they have suffered.

Pope Francis, the cardinal concludes, will offer Chaldean Catholics “a word of reconciliation and  understanding, but also of justice and rights”.

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(Vatican Radio) A professor at the Caucasus University of Tbilisi says the peace motto chosen for Pope Francis’ pastoral visit to Georgia this weekend will strike a deep chord in this nation that has seen so much war and conflict in recent years. Monica Ellena is a professor of Political Communications at the university in the Georgian capital and she spoke to Vatican Radio’s Gabriella Ceraso just ahead of the papal visit.

Listen to the interview with Monica Ellena, Professor Monica Ellena of the Caucasus University of Tbilisi: 

Ellena said Pope Francis’ trip comes 17 years after Pope John Paul’s landmark visit to Georgia in 1999 and the two papal visits have a very different historical context. In 1999 Georgia was still struggling to find its way after gaining its independence following the collapse of Soviet rule in eastern Europe whereas this papal visit in 2016, she noted, comes as the country has firmly set its sights on the West. Ellena also believes that the papal visit this time around will be more focused on ecumenism, rather than geopolitical concerns. 

Asked how the authorities are likely to respond to the Pope’s call for peace reflected in the motto for this papal visit, Ellena said this appeal for peace will strike a deep chord in the hearts of all those in Georgia, a nation, she said, that has seen “so much war, conflict and instability” in its recent past.

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Janeth Mhella of Vatican Radio’s Africa Service became the first African ever at Vatican Radio to be honoured by Pope Francis for having served the Pope and the Church diligently in her work at the radio. Mhella, from the KiSwahili language Service, was handed one of Pope Francis’ highest awards that can be given to a lay person. Also known as the "Cross of Honour," the medal and certificate were presented to Mhella by the Monsignor Dario Viganò, the Prefect of the Secretariat for Communication of the Holy See. Five other persons from the new dicastery, the Secretariat for Communication were also honoured.  

Mhella’s “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” Medal which is Latin “For Church and Pope” is an award of the Catholic Church established by Pope Leo XIII in 1888. The award is for deserving clergy or lay persons and is given for services done for the Church and its head.

Janeth Mhella is simply known to all her colleagues at Vatican Radio as Mama Mhella. She retires from the Radio at the end of October. 

It all started more than twenty years ago, in 1992, when her husband, a Tanzanian diplomat, the late Joseph Mhella was posted to Rome by his government as Minister Counsellor and Permanent Representative to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

In Tanzania, Mama Mhella had worked as a social worker first for the government and then for UNICEF. In Italy, with her husband, she suddenly found herself without a job and with long empty hours ahead of her. It was a new experience for one who was not used to being a stay-at-home mum.

In 1993, the English Africa Service of Vatican Radio had started daily broadcasts of the day’s Gospel readings in KiSwahili. With children at school, a  husband at work, Mama Mhella then decided to volunteer to read the daily Kiswahili readings for Vatican Radio. 

In 1994, the KiSwahili Radio Programme was quickly becoming an established language of Vatican Radio. Mama Mhella was asked to come-in three times a week to help with translations. Her big break came in 1997 when she was employed on a full-time basis. The rest is history. 

Twenty-three years later, Thursday, at the ceremony in her honour, the Director of Programmes at Vatican Radio, Fr. Andrea Majewski, SJ, read the citation before Monsignor Viganò handed over the medal and certificate.

“Over the years Janeth has worked closely with various persons that have passed through the department. Today she can truly be considered one of the founders of the KiSwahili Service at Vatican Radio,” said Fr. Majewski as he read the citation.

Apart from English, KiSwahili, a Bantu language is the lingua franca of East Africa. It is widely spoken in Tanzania and Kenya and some regions of Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mozambique. About 120 million people, if not more, are said to speak KiSwahili. 

The KiSwahili Service of Vatican Radio produces a half-hour programme on the daily activities of the Pope, the Holy See and the Church in Africa. As with most Vatican Radio broadcasts, the daily bulletin is broadcast on the Shortwave frequency, the Vatican Radio podcast and is re-transmitted daily by more than 24 FM Catholic radio stations in Africa.

(Fr. Paul Samasumo)
Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio)  The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, says Pope Francis’ 3-day visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan should be viewed as a mission for peace and unity in this troubled area of the world. The cardinal was interviewed (in Italian) by Barbara Castello of the Vatican Television Centre.

Cardinal Parolin noted that this weekend’s papal trip is the final leg of a Caucasus pilgrimage that began in June with the Pope's visit to Armenia. He spoke of how Pope Francis will be visiting these two nations as “a friend” to meet its people and to promote a culture of encounter that he considers so important and whilst there will speak out in favour of peace, reconciliation and unity.  Asked about some of the challenges facing Georgia, his first leg, Cardinal Parolin mentioned the issue of refugees, both those who have fled to Georgia from conflicts in the Middle East and the internally displaced who have been uprooted from their homes as a result of Georgia’s conflicts with its breakaway regions.

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Los Angeles, Calif., Sep 29, 2016 / 06:11 am (CNA).- On Sept. 2, Dodger Stadium served as the center of a massive Venn diagram of local Catholics and lifelong fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the ballpark hosted its first-ever “Catholic Night.”

The baseball team hosted, fittingly, the San Diego Padres on the field, and actual ordained members of religious life and lay people from throughout the tri-county Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the stands.

Notable Catholics in attendance included Auxiliary Bishop Robert E. Barron and native Angeleno Auxiliary Bishop Joseph V. Brennan, both Dodger fans, who were given the chance to realize the lifelong dream of coming onto the field to throw out ceremonial first pitches.

Both were understandably a tad nervous about tossing the first pitches in front of thousands of people, but were all smiles as they warmed up their arms in their Dodger hats and gear on top of their clerical collars. Bishop Brennan wore a blue Dodgers pullover jacket, while Bishop Barron donned a personalized Dodgers home jersey — and even brought his own baseball mitt to the pitching mound.

“It’s great for the archdiocese; it’s an amazing display of spirit and camaraderie,” says Bishop Barron of the inaugural Catholic Night. “I’m honored to be a part of a night like this that Catholics can share and enjoy together.”

“I have been coming to Dodger Stadium ever since I was a kid, and tonight, I feel like a kid,” shares Bishop Brennan.

Throwing the first pitch was one of many surreal moments throughout the night that made Bishop Brennan feel like a kid. Earlier in the evening, when touring the stadium’s media lobby with Bishop Barron, he was able to meet legendary Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully, who has been calling Dodger games ever since Bishop Brennan was that young boy listening to his favorite team on his transistor radio.

“That was a childhood dream come true,” he says of meeting Scully. “He was so gracious and so welcoming. And this is a man who has more than a few things to do tonight. The fact that he was willing to make time to introduce himself to me says a lot about him.”

The fact that Scully is not only the legendary “voice of the Dodgers,” but also a devout Catholic, serves as one of many examples of how baseball, according to Bishops Barron and Brennan, can be synonymous with spirituality.

“Among many things, baseball teaches us how to attract people to Church,” explained Bishop Barron in a prior statement. “What attracts people to baseball, initially, is the beauty of the game, the skill of pitching, hitting and catching the baseball and running the bases. The ‘infield fly rule’ and all the other intricate and sometimes arcane rules of any sport only have interest and relevance for people who already know and love the game.”

“Baseball, like our faith, is about teamwork,” adds Bishop Brennan. “It’s about people putting others ahead of themselves and coming together for a common cause. Nights like tonight are a great reminder: ‘It’s not about me; it’s about him.’”

This story originally ran on Angelus News, the daily digital publication of the Archdiocese of LA.

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