(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday met with the Nomadelfia community here at the Vatican.Nomadelfia is a group of Catholic volunteers seeking to build a new civilization according to the Gospel, living in a way that is based the early Christian communities.Listen to Ann Schneible’s report: Reflecting on the mystery of the Son of God becoming Man, the Pope said, Advent is an opportunity to reflect on how we should not “place ourselves above others, but we are called to lower ourselves, to serve out of love for the weakest, to make ourselves little with the little ones.”The Holy Father turned his reflection to the founder of the Nomadelfia community, Fr Zeno Saltini.Fr Saltini, he said, remains “present to us today as an example of a faithful disciple of Christ who, in imitation of the Divine teacher, bends to the suffering of the weakest and poorest, becoming a witness of inexhaustible charity.”Pope Francis spoke to the community members about th...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Saturday met with the Nomadelfia community here at the Vatican.
Nomadelfia is a group of Catholic volunteers seeking to build a new civilization according to the Gospel, living in a way that is based the early Christian communities.
Listen to Ann Schneible’s report:
Reflecting on the mystery of the Son of God becoming Man, the Pope said, Advent is an opportunity to reflect on how we should not “place ourselves above others, but we are called to lower ourselves, to serve out of love for the weakest, to make ourselves little with the little ones.”
The Holy Father turned his reflection to the founder of the Nomadelfia community, Fr Zeno Saltini.
Fr Saltini, he said, remains “present to us today as an example of a faithful disciple of Christ who, in imitation of the Divine teacher, bends to the suffering of the weakest and poorest, becoming a witness of inexhaustible charity.”
Pope Francis spoke to the community members about their “spiritual heritage” which is tied in a special way to the “welcoming of children” and caring for the elderly.
“Children and elderly build the future of peoples: children, because they are able to advance history; the elderly because they transmit the experience and wisdom of their lives.”
The Pope urged them to not tire of cultivating “this dialogue between the generations.”
Pope Francis concluded by wishing everyone a happy journey towards Christmas, and gave them his blessing.
Pope Francis waves while traveling by boat in Venice, Italy, for a meeting with young people at the Basilica della Madonna della Salute on April 28, 2024. Earlier in the day he met with inmates at a women's prison. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).Pope Francis opened his one-day visit to Venice on Sunday morning with a meeting with female inmates where he reaffirmed the importance of fraternity and human dignity, noting that prison can be a place of new beginnings. "A stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute," the pope said to the female inmates gathered in the intimate courtyard of the Women's Prison on the Island of Giudecca. Pope Francis left the Vatican by helicopter at approximately 6:30 in the mo...
Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist inside St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on April 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNARome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 09:35 am (CNA).Pope Francis had a full slate of events Sunday during his day trip to Venice, a trip that tied together a message of unity and fraternity with the artistic patrimony of a city that has been a privileged place of encounter across the centuries. "Faith in Jesus, the bond with him, does not imprison our freedom. On the contrary, it opens us to receive the sap of God's love, which multiplies our joy, takes care of us like a skilled vintner, and brings forth shoots even when the soil of our life becomes arid," the pope said to over 10,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Mark's Square. Framing his homily during the Mass on the theme of unity, one of the central points articulated throughout several audiences spread across the morning, Pope Francis reminded Christians: "Remaining ...
Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghieraRome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto. "During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away," Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. "It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe." "Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this 'flight to the East' and felt the need to find new forms of sp...