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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis renewed his condemnation of violence and his call for peace in Syria on Sunday. The Holy Father’s appeals came following the Angelus prayer with the faithful gathered beneath the window of the Papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace.

“Dear brothers and sisters,” said Pope Francis, “sadly, news continues to reach us from Syria, of civilian victims of the war there, in particular from the city of Aleppo.” The Holy Father went on to say, “It is unacceptable that so many defenseless persons – among them many small children – must pay the price for conflict - for the closure of the hearts and the want of a will for peace among the powerful.”

The Pope renewed his promise of spiritual closeness to all those suffering in Syria, along with his call for prayerful and effective concrete action to aid the sorely tried people of that war-torn land. “Let us draw near to our Syrian brothers and sisters with prayer and solidarity,” he said, “and let us entrust them to the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary,” before inviting the gathered faithful to a moment of silent prayer followed by a Hail Mary.

Rebels have been trying to break through a thin strip of government-controlled territory to reconnect insurgent areas in western Syria with their encircled sector of eastern Aleppo, in effect breaking a government siege begun last month.

Fighting has been extremely intense since Friday, when rebels began a major push.

There have been reports throughout the weekend of civilian casualties and non-combatant facilities being hit by artillery and possibly even targeted. Those reports include one of an air strike near a hospital in northwestern Syria on Saturday that killed 10 people including children, and caused damage to the hospital facility.

At least one medical charity has reported the month of July as the worst to date for attacks on medical care centres in Syria, with 43 attacks on healthcare facilities recorded in their count.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus on Sunday with people gathered in a sun-drenched St. Peter’s Square, beneath the window of the Papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace.

In remarks to the pilgrims and tourists on hand, which he delivered ahead of the traditional noonday prayer of Marian devotion, the Holy Father focused on the Gospel reading of the day, which on this Sunday was from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke (Lk. 12:32-48), in which Jesus tells the disciples once again not to mind the things of the world, but to work for the kingdom of God and store up treasure in heaven. “For,” he tells them, “where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.”

Jesus goes on in the passage to relate three short parables regarding the Second Coming, the unifying theme of which is vigilance.

The unexpected return of the Master of the House, the thief in the night, and the behavior of the steward in the wake of his Master’s departure each in its own way point us to the need for sober watchfulness, keen awareness, and careful attention to our duty under justice and tireless solicitude for our fellows in charity, as we await the Lord, whose coming is certain, but whose hour we cannot know.

“Jesus,” said Pope Francis, “today reminds us that the expectation of eternal beatitude does not dispense us from our responsibility to work for a more just and more habitable world. Indeed, it is precisely this, our hope of possessing the Kingdom in eternity, which encourages us to work towards improving the conditions of life on earth, especially those of  our weakest brothers and sisters.”

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Lilongwe, Malawi, Aug 7, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In an orphanage near the capital city of Lilongwe, Malawi, children are reaping the fruits of the Year of Mercy.

The Mother Teresa Children’s House, which is a Kawale-based orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity, received food donations this week from the country’s Catholic members of Parliament who were inspired by the call from Pope Francis to enact works of mercy during the Jubilee Year.

“You know this is the Year of Mercy as it has been declared by our Pope – Pope Francis – and as a Catholic Community at Parliament, we thought that we do something in order to support those that need our support,” Hon. Francis Kasaila said in a statement from the Episcopal Conference of Malawi.

“This is just a small donation, of course, and otherwise we know that these sisters need a lot of support from well wishers and people of goodwill. They really need quite a lot in order to care for these children,” Kasaila continued.

Kasaila is the leader of the National Assembly and a Parliamentarian for Democratic Progressive Party. He was joined by other Parliament members such as Hon. Juliana Lunguzi, a Member of Parliament for Dedza East.

Although some of the leaders had opposing political views, they set aside their differences to support the children in need. Kasaila said that he believes Catholicism comes before politics.

Fr. Henry Chinkanda, the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Officer of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, applauded the Catholic Parliamentarians in their efforts, and encouraged them to be a fruitful witness of charity by loving each other despite any political differences.

In addition to donating food items such as maize, beans, cooking oil and milk, some members of Parliament also spent time in the orphanage singing songs with the children.

The Missionaries of Charity expressed gratitude for the donations, which will be used to feed the 52 children that take refuge at the orphanage.

“As a community, we would like to thank our Catholic members of Parliament for the love they have shown to these children,” Sister Mira of the Missionaries of Charity said.

Sister Mira also used the opportunity to condemn the act of abortion, saying that their orphanage would readily house any “unwanted” children who would otherwise be victims of abortion.

“We would want to discourage the tendency of aborting innocent children as well. Therefore, let those that feel they wouldn’t manage to care for their children, bring them to this center rather than aborting or abandoning the innocent souls,” she said.

“As you know, life is a gift from God. So too these children are a gift from God and who knows, these will be our future leaders.”

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Vatican City, Aug 7, 2016 / 03:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday, Pope Francis lamented at how many defenseless civilians are forced to “pay the price” of the ongoing Syrian crisis, and he expressed his solidarity for those affected.

“Sadly, news of civilian victims of war continues to arrive from Syria, especially from Aleppo,” the Pope said during his weekly post-Angelus address, delivered to the crowds in St. Peter's Square from the Apostolic palace.

“It is unacceptable that many unarmed persons – even many children – must pay the price of the conflict,” he said. The price, he said, is that of “closed hearts and the absence of the desire for peace” on the part of the powerful.

The pontiff expressed his closeness in prayer and solidarity to his “Syrian brothers and sisters,” entrusting them to the “maternal protection of the Virgin Mary.” He then invited the crowds in a moment of prayerful silence, before leading them in the Hail Mary.

The city of Aleppo has been under a weeks-long siege by Syrian government forces, although rebel fighters have announced that they have put an end to it, the BBC reports. Around 250,000 are estimated to have been living in the besieged city.  

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced over the course of the civil war between Syrian and government forces, which is currently in its fifth year.

Before leading the crowds in the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis shared some reflections on the day's Gospel readings, during which Jesus invites his disciples to sell all their belongings and follow him.

This invitation presents almsgiving as a “work of mercy,” the Pope said. Rather than placing “faith in ephemeral goods,” Jesus invites his disciples to “use things without attachment or egotism,” according to “the logic of God, the logic of attentiveness to others, the logic of love.”

The pontiff then turned to the parables on the theme of vigilance as recounted in the day's Gospel.  

He began with the first parable about servants needing to always be prepared for the return of their master.

“It is happiness to wait for the Lord with faith, to stay ready, in an attitude of service,” the Pope said.

Noting how the parable is set at night, Pope Francis explained how the scene is like a vigil, “which is a prelude to the bright day of eternity.”

By remaining “ready, alert, and committed to the service of others,” he said, the Lord will invite us to be served upon his return, and he “welcome us to his table.”

“This is already the case every time we meet the Lord in prayer, or in serving the poor, and above all in the Eucharist, where he prepares a banquet to nourish us with his Word and his Body.”

Pope Francis reflected briefly on the parable of the unexpected coming of the thief, and the demand for “vigilance” ahead of the Lord's arrival.

The Pope also spoke of the third parable of the servant who abuses his power while the master is away; upon the master's return, he is punished.

“This scene describes a recurring situation even in our days: so much injustice, violence, and daily evils are born of the idea of  acting like the master of the lives of others.”

“Jesus today reminds us that the anticipation of eternal beatitude does not exempt us from the responsibility of making the world more just and habitable,” Pope Francis concluded.

“Indeed, it is this hope of possessing the kingdom in eternity which pushes us to work for the betterment of the conditions of earthly life, especially of our weakest brothers and sisters.”

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