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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis opened the annual Ecclesial Convention of the Rome Diocese on Thursday evening at Rome’s cathedral: the Papal Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. During the course of the inaugural event, the Holy Father responded to questions from several participants, each centered on specific aspects of the over-arching theme of the three-day event: the family and the joy of love.

In one response in particular, Pope Francis renewed his criticism of our “provisional” and “throw-away” culture, which has largely become incapable of thinking that any good – even one’s word – could possibly be lasting and worth preserving no matter what the cost.

“We too live a culture of the provisional,” said Pope Francis in response to a question from the floor regarding what needs – and what can – be done in order better to ensure the success and flourishing of marriages, and of people in married life within the Church and the broader society. In answer, the Holy Father told a story of a bishop from whom he recently heard tell of a young fellow who had finished his university studies and told the prelate he was interested in the priesthood, “but [only] for ten years,” the Holy Father reported his unnamed interlocutor as having quoted the nameless young fellow as saying. “This is the culture of provisional,” said Pope Francis, “and this happens everywhere, even in the priesthood, religious life – the  provisional – is why a large majority of our sacramental marriages are null: because they say, “Yes, all my life,” but they do not know what it is they are saying, because they have another culture.”

Pope Francis went on to tell of how he banned matrimonios de apuro – or “rush marriages” usually celebrated when a young unmarried couple found themselves expecting a child – in Buenos Aires when he was archbishop there, because he felt the couples were in general acting out of social pressure rather than an informed understanding of the weight and significance of Christian marriage. “The crisis in marriage,” he said, “is because people don’t know what the sacrament is, what the beauty of the sacrament is: people do not know that it is indissuluble, they do not know that it is for life – it is difficult.”

The Convention will continue until Friday with a series of thematic workshops on dedicated to a series of sub-themes, including: love between adolescents; marriage preparation; spousal love; fidelity; the joy of giving life; family and brotherhood.

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The Zimbabwe-German Society was a buzz of activity recently when Pilgrims of the Magis Zimbabwe Network performed songs, dance and celebration of the whole Zimbabwean culture ahead of the Magis 2016 and World Youth Day in Poland. The action-packed concert took place at Harare’s Milton Park.

The bright traditional decor surrounding the stage, gazebo and food tables set the tone for the evening, while the fairy lights in the trees brought on the nostalgia of a star-filled African sky.

Magis Pahushamwari Concert performances, which are a part of the preparations for the Festival of Nations in Poland, were aptly dubbed “Kwatinobva – where we come from.”

Guests who included family and friends were taken on a musical journey through the story of Zimbabwe serenaded by the beautiful traditional instruments of the Mbira and Ngoma as well as the guitar sound.

Musical interludes were accompanied by lyrical dance, traditional dance and poetry all choreographed and performed by talented young pilgrims.

Zimbabwe Pilgrims continue to prepare for Magis 2016 and World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland where they will share their faith and cultural experience with millions of youths the world over.

(By Haleema Mekani, Jesuit Communications Zimbabwe –Mozambique)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, has delivered a message to the Muslim world on the occasion of the month of Ramadan. In the message, Cardinal Tauran extends best wishes for a spiritually rewarding fast, supported by good deeds. Making a pilgrimage to obtain God’s pardon for both for the living and the dead, he says, is truly a salient practice among believers.

Following, please find the full text of the message, delivered in English:

PONTIFICAL COUNCIL

FOR INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

Christians and Muslims:

Beneficiaries and Instruments of Divine Mercy

MESSAGE FOR THE MONTH OF RAMADAN

AND ‘ID Al-FITR 1437 H. / 2016 A.D.

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters,

1.         The month of Ramadan and ‘Id al-Fitr is an important religious event for Muslims around the world, focused on fasting, prayer and good deeds, and is esteemed by Christians, your friends and neighbours. On behalf of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and Christians all over the world, we extend best wishes for a spiritually rewarding fast, supported by good deeds, and for a joyful feast.

            As is our cherished custom, we wish to share with you on this occasion some reflections in the hope of strengthening the spiritual bonds we share.

2.         A theme that is close to the hearts of Muslims and Christians alike is mercy.

We know that Christianity and Islam both believe in a merciful God, who shows his mercy and compassion towards all his creatures, in particular the human family. He created us out of immense love. He is merciful in caring for each of us, bestowing upon us the gifts we need for our daily life, such as food, shelter and security. God’s mercy is manifested in a particular way, however, through the pardon of our faults; hence he is the one who pardons (al-Ghâfir), but the one who pardons much and always (al-Ghafour).

3.         To underscore the importance of mercy, His Holiness Pope Francis declared a Jubilee Year of Mercy to be celebrated from 8 December 2015 to 20 November 2016. In this regard he said: “Here… is the reason for the Jubilee: because this is the time for mercy. It is the favorable time to heal wounds, a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer everyone, everyone, the way of forgiveness and reconciliation” (“Homily”, 11 April 2015).

Your pilgrimage (hajj) to the Holy places, mainly Mecca and Medina, is surely a special time for you to experience God’s mercy. In fact, among the well-known aspirations addressed to Muslim pilgrims is: “I wish you a blessed pilgrimage, praiseworthy efforts and the pardon of your sins”. Making a pilgrimage to obtain God’s pardon for sins, both for the living and dead, is truly a salient custom practice among believers.

4. We, Christians and Muslims, are called to do our best to imitate God. He, the Merciful, asks us to be merciful and compassionate towards others, especially those who are in any kind of need. So too he calls us to be forgiving of one another.

            When we gaze upon humanity today, we are saddened to see so many victims of conflicts and violence – here we think in particular of the elderly, and children and women, especially those who fall prey to human trafficking and the many people who suffer from poverty, illness, natural disasters and unemployment.

5. We cannot close our eyes to these realities, or turn away from these sufferings. It is true that situation are often very complex and that their solution exceeds our capacities. It is vital, therefore, that all work together in assisting those in need. It is a source of great hope when we experience or hear of Muslims and Christians joining hands to help the needy. When we do join hands, we heed an important command in our respective religions and show forth God’s mercy, thus offering a more credible witness, individually and communally, to our beliefs.

            May the Merciful and Almighty God help us to walk always along the path of goodness and compassion!

6.         We join our prayerful good wishes to those of Pope Francis for abundant blessings during Ramadan and for a lasting joy of ‘Id al-Fitr.

Happy Feast to you all!

Jean-Louis Cardinal Tauran, President

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(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State, is on a six day official visit to Ukraine where he will meet with both Church and state officials. On Friday morning he celebrated Holy Mass at the Cathedral church of St Alexander in Kiev and delivered a homily on the theme of the gospel warning “not to store up treasures on earth.”

Cardinal Parolin sympathized with the challenge of following this command of the Lord. Many countries of the world, including the Ukraine, must struggle against dishonesty, unfair wealth, theft of community assets, all for the accumulation of individual fortunes. Corruption and the concentration of money in the hands of a few are among the causes that impoverish the people, destroy our freedom, kill the dreams for a better world and the right to life for all.

Christians, Cardinal Parolin said, must always fight to ensure that justice is done, but without ever resorting to violence. We are also called to detach from what might be hidden in our hearts. We can preach justice but what good is it if on the inside we are victims of jealousy, envy and the desire for success at any cost?

We must instead render the way we look at others in a simple, pure way, being transparent and without ulterior motives. Bishops, priests, religious men and women must do this above all because of the respect and honour given to such people. “We risk most of all,” said the Cardinal, “because we are respected and honored, and therefore we believe we are above every judgment …” Often, he says, we allow ourselves things that create scandal: wealth that we do not deserve, pride and arrogance in the use of authority granted to us, a way of life that Pope Francis calls "worldly."

Moths and rust destroy all of these false riches. To find true freedom we must look up to the sky: our treasure is there, it is God's love. This love caused the master to lose everything, to be nailed to a cross while being spat upon and ridiculed. But this love is faithful and saves us.

Everything that takes us away from the God who awaits us in heaven, at the end of the few days of our lives, should be cut with a sword, and separated from us. Also because it makes us lose time and vitality. Frustrations and petty desires prevent us from seeking the things above; we have infinitely more value than what we can accumulate on this earth.

Cardinal Parolin concluded that the Eucharist that we celebrate is the gift of the Bread of heaven. In him, in Jesus who offers himself to us, we have the anticipation of the heavenly treasure, one of the goods that no one can take away from us who constitute the “tent” which was planted in the field of our human history.

Cardinal Parolin’s visit to Kiev lasts until Monday, 20 June.

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(Vatican Radio) Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias hosted a dinner for the Primates of the Orthodox Church who are presently in Crete ahead of the official opening of the Holy and Great Council of the heads of all the autocephalous Orthodox Churches, scheduled to take place from Sunday until the end of the month.

A statement from the Press Office of the Holy and Great Council says that the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I delivered remarks at the dinner in which he highlighted the worldwide attention on the historic meeting. “[The] world is turning its attention with great expectations to the Orthodox Church,” he said, “in order to find support and consolation, because Orthodoxy has managed to preserve, up to today, regardless of the rapid technological and scientific developments, the mystical experience of a personal communion in respect of God.”

Please find the full text of the communiqué in its official English version, below

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The Press Office of the Holy and Great Council 

Greek foreign minister hosts welcome dinner for Primates

His All-Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew highlighted the importance of the Holy and Great Council at an official dinner hosted 16 June by Nikos Kotzias, minister of foreign affairs for the Hellenic Republic, for the Primates of the Orthodox Church who are presently in Crete.

His All Holiness emphasized that the “world is turning its attention with great expectations to the Orthodox Church, the ark of the pure Christian tradition, in order to find support and consolation, because Orthodoxy has managed to preserve, up to today, regardless of the rapid technological and scientific developments, the mystical experience of a personal communion in respect of God.”

Kotzias praised the role of Orthodoxy, expressing the expectancy that the Holy and Great Council “will give hope, heal sorrows, and offer the ability to the people to approach with hope the Orthodox Church and to understand its meaning.”

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London, England, Jun 17, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A teenager and practicing Catholic in the United Kingdom was reportedly tied to a cross and hung from a wall in a campaign of bullying by four of his older, male co-workers.

The victim, 19, also allegedly had religious and phallic symbols drawn on his body with permanent marker, was tied to a chair, had deodorant sprayed towards him and ignited and was violently lifted off the ground by his underpants in various alleged incidents, the BBC reports.

Four men – Andrew Addison, 30, Joseph Rose, 21, Christopher Jackson, 22, and Alex Puchir, 37 – are on trial in York Crown Court in connection with the bullying and are accused of religiously aggravated assault by beating.

According to court proceedings, the incidents occurred while the victim was serving an apprenticeship at the Direct Interior Solutions – a shop-fitting company in Selby, North Yorkshire.

“(I felt) ashamed and distraught. I couldn't believe it. It hadn't happened to anyone else,” the victim told the court in video comments of the mock crucifixion.

After he had been tied to the cross, his co-workers hung the cross on a wall about three feet above the ground and filmed the incident, the victim said.

“Afterwards I was thinking they were trying to take the mickey out of my religion. Otherwise why was there a cross made?” he said.    

The victim told the court that the incidents started not long after he joined the firm in July 2014. He was a churchgoer and had told his colleagues that he had ignored his phone on one occasion because it had gone off while he was in church.

That kicked off a campaign of bullying from the four men. On one occasion, the victim recalled that he and his colleagues were in London for a refitting job at a hospital when Rose attacked him with a can of deodorant and a cigarette lighter, while Addison was laughing and filming the incident.

In another incident, the teenager was allegedly pelted with eggs and flour by Jackson, Addison and Rose while he was in the shower. Shortly thereafter, the men reportedly struck again while the victim was asleep and drew crosses and phallic symbols all over his body with permanent marker.

The victim described the incident as “humiliating” and said that he felt “stupid” having to go to work covered in the drawings. He told the court that scrubbing the marker off had left his skin red and sore.

The victim explained that he did not report the incidents immediately because he did not want to be fired. He also said he was ashamed to tell anyone what had happened to him and that he was afraid of further retaliation from his colleagues.

Addison and Rose both denied putting a person in fear of violence by harassment and religiously aggravated assault by beating.

Addison also denied a charge of assault by beating. Jackson and Puchir both deny religiously aggravated assault by beating.

The trial is ongoing.

Photo credit: www.shutterstock.com.

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