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(Vatican Radio) On Wednesday, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica for the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, during which he said prayer is the “way out” when we become closed in on ourselves.Listen to Ann Scheible's report: Pope Francis centred his June 29 homily on the day’s Gospel reading, and reflected on the themes of being opened and closed, as demonstrated by the lives of Saints Peter and Paul.Drawing from examples from the life of Peter, such as when he was imprisoned, the Holy Father said “prayer appears as the main way out. It is a way out for the community, which risks closing in on itself out of persecution and fear.”“Prayer, as humble entrustment to God and his holy will, is always the way out of our becoming 'closed', as individuals and as a community.”Likewise, this theme of going out in service of the Gospel is seen in the writings of St Paul.“Paul’s life was utterly project...
(Vatican Radio) On Wednesday, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Saint Peter’s Basilica for the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, during which he said prayer is the “way out” when we become closed in on ourselves.
Listen to Ann Scheible's report:
Pope Francis centred his June 29 homily on the day’s Gospel reading, and reflected on the themes of being opened and closed, as demonstrated by the lives of Saints Peter and Paul.
Drawing from examples from the life of Peter, such as when he was imprisoned, the Holy Father said “prayer appears as the main way out. It is a way out for the community, which risks closing in on itself out of persecution and fear.”
“Prayer, as humble entrustment to God and his holy will, is always the way out of our becoming 'closed', as individuals and as a community.”
Likewise, this theme of going out in service of the Gospel is seen in the writings of St Paul.
“Paul’s life was utterly projected forward, in bringing Christ to those who did not know him, and then in rushing, as it were, into Christ’s arms, to be “saved for his heavenly kingdom,” the Pope said.
Turning back to Peter, Pope Francis reflected on how he was set free by Christ’s “compassionate gaze” which “pierces the heart and brings tears of repentance.”
The Pope referenced the scene in the Gospels in which Peter encounters Jesus after having denied him three times.
“At that moment, Simon Peter was set free from the prison of his selfish pride and fear, and overcame the temptation of closing his heart to Jesus’s call to follow him along the way of the cross.”
Pope Francis also spoke of the “constant temptation for the Church” of “closing in on herself in the face of danger.”
“Prayer enable grace to open a way out from closure to openness, from fear to courage, from sadness to joy. And we can add: from division to unity.”
During the Mass, the Pope conferred the Pallium to twenty-five prelates from eleven countries who were named metropolitan archbishops over the past year. Included among them were US Archbishop Bernard Anthony Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, MN, Archbishop Adam Szal of Przemysl, Poland, and Archbishop Basilio Athaei of Taunggyi, Myanmar.
The pallium is a woolen vestment conferred on a new archbishop by the Pope, traditionally on the solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul.
Catholic Church leaders in South Africa have called for an end to pre-election violence and criticised politicians for fuelling it.In a 27th June statement by Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, who chairs the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference justice and peace commission, the Church leaders said they are disappointed that politicians have not been “visible and loud enough in their condemnation of the recent factional violence and political assassinations.”At least three people have been killed in recent violence in the Tshwane area around South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, triggered by the ruling party’s choice of a mayoral candidate for municipal elections, scheduled for the 3rd August.After criticizing politicians who are mobilising especially unemployed youth to engage in the violence, Bishop Gabuza, on behalf of the conference urged young South Africans “not to allow themselves to be used by politicians who show signs that their pri...
Catholic Church leaders in South Africa have called for an end to pre-election violence and criticised politicians for fuelling it.
In a 27th June statement by Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, who chairs the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference justice and peace commission, the Church leaders said they are disappointed that politicians have not been “visible and loud enough in their condemnation of the recent factional violence and political assassinations.”
At least three people have been killed in recent violence in the Tshwane area around South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, triggered by the ruling party’s choice of a mayoral candidate for municipal elections, scheduled for the 3rd August.
After criticizing politicians who are mobilising especially unemployed youth to engage in the violence, Bishop Gabuza, on behalf of the conference urged young South Africans “not to allow themselves to be used by politicians who show signs that their primary interest is greed for power and government tenders.”
The Bishop of Kimberley Diocese lamented that South Africa’s political leaders have not “been vigorous enough in disciplining their candidates and members who are involved in disrupting campaign rallies of other parties and in creating no-go zones.”
“At the root of many social ills in our country, including the current upsurge of pre-election violence, one finds greed and patronage politics,” he said.
“This political culture”, he concluded “must be stopped before it destroys the country and sends it “into a downward spiral from which it will struggle to recover.”
Below is the full statment:
SACBC Justice and Peace Commission slams pre-election violence
SACBC Justice and Peace Commission has urged an end to pre-election violence and criticized politicians for fuelling it.
“We are disappointed that our political leaders have not been visible and loud enough in their condemnation of the recent factional violence and political
assassinations,” Bishop Abel Gabuza of Kimberley, who chairs the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference justice and peace commission, said in a June 27 statement.
At least three people have been killed in the Tshwane area around South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, in late-June riots triggered by the ruling party’s choice
of a mayoral candidate for municipal elections, scheduled for Aug. 3. Shops have been looted and cars and buses set alight in violent protests over economic hardship.
Politicians “are mobilizing the young people in our communities, especially the unemployed youth, to engage in pre-election violence,” Bishop Gabuza said. He urged young South Africans “not to allow themselves to be used by politicians who show signs that their primary interest is greed for power and
government tenders.”
“The peace that we currently enjoy in our country should not be taken for granted. To maintain it, it requires the responsibility of all citizens and political
maturity of our leaders, especially during the election period. The current levels of political violence do not reflect this sense of responsibility.” He warned.
The South African Human Rights Commission warned that politically motivated murders and other acts of intimidation ahead of the polls are
endangering citizens’ constitutional rights.
The commission’s mid-June statement came after arrests were made for the murders of two African National Congress members in KwaZulu-Natal
province; the murders are said to be politically motivated.
South Africa’s political leaders have not “been vigorous enough in disciplining their candidates and members who are involved in disrupting campaign rallies of other parties and in creating no-go zones,” Bishop Gabuza said.
“At the root of many social ills in our country, including the current upsurge of pre-election violence, one finds greed and patronage politics,” he said.
This political culture must be stopped before it destroys the country and sends it “into a downward spiral from which it will struggle to recover,” he said.
He has also appealed to all eligible South Africans to cast their vote on 3rd August and elect leaders who have the courage to speak out against greed and patronage politics.
Justice and Peace Commission, in partnership with Diakonia Council of Churches, has organized a prayer service for peaceful election that will be held
in Durban on 6th July.
For further information or interviews please contact:
Bishop Abel Gabuza
Chairperson of the Justice and Peace Commission for the Southern African
Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Tel. 053 831 1861 or 053 831 1862.
Email: dagabuza@gmail.com
Pope Francis on Wednesday (29th June) appointed Salesian Fr. Roberto Bergamaschi, as Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa in Ethiopia and at the same time assigned him the titular see of Ambia.Fr. Bergamaschi was born at San Donato Milanese in the Province of Milan, Italy on 17 December 1954. He made the first religious profession in the Salesians of Don Bosco Congregation on 8 September 1975 and the final profession in 1981.After his studies in philosophy and theology, he was ordained a priest on the 2 October 1982 in Brescia Italy, by Bishop Armido Gasparini, the first Vicar Apostolic of Awasa.Fr. Roberto Bergamaschi started his work as a Salesian missionary in Dilla, Ethiopia after his ordination in 1982 and has served in various capacities in several dioceses or eparchies in Ethiopia.
Pope Francis on Wednesday (29th June) appointed Salesian Fr. Roberto Bergamaschi, as Vicar Apostolic of the Apostolic Vicariate of Awasa in Ethiopia and at the same time assigned him the titular see of Ambia.
Fr. Bergamaschi was born at San Donato Milanese in the Province of Milan, Italy on 17 December 1954. He made the first religious profession in the Salesians of Don Bosco Congregation on 8 September 1975 and the final profession in 1981.
After his studies in philosophy and theology, he was ordained a priest on the 2 October 1982 in Brescia Italy, by Bishop Armido Gasparini, the first Vicar Apostolic of Awasa.
Fr. Roberto Bergamaschi started his work as a Salesian missionary in Dilla, Ethiopia after his ordination in 1982 and has served in various capacities in several dioceses or eparchies in Ethiopia.
Chanthaburi, Thailand, Jun 29, 2016 / 06:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Hundreds of sick and physically challenged people marked the Catholic Church’s Year of Mercy in Thailand with a special procession through the Holy Door of the cathedral in the Diocese of Chanthaburi.“As human persons our lives have limitations of sin. Some of our other physical limitations are illnesses, disabilities due to accidents and old age, for we are weak,” said Bishop Silvio Siripong Charatsri of Chanthaburi. “God helps us to look beyond our limitations, and the mercy of God will fill us with joy and grace in what we are lacking.”Presiding at the Mass, Bishop Silvio in his homily encouraged the faithful with the theme from St. Paul: “When I am weak I am strong.”Hundreds of sick people, those with physical disabilities, orphaned children and aged persons came from the many parishes of the diocese to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for the June 12 event. The d...
Chanthaburi, Thailand, Jun 29, 2016 / 06:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Hundreds of sick and physically challenged people marked the Catholic Church’s Year of Mercy in Thailand with a special procession through the Holy Door of the cathedral in the Diocese of Chanthaburi.
“As human persons our lives have limitations of sin. Some of our other physical limitations are illnesses, disabilities due to accidents and old age, for we are weak,” said Bishop Silvio Siripong Charatsri of Chanthaburi. “God helps us to look beyond our limitations, and the mercy of God will fill us with joy and grace in what we are lacking.”
Presiding at the Mass, Bishop Silvio in his homily encouraged the faithful with the theme from St. Paul: “When I am weak I am strong.”
Hundreds of sick people, those with physical disabilities, orphaned children and aged persons came from the many parishes of the diocese to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for the June 12 event. The diocese is in the southeastern province of Chanthaburi, about 135 miles from Bangkok.
The jubilee opened with a symposium featuring testimonies and experiences from various persons with physical disabilities, who face challenges in life and gave witness to others.
The group sharing panels included a number of pastoral workers, families, interpreters and the physically challenged members, including several members from the Thailand Catholic Deaf Association.
Some used wheelchairs, crutches or prosthetic aids in the solemn procession that closed the convention through the Holy Door, specially designated for the Year of Mercy. Some were assisted by assisted by pastoral workers, paramedics or their families.
After the procession, there were opportunities Eucharistic Adoration, confession and anointing of the sick.
Bishop Silvio heads the Thai Catholic bishops’ Office for Family and Youth. He was grateful for those who participated.
He told CNA that he was touched by the testimonies shared by the various participants who were sick or physically challenged.
“It is so heartwarming and touching to see their love and affection for Pope Francis, to listen to his teachings, and they really feel the friendship, warmth and inclusion in fraternity,” he said.
The bishop urged the sick and the faithful to never lose hope and faith in God. He said the event was a time for healing, but also for strengthening the apostolate for the sick by encouraging closer collaboration among pastors and caregivers.
Bishop Silvio said the Year of Mercy is an invitation to encounter God through acts of mercy, through the rediscovery of our faith and the deepening of spiritual life.
He noted Pope Francis’ statement that the corporal and spiritual works of mercy must never be separated.
The jubilee’s organizer, Fr. Peter Theerapong Kanpigul, is the national chaplain of the Thailand Catholic Deaf Association. He told CNA that through the jubilee, the people on the peripheries of the Church due to illness or disability “found that they are welcomed actively in the Church.”
He said their participation in the procession, the liturgy and prayers in the face of obstacles is “an inspiration for our life of faith and impels us to broaden our eyes of love and mercy.”
“We thank Pope Francis for giving us this Year of Mercy, and the sick people feel his tenderness of love and blessings despite being far physically in distance,” the priest said.
IMAGE: CNS/Paul HaringBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Prayer is a key that opens the doorto God, unlocks selfish, fearful hearts and leads people from sadness to joyand from division to unity, Pope Francis said on the feast of Sts. Peter andPaul.Prayer is "the main way out: the way out for thecommunity that risks closing up inside itself because of persecution andfear," he said during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 29.Prayer -- entrusting oneself humbly to God and his will-- "is always the way out of our personal and community's closures,"he said.Twenty-five archbishops appointed over the course of thepast year were invited to come to Rome to concelebrate the feast day Mass withPope Francis. They came from 15 countries.Among those invited to concelebrate were ArchbishopsBernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Francisco MorenoBarron of Tijuana, Mexico; Juan Garcia Rodriguez of Havana; and KennethRichards of Kingston, Jamaica. Of the new archbishops, 11 were from theAm...
IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Prayer is a key that opens the door to God, unlocks selfish, fearful hearts and leads people from sadness to joy and from division to unity, Pope Francis said on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.
Prayer is "the main way out: the way out for the community that risks closing up inside itself because of persecution and fear," he said during a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 29.
Prayer -- entrusting oneself humbly to God and his will -- "is always the way out of our personal and community's closures," he said.
Twenty-five archbishops appointed over the course of the past year were invited to come to Rome to concelebrate the feast day Mass with Pope Francis. They came from 15 countries.
Among those invited to concelebrate were Archbishops Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis; Francisco Moreno Barron of Tijuana, Mexico; Juan Garcia Rodriguez of Havana; and Kenneth Richards of Kingston, Jamaica. Of the new archbishops, 11 were from the Americas, 10 from Europe and one each from Asia, Africa, Oceania and the Middle East.
Like last year, the pope did not confer the pallium on new archbishops during the liturgy, but rather, blessed the palliums after they were brought up from the crypt above the tomb of St. Peter. The actual imposition of the woolen band was to take place in the archbishop's archdiocese in the presence of his faithful and bishops from neighboring dioceses.
The pallium is a woolen band that symbolizes an archbishop's unity with the pope and his authority and responsibility to care for the flock the pope entrusted to him.
In his homily, the pope said when Jesus promised Peter the keys, it was a symbol of his ability to open the kingdom of heaven, not lock it up like the hypocritical scribes and Pharisees did to those seeking to enter.
The day's first reading, from Chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles, the pope said, speaks of different kinds of closure: Peter being locked up in prison and a group of faithful gathered inside a home in prayer and in fear.
After God sends an angel to free Peter from his captors, the apostle goes to the house of a woman named Mary, and knocks on the door. Though many people are gathered inside in prayer, they are unsure about opening the door, unable to believe Peter is really outside knocking to be let in, Pope Francis said.
King Herod's persecution of Christians created a climate of fear, the pope said, and "fear makes us immobile, it always stops us. It closes us up, closes us to God's surprises."
This temptation is always out there for the church, even today, to close itself up in times of danger, he said.
However, prayer offers "the grace to open up a way out: from closure to openness, from fear to courage, from sadness to joy. And, we can add, from division to unity," he said, noting the customary presence at the Mass of a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
This year, the delegation was led by Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Methodios of Boston. He joined the pope at the end of the Mass to pray together under the main altar over St. Peter's tomb.
A Lutheran choir from Germany and an Anglican choir from Oxford sang with the Vatican's Sistine Chapel Choir during the Mass.
During his Angelus address, the pope said Sts. Peter and Paul, who are the patrons of the Vatican and the city of Rome, are "two columns and two great lights that shine not only in Rome's sky, but in the heart of the faithful in the East and West."
Peter and Paul came to Rome from the Holy Land to preach the Gospel, he said. Out of their love for God, they left their homes, endured a long and difficult journey and faced great risk and suspicion.
If Christianity is a living and fundamental part of Rome's spiritual and cultural heritage, the pope said, it's thanks to "the apostolic courage of these two sons of the Near East."
The saints' feast day, which is a holiday in Rome, reminds people of the continued presence of Peter -- a humble fisherman -- and Paul -- a great teacher -- and how even today they "knock on the doors of our homes, but especially our hearts."
"Once again they want to bring Jesus, his merciful love, his solace, his peace" to everyone, he said.
Pope Francis asked those gathered in the St. Peter's Square to let the "candid and firm faith of Peter and the great and universal heart of Paul help us be joyous Christians, faithful to the Gospel and open to encountering everyone."
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
By Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The superior general of thetraditionalist Society of St. Pius X said Pope Francis, rather than denouncingerrors in Catholic doctrine, has "encouraged" them."The Society of St. Pius X prays and does penance forthe pope, that he might have the strength to proclaim Catholic faith and moralsin their entirety," said a statement published June 29, the feast of Sts.Peter and Paul, patron saints of the church of Rome.BishopBernard Fellay, superiorgeneral of the society, issued the statement after a meeting June 25-28of the group's leaders.The society has been in talks with the Vatican in a searchfor a way to reintegrate it and its members fully into the life of the CatholicChurch. Bishop Fellay met personally with Pope Francis in April, which seemedto signal that progress was being made.Talks with the group began under St. John Paul II andcontinued throughout the papacy of now-retired Pope Benedict XVI.St. John Paul had excommunicated Bishop Fellay and ...
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The superior general of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X said Pope Francis, rather than denouncing errors in Catholic doctrine, has "encouraged" them.
"The Society of St. Pius X prays and does penance for the pope, that he might have the strength to proclaim Catholic faith and morals in their entirety," said a statement published June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, patron saints of the church of Rome.
Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the society, issued the statement after a meeting June 25-28 of the group's leaders.
The society has been in talks with the Vatican in a search for a way to reintegrate it and its members fully into the life of the Catholic Church. Bishop Fellay met personally with Pope Francis in April, which seemed to signal that progress was being made.
Talks with the group began under St. John Paul II and continued throughout the papacy of now-retired Pope Benedict XVI.
St. John Paul had excommunicated Bishop Fellay and other leaders of the society in 1988 when they were ordained without papal permission. Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the society and the bishop who ordained them, also was excommunicated; he died in 1991. Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications in 2009.
In the statement June 29, Bishop Fellay said that "in the great and painful confusion that currently reigns in the church, the proclamation of Catholic doctrine requires the denunciation of errors that have made their way into it and are unfortunately encouraged by a large number of pastors, including the pope himself."
The statement did not specify the "errors" it was referring to or how the society believes Pope Francis is encouraging them.
While the society "has a right" to full canonical recognition, he said, its primary aim is to teach the fullness of Catholic faith, "which shows the only route to follow in this age of darkness in which the cult of man replaces the worship of God, in society as in the church."
"The 'restoration of all things in Christ' intended by St. Pius X, following St. Paul (cf. Eph. 1:10), cannot happen without the support of a pope who concretely favors the return to sacred tradition," the statement said. "While waiting for that blessed day, the Society of St. Pius X intends to redouble its efforts to establish and to spread, with the means that divine providence gives to it, the social reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ."
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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.
ELDORADO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. (AP) -- As the summer wildfire season heats up in the West, a growing network of online cameras installed on forested mountaintops is changing the way crews fight fires by allowing early detection that triggers quicker, cheaper and more tactical suppression....
CHICAGO (AP) -- When a federal judge concluded that a lawyer employed by the city of Chicago concealed audio evidence in a civil trial, the court issued a sharp rebuke, saying the recordings showed police lied about the events that led officers to shoot and kill a black motorist....
