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(Vatican Radio)  A film festival celebrating the life of Blessed Mother Teresa will begin in her adopted hometown of Kolkata in eastern India, in the run-up to her sainthood ceremony on September 4 in the Vatican.   Predominantly featuring documentaries, the three-day long the Mother Teresa International Film Festival (MTIFF) begins Aug. 26 at Kolkata's Nandan multiplex.   Organized by the Indian chapter of SIGNIS, the World Catholic Association for Communication, the film festival will travel to numerous locations around India and then go overseas. Festival director Sunil Lucas said they would present the best and the biggest repertoire of films and documentaries made on the Nobel laureate and inspired by her life.  "The objective is to spread the message of Mother Teresa before the world. We want to raise awareness and sensitize the people," he told PTI. 

Organizers are ‎planning around 20 movies out of which two will have world premieres.  Other Indian cities where the films will be screened include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, ‎Udaipur, Guwahati, Patna, Indore, Ranchi and four cities of Kerala.‎  The film festival will also travel to around 50 other countries including the UK, Malaysia, ‎Ireland, Italy, Australia, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and China.‎  The two films which will have world premiere are "Love  till it hurts" by Pauline Sisters and "Memories ‎of Mother", made by a London-based filmmaker.‎  Most of the films in the festival are documentaries.‎  Notable among them are 'Making of a Saint' and 'In the Name of God's Poor', which stars Charlie ‎Chaplin's daughter Geraldine as Mother Teresa.‎ Another important work is from Emmy Award winning directors Ann and Jeannette Petrie who made ‎‎"Mother Teresa: The Legacy" which was official film of the occasion of her Beatification in Rome.‎

This is the fourth edition of the Mother Teresa International Fil Festival, which is held on special occasions associated with the ‎1979 Nobel Peace laureate.‎ The first MTIFF was held in 2003 immediately after her beatification, the second on her 10th death ‎anniversary in 2007 while the third edition, in 2010, marked her birth centenary. ‎‎"No saint or blessed in the Catholic Church's history has had an international festival of films dedicated ‎to him/her," said Fr C M Paul, who first led the first and second edition of MTIFF.‎

Pope Francis announced in March that Mother Teresa would be declared a saint at a canonization ‎or sainthood ceremony on September 4, the eve of her 19th death anniversary.  ‎Born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu‎ of ‎Albanian parents on ‎August 26, 1910, in Skopje, in ‎what ‎is ‎Macedonia today, Mother Teresa died in ‎Kolkata, on September ‎‎5, ‎‎1997.  ‎Affectionately known as the "saint of the gutter" for her ‎unconditional ‎love ‎for the poor, ‎abandoned and the marginalized, the naturalized Indian earned numerous national and international ‎honours. 

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Some 50 young people from eastern India’s Odisha state who have joined Pope Francis and young people from across the world for the Catholic Church’s international celebration of World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, feel they are being spiritually accompanied by their martyrs.  John, a 21-year old Catholic from the diocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar said this to AsiaNews explaining he felt the martyrs of Odisha were spiritually accompanying not only them but also all the young pilgrims from India.  “This is because their death has changed our faith, … making us more aware. Thanks to them and World Youth Day we learn mercy”,  he said, recalling the theme of the World Youth Day, “Blessed are the Merciful, for they will Receive Mercy.”   

Three priests are accompanying the Odisha group, that includes a Hindu girl who is considering starting the catechumenate.  The group estimates there are some 500 Indians at the July 26-31 World Youth Day, to which Pope Francis was enthusiastically wolcomed Friday evening at Krakow’s Blonia Park.   

In his wallet John carries a photograph of a close friend, Rajesh, whom he lost in the  anti-Christian massacre  in Odisha’s Kandhamal Disctrict in 2008.  “If God chooses the humble to be his witnesses, my friend was one of them," he told AsiaNews.  Violence against Christians in Kandhamal, erupted with untold savagery, with ‎Hindu ‎extremists blaming Christians for the August 23, 2008 murder of Hindu leader ‎Swami ‎Lakshmanananda Saraswati, despite Maoist rebels claiming the assassination.   Among the many who perished was Rajesh who died of a stray gunshot wound. John says he does not seek revenge but would perhaps like to see more justice.  “The trip to Poland "is an opportunity for me to remember him,” John said. During one of the morning catechesis in Hindi, John spoke about Rajesh, and many people wanted to know more about him.  (Source: AsiaNews)

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Yokohama, Japan, Jul 29, 2016 / 05:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Following Tuesday's mass killing at a care home in Japan for persons with mental disabilities, one of the country's bishops has said the incident demonstrates the need for such persons to be valued and protected by society.

“Disabled people have to be protected,” Bishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Niigata told CNA.

He added: “A society which will not protect the weak has no respect for human dignity.”

In the early hours of July 26 an attacker entered the Tsukui Yamayuri-en facility in Sagamihara, some 20 miles northwest of Yokohama, stabbing 19 people to death. The dead ranged in age from 19 to 70, and another 25 people were wounded.

Shortly after the attack, 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu, a former employee of the care center, turned himself in to local police and was arrested.

Uematsu had written a letter to Japan's parliament in February advocating for euthanasia of persons with disabilities, saying it would be better if they “disappeared.”

“My goal is a world in which the severely disabled can be euthanised, with their guardians' consent, if they are unable to live at home and be active in society,” he had written.

In that letter Uematsu had threatened to kill hundreds of disabled persons, according to Kyodo news agency. After delivering the letter, he was kept in a hospital for nearly two weeks before being released.

Bishop Kikuchi condemned the attack, saying it was “a serious attack against human life and human dignity, which we believe to have the greatest value of all.”

He expressed hope that after “this sad incident the general public of Japan would have a chance to consider the importance of human dignity and the importance of providing support to the weak in society.”

Such mass killings are extremely rare in Japan, which has strict gun control laws. The last was in 2008, when a man stabbed seven people to death in a Tokyo shopping district.

Bishop Kikuchi said, “I am just unable to find any words to express my shock and sorrow upon hearing the new of the mass stabbing … I am so sorry to the families of the victims and hope that they would receive the necessary support.”

He also voiced concern over the low wages earned by employees of care centers like  Tsukui Yamayuri-en, and said Japan's system of protecting its weakest “needs to be revisited.”

The bishop also said that among the factors influencing deteriorating values in Japan is that the country's “traditional family system is quickly disappearing, and that is strongly affecting the value afforded to human life.”

He asserted that since World War II, the citizens of his country have pursued “material success, and after several recessions in the past 20 years, the general feeling of the public is always that our dream days, like the '70s and '80s, would come back again.”

“So the standard of value in society is based on monetary gain and because of the past 20 years' recessions, many young people have … lost hope for the future,” Bishop Kikuchi lamented.

He also stated that education in Japan “in the past 70 years has managed to keep young people away from traditional religious values. Religion is something very foreign to many youth in Japan, and the absence of God does not contribute to establish a morals-based value system in our society.”

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Krakow, Poland, Jul 29, 2016 / 05:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis paid a solemn visit to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps on Friday, where over a million people are believed to have lost their lives. At the memorials, he gave no speech and prayed in silence, but instead wrote in the guest book two simple lines begging for God's mercy and forgiveness.

"Lord have mercy on your people! Lord, forgiveness for so much cruelty!" the Pope wrote in the “Memory Book” shortly after praying in the darkened cell of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest martyred in Auschwitz.

The July 29 Papal visit was made to two out of the three main Auschwitz camps, where as many as 1.5 million people are believed to have died under the Nazi regime.

The pontiff's day began with a stop at the original camp (known as Auschwitz I), where he prayed for several minutes in silence in the courtyard of the complex.

He was then taken by car to the camp's infamous Block 11 building. There, he was welcomed by Poland’s Prime Minister Beata Szydlo. He then individually greeted a group of ten men and women who had survived the Holocaust.

The Pope was given a candle which he used to light a bronze lamp at the site. The lamp, which contains images of the Auschwitz fence line, as well as the Heart of Jesus, was his gift to the Auschwitz museum.

The pontiff then entered the Block 11 –  a brick building where prisoners were tortured – and briefly visited the various rooms. He stopped for a lengthy period of time to pray in St. Maximilian Kolbe's cell.  

Francis was then taken by car to the Birkenau camp – otherwise known as Auschwitz II. Little now remains of the camp, which had been the site of the Nazi gas chambers, where hundreds of thousands of prisoners were killed, and the crematoriums where their bodies where incinerated.

The Pope silently paid homage before the row of commemorative plaques which now mark the site. He walked slowly past each plaque, before lighting a candle and praying for a moment in silence. After this, a man chanted the Psalm 130, which reads: “Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord.”

Finally, following his prayer at the memorial, Francis met with a group of 25 non-Jewish men and women who had risked their lives to save Jews from mass extermination at the hands of the Nazis.

Because of their actions during World War II, they have been given the honorific title “Righteous among the Nations” by the State of Israel for their role in helping the Jews during the Holocaust.

Also present at the ceremony were survivors of the Holocaust, like Lidia, 75, who recounted to journalists being brought to Auschwitz at three years old, where she was stripped naked and tattooed with a number on her arm. It took nearly 20 years for her to be reunited with her mother following the liberation of the camps by allied forces.

Pope Francis' visit to the camps marks the second full day of his July 27-31 trip to Poland, where he is leading World Youth Day celebrations in Krakow.

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Krakow, Poland, Jul 29, 2016 / 09:48 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis paid a visit to the patients of a children's hospital in Krakow on Friday, where he expressed his solidarity with the sick and lauded the hospital in its caring for “the smallest and most needy,” showing his gratitude to those present for “this sign of love.”

“To serve with love and tenderness persons who need our help makes all of us grow in humanity. It opens before us the way to eternal life,” the Pope said July 29 to the patients, their families, and their caretakers.

“Those who engage in works of mercy have no fear of death,” he added.

The Pope's visit to the Prokocim University Pediatric Hospital took place on the second full day of his July 27-31 visit to Poland, where he is leading World Youth Day festivities in Krakow.

Francis also stressed the need for social and political concerns to center on the needs of society's most disadvantaged.

“This is the sign of true civility, human and Christian: to make those who are most disadvantaged the centre of social and political concern,” he said.

“Sadly, our society is tainted by the culture of waste, which is the opposite of the culture of acceptance. And the victims of the culture of waste are those who are weakest and most frail; and this is indeed cruel.”

During the visit, he met with some 50 child patients, their families, and the medical personnel who care for them.

The Roman Pontiff presented the hospital with a painting by Pietro Casentini depicting Christ, St. Peter, and the disciples in Capernaum facing the crowds of sick and disabled people.  

In his short address, Pope Francis expressed his desire “to draw near to all children who are sick, to stand at their bedside, and embrace them.”

“I would like to listen to everyone here, even if for only a moment, and to be still before questions that have no easy answers. And to pray.”

The Pope observed how the Gospel gives many examples of Christ's going out to meet and embrace the sick. He compared the Lord's compassionate attentiveness to that of a mother who cares for her sick child.

The Roman Pontiff expressed his wish that Catholics would follow Christ's example in drawing near to the sick, “in silence, with a caress, with prayer.”

The Pope also addressed the loneliness families sometimes feel in providing care for their loved ones.
“Let us multiply the works of the culture of acceptance, works inspired by Christian love, love for Jesus crucified, for the flesh of Christ,” he said in response.

The Pope offered his encouragement to all medical professionals, chaplains, and volunteers who have made it a “personal life decision” to respond to the Gospel's call to “visit the sick.”

“May the Lord help you to do your work well, here as in every other hospital in the world,” he said, going off the cuff to remember in particular the many religious sisters who spend their lives serving in hospitals.

“May he reward you by giving you inner peace and a heart always capable of tenderness.”

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Junno Arocho Esteves

OSWIECIM, Poland (CNS) -- Sitting with head bowed and eyes closed, Pope Francis paid silent tribute to the victims of one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century.

The pope arrived July 29 at the Auschwitz-BirkenauNazi death camp in Oswiecim, an area now blanketed by green fields and empty barracks lined by barbed wire fences, remnants of a horror that remains embedded in history.

Used by the Nazis from 1940 to 1945, the camp was the Nazi's largest and consisted of three parts: Auschwitz I, where many were imprisoned and murdered; the Birkenau extermination camp -- also known as Auschwitz II -- and Auschwitz III (Auschwitz-Monowitz), an area of auxiliary camps that included several factories.

In 1942, Auschwitz became the site of the mass extermination of over 1 million Jews, 23,000 Roma, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war and thousands of Polish citizens of different nationalities.

Among those killed were St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, and Edith Stein, a Jewish philosopher who converted to Catholicism and became a Carmelite nun, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Crossing the gate inscribed with the infamous motto "Arbeit macht frei" ("Work sets you free") the pope quietly sat on a small bench for 10 minutes with his head bowed, occasionally glancing somberly around before closing his eyes in silent prayer.

He stood up, and slowly walked up to the wooden post of one of the barracks, reverently touching and kissing it.

The pope then made his way to Block 11 to greet a dozen survivors of the camp, including a 101-year-old violinist, who survived by being in the camp orchestra. Pope Francis greeted each survivor individually, gently grabbing their hands and kissing their cheeks.

Among the survivors was Naftali Furst of Bratislava, Slovakia, who was deported to Auschwitz and was evacuated to Buchenwald in January 1945 before his liberation.

Furst, who now lives in Israel, gave the pope a photograph showing him and other inmates imprisoned in the Auschwitz barracks.

Pope Francis also signed a book for Furst before he made his way toward the "death wall" where thousands of prisoners were lined up and shot in the back of the head before their bodies were sent to the crematoriums.

Candle in hand, the pope lit an oil lamp in front of the wall, before praying and laying his hand on the wall. He then turned around and entered the barracks of Block 11.

Also known as "the death block" because the Nazis used it to inflict torture, it houses the cell where St. Maximilian Kolbe spent his final hours, starved and dehydrated before being given a lethal injection of carbolic acid.

Pope Francis entered the darkened cell, illuminated by a faint light from the corridor, revealing a candle, an engraved plaque marking the site of the Franciscan friar's death, and countless words -- even a cross -- etched on the walls by those who spent their final moments in the starvation cell.

Once again Pope Francis sat in silence with his head bowed. Alone in the cell for eight minutes, he occasionally looked up to contemplate his surroundings.

Outside the cell, he signed the visitors' book, writing a simple message: "Lord, have mercy on your people. Lord, forgive so much cruelty."

Pope Francis then made his way to the Holocaust memorial at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, driven in an electric cart on a path parallel to the railroad tracks that carried countless men, women and children to their doom. It now leads to a monument that honors their memory.

To the left of the memorial lay the ruins of one of four crematoriums used to incinerate the bodies of those who died of disease or starvation or who were executed in the two gas chambers housed within the extermination camp.

The pope approached the memorial to the victims, lined with 23 plaques, each inscribed with a message in a different language: "Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity, where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women and children, mainly Jews from various countries of Europe."

Passing each plaque, Pope Francis reached the end of the monument where he set a candle in a large glass bowl and once again stood in silence, clasping his hands together over his chest in prayer.

While he prayed, the voice of Poland's Chief Rabbi Michael Joseph Schudrich echoed Psalm 130 in Hebrew throughout the camp. The psalm begins with a cry to God: "From the depths I have cried out to you, O Lord."

The event ended with the pope greeting 25 people honored as "righteous among the nations," a recognition of non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazi extermination.

Among those present for the solemn occasion was Rabbi Abraham Skorka, a longtime friend of the pope from Buenos Aires.

Speaking to journalists July 28, Rabbi Skorka recalled a telephone conversation with Pope Francis in which he asked about the visit to Auschwitz.

"The pope told me, "I am going to behave the same way I did in Armenia -- the places where people were killed -- I will remain silent,'" he said.

"From a theological point of view and from a biblical point of view, this attitude means a lot," the rabbi said.

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Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.

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