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Dt 8:2-3,14b-16a; I Cor 10:16-17 Jn 6:51-58

 Anecdote:   Holy Communion in outer space: Astronaut Mike Hopkins is one of those selected few. He spent six months on the International Space Station (ISS) in 2013. And though he was thrilled when he was chosen for a space mission, there was one Person he didn’t want to leave behind: Jesus in the Eucharist. Hopkins had been received into the Church less than a year before his launch. After a long wait, he was finally able to receive Our Lord at each Mass. Facing the prospect of being off the planet for half a year, he decided he had to find out if Jesus could travel with him. It turns out he could — and he did. Hopkins says, “In 2011, I got assigned to a mission to the International Space Station. I was going to go up and spend six months in space, starting in 2013. So I started asking the question, ’Is there any chance I can take the Eucharist up with me into space?’ The weekend before I left for Russia — we launch on a Russian rocket from Kazakhstan — I went to Mass one last time, and [the priest with permission from his bishop] consecrated the wafers into the Body of Christ, and I was able to take the pyx with me. NASA has been great. … They didn’t have any reservations about me taking the Eucharist up or to practicing my Faith in orbit.  The Russians were amazing. I went in with all my personal items, and I explained what the pyx was and the meaning of it to me — because for them, they, of course, saw it just as bread, if you will, the wafers — and yet for me [I knew] it was the Body of Christ. And they completely understood and said, “Okay, we’ll estimate it weighs this much, and no problem. You can keep it with you.”  All these doors opened up, and I was able to take the Eucharist up — and I was able to have Communion, basically, every week. There were a couple of times when I received Communion on, I’ll say, special occasions: I did two spacewalks; so on the morning of both of those days, when I went out for the spacewalk, I had Communion. It was really helpful for me to know that Jesus was with me when I went out the hatch into the vacuum of space. And then I received my last Communion on my last day on orbit in the ‘Cupola, ’which is this large window that looks down at the Earth, and that was a very special moment before I came home.” (http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/what-is-it-like-to-receive-the-eucharist-in-space)

Introduction: Importance of the feast: 1) The Holy Eucharist as our spiritual Food and Drink on Holy Thursday and Jesus’ mother Mary as our mother on Good Friday are the two last precious gifts given to us by Jesus. 2) Corpus Christi is the celebration of the abiding presence of a loving God as Emmanuel – God-with --us – in order to give collective thanks to our Lord living with us in the Eucharist. 3) The feast gives us an occasion to learn more about the importance and value of the “Real Presence” so that we may appreciate the Sacrament better and receive maximum benefit from receiving Him.

The objectives of the feast:    Today, we celebrate the solemn feast of Corpus Christi. This Solemnity is three feasts in one: the feast of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the feast of the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the feast of the Real Presence of Jesus in this Sacrament.  Corpus Christi is a doctrinal feast established for three purposes:  1) to give God collective thanks for Christ’s abiding presence with us in the Eucharist and to honor Him there; 2) to instruct the people in the Mystery, Faith and devotion surrounding the Eucharist, and 3) to teach us to appreciate and make use of the great gift of the Holy Eucharist, both as a Sacrament and as a sacrifice. In the three-year cycle of the Sunday liturgy, there is a different theme each year for this Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ.  In Cycle A the theme is the Eucharist as our food and drink; in Cycle B the emphasis is on the Eucharist as the sign of the covenant; and in Cycle C the theme focuses on the priesthood of Jesus. Although we celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Church wants to emphasize its importance by a special feast, formerly called “Corpus Christi.” It was Pope Urban IV who first extended the feast to the universal Church. This is one of the few feasts left in which we observe a pre-Gospel procession and a sung “Sequence.”

The historical development: Today's celebration of the Body and Blood of the Lord originated in the Diocese of Liege, Belgium, in 1246 as the feast of Corpus Christi.  In the reforms of Vatican II, Corpus Christi was joined with the feast of the Precious Blood (July 1) to become the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. We celebrate today Christ's gift to us of the Eucharist, the Source and Summit of our life together as the Church.  The Council of Trent (1545 to 1563), declared that we must honor Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Faith of Catholics in the Most Holy Eucharist might be attracted to the Eucharistic Lord and believe in the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in this great Sacrament. "The Catholic Church teaches that in the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the God-man are really, truly, substantially, and abidingly present together with his soul and Divinity by reason of the Transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ.  This takes place in the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass."

The Biblical foundation: Our belief in this Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist derives from the literal interpretation of the promise of Christ to give us his Body and Blood for our spiritual food and drink, as found in St. John's Gospel, Chapter 6, and also in the four independent accounts of the fulfillment of this promise at the Last Supper (Mt 26; Mk 14; Lk 22; 1 Cor 11).  Eucharistic theologians explain the Real Presence by a process called transubstantiation: the entire substance of bread and wine is changed into the entire substance of the risen and glorified Body and Blood of Christ, retaining only the “accidents” (taste, color, shape) of bread and wine. Can there be a religion in which God is closer   to man than our Catholic Christianity?  Jesus does not believe that he is humiliating himself in coming to us and giving himself to us in his Flesh and Blood to be our spiritual Food. 

Scripture lessons:  The first reading (Dt 8:2-3, 14-16): The setting of today’s first reading is near the end of the Exodus from Egypt when the people are at last becoming accustomed to their long-promised new homeland. Moses realizes that the sudden change from hardship to comfort and security may dull the people and make them forgetful of the Lord on whom they depend.   Therefore, he tells them, "Remember," and "Do not forget,” referring to the manna that the Lord had miraculously provided for them earlier.  The Church chooses this reading for today because we see in the manna a prototype of the Eucharist.  But we do not read directly from this “manna narrative" (Exodus 16), for today’s feast.  Rather, we are enjoined “not to forget,” and “to remember.”  That is what we do when we celebrate the Eucharist.  We remember Jesus' self-gift at the Last Supper and on the Cross.  God has endowed this act with the power to make the remembered events present to us again.  In the responsorial psalm (Ps 147), the Psalmist takes up the theme of God's providential care and His close association with His people.

The second reading: (1 Cor 10:16-17): The Corinthian Christians were apparently ill-mannered and rude in their celebration of the Lord's Supper.  So Paul was trying to make them behave in a more Christ-like fashion. Paul was also clearly distinguishing the Eucharist from the ritual meals of some pagan groups known to the Corinthians.  For Paul, “the Body of Christ” can have two meanings: the Body of Christ that we share in the Eucharist and the Body of Christ that we form as the community of believers, united with the risen Christ.  Paul extended this union with Jesus to include union with all believers.  As Paul says, “the cup of blessing is a sharing in the Blood of Christ, and the bread we break is a sharing in the Body of Christ.”  The language is mystical, but it carries the meaning of the union of all believers with Jesus and thus with one another.  “Because there is one Bread, we who are many are one Body because we all partake of the one Bread” (1 Cor 10: -17).

 Today’s Gospel passage (Jn 6:51-58) is situated in the context of what is sometimes called Jesus' Eucharistic discourse.  These verses constitute the ending of the “Bread of Life Discourse” (John 6: 22-58), given at the synagogue in Capernaum where Jesus identified himself as “the living Bread that came down from Heaven,” thus linking himself with the manna in the wilderness.  The Eucharistic discourse is a teaching about the Lord's providential care for his faithful followers, describing Jesus’ promises to the Jewish crowd that He would give them his Body and Blood as their spiritual food and drink.  The reference in today’s passage to the manna in the desert alludes to the care of God for His people during the years of their desert wandering.  The manna God provided and the water He gave sustained their natural life at the time.  Eventually, however, they died.   But Jesus claimed that he was the true Bread come down from Heaven to give everlasting Life.  "One who eats this Bread will live forever" (John 6:58).  Our participation in the Eucharist concretizes and energizes our relationships with Christ and one another.  The process of eating and ingesting the Bread is the sign of our belief in the Word Who thus gives Himself to us, and through Whom we thus receive eternal life.  The separate mention of "flesh" and "blood" symbolizes theologically Jesus' redemptive death for all people.

Exegetical notes: Theological significance: Vatican II states that as a sacrifice, "the Holy Eucharist is the center and culmination of Christian life" (Lumen Gentium, 11).  Why?  1) Because it enables us to participate in Christ’s sacrifice as a present reality and to benefit from its fruits in our own lives.  2) Because it helps us to worship the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the most perfect way.  3) Because it strengthens our charity and unity with Jesus and each other in a joint offering of his Body and Blood to the Father.  4) Because it gives us a lasting memorial of Christ’s suffering, death and Resurrection, reminding us of our obligation to make loving sacrifices for others.  The Eucharist is the Mystery of our Faith, the Mystery of our Hope, the Mystery of our Charity.  Why do we celebrate the Eucharist some 2,000 years later?  We do this because Jesus told us to do so: “Do this in memory of me.”   St. Augustine in the 5th century AD said it best when he said: “It is your Mystery, the Mystery of your life that has been placed on the altar.”  This Holy Memorial is known by various names: 1) "The Eucharist” because Jesus offered himself to God the Father as an act of thanksgiving; 2) "The Lord’s Supper" -- or “The Breaking of the Bread”-- because we celebrate it as a meal;  3) "Holy Communion" because, we become one with Christ by receiving him; and  4) "Holy Mass” (holy sending), because it gives us a mission: “Go in peace glorifying God by your life.”

Jesus replaces the Old Covenant with the New Covenant: Jesus instituted the Eucharist in deliberate allusion to, and fulfillment of, what happened on Mount Sinai.  He replaced Moses as the God-chosen mediator, establishing the New Covenant promised through the prophet Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34), by using His own Blood rather than that of sacrificial animals.  By sacramentally consuming the Body and Blood of the God-Man, we, the final-age people of God, are interiorly transformed through the most perfect possible union with God.  Jesus creates a faithful people intimately united with God by means of his Sacramental Blood.

The Jewish Passover is transformed into the Eucharistic celebration: Jesus instituted the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist while eating the Passover meal, the feast on which the Jews still gather annually to commemorate their ancestors' deliverance from Egyptian slavery.  This foundational event began the night God "passed over" the Israelites while punishing their oppressors, who had resisted His will.  Israel was "saved through the blood" of sacrificial lambs sprinkled on doorways.  (There are some modern Bible scholars who doubt whether Jesus’ Last Supper was strictly a Passover meal because many items of the Passover meal are not mentioned).  In the second half of today's Gospel, Jesus' words and gestures are understood as mediating the fullness of salvation through Blood that would be his own.  That night he offered "the Blood of the (New) Covenant," as Blood to be drunk rather than sprinkled.  Moreover, since it was his own, this Blood needed no further identification with God by splashing against an altar.  Finally, the Blood was "to be poured out on behalf of the many (a Semitism for 'all')."  The giving of both "Body" and "Blood" establishes the context of Jesus' sacrificial death, a New Covenant sealed with his Blood.

The Sacrament and the sacrifice: Jesus instituted the Holy Eucharist during the Last Supper as a Sacramental banquet and a sacrificial offering.  As a Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist is an outward sign in and through which we meet Jesus who shares his life of grace with us. “In the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist the Body and Blood, together with the soul and Divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained" (CCC #1374). In this Sacrament of the Eucharist, we do meet Jesus, the Risen Lord who comes to us under signs of Bread and Wine to nourish and strengthen us for our journey through life.  The Eucharistic Meal is a great mystery because during the Eucharistic celebration the substance of bread and wine are converted into the substance of the risen Jesus' Body and Blood, while their appearances (or ’accidents’) remain.  We believe in this transformation of bread and wine (called Transubstantiation), because Jesus unequivocally taught it and authorized his apostles to repeat it.  As a Sacrament, the Holy Eucharist imparts to us Jesus’ abiding presence in our souls.  In addition, we share in his Divine life, which is an assurance of eternal life and the basis for the conviction that we are children of God the Father.  God shares His life with Jesus and with all other people.  The Eucharist is the Sacrament of our union with Jesus.  In this Sacrament, Jesus gives us his own Body, broken for us on the cross and his precious Blood poured out for us, in order that our sins may be forgiven.  The Eucharistic celebration is also a sacrifice because it is the re-presentation or re-living in an unbloody manner of Christ’s Death on Good Friday and of his Resurrection on Easter Sunday.  By means of signs, symbols and prayers, we share in Christ’s passion, death and Resurrection made really present for us in an unbloody manner.  This re-presenting, this re-living, of the One Sacrifice of Christ, which is the heart and point of every Mass, assures us of Jesus’ love for us and of his forgiveness of our sins.  Through this sacrifice, the risen Jesus becomes present on the altar, offering himself to the Father through the ministry of the priest.

Life Messages: 1) We need to receive this message of unity and sacrificial love: The Eucharist, (the Body and Blood of Christ), teaches us the importance of community, the bond that results from this sacrifice. John Chrysostom says: “What is the Bread actually? The Body of Christ. What do communicants become? The Body of Christ. Just as the bread comes from many grains, which remain themselves and are not distinguished from one another because they are united, so we are united with Christ.”  Just as numerous grains of wheat are pounded together to make the host, and many grapes are crushed together to make the wine, so we become unified in this sacrifice.  Our Lord chose these elements in order to show us that we ought to seek union with one another, to allow the Holy Spirit to transform us into Our Lord Jesus Christ and to work with Him in the process.  Christ is the Head and we are the Body.  Together we are one.  That which unites us is our willingness to sacrifice our time, talents and treasure as needed to God in our fellow members in Christ’s Mystical Body.  This is symbolized by our sharing in the same Bread and the same Cup.  Hence, Holy Communion should strengthen our sense of unity and love.

2) We need to prepare properly to receive Holy Communion: We have tarnished God’s image within us through acts of impurity, injustice, disobedience and the like.  Hence, there is always need for repentance, and a need for the Sacramental confession of grave sins, before we receive Holy Communion.  We should remember the warning given by St. Paul: "Whoever, therefore, eats the Bread or drinks the Cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the Body and Blood of the Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the Bread and drink of the Cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the Body, eat and drink judgment against themselves." [1 Cor 11:27-9].  Hence, let us receive Holy Communion with fervent love and respect -- not merely as a matter of routine.   St. Paul is speaking also of the Mystical Body of Christ, i.e., the people of God gathered at the altar. Such a union, plainly, means that our outward piety towards the consecrated Bread and Wine cannot coexist with rudeness, unkindness, slander, cruelty, gossiping or any other breach of charity toward our brothers and sisters. 

3) We need to become Christ-bearers and -conveyers: By receiving Holy Communion we become Christ-bearers as Mary was, with the duty of conveying Christ to others at home and in the workplace, as love, mercy, forgiveness and humble and sacrificial service.

As we celebrate this great feast of faith, let us worship what St. Thomas Aquinas did not hesitate to call, "the greatest miracle that Christ ever worked on earth ... My Body ... My Blood". Before the greatness of this mystery, let us exclaim with St. Augustine, "O Sacrament of devotion! O Sign of unity! O Bond of charity!"   Let us also repeat St. Thomas Aquinas' prayer of devotion in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament:  "O Sacrament most holy! O Sacrament Divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment Thine!"  (Prepared by Fr. Anthony Kadavil)

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Tuesday appointed 45 Ordinary Members to the Pontifical Academy for Life, as well as 5 Honorary Members.

The Pontifical Academy for Life was founded by Pope St. John Paul II and exists for "the promotion and defense of human life, especially regarding bioethics as it regards Christian morality".

The President of the Academy is Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia.

Please find below the full list of Members:

Professor Etsuko AKIBA, Professor of Law in the Department of Economics at the University of Toyama (Japan);

Professor Carl Albert ANDERSON, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Professor and Vice President of the United States Section of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, Washington, DC (United States);

Professor Nigel BIGGAR, Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, and Director of the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Life, at the University of Oxford (Great Britain);

Most Reverend Alberto Germán BOCHATEY CHANETON, O.S.A., Titular Bishop of Mons in Mauretania, Auxiliary Bishop of La Plata, Professor of Bioethics and Vice Chancellor of the Universidad Católica de La Plata (Argentina);

Reverend Maurizio CHIODI, Professor of Moral Theology at the Istituto Superiore di Scienze Religiose, Bergamo, Italy, and the Facoltà Teologica dell'Italia Settentrionale, Milan, Italy, and Spiritual Assistant at the Centro Volontari della Sofferenza in Bergamo (Italy);

Most Reverend Fernando Natalio CHOMALl GARIB, Arcbishop of Concepción; Professor of Theological Anthropology and Bioethics at the Centro de Bioética of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile (Chile);

Reverend Roberto COLOMBO, Professor of Neurobiology and Human Genetics at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy, and Director of the Centro per lo Studio delle Malattie Ereditarie Rare at the Niguarda Ca' Granda Hospital, Milan (Italy);

Professor Francesco D’AGOSTINO, Professor of the Philosophy of Law in the School of Law at the Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”; Honorary President of the Italian National Committee for Bioethics; President of the Central Ethics Committee of the Region of Latium (Italy);

Professor Bruno DALLAPICCOLA, Scientific Director of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico-IRCCS), Rome; Member of the Italian National Council for Bioethics and of its Mixed Group; Member of the Italian National Committee for Biosecurity, Biotechnologies and Life Sciences; Member of the Italian Superior Health Council (Italy);

Professor Jokin DE IRALA ESTÉVEZ, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Project La Educación de la Sexualidad y Afectividad at the University of Navarre (Spain);

His Eminence Cardinal Willem Jacobus EIJK, Archbishop of Utrecht (Netherlands)

Professor Mounir Abdel Messih Shehata FARAG, Director of the Saint Joseph Pro-Life Pro-Family Institute, Cairo (Egypt);

Most Reverend Anthony Colin FISHER, Archbishop of Sydney; Professor of Bioethics and Moral Theology at the Australia Session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, Melbourne (Australia);

Doctor Kathleen M. FOLEY, M.D., Attending Neurologist in the Pain and Palliative Care Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Professor of Neurology, Neuroscience, and Clinical Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medicine of Cornell University (United States);

Reverend Aníbal GIL LOPES, Professor of Physiology at the Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho at the Universidade Federal do Rio De Janeiro (Brazil);

Doctor Rodrigo GUERRE LOPEZ, Professor of Philosophy and Presidente of the Superior Council of the Centro de Investigation Social Avanzada, Santiago de Querétaro (Mexico);

Professor Alicja GRZESKOWIAK, Emeritus Professor of Criminal Law at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland; Professor at the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Graduate School in Bydgoszcz (Poland)

Doctor John M. HAAS, President of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, Philadelphia (United States)

Professor Mohamed HADDAD, Professor of Arab Civilization and Comparative Religion at the University of Carthage - Higher Institute of Languages, Tunis (Tunisia);

Professor Ignatius John KEOWN, Professor of Christian Ethics at Georgetown University, Washington, DC (United States);

Professor Kostantinos KORNARAKIS, Professor di Christian Ethics (Orthodox Spirituality) in the Department of Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece);

Professor Katarina LE BLANC, Assistant Head of the Division of Clinical Immunology and Transfusion Medicine at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm; Professor at the Hematology Center of Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Stockholm (Sweden);

Professor Alain F. G. LEJEUNE, Professor of Pharmaceutical Law and Deontology at the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium); Member of the French Académie Nationale de Pharmacie and Secretary of its Ethical Commission;

Professor Jean-Marie LE MÉNÉ, Founder and President of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, Paris (France);

Doctor Mónica LOPEZ BARAHONA, Academic Director General of the Centro de Estudios Biosanitarios; Madrid; President of the Spanish Delegation of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation and Director of the Foundation’s Jérôme Lejeune Chair of Bioethics, Madrid (Spain);

Professor Ivan LUTS, Director of the Medical College at the Lviv National Medical University; President of the Ukrainian Association of Catholic Physicians (Ukraine);

Prof. Manfred LÜTZ, Chief Physician at the Alexian Hospital, Cologne-Porz (Germany);

Most Reverend Daniel NLANDU MAYI, Bishop of Matadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Diocesan Life Education Service; Member of the Board of Directors of the Catholic University of the Congo, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo);

Professor Anne-Marie PELLETIER, Professor of Sacred Scripture, Bible and Liturgy at the École Cathédrale and the Studium de la Faculté Notre Dame of the Seminary of Paris; Professor of Philosophical and Biblical Anthropology at the Studium Théologique Inter-monastères (France);

Professor Adrian MESSINA, Professor of Moral Philosophy and Director of the Centro di Ateneo di Bioetica at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan (Italy);

Reverend Msgr. Luño Ángel RODRlGUEZ, Professor of Fundamental Moral Theology at the Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, Roma (Italy);

Professor Alejandro César SERANI MERLO, Professor and Researcher at the Centro de Bioética and the School of Medicine at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile (Chile);

Most Reverend Noël SIMARD, Bishop of Valleyfield, Francophone Spokesman for the Canadian Bishops Conference for Bioethical Questions, euthanasia in particular (Canada);

Very Reverend Jacques Koudoubi SIMPORÉ, M.I., Rector of the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Director of the Pietro Annigoni Center for Biomolecular Research, Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso);

Professor Avraham STEINBERG, Director of the Medical Ethics Unit of the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem, Director of the Editorial Committee of the Talmudic Encyclopedia (Israel);

Professor Jaroslav ŠTURMA, Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Catholic Theology at the Charles University in Prague; Director of the Sunbeam Child Development Center, Prague (Czechia);

Professor William F. SULLIVAN, Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the Medical School of the University of Toronto; President of the International Association of Catholic Bioethicists (Canada);

Professor Daniel SULMASY, Professor of Bioethics at Georgetown University, Washington, DC (United States);

Professor Fernando SZLAJEN, Rabbi, Director of the Department of Culture of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina);

Professor Marie-Jo THIEL, Professor di Catholic Theology and Director of the Centre Européen d'Enseignement et de Recherche en Éthique at the Université de Strasbourg (France);

Reverend Tomi THOMAS, I.M.S., Director-General of The Catholic Health Association of India, Secunderabad, Hyderabad (India);

Professor Angelo VESCOVI, Scientific Director of the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Hospital (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico-IRCCS), San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, and of the Gregor Mendel Human Genetics Institute, Rome (Italy);

Professor Alberto VILLANI, Director of the General Pediatrics and Infectious Diseases Service at the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital (Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico-IRCCS), Rome; President of the Italian Pediatrics Society (Italy);

Professor Shinya YAMANAKA, Director and Professor at the Center for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, and a Professor at the Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences at Kyoto University; Nobel Laureate in Medicine 2012 (Japan);

Professor René ZAMORA MARlN, Director and Professor at the Centro de Bioética Juan Pablo II, Havana (Cuba).

The following were named by Pope Francis as Honorary Members of the Academy:

His Eminence Cardinal Carlo CAFFARRA, Archbishop Emeritus of Bologna, Olim President of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family (Italy);

Most Reverend lgnacio CARRASCO DE PAULA, Titular Bishop of Thapsus; President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life (Spain);

Mrs. Birthe LEJEUNE, Vice President of the Jéróme Lejeune Foundation, Paris; widow of the first President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Servant of God Jérôme Lejeune;

His Eminence Cardinal Elio SGRECCIA, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life; President of the International Federation of Centers and Institutes of Bioethics of the Personalist School, President of the Ut Vitam Habeant Foundation (Vatican City);

Doctor Juan de Dios VIAL CORREA, President Emeritus of the Pontifical Academy for Life and Rector Emeritus of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile (Chile).

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said Mass in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday morning, with the members of the C-9 group of Cardinal-advisors who are working to reform the Church’s central governing apparatus.

In remarks following the Readings of the Day, the Holy Father focused on Christ’s call to all the faithful to be salt and light in and for the world.

Pope Francis began by stressing that the proclamation of the Gospel is “decisive” – that there are no “shades” to saying “yes” or “no” to the Gospel. Any attempt to offer a “nuanced” response to the Gospel will “lead you to seek artificial safety,” as is the case with “casuistry”.

The Holy Spirit leads us to Christian witness

“Yes,” “Salt,” “Light.” These three words – proposed by the Second Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians – and highlighted by Pope Francis in his reflections, “indicate the power of the Gospel” that leads to “witnessing and even glorifying God.” In this “Yes,” we find “all the words of God in Jesus, all the promises of God.”

He reiterated that, in Jesus, “everything that has been promised is fulfilled and for this reason He is the fullness”:

“In Jesus there is no ‘no’: always ‘yes,’ for the glory of the Father. But we too share this ‘Yes’ of Jesus, because He has given us the anointing, he has imprinted on us the Seal, has given us the ‘security deposit’ of the Spirit. We participate because we are united, sealed, and have in our hand that security – the security deposit of the Spirit – the Spirit that will bring us to the definitive ‘Yes,’ and also to our own fullness. Also, that same Spirit that will help us to become light and salt, that is to say, it is the Spirit that leads us to give Christian witness.”

“Everything is positive,” said the Pope, “and that Christian witness” is “salt and light.”

“Light,” he explained, “to illuminate – and anyone who hides the light gives counter-testimony,” taking refuge in the “yes” and a little bit of “no.” These, then, “have the light, but do not give it,  do not make it to shine forth – and if they do not allow the light they have shine forth, they do not glorify the Father who is in heaven.” Again, he warned, “he has salt, but he takes it for himself and does not give of it that he may avoid corruption.”

Christians are called to be salt and light

“Yes - yes,” and “no-no”: decisive words, as the Lord has taught us, and as Pope Francis reminded the faithful gathered for Mass, “anything extra comes from the Evil One.” It is, “this attitude of security and testimony,” he added, “that the Lord has entrusted to the Church and to all of us baptized”:

“Security in the fullness of promises in Christ: in Christ everything is accomplished. Testimony to others: a gift received from God in Christ, who gave us the anointing of the Spirit that we might be witnesses. This is what it is to be Christian: to illumine, to be of help in seeing that both the message and people are not corrupted – [to preserve] as salt does; but, if the light is hidden, if the salt becomes tasteless, without strength – if it weakens – the testimony will be weak. Only, this is [what happens] when I do not accept the anointing, when I do not accept the seal, when I do not accept that ‘security deposit’ of the Spirit that is in me. And this is done when I do not accept the ‘yes’ in Jesus Christ.”

The Pope went on to say that the Christian proposition is quite simple, but “[al]so decisive and beautiful, and gives us so much hope.” “Am I – let us wonder – light for others? Am I salt for others – that salt, which insists on life and defends it from corruption? Do I cling to Jesus Christ, who is the ‘yes’? Do I feel annointed, sealed? Do I know that I have the security that will be full in Heaven, but at least is with me now as a ‘down payment’ – [i.e.] the Spirit?”

The Christian is “sunny” when he glorifies God with his life

In everyday language, Pope Francis went on to say, “When a person is full of light, we say that person is ‘of a sunny disposition’”:

“We are used to saying ‘There goes someone with a sunny disposition.’ This can help us to understand this. This is even more than a sunny disposition. This is the reflection of the Father in Jesus in whom all promises are fulfilled. This is the reflection of the unction of the Spirit we all have. Why is this so? Why did we receive this? Both readings tell us. Paul says: ‘For this reason,  the Amen from us also goes through [Christ] to God for glory,’ and Jesus said to the disciples, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father. Thus is the Christian's life.’

Let us ask this grace, concluded the Pope, “to cling, to be rooted in the fullness of the promises in Christ Jesus who is the ‘yes’, totally ‘yes’, and to bring this fullness with the salt and light of our testimony to others to give Glory to the Father who is in heaven.”

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(Vatican Radio)  The Vatican's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development announced on Tuesday it is hosting an "International Debate on Corruption" to be held at the Casina Pio IV on Thursday, 15 June.

In a communique, the Dicastery said this will be the first such event to reflect on the global problem of corruption. 

"The group brings together Christians and non-Christians, ecclesiastical and institutional figures, magistrates, police representatives, members of movements and organizations, victims of crime, journalists and intellectuals. Several ambassadors accredited to the Holy See will also attend the meeting".

At the conclusion of the Debate, participants will visit the Sistine Chapel and the Room of the Segnatura as a way of highlighting, "through the beauty of artistic heritage, the importance of the function of education in the commitment to justice and against corruption."

The communique also points out that a book-interview by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Dicastery, with Vittorio V. Alberti will be published on the same day (15 June) and will include a preface by Pope Francis.

The Dicastery has also opened social media accounts where people can participate in the discussion. Both a Twitter handle (@MichForJustice) and a Facebook page (Michelangelo for Justice) were created for the occasion, and people are invited to interact by using the hashtag #MichelangeloForJustice. 

Further information can be obtained via e-mail at nocorruption@humandevelopment.va

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Christians from across Surat city and district in western India’s Gujarat state on Monday submitted a memorandum to the district collector, vehemently objecting against a state Hindi school textbook where Jesus Christ is referred to as “haivan” or “demon”.  Christians from Syrian Church, Pentecost, Brethren Mission, Protestant, Roman Catholic and other denominations have expressed shock over the class IX Second Language Hindi textbook published by Gujarat State School Textbook Board (GSSTB). Christians took out a rally and submitted a memorandum to district collector Mahendra Patel.

Jesus -  “haivan” (demon)

Chapter 16 in the textbook titled 'Bharatiya sanskriti mein guru-shishya sambandh' (teacher-student relationship in Indian culture) says, "Is sambandh me haivan Isa ka ek kathan sada smaraniya hai (In this context, one statement of demon Jesus is always memorable).  Jesus Christ is quoted as saying, "My followers are much greater than me and I am not worthy enough to even untie their shoes" -  another mess by Anandshankar Madhwan, the author of the controversial chapter 16, which, in fact, are a hash of John the Baptist’s words regarding Jesus.

Spokesperson and presbyter-in-charge, Reverend Dennis E Amin said, "Christians are a peace-loving community.”  “It seems there is a deliberate attempt to instigate the community by using the word 'demon' for Jesus Christ. We are followers of Jesus Christ and it hurts when such a mistake is committed,"  Times of India reported him as saying.

Amin added, "The religious leaders had pointed out to the chairman of GSSTB and chairman of National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) and sought removal of the word 'haivan' from the textbooks around a month back.  Still the children in class IX are reading this. We want chief minister Vijay Rupani to take prompt action in this matter."

Lame excuse

Following an outcry from various quarters, state education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama told News18 he was aware of the error and added that it will be corrected.  GSSTB chairman Nitin Pethani said that it was a typographical error. “The word ‘haiva’, a disciple of Jesus Christ, got misprinted as “haivan”, meaning a demon,” Pethani explained adding that “Aadam Isa” and “Haiva Isa” were the two disciples of Christ and an “n” inadvertently got printed in the book.  However, given the Hindi keyboard layout, the typographical error does not appear convincing at all.  Furthermore, the chapter written by Madhwan‎ has no reference whatsoever to “Aadam Isa” and “Haiva Isa”,  probably meaning Adam and Eve in the first book of the Bible, who were not Christ’s disciples.

Offence punishable by law

Advocate Subramaniam Iyer, who noticed the mistake, says that the error attracts section 295 (a) of the IPC, which pertains to deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class.

Speaking to “News18”, Iyer said, “Jesus is being portrayed as a demon to students. Quite clearly, this is a case that attracts section 295(a) of the IPC that pertains to hurting the religious sentiments of any class.”

Iyer said that the error may be unintentional, but it can create a rift between communities and cause a law and order problem. “This simply is unacceptable and should be removed immediately,” he said.

Pethani said an internal inquiry will be conducted regarding the matter. The error in the online version of the textbook has been rectified.  However, it would not be possible to withdraw the book from the schools.  The board's solution to address the problem now is to hand an advisory to teachers to make them aware of the error when they use the book in class, the Hindustan Times reported.

Fr. Cedric Prakash –  a ‎‎"brutal plan to promote fascist ideologies,"‎ ‎

‎“The fact that Jesus is denigrated in school books says a lot about those in charge of shaping the ‎minds, ‎character and future of children,” said Jesuit priest Fr Cedric Prakash, a well-known human rights activist belonging to the Gujarat Jesuit Province. ‎“This also reflects the mind-set of those who govern us, those in power who with their acolytes ‎appear ‎bent on destroying what is deemed sacrosanct in the Constitution of India, that justice, ‎freedom, ‎equality, and fraternity belong to every citizen of India; that India is a secular, socialist and ‎sovereign ‎country,"‎ said Fr. Prakash who in 2001 founded "Prashant", a Jesuit Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace in ‎Ahmedabad.   Fr. Prakash, who now works with the Jesuit Refugee Service in the Middle East, said the textbook error is part of ‎a ‎‎"brutal plan to promote fascist ideologies,"‎ and called for the "immediate removal from the textbooks” of the offending word, and “that ‎the ‎perpetrators be prosecuted according to the law and that the government apologize to the ‎Christian ‎community".‎

Gujarat textbooks – comedy of errors

This is not the first time that errors have been pointed out in school textbooks in the home state of prime minister Narendra Modi that is ruled by the pro-Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).  ‎In the past, a GSBST had claimed that Japan had dropped an atom bomb on the United States during the World War-II. In another instance, a book had got the date of Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary wrong.  The “Times of India” had earlier reported that Class X social studies textbook contained chapters on ''Hitler, the Supremo'' and ''Internal Achievements of Nazism''.  According to “The Hindu”, some social science textbooks contained the line: All south Indians are “Madrasis.” 

Archbishop Thomas Macwan of Gandhinagar and president of All Gujarat United Christians Forum, said the textbook error hurt the sentiments of the Christian community and asked the authorities to ensure no such mistake gets repeated.  "We would want things to be clarified. The Bible has not been quoted properly as well," Archbishop Macwan noted.

"We demand criminal action against the perpetrators and an unconditional apology from the state government," Abraham Mathai president of the Indian Ch4ristian Voice (ICV) told IANS.   He said the book should be pulled out from schools and re-issued when the necessary corrections have been made. "Such wild and reckless statements,” he said, “have the potential to spark off a conflagration that could seriously jeopardise communal harmony.” 

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(Vatican Radio) On the frontlines of need, assisting refugees and displaced people in the Middle East is the Church’s humanitarian umbrella organization, Caritas Internationalis.

The local Caritas Jordan agency is on the ground throughout the  Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan bringing  emergency aid and long term development programmes to the huge numbers of  Syrian refugees hosted by the nation.

Marking 50 years from its foundation this year, Caritas Jordan has also just launched a special campaign.

Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:

Most of the 657,000 registered Syrian refugees in Jordan are Muslim. That’s why the local Caritas campaign, especially launched for the holy month of Ramadan, aims both  to support those in need and to live the spirit of the month in  mercy and fraternity.

This year, the campaign is rooted in Caritas’ aptly named “Mercy Restaurant” which prepares “Iftar” or evening meals for its fasting brothers and sisters.

And as well as preparing nutritious meals for students and children in particular, Caritas Jordan is also distributing food parcels to some 5000 needy Jordanian families, in cooperation with the ministry of social development and other aid organizations. 

The campaign, launched jointly by Christians and Muslims, aims also to highlight the fruitful cooperation between the different confessional and religious communities present in the Middle East with a message of  love, life and respect for others according to the Caritas motto and underlying aim which is to build a world in which to live as one human family.

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(Vatican Radio) A two day seminar on migrants and refugees concluded in the Vatican on Tuesday, with experts from countries across the globe looking ahead to an intergovernmental conference due to take place at the United Nations in 2018.

Representatives of bishops conferences from some 40 nations have drawn up a document to be presented to world leaders, as they prepare to adopt a Global Compact on safe, orderly migration flows. The document is based around four principles that Pope Francis himself named to sum up the Catholic response to the current forced migration phenomenon –that is, Welcome, Protection, Promotion and Integration.

The Rome meeting was organised by the Migrants and Refugees section of the new Vatican office for Integral Human Development. Among those taking part was Pakistani Father Bonnie Mendes, former executive secretary of the office for human development at the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences.

Listen to Fr Bonnie talking to Philippa Hitchen

Fr Bonnie says the issues under discussion are “a matter of human rights” for refugees, migrants and asylum seekers, who are on the move for a variety of different reasons. It’s very important to have a charter, he says, to make sure that they don’t’ suffer, especially women and children. He notes that this is a preparatory phase, ahead of the Global Compact discussions in 2018, in the same way that Catholic experts prepared  proposals ahead of the Cop 21 conference on climate change in 2015.

Making the Catholic voice heard

Fr Bonnie says that Pope Francis’ voice on this issue is held “in very high esteem” in Asia, especially among Muslim leaders. While he is “popular among people”, Fr Bonnie says, it’s harder to make the Catholic voice heard at the level of governments or political leaders.

While the document urges governments to adopt a “human security perspective”, rather than simply a “national security perspective” on migration, Fr Bonnie says these two should not be seen in conflict with each other, but rather melded together.

Looking for long term solutions

He notes that the increasing difficulties in obtaining regular visas are leading people to become more and more desperate, putting children “on boats, trawlers, anything to get them across borders”. He challenges a negative, short term vision of the current challenges, recalling the case of the Rohingya refugees from Burma. In the 1980s, he said, civil society in Pakistan proposed they could be settled in Arab countries, but leaders there said “They’re Muslims, but not Arabs, so we can’t take them”.

West needs migrant labour

Fr Bonnie highlights how Pope Francis sees the long term needs, not from a legal perspective, but with the mind of a pastor who “understands the sufferings of the poor”. His focus is on compassion, mercy and charity, he says, but also on justice which is important.

The current challenges have been exacerbated by the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, Fr Bonnie says, yet western countries today need migrants to fill the labour market.  A country like Canada or Australia “could open its doors to many more”, he says, but also Arab countries like Saudi Arabia which has lots of space, jobs and opportunities.

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has sent a handwritten message to Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, full of well-wishes for his name day.

The feast day of the apostle St. Bartholomew is celebrated in the Oriental Churches on 11 June.

"May Catholics and Orthodox continue on the path towards full communion, working together to promote peace, cooperation, and dialogue at all levels," the Pope wrote.

Recalling their recent trip to Egypt, Pope Francis wrote of their shared "conviction that the witness offered by Christians of their ever-greater fraternal bonds will be a sign of hope and consolation for the whole world". 

Addressing the Patriarch as his "dear brother in Christ", the Pope recalled the words of an Orthodox hymn.

"To the Church thou hast appeared as a great daystar; with thy teachings as thy rays and beams of awesome miracles, thou hast enlightened those praising thee, the Lord's Apostle, O sacred Bartholomew."

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Vatican City, Jun 13, 2017 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The last meeting of the head of dicasteries of the Roman Curia took place last May 29. Among other issues, the meeting discussed the possibility of priests being incardinated directly into ecclesial movements rather than into a diocese.

 
Pope Francis made the issue a central topic of his regular meeting with the head of dicasteries, though these kind of meetings usually deal with topics related to the government and the organization of the Roman Curia.

Via “incardination,” a member of the clergy is placed under the jurisdiction of a bishop or, in the case of a religious, an ecclesiastical superior.

Aside from dioceses and religious institutes, only personal prelatures and ordinariates can incardinate priests.

Some ecclesial movements have been asking for some time to have priests directly incardinated.

The request of the movements is based on the fact that there are priests whose vocation is born and nurtured within a specific ecclesial movement.

According to their argument, these priests should not be bound to a diocese, and should be free to live their vocation within the movement, moving from place to place according to the needs or the requests of their particular movement.

Under the current situation, bishops and the priests of movements who are under their jurisdiction have had to find a balance between the movement's charism and the needs of the diocese.

During the May 29 meeting, Pope Francis largely listened, and did not express an opinion. However, his thought may be deduced from his recent words in other contexts.
 
At a meeting on April 27 with Catholic Action – a movement founded in Italy 150 years ago – the Pope
said the movement's charism is “profoundly incarnate in the here and now of every diocesan Church,” and that it “takes on true vigour by responding to, and making its own, the pastoral outreach of each diocesan Church.”

“Nor can you be like those groups that are so universal that they are not based anywhere, answer to no one, and are always on the lookout for what they suits them wherever they go,” he told them.

Pope Francis reiterated the importance of dioceses a month later, during his May 27 visit to Genoa.

Speaking with the clergy and religious of the city, Pope Francis underscored the importance for charisms of staying attached to the concrete realities of a diocese or project.

While a congregation might be “universal” in the sense that it has houses throughout the world, the “concreteness” of involvement in the diocese helps give the order “roots,” allowing it to remain and also to grow as they see different needs come up, he reflected.
 
The incardination of priests to movements would have a significant impact on such groups as the Focolare Movement, Communion and Liberation, Cançao Nova, or Shalom.
 
Some have speculated that the Neocatecumenal Way might also benefit from the possibility of incardinating its own priests.
 
The incardination problem in fact leaves open several questions: if a priest is directly incardinated in the movement, will he refer to a bishop or to the leader of the movement? And what happens if the leader is a lay person?
 
Cardinal Gerhard Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said at a book presentation June 1 that the incardination issue “is not about building parallel Churches. It is rather a matter of working together. We are called to a further reflection, being very careful not to lose the Church’s sacramental structure.”
 
Cardinal Müller hinted at the possibility of a communion of movements. The need, however, is to make it evident that priests are of the Church and not of the movements. Otherwise, the same movements risk to remain closed to the universal Church.
 
Referring to the possibility of a community of movements, Cardinal Müller talked about charismatic movements, which “can enrich the Church with their spirituality, with the tradition of the territories they live in, with choosing a certain spirituality. This spirituality must anyway favor the Church. It must not be stuck in the temptation to stay within a group, to build a too much enclosed and selective identity. Masses are not private. They must be open to all Catholics.”

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Robert Duncan

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- People cannot sit back and be indifferent or unresponsive to growing poverty in the world as a privileged minority accumulates "ostentatious wealth," Pope Francis said.

"God created the heavens and the earth for all; yet sadly some have erected barriers, walls and fences, betraying the original gift meant for all humanity, with none excluded," the pope said in a message for the first World Day of the Poor.

The newly established commemoration and the period of reflection and action preceding it are meant to help Christians develop and maintain a more consistent and sincere lifestyle built on sharing, simplicity and the essential truths of the Gospel, the pope said in the message released June 13, the feast of St. Anthony of Padua.

The World Day of the Poor -- to be marked each year on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary time -- will be celebrated Nov. 19 this year and will focus on the Apostle John's call to love "not with words, but with deeds."

There are so many forms of material and spiritual poverty that poison people's hearts and harm their dignity, the pope said in his message, and "we must respond with a new vision of life and society."

Too often Christians have taken on "a worldly way of thinking" and forgotten to keep their gaze and goals focused on Christ, who is present in those who are broken and vulnerable.

An admonition by St. John Chrysostom "remains ever timely," the pope said, quoting: "If you want to honor the body of Christ, do not scorn it when it is naked; do not honor the eucharistic Christ with silk vestments and then, leaving the church, neglect the other Christ suffering from cold and nakedness."

"Poverty has the face of women, men and children exploited by base interests, crushed by the machinations of power and money," he said. "What a bitter and endless list we would have to compile were we to add the poverty born of social injustice, moral degeneration, the greed of a chosen few and generalized indifference."

"Tragically, in our own time, even as ostentatious wealth accumulates in the hands of the privileged few, often in connection with illegal activities and the appalling exploitation of human dignity, there is a scandalous growth of poverty in broad sectors of society throughout our world," Pope Francis wrote. "Faced with this scenario, we cannot remain passive, much less resigned."

Christians must reach out to the poor as Christ did and commanded, the pope said. The poor, in fact, "are not a problem, they are a resource" rich in dignity and God-given gifts that can help Christians better understand the essential truth of the Gospel.

"Blessed, therefore, are the open hands that embrace the poor and help them: They are hands that bring hope," he said. "Blessed are the hands that reach beyond every barrier of culture, religion and nationality and pour the balm of consolation over the wounds of humanity. Blessed are the open hands that ask nothing in exchange, with no 'ifs' or 'buts' or 'maybes': They are hands that call down God's blessing upon their brothers and sisters."

Pope Francis said a good role model was his namesake, St. Francis of Assisi, who kept his gaze fixed on Christ so as to be "able to see and serve him in the poor." The pope took the name of this saint during the conclave that elected him in 2013 after another cardinal told him, "Don't forget the poor."

"If we want to help change history and promote real development, we need to hear the cry of the poor and commit ourselves to ending their marginalization," the pope wrote in his message.

Just a few days before the end of the extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis spoke of his desire to have a special day dedicated to the poor.

As the doors of mercy were set to be closed around the world, "let us ask for the grace not to close our eyes to God, who sees us and to our neighbor who asks something of us," the pope said in that homily in November 2016. However, straying from his prepared text that day, the pope told those gathered, "I would like today to be the 'day of the poor'" to underline everyone's responsibility "to care for the true riches, which are the poor."

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, told reporters the pope envisioned the day as a way for the whole church to reflect on the Gospel sense of poverty -- seeking and receiving only the essential -- and then to act and concretely share the essential treasure of God's love and mercy.

Local churches should dedicate the week preceding the World Day of the Poor to creative initiatives fostering encounter, friendship, solidarity and concrete assistance, the papal message said. The pontifical council will release a pastoral guide in September to help parishes in their planning, the archbishop said.

The idea is to stir people's consciences and to understand more deeply what the Gospel teaches, he said.

It's not about handing out change in order to feel better about oneself, the archbishop said; it's about becoming truly concerned and invested in the other and seeing him or her as a brother or sister in God.

The pope will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Nov. 19 with the poor and volunteers and will offer lunch afterward for "at least 500 poor" in the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall, Archbishop Fisichella said, adding that many local churches and Catholic organizations in Rome would be offering similar gestures of a shared meal.

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Editors: The pope's message in English can be found at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/poveri/documents/papa-francesco_20170613_messaggio-i-giornatamondiale-poveri-2017.html

In Spanish:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/messages/poveri/documents/papa-francesco_20170613_messaggio-i-giornatamondiale-poveri-2017.html

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