By Junno Arocho EstevesVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Tofollow the path of Christ means to serve the poor and the downtrodden while not turning Christianvirtues simply into ideas and humanitarian endeavors, Pope Francis said."In them, you touch andserve the flesh of Christ and grow in union with him, while always keeping watch so that faith doesnot become an ideology and charity is not reduced to philanthropy so that thechurch doesn't end up becoming an NGO," the pope told members of the general chapter ofthe Little Work of Divine Providence May 27. Founded by St. Luigi Orione,the order is comprised of two religious congregations -- the Orionine Fathers and theLittle Missionary Sisters of Charity -- who care primarily for the sick, the elderly andpeople with learning disabilities. The pope encouraged thereligious congregations to follow the example of their founder, who sought toheal the wounds of peoplein need of "bread for the body and the divine consolation offaith.""With Don Orione, I a...
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To
follow the path of Christ means to serve the poor and the downtrodden while not turning Christian
virtues simply into ideas and humanitarian endeavors, Pope Francis said.
"In them, you touch and
serve the flesh of Christ and grow in union with him, while always keeping watch so that faith does
not become an ideology and charity is not reduced to philanthropy so that the
church doesn't end up becoming an NGO," the pope told members of the general chapter of
the Little Work of Divine Providence May 27.
Founded by St. Luigi Orione,
the order is comprised of two religious congregations -- the Orionine Fathers and the
Little Missionary Sisters of Charity -- who care primarily for the sick, the elderly and
people with learning disabilities.
The pope encouraged the
religious congregations to follow the example of their founder, who sought to
heal the wounds of people
in need of "bread for the body and the divine consolation of
faith."
"With Don Orione, I also
exhort you to not remain closed in your surroundings, but to go out. There is
much need of priests and religious who do not remain solely in charitable
institutions -- albeit necessary -- but who also know how to go beyond their
own boundaries in order to bring to every environment, even the most distant, the perfume of
Christ's charity," the pope said.
Pope Francis also called on
them to not lose sight of the "church's mission to bring God's mercy to
all without distinction."
Their service to the church,
he said, will be all the more effective by taking care of their personal
commitment to Christ and their own spiritual formation.
By "giving a witness to
the beauty" of consecrated life, the Little Work of Divine Providence can
offer an example of the "good life of the religious servants of Christ and
the poor," especially to younger generations, the pope said.
"Life begets life; a
holy and happy religious person can inspire new vocations," Pope Francis
said.
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The 96-year-old Cincinnati surgeon credited with developing his namesake Heimlich maneuver recently used the emergency technique for the first time himself to save a woman choking on food at his senior living center....
CINCINNATI (AP) -- The 96-year-old Cincinnati surgeon credited with developing his namesake Heimlich maneuver recently used the emergency technique for the first time himself to save a woman choking on food at his senior living center....
MADRID (AP) -- Spanish archaeologists say they have discovered an exceptional set of Paleolithic-era cave drawings that could rank among the best in a country that already boasts some of the world's most important cave art....
MADRID (AP) -- Spanish archaeologists say they have discovered an exceptional set of Paleolithic-era cave drawings that could rank among the best in a country that already boasts some of the world's most important cave art....
BOSTON (AP) -- A sunken, burned ship from the 1800s uncovered during a construction project in Boston's Seaport District is a rare and remarkable find, the city's archaeologist said....
BOSTON (AP) -- A sunken, burned ship from the 1800s uncovered during a construction project in Boston's Seaport District is a rare and remarkable find, the city's archaeologist said....
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first trip to a European Union country this year Friday with a visit to Greece that will include a stop at a secluded Christian Orthodox monastic sanctuary....
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first trip to a European Union country this year Friday with a visit to Greece that will include a stop at a secluded Christian Orthodox monastic sanctuary....
CAIRO (AP) -- The search for the EgyptAir plane which crashed last week killing all 66 people on board has narrowed to a 5-kilometer-wide area in the Mediterranean Sea, based on signals from the craft's emergency beacon, Egypt's chief investigator said....
CAIRO (AP) -- The search for the EgyptAir plane which crashed last week killing all 66 people on board has narrowed to a 5-kilometer-wide area in the Mediterranean Sea, based on signals from the craft's emergency beacon, Egypt's chief investigator said....
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- It was a stunning rebuke - even by Donald Trump's standards - aimed at the nation's only Latina governor at a political rally in her home state of New Mexico....
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) -- It was a stunning rebuke - even by Donald Trump's standards - aimed at the nation's only Latina governor at a political rally in her home state of New Mexico....
HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) -- President Barack Obama paid tribute Friday to the "silent cry" of the 140,000 victims of the atomic bomb dropped 71 years ago on Hiroshima, and called on the world to abandon "the logic of fear" that encourages the stockpiling of nuclear weapons....
HIROSHIMA, Japan (AP) -- President Barack Obama paid tribute Friday to the "silent cry" of the 140,000 victims of the atomic bomb dropped 71 years ago on Hiroshima, and called on the world to abandon "the logic of fear" that encourages the stockpiling of nuclear weapons....
(Vatican Radio) In a tribute to Cardinal Loris Capovilla, personal secretary to Saint John XXIII,who passed away on the 26th of May, we bring you a Vatican Radio archive interview in which he explains how this twentieth century Pope rather than arouse in us feelings of nostalgia should encourage us to look towards the future.Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick: Asked what he meant by that comment the cardinal replied that as Pope John once said we are not called to be custodians of a shrine, a reliquary or a museum but rather to be custodians of a garden where is sown the seed of the Word, of the Word Incarnate. In fact he went on to say, we are called to cultivate our garden, to foster the advent of a new Pentecost, a new Easter, a new Spring, not just for our personal joy but for the joy of all of humanity.Cardinal Capovilla also shares the idea that he viewed the Pope as someone sent by God. " I never felt", he r...
(Vatican Radio) In a tribute to Cardinal Loris Capovilla, personal secretary to Saint John XXIII,who passed away on the 26th of May, we bring you a Vatican Radio archive interview in which he explains how this twentieth century Pope rather than arouse in us feelings of nostalgia should encourage us to look towards the future.
Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:
Asked what he meant by that comment the cardinal replied that as Pope John once said we are not called to be custodians of a shrine, a reliquary or a museum but rather to be custodians of a garden where is sown the seed of the Word, of the Word Incarnate. In fact he went on to say, we are called to cultivate our garden, to foster the advent of a new Pentecost, a new Easter, a new Spring, not just for our personal joy but for the joy of all of humanity.
Cardinal Capovilla also shares the idea that he viewed the Pope as someone sent by God. " I never felt", he remarked in this interview, " that I was collaborator or a secretary and still less an advisor, I would have perceived this as a scandalous assumption".
What he did experience, he highlights, was the joy that came with being close to a man who was certainly guided by God and who set the seed for the future of the Church although it was difficult to grasp to the full what was in his soul: "... as I said he set the seed for the future".
