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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has recalled the 75th anniversary of the Lidice massacre at the hands of the Nazi regime during his weekly General Audience on Wednesday.

In a special Czech-language greeting to pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, the Holy Father invited them to rely “with trust on the intercession of the Holy Virgin, whom you venerate in the icon of the Madonna of Lidice”.

He prayed Our Lady help them “to be courageous witnesses of the Resurrection of Christ, especially in difficult or trying moments”.

The group is participating in a national pilgrimage being led by Cardinal Dominik Duka, Archbishop of Prague.

The village of Lidice (then in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and now in the Czech Republic) was completely destroyed by Nazi troops in 1942.

All 173 men over the age of 15 were killed in reprisal for the assassination of Reich Protector Reinhard Heydrich.

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In a video, a Catholic priest abducted by armed terrorists in southern Philippines, has appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to end every offensive against the abductors in order to free those kidnapped.  Fr. Teresito “Chito” Suganob, the vicar general of Marawi Prelature, who was abducted on 24 May by the Maute group that owes allegiance to Islamic State terrorist group, was seen in a Facebook video on 30 May saying the militants are demanding a stop to the military offensive against them for the sake of the “prisoners of war”, according to CBCPNews of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). 

Maute wants withdrawal of armed forces and an end to airstrikes

‘Mr. President, …. from our heart, please consider us,” Fr. Suganob in mufti and a flowing white beard appealed in English.  “They don’t ask for anything, they just ask that you leave this place peacefully.”  “We are in the midst of this war we are asking your help to please give what they are asking for,” he said, adding the abductors are demanding withdrawal of armed forces and an end to air strikes.  The vicar general of the Marawi said altogether they are about 240 “prisoners of war”, including men, women, children and youth.

Abduction after failed raid to capture terrorist leader

Fr. Suganob and more than a dozen others  were abducted from the Cathedral of Our Lady Help of Christians of Marawi, which was set on fire.  The ‎United Church of Christ in the Philippines also reported that the main building, ‎science ‎laboratories, ‎and library of Dansalan College, a Protestant school, were also set on fire‎.   The kidnapping was in reaction to a botched raid to capture militant leader Isnilon Hapilon who is believed to be still in Marawi. Following the abduction, President Rodrigo Duterte went on the offensive, declaring martial law in the southern third of the nation. 

The video which could not be independently verified, shows the priest standing in a street amidst partially destroyed buildings, with occasional gunshots.  The video, first surfaced on the Facebook account of a certain “Datumasa Khalid”, but is now reported to be on YouTube. Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the video seems authentic, but Fr. Suganob appeared to be speaking under duress and militants are apparently using the video for propaganda. 

Fr. Suganob warned that the relentless military offensive will just put the lives of the hostages at risk because the militants are “ready to die for their religion”.    ``We want to live another day, we want to live another month,'' the priest said.  `We want to live few years and in your generosity, Mr. president, in your heart, we know you can make something.''

Hostages as human shields

Bishop Edwin de la Pena of Marawi Prelature who said it was Fr. Suganob in the video, had earlier said he received a call from a supposed Maute militant demanding a “unilateral ceasefire” by the military, failing which they would “kill the hostages.”  He said the hostages were being used as human shields. 

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis has greeted young people in Poland gathered for an annual prayer meeting at Lake Lednica, where Poland was “baptized” and became a Christian country in the person of its pagan leader Mieszko in 966.

During his General Audience, Pope Francis asked Mary to guide the Lednica Youth Meeting , which this year carries the motto “Go forth and love”.

He said when Mary heard this call in her heart, she “went to Elizabeth to share the joy of her encounter and to offer her tangible aid.”

The Holy Father went on to call Zacchaeus the “second patron” of the meeting.

He said Jesus “wishes to come to send you to your brothers, so that you share His love. He knows it isn’t easy, so he sends the Holy Spirit who will fill you with His strength”.

The Lednica Youth Movement is a youth ministry promoted by the Dominican friars of Poland.  

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis continued his catechesis on Christian Hope at Wednesday’s General Audience, taking as his starting point a reading from St Paul’s Letter to the Romans:

Rom 15, 13-14: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I myself am convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another.

The Holy Father said that in light of the upcoming feast of Pentecost, “we cannot fail to speak of the relationship between Christian hope and the Holy Spirit.” Hope, he said, quoting the Letter to the Hebrews, can be compared to an anchor, but also to a sail; like an anchor it gives us security, but like a sail it pushes us forward.

Pope Francis focused on the words “God of hope,” saying that God is not simply the object of hope; He also makes us “joyful in hope,” giving us here and now the joy of hoping, not just the hope of having joy in the future.

This joy comes from knowing that we are made sons of God, and His heirs. Repeating a constant theme in his preaching, the Pope said that “hope does not disappoint,” because the Spirit is within us, always pushing us onward.

But, he continued, the Holy Spirit does not simply give us hope. He also makes us capable of being “sowers of hope.” A Christian can spread bitterness and hopelessness, but one who does that is not a good Christian. Quoting Blessed John Henry Newman, the Pope said we must be “consolers” in the image of the Spirit, always ready to help those most in need.

The Spirit, he said, also gives hope to all of creation, and this impels us to respect the world God has created.

Pope Francis concluded his reflection by pointing once again to the Solemnity of Pentecost, the “birthday of the Church.” He prayed that the feast may find us united in prayer, with Mary, the Mother and Jesus and our Mother; and prayed, too, that the gift of the Spirit might make us abound in hope. 

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New Delhi, India, May 31, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A member of India’s Legislative Assembly is encouraging the Church to raise money for the release of kidnapped priest Father Tom Uzhunnalil, claiming a need for concrete action beyond prayer.

Legislative member P.C. George expressed concern that prayer and words are the only action taken to release Fr. Tom, and said the terrorists only “want money.”

“The Catholic Church should take initiative to raise the fund to pay as ransom to them,” he said, according to Manorama on May 27.

The legislator said he would be willing to donate money, and suggested local churches set aside a particular collection to raise the money necessary for the freedom of priest, who was kidnapped last year by terrorists while serving the poor in Yemen.

George’s words followed a similar call to action from Kerela chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan a day before. Vijayan emphasized the serious nature of kidnapping and the need to speed up the process of his rescue.

“I will directly request Prime Minister to speed up efforts for his rescue during our next meeting in New Delhi,” he said, according to the Deccan Chronicle, adding that little interest has been shown so far to hasten the process.

Fr. Tom is an Indian priest who was kidnapped last year during a raid on a house of the Missionaries of Charity in Yemen, which left four nuns dead. The attack was carried out by unknown militants, making it difficult for Indian officials to broker an agreement.

In ransom videos, Fr. Tom has said that the government’s response to his abduction has been poor.

The most recent video was posted last month. It shows the priest sitting cross-legged with a cardboard sign dated April 15, 2017 and speaking slowly to the camera. Similar to previous videos, he expressed a need to be hospitalized soon and that his health was deteriorating. Fr. Tom appears to be thin with an unkempt beard. A member of India’s Legislative Assembly is encouraging the Church to raise money for the release of kidnapped priest Father Tom Uzhunnalil, claiming a need for concrete action beyond prayer.

George and Vijayan insisted that serious steps be taken, and called on the government and Church to be more responsive.

Vijayan, however, explained the difficulty in intervening within Yemen’s affairs, currently characterized by violence, and said it may be necessary to involve the United Nations.

The Yemen civil war began in March 2015 when Sunni-led government was challenged by Shia rebels. Creating a power vacuum, the war allowed Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State to have a greater foothold in the country. Military factions from Saudi Arabia have also been involved. According to the United Nations, more than 6,000 people have been killed.

 

 

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Vatican City, May 31, 2017 / 05:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit has the power to fill us with the hope of Christ, in turn making us Christians vessels that bring hope to others, rather than bitterness or desperation.

“The Holy Spirit makes us not only able to hope, but also to be sowers of hope, that we too are, like him and thanks to him – the “paraclete” – consolers and defenders of our brothers, sowers of hope,” Pope Francis said May 31.

“A Christian can sow bitterness, can sow perplexity, and this is not Christian,” he said, adding: “whoever does this is not a good Christian. Sow hope: sow the oil of hope, sow the fragrance of hope, and not the vinegar of bitterness and hopelessness.”
 
Francis continued his reflections on the virtue of hope during the weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square, this time centering on the role of the Holy Spirit in anticipation of the Feast of Pentecost.

Hope is simultaneously, as St. Paul tells us in his letter to the Hebrews, like an anchor and a sail, the Pope said. “If the anchor is what gives the boat safety and keeps it ‘anchored’ between the waves of the sea, the sail, instead, is what makes it proceed and advance on the waters.”

“Hope is really like a sail; it collects the wind of the Holy Spirit and transforms it into a driving force pushing the boat, depending on the case, offshore or to shore,” he explained.

“The Spirit is the wind that drives us forward, that keeps us on the road, makes us hear pilgrims and strangers, and does not allow us to sit and become a ‘sedentary’ people.”

This is why hope does not disappoint: “because there is the Holy Spirit within us that pushes us forward, always!” he said.

It’s also because of the Holy Spirit that we have the ability to rest in hope, and have hope even “against all hope,” as St. Paul says in Romans, the Pope continued.  

To illustrate his point, Francis pointed to Abraham’s obedience when God asked him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, and to the Virgin Mary as she stood at the foot of the cross of her son, Jesus, as examples of this supernatural hope.

It is possible to have this kind of “invincible” hope, he said, because the Holy Spirit helps us to recognize that we are children and heirs of God.

Again pointing to St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, Francis noted that “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

“The expression ‘God of hope’ does not just mean that God is the object of our hope, that is, the one we hope to reach one day in eternal life; it also means that God is the one who already makes us hope, indeed, makes us ‘happy in hope,’” he said.

According to a popular saying, “as long as there is life, there is hope.” While this is true, the Pope said that the opposite is also true: “As long as there is hope, there is life. Men need hope to live.”  

Quoting from a speech of Bl. John Henry Cardinal Newman, Francis said: “Educated by our own suffering, by our own sorrow, indeed by our own sins, we will have a mind and heart practiced in every work of love towards those that have need.”

“We will be, in measure of our capacity, consolers in the image of the Paraclete,” the Pope said. “That is, the Holy Spirit, and in all the senses that this word implies: advocates, helpers, comforters. Our words and our counsel, our way of acting, our voice, our gaze, will be gentle and peaceful.”

“Brothers and sisters, the coming feast of Pentecost – which is the birthday of the Church, eh? –  we find ourselves together in prayer, with Mary, the Mother of Jesus and of us,” he said in conclusion.

“And the gift of the Holy Spirit makes us abound in hope,” he said, but explained that there is more: the Holy Spirit “makes us ‘waste’ hope with all those who are most needy, the most discarded and with all those who need it.”

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