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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis paid a previously unannounced visit to the Jesuit House in Krakow on Saturday and urged them to look outwards and not just be concerned with abstract ideas. The Pope spent about 40 minutes with the Jesuits in an informal encounter where they chatted and he answered a number of question but said he had no desire to make a speech. Around 30 Jesuits were present for the encounter including the Provincials.  

The visit was not included in the Pope’s official programme during his stay in Krakow.  However, Father Antonio Spadaro, Director of the Jesuit magazine Civilita Cattolica who was present for the meeting, said such visits have become almost a regular habit during the Pope’s pastoral journeys abroad.

Father Spadaro described the encounter as very cheerful, relaxed and informal.  Asked about the Jesuits’ work with the world of culture especially at universities, Pope Francis said their work in this field “must be outward looking” and not only concerned with abstract concepts and ideas. He urged them to be very close to all those "who are marginalized" and stay far away from “a libertarian ideology that puts money at the centre rather than the human person.” 

Turning to the work of priests, Pope Francis said that nowadays “there is a risk that a priest who has not received a good formation is either 'too white or too black' and acts by simply applying the rules in a mechanical fashion.”  Instead, he stressed, “discernment is important” and should be at the heart of pastoral life. The Pope said for this reason it is necessary to help priests and seminarians with their spiritual discernment and this should be “one of the main tasks of the Society of Jesus nowadays.”  

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will be leaving a powerful legacy of faith and hope in the people of Poland and in the millions of young people gathered in Krakow for World Youth Day.

Apart from his prayers, his encouragement and his closeness, his words of hope and his tears of sorrow, he will also be leaving two houses for the poor and the elderly in need.

Through the work and intervention of Caritas Poland and Caritas Internationalis, headed by Cardinal Luis Tagle, two solid Centers made of bricks and cement are a concrete witness of solidarity for the poor on the part of the Pope who is scheduled to bless them on Sunday morning before their inauguration.

Lydia O’Kane caught up with Cardinal Tagle in Krakow and asked him to tell her about the two houses, one for the poor and the other for the elderly…

Listen: 

Cardinal Luis Tagle says that a gesture such this is a mark of papal visits such as when he went to the Philippines last year when – aside from the gift of his presence – he also gave a gift that would stay and that would benefit the poor.

“That is the same thing that is happening here, especially because this World Youth Day is very much tied to the Year of Mercy” he said.

He points out that the theme of WYD is ‘Be merciful as the Father is merciful’ and so “aside from the festivities and the joy that the coming together of young people always generates, there is also here a very great manifestation of love and mercy”.

So, Tagle explains, the Holy Father, in the name of the youth is giving the gift of two Caritas Centers for the poor.

He also comments on the Krakow WYD saying that every WYD is unique and has a way of sowing seeds of love and a sense of service to humanity.

“This year – he says – because of the theme of Mercy, there is a strong call for the young people to be protagonists in constructing a world that is destroyed by a lack of mercy, to take their vocation seriously”.

And he highlights the fact that Pope Francis has repeatedly called on the young people not to be timid, not to behave “as if they had already reached retirement mode” – they are just beginning.

The Pope tells young people, Tagle says “to appreciate the gift of youth, energy, zest, idealism, the capacity to dream and to bring all of these – not for self-promotion and not just for the fulfillment of myself – but for the service of humanity and for a better world”.

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(Vatican Radio) From early on Saturday morning, World Youth Day pilgrims caught trams and buses from central Krakow to bring them as close as possible to the Campus Misericordiae. From there, they walked a further four kilometres to get to these grounds in order to be with the Holy Father at this ever popular vigil. Some of them carried mats to lie on for the long evening ahead, while others made sure they had food supplies to the ready. Under the searing heat of the sun pilgrims protected themselves with hats and sunglasses. There were also sprinkler systems dousing the young people with water and the voice of a loud speaker advised the mass of youth to take advantage of the zones for bottled water.

Once inside, the many thousands of young people in the camp joyously waved flags and sang songs, and when the Pope arrived, this field of pilgrims erupted with cheers.

One of the highlights of this vigil was when the Holy Father walked hand in hand with young representatives from 5 continents through an especially constructed Holy Door made from ribbons and wood which read, Jesus, I trust in You.

Then to their delight and their surprise the group joined Pope Francis in the Pope mobile making their way to the especially constructed alter, a replica of that in Blonia Park.

In the second of 5 themed scenes, a video entitled, “hope to those discouraged” showed different images of suffering in the world, beginning with the bombing of the twin towers on 9/11.

Also, during this scene a girl from Aleppo in Syria spoke just yards away from Pope Francis about the suffering in her country and the pain of her Christian compatriots. But she said, she and her colleagues at the Don Bosco centre in the city saw the presence of God in those who came there.

In another scene, “to forgive those who have done wrong”, the Holy Father and pilgrims watched a re-enactment of St John Paul’s prison visit to forgive the man who had made an attempt on his life.

When the Pope took to the podium, he told the over 1 million young people present, “we have no desire to conquer hatred with more hatred, violence with more violence, terror with more terror.  We are here today because the Lord has called us together.  Our response to a world at war has a name: its name is fraternity, its name is brotherhood, its name is communion, its name is family.”

He also encouraged them to place before the Lord their own “battles”, “the interior struggles that each of you carries in his or her heart” and to build bridges of brotherhood.

Reinforcing the remarks of earlier this week, the Pope said to the pilgrims, “we didn’t come into this world to “vegetate”, to take it easy, to make our lives a comfortable sofa to fall asleep on.  No, we came for another reason: to leave a mark.” 

God comes to break down all our fences, the Pope said.  He comes to open the doors of our lives, our dreams...”

After a long period of reflection and prayer in front of the Blessed Eucharist, Pope Francis departed Campus Misericordiae in candlelight, leaving the youth of the world to continue that experience of fraternity and communion with music and song well into the night.

With Pope Francis in Krakow, I’m Lydia O’Kane

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Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 12:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis challenged massive crowds of young people at World Youth Day's final vigil to step away from the “sofa” of comfort and convenience, and respond to Christ's call to transform a suffering world.

“Today Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, is calling you to leave your mark on history,” the Pope told the estimated 1.6 million people attending Saturday's vigil at the “Campus Misericordiae” – or “Field of Mercy.”

In his address, the pontiff warned against opting “for ease and convenience, for confusing happiness with consumption,” because then “we end up paying a high price indeed: we lose our freedom.”

“Jesus,” however, “is the Lord of risk, of the eternal 'more',” he said. “Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths.”  

Saturday's WYD vigil marks the end of Pope Francis' second to last day of his July 27-31 trip to Poland for the international youth event.

The address was delivered after hearing the testimonies of three young people, including a young woman named Rand who described the daily horrors which the people in her home country of Syria experience.

The gathering of so many young people from countries torn by conflict, war, and other atrocities makes it so that the sufferings experienced by young people in these regions “are no longer anonymous, something we read about in the papers,” the Pope said.

“They have a name, they have a face, they have a story, they are close at hand,” he said referring to the suffering which young people like Rand have experienced, coming from war-torn Syria.

The extent of these situations cannot be appreciated by viewing them through a cell phone screen or computer, he said.

He asked for prayers for all those affected by war in Syria and other parts of the world in order that, “once and for all, may we realize that nothing justifies shedding the blood of a brother or sister; that nothing is more precious than the person next to us.”

The Pope also acknowledged the testimonies of struggle and inner conflict delivered by the two other young people, Natalia – a former fashion magazine journalist – and Miguel – a former drug addict.

“Both of you are a living sign of what God’s mercy wants to accomplish in us,” he said.

Pope Francis stressed that now is not the time to denounce those fighting or to tear people down. “We have no desire to conquer hatred with more hatred, violence with more violence, terror with more terror,” he said.

Rather, the name which should be given to the response to war is “fraternity,” “brotherhood,” “communion,” and “family.”

“We celebrate the fact that coming from different cultures, we have come together to pray,” he said. “Let our best word, our best argument, be our unity in prayer.”

“Let us also place before the Lord your own “battles”, the interior struggles that each of your carries in his or her heart.”

At this point, the Pope invited everyone to join hands for a moment of silent prayer, which he said afterwords reminded him of the scene of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost.

“Picturing them can help us come to appreciate all that God dreams of accomplishing in our lives, in us and with us,” he said.

On that day, the disciples huddled behind locked doors, paralyzed by the fear of persecution, the Pope recounted.

“Then, in that situation, something spectacular, something grandiose, occurred,” he said. “The Holy Spirit and tongues as of fire came to rest upon each of them, propelling them towards an undreamt-of adventure.”

Like the disciples, the young people who gave their testimonies know “the fear and anguish born of knowing that leaving home might mean never again seeing their loved ones, the fear of not feeling appreciated or loved, the fear of having no choices.”

“Thinking that in this world, in our cities and our communities, there is no longer any room to grow, to dream, to create, to gaze at new horizons – in a word to live – is one of the worst things that can happen to us in life,” he said.

“When we are paralyzed, we miss the magic of encountering others, making friends, sharing dreams, walking at the side of others.”

Pope Francis warned against a more dangerous kind of paralysis, which he described as “sofa-happiness” – in other words, the paralysis of confusing happiness with the sense of comfort, freeing us up to escape into the world of videogames and the computer, all the while keeping us at home with the illusion of safety.
 
“That is probably the most harmful and insidious form of paralysis, since little by little, without even realizing it, we start to nod off, to grow drowsy and dull while others – perhaps more alert than we are, but not necessarily better – decide our future for us,” he said.

“For many people, that is more convenient than having young people who are alert and searching, trying to respond to God’s dream and to all the restlessness present in the human heart.”

The Pope challenged young people not to “vegetate” in a comfortable life, but reminded them of their call “to leave a mark.”

“But when we opt for ease and convenience, for confusing happiness with consumption, then we end up paying a high price indeed: we lose our freedom,” he said.

“This is itself a great form of paralysis, whenever we start thinking that happiness is the same as comfort and convenience, that being happy means going through life asleep or on tranquillizers, that the only way to be happy is to live in a haze.”

In contrast to this life of “sofa-happy” paralysis, Pope Francis said,  “Jesus is the Lord of risk, of the eternal 'more'.”

“Jesus is not the Lord of comfort, security and ease. Following Jesus demands a good dose of courage, a readiness to trade in the sofa for a pair of walking shoes and to set out on new and uncharted paths.”  

He told young people to take the path of the “craziness” of our God, by which he means caring for those in need, be they neighbors, prisoners, friends, refugees, or migrants.

Although some might say such a life is for only a “chosen few,” the Pope cited the testimony of Miguel who said that one you are entrusted with responsibility, you begin “to understand that God was asking something of you.”

“That is the secret, dear friends, and all of us are called to share in it. God expects something from you. God wants something from you. God hopes in you. God comes to break down all our fences.”

“God comes to break open everything that keeps you closed in. He is encouraging you to dream. He wants to make you see that, with you, the world can be different.”

“For the fact is, unless you offer the best of yourselves, the world will never be different.”

It is not a time for young “couch potatoes,” the Pope said, but for protagonists of history.

“History today calls us to defend our dignity and not to let others decide our future,” he said.

For those concerned about their own limitations and sins, Pope Francis assured young people that the Lord is not concerned with what he have been or done, but “about everything we have to give, all the love we are capable of spreading.”

“Jesus is inviting you, calling you, to leave your mark on life, to leave a mark on history, your own and that of many others as well,” he said.

The Pope spoke of young people's role in teaching adults “how to live in diversity, in dialogue, to experience multiculturalism not as a threat but an opportunity.”

“Have the courage to teach us that it is easier to build bridges than walls!”

Concluding his address to the young people, the Pope said: “Today Jesus, who is the way, the truth and the life, is calling you to leave your mark on history.”

“He, who is truth, is asking you to abandon the paths of rejection, division and emptiness,” he said. “Are you up to this? What answer will you give, with your hands and with your feet, to the Lord, who is the way, the truth and the life?”

#PopeFrancis gives the blessing after adoration at #WYD2016. "For the sake of his sorrowful passion..." #Krakow2016 pic.twitter.com/oJCnyRkN3Q

— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) July 30, 2016

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Krakow, Poland, Jul 30, 2016 / 04:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Many things happen during World Youth Day. Young people from all over the world travel to meet the Pope, they meet peers with whom they can share their faith, many have personal conversions and many even discover their vocations.

In fact, one of the things WYD is most known for, aside from the mass numbers it attracts, is the emphasis it places on vocations.

Not only are thousands of priests and religious present for the event, but there is even a vocations center aimed at giving exposure to religious life, and helping teens and young adults who might be thinking about a religious vocation to answer any questions they might have.

While she didn’t discover her vocation at WYD, Ana, a young postulant with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, has met several thousand youth in Krakow this week who have come for the July 26-31 event.

Since her order is the one to which Sr. Maria Faustina Kowalska’s belonged, the majority of pilgrims in town for WYD have visited the Shrine of Divine Mercy as one of their stops, and Ana, a Pole, has served as translator for many of the youth who speak English or Spanish, but no Polish.

Her message to young people who might be considering a vocation to religious life is that “(God) wants the best for you. He wants love for you. His will is love, so he cannot hurt you. So don’t be afraid,” she told CNA July 28.

“If he’s calling you just go after this voice, and no matter what he’s telling you, you will not get peace if you don’t say yes to him, no matter what he wants.”

Ana has been a postulant with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy for three years, and is set to enter the novitiate with the order Aug. 14.

She told CNA that she had been regular, Church-going Catholic, but never really got involved in any groups or initiatives. Her vocation, then, came as the result of “a conversion” she had that made her want “to listen to him more.”

It was at that time she began thinking that “there were many ways (vocations) in the Church,” and asking what God wanted from her.

Then, as she was praying on the feast of Divine Mercy, “I asked from the bottom of my heart, ‘God what would you like for me to do?’” Ana said, explaining that the response she got is hard to describe, but was a simple, clear “follow me.”

Eventually she decided to begin discerning with the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, a well-known order in Poland thanks to Sr. Faustina, who entered the community at a young age and is their most famous saint.

After entering the convent, Sr. Faustina received visions and messages from Christ which she inscribed in a diary. Christ asked her to tell the whole world about his message of mercy, which would prepare mankind for the end of the world.

While the saint died at the age of 33, she had already filled hundreds of pages with the words Christ spoke to her, which is now a published volume entitled “Divine Mercy in My Soul.” In 2000, St. John Paul II canonized her, instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy, and helped to spread devotion to the Divine Mercy image and chaplet.

It is also thanks to Christ’s revelations to Sr. Faustina that we have the image of Divine Mercy, which depicts Jesus raising one hand in blessing, and pointing to his heat with the other. Red and white rays flow from his heart, and on the bottom of the image the phrase “Jesus, I trust in you” is written.

Ana pointed to the phrase, which is now well-known throughout the world, explaining that when it came to her vocation “I just did it. And in hard moments I’m just reminding myself of this first moment when I heard it, that God wants me to follow him.”

She said she feels a special “connection” with those who come to the shrine, which is the site where St. Faustina lived, died and where she is buried, in which Jesus is the center. For the youth who visit, Ana said the phrase “Jesus, I trust in you” sends the message “not to be afraid, to trust.”

“This is the thing,” she said, “because nowadays there are so many things (happening) and you don’t know who to trust. Some people misbehave toward you, they have hurt you…and it’s hard to say ‘I trust in you Jesus.’”

But when we’re able to trust, it means “you know he’s God, it means you believe that he wants best for you. That’s how I see it,” Ana said.

Pointing to the message of mercy given to the world through St. Faustina, who is one of the patrons of WYD in Krakow, Ana said the message is relatable to many people today because when reading St. Faustina’s diary, “you see that she was a weak person, she couldn’t do almost anything without the help of God.”

However, despite her weaknesses, the saint always trusted in God and accepted “the grace that God wanted to give to her, whether it was suffering, whether it was something hard,” or whether it was joy.

“She was took all of it, she was trusting, she was giving herself all to God,” Ana said, adding that “that’s the secret I think, and that’s the message for people: whatever you have, you have sufferings, you also have talents…everything, just give it to God and he will do the best with it.”

For those people who might be thinking about a religious vocation, Ana noted that with so many different communities, the possibilities seem “infinite.”

In order to understand which one is right, “it’s best to ask God because he knows your heart and he knows why he created you, and he knows you best,” she said.

The best thing to do is just “listen to him,” she said, adding that “of course it’s your decision what to do with this answer he gives you, but working with God is something great.”

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Junno Arocho Esteves

KRAKOW, Poland (CNS) -- Pope Francis told young people they are not called to be couch potatoes, living boring lives, but should leave their mark in history and not let others determine their future.

Like a soccer match, life "only takes players on the first string and has no room for benchwarmers," the pope young people at the World Youth Day prayer vigil July 30. "Today's world demands that you be a protagonist of history, because life is always beautiful when we choose to live it fully, when we choose to leave a mark."

Organizers said up to 1.6 million youths from around the world -- many of whom walked more than four miles to the Field of Mercy -- attended the prayer vigil with the pope.

Arriving in his popemobile, Pope Francis waved at the throngs of young people who stretched out their hands. Stopping at a wooden Door of Mercy inscribed with the words "Jesus, I trust in you" in five languages, he was greeted by several young men and women. Hand-in-hand with the pope, they entered through the door.

The pope then surprised the youths by inviting them aboard the popemobile. Visibly emotional and wide-eyed, the youths boarded the vehicle and joined Pope Francis, waving at the crowd.

After taking his place on the stage, young people from Poland, Syria and Paraguay gave their experiences of finding hope in the midst of disbelief, war and addiction.

Natalia, a young Polish woman from Lodz, spoke of her experience of encountering the love of God through the sacrament of reconciliation after 20 years of "not having anything in common with the church."

"Going to confession, I was convinced of having irredeemably lost eternal life. Instead, I had heard that God had made everything evil I had done disappear forever," she said.

Rand Mittri, a 26-year-old Syrian woman from Aleppo, shared the pain and sorrow that comes from seeing her city "destroyed, ruined and broken."

"The meaning in our lives has been canceled. We are the forgotten city," she said.

Mittri went on to describe how she and many families live in constant fear of leaving their homes, not knowing when disaster will strike.

"Perhaps we will be killed that day. Or perhaps our families will. It is a hard and painful feeling to know that you are surrounded by death and killing, and there is no way to escape, no one to help," she recounted.

Despite the horror she faces daily, Mittri said she learned her faith in Jesus "supersedes the circumstances" and that with each passing day she believes "God exists despite all of our pain."

"Jesus, I trust in you," she concluded.

Miguel from Asuncion, Paraguay, gave the final testimony of the evening, recounting his 16-year struggle with drug addiction.

Beginning to experiment with drugs at age 11 and imprisoned for a crime by 15, Miguel said he continued committing crimes until he was eventually imprisoned for six years.

A priest, he said, took him to a halfway house in Brazil, Fazenda de la Esperanza, where he learned to live as a family with his fellow companions.

"I recovered 10 years ago and today I am responsible for 'Quo Vadis' house of Fazenda de la Esperanza in Cerro Chato, Uruguay, for the past three years," he said.

Between the testimonies, dancers performed. A woman depicting St. Faustina Kowalska looked on in disbelief as youths in glass boxes were fixated on their cellphones and tablets. A young woman dressed in white danced around them, beckoning them to come out.

Another performance on the beauty of forgiveness recreated the scene in which St. John Paul II sat down with would-be assassin Mehmet Ali Agca in his prison cell and forgave him.

After listening to their experiences, Pope Francis addressed the youths, calling on them first to not be absorbed by their cellphones and computers and to think about those, like Mittri, who live through violence and war daily.

"They have a name, they have a face, they have a story, they are close at hand," he said forcefully.

Recalling Natalia and Miguel's experiences, the pope thanked them for sharing their struggles and said they are a "living sign of what God's mercy wants to accomplish in us."

In a world beset by conflict, terror and death, he continued, brotherhood and communion remain the only true response.

The pope then invited everyone present to hold hands and pray silently, asking them to "place before the Lord your own battles, the interior struggles that each of you carries in his or her heart."

Silence descended on the field as the pope bowed and joined the youths in prayer.

Pope Francis continued his address by warning the pilgrims to not fall into a "paralysis that comes from confusing happiness with a sofa." This sofa that promises comfort, safety and relaxation, he said, instead is an "insidious form of paralysis" that makes young men and women become "dull and drowsy."

Pope Francis encouraged the pilgrims, reminding them they are not called to "vegetate" in life but to leave a mark in the world.

"When we opt for ease and convenience, for confusing happiness with consumption, then we end up paying a high price indeed: We lose our freedom," he said.

He invited them to instead embark on the "path of 'craziness' of our God" that urges Christians to practice the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

Like Miguel, who discovered God's calling by helping others at the halfway house, the pope said God is also calling them, encouraging them to dream.

"He wants to make you see that, with you, the world can be different. For the fact is, unless you offer the best of yourselves, the world will never be different," he said.

However, the pope also called on adults to teach younger generations "how to live in diversity, in dialogue, to experience multiculturalism, not as a threat but an opportunity."

Young people, he said, must "be our accusers if we choose a life of walls, a life of enmity, a life of war."

"Have the courage to teach us that it is easier to build bridges than walls. We need this," he said.

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Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.

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