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(Vatican Radio)  The Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta on Tuesday urged European Union states to agree on a common policy for the protection of refugees.

Fra’ Matthew Festing, directed his appeal to representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See whom he received at Order of Malta headquarters in Rome.

The Sovereign Order of Malta is active in 120 different nations across the globe with medical emergency programmes, long term health assistance and aid projects for the poor and marginalized.

His Royal Highness, Prince Dominique de La Rochefoucauld-Montbel, Gran Hospitaller of the Order, spoke to Vatican Radio’s Francesca Sabatinelli about the challenges posed by the current influx of refugees.

Listen to the full interview:

Speaking about the European refugee crisis which began more than a year ago, Prince Dominique said the more than a million immigrants entering Europe in 2015 was "just the start of a movement. The greatest concern of Europe is that there was no general policy." 

"I think it is very difficult to welcome, first, so many. Problems of integration, problems of community life, problems of accepting strangers, the economic situation of European countries, higher poverty than a few years ago, unemployment: all this has stressed quite a number of European countries and, of course, their politics." 

"One of the issues", he said, "is to try and find a peace solution in the Middle East. The number of IDPs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the region is so huge." 

Year of Mercy means opening heart

When asked about the impact of Pope Francis' calling the Year of Mercy, he said, "opening your heart is a very difficult position. We have to know how to welcome those who are different but, at the same time, those who are welcomed must also respect those who are welcoming." 

Individual acceptance may be easier, the Gran Hospitaller said, "but with the state it is more complicated. The state political problematic is quite different; it's in masses of people; it's not individuals." 

Major issue: link of politics and religion

"Let us not speak about big words like integration", he said, focusing rather on four main issues: social, cultural, political, economic, and religious. "The first three are more easy to deal with. [...] Religion is far more complicated."

"First, you must be in a trend of religious life or in a religious situation. Now all lay states will say 'The guarantee of a lay country guarantees your private [practice] of religion'. The problem is that, for most of these people who are coming - who are Muslim - politics and religion are linked. So if there's not an understanding from each side, I think, we are going to get into an awkward situation." 

"I believe there is a higher percentage of people who want to have a normal life, a job, a family, good education, to live a life we all wish to live, but there is this minority which is more difficult to deal with."

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis Wednesday remembered the victims of Tuesday’s suicide bomb attack in Istanbul which left ten people dead.

Listen to Ann Schneible's report:

Speaking in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall during his weekly general audience, the Pope asked for prayers for those killed in the attack, and for their families.

“Before concluding our encounter, in which we have reflected on God’s Mercy, I invite you to pray for the victims of the attack which took place yesterday in Istanbul.”

“May God, the merciful, grant eternal peace to the departed, comfort to their families, determined solidarity to the whole society, and convert the hearts of the violent."

The suicide bomber killed nine German and one Peruvian tourist on Jan 12 in Istanbul's historic Sultanahmet Square.

The Islamic State is being blamed for the attack, which also injured fifteen people.

The bomber has been identified by Turkish authorities as a Syrian who recently entered the country. 

Turkish police have detained one person in connection with the attack.

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(Vatican Radio) During his weekly general audience, Pope Francis spoke on the mercy of God as spoken about in the Bible.

Delivering his catechesis Wednesday in the Vatican’s Paul VI hall, the Pope said in the Old Testament, God reveals he is the God of Mercy.

The Holy Father explained how the Hebrew word for Mercy evokes the sort of tenderness shown by a mother for her child.

In Scripture, the Pope said, the God of mercy is gracious, slow to anger, and abounds in “steadfast love and faithfulness.”

Pope Francis concluded his catechesis by inviting the faithful during the Jubilee of Mercy to “turn to God with all our heart, trusting in his mercy and grace, his infinite faithfulness and love.”

Below find the official English language summary of Pope Francis’ catechesis:

Dear Brothers and Sisters:  

In this Jubilee Year, our weekly catechesis will explore the mystery of divine mercy.  In the Book of Exodus, God defines himself as the God of mercy.  In words which echo throughout the Old Testament, he tells Moses that he is “the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex 34:6).  The Hebrew word for mercy evokes the tender and visceral love of a mother for her child.  The God of mercy is also gracious, ever ready to understand and forgive.  He is slow to anger, prepared to wait patiently, like a wise farmer, for the seeds of repentance to grow in our hearts.  Likewise, he abounds in steadfast love and faithfulness.  God’s love, freely given, precedes any merit on our part; his faithfulness, like that of the father in the parable of the prodigal son, has no limits.  He waits for us, ever ready to forgive our sins and to welcome us back to a right relationship with him.  In this Year of Mercy, may we turn to God with all our heart, trusting in his mercy and grace, his infinite faithfulness and love.

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(Vatican Radio) US President Barack Obama Tuesday evening delivered the final State of the Union address of his two-term presidency.

Listen to Ann Schneible’s report:

He touched on a variety of policies enacted during his presidency, such as health reforms and the reopening of diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The President also played down the threat from the Islamic State, saying America was the most powerful nation in the world.

“Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence.”

The president urged Congress to pass a formal authorization to use military force for the fight against the Islamic State group.

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Vatican City, Jan 13, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When Pope Francis was a parish priest in Argentina, he met a mother with young children who had been abandoned by her husband.

She had no steady income. When odd jobs were scarce, she would prostitute herself in order to feed her children and provide for her family. During that time, she would visit the local parish, which tried to help her by offering food and material goods.

One day during the Christmas season the mother visited and requested to see the parish priest, Father Jorge Bergoglio. He thought she was going to thank him for the package of food the parish had sent to her.

"Did you receive it?" Fr. Bergoglio had asked her.

"Yes, yes, thank you for that, too," the mother explained. “But I came here today to thank you because you never stopped calling me Señora."

The Holy Father recalled this touching memory in the sixth chapter of the book The Name of God is Mercy, a newly released book-length interview of Pope Francis by Italian journalist Andrea Tornielli meant to “reveal the heart of Francis and his vision.”

This experience with the young mother profoundly touched Pope Francis, who said it taught him the importance of treating every human person with dignity and mercy, no matter their situation in life.

"Experiences like this teach you how important it is to welcome people delicately and not wound their dignity," Pope Francis stated in the book.

"For her, the fact that the parish priest continued to call her Señora, even though he probably knew how she led her life during the months when she could not work, was as important – or perhaps even more important than – the concrete help that we gave her," the Holy Father continued.

The Name of God is Mercy, published Jan. 12, takes an in-depth look at Pope Francis' vision of mercy and forgiveness, with nine chapters of candid questions-and-answers between Pope Francis and Tornielli.

Among other topics, the mercy-themed book further explains Pope Francis' words "who am I to judge" and explores his thoughts on confession, his hopes for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, and how to be open to God's mercy.

Tornielli compiled the book-length interview out of curiosity, wanting to know more about Pope Francis' personal take on mercy and forgiveness. Through various stories told throughout the interview, such as the encounter with the prostitute, Pope Francis revealed that the most important thing for every man and woman is not that they should never fall – but rather that they should always get back up.

"For as long as we are alive it is always possible to start over, all we have to do is let Jesus embrace us and forgive us," the Holy Father stated in the book.

"There is medicine, there is healing, we only need to take a small step toward God, or at least express the desire to take it," he continued, saying "a tiny opening is enough."

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Vatican City, Jan 13, 2016 / 04:34 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis launched a new series of catechesis on mercy for his general audiences, telling pilgrims that the love and forgiveness of God can’t be overcome by anything, including our sin.

“In the Book of Exodus, God defines himself as the God of mercy.  This is his name, through which he reveals to us his face and his heart,” the Pope said in his Jan 13 general audience.

The description of God as being “steadfast in love and faithfulness” is beautiful, he said, adding that this description “says everything. Because God is great and powerful, but this greatness and power unfold in loving us, so little, so incapable.”

Used in this way, the word love indicates an attitude of affection, grace and goodness, he said, distinguishing this from the type of superficial love we see in soap operas.

It’s always love that “makes the first step, that doesn't depend on human merits but gives an immense gratuity,” he said, adding that “nothing can stop divine solicitude, not even sin, because it knows how to go beyond sin, overcoming evil and forgiving it.”

Pope Francis spoke to pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for his weekly general audience. This week he began a new series of catechesis dedicated to mercy according to the bible, a decision he said he made so that we can “learn mercy by listening to what God himself teaches us with his word.”

After listening to the day’s reading from Exodus, the Pope pointed to how God tells Moses that he is “the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”

These words are echoed throughout the Old Testament, he said, noting that the same formula is found in other texts. Although the variations are different, “always the emphasis is put on mercy and on the love of God who never tires of forgiving.”

Francis said that when referring to God, the word “mercy” evokes an attitude of tenderness, much like the kind a mother shows toward her children.

“The image is that of a God who is moved and softens for us like a mother when she takes her child in her arms, desiring only to love, protect, help and is ready to give everything, even herself. A love, then, that can be defined in a good way as 'visceral,'” he said.

He noted how God is also referred to as “compassionate,” and that it is out of this compassion that the Lord in his greatness “bends down to whoever is weak and poor, always ready to welcome, to understand and to forgive.”

Pope Francis then referred to the parable of the Prodigal Son. After the younger son took his inheritance and squandered it, the father never abandoned him or closed himself in resentment, but continued to wait for his return.

Once the younger son came back, the father ran to meet him and embraced him, Francis said, explaining that “so great was the love and joy for having found him again, (the father) didn't even allow him to finish his confession – it's like he covered his mouth.”

Then the father called the older son and invited him in to the celebration. Even though the older son is bitter, the father “tries to open his heart to love, because no one is excluded from the feast of mercy,” the Pope observed.

Francis noted how this same merciful God is described as being “slow to anger,” and is willing to wait patiently, like a wise farmer who waits for his crop, for the seeds of repentance to grow in our hearts.

“God is totally and always reliable. He is a solid and stable presence. This is the certainty of our faith.”

Pope Francis closed his address by praying that during the Jubilee of Mercy, all would entrust themselves entirely to the Lord, “and experience the joy of being loved by this God who is merciful and compassionate, slow to anger and great in love and faithfulness.”

After greeting pilgrims present from various countries around the world, the Pope offered special prayers for the victims and families of yesterday’s suicide bombing near the famous Blue Mosque in Istanbul.

At least 10 people were killed and several injured when a suicide bomber, identified as a Syrian, blew himself up in Istanbul’s Sultanahmet district, which is near the Blue Mosque. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In his comments, Pope Francis invited faithful to pray for the victims, and asked that the merciful God “give eternal peace to the deceased, comfort to the families, firm solidarity to society as a whole,” and that he “convert the hearts of the violent.”

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