VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Often enough, the first people who need to be evangelized are Christians themselves, Pope Francis said."A Christian who is discontented, sad, dissatisfied, or worse still, resentful or rancorous, is not credible" and will not attract anyone to a relationship with Jesus and a life of faith, the pope said Nov. 15 at his weekly general audience.After almost a year of audience talks about "zeal for evangelization" and highlighting the example of saints and other exemplary men and women from around the world, Pope Francis said his last talks in the series would focus on four points from his 2013 apostolic exhortation, "The Joy of the Gospel."The first point, the subject of his talk Nov. 15, was the essential role of joy in the life of Christians and in their ability to share the Gospel with others."The Gospel is not an ideology; the Gospel is a proclamation of joy," he said. "All ideologies are cold, but the Gospel has the warmth of joy. Ideologies don't make people...
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Often enough, the first people who need to be evangelized are Christians themselves, Pope Francis said.
"A Christian who is discontented, sad, dissatisfied, or worse still, resentful or rancorous, is not credible" and will not attract anyone to a relationship with Jesus and a life of faith, the pope said Nov. 15 at his weekly general audience.
After almost a year of audience talks about "zeal for evangelization" and highlighting the example of saints and other exemplary men and women from around the world, Pope Francis said his last talks in the series would focus on four points from his 2013 apostolic exhortation, "The Joy of the Gospel."
The first point, the subject of his talk Nov. 15, was the essential role of joy in the life of Christians and in their ability to share the Gospel with others.
"The Gospel is not an ideology; the Gospel is a proclamation of joy," he said. "All ideologies are cold, but the Gospel has the warmth of joy. Ideologies don't make people smile, but the Gospel is a smile. It makes you smile because it touches your soul with the Good News."
Pope Francis speaks about the essential role joy plays in evangelization during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Nov. 15, 2023. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)
Saying the first people who need to be evangelized are Christians themselves, the pope asked those gathered for the audience to reflect on how well they preserve and share the joy of knowing that God sent his son into the world, that Jesus loves each person always, that he offered his life out of love and wants to give each person eternal life.
Especially in places where it seems most people are not interested in religion, he said, Christians must recognize that "humanity abounds with brothers and sisters waiting for a word of hope."
People are waiting to hear the Gospel message "even today," the pope said. "People of all times need it, even the civilization of programmed unbelief and institutionalized secularity; indeed, especially the society that leaves the spaces of religious meaning deserted. This is the right moment for the proclamation of Jesus."
Through a relationship with Jesus, "joy is always born and reborn. Don't forget this," he said. "And if any of us do not perceive this joy, let us ask ourselves whether we have found Jesus."
Departing from his prepared text, Pope Francis said, "Today each one of us should take a bit of time and think: Jesus, you are within me. I want to encounter you each day. You are a person, not an idea. You are a companion on the journey, not a program. You are love that resolves so many problems. You are the starting point of evangelization. You, Jesus, are the source of joy."
Pope Francis meets with the Spanish bishops at the Vatican on Nov. 28, 2023. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Nov 28, 2023 / 17:50 pm (CNA).Pope Francis met with Spanish bishops at the Vatican today to inform them of the conclusions of the apostolic visit made to the country's seminaries in early 2023.Before discussing the report, the preacher of the papal household, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, offered those present a meditation starting at 8 a.m. that took Pentecost as its starting point.The Holy Father joined the meeting once the meditation began, and when it was over there was an extensive conversation for about two hours. After a break, the meeting with those responsible for the Dicastery for the Clergy began.During a press conference, the president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference (CEE), Cardinal Juan José Omella, stated that it soon became clear that the meeting with the pontiff "was not about chewing them out or condemning anyone. It was to see how we can impro...
null / Credit: ShutterstockACI Prensa Staff, Nov 28, 2023 / 12:15 pm (CNA).The discussion about the decriminalization of euthanasia in Ecuador started Nov. 20 when the country's constitutional court began to evaluate the arguments for and against the request of a woman with an incurable disease who seeks to end her life.Here are the key points to understand in the debate:1. In Ecuador, euthanasia is illegal.Euthanasia is illegal in Ecuador. The country's constitution establishes in Article 66 "the right to the inviolability of life" and "to personal (physical) integrity." In addition, there is no specific legislation that allows euthanasia or that considers there to be a "right to death."In a recent interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, Pablo Proaño, a lawyer at the law firm Dignidad y Derecho (Dignity and Law) of Ecuador, explained that euthanasia is considered a "crime of homicide" and that the penal code "does not admit of exceptions."He also clarif...
Cardinal Raymond Burke at EWTN's studio in Rome during the canonization of St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII. / Credit: Steven Driscoll/CNAVatican City, Nov 28, 2023 / 13:34 pm (CNA).Pope Francis has stripped one of his top American critics, Cardinal Raymond Burke, of his Vatican housing and salary privileges, the Associated Press is reporting.According to the AP report, which is based on conversations with two anonymous sources briefed on the measures, the pope discussed his planned actions against the American prelate at a Nov. 20 meeting of Vatican office heads.The pope reportedly said that Burke was a source of "disunity" in the Church and that he was using the privileges afforded to retired cardinals against the Church.The Italian Catholic news blog La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana first reported pending actions against Burke on Nov. 27."Cardinal Burke is my enemy, so I take away his apartment and his salary," the pope had said at the Nov. 20 meeting, according to Bussol...
