Catholic News 2

Cardinal Charles Bo Myanmar is expected to see the largest gathering of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) when he celebrates the concluding open-air Mass on Sunday at the South Road Properties in the central Philippine city of Cebu.  More than 1.5 million people are expected for the so-called Statio Orbis Mass, along with more than 15,000 cardinals, bishops, priests, the religious and official delegates from at least 75 nations around the world who attended the Jan 24-31 event.    Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara of Pasig, who heads the IEC’s communications committee, hinted they could be surprised by an unexpected closing message by Pope Francis.  Anticipating a mammoth of crowd, the SRP area will be opened to the public as early in the morning.  At least 200 parking lots for buses ferrying parishioners along a 1.4-kilometer stretch is in place, besides another 100 roadside slots.

Saturday, the penultimate day of the IEC was a memorable day for  5,000 children who received First Holy Communion during Mass at the Cebu City Sports Complex.  Organizers claim the Cebu gathering will go down in the history of the IEC, in which the Church mounted a massive, multiplatform media coverage, involving 15 organizations and 250 personnel.  “It’s actually a lot of firsts, in broadcast, print, radio and social media,” said Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III, director of the CBCP Media Office and head of broadcast and media accreditation for the 51st IEC. It’s the first time for an IEC to have a global satellite broadcast, with 12 hours of live and canned programming including remote sites in Cebu. Stories were also uploaded round the clock on the Filipino bishops' news website and shared on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts.  ‎(Source: CBCP)‎

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The Catholic Church of Australia is calling on its citizens not to be indifferent to human ‎trafficking ‎and take simple steps to combatting global injustice.  The Australian Catholic Bishops’ Commission for Pastoral life (BCPL) and Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in ‎Humans ‎‎(ACRATH) are calling for a day of prayer, reflection and action against human trafficking on ‎‎8 ‎February, the Feast of St Josephine Bakhita, a Sudanese slave who was rescued and later became ‎a ‎Canossian nun, and was declared a Saint in 2000.  Last year, the Vatican’s Pontifical Council ‎for ‎the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and ‎the ‎International Union of Superiors General, promoted the first “International Day of Prayer ‎and ‎Awareness against Human Trafficking”, or Bakhita Day, on Feb. 8.   

'In marking the Bakhita Day ‎of ‎prayer and fasting in this Year of Mercy, Australia's Catholics  ‎should be mindful of Pope Francis' challenge to us to stop human trafficking,” said BCPL chairman Bishop Terry Brady of Sydney. “We can all commit to learning more about human trafficking,” he said, adding, “We can commit to helping victims of  ‎ human trafficking. And we can commit to tackling the systems that enable human trafficking  ‎to flourish.”  ACRATH president, Religious Sister of Mercy Anne Tormey  ‎also added her voice saying, “This day can be an opportunity to learn  ‎about trafficking locally and globally, to pray for the victims of human trafficking and for an  ‎end to slavery, to commit to buying Fairtrade products where possible and to advocate for  legislation to protect victims of human trafficking.”  The BCPL and ACRATH are calling for a fourfold commitment to prevention, victim  ‎protection, the legal prosecution of perpetrators, and partnerships for change; these require  ‎a global effort on the part of various sectors of society.  ‎ (Source: ACBC)

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Pope Francis on Saturday appointed a new bishop to the Diocese of Dili, the Capital of Timor Leste, East Timor.  Fr. Virgilio Do Carmo Da Silva, the provincial superior of the Salesians of Don Bosco in Timor Leste is the new bishop.  The See of Dili has been vacant since Feb. 9, 2015, after late Bishop ‎Alberto Ricardo da Silva stepped down. 

Born Nov. 27, 1967 a Venilale, Fr. Da Silva completed his primary and secondary studies at the Salesian schools of Fatumaca and decided to join the Salesians.  After his philosophy and theology in Manila, in the Philippines, he pronounced his first vows on May 31, 1990 and perpetual vows on Dec. 18, 1998.   After his priestly ordination Fr Da Silva served as formater and novice master of Salesians, economer, parish priest and director of a technical school.  He also has a licentiate in spirituality from the Pontifical Salesian University of Rome. 

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(Vatican Radio) A special conference on Pope Francis and the Future of the Family in Ireland was held on Saturday in Dublin.

Sponsored by the newspaper The Irish Catholic, the speakers included the Primate of All-Ireland and Archbishop of Armagh Eamon Martin, and Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Charles Brown.

The conversation looked at the Synod process on the Family. Archbishop Martin attended the 2015 Synod, and told the participants what the bishops brought back from Rome.

Listen to the interventions by Archbishop Brown and Archbishop Martin: 

“Despite a concentration in the early days of the Synod on the pastoral challenges to family, there was also a great sense of admiration and gratitude for the many families who do their best  in very complex situations to persevere, to grow in love, and to generously witness to commitment, forgiveness and lifelong faithfulness,” he said.

“The overwhelming sense among the bishops at the Synod was a desire to be with all families, and especially with those whose homes are visited by tragedy or violence, and those who, for whatever reason, have experienced breakdown in their relationships, and some who feel excluded from the Church,” Archbishop Martin continued.

“The Synod was clear that we need to be mindful of those who have begun new relationships and unions, and find sincere, merciful, and truthful ways of welcoming and including them in the life and worshipping community of the Church,” he said.

“What do we do in these situations, The Synod asked. Do we sit outside and judge?” Archbishop Martin asked. “Or do we accompany all our people, presenting the truth and joy of the Gospel in a loving charitable way. So the Synod proposed pastoral discernment and accompaniment in difficult situations.”

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Vatican City, Jan 30, 2016 / 06:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Mercy and the Christian responsibility to be missionaries are closely connected, Pope Francis said Saturday, kicking off the first in a series of special audiences for the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

“As Christians, we have the responsibility to be missionaries of the Gospel,” the Pope said during the Jan. 30 audience, which centered on the “close link between mercy and mission.”

The pontiff explained how mercy received from the Father is not meant as a “private consolation” for us, but a tool whereby “others can receive the same gift.”

“There is a wonderful interplay between mercy and mission. Living mercy makes us missionaries of mercy, and being missionaries allows us to grow ever more in the mercy of God,” he said.

“Therefore, we take our Christian lives seriously, and we should strive to be faithful, for only in this way can the Gospel can touch the hearts of people and open them to receive the grace of love, to receive this great mercy of God which welcomes everyone.”

Saturday's gathering in St. Peter's Square was the first in a monthly series of audiences for the Holy Year of Mercy.

The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year that officially commenced December 8 – the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. It will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.

“We go every day to the heart of the Holy Year of Mercy,” and the Lord guides us through the Holy Door in order to be close to us, “despite our failings and our contradictions,” the Pope said.  

“Let us never tire of feeling the need of His forgiveness, because when we are weak, his closeness makes us strong and enables us to live with greater joy our faith.”

Pope Francis quoted the words of his predecessor, St. John Paul II, saying that the "Church lives an authentic life when she professes and proclaims mercy and when she brings people close to the sources of mercy.”

Speaking on the responsibility of Christians to be missionaries, the Pope said we tend to want to share the good things in our lives.

“When we receive good news, or when we live a good experience, it is natural that we feel the need to share it with others,” he said.

“We feel within us that we can not hold back the joy that was given to us and we want to expand it.”

It is this very joy which “drives us to communicate” what we have received, and the same applies when we encounter the Lord, the pontiff said: “the joy of this encounter, of his mercy, communicating the mercy of the Lord.”

“In fact, the concrete sign that we have really met Jesus is the joy we feel when conveying this to others,” he said.

This sharing of what is received is not “proselytizing,” the Pope stressed. Rather, it is giving a gift: “I give to you that which gives me joy.”   
 
The Pope reflected on the Gospel account of Andrew immediately sharing his experience encountering Jesus with his brother Peter, and likewise Philip with Nathanael.

“Meeting Jesus equals to meeting with his love,” the Pope said. “This love transforms us and enables us to pass on to others the strength that it gives to us.”

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