Catholic News 2

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(Vatican Radio) In the weakness of temptation, which we all experience, the grace of Jesus helps us to not hide ourselves from the Lord, but to seek forgiveness in order to get up and go forward. That was Pope Francis’ message during the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. The Holy Father was reflecting on the devil’s temptation both of Adam and Eve, in the first Reading, and of Jesus in the Gospel. With Satan, the Pope said, there is no dialogue, because dialogue with the devil ends in sin and corruption.

Listen to Christopher Wells' report: 

The devil uses dialogue to deceive

Temptations lead us to hide ourselves from the Lord, so that we remain with our “fault,” our “sin,” our “corruption.” Beginning with the first Reading, from the Book of Genesis, Pope Francis focused on the temptation of Adam and Eve, and then considered that of Jesus in the desert. The devil appears in the form of a serpent: he is “attractive,” and with his cunning he seeks “to deceive.” In this he is a specialist, he is “the father of lies,” “a liar.” So he knows how to deceive and how to “cheat” people. This is what he did with Eve: he made her “feel good,” the Pope explained, and so he began to dialogue with her; and, step by step, Satan led her where he wanted. With Jesus it is different; it ended badly for the devil, the Pope said. “He tries to dialogue” with Christ, because when the devil deceives a person he does so with dialogue.” He attempts to deceive Him, but Jesus does not give in. Then the devil is revealed for who he is. Jesus answers him, not with His own words, but with the Word of God, because “you can’t dialogue with the devil”; you’ll end up, like Adam and Eve, “naked”:

“The devil is a bad paymaster, he doesn’t pay well. He is a cheat! He promises you everything and leaves you naked. Jesus, too, ended up naked, but on the Cross, through obedience to the Father: this is a different path. The serpent, the devil is cunning: you can’t dialogue with the devil. We all know what temptations are, we all know, because we all have them. So many temptations! Of vanity, pride, greed, avarice… so many!”

Corruption begins in small things

Today, the Pope said, there is a lot of talk of corruption; and for this, too, we should ask for the Lord’s help:

“There are so many corrupt people, corrupt ‘big fish’ in the world, whose lives we read about in the papers. Perhaps they began with a small thing, I don’t know, maybe not adjusting the scales well. What was a kilo… no, let’s make it 900 grams, but that will seem like a kilo. Corruption begins in small things like this, with dialogue: ‘No, it’s not true that this fruit will harm you. Eat it, it’s good! It’s a little thing, no one will notice. Do it! Do it!’ And little by little, little by little, you fall into sin, you fall into corruption.”

In temptation, you don’t dialogue: you pray

The Church teaches us in this way, the Pope said, so we will not be deceived – not to say foolish – so that when we are tempted we have our “eyes open” and know to ask the Lord for help, “because we can’t do it on our own.” Adam and Eve hid themselves from the Lord; on the contrary, it takes the grace of Jesus in order to “turn and seek forgiveness”:

“In temptation, you don’t dialogue, you pray: ‘Help me, Lord, I am weak. I don’t want to hide from you.’ This is courage, this is winning. When you start to dialogue, you end up overcome, defeated. May the Lord give us that grace, and accompany us in this courage. And if we are deceived because of our weakness in temptation, may He grant us the courage to get up and go forward. It’s for this that Jesus came, for this.”

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Friday spoke about the situations of “light and shadow” in the healthcare sector, thanking God for the “many healthcare professionals who live their work like a mission, with knowledge and conscience”.

The Holy Father’s words came in an address to the participants in a meeting promoted by the Charity and Health Commission of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) organized for the occasion of the 25th World Day for the Sick (11 February).

Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:

Pope Francis told the group of Italian healthcare professionals that there have been many social and cultural changes in the years since Pope St. John Paul II instituted the World Day of the Sick in 1992.

He said that today we see “a situation with lights and shadows”.

Regarding the “lights” in the field of healthcare, the Holy Father said, “Scientific research has certainly advanced and we are grateful for the precious results obtained for curing, if not defeating, some pathologies.”

He praised God for the missionary zeal of healthcare professionals who “are participants in the effusive love of the Creator God; with their hands they daily touch the suffering flesh of Christ”. He also expressed his joy for the numerous volunteers who seek “to relieve and humanize the long and difficult days of many sick and elderly people”.

Pope Francis went on to speak about the “shadows” in healthcare, which “risk endangering the experience of our sick brothers and sisters”.

“If there is a sector in which the throwaway culture makes most visible its painful consequences, it is exactly that of healthcare. When a sick person is not placed at the center and considered in their dignity, attitudes arise which can even lead to profiteering on other people’s misfortunes.”

The Pope made reference to his Message for the 25th World Day for the Sick, saying “In the first place is the inalienable dignity of every human person from the moment of conception until their last breath.”

He said monetary concerns should neither dictate political and administrative decisions, nor the selection of those who manage sanitary structures.

Pope Francis exhorted healthcare workers to “never hesitate even to rethink their works of charity in order to offer a sign of the mercy of God to the poorest who, in trust and hope, knock on the doors of your structures.”

Finally, the Pope said, “Sick people are precious members of the Church.”

“May they be strong in their weakness, ‘and receive the grace to fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church.’”

Those sufferings, he said, “are forever transfigured by love.”

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Vatican Weekend for February 11th, 2017 features a review of Pope Francis’ General Audience, shocking testimony about the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo from a Caritas official, a look at the grim reality of the illegal trafficking of human organs that was the topic of a Vatican conference and Part 2 of a special program exploring the historical context of the signing of the 1929 Lateran Pacts that led to the creation of the Vatican City State.

Listen to this program produced and presented by Susy Hodges: 

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Vatican Weekend for February 12th, 2017 features our weekly reflection on the Sunday Gospel reading, “There’s more in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye,” plus our resident Vatican watcher Joan Lewis reviews the past week’s events in the Vatican.

Listen to this program produced and presented by Susy Hodges: 

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(Vatican Radio) If you listen carefully to what Pope Francis has been telling us about communicating, there’s much more to it than just conveying facts, figures or opinions;  he says it’s about sharing, listening, closeness, acceptance and truth.

Again and again, he asks journalists, writers, reporters, bloggers and all those who communicate through social media to put their abilities and gifts at the service of the common good in a perspective of true encounter and exchange.

Alessandro Gisotti, a veteran journalist at Vatican Radio and a member of the Secretariat of Communications’ project for Vatican social media, has taken Pope Francis’ advice to heart and compiled a ‘guide’ book for all those, professionals and non, who want to get the message across.

Linda Bordoni talked to him about his recently published “Decalogue of the good communicator according to Pope Francis”…

Listen: 

Alessandro Gisotti says the aim of the book is to provide a guide and to help the reader find good paths of communication “centered in the dignity of the human person”.

He points out that a good communicator, as Pope Francis has mentioned many times, is someone who “builds bridges between persons and communities without exclusion, ‘because the essence of real communication is love’”.

Cardinal Luis Tagle, President of Caritas Internationalis – a great communicator himself – has written the preface for Gisotti’s book, praising the initiative and inviting readers to ‘use’ it to reflect on how God’s word and love can guide us as we communicate with others.

And this is exactly what Gisotti has chosen to do, dividing the book into 10 chapters, each of them containing a ‘commandment’ and a quote with practical and concrete examples to help us on our way…

“The Ten Commandments are directly inspired by Pope Francis, by his words, his gestures and also by his silence” he says.     

Saying that each reader can choose his favorite rule (or Commandment), Gisotti says that the one closest to his own heart is number Seven: “the easiest to say, the most difficult to apply: listen and then communicate”.

The importance of listening he says is often underlined by Pope Francis who says one listens with one’s heart, not only with one’s ears, and this is what makes the difference.

The book is interspersed not only with quotes by the Pope but with many literary and practical references. Gisotti quotes Shakespeare, Alessandro Manzoni and Borges, but also figures from the daily news like Pietro Maso in prison for having murdered his own family for money and who has received a telephone call from Bergoglio; and Vinicio, a poor man with a disfiguring disease, who was embraced by the Pope with great naturalness – a powerful gesture of love and acceptance which changed the way most of us had viewed him up until that moment.

Gisotti describes that embrace as an iconic moment, almost a symbol of Pope Francis’ pontificate:

“In his first message for World Communications Day Francis wrote that the power of communications is closeness. I think that through this embrace with a man with a disfiguring disease the Pope has shown us how closeness can give dignity back to people and start a new dynamic of mercy and reconciliation” he says.

Chapter Nine is particularly interesting as it deals with issues dealing with the need for true encounter and exchange in the digital world…

Gisotti says that for Pope Francis communication must be at the service of an authentic culture of encounter and this of course applies to the digital world as well.

“The Pope has affirmed that the internet is not a network of wires; it’s a network of people, and therefore the internet can help us be better citizens” he says.

So, Gisotti concludes, it is up to us to be a true presence of mercy in the social network, committed to building a society of fraternal relations within our “one human family”.

“I hope, he says, that this little book can give a real contribution” helping us to become a real presence of mercy, also in the social network.”       

 

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India's Latin-rite Catholic bishops have pledged to give special pastoral attention to people estranged from the Church and their families.  During the 29th plenary assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh state, 137 bishops from the country’s Latin dioceses discussed on how to revitalize Catholic families who are drifting away from vital Catholic teachings.  The theme was inspired by Pope Francis' 2016 exhortation, 'Amoris Laetitia' (The Joy of Love).  "We will reach out to those who for several reasons feel estranged from the church … including people who are divorced, those civilly remarried and cohabiting partners," the Latin bishops said in a final statement.   They said they would do this keeping in mind Pope Francis' words that "what is urgently needed today is a ministry to care for those whose marital relationship has broken down."  They also pledged "to support and accompany" families that need special care such as those living in dire poverty, with spouses of two different religions, single parent families, families with disabled children, grieving and bereaved families, migrants and families with sick and elderly members.

To strengthen family life, the bishops also planned to intensify preparatory classes given to couples before marriage and encourage priests and nuns to "accompany families" through regular visits and contact.  "We will ensure that our priests, catechists and pastoral workers receive better training in family ministry," they said.

Speaking to UCANEWS, Bishop Paul Alois Lakra of Gumla said that the bishops acknowledged that that the current formation of priests and nuns was not adequate to handle the complex problems that families face and they wanted to bring in changes.  Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur said the CCBI’s office for Catholic families has been asked to "work out a uniform programmes to help young boys and girls to prepare themselves for family life that is in line with the teachings of the church."  "When we strengthen the marriage preparation course with more programmes to help them realize their vocation to the sacrament of family, it will naturally help the church and society," he added.

The CCBI together with the eastern rite Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches form the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) the apex body of the Catholic Church in India.  Of the 172 dioceses in India, 132 belong to the Latin rite.  (Source: UCAN)

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The commission investigating deaths and abuses during Nepal's communist insurgency received a one-year extension Thursday after being unable to finish its work on thousands of claims and complaints collected from victims and their families.  The Truth and Reconciliation Commission received 58,052 claims and complaints since 2 commissions were established in 2015 - one to probe enforced disappearances and another to investigate more than  60,000 complaints of violations committed during the war.  More than 17,000 people are believed to have been killed in a decade of fighting between communist rebels and government troops before a United Nations-brokered peace deal ended the conflict in 2006.

It took years for the government to set up the commission, and even longer to establish the laws and regulations for it to function.  The government said in a statement that the decision to extend the commission's tenure was made at a Cabinet meeting Thursday.  The commission has so far only been able to collect the complaints, but it will likely take years to investigate the claims.  Survivors, victim's families, and activists said the extension was not enough. They said current legislation pertaining to war crimes must be amended as currently perpetrators can be granted amnesty.  (Source: AP, Reuters)

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(Vatican Radio) Human rights activists have vowed to sue Hungary at the European Union's top court after the government announced that it will hold asylum seekers in border camps made up of shipping containers while their asylum requests are settled. The container plan is part of a Hungary's tough anti-immigration policy that has raised concerns within the EU and advocacy organizations.

The Hungarian Helsinki Committee, one of the country's leading rights groups, says it will sue Hungary at the European Court of Justice in every case where asylum-seekers in its words illegally kept in custody. That would likely force the Hungarian government to make compensation payments.

In its words the government would do better instead to improve the quality of the open reception centers and spend this money on the integration of people who have found asylum in Hungary.

The announcement came shortly after János Lázár, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's chief of staff, confirmed that the government wants to place migrants fleeing war and poverty in shipping containers. "That location would be at the border. We will set up containers for habitation along the country's borders that could accommodate 200 to 300 people and where the migrants wait until their cases have been decided on," he told reporters. 

MIGRANTS DETAINED

He added that any migrants detained anywhere in Hungary without documents allowing them to be in the country will be returned across the border. Hungary is also is also building four small military bases along the border fence to provide accommodations for some of the 3,000 soldiers on border duty along with police and what are called border hunters.

Human rights activists say Hungary is already holding large numbers of asylum-seekers in closed camps and that the massive, indiscriminate detention of all asylum-seekers in their words "has not been seen in decades in democratic Europe.”

Currently, many asylum-seekers whose claims are under appeal are still placed in mostly in open camps and some leave for Western Europe before their cases are decided.

Migrants detained within 8 kilometers (5 miles) of the border are sent back across the fences Hungary has built on its southern borders with Serbia and Croatia. The government has also warned that Hungary was ready to build a second, stronger fence if needed, on its southern borders.

It is difficult to get asylum in Hungary. The country granted asylum or some form of protection to 425 people in 2016, while receiving 29,432 applications.

Listen: 

 

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(Vatican Radio) On Saturday, Pope Francis named Archbishop Henryk Hoser, S.A.C., the Bishop of Warszawa-Praga, as a Special Envoy of the Holy See to Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The scope of his mission, according to the press release announcing the appointment, is “to acquire a profound understanding of the pastoral situation” in Medjugorje, with special concern for the “needs of the faithful who come on pilgrimage;” and on the basis of that understanding “to suggest possible pastoral initiatives for the future.” His mission, therefore, “will have an exclusively pastoral character.”

Responding to questions from journalists, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke said, “The Special Envoy of the Holy See will not enter into the question of the Marian apparitions, which are the competence of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.” Archbishop Hoser’s mission, he said, “is a sign of Holy Father’s concern for the pilgrims. It’s purpose is not inquisitive, but strictly pastoral.”

Burke said, “The Special Envoy of the Holy See will be in contact with the diocesan Bishop; the Franciscans, to whom the parish of Medjugorje is entrusted; and with the faithful” of Medjugorje.

Archbishop Hoser, who will continue to exercise the office of Bishop of Warszawa-Praga, is expected to complete his mission by summer. 

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The government of Kenya declares drought situation, a national disaster. The International Federation of the Red Cross says infact 11 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia need help.

Speaking Friday after a brief on the situation on the ground by Cabinet Secretaries involved in drought management and food security at State House Nairobi, President Uhuru Kenyatta called on all stakeholders to support the government by up-scaling drought mitigation programmes.

“Support from our partners would complement government’s efforts in mitigating the effects of drought,” said President Kenyatta.

On Tuesday this week, The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) called on the government to declare drought a national disaster noting that about 2.4 million in the country needed help urgently.

 “We hasten to appeal to the Government to declare the current drought a national disaster in order to beckon the international community to step forward and support the many Kenyans who are suffering from this predicament,” said Bishop Philip Anyolo, chairman of the KCCB at a press conference held at Waumini house, Nairobi.

The Bishops called on Christians and people of good will to join hands in solidarity with the Church by contributing funds, food and non-food items to save lives of those affected.

The bishops noted that such a declaration would “beckon the international community to support Kenyans who are suffering from this predicament.”

President Kenyatta appealed to the local and international partners to come in and support the government’s efforts to contain the situation which has affected not only human beings and livestock but also wild animals.

The Kenyan President said that the government would fast track and upscale its mitigation programmes to ensure that drought situation was properly contained.

According to the news agency, AP, the drought situation goes beyond Kenya. It is a regional crisis. On Friday, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said the worsening drought is putting 11 million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia in urgent need of help.

(CISA in Nairobi /AP)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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