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(Vatican Radio) Lawyers representing Jailed Sinaloa drug cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, are accusing Mexico-s three most powerful leaders of violating the Country`s Constitution, by urging his extradition to the United States. 

Listen to the report by James Blears:

The don`t come cheap legal team defending Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, are fighting a desperate playing for time rearguard action, against a coordinated Mexican Government determination, to once and for all see the back of him, especially as he`s caused utter embarrassment as well as high anxiety, by twice escaping from so called maximum security penitentiaries in different parts of the country.

Guzman`s lawyers have already officially appealed against the extradition decision from Mexico`s Foreign Ministry, which backs up the ruling of two Federal Judges.  And they`re accusing Mexican  President Enrique Pena Nieto, as well as his Foreign and Interior Ministers, of flauting the  Constitution, by readily agreeing all of this.

The Mexican Foreign Ministry states that the US Extraditon request, precisely complies with the provisions of a ratified bilateral treaty. 

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(Vatican Radio) The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees says more than 700 people fleeing war and poverty are believed to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in recent days, and survivors claim dozens of children are among those feared dead.

The UNHCR also warned Europe that the death toll will rise further unless more legal ways are opened for asylum seekers in Europe.   

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

The week of shipwrecks and death in the Mediterranean culminated with harrowing testimony from refugees who narrowly survived these tragedies. They said hundreds have drowned including at least 40 children. On Sunday, the UNHCR, the UN's main refugee agency, their stories saying many drowned in three Mediterranean Sea shipwrecks south of Italy. 

UNHCR spokesperson Carlotta Sami said thousands had been rescued since Monday, May 23. "Fifteen thousand people have been rescued by the Italian coast guard and by the Italian coast guard and many other assets," she said. 

"But from survivors who are still landing in Italy we heard that at least 700 people may have died and gone missing. Several bodies have been recovered out of three ships wrecks that happened on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday," Sami explained.   

"There were other incidents. Like for example four women have died because of suffocation and burns and we have an orphan of nine months only. And several other people have fallen out of the boat," she added.  

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The Italian navy released video of an operation last week in which it said 562 people were rescued and five found dead. A large wooden fishing boat carrying  desperate people capsized off the coast of Libya. Hundreds of migrants were seen in the water swimming away as Italian sailors threw life jackets. 

An Italian navy patrol boat had approached the vessel to hand out life jackets, but before it could begin a rescue the boat flipped over due to the sudden movement of passengers. 

A helicopter, and several rubber motor boats were eventually used in the rescue operations.  Yet, UNHCR spokeswoman Sami warns of more tragedies to come. "What is happening...this is the new normal. It is awful,but basically the central Mediterranean route is confirmed as the most dreadful," she said. 

"It is very much needed to open some legal way for those who have right to asylum to arrive to arrive into Europe otherwise they will continue to get into these really flimsy boats," the spokeswoman stressed.  

She added that survivors said human smugglers often push people out of boats into the sea. But for now, the European Union seems unwilling to take in many more refugees. The Balkan route is virtually closed off and several EU countries don't even want to participate in a plan to distribute some 160.000 refugees among member states.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday afternoon met with members of the Pontifical Foundation ‘Scholas Occurrentes’ at the conclusion of their World Congress.

The Foundation is an international project based in Argentina that brings together schools and educational networks from different cultures and religious backgrounds.

The informal meeting, which consisted in testimonials, music, videos and a “question and answer” session between Pope Francis and those present, took place in the Vatican Synod Hall.

It came following a three-day meeting which featured representatives of  the Foundation from across the globe gathered in the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in the Vatican to talk on the theme: “University and School: Wall or Bridge".

Amongst the public were personalities like Salma Hayek, George Clooney and Richard Gere. 

The meeting aims to mark the beginning of an interactive initiative launched by Scholas Occurentes with the creation of a website, askpopefrancis.scholasoccurrentes.org where it will be possible to put questions to Pope Francis. 

This virtual exchange will result in a book, to be published by Mondadori.

During the meeting Pope Francis also received the gift of an olive tree; he autographed surfboards and of course answered questions. 

One girl asked him how to make the world a better place and Francis immediately said by “lowering the level of violence”. 

A young Mexican girl spoke of how she was harassed at school, another young student talked of a letter sent to her by a sister working in Africa which contained photographs of children who had been abused.

In both of these cases, said the Pope, children and adolescents suffer the same type of “cruelty,” that is why our world, he continued “needs to listen, needs gentleness, so we can all walk together”.

And warning against an increased risk of “nuclearization” in the world, the Pope said bridges must be built.

He highlighted that words are not enough saying we must also speak with gestures: “a smile, a hug, a pat on the shoulder”; “we must listen to others, ask questions, and dialogue will provide the bridge” he said.

It was observed that the Scholas Occurentes relies heavily on social networks to further this dialogue.

Other topics touched upon regarded a hashtag campaign against bullying, a series of initiatives for the protection of the environment, the use of art and sport to promote Christian values.

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Vatican City, May 29, 2016 / 11:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After becoming the first Pope to author a children's book earlier this year, Pope Francis will soon come out with another, based on his responses to questions posed by youth through a new online platform.

Speaking at the May 27-29 World Encounter of the Directors of Scholas Occurrentes, Italian journalist and author Tiziana Lupi explained the idea behind the new book, which she said seeks to “open a door” to dialogue with youth.

Scholas was founded by Pope Francis in August 2013 as an initiative to encourage social integration and the culture of encounter through technology, arts and sports. The foundation has organized several events at the Vatican, including two Google hangout sessions with Pope Francis, as well as 2014’s interreligious Match for Peace.

Both Richard Gere and George Clooney were present for the May 29 meeting between the Pope and participants in the encounter.

Lupi, who works with Italian editorial Mondadori, said May 29 that the publication has joined efforts with Scholas in creating a new technological platform “which allows all youth from all over the world, all social classes, all religious to ask Pope Francis a question without filters.”

While it’s generally journalists who ask the questions, this time it will be the youth who open their hearts to the Pope through the new webpage “askpopefrancis.scholasoccurrentes,” which has yet to be launched.

Since there will obviously be too many questions to include all of them in the book, only certain questions, which come more authentically from the heart, will be selected.

“We’ll select the ones that seem more from the heart and which allow Pope Francis to touch on topics he hasn’t been able to until today,” Lupi said, adding that the book will likely be released sometime in October or November.

Pope Francis met with participants in the gathering May 29, which also marked the presentation of the platform the new book project, called “Chiedete” in Italian. In addition to the announcement of the new book, several other projects and initiatives were presented to the Pope.

After hearing the tearful testimony of a teen girl from Mexico who was bullied after coming to the United States following her parents’ separation, the Pope was told that a new anti-bullying campaign was being launched by Scholas with the hashtag “#nosotrossomosunicos,” meaning “#weareunique.”

Following the girl’s testimony, 12 young, influential Youtube users from around the world asked the Pope how to build a better, more diverse and integrated world.

In his response, Francis said that each person must be recognized for their own personal identity, explaining that “there is no future” if a person lacks a clear identity.

He spoke of the importance of the “language of gestures” in making someone feel included. These gestures, he said, can be “pat, a smile, a smile that gives hope, looking into one’s eyes. Gestures of approval or patience, tolerance.”

If bullying is ever going to stop, we must leave aggressions behind, he said, adding that “bullying is an aggression that hides a profound cruelty.”

“The world is cruel. Wars are monuments of cruelty,” he said, and pulled out from his pocket graphic pictures sent to him by a nun living in an African country torn apart by civil war.

Showing the pictures to the participants, Francis lamented how they depicted grotesque images such as a child with their throat cut and another “butchered in the head.”

“If this happens, how will bullying not? It’s the same cruelty,” he said, explaining that if we want to build a better world, we must first eliminate “all forms of cruelty. War is a form of cruelty.”

Instead of aggression, we must gain the ability to listen to one another and to dialogue, rather than argue, he said, telling attendees “don’t be afraid of dialogue,” because with dialogue “everyone wins, no one loses.”

Pope Francis also stressed the importance of leaving one’s pride and superiority behind, because these attitudes “always end badly.”

The world today “needs to lower the level of aggression, it needs tenderness, it needs to listen, it needs to walk together,” he said, and, pointing to the photos, said added that “this is happening today because all these attitudes are lacking.”

Francis was then presented with several other initiatives before receiving a signed copy of all the commitments made by participants during the three-day gathering.

Mention of the second interreligious Match for Peace, to be played June 10 in Rome’s Olympic Stadium and which draws together major soccer stars from around the world, was also mentioned.

The Pope closed the gathering by offering his gratitude to participants for their prayers and work, and praying for youth around the world.

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Deacons are called to be servants who set aside their own self-serving plans and are generous with their lives, Pope Francis said.

A servant "is not a slave to his own agenda," but rather always is prepared for the unexpected and responds, even if that means ignoring the parish schedule, the pope said May 29 at a Mass for the Jubilee of Deacons in St. Peter's Square.

"It pains my heart when I see a schedule in the parishes -- 'from this time to that time' -- and then, the door is closed. There is no priest, no deacon, no layperson to welcome the people. This is wrong. Have the courage to ignore the schedule," he said.

Thousands of deacons and their families, braving the increasingly hot and humid Rome weather, attended the final Mass of the three-day Year of Mercy celebration dedicated to the diaconal ministry.

In his homily, the pope reminded them that in order to proclaim Christ, one must first imitate him and "strive to become a servant."

"If evangelizing is the mission entrusted at baptism to each Christian, serving is the way that mission is carried out. It is the only way to be a disciple of Jesus," the pope said.

The first step in becoming "good and faithful servants," he continued, is to be available to others and detached from living life in one's own way. A true servant doesn't "hoard his free time," but gives up "the idea of being the master of his day."

"One who serves is not a slave to his own agenda but ever ready to deal with the unexpected, ever available to his brothers and sisters and ever open to God's constant surprises," he said.

Reflecting on the Sunday Gospel reading, in which a centurion humbly asks Jesus to heal his servant, the pope noted the soldier's meekness. Despite his authority to insist or force Jesus to come to his house, "he was modest and unassuming, he did not raise his voice or make a fuss."

"Meekness is one of the virtues of a deacon. When a servant is meek, he is a servant and doesn't try to mimic the priests. No, he is meek," the pope said.

Pope Francis said that like the servant healed by Christ, deacons must have "a healthy heart" that has been healed by God through forgiveness and constant dialogue with Jesus through daily prayer and the sacraments.

"You can offer the Lord your work, your little inconveniences, your weariness and your hopes in an authentic prayer that brings your life to the Lord and the Lord to your life. When you serve at the table of the Eucharist, there you will find the presence of Jesus, who gives himself to you so that you can give yourselves to others," he said.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Sunday told Deacons from across the globe that they must be generous with their lives and with their time.

“One who serves cannot hoard his free time, he said, he has to give up the idea of being master of his day”  because he knows that his time “is not his own, but a gift from God which is then offered back to him. Only in this way will it bear fruit.”
  
The Pope’s words came during the homily at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the conclusion of the Jubilee for Deacons.

Deacons and their families from all around the world were invited to make a pilgrimage to Rome from 27 to 29 May in order to participate in this major gathering on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee year of Mercy. 

Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:

Focusing on the fact that Deacons must be good and faithful servants, Pope Francis said: “One who serves is not a slave to his own agenda, but ever ready to deal with the unexpected, ever available to his brothers and sisters and ever open to God’s constant surprises”.  

And speaking off-the-cuff, the Pope urged those present to have the courage to ignore timetables. He said he is not pleased when he sees a timetable on Church doors and parishes because it means that the doors are not always open, that there is not always a priest, a deacon or a layperson available to receive the people.

“A servant, he said,  knows how to open the doors of his time and inner space for those around him, including those who knock on those doors at odd hours, even if that entails setting aside something he likes to do or giving up some well-deserved rest”. 

“Dear deacons, if you show that you are available to others, your ministry will not be self-serving, but evangelically fruitful” he said.

Please find below the full text of the Pope’s homily for the conclusive Mass of the Jubilee for Deacons:

“A servant of Jesus Christ” (Gal 1:10).  We have listened to these words that the Apostle Paul, writing to the Galatians, uses to describe himself.  At the beginning of his Letter, he had presented himself as “an apostle” by the will of the Lord Jesus (cf. Gal 1:1).  These two terms – apostle and servant – go together.  They can never be separated.  They are like the two sides of a medal.  Those who proclaim Jesus are called to serve, and those who serve proclaim Jesus.

    The Lord was the first to show us this.  He, the Word of the Father, who brought us the good news (Is 61:1), indeed, who is the good news (cf. Lk 4:18), became our servant (Phil 2:7).  He came “not to be served, but to serve” (Mk 10:45).  “He became the servant (diakonos) of all”, wrote one of the Church Fathers (Saint Polycarp, Ad Phil. V, 2).  We who proclaim him are called to act as he did.  A disciple of Jesus cannot take a road other than that of the Master.  If he wants to proclaim him, he must imitate him.  Like Paul, he must strive to become a servant.  In other words, if evangelizing is the mission entrusted at baptism to each Christian, serving is the way that mission is carried out.  It is the only way to be a disciple of Jesus.  His witnesses are those who do as he did: those who serve their brothers and sisters, never tiring of following Christ in his humility, never wearing of the Christian life, which is a life of service.

    How do we become “good and faithful servants” (cf. Mt 25:21)?  As a first step, we are asked to be available.  A servant daily learns detachment from doing everything his own way and living his life as he would.  Each morning he trains himself to be generous with his life and to realize that the rest of the day will not be his own, but given over to others.  One who serves cannot hoard his free time; he has to give up the idea of being the master of his day.  He knows that his time is not his own, but a gift from God which is then offered back to him.  Only in this way will it bear fruit.  One who serves is not a slave to his own agenda, but ever ready to deal with the unexpected, ever available to his brothers and sisters and ever open to God’s constant surprises.  A servant knows how to open the doors of his time and inner space for those around him, including those who knock on those doors at odd hours, even if that entails setting aside something he likes to do or giving up some well-deserved rest.  Dear deacons, if you show that you are available to others, your ministry will not be self-serving, but evangelically fruitful.

Today’s Gospel also speaks to us of service.  It shows us two servants who have much to teach us: the servant of the centurion whom Jesus cures and the centurion himself, who serves the Emperor.  The words used by the centurion to dissuade Jesus from coming to his house are remarkable, and often the very opposite of our own: “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof” (7:6); I did not presume to come to you” (7:7); “I also am a man set under authority” (7:8).  Jesus marvels at these words.  He is struck by the centurion’s great humility, by his meekness.  Given his troubles, the centurion might have been anxious and could have demanded to be heard, making his authority felt.  He could have insisted and even forced Jesus to come to his house.  Instead, he was modest and unassuming; he did not raise his voice or make a fuss.  He acted, perhaps without even being aware of it, like God himself, who is “meek and humble of heart” (Mt 11:29).  For God, who is love, out of love is ever ready to serve us.  He is patient, kind and always there for us; he suffers for our mistakes and seeks the way to help us improve.  These are the characteristics of Christian service; meek and humble, it imitates God by serving others: by welcoming them with patient love and unflagging sympathy, by making them feel welcome and at home in the ecclesial community, where the greatest are not those who command but those who serve (cf. Lk 22:26).  This, dear deacons, is how your vocation as ministers of charity will mature: in meekness.

After the Apostle Paul and the centurion, today’s readings show us a third servant, the one whom Jesus heals.  The Gospel tells us that he was dear to his master and was sick, without naming his grave illness (v. 2).  In a certain sense, we can see ourselves in that servant.  Each of us is very dear to God, who loves us, chooses us and calls us to serve.   Yet each of us needs first to be healed inwardly.  To be ready to serve, we need a healthy heart: a heart healed by God, one which knows forgiveness and is neither closed nor hardened.  We would do well each day to pray trustingly for this, asking to be healed by Jesus, to grow more like him who “no longer calls us servants but friends” (cf. Jn 15:15).  Dear deacons, this is a grace you can implore daily in prayer.  You can offer the Lord your work, your little inconveniences, your weariness and your hopes in an authentic prayer that brings your life to the Lord and the Lord to your life.  When you serve at the table of the Eucharist, there you will find the presence of Jesus, who gives himself to you so that you can give yourselves to others.

In this way, available in life, meek of heart and in constant dialogue with Jesus, you will not be afraid to be servants of Christ, and to encounter and caress the flesh of the Lord in the poor of our time.

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