Speaker:

Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our continuing catechesis on the Acts of the Apostles, we now see Saint Paul welcomed in Corinth by a devout married couple, Aquila and Priscilla, who, like the Apostle, were tentmakers by trade. These two spouses – full of faith in God and of generosity to others – are a paradigm of Christian hospitality; in opening their house to the Apostle, they also embraced the Gospel he came to preach. As the meeting place of the early Christian community in Corinth, their home became a true “domestic church”. When Paul left Corinth for Ephesus, they continued to accompany him in his ministry, and later returned to Rome. As a model of Christian married life, Aquila and Priscilla also remind us of the many families who, by their faith and efforts to proclaim the Good News, have, in every generation, opened their hearts to Christ and made their homes places of fellowship and the worship of God in faith, hope and charity.

Santo Padre:

Saluto i pellegrini di lingua inglese presenti all’odierna Udienza, specialmente i gruppi provenienti da Inghilterra, Danimarca, Australia, Malesia, e Stati Uniti d’America. Su di voi e sulle vostre famiglie invoco la gioia e la pace del Signore Gesù Cristo. Dio vi benedica!

Speaker:

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially the groups from England, Denmark, Australia, Malaysia, and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless you!

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL FOR INCLUSIVE CAPITALISM

Monday, 11 November 2019

Your Eminence,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I extend a cordial welcome to each of you gathered for this meeting of the members of the Council for Inclusive Capitalism. I thank Cardinal Peter Turkson for his kind words offered in your name.

During my meeting three years ago with participants in the Fortune-Time Global Forum 2016, I addressed the need for more inclusive and equitable economic models that would permit each person to share in the resources of this world and have opportunities to realize his or her potential. The 2016 Forum allowed for an exchange of ideas and information aimed at creating a more humane economy and contributing to the eradication of poverty on the global level.

Your Council is one of the results of the 2016 Forum. You have taken up the challenge of realizing the vision of the Forum by seeking ways to make capitalism become a more inclusive instrument for integral human wellbeing. This entails overcoming an economy of exclusion and reducing the gap separating the majority of people from the prosperity enjoyed by the few (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 53-55). Rising levels of poverty on a global scale bear witness to the prevalence of inequality rather than a harmonious integration of persons and nations. An economic system that is fair, trustworthy and capable of addressing the most profound challenges facing humanity and our planet is urgently needed. I encourage you to persevere along the path of generous solidarity and to work for the return of economics and finance to an ethical approach which favours human beings (cf. ibid., 58).

A glance at recent history, in particular the financial crisis of 2008, shows us that a healthy economic system cannot be based on short-term profit at the expense of long-term productive, sustainable and socially responsible development and investment.

It is true that “business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving our world. It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the areas in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good” (Laudato Si’, 129). However, as my predecessor Saint Paul VI reminded us, authentic development cannot be restricted to economic growth alone but must foster the growth of each person and of the whole person (cf. Populorum Progressio, 14). This means more than balancing budgets, improving infrastructures or offering a wider variety of consumer goods. Rather, it involves a renewal, purification and strengthening of solid economic models based on our own personal conversion and generosity to those in need. An economic system detached from ethical concerns does not bring about a more just social order, but leads instead to a “throw away” culture of consumption and waste. On the other hand, when we recognize the moral dimension of economic life, which is one of the many aspects of social doctrine of the Church that must be integrally respected, we are able to act with fraternal charity, desiring, seeking and protecting the good of others and their integral development.

Dear friends, you have set before yourselves the goal of extending the opportunities and benefits of our economic system to all people. Your efforts remind us that those who engage in business and economic life are in fact possessed, as bears repeating, of a noble vocation, one that serves the common good by striving to increase the goods of this world and make them more accessible to all (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 203). In the end, it is not simply a matter of “having more”, but “being more”. What is needed is a fundamental renewal of hearts and minds so that the human person may always be placed at the centre of social, cultural and economic life.

Your presence here is thus a sign of hope, because you have recognized the issues our world is facing and the imperative to act decisively in order to build a better world. I express to you my heartfelt gratitude for your commitment to the promotion of a more just and humane economy, in line with the core principles of the social doctrine of the Church, always taking into account the whole person, both in the present generation and in the ones to come. An inclusive capitalism that leaves no one behind, that discards none of our brothers or sisters, is a noble aspiration, worthy of your best efforts.

I thank you for this meeting and I accompany you with my prayers. Upon all of you, your families and your colleagues, I invoke God’s blessings of wisdom, strength and peace. And I ask you, please, to pray for me. Thank you.

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today’s Gospel reading (see Lk 20: 27-38) offers us a wonderful teaching of Jesus on the resurrection of the dead. Jesus is asked by some Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection and therefore provoke Him with an insidious question: in resurrection, whose wife would be a woman who had seven successive husbands, all brothers, who all died one after another? Jesus does not fall into the trap and replies that the risen in the hereafter “neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection” (vv. 35-36). This is how Jesus responds.

With this answer, Jesus first of all invites His interlocutors – and us too – to think that this earthly dimension in which we live now is not the only dimension, but that there is another, no longer subject to death, in which it will be fully manifested that we are children of God. It gives great consolation and hope to listen to this simple and clear word of Jesus about life beyond death; we need it so much especially in our time, so rich in knowledge about the universe but so poor in wisdom about eternal life.

Jesus’ clear certainty about the Resurrection is based entirely on the fidelity of God, Who is the God of life. In fact, behind the question of the Sadducees lies a deeper question: not only whose wife the widow of the seven husbands will be, but whose will her life be. It is a doubt that touches the man of all times and also us: after this earthly pilgrimage, what will become of our lives? Will it belong to nothing, to death?

Jesus answers that life belongs to God, Who loves us and cares so much about us, to the point of linking His name to ours: He is “the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. Now He is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him”. (vv. 37-38). Life exists where there is bond, communion and brotherhood; and it is a stronger life than death when it is built on true relationships and bonds of fidelity. On the contrary, there is no life where one has the pretension of belonging only to oneself and of living as an island: in these attitudes death prevails. It is selfishness. If I live for myself, I am sowing death in my heart.

May the Virgin Mary help us to live every day from the perspective of what we say in the final part of the Creed: “ We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come”. Awaiting the hereafter. 

After the Angelus, the Pope continued:

Dear brothers and sisters,

Yesterday in Granada, in Spain, María Emilia Riquelme y Zayas, founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament of Mary Immaculate, was proclaimed Blessed. And today, in Braga, Portugal, a Mass of thanksgiving will be celebrated for the equipollent canonization of Saint Bartolomeu Fernandes dos Mártires. The new Blessed was an example of fervour in Eucharistic adoration and was generous in her service to those most in need; while the new Saint was a great evangelizer and pastor of his people. An applause to both the Blesseds!

I address a special thought to the dear people of South Sudan, whom I will visit this [next] year. With the memory, still vivid, of the spiritual retreat for the Authorities of the country, which took place in the Vatican last April, I wish to renew my invitation to all those involved in the national political process to seek that which unites and to overcome what divides, in a spirit of true brotherhood. The South Sudanese people have suffered too much in recent years, and they look forward with great hope to a better future, especially the definitive end of conflicts and a lasting peace. I therefore urge those responsible to continue tirelessly in their commitment to an inclusive dialogue in the search for consensus for the good of the nation. I also express the hope that the international community will not neglect to accompany South Sudan on the path to national reconciliation. I invite you all to pray together for this country, for which I have a particular affection.

[Hail Mary]

I also wish to entrust to your prayers the situation of beloved Bolivia, close to my homeland. I call on all Bolivians, particularly political and social actors, to wait constructively and unconditionally, in a climate of peace and serenity, for the results of the process of the revision of the elections, which is currently under way. In peace.

Today in Italy we celebrate National Thanksgiving Day for the fruits of the earth and work. I join with the bishops in recalling the strong link between bread and work, in the hope of courageous employment policies that take into account dignity and solidarity and prevent the risks of corruption. May workers not be exploited, and may there be work for all: but real work, not slave labour.

I thank all of you who have come from Rome, from Italy and from many other parts of the world. I greet the pilgrims of Haaren, Germany; Darwin, Australia; and the students of Neuilly, France; as well as the faithful of the diocese of Piacenza-Bobbio, and those of Bianzè and Burano.

I wish you all a happy Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Thank you. Have a good lunch and arrivederci!

CONFERRAL OF THE "RATZINGER PRIZE"

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Clementine Hall
Saturday, 9 November 2019

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am pleased this year once again to confer the Ratzinger Prizes in person, which for me is a welcome moment.  Firstly, I wish to express my appreciation for the two distinguished prizewinners who have been presented to us by Cardinal Angelo Amato, President of the Scientific Committee of the Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI Foundation: Professor Charles Taylor and Father Paul Béré, whom I respectfully greet, along with their relatives and those accompanying them on this occasion.  I greet also the leaders and friends of the Foundation.

I am happy to have this opportunity to express again my esteem and affection for my predecessor, dear Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.  We are all grateful for his teaching, and for his exemplary service to the Church, demonstrated by his reflections, his thought and study, his listening, dialogue and prayer.  His aim was that we might consciously retain a lively faith despite the changing times and situations; and that believers could give an account of their faith in a language that can be understood by their contemporaries, entering into dialogue with them, together seeking pathways of authentic encounter with God in our time.

This has always been a keen desire of Joseph Ratzinger the theologian and pastor, who never closed himself off in a disembodied culture of pure concepts, but gave us the example of seeking truth where reason and faith, intelligence and spirituality, are constantly integrated.  All the arts and disciplines thus cooperate in contributing to the full growth of the human person, which is to be found ultimately in the encounter with the living person of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Logos, the revelation of the God who is love.

It is a duty for theology to be and remain in active dialogue with cultures, even as they change over time and evolve differently in various parts of the world.  At the same time, it is a condition necessary for the vitality of Christian faith, for the Church’s mission of evangelization.

It is from this perspective that our two prizewinners have offered important contributions, which we recognize today with gratitude.

During his years of active research and teaching, Professor Taylor has covered many fields, but he has particularly devoted his mind and heart to understanding the phenomenon of secularization in our time.  Secularization effectively poses a significant challenge for the Catholic Church, indeed for all Christians, and for all believers in God.  Pope Benedict repeatedly told us that the priority of his pontificate was to proclaim God anew — the God of Jesus Christ — in a time when that proclamation seems to be on the wane for a large part of humanity.  Few scholars in the present day have posed the problem of secularization with the breadth of vision as has Professor Taylor.  We are indebted to him for the profound manner in which he has treated the problem, carefully analyzing the development of Western culture, the movements of the human mind and heart over time, identifying the characteristics of modernity in their complex relationships, in their shadows and lights.  Thus, he helps us to read in a non-reductive way the reasons for the changes that have taken place in religious practice.  He invites us to intuit and seek new ways to live and express the transcendent dimensions of the human soul, those spiritual dimensions in which the Spirit continues to work imperceptibly.  This allows us to deal with Western secularization in a way that is neither superficial nor given to fatalistic discouragement.  This is needed not only for a reflection on contemporary culture, but also for an in-depth dialogue and discernment in order to adopt the spiritual attitudes suitable for living, witnessing, expressing, and proclaiming the faith in our time.

Father Paul Béré is the first African recipient of the Ratzinger Prize and a renowned scholar of Sacred Scripture.  I am pleased on the occasion of this award to express my appreciation and encouragement to all those committed to inculturation of the faith in Africa through their original and deepened study.  In the first centuries of Christianity, northern Africa gave the Church great figures — Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine — but the spread of Islam followed by centuries of colonialism prevented a true African inculturation of the Christian message until the second half of the last century.  Contemporary African theology is therefore still young, though dynamic and full of promise.  Father Béré provides an example of this by his work on the interpretation of Old Testament texts in a context of oral culture, thus bringing to fruition the experience of African culture.  He has committed himself to making the Synods that he participated in known, understood, and received in the African context.

In his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, Saint Paul VI said: “Evangelizing means bringing the Good News into all the strata of humanity, and through its influence transforming humanity from within and making it new” (no.18).  This is true for all cultures: access to redemption for humanity in all of its dimensions should be sought with creativity and imagination; this search can be expressed with appropriate language in all areas and spaces in which men and women live their pains, joys and hopes.

Although the two laureates come from different continents and cultural backgrounds, their message is much more similar than appears at first sight.  In the variety of cultures, diverse across time and space, one can and should always seek the way to God and the encounter with Christ.  This has been and remains the work to which Professor Taylor and Father Béré have dedicated themselves.  This is the mission of all who follow the teaching of Joseph Ratzinger as theologian and Pope, to be “co-workers of the truth”.

It is therefore my hope that the recipients of the Ratzinger Prizes, together with all present, continue with enthusiasm and joy their journey on this path. Thank you.

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS AT THE CONFERENCE
"CHURCH, MUSIC, INTERPRETERS: A NECESSARY DIALOGUE",
PROMOTED BY THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR CULTURE

Consistory Hall
Saturday, 9 November 2019

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

I offer you a cordial welcome as you gather for this Third International Congress devoted to the theme: Church, Music, Interpreters: A Necessary Dialogue.  I am grateful to the Pontifical Council for Culture, which, in cooperation with the Pontifical Institute for Sacred Music and the Liturgical Institute of the Pontifical Athenaeum of Sant’Anselmo, has made this meeting possible.  I greet all taking part, and in a particular way, I thank Cardinal Ravasi for his kind words of introduction.  I hope that the work accomplished in these days may prove to be for everyone a stimulating experience of the Gospel, of liturgical life, and of service to the Church and culture.

We often think of an interpreter as a kind of translator, a person whose task is to convey something he or she has received in such a way that another person can understand it.  Yet an interpreter, especially in the field of music, necessarily “translates” in a unique and personal way – in a unique and personal way – what the composer has written, in order to create a beautiful and outstanding artistic experience.  In effect, a musical work exists only insofar as it is interpreted, and thus only when someone is there to interpret it.

A good interpreter feels great humility before a work of art that is not his or her property.  Recognizing that they put their expertise at the service of the community, such interpreters constantly strive to be formed and transformed, interiorly and professionally, in order to bring out the beauty of the music and, in the context of the liturgy, to serve others through the works they perform (cf. Sacrosanctum Concilium, 115).  Every interpreter is called to develop a distinctive sensibility and genius in the service of art which refreshes the human spirit, and in service to the community.  This is especially the case if the interpreter carries out a liturgical ministry. 

The interpreter of music has much in common with the biblical scholar, with the proclaimer of God’s word, but also with those who seek to interpret the signs of the times, and, even more generally, with all those – and each of us should be one of them! – who are open and attentive to others in sincere dialogue.  Every Christian, in fact, is an interpreter of the will of God in his her own life, and by his or her life sings a joyful hymn of praise and thanksgiving to God.  Through that song, the Church interprets the Gospel as she makes her pilgrim way through history.  The Blessed Virgin Mary did this in an exemplary way in her Magnificat, while the saints interpret the will of God by their lives and mission.

Saint Paul VI, in the course of an historic meeting with artists in 1964, offered this reflection: “Our ministry, as you know, consists in preaching and rendering accessible, comprehensible, and indeed moving, the things of the spirit, the invisible, the ineffable, the things of God himself.  And in this activity, that transfers the invisible world into accessible, intelligible formulas, you are masters.  It is your task, your mission; and your art consists in grasping treasures from the heavenly realm of the spirit and clothing them in words, colours, forms, thus making them accessible” (Insegnamenti II [1964], 313).  In this sense, then, the interpreter, like the artist, expresses the ineffable by using words and materials that transcend concepts, in order to convey the kind of “sacramentality” typical of aesthetic representation.

There is a dialogue, because experiencing a work of art is never something static or mathematical.  There is a conversation between the author, the work and the interpreter.  It is a three-way conversation.  And this conversation is original for each of its interpreters: one interpreter understands it this way, and renders it this way; another in a different way.  But what is important is the dialogue, that also allows for development in the performance of a work of art.  I am thinking, for example, of a work of Bach performed by Richter or by Gardiner: they are different things.  The dialogue is something else, and the interpreter must enter into the conversation between author, work and himself.  We should never forget this.   

The artist, the interpreter and – in the case of music – the listener, all have the same desire: to understand what beauty, music and art allow us to know of God’s grandeur.  Now perhaps more than ever, men and women have need of this.  Interpreting that reality is essential for today’s world.

Dear brothers and sisters, I thank you again for your commitment to the study of music, and liturgical music in particular.  My wish is that, day by day, you may become – each in his or her own way – ever better interpreters of the Gospel, of the beauty that the Father has revealed to us in Christ Jesus, and of the praise that expresses our filial relationship to God.  I give you my heartfelt blessing, and I ask you please not to forget to pray for me.  Thank you.

GREETING OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO A DELEGATION OF THE SALVATION ARMY 

Friday, 8 November 2019

General Peddle,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am happy to have this opportunity to renew to you and to all the members and volunteers of the Salvation Army my grateful appreciation for the witness you give to the primacy of discipleship and service to the poor. This makes you an evident and credible sign of evangelical love, in obedience to the Lord’s commandment: “Love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples” (Jn 13:34).

As I have mentioned on several occasions – and again just now, when we spoke – it was by encountering members of the Salvation Army that I received, many years ago, from my grandmother, my first lesson in ecumenism – I was four years old!. Their example of humble service to the least of our brothers and sisters spoke louder than any words. I am reminded, General, of the insight expressed by your predecessor when we met five years ago: “Holiness transcends denominational boundaries”. The holiness that shows itself in concrete actions of goodness, solidarity and healing speaks to the heart and testifies to the authenticity of our discipleship. On this basis, Catholics and Salvationists can increasingly assist one another and cooperate in a spirit of mutual respect and in a life of holiness as well.

Such a common witness is like the leaven that in Jesus’s parable, a woman took and mixed with flour until the whole mass of dough began to rise (cf. Lk 13:21). The gratuitous love that inspires acts of service to those in need is not only a leaven; it also has the fragrance of freshly baked bread. It attracts and convinces. Young people in particular need to breathe in that fragrance, since in many cases it is absent from their daily experience. In a world where selfishness and divisions abound, the noble fragrance of genuine self-giving love can offer a much-needed antidote and open minds and hearts to the transcendent meaning of our existence.

As the Bishop of Rome, of this Diocese, I would like to thank the Salvation Army for all that you do in this city for the homeless and the marginalized, of whom there are so many in Rome. I am also aware of your significant involvement in the fight against human trafficking and other modern forms of slavery. May God bless your efforts.

Thank you once more for your visit. Let us remember one another in our prayers, and continue to work to spread God’s love through acts of service and solidarity.

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE XXXI MEETING OF THE PARTIES TO THE MONTREAL PROTOCOL

To the Participants in the Thirty-first Meeting
of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol

I offer a cordial greeting to all those taking part in the Thirty-first Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. This Protocol, together with its Amendments and the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, represents a model of international cooperation not only in the area of environmental protection but also that of the promotion of integral human development.

Nearly thirty-five years have passed since the first legally binding international Convention devoted to the protection of the ozone layer was opened for signature in Vienna on 22 March 1985. It was to become the first Convention of the United Nations system to gain universal endorsement on the part of the entire family of nations, which today numbers one hundred and ninety-seven signatory States.

These thirty-five years have yielded positive results. In fact, many scientific studies, including more recent ones, attest to how the thinning of the ozone layer is gradually being reduced.

In this regard, I would like to focus on three lessons that we can learn from the thirty-five years that have passed since the implementation of the international ozone regime.

First, there is a need to emphasize and appreciate how that regime arose from a broad and fruitful cooperation among different sectors: the scientific community, the political world, economic and industrial actors and civil society.

This cooperation has shown how we can “achieve important outcomes, which make it simultaneously possible to safeguard creation, to promote integral human development and to care for the common good, in a spirit of responsible solidarity and with profound positive repercussions for present and future generations”.[1]

In a certain sense, the international ozone regime demonstrates that “we have the freedom needed to limit and direct technology; we can put it at the service of another type of progress, one which is healthier, more human, more social, more integral” (Laudato Si’, 112). This allows us to be confident that “although the post-industrial period may well be remembered as one of the most irresponsible in history, nonetheless there is reason to hope that humanity at the dawn of the twenty-first century will be remembered for having generously shouldered its grave responsibilities” (Laudato Si’, 165).

We are in fact facing a “cultural” challenge either for or against the common good. Here, an honest and fruitful dialogue truly capable of listening to different needs and free of special interests, together with a spirit of solidarity and creativity, are essential for the building of the present and future of our planet.

In the same way, and here is the second lesson I would mention, this cultural challenge cannot be met solely on the basis of a technology that, “presented as the only way of solving these problems, in fact proves incapable of seeing the mysterious network of relations between things and so sometimes solves one problem only to create others” (Laudato Si’, 20).

This was evidenced by the need to adopt, in 2016, a new Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, the Kigali Amendment. That Amendment has the aim of prohibiting substances which, in themselves, do not contribute to damaging the ozone layer, but which affect the warming of the atmosphere and whose use has increased as a means of replacing certain substances harmful to the ozone layer.

It is important that the Kigali Amendment quickly gain universal approval on the part of the whole family of nations, as has happened with the Vienna Convention and the Montreal Protocol.

In this regard, I am pleased to announce the intention of the Holy See to adhere to the Kigali Amendment. With this gesture, the Holy See desires to continue giving its moral support to all those States committed to the care of our common home.

Moving ahead, the third lesson which I would mention is the importance that this care for our common home be anchored in the realization that “everything is connected”.

It can be said that the Kigali Amendment also appeals to this principle, since it represents a sort of bridge between the ozone problem and the phenomenon of global warming, thus highlighting their interaction.

Careful consideration of the various interconnections of our decisions and their resulting impact involves numerous levels of complexity. We are living at an historic moment marked by challenges that are pressing yet stimulating for the creation of a culture effectively directed to the common good. This calls for the adoption of a farsighted vision on how most effectively to promote integral development for all the members of the human family, whether near or far in space or time. This vision must take shape in centres of education and culture where awareness is created, where individuals are trained in political, scientific and economic responsibility, and, more generally, where responsible decisions are made.

The continued acceleration of changes affecting humanity and our planet, coupled today with a more intense pace of life and work, should constantly urge us to ask whether the goals of this progress are truly directed to the common good and to a sustainable and integral human development, or whether they cause harm to our world and to the quality of life of much of humanity, now and in the future (Laudato Si’, 18).

A thoughtful response to this question can only be given in the light of a consideration of the three points on which I have focused. First, to give real life to dialogue for the sake of shared responsibility for the care of our common home, one in which no one “absolutizes” his or her own point of view. Then, to make technological solutions part of a broader vision that takes into consideration the variety of existing relationships. Finally, to structure our decisions on the basis of the central concept of what we can call “integral ecology”, grounded in the realization that “everything is connected”.

I express my prayerful hope that the international ozone regime, as well as other praiseworthy initiatives of the global community on care for our common home, can continue on this complex, challenging, but always stimulating path.

From the Vatican, 7 November 2019

[1] Statement, attached to the instrument of adhesion on the part of the Holy See to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer and its first four Amendments, 9 April 2008.

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good Morning!

Let us continue our “journey” with the Book of the Acts of the Apostles. After the trials experienced in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea, Paul arrived in Athens, the very heart of Greece (cf. Acts 17:15). This city that lived in the shadow of its ancient glory despite its political decline, still held the primacy of culture. Here the Apostle’s “spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols” (Acts 17:16). However rather than avoid this “collision” with paganism it spurs him to create a bridge to converse with that culture.

Paul chooses to acquaint himself with the city and he thus began to visit its most important sites and people. He goes to the synagogue, the symbol of the life of the faith; he goes to the square, the symbol of city life; and he goes to the Areopagus, the symbol of political and cultural life. He meets Jews, philosophers, Epicureans, Stoics and many others. He meets all the people. He does not withdraw. He goes to speak to all the people. In this way, Paul observes the culture and he observes the environment of Athens “with a contemplative gaze” that discovers “God dwelling in their homes, in their streets and squares” (Evangelii Gaudium, 71). Paul does not look at the city of Athens and the pagan world with hostility, but rather with the eyes of faith. And this makes us question ourselves about the way we look at our cities: do we observe them with indifference? With disdain? Or with a faith that recognizes God’s children in the midst of anonymous crowds.

Paul chooses the gaze that spurs him to create an opening between the Gospel and the pagan world. In the heart of one of the most celebrated institutions in the ancient world, the Areopagus, he achieves an extraordinary example of inculturation of the message of faith: he proclaims Jesus Christ to the idol worshippers, and he does not do so by attacking them, but by making himself “a Pope, a builder of bridges” (Homily at Sanctae Marthae, 8 May 2013).

Paul is inspired by the altar of the city dedicated to “an unknown god” (Acts 17:23) — there was an altar with the inscription “to an unknown god”; no image, nothing, only that inscription. Starting from their “worship” of an unknown god, so as to empathize with his listeners, he proclaims that God “dwells among them” (Evangelii Gaudium, 71) and “does not hide himself from those who seek him with a sincere heart, even though they do so tentatively” (ibid). It is precisely this presence that Paul tries to unveil: “What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you” (Acts 17:23).

In order to reveal the identity of the god that the Athenians adore, the Apostle begins from Creation, that is from biblical faith in the God of revelation, in order to reach salvation and judgement, that is, the true Christian message. He shows the disproportion between the greatness of the Creator and the temples built by man, and explains that the Creator always makes himself sought, in such a way that each one can find him. In this way, according to a beautiful expression Pope Benedict XVI used, Paul “is proclaiming him whom men do not know and yet do know – the unknown-known” (Benedict XVI, Meeting with representatives from the world of culture at the Collège des Bernardins, Paris, 12 September 2008). He then invites everyone to go beyond the “times of ignorance” and to choose conversion in view of the imminent judgment. Paul thus arrives at kerygma and alludes to Christ without naming him, defining him as the “man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

And herein lies the problem. Paul’s word, which had kept the speakers in suspense — because it was an interesting discovery —, meets a stumbling block: the death and Resurrection of Christ appears to be “folly” (1 Cor 1:23) and raises scorn and derision. Paul then distances himself: his attempt appears to have failed; instead some accept his word and open themselves to the faith. Among them is a man, Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, and a woman, Damaris. The Gospel takes root even in Athens, and can then proceed with two voices: that of men and that of women!

Today, let us ask the Holy Spirit to teach us to build bridges through culture, with those who do not believe and those who have a different belief from ours. Always building bridges, always with outstretched hand, no aggression. Let us ask him for the ability to inculturate the message of faith with sensitivity, to have a contemplative gaze towards those who do not know Christ, to be moved by love that warms even the hardest of hearts.

Special Greetings

I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those from England, Scotland, Malta, Zimbabwe, India, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States of America. Upon all of you I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!

Lastly, I greet young people, the elderly, the sick and newlyweds. May the month of November, which is dedicated to remembering and praying for the departed, be an opportunity to reconsider the meaning of human life and of eternal life. May this time help us to understand that life has great value if it is lived as a gift, not only for oneself, but also for God and for our neighbours.

HOLY MASS FOR THE REPOSE OF THE SOULS OF THE CARDINALS AND BISHOPS
WHO DIED OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Vatican Basilica, Altar of the Chair of Saint Peter
Monday, 4 November 2019

[Multimedia]

The readings we have heard remind us that we came into this world in order to be raised up; we were not born for death but for resurrection. As Saint Paul writes in the second reading, even now “our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil 3:20) and, as Jesus says in the Gospel, we shall be raised up on the last day (cf. Jn 6:40). It is likewise the thought of the resurrection that leads Judas Maccabaeus in the first reading to do “an excellent and noble thing” (2 Macc 12:43). Today we can ask ourselves: how does the thought of the resurrection affect me? How do I respond to my call to be raised up?

Help comes to us first from Jesus, who in today’s Gospel says: “Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away” (Jn 6:37). That is his invitation: “Come to me” (cf. Mt 11:28). To come to Jesus, the living one, in order to be inoculated against death, against the fear that everything will end. To come to Jesus: this might seem a generic and even banal spiritual exhortation. But let us try to make it concrete by asking a few questions. Today, in the files that I handled in the office, did I draw nearer to the Lord? Did I make them an occasion for speaking to him? In the persons whom I met, did I involve Jesus? Did I bring them to him in prayer? Or did I do everything while thinking only of my concerns, rejoicing only in things that went well for me and complaining about those that didn’t? In a word, did I live my day coming to the Lord, or was I simply orbiting around myself? And where am I headed? Do I seek only to make a good impression, to protect my role, my schedule and my free time? Or do I come to the Lord?

Jesus words are striking: “Anyone who comes to me I will never drive away”. As if to say that any Christian who does not come to him will be driven away. For those who believe, there is no middle ground. We cannot belong to Jesus and orbit around ourselves. Those who belong to Jesus live by constantly going forth from ourselves and towards him.

Life itself is a constant going forth: from our mother’s womb to our birth, from infancy to adolescence, from adolescence to adulthood and so on, until the day of our going forth from this world. Today, as we pray for our brother cardinals and bishops who have gone forth from this life in order to meet the risen Lord, we cannot forget the most important and difficult “going forth”, the one that gives meaning to all the others: that of going forth from our very selves. Only by going forth from ourselves do we open the door that leads to the Lord. Let us implore this grace: “Lord, I want to come to you, along the roads and with my traveling companions each day. Help me to go out of myself in order to come towards you, for you are life itself”.

I would like to propose a second thought, about the resurrection, drawn from the first reading and the “noble thing” that Judas Maccabeus did for those who had died. He did it, we are told, because “he was looking to the splendid reward that is laid up for those who fall asleep in godliness” (2 Macc 12:45). Godliness, piety, is richly rewarded. Piety towards others opens the gates of eternity. To bow down before the needy in order to serve them is to be on the path to heaven. If, as Saint Paul says, “love never ends” (1 Cor 13:8), then love is itself the bridge linking earth to heaven. We can ask ourselves whether we are advancing along this bridge. Do I let myself be touched by the situation of someone in need? Can I weep with those who are suffering? Do I pray for those whom no one thinks about? Do I help someone who has nothing to give back to me? This is not to be sentimental or to engage in little acts of charity; these are questions of life, questions of resurrection.

Lastly, I would offer a third thought about the resurrection. I take it from the Spiritual Exercises, where Saint Ignatius suggests that before making any important decision, we should imagine ourselves standing before God at the end of time. That is the final and inevitable moment, one that all of us will have to face. Every life decision, viewed from that perspective, will be well directed, since it is closer to the resurrection, which is the meaning and purpose of life. As the departure is calculated by the goal, as the planting is judged by the harvest, so life is best judged by starting from its end and purpose. Saint Ignatius writes: “Let me consider myself as standing in the presence of my judge on the last day, and reflect what decision on the present matter I would then wish to have made; I will choose now the rule of life that I would then wish to have observed” (Spiritual Exercises, 187). It can be a helpful exercise to view reality through the eyes of the Lord and not only through our own; to look to the future, the resurrection, and not only to this passing day; to make choices that have the flavour of eternity, the taste of love.

Do I go forth from myself each day in order to come to the Lord? Do I feel and practise compassion for those in need? Do I make important decisions in the sight of God? Let us allow ourselves to be challenged at least by one of these three thoughts. We will be more attuned to the desire that Jesus expresses in today’s Gospel: that he lose nothing of what the Father has given him (cf. Jn 6:39). Amid so many worldly voices that make us forget the meaning of life, let us grow attuned to the will of Jesus, risen and alive. Thus we will make of our lives this day a dawn of resurrection.

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
FOR LEADERS OF CATHOLIC UNIVERSITIES:
"NEW FRONTIERS FOR UNIVERSITY LEADERS.
THE FUTURE OF HEALTH AND THE UNIVERSITY ECOSYSTEM"

Distinguished Rectors and Professors,

I welcome you on the occasion of this Forum of the International Federation of Catholic Universities devoted to the theme “New Frontiers for University Leaders: The Future of Health and the University Ecosystem”. I offer a cordial greeting to the President, Professor Isabel Capeloa Gil, whom I thank for her kindness in speaking Spanish, and to all present. I am grateful to the members of the Federation for their commitment to study and research.

The university system today faces new challenges arising from the development of the sciences, the evolution of new technologies and the needs of society, all of which invite academic institutions to provide appropriate and up-to-date responses. This strong pressure, felt in different areas of socio-economic, political and cultural life, challenges the very vocation of the university. This is especially the case for those who are called to teach, conduct research and prepare new generations to become not only qualified professionals in various disciplines, but also proponents of the common good, creative and responsible leaders in social and civil life, equipped with a proper vision of the person and the world. Universities today, then, need to consider what contribution they can and must make to the integral health of the person and to an inclusive ecology.

If these challenges concern the university system as a whole, Catholic universities should feel these needs even more acutely. With your universal openness (precisely as an “universitas”), you can enable the Catholic university to become a place where solutions for civil and cultural progress for individual persons and for humanity, marked by solidarity, are pursued with perseverance and professionalism. You can also examine that which is contingent without losing sight of that which has a more general value. Old and new problems must be studied in their specificity and immediacy, but always within a personal and global perspective. Interdisciplinary approaches, international cooperation and the sharing of resources are important elements that can permit universality to translate into shared and fruitful projects on behalf of humanity, of all men and women, and the environment in which they live and grow.

The development of the technosciences, as we can already see, is destined increasingly to influence people’s physical and psychological health. This also affects the methods and procedures of academic study. Today, we need to remember more than ever that all teaching entails questioning the “why”. In other words, it calls for reflection on the foundations and purposes of each discipline. Education reduced to mere technical instruction, or mere passing on of information, becomes an alienated and fragmented education. To believe that we can transmit knowledge without concern for its ethical dimension is essentially to abandon the task of teaching.

We need to overcome the legacy of the Enlightenment. Education in general, but university education in particular, is not only about filling the head with concepts. Three kinds of language are needed, and all three languages need to come into play: the language of the mind, the language of the heart and the language of the hands. We need to think in harmony with what we feel and what we do, to feel in harmony with what we think and do, and to act in harmony with what we feel and think. An overall harmony, never divorced from the whole.

In the first place, then, we must start from an idea of education conceived as a teleological process, that is, one that looks to an end, is necessarily oriented to an end, and in this sense towards an accurate vision of the human person. A further perspective is necessary in the field of education in order to face questions involving the “why” – questions, that is, of the ethical order. This has to do with the essentially epistemological character of education, which deals with the whole span of knowledge, not only the liberal arts, but also natural, scientific and technological studies. The link between education and end leads us to the theme of intentionality and the role of the subject in every cognitive process. And in this way we arrive at a new kind of episteme. This is the challenge: to come to a new episteme. Traditional epistemology had emphasized this by considering the impersonal character of all knowledge as a condition of objectivity, an essential requirement for the universality and communicability of knowledge. Today, however, many authors stress that completely impersonal experiences do not exist: the forma mentis, the normative convictions, categories, creativity and existential experiences of the subject represent a “tacit dimension” of knowledge, one that is always present and is an indispensable factor for the understanding of scientific progress. We cannot come up with a new episteme in a laboratory. That will not do, for it has to come from real life.

In this light, the university has a conscience, but also an intellectual and moral force with responsibility not just for the person to be educated but for the needs of humanity as a whole. The International Federation of Catholic Universities is called to take up the moral imperative of striving to achieve a more united international academic community. On the one hand by basing itself more faithfully on the Christian context from which universities originated; and on the other, by consolidating the network of older and newer universities, so as to develop a universal spirit aimed at increasing the quality of the cultural life of individuals and peoples. The ecosystem of universities develops when every member of the university becomes sensitive to each person and to the whole person, to the context in which people live and grow, and to everything that can contribute to their advancement.

The training of leaders achieves its goal when it seeks to make the life of the university develop not only the mind but also the “heart”, the conscience, together with students’ practical abilities. Scientific and theoretical knowledge must be blended with the sensitivity of the scholar and researcher, so that the fruits of study are not acquired in a self-referential way, concerned with professional training alone, but have a relational and social end. Ultimately, just as every scientist and every person of culture has an obligation to greater service, because he or she possesses greater knowledge, so too university communities, especially those of Christian inspiration, and the ecosystem of academic institutions must feel the same obligation.

In this perspective, the path that the Church and Catholic scholars must follow was succinctly expressed by the patron of the FIUC, the newly-canonized Cardinal John Henry Newman: the Church “fears no knowledge, but she purifies all; she represses no element of our nature, but cultivates the whole”[1].

Thank you.

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today’s Gospel (cf. Lk 19: 1-10) places us in the footsteps of Jesus Who, on His way to Jerusalem, stopped in Jericho. There was a great crowd to welcome Him, including a man named Zacchaeus, the head of the “publicans”, that is, of those Jews who collected taxes on behalf of the Roman Empire. He was rich not from honest earnings, but because he asked for “bribes”, and this increased contempt for him. Zacchaeus “was seeking to see who Jesus was” (v. 3); he didn’t want to meet Him, but he was curious: he wanted to see that character about whom he had heard extraordinary things. He was curious. And being short in stature, “to see him” (v. 4) he climbs up a tree. When Jesus comes close, he looks up and sees Him (cf. v. 5).

And this is important: the first glance is not from Zacchaeus, but from Jesus, who among the many faces that surrounded Him – the crowd – seeks precisely that one. The merciful gaze of the Lord reaches us before we ourselves realize that we need it in order to be saved. And with this gaze of the divine Master there begins the miracle of the conversion of the sinner. Indeed, Jesus calls to him, and He calls him by his name: “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today” (v. 5). He does not reproach him, He does not deliver a “sermon” to him; He tells him that he must go to Him: “he must”, because it is the will of the Father. Despite the murmuring of the people, Jesus chose to stay at the home of that public sinner.

We too would have been scandalized by this behaviour of Jesus. But contempt for and rejection of the sinner only isolate him and cause him to harden in the evil he commits against himself and the community. Instead, God condemns sin, but tries to save the sinner; He goes looking for him to bring him back on the right path. Those who have never felt they are sought by God’s mercy find it difficult to grasp the extraordinary greatness of the gestures and words with which Jesus approaches Zacchaeus.

Jesus’ acceptance and attention to him lead him to a clear change of mentality: in just a moment he realized how petty life is when it revolves around money, at the cost of stealing from others and receiving their contempt. Having the Lord there, in his house, makes him see everything with different eyes, even with a little of the tenderness with which Jesus looked at him. And his way of seeing and using money also changes: the gesture of grabbing is replaced by that of giving. Indeed, he decides to give half of what he possesses to the poor and to return four times the sum to those from whom he has stolen (cf. v. 8). Zacchaeus discovers from Jesus that it is possible to love gratuitously: until this moment he was mean, but now he becomes generous; he had a taste for amassing wealth, now he rejoices in distributing. By encountering Love, by discovering that he is loved despite his sins, he becomes capable of loving others, making money a sign of solidarity and communion.

May the Virgin May obtain for us the grace always to feel Jesus’ merciful gaze upon us, to go with mercy towards those who have erred, so that they too may welcome Jesus, Who “came to seek and to save the lost” (v. 10).

After the Angelus, the Pope continued:

Dear brothers and sisters,

I am saddened by the violence against Christians in the Tewahedo Orthodox Church of Ethiopia. I express my closeness to this Church and to the Patriarch, dear brother Abuna Matthias, and I ask you to pray for all the victims of violence in that land.

Let us pray together: “Hail Mary...”.

I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to the municipality and the diocese of San Severo in Puglia for the signing of the memorandum of understanding on Monday 28 October last, which will allow the workers of the so-called “ghettos of the Capitanata” in the Foggia area, to obtain a domicile in the parishes and registration in the municipal registry office. The possibility of having identity and residence documents will offer them new dignity and will allow them to leave behind the condition of irregularity and exploitation. Many thanks to the municipality and to all those who have worked on this plan.

I extend my cordial greetings to all of you, Romans and pilgrims. In particular, I greet the historical Corporations of the Schützen and the Knights of Saint Sebastian from various European countries; and the faithful from Lordelo de Ouro, Portugal.

I greet the groups from Reggio Calabria, Treviso, Pescara and Sant’Eufemia di Aspromonte; I greet the young people from Modena who have received Confirmation, those from Petosino, diocese of Bergamo, and the scouts who have come by bicycle from Viterbo. I greet the members of the Hakuna movement from Spain.

I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and arrivederci.

HOLY MASS IN COMMEMORATION OF THE FALLEN

HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Catacombs of Priscilla, on the Via Salaria
Saturday, 2 November 2019

[Multimedia]

The celebration of the feast of all the departed in a catacomb — it is the first time in my life that I enter a catacomb, it is a surprise — tells us many things. We can think about the lives of those people who had to hide, who had that custom of burying the dead and celebrating the Eucharist in here. It was a bad period in history, but one which has not been overcome. It continues still today. There are many of them. Many catacombs in other countries where people even have to pretend to be having a party or a birthday in order to celebrate the Eucharist as it is forbidden in that place. Today too there are many persecuted Christians, even more than in the first centuries; more. This — the catacombs, the persecution, the Christians — and these Readings make me think of three words; identity, place and hope.

The identity of those people who gathered here to celebrate the Eucharist and to praise the Lord is the same as that of our brothers and sisters of today in many, many countries where being Christian is a crime; it is forbidden; they have no rights. The same. The identity is the one that we have heard: the Beatitudes. The identity of the Christian is this: the Beatitudes. There is no other. If you do this, if you live like this, then you are Christian. “No, but look, I belong to that association, to the other ... I am with this movement ...”. Yes, yes all fine things but they are fantasies with respect to this reality. Your identity card is this [he points to the Gospel], and if you do not have this, all the movements to which you may belong and your memberships in others are useless. You either live this way or you are not Christian. Simple. The Lord said this. “Yes but it is not easy, I do not know how to live like this ...”. There is another passage in the Gospel that helps us better understand this and that Gospel passage will also be the “great protocol” by which we will be judged. It is in Matthew 25. With these two Gospel passages, the Beatitudes and the great protocol, by living this, we will show our identity as Christians. Without this, there cannot be an identity. There is the pretence of being Christian, but not the identity.

This is the identity of the Christian. The second word: the place. Those people who came here to hide to be safe, and also to bury their dead; and those people who today celebrate the Eucharist in hiding in the countries where it is forbidden ... I am thinking about that nun in Albania who was in a re-education camp in the Communist era when it was forbidden for priests to administer the Sacraments. And this nun used to baptize them in secret. The people, the Christians knew that this nun administered Baptisms and mothers used to approach her with their babies. However, she did not have a glass, something in which to collect water. She did it with her shoes. She would take water from the river with a shoe and baptize them. The place of Christians is a bit everywhere. We do not have a privileged place in life. Some would like to have it. They are “qualified” Christians. But they run the risk of remaining with just the “qualified” and dropping the “Christian”. What is the place of Christians? The “souls of the righteous are in the hand of God” (Wis 3:1): the place of Christians is in the hand of God where he wants them to be. God’s hands which are wounded, that are the hands of his Son who wanted to take the wounds with him to show them to the Father and intercede for us. The place of the Christian is in the intercession of Jesus before the Father. In God’s hands. And there we are safe come what may, even the cross. Our identity [he points to the Gospel] tells us that we will be blessed if they shall persecute us, if they say something against us; but if we are in God’s hands, wounded by love, we are safe. This is our place. And today we can ask ourselves: Where do I feel safest? In God’s hands or in other things, with other securities that we “rent” but which in the end will fail, that do not have any solidity?

These Christians with this identity card who lived and live in God’s hand are men and women of hope. And this is the third word that comes to mind today; hope. We heard it in the second Reading: that final vision where everything is “re-done”, where everything is recreated, that homeland we will all go to. And in order to enter it, there is no need for strange things, there is no need for attitudes that are somewhat sophisticated. All that is required is to show the identity card: “It is fine, go ahead”. Our hope is in Heaven, our hope is anchored there and holding the rope in our hands, we steady ourselves by looking at the shore of the river that we must reach.

Identity: Beatitudes and Matthew 25; Place, the safest place: in God’s hand, wounded by love. Hope, the future: the anchor there on the other shore, but I am firmly clinging to the rope. This is important, always clinging fast to the rope! Many times, we will only see the rope, not even the anchor, not even the other shore, but cling to the rope and you will reach it safely.

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today’s solemnity of All Saints reminds us that we are all called to holiness. The Saints of all times, whom today we celebrate all together, are not simply symbols, distant, unreachable human beings. On the contrary, they are people who lived with their feet on the ground; they experienced the daily toil of existence with its successes and failures, finding in the Lord the strength to rise again and again, and to continue on their journey. From this we can understand that holiness is a goal that cannot be achieved only through one’s own strengths, but rather it is the fruit of God’s grace and of our free response to it. Therefore, holiness is a gift and a calling.

Inasmuch as it is a grace of God, that is a gift of His, it is something we cannot buy or barter, but that we receive, thus participating in the same divine life through the Holy Spirit Who has dwelt in us since the day of our Baptism. The seed of holiness is indeed Baptism. It is a matter of increasingly maturing the awareness that we are grafted onto Christ, as the branch is united to the vine, and therefore we can and must live with Him and in Him as children of God. So, holiness is living in full communion with God, now already, during this earthly pilgrimage.

But holiness, besides being a gift, is also a calling: it is a vocation common to of all of us Christians, to Christ’s disciples; it is the path of fullness that every Christian is called to follow in faith, proceeding towards the final goal of definitive communion with God in eternal life. Holiness thus becomes a response to God’s gift, since it manifests itself as an assumption of responsibility. From this perspective, it is important to make a daily commitment to sanctification in the conditions, duties and circumstances of our lives, trying to live everything with love, with charity.

The saints we celebrate today in the liturgy are brothers and sisters who admitted in their lives that they needed this divine light, abandoning themselves to it with confidence. And now, before the throne of God (cf. Rev 7: 15), they sing His glory for ever. They constitute the “holy city” to which we look with hope, as our definitive goal, while we are pilgrims in this “earthly city”. Let us walk towards that “holy city” where these holy brothers and sisters await us. It is true, we are wearied by the harshness of the road, but hope gives us the strength to move forward. Looking at their lives, we are encouraged to imitate them. Among them are many witnesses to a holiness “found in our next-door neighbours, those who, living in our midst, reflect God’s presence” (Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, 7).

Brothers and sisters, the memory of the Saints leads us to raise our eyes to Heaven: not to forget the realities of the earth, but to face them with greater courage, with more hope. May Mary, our most holy Mother, accompany us with her maternal intercession, as a sign of consolation and sure hope.

After the Angelus, the Pope continued:

Dear brothers and sisters,

I greet you all with affection, pilgrims from Italy and various countries; in particular the children of Catholic Action; here with their educators from many Italian dioceses, on the fiftieth anniversary of the ACR. One, two, three... [the boys in the square sing]. I greet the young people of the Deanery of Mauges, France; and young people from Carugate. Milan.

I greet the athletes who took part in the Corsa dei Santi (The Saints Race), organized by the “Missioni Don Bosco” Foundation to emphasize, even in a form of popular celebration, the religious value of the feast of All Saints. I thank you and all those in the parishes and communities who are promoting prayer initiatives in these days to celebrate All Saints and to commemorate the dead. These two Christian feasts remind us of the bond that exists between the Church of the earth – us – and that of heaven, between us and our loved ones who have passed away.

Tomorrow afternoon I will celebrate the Eucharist in the Catacombs of Priscilla, one of the burial places of the first Christians of Rome. In these days, in which, unfortunately, there are also negative cultural messages regarding death and the dead, I invite you not to neglect, if possible, a visit to and a prayer at the cemetery. It will be an act of faith.

I wish you all a happy feast in the spiritual company of the Saints. Please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and arrivederci!

VIDEO MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE FOURTH GLOBAL MEETING OF YOUNG PEOPLE
ORGANIZED BY THE “SCHOLAS OCCURRENTES” FOUNDATION
IN COLLABORATION WITH WORLD ORT

[Mexico City, 28-31 October 2019]

[Multimedia]

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO MEMBERS OF THE "DON CARLO GNOCCHI" FOUNDATION

Paul VI Audience Hall
Thursday, 31 October 2019

Dear brothers and sisters!

I welcome you and thank your President, and your friend, for the words of greeting and presentation of this beautiful association for welfare and social assistance, the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation, which sprang from the mind and heart of this distinguished Ambrosian priest. In his homily for the Beatification, which took place in Milan ten years ago, Cardinal Tettamanzi pointed out to the Church that he was “a restless seeker of God and a courageous seeker of man, who has spent his life searching for the face of Christ imprinted in the face of every man”. How beautiful!

Indeed, Blessed Don Carlo Gnocchi, an apostle of charity, served Christ heroically in children, young people, the poor and the suffering, from the beginning of his priestly ministry, as a passionate educator. Then, as a military chaplain, he encountered the cruelty of the Second World War, first on the Greek-Albanian front, then, with the Alpines of the “Tridentine” Division, in the dramatic Russian campaign. During the disastrous retreat from the front, he worked tirelessly for the wounded and dying, and developed the plan for an organization to assist orphans and children mutilated by explosives. Returning to Italy, he implemented this wonderful project; his was not only a social enterprise, but was also moved by Christ’s charity. A work, a fruit of Christ's charity.

Many years later, you carry forth his legacy and, like a precious talent, you are multiplying it with the same apostolic zeal and fidelity to the Gospel. For this I am grateful to each of you: directors and managers of the Centres, doctors and workers, volunteers and friends. And you are here today, together with patients, guests and their families, to confirm your commitment to be close to the sufferings of the most fragile people, in the style of the Good Samaritan and following the example of your Blessed Founder. Never tire of serving the least on the difficult frontier of infirmity and disability: together with the most advanced therapies and techniques for the body, offer to those who confidently turn to your structures the medicines of the soul, that is, God’s consolation and tenderness.

Inspired by the care, delicacy and sensitivity of Blessed Carlo Gnocchi as a priest, you are called to combine social and health service with evangelizing action in the concrete aspects of daily life. For you, this means courageously fighting the causes of suffering and lovingly tending to the distress of those who are suffering or in difficulty. Times have changed since the beginning, but it is necessary to go on with the same spirit, with the attitude and style that Don Gnocchi described as follows: “Active, optimistic, serene, concrete and profoundly human Christians who look at the world no longer as an enemy to be defeated or fled, but as a prodigal son to be conquered and redeemed with love” (Education of the heart).

The meaning and value of the health profession, and of every service rendered to our ailing brothers, are fully manifested in the ability to combine competence and compassion, both together. Competence is the fruit of your preparation, experience and the updating of your skills; and all this is supported by a strong motivation to serve your suffering neighbour, a motivation which in the Christian is animated by the charity of Christ. Competence is the quality that makes the witness of the lay faithful credible in the different environments of society; competence also guarantees you when you go against the tide with respect to the dominant culture: in your case, when you devote time and resources to fragile life, even if to someone it may seem useless or even unworthy of being lived.

Competence and compassion. The suffering of our brothers demands to be shared, demands for attitudes and initiatives of compassion. It is a matter of “suffering with”, pitying like Jesus who, out of love for man, became man Himself in order to be able to share fully, in a very real way, in flesh and blood, as is shown to us in His Passion. A society that is not able to welcome, protect and give hope to suffering is a society that has lost its piety and that has lost its sense of humanity. The vast network of centres and services that you have set up in Italy and in other countries is a good model because it seeks to combine assistance, hospitality and evangelical charity. In a social context that favours efficiency over solidarity, your structures are instead houses of hope, whose purpose is the protection, appreciation and true benefit of the sick, the handicapped and the elderly.

Dear friends, I renew my appreciation for the service you render to those who find themselves in difficulty. I encourage you to continue your journey in your commitment to human promotion, which is also an indispensable contribution to the Church’s evangelizing mission. Indeed, the proclamation of the Gospel is more credible thanks to the tangible love with which Jesus’ disciples bear witness to their faith in Him.

May the human and Christian witness of Blessed Don Carlo Gnocchi, characterized by love for the weakest, always guide your choices and your activities. May the Lord grant you everywhere to be messengers of His mercy and consolation, messengers of His tenderness. I accompany you with my prayer and from my heart I impart to you my Blessing, which I gladly extend to those who are hosted in your centres. And please do not forget to pray for me. Thank you!

*Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office, 31 October 2019

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL COURSE OF FORMATION
OF CATHOLIC MILITARY CHAPLAINS
ON INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW

Clementine Hall
Thursday, 31 October 2019

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I offer you a warm welcome on the occasion of the Fifth International Course of Formation of Catholic Military Chaplains on International Humanitarian Law, dedicated to the theme “The Loss of Personal Freedom in the Context of Armed Conflicts: The Mission of the Military Chaplain”. I thank Cardinal Peter Turkson for his kind words offered in your name.

Four years ago, when I received the participants in the previous session of this course, I highlighted the need to reject the temptation of viewing the other as merely an enemy to be destroyed, and not as a person endowed with intrinsic dignity, created by God in his image. I also urged everyone never to tire of remembering that even amid the devastations of war and conflict every person is immensely holy.[1]

This encouragement, which I would renew today, becomes all the more significant in the case of persons deprived of personal freedom due to armed conflicts, since in addition to their vulnerability as prisoners, they are also in the hands of their adversaries. Often, persons detained in the context of armed conflicts are victims of violations of their fundamental rights. These violations include abuse, violence and various forms of torture and cruel treatment that are inhuman and degrading.

How many civilians, too, have been kidnapped, forcibly disappeared and killed! Among these, we can count numerous men and women religious of whom we hear nothing more, or who have given their lives for their consecration to God and their service to others, without favouritism or nationalistic bias.

I assure all these persons and their families of my prayers, that they may always have the courage to move forward and not lose hope.

International humanitarian law contains a number of provisions aimed at the protection of the dignity of detainees; this is especially the case in regard to the law governing international armed conflicts. The ethical foundation and crucial importance of these norms for safeguarding human dignity in the tragic context of armed conflicts means that they must be properly and rigorously respected and enforced. This also applies to encounters with detainees, independently of the nature and gravity of the crimes they may have committed. Respect for the dignity and physical integrity of the human person, in fact, cannot depend upon the actions they have done, but is a moral duty to which every person and every authority is called.

Dear Ordinaries and military chaplains: as you carry out your mission to form the consciences of the members of the armed forces, I encourage you to spare no effort to enable the norms of international humanitarian law to be accepted in the hearts of those entrusted to your pastoral care. Let yourselves be guided by the words of the Gospel: “I was in prison and you came to me” (Mt 25:36).

This means assisting the particular portion of the People of God entrusted to your care to identify those elements of the common patrimony of humanity, based on the natural law, that can become a bridge and a platform of encounter with everyone. The servants of Christ in the military world are also the first to be at the service of men and women and of their fundamental rights. I think of those among you who are close to military personnel in situations of international conflict; you are called to open their consciences to that universal love which brings one person closer to another, no matter what the other’s race, nationality, culture or religion may be.

But even before this, something else is required: an educational effort alongside that of families and Christian communities. This involves instilling the values of friendship, understanding, tolerance, goodness, and respect for all persons. It means forming young people who are sensitive to other cultures and their richness and committed to a global citizenship, in order to promote the growth of the one great human family. The Second Vatican Council calls those in military service “custodians of the security and freedom of their people” (Gaudium et Spes, 79). You are in their midst so that those words, which war contradicts and nullifies, can become a reality, so that they can give meaning to the lives of so many, both young and not so young, who, as military personnel, do not want to be robbed of human and Christian values.

Dear brothers and sisters, on 12 August 1949, the Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War was signed. On this, its seventieth anniversary, I want to reaffirm the importance the Holy See gives to international humanitarian law and to express the hope that its norms will be respected in every circumstance. The latter should be further clarified and reinforced where appropriate, especially with regard to non-international armed conflicts, and in particular with regard to the protection of persons deprived of freedom because of these conflicts.

I assure you that the Holy See will continue to make its contribution in discussions and negotiations within the family of nations. I entrust you to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, and I impart my heartfelt blessing to you and your loved ones. And I ask you please to pray for me. Thank you!

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!

Reading the Acts of the Apostles, one can see how the Holy Spirit is the protagonist of the Church’s mission. It is he who guides the journey of the evangelizers by showing them the path to follow.

We can see this clearly in the moment in which the Apostle Paul, having reached Troas, has a vision. A Macedonian beseeches him: “Come over to Macedonia and help us” (Acts 16:9). The people of North Macedonia are proud of this; they are very proud of having called Paul for it was Paul who proclaimed Jesus Christ. I remember well those beautiful people who welcomed me with so much warmth. May they preserve this faith which Paul preached to them! The Apostle does not hesitate and leaves for Macedonia, certain that it is precisely God who is sending him, and he arrives in Philippi, a “Roman colony” (Acts 16:12) on the Via Egnatia, to preach the Gospel. Paul stops there for some days. Three events characterize his stay in Philippi in three days; three important events. 1) the evangelization and baptism of Lydia and her family; 2) the arrest he endures, along with Silas, after exorcising a slave exploited by her owners; 3) the conversion and baptism of his jailer and his family. Let us look at these three episodes in Paul’s life.

The power of the Gospel is mostly addressed to the women of Philippi, in particular to Lydia, a merchant of purple goods from the city of Thyatira, a believer in God whose heart the Lord opens in order “to give heed to what was said by Paul” (Acts 16:14). Indeed Lydia welcomes Christ, receives baptism together with her family and welcomes those who are of Christ, hosting Paul and Silas in her home. We have here the testimony of Christianity’s arrival in Europe: the beginning of a process of inculturation which continues still today. It entered via Macedonia.

After the warmth experienced in Lydia’s home, Paul and Silas find themselves having to deal with the harshness of prison: they go from the comfort of this conversion of Lydia and her family, to the desolation of prison where they have been thrown for having freed in the name of Jesus, a “slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain” with her position as soothsayer (Acts 16:16). Her owners earned well and this wretched slave did what fortune tellers do: she would guess your future, she would read your palms — as the song says: “prendi questa mano zingara” (take this hand, gypsy) — and people paid her for this. Today too, dear brothers and sisters, there are people who pay for this. I remember in my own diocese, in a very large park, there were more than 60 small tables where men and women fortune tellers sat reading palms and the people believed in these things! And they paid. And this also happened in Saint Paul’s days. In retaliation, her owners reported Paul and they brought the Apostles before the magistrates with the charge of public disorder.

But what happens? Paul is in prison and during his imprisonment a surprising fact occurs. He is desolated but instead of complaining, Paul and Silas begin to sing hymns praising God and this praise unleashes a power that frees them: during the prayer, an earthquake shakes the foundations of the prison, the doors open and everyone’s fetters fall off (cf. Acts 16:25-26). Just like the prayer of Pentecost, even the one said in prison brings about extraordinary effects.

Believing that the prisoners had escaped, the jailer was on the verge of committing suicide because jailers paid with their lives if a prisoner escaped. But Paul cries out: “we are all here” (Acts 16:28). He then asks: “what must I do to be saved?” (v. 30). The answer is: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (v. 31). At this point a change occurs: in the middle of the night, the jailer listens to the Word of the Lord with his family, he welcomes the Apostles, washes their wounds — because they had been beaten — and together with his family, he receives Baptism; then “he rejoiced with all his household that he had believed in God” (v. 34). He prepares a meal and invites Paul and Silas to stay with them: the moment of comfort! In the middle of this anonymous jailer’s night, the light of Christ shines and defeats the darkness: the chains of the heart fall off and a previously unknown joy blossoms within him and his relatives. Thus, the Holy Spirit is on mission: from the start, from Pentecost onwards he is the protagonist of the mission. And he carries us forward. We must be faithful to the vocation to which the Spirit moves us. In order to bring the Gospel.

Today, let us too ask the Holy Spirit for an open heart, like Lydia’s, receptive to God and welcoming towards our brothers and sisters and a bold faith, like that of Paul and Silas, and also an open heart like that of the jailer who allows himself to be touched by the Holy Spirit.

Appeal and Special Greetings

Dear brothers and sisters, my thoughts go to beloved Iraq where this month’s protest demonstrations left many dead and wounded. As I express my condolences for the victims and my closeness to their families and to the wounded, I invite the Authorities to listen to the cry of the people who are calling for a dignified and peaceful life. I exhort all Iraqis, with the support of the international community, to journey on the path of dialogue and reconciliation and to seek the just solutions to the challenges and problems of the country. I pray that this martyred people can find peace and stability after many years of war and violence during which they have greatly suffered.

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially the groups from England, Ireland, Denmark, Australia, Korea, Indonesia, Israel, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!

Lastly, I offer a special greeting to young people, the elderly, the sick and newlyweds. I can see they are many ... At the end of the month of October let us invoke Mary, Mother of Jesus and our Mother. May you learn to turn to her, praying to her with the prayer of the Rosary. May Our Lady be your support in the sequela of her Son, Jesus Christ.

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

The Mass celebrated this morning in Saint Peter’s concluded the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region. The first reading, from the Book of Sirach, reminded us of the starting point of this journey: the invocation of the poor, who go “past the clouds”, because “God listens” to the prayer of the oppressed (Sir 35: 21, 16). The cry of the poor, together with that of the earth, came to us from the Amazon. After these three weeks we cannot pretend that we have not heard it. The voices of the poor, along with those of many others inside and outside the Synod Assembly – pastors, young people, scientists – urge us not to remain indifferent. We have often heard the phrase “later is too late”: this phrase cannot remain a slogan.

What was the Synod? It was, as the word says, a journey undertaken together, comforted by the courage and consolations that come from the Lord. We walked, looking each other in the eye and listening to each other, sincerely, without concealing difficulties, experiencing the beauty of moving forward together in order serve. The Apostle Paul stimulates us in this, in today’s second reading: in a dramatic moment for him, while he knows that he is “already being poured out as a drink offering” – that is, executed – “and the time of my departure has come” (cf. 2 Tim 4: 6), he writes, at that moment: “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it” (v. 17). This is Paul’s final wish: not something for himself or for one of his own, but for the Gospel, that it may be proclaimed to all nations. This comes first of all and counts more than anything. Each of us must have asked ourselves many times what good might be done in one’s own life. Today is the time; let us ask ourselves: “Me, what can I do that is good for the Gospel?”

In the Synod we asked ourselves this question, wishing to open up new paths for the proclamation of the Gospel. Only what is lived is proclaimed. And to live by Jesus, to live by the Gospel, one must come out of oneself. We felt spurred on to go out to sea, to leave the comfortable shores of our safe harbours to enter deep waters: not into the marshy waters of ideologies, but the open sea in which the Spirit invites us to cast our nets.

For the way ahead, let us invoke the Virgin Mary, venerated and loved as Queen of the Amazon. She became one not by conquering, but by “inculturating” herself: with a mother’s humble courage she became the protector of her children, the defence of the oppressed. Always going out to the culture of the peoples. There is not a standard culture, there is not a pure culture that purifies the others; there is the Gospel, pure, which is inculturated. To she who cared for Jesus in the poor house of Nazareth, we entrust the poorest children and our common home.

After the Angelus, the Pope continued:

Dear brothers and sisters,

I address a special thought to the dear Lebanese people, in particular to the young, who in recent days have made their cry heard in the face of the challenges and social, moral and economic problems of the country. I urge everyone to seek the right solutions in the way of dialogue, and I pray to the Virgin Mary, Queen of Lebanon, so that, with the support of the international community, the country may continue to be a place of peaceful coexistence and respect for the dignity and freedom of every person, for the benefit of the entire Middle Eastern Region, which suffers so much.

I greet you all with affection: pilgrims from Italy and various countries, especially those from São Paulo, Brazil and Poland, and the group of the “Céntro Académico Romano Fundación” from Spain.

I greet the Apostles of the Sacred Heart, who celebrate the centenary of their foundation; the Syro-Malabar community of the diocese of Patti; and the seminarians of the diocese of Reggio Emilia-Guastalla, who served Mass in the Basilica this morning. And I also see that there are the confirmands from Galzignano: I greet you!

This is the last Sunday of October, the missionary month, which this year has had an extraordinary character, and it is also the month of the Rosary. I renew my invitation to pray the Rosary for the mission of the Church today, especially for missionaries who encounter the greatest difficulties. At the same time let us continue to pray the Rosary for peace. The Gospel and peace go hand in hand.

I wish you all a happy Sunday. Please do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and arrivederci!

HOLY MASS CONCLUDING THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS FOR THE PAN-AMAZON REGION

PAPAL CHAPEL

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

Vatican Basilica
XXX Sunday of Ordinary Time, 27 October 2019

The word of God today helps us to pray through three figures: in Jesus’ parable both the Pharisee and the tax collector pray, while the first reading speaks of the prayer of a poor person.

1. The prayer of the Pharisee begins in this way: “God, I thank you”.

This is a great beginning, because the best prayer is that of gratitude, that of praise. Immediately, though, we see the reason why he gives thanks: “that I am not like other men” (Lk 18:11). He also explains the reason: he fasts twice a week, although at the time there was only a yearly obligation; he pays tithes on all that he has, though tithing was prescribed only on the most important products (cf. Dt 14:22ff). In short, he boasts because he fulfils particular commandments to the best degree possible. But he forgets the greatest commandment: to love God and our neighbour (cf. Mt 22:36-40). Brimming with self-assurance about his own ability to keep the commandments, his own merits and virtues, he is focused only on himself. The tragedy of this man is that he is without love. Even the best things, without love, count for nothing, as Saint Paul says (cf. 1 Cor 13). Without love, what is the result? He ends up praising himself instead of praying. In fact, he asks nothing from the Lord because he does not feel needy or in debt, but he feels that God owes something to him. He stands in the temple of God, but he worships a different god: himself. And many “prestigious” groups, “Catholic Christians”, go along this path.

Together with God, he forgets his neighbour; indeed, he despises him. For the Pharisee, his neighbour has no worth, no value. He considers himself better than others, whom he calls literally “the rest, the remainders” (loipoi, Lk 18:11). That is, they are “leftovers”, they are scraps from which to keep one’s distance. How many times do we see this happening over and over again in life and history! How many times do those who are prominent, like the Pharisee with respect to the tax collector, raise up walls to increase distances, making other people feel even more rejected. Or by considering them backward and of little worth, they despise their traditions, erase their history, occupy their lands, and usurp their goods. How much alleged superiority, transformed into oppression and exploitation, exists even today! We saw this during the Synod when speaking about the exploitation of creation, of people, of the inhabitants of the Amazon, of the trafficking of persons, the trade in human beings! The mistakes of the past were not enough to stop the plundering of other persons and the inflicting of wounds on our brothers and sisters and on our sister earth: we have seen it in the scarred face of the Amazon region. Worship of self carries on hypocritically with its rites and “prayers” – many are Catholics, they profess themselves Catholic, but have forgotten they are Christians and human beings – forgetting the true worship of God which is always expressed in love of one’s neighbour. Even Christians who pray and go to Mass on Sunday are subject to this religion of the self. Let us examine ourselves and see whether we too may think that someone is inferior and can be tossed aside, even if only in our words. Let us pray for the grace not to consider ourselves superior, not to believe that we are alright, not to become cynical and scornful. Let us ask Jesus to heal us of speaking ill and complaining about others, of despising this or that person: these things are displeasing to God. And at Mass today we are accompanied providentially not only by indigenous people of the Amazon, but also by the poorest from our developed societies: our disabled brothers and sisters from the Community of L’Arche. They are with us, in the front row.

2. Let us turn to the other prayer. The prayer of the tax collector helps us understand what is pleasing to God. He does not begin from his own merits but from his shortcomings; not from his riches but from his poverty. His was not economic poverty – tax collectors were wealthy and tended to make money unjustly at the expense of their fellow citizens – but he felt a poverty of life, because we never live well in sin. The tax collector who exploited others admitted being poor before God, and the Lord heard his prayer, a mere seven words but an expression of heartfelt sincerity. In fact, while the Pharisee stood in front on his feet (cf. v. 11), the tax collector stood far off and “would not even lift up his eyes to heaven”, because he believed that God is indeed great, while he knew himself to be small. He “beat his breast” (cf. v. 13), because the breast is where the heart is. His prayer is born straight from the heart; it is transparent. He places his heart before God, not outward appearances. To pray is to stand before God’s eyes – it is God looking at me when I pray – without illusions, excuses or justifications. Often our regrets filled with self-justification can make us laugh. More than regrets, they seem as if we are canonizing ourselves. Because from the devil come darkness and lies – these are our self-justifications; from God come light and truth, transparency of my heart. It was a wonderful experience, and I am so grateful, dear members of the Synod, that we have been able to speak to one another in these weeks from the heart, with sincerity and candour, and to place our efforts and hopes before God and our brothers and sisters.

Today, looking at the tax collector, we rediscover where to start: from the conviction that we, all of us, are in need of salvation. This is the first step of the true worship of God, who is merciful towards those who admit their need. On the other hand, the root of every spiritual error, as the ancient monks taught, is believing ourselves to be righteous. To consider ourselves righteous is to leave God, the only righteous one, out in the cold. This initial stance is so important that Jesus shows it to us with an unusual comparison, juxtaposing in the parable the Pharisee, the most pious and devout figure of the time, and the tax collector, the public sinner par excellence. The judgment is reversed: the one who is good but presumptuous fails; the one who is a disaster but humble is exalted by God. If we look at ourselves honestly, we see in us all both the tax collector and the Pharisee. We are a bit tax collectors because we are sinners, and a bit Pharisees because we are presumptuous, able to justify ourselves, masters of the art of self-justification. This may often work with ourselves, but not with God. This trick does not work with God. Let us pray for the grace to experience ourselves in need of mercy, interiorly poor. For this reason too, we do well to associate with the poor, to remind ourselves that we are poor, to remind ourselves that the salvation of God operates only in an atmosphere of interior poverty.

3. We come now to the prayer of the poor person, from the first reading. This prayer, says Sirach, “will reach to the clouds” (35:21). While the prayer of those who presume that they are righteous remains earthly, crushed by the gravitational force of egoism, that of the poor person rises directly to God. The sense of faith of the People of God has seen in the poor “the gatekeepers of heaven”: the sense of faith that was missing in [the Pharisee’s] utterance. They are the ones who will open wide or not the gates of eternal life. They were not considered bosses in this life, they did not put themselves ahead of others; they had their wealth in God alone. These persons are living icons of Christian prophecy.

In this Synod we have had the grace of listening to the voices of the poor and reflecting on the precariousness of their lives, threatened by predatory models of development. Yet precisely in this situation, many have testified to us that it is possible to look at reality in a different way, accepting it with open arms as a gift, treating the created world not as a resource to be exploited but as a home to be preserved, with trust in God. He is our Father and, Sirach says again, “he hears the prayer of one who is wronged” (v. 16). How many times, even in the Church, have the voices of the poor not been heard and perhaps scoffed at or silenced because they are inconvenient. Let us pray for the grace to be able to listen to the cry of the poor: this is the cry of hope of the Church. The cry of the poor is the Church’s cry of hope. When we make their cry our own, we can be certain, our prayer too will reach to the clouds.

Firstly, I would like to thank you all for bearing witness by working, listening, researching, trying to put into practice this synodal spirit on which we are perhaps just learning to focus. And which we are still not able to finalize. But we are on the way; we are on a good path. We are increasingly coming to understand what this walking together is; we are beginning to understand what it means to discern, what it means to listen, what it means to incorporate the Church’s rich tradition in cyclical moments. Some think that tradition is a museum of old things. I like to repeat what Gustav Mahler used to say: “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire”. It is like a root from which comes sap, that makes the tree grow so that it bears fruit. To take this and make it move forward: this is what the first Fathers understood tradition to be. To receive and to walk in the same direction with this very beautiful three-fold dimension that Vincent of Lerins described back in the 5th century: Remaining absolutely intact and unaltered, Christian Dogma is consolidated with the years, more ample in the course of time, more exalted as it advances in age. (cf. Commonitorium, Cap 23 : pl 50, 667-668). Thank you for all this.

One of the themes that were voted on and that obtained a majority — three themes obtained a majority for the next Synod — is that of synodality. I do not know whether it will be chosen; I have not decided yet. I am reflecting and thinking but I can certainly say that we have journeyed a lot and we must still journey more along this path of synodality. Thank you all for your companionship.

The Post-Synodal Exhortation, which is not obligatory for the Pope to issue, probably not; excuse me, the easiest thing to do would be: “well, here is the document, you see to it”. In any case, a word from the Pope on what he experienced during the Synod can do some good. I would like to say it before the end of the year so that not too much time goes by. Everything depends on the amount of time that I will have to think about it.

We have spoken about four dimensions. Firstly, the cultural dimension: we worked on it; we spoke about inculturation, about the promotion of culture, and all this very animatedly, and I was pleased with what was said regarding this, that it is within the Church’s tradition. Inculturation: the Puebla Conference to name the nearest one, had opened that door. Secondly, the ecological dimension. Here I would like to pay tribute to one of the pioneers of this awareness within the Church, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople. He was one of the first to pave the way to create this conscience. And many followed him, and with that concern, and always with the exponential acceleration of the Paris team; and then other encounters followed. This is how Laudato Si’ was conceived; as an inspiration on which many people worked, on which many scientists, theologians and pastoral workers worked. Thus this ecological awareness advances and today denounces a path of compulsive exploitation, destruction, of which the Amazon is one of the most important aspects. I would say that it is a symbol. This ecological dimension on which our future depends, is that not so? In the demonstrations by young people, in Greta’s movement and that of others, several people held up a placard that read: “The future is ours”, that is, “you do not decide our future”. “It is ours!”. In this, there is already the awareness of ecological peril, obviously not only in the Amazon but also in other places: the Congo is another one, other sectors; in my country, in the Chaco, there is the “Impenetrable” zone which is small, but in some way, we too know the problem. Alongside the ecological dimension, there is the social dimension which we have addressed, which is no longer just all creation, Creation that is savagely exploited, but also people. And in the Amazon all kinds of injustices appear: the destruction of people, the exploitation of people at every level and the destruction of cultural identity. I remember that arriving in Puerto Maldonado — I think I have already said this, I am not sure — at the airport there was a poster with the image of a very beautiful girl with the words: “Defend yourself and beware of trafficking. That is, this is the warning to the arriving tourist. Trafficking listens and trafficking at the highest level of corruption of people at every level. And this, together with the destruction of cultural identity which is another phenomenon that you have singled out very well in the Document. How is cultural identity destroyed in all this? It is the fourth dimension which includes them all — and I would say the main one — the pastoral dimension, the Announcement of the Gospel is urgent; it is urgent. But that it be heard, that it be assimilated, that it be understood by those cultures. There have already been discussions about the laity, priests, permanent deacons, men and women religious, on whom to rely in this field. And there has been talk of what they do and how to strengthen this. There has been talk of new ministries inspired by Paul VI’s Ministeria Quaedam, of creativity in this. Creativity in the new ministries and seeing how far one can go. There was talk of indigenous seminarians, and with great intensity. I thank Cardinal O’Malley for the courage he had because he rubbed salt in the wound with regards to something which is a true social injustice, that is in fact, that indigenous people are not permitted to take the path of seminarians and the path of priesthood. Creativity in all that relates to the new ministries. I welcome the request to reconvene the Commission and perhaps expand it with new members in order to continue to study the permanent diaconate that existed in the early Church. You know you have reached an agreement among yourselves, which however, is unclear. I delivered this to the women religious, to the Union of [Superiors General] of Women Religious who asked me to conduct the research. I delivered it to them and now each of the theologians is seeking, is investigating. I will try to do it again with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and include new people in this Commission. I welcome the challenge that you have given me, “and that they may be heard”. I accept the challenge [applause]. Some things emerged which should be reformed: the Church must always reform. Priestly formation in the country. In some countries, I heard in a group or here once — I heard it once — that a certain lack of apostolic zeal was noted among the clergy in the non Amazon area with respect to the Amazon area.

When a religious Congregation leaves a vicariate, Cardinal Filoni and I have some difficulty in finding priests from the country who will take its place: “No, I am not suitable for this”. Well this must be reformed. Priestly formation in the country is universal and there is the responsibility to take on all the problems of the geographical countries, let us say, of that Episcopal Conference. In order to reform, it is necessary that there be no lack of zeal. I also recall that two people also said that there may not be such an evident lack of zeal. Excuse me, whether evident or less evident, there is a lack of zeal but ... among young religious, and it is something to take into account. Young religious have a very great vocation and they should be trained in apostolic zeal to go to the frontier territories. It would be good that the formation planning of religious include an experience of one year or longer in neighbouring regions. Moreover, and this is just a suggestion that I received in writing, but which I will now mention: that in the Holy See’s diplomatic service, in the curriculum of the diplomatic service, young priests should spend at least one year in mission territory, but not doing an internship at the Nunciature as happens now, which is very useful, but simply at the service of a bishop in a mission area. This point will be examined but it is also a reform to be considered. And the redistribution of the clergy in the same country. In reference to a specific situation, it was said that there is a large amount of priests from that first world country, for example in the United States, in Europe, and that there are not enough of them to send them out to the Amazon region of that same country. This will be evaluated, but there needs to be agreement. The fidei donums involved ... it is true that at times — it has happened to me when I was a bishop in another diocese — someone you sent to study arrives and tells you that he has fallen in love with the place and that he remained in the place and, despite everything that the first world offers, he does not want to return to the diocese. Clearly, in order to save the vocation, one concedes. But on this point we must be very careful and not indulge. I thank the true fidei donum priests who come to Europe from Africa, Asia and from America but those who are true fidei donums repay that fidei donum which Europe had given them. But those who come and remain are a danger. A bishop in Italy told me a sad thing; he has three of these priests who stayed and who will not go to celebrate Mass in the small mountain towns unless they have first received an offering. It is a story of here, today. So let us be attentive to this and let us demonstrate courage in making redistribution reforms of the clergy within the same country.

And one issue of the pastoral dimension was women. Obviously women: what the Document says is “not enough”; what is woman, right? In transmitting the faith, in preserving culture. I would just like to underscore this: that we have not yet understood what the woman signifies in the Church and we limit ourselves only to the functional aspect which is important and must be in the councils ... or in all that was said. But the role of women in the Church goes well beyond functionality. And more work must continue on this. Well beyond.

Then in the final part of the Document, there was talk of reorganization, and I noticed in the voting that some were not convinced. Service bodies, imitating repam, to make a type of ... that repam may have more substance, a kind of Amazon face. I do not know, making progress in the organization, progressing in the semi-Episcopal Conferences, that is, there is an Episcopal Conference in a country but there is also a semi-Episcopal Conference that is part of an area and this occurs everywhere. Here in Italy, there is the Lombardy Episcopal Conference; that is, there are countries that have sector-based Episcopal Conferences, so why can’t the countries in the Amazon region create small Amazon Episcopal Conferences that belong to the general one but that carry out their work. By organizing this structure like repam, like an Amazon celam ...opening.

There was talk of a ritual reform, to be open to rites. This is the responsibility of the Congregation for Divine Worship and it can do so by following the criteria and I know that it can do it very well and make the necessary proposals required by inculturation. But one must always aim at going beyond, going beyond. Not only ritual organization but also other types of organization: that which inspires the Lord. Of the 23 Churches with their own rites that are mentioned in the Document and which were mentioned at least in the pre-document, I believe that 18 if not 19 of them are sui iuris Churches and have started out with little, creating traditions that will lead them where the Lord will take them. We must not fear organizations which safeguard a special life. Always with the help of the Holy Mother Church, Mother of all, who guides us on this journey so that we do not separate. Do not be afraid of them.

And a contribution also with respect to the Roman Curia. I believe it must be made and I will speak about how to do so with Cardinal Turkson. To open an Amazon sector within the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. So that since he has no work, I will give him more ...!

I would also like to thank you as I have already done, to thank all those who worked outside, mostly outside this Hall. The secretaries who helped, the hidden secretariat, the media, the dissemination team, those who organized the meetings and the information. The great hidden ones who permit something [like this] to move forward. The famous direction that helped us so much. My gratitude goes also to them.

I include the presidency of the Secretariat General in my general gratitude and thanks to the means of communication — whom I thought would be here to listen to the voting since it is public —, for what they have done. Thank you for the favour they show us in disseminating the Synod. I would ask them a favour: that in their dissemination of the Final Document, they will focus above all on the diagnosis which is the more significant part, the part in which the Synod truly expressed itself best: cultural diagnosis, social diagnosis, pastoral diagnosis and ecological diagnosis. Because society must take this on. The danger can be that at times they may linger — it is a danger; I am not saying that they will do it but society demands it — on seeing what was decided on the disciplinary issue, what they decided on another, which party won and which one lost. That is, in other words on small disciplinary things which have their importance but that would not do the good that this Synod must do. May society take on the diagnosis that we have made in the four dimensions. I would ask the media to do all this.

There is always an “elite” group of Christians which likes to interfere in this type of diagnosis, as if it were universal; in the smaller ones or in that type of resolution that is more intra-ecclesiastic discipline, I am not saying inter-ecclesial, intra-ecclesiastic, and to say that this section has won over that section. No, we have all won with the diagnoses that we have made and how far we have come in the pastoral and intra-ecclesiastic issues. But one does not close oneself in on this. Thinking today about these Catholics and at times Christian “elites”, but above all Catholics who want to go to “the small” [picture] and forget the “big” [picture], a verse from Péguy came to mind and I went to look for it. I will try to translate it well. I think it can help us, when it describes these groups who want the “small thing” and forget the “thing”: Because they do not belong to someone else, they think they belong to God. Because they love no one else, they think that they love God. I am very pleased that we did not fall prey to these selective groups that, concerning the Synod, just want to see what was decided on this or that intra-ecclesiastic point and they deny the corpus of the Synod which consists in the diagnoses that we have carried out in the four dimensions.

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER
OF THE ORDER OF THE SERVANTS OF MARY

Friday, 25 October 2019

Impromptu address of the Holy Father

Prepared address of the Holy Father

IMPROMPTU ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER

Excuse me if I remain seated, as I am not going to read the written speech. I will give it to you [the Superior], because since yesterday, when I saw that I would meet you today, my memory turned to the year 1957, to the Seminary of Villa Devoto [in Buenos Aires]. At that time there were two of you who were studying there. I don't know if one of you is here. Then I lost sight of them. The year 1957: 62 years ago. You grow old in life! They told me the story of Alessio Falconieri and the other six, and I was enthusiastic about this as an example of holiness. To see rich men, merchants - indeed, Florentines [laughs] – who were able to make this decision for Our Lady. It is the word “servant”, “service”, in the service of Our Lady. This way of service, of humiliation, of the humble journey. And I was so enthusiastic that, throughout my life, from that moment on, I celebrate with particular love the 17th of February [liturgical memory of the Seven Founders of the Servants of Mary], even with Mass. I was struck by that testimony, and this is what I want to tell you.

So, today, you “staked one and earned two”: take with you this written speech, and also what I will tell you now. I will give it to you so that you may give it to everyone.

The phrase “Servants of Mary” makes me think of something that Saint Ignatius [of Loyola, in the Exercises] puts in his meditation on the birth of Jesus. He says: “I must be present – in meditation – as a servant who helps Our Lady to do what she must Bethlehem, in the crib”. Servants of Our Lady. In this there is a great relationship with what Our Lady does. She enables Jesus to be born, she raises Him grow, and then she makes the Church grow. And those great merchants – because they had money, they were not without it – in the end left everything to become servants, servants of Our Lady, because they understood the role of Our Lady in redemption, a role that so often the so-called “modern” theologies forget. But Our Lady brought us Jesus! And your Founders understood this, they understood and they became servants. They went to pray [on Mount Senario]; and then they did all their work.

The word “service” is also the one Our Lady says to the Angel: “I am the servant, I am here to serve”. They imitate Our Lady in this service. And they make themselves her servants, so that she may lead them precisely in this way of service. The first word: service. You are servants. Never forget this. You are not masters. Serve. “Look at that other one...”. But you are the servant of the other. “But that bishop...”. You are the servant of that bishop. “But the Church...”. You are a servant of the Church. “And the people...”. You are the servant of the people. Never stray from that founding grace that is being a servant. A servant by choice. The other Saint Alexius [of Rome] had also become a beggar, he lived under the stairs. Your Alessio made a choice: he was a servant by choice, in order to become a saint. This is precisely the path taken by the Word: “He emptied Himself. …He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (cf. Phil 2: 7-8). It is the way of service. Yes, but even more: servitude. “Does this mean that I must be a slave?” Yes. “That I must also renounce certain freedoms in order to become a servant?”. Yes, I do. Meditate on this name of yours: servants of Our Lady, the handmaid of the Lord, who as Lord became a servant, Jesus.

This is the first idea that comes to mind, but still thinking of the year 1957, when these two brothers of yours spoke to me about the spirituality of the congregation. It has remained impressed on me.

And service is a service of hope. If there is one person who does not seem to have reasons for human hope, it is Our Lady, with those strange things that happened in her life: from the birth of Jesus, then persecution and flight, then the return, and seeing the son growing in contradictions... But she looked forward: she was the Lady of hope. Today, we are all experts in the lack of hope. We always find loopholes to have no hope, when we begin to complain about the world: “But this... and these calamities, the things that happen...”. Bad things happen, but no worse than those which happened in Our Lady’s time. It is the same. The world changes its forms, but the slavery, wars and cruelty of that time are those of today. We must sow hope, look beyond. Our Lady also teaches us to sow hope. Think of Calvary; think of Pentecost when she prayed with her disciples. She is Our Lady of sorrows, and in sorrow, in poverty, in spoliation, hope comes, she sees herself clearly. When one is well, it is not so easy to express hope, but when there are difficulties, hope comes. And she [Mary] is a teacher, she has taught us so much. She has taught us so much.

Then, the other word [of the theme of your Chapter]: “in a changing world”. Change. Time is always changing. We are always tempted to stop time, to divide it, to dominate it... As one here said, at the Synod for the Amazon: “You Europeans have the clock, we [natives] have time”. Placing a stake on time. Yes, things change, but time is God’s. And do not close yourself off in our times, which are too human, too human. To go ahead according to God’s time: He knows.

To be servants of Our Lady, of hope, in a time that changes, in change, is only possible through prayer. Your seven Founders first of all withdrew to pray. And they prayed well! I recommend that you do not neglect prayer. It is the foundation of your life. Prayer is also like begging Our Lady for alms: “Help me to be a faithful servant”. This prayer is fruitful and will give you vocations and many things. Prayer is the instrument that works miracles. It works miracles. But there are many unbelievers regarding the power of prayer. And I am tempted to say – it is a temptation but I say it myself – that very often we are the most incredulous: bishops, priests, who do not believe in the miracle of prayer. We do not believe what Jesus tells us: “Ask and you will receive”. We don't believe in our Father Who has such strength.

That's what I wish to tell you, in this way, fraternally. Remembering that experience in 1957 and also on 17 February every year, when I look at those good men who gave this sign; they did so through inspiration of the Lord, but they were faithful to that inspiration. This shows you the way to go. The other things I say there, in the written address.

A final reference, finally, to the spirit... but not to the Holy Spirit! The beautiful gesture of bringing me a bit of spirit to lift the heart! [wine produced on the farm of the Servants of Mary in Tuscany] Thank you, thank you so much! And pray for me, as I am in need, so that I too may be something of a servant to Our Lady in a changing time, a servant of hope. Thank you!

PREPARED ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER

Dear brothers,

You are now at the end of your 214th General Chapter, and you wished to meet the Successor of Peter to be confirmed in faith and encouraged in your commitment to witness and to service. I greet you all with affection, and I thank the Prior General for his words.

The Order of the Servants of Mary had its origins and its first development in thirteenth-century Florence, a city as lively as it was bellicose. It was born of a group of men: the Seven Holy Founders, dedicated to trade and volunteering. However, your religious family places the germinal core of its charism in its special consecration to the Virgin Mary, recognized as the true “foundress”. You live your personal consecration to Mary as a daily commitment to assimilate her style, as it is handed down by the Sacred Scripture. The theological-pastoral study of the figure of Mary of Nazareth also becomes for you an integral part of a vocation, which you transmit in particular through teaching in the “Marianum” Pontifical Theological Faculty.

Another area in which you bear witness to the Gospel, inspired by the Blessed Virgin, is that of the apostolate and mission. Here you strive to imitate Mary, inspired in particular by four of her attitudes. When after the Annunciation she goes to help Elizabeth; when at Cana in Galilee she obtains from Jesus the sign of water changed into wine for the joy of the newlyweds; when she remains full of faith and pain at the foot of Jesus’ cross; and finally when she prays in the Upper Room with the Apostles awaiting the Holy Spirit. Starting from these four Marian “moments”, you are always called to deepen your understanding of the founding charism in order to make it present, so that it may respond with hope to the challenges that the contemporary world is launching for the Church and also for your Order. The theme that guided your General Chapter, “Servants of Hope in a Changing World”, expresses precisely this intention, which becomes a roadmap and a mission for the coming years.

From this perspective, I would like to recall an important aspect of your history, which can be paradigmatic. The Seven Holy Founders knew how to live the mountain and the city. Indeed, from Florence they climbed Mount Senario, where they had the profound experience of the encounter with the One who is Hope, Jesus Christ. They then descended again from the mountain, establishing their home in Cafaggio, immediately outside the walls of Florence, on the outskirts of the city, to commit themselves in their daily life, in witness and in service to society and the Church.

It may be good to re-read, in the light of the Gospel account of the Transfiguration (cf. Lk 9: 28-36), this journey of your Founders. Strengthened by the experience of God, they descend more deeply into history, renewed inwardly. In this way they can live the Gospel, responding to the needs of the people, of brothers and sisters who ask to be welcomed, supported, accompanied and helped throughout their lives. Going back to their unique human and vocational experience, you too increasingly become men of hope, capable of dispelling the fears that sometimes torment the heart, even in a religious community. I am thinking, for example, of the scarcity of vocations in certain parts of the world; as well as of the difficulty of being faithful to Jesus and to the Gospel in certain community or social contexts. The Lord, He alone, allows you to take everywhere, through the holiness of life, a presence of hope and an outlook of trust, identifying and valuing the many emerging buds of positivity. Let us think of vocations in the new territories where you are present. I urge you to enjoy the beauty and cultural and spiritual novelty of the many peoples to whom you have been sent to proclaim the Gospel.

To be men of hope means to cultivate dialogue, communion and fraternity, which are the profiles of holiness. Indeed, sanctification “is a journey in community, side by side with others. We see this in some holy communities” (Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete et exsultate, 141).

Being men of hope means finding the courage to face some everyday challenges. I think, for example, of that of using in a responsible way the means of communication, which convey positive news, but which can also destroy the dignity of people, weaken spiritual momentum, and harm fraternal life. It is a matter of educating oneself in an evangelical use of these instruments. Another challenge to be taken on and managed is that of multiculturalism, which in fact you have addressed in this Chapter. There is no doubt that Catholic religious communities have become “laboratories” in this sense, certainly not without problems and yet offering to all a clear sign of the Kingdom of God, to which all peoples are invited, through the one Gospel of salvation. It is not easy to experience human differences in harmony, but it is possible, and a reason for joy if we make room for the Holy Spirit, who in this, as they say, “goes to the wedding”.

May your communities also be a sign of universal brotherhood, schools of welcome and integration, places of openness and relationality. With this witness you will help to keep away divisions and foreclosures, prejudices of superiority or inferiority, cultural, ethnic, linguistic, walls of separation. And your communities will be so to the extent that you are men of communion, fraternity and unity, as were your Founders.

May the Virgin Mary always safeguard in you the joy of the Gospel. I cordially bless you and all the brothers of the Order, as well as the communities entrusted to you. And I ask you, please, to pray for me.

*Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office, 25 October 2019

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!

The Book of the Acts of the Apostles recounts that after that transformative encounter with Jesus, Saint Paul is welcomed by the Church of Jerusalem thanks to the mediation of Barnabas, and he begins to proclaim Christ. However, due to the hostility of some, he is forced to move on to Tarsus, his native city, where Barnabas joins him in order to engage him in the long journey of the Word of God. We can say that the Book of the Acts of the Apostles on which we are commenting in these catecheses is the Book of the long journey of the Word of God: the Word of God is to be proclaimed, and to be proclaimed everywhere. This journey begins in the wake of severe persecution (cf. Acts 11:19); but instead of provoking a setback for evangelization, it becomes an opportunity to expand the field on which to sow the good seed of the Word. The Christians do not feel afraid. They must flee, but they flee with the Word and they spread the Word somewhat everywhere.

Paul and Barnabas arrive first in Antioch, Syria, where they stay for a whole year to teach and help the community to put down roots (cf. Acts 11:26). They proclaimed to the Hebrew community, to the Jews. Antioch thus becomes the centre of missionary impulse, thanks to the preaching of the two evangelizers — Paul and Barnabas — which impresses the hearts of believers who, here in Antioch, are called “Christians” for the first time (cf. Acts 11:26).

The nature of the Church appears from the Book of the Acts; she is not a fortress but a tent able to enlarge her space (cf. Is 54:2) and give access to all. Either the Church “goes forth” or she is not a Church; either she is on a journey always widening her space so that everyone can enter, or she is not a Church. A “Church whose doors are open” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 46), always with open doors. When I see a small church here, in this city, or when I would see one in the other diocese that I come from, with closed doors, this is a bad sign. Churches should always have their doors open because this is the sign of what a church is: always open. The Church is always “called to be the house of the Father... so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door” (ibid., 47).

But this novelty of doors open to whom? To the Gentiles, because the Apostles were preaching to the Jews, but the Gentiles came to knock at the Church’s doors; and this novelty of doors open to the Gentiles triggers a very lively controversy. Several Jews affirm the need to become Jewish through circumcision in order to be saved, and then to receive Baptism. They say: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1), that is, you cannot receive Baptism afterwards. First the Jewish rite and then Baptism: this was their position. And to resolve the issue, Paul and Barnabas seek the advice of the Apostles and of the elders of Jerusalem, and what takes place is what is held to be the First Council in the history of the Church, the Council or Assembly of Jerusalem, to which Paul refers in the Letter to the Galatians (2:1-10).

A very delicate theological, spiritual and disciplinary issue is addressed, that is, the relationship between faith in Christ and observance of the Law of Moses. During the Assembly, the discourses of Peter and James — “pillars” of the Mother Church — are decisive (cf. Acts 15:7-21; Gal 2:9). They exhort not imposing circumcision on the Gentiles but, instead, asking them only to reject idolatry and all its expressions. From the discussion emerges the common path, and this decision was ratified with the so-called Apostolic Letter sent to Antioch.

The Assembly of Jerusalem sheds important light on the way to face differences and to seek the “truth in love” (Eph 4:15). It reminds us that the ecclesial method for resolving conflict is based on dialogue made of careful and patient listening and on discernment undertaken in the light of the Spirit. Indeed, it is the Spirit who helps to overcome closure and tension, and works within hearts so that they may achieve unity in truth and goodness. This text helps us understand synodality. It is interesting how they write the Letter: the Apostles begin by saying: “The Holy spirit and we believe that...”. The presence of the Holy Spirit is proper to synodality, otherwise it is not synodality. It is the parlour, parliament, something else....

Let us ask the Lord to strengthen in all Christians, particularly in presbyters, the desire and the responsibility of communion. May he help us to experience dialogue, listening and encounter with our brothers and sisters in faith and with those afar, in order to savour and manifest the fruitfulness of the Church which is called to be, in every age, the “joyous mother” of many children (cf. Ps 113[112]:9).

Appeal and Special Greetings

I have been following with concern what is happening in Chile. I hope that by putting an end to the violent demonstrations through dialogue, an effort may be made to find solutions to the crisis and to face the difficulties that caused it, for the good of the entire population.

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially the groups from England, Hungary, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the United States of America. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. May God bless you!

Lastly, I greet young people, the elderly, the sick and newlyweds. Yesterday we celebrated the liturgical memorial of Saint John Paul II. Let us imitate him, this teacher of faith and of evangelic life, an example of love for Christ and mankind.

 APOSTOLIC LETTER
ISSUED "MOTU PROPRIO"

FOR THE CHANGE OF THE NAME OF THE
VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVE

TO THE

VATICAN APOSTOLIC ARCHIVE

Historical experience teaches us that every human institution, created with the best protection and with vigorous and well-founded hopes for progress, fatally touched by time, precisely to remain faithful to itself and to the ideal aims of its nature, feels the need, not to change its features, but to transpose its inspirational values into different eras and cultures and to make those updates that become convenient and sometimes necessary.

Even the Vatican Secret Archives, for which the Roman Pontiffs have always reserved solicitude and care on account of the immense and important documentary heritage that it preserves, so precious for the Catholic Church as well as for universal culture, cannot escape such inevitable conditioning, in its now more than four centuries-long history.

The Pontifical Archive, which arose from the documentary nucleus of the Apostolic Chamber and of the Apostolic Library itself (the so-called Bibliotheca secreta) between the first and second decade of the 17th century, began to be called the Secret (Archivum Secretum Vaticanum) only around the middle of that cen. It was accommodated in suitable rooms in the Apostolic Palace, grew over time to a remarkable extent and was immediately opened to requests for documents that came to the Roman Pontiff, to the cardinal Camerlengo and then to the cardinal Archivist and Librarian from all over Europe and the world. While it is true that the official opening of the Archive to researchers from every country was only in 1881, it is also true that between the 17th and 19th centuries many scholarly works could be published with the help of faithful or authentic documentary copies that historians obtained from the custodians and prefects of the Vatican Secret Archive. So much so that the famous German philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, who also drew from it, wrote in 1702 that it could be considered in a certain way the Central Archive of Europe (quod quodam modo totius Europae commune Archivum censeri debet).

This long service rendered to the Church, to culture and to scholars from all over the world has always earned the Vatican Secret Archives esteem and gratitude, all the more so since Leo XIII's death today, both because of the progressive “opening” of documentation made available for consultation (which from 2 March 2020, by my provision, will extend until the end of the pontificate of Pius XII), and because of the increase in the number of researchers who are admitted daily to the Archives and helped in every way in their research.

This worthy ecclesial and cultural service, greatly appreciated, responds well to the intentions of all my predecessors, who according to the times and possibilities have favoured historical research in this vast Archive, equipping it, according to the suggestions of cardinal archivists or prefects pro tempore, with staff, resources and also with new technologies. In this way the structure of the Archive itself has gradually grown in view of its ever more demanding service to the Church and to the world of culture, always remaining faithful to the teachings and directives of the Popes.

However, there is one aspect that I think could still be useful to update, reaffirming the ecclesial and cultural aims of the mission of the Archives. This aspect concerns the very name of the institute: Vatican Secret Archive.

Born, as mentioned, from the Bibliotheca secreta del Romano Pontefice, that is, from the part of codes and scriptures more particularly owned and under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope, the Archive was entitled first simply Archivum novum, then Archivum Apostolicum, then Archivum Secretum (the first attestations of the term date back to about 1646).

The term Secretum, which has become the institution’s proper name and which has prevailed in recent centuries, was justified because it indicated that the new Archive, created at the behest of my predecessor Paul V around 1610-1612, was none other than the Pope's private, separate, reserved archive. This is how all the Popes always intended to define it, and this is how scholars still define it today, without any difficulty. This definition, moreover, was widespread, with similar meaning, in the courts of kings and princes, whose archives were defined indeed as secret.

As long as there was still an awareness of the close link between the Latin language and the languages that derive from it, there was no need to explain or even justify this title of Archivum Secretum. With the progressive semantic changes that have however occurred in modern languages and in the cultures and social sensibilities of different nations, to a greater or lesser extent, the term Secretum in relation to the Vatican Archive began to be misunderstood, to be coloured with ambiguous, even negative nuances. Having lost the true meaning of the term secretum and instinctively associating its value with the concept expressed by the modern word “secret”, in some areas and environments, even those of a certain cultural importance, this term has taken on the prejudicial meaning of secret, as in not to be revealed and reserved for a few. This is entirely the opposite of what the Vatican Secret Archive has always been and intends to be, which – as my holy predecessor Paul VI said – preserves “echoes and vestiges” of the passage of the Lord in history (Teachings of Paul VI, I, 1963, p. 614). And the Church “is not afraid of history but, rather, she loves it, and would like to love it more and better, as God loves it!” (Address to the Officials of the Vatican Secret Archives, 4 March 2019: L'Osservatore Romano, 4-5 March 2019, p. 6).

Requested in recent years by some esteemed prelates, as well as by my closest collaborators, and having also listened to the opinion of the Superiors of the same Vatican Secret Archive, with this my Motu proprio I decide that:

From now on the present Vatican Secret Archive, without prejudice to its identity, its structure and its mission, should be called the Vatican Apostolic Archive.

Reaffirming its active desire to serve the Church and culture, the new name highlights the close link between the Roman See and the Archive, an indispensable instrument of the Petrine ministry, and at the same time underlines its immediate dependence on the Roman Pontiff, as is already the case in parallel for the name of the Vatican Apostolic Library.

I order that this Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu proprio be promulgated by publication in the daily newspaper L’Osservatore Romano, coming into immediate force upon publication, so as to be immediately incorporated into the official documents of the Holy See, and that, subsequently, it be inserted into the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

Given in Rome, at Saint Peter’s, on 22 October 2019, seventh of our Pontificate.

Franciscus

*Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office, 28 October 2019

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE 2019 WORLD CONFERENCE OF THE
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN MARITIME ASSOCIATION (ICMA)

I offer greetings of peace and goodness to all of you, dear Delegates of the International Christian Maritime Association.

You have gathered at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, for your Eleventh World Conference, during which you commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of your praiseworthy Association. This anniversary allows me an opportunity to encourage you to persevere, with renewed ecumenical spirit, in your service to seafarers and maritime personnel.

In these days of encounter and reflection, I am confident that you will identify increasingly effective ways of assisting sailors, fishers and their families. In this regard, the 1997 Apostolic Letter Stella Maris remains most timely. There, my Predecessor Saint John Paul II set forth basic principles for the pastoral care of seafarers, their families and all those who travel by sea, and urged that every effort be made to see that they are “provided abundantly with whatever is required to lead holy lives” (II § 2).

I renew that invitation to all of you who represent different Christian traditions. May you help seafarers and maritime personnel to know Jesus Christ and to live in accordance with his teachings, in respect and in mutual acceptance.

I encourage you to surmount whatever difficulties you may encounter in your mission and to promote with conviction the spirit of ecumenism. I accompany you with my prayers and my blessing, which I readily invoke upon you, upon your deliberations in these days, and upon all those entrusted to your pastoral service.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Good morning!

The second reading of today’s liturgy offers us the exhortation that the Apostle Paul addresses to his faithful collaborator Timothy: “preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, convince, rebuke and exhort, be unfailing in patience and in teaching” (2 Tim 4:2). The tone is fervent: Timothy must feel he is in charge of proclaiming the Word.

World Missionary Day, which is being celebrated today, is a propitious occasion for every baptized person to be even more conscious of the need to cooperate in proclaiming the Word, in proclaiming the Kingdom of God with a renewed commitment. One hundred years ago, Pope Benedict XV promulgated the Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud in order to give new impetus to the missionary responsibility of the entire Church. He cautioned about the need to evangelically re-qualify mission in the world, so that it would be cleansed of any colonial incrustation and freed from the conditioning of the expansionist policies of the European nations.

In today’s changed context, Benedict XV’s message is still timely and spurs us to overcome the temptation of all forms of self-referential withdrawal and of all forms of pastoral pessimism, in order to open ourselves up to the joyful newness of the Gospel. In our time, marked by a globalization that should be supportive and respectful of the particularities of peoples, and instead still suffers from homogenization and from age-old conflicts for power that fuel wars and destroy the planet, believers are called to take everywhere, with renewed passion, the Good News that in Jesus mercy conquers sin, hope conquers fear, fraternity conquers hostility. Christ is our peace and in him every division is overcome; in him alone lies the salvation of every person and every people.

To live mission in full there is an indispensable condition: prayer, fervent and unceasing prayer, according to Jesus’ teaching, also proclaimed in today’s Gospel, in which he recounted a parable on the need “always to pray and not lose heart” (Lk 18:1). Prayer is the first support of the People of God for missionaries, rich in affection and gratitude for their difficult task of proclaiming and offering the light and grace of the Gospel to those who have not yet received it. It is also a fine occasion to ask ourselves today: do I pray for missionaries? Do I pray for those who go afar to bear the Word of God through witness? Let us think about this.

May Mary, Mother of all people, accompany and protect the missionaries of the Gospel each day.

After the Angelus the Holy Father continued:

Dear brothers and sisters, yesterday in Crema, the martyr Fr Alfredo Cremonesi, missionary priest of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, was proclaimed Blessed. Killed in Burma in 1953, he was a tireless apostle of peace and a zealous witness to the Gospel, until shedding his blood. May his example inspire us to be workers of fraternity and courageous missionaries in every environment; may his intercession sustain those who work hard today to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Let us all applaud Blessed Alfredo!

And now I offer a cordial welcome to all of you, pilgrims from Italy and from various countries. In particular I greet and bless with affection Rome’s Peruvian community, gathered here with the venerated Image of el Señor de los Milagros — ¡conserven siempre la fe y las tradiciones de su pueblo! –[Always preserve the faith and traditions of your people]; the Nursing Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows who have celebrated their General Chapter; participants in the Restiamo umani march, who in recent months have travelled through the cities and territories of Italy to promote a constructive discussion on the themes of inclusion and welcome. Thank you for this beautiful initiative!

I share a special thought with the Catholic Action youth who have come with their teachers from all the Italian dioceses on the occasion of the 50-year anniversary of acr. Dear boys and girls, you are protagonists in evangelization, especially among your peers. The Church has confidence in you; go forth with joy and generosity!

I wish everyone a happy Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch. Arrivederci.

HOLY MASS FOR WORLD MISSIONS DAY

PAPAL CHAPEL

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

Vatican Basilica
XXIX Sunday of Ordinary Time, 20 October 2019

I would like to reflect on three words taken from the readings we have just heard: a noun, a verb and an adjective. The noun is the mountain: Isaiah speaks of it when he prophesies about a mountain of the Lord, raised above the hills, to which all the nations will flow (cf. Is 2:2). We see the image of the mountain again in the Gospel when Jesus, after his resurrection, tells his disciples to meet him on the mount of Galilee; the Galilee inhabited by many different peoples: “Galilee of the Gentiles” (cf. Mt 4:15). It seems, then, that the mountain is God’s favourite place for encountering humanity. It is his meeting place with us, as we see in the Bible, beginning with Mount Sinai and Mount Carmel, all the way to Jesus, who proclaimed the Beatitudes on the mountain, was transfigured on Mount Tabor, gave his life on Mount Calvary and ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives. The mountain, the place of great encounters between God and humanity, is also the place where Jesus spent several hours in prayer (cf. Mk 6:46) to unite heaven and earth, and to unite us, his brothers and sisters, with the Father.

What does the mountain say to us? We are called to draw near to God and to others. To God, the Most High, in silence and prayer, avoiding the rumours and gossip that diminish us. And to others, who, from the mountain, can be seen in a different perspective: that of God who calls all peoples. From on high, others are seen as a community whose harmonious beauty is discovered only in viewing them as a whole. The mountain reminds us that our brothers and sisters should not be selected but embraced, not only with our gaze but also with our entire life. The mountain unites God and our brothers and sisters in a single embrace, that of prayer. The mountain draws us up and away from the many transient things, and summons us to rediscover what is essential, what is lasting: God and our brothers and sisters. Mission begins on the mountain: there, we discover what really counts. In the midst of this missionary month, let us ask ourselves: what really counts in my life? To what peaks do I want to ascend?

A verb accompanies the noun “mountain”: the verb to go up. Isaiah exhorts us: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord” (2:3). We were not born to remain on the ground, to be satisfied with ordinary things, we were born to reach the heights and there to meet God and our brothers and sisters. However, this means that we have to go up: to leave behind a horizontal life and to resist the force of gravity caused by our self-centredness, to make an exodus from our own ego. Going up requires great effort, but it is the only way to get a better view of everything. As mountain-climbers know, only when you arrive at the top can you get the most beautiful view; only then do you realize that you would not have that view were it not for that uphill path.

And as in the mountains we cannot climb well if we are weighed down by our packs, so in life we must rid ourselves of things that are useless. This is also the secret of mission: to go, you have to leave something behind, to proclaim, you must first renounce. A credible proclamation is not made with beautiful words, but by an exemplary life: a life of service that is capable of rejecting all those material things that shrink the heart and make people indifferent and inward-looking; a life that renounces the useless things that entangle the heart in order to find time for God and others. We can ask ourselves: how am I doing in my efforts to go up? Am I able to reject the heavy and useless baggage of worldliness in order to climb the mountain of the Lord? Is mine a journey upwards or one of worldliness?

If the mountain reminds us of what matters – God and our brothers and sisters – and the verb to go up tells us how to get there, a third word is even more important for today’s celebration. It is the adjective all, which constantly reappears in the readings we have heard: “all peoples”, says Isaiah (2:2); “all peoples”, we repeated in the Psalm; God desires “all to be saved”, writes Paul (1 Tim 2:4); “Go and make disciples of all nations”, says Jesus in the Gospel (Mt 28:19). The Lord is deliberate in repeating the word all. He knows that we are always using the words “my” and “our”: my things, our people, our community... But he constantly uses the word all. All, because no one is excluded from his heart, from his salvation; all, so that our heart can go beyond human boundaries and particularism based on a self-centredness that displeases God. All, because everyone is a precious treasure, and the meaning of life is found only in giving this treasure to others. Here is our mission: to go up the mountain to pray for everyone and to come down from the mountain to be a gift to all.

Going up and coming down: the Christian, therefore, is always on the move, outward-bound. Go is in fact the imperative of Jesus in the Gospel. We meet many people every day, but – we can ask – do we really encounter the people we meet? Do we accept the invitation of Jesus or simply go about our own business? Everyone expects things from others, but the Christian goes to others. Bearing witness to Jesus is never about getting accolades from others, but about loving those who do not even know the Lord. Those who bear witness to Jesus go out to all, not just to their own acquaintances or their little group. Jesus is also saying to you: “Go, don’t miss a chance to bear me witness!” My brother, my sister, the Lord expects from you a testimony that no one can give in your place. “May you come to realize what that word is, the message of Jesus that God wants to speak to the world by your life…. lest you fail in your precious mission.” (Gaudete et Exsultate, 24).

What instructions does the Lord give us for going forth to others? Only one, and very simple: make disciples. But, be careful: his disciples, not our own. The Church proclaims the Gospel well only if she lives the life of a disciple. And a disciple follows the Master daily and shares the joy of discipleship with others. Not by conquering, mandating, proselytizing, but by witnessing, humbling oneself alongside other disciples and offering with love the love that we ourselves received. This is our mission: to give pure and fresh air to those immersed in the pollution of our world; to bring to earth that peace which fills us with joy whenever we meet Jesus on the mountain in prayer; to show by our lives, and perhaps even by our words, that God loves everyone and never tires of anyone.

Dear brothers and sisters, each of us has and is “a mission on this earth” (Evangelii Gaudium, 273). We are here to witness, bless, console, raise up, and radiate the beauty of Jesus. Have courage! Jesus expects so much from you! We can say that the Lord is “concerned” about those who do not yet know that they are beloved children of the Father, brothers and sisters for whom he gave his life and sent the Holy Spirit. Do you want to quell Jesus’ concern? Go and show love to everyone, because your life is a precious mission: it is not a burden to be borne, but a gift to offer. Have courage, and let us fearlessly go forth to all!

INAUGURATION OF THE "ANIMA MUNDI" MUSEUM
AND EXHIBITION ON AMAZONIA IN THE VATICAN MUSEUMS

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

Friday, 18 October 2019

Dear Friends,

I cordially greet you all and I thank Cardinal Bertello for his words.

I like to think that what we are inaugurating today is not simply a Museum, in its traditional conception. Indeed, I found fitting, so evocative, the name that has been selected for this collection: Anima Mundi. The soul of the world.

I think that the Vatican Museums are called to become ever more a living “home”, inhabited and open to all, with its doors wide open to the peoples of the entire world. Vatican Museums open, to all, without closure. A place where everyone can feel represented; where one can perceive concretely that the gaze of the Church knows no preclusion.

Those who enter here should feel that in this house there is room for them too, for their people, their tradition, their culture: the European as the Indian, the Chinese as the indigenous of the Amazon or the Congolese Forests, from Alaska or the Australian deserts or the Pacific islands. All peoples are here, in the shadow of the dome of Saint Peter’s, close to the heart of the Church and of the Pope. And this is because art is not something uprooted: art springs from the heart of peoples.

Here they should also feel that “their” art has the same value and is cared for and safeguarded with the same passion that is reserved for the masterpieces of the Renaissance or the immortal Greek and Roman sculptures, which every year beckon millions of people. Here they will find a special space: the space of dialogue, of openness to the other, of encounter.

I appreciate that the installation created, and for which I thank those who have worked on it — curators, architects, engineers and labourers, everyone! — is a sign of transparency. Transparency is an important value, especially in an ecclesial institution. We always need it! In these showcases, over the course of time, thousands of works coming from every part of the world will find space, and this kind of installation is meant to place them effectively in dialogue among themselves. And as works of art are the expression of the spirit of peoples, the message received is that one needs to always look at every culture, at the other, with openness of spirit and with benevolence.

Beauty unites us. It invites us to live in human brotherhood, opposing the culture of resentment, of racism, of nationalism, which is always lurking. These are selective cultures, cultures of limited numbers.

A few months ago, from this Museum, several works of Chinese art departed for Beijing. And before that others had gone to several Islamic countries.... How many good initiatives can be achieved thanks to art, managing to overcome even barriers and distances.

Today I would like to thank those who each day take care of these very precious works: the Anima Mundi Museum Curator, Fr Nicola Mapelli, who is a pime missionary! — and this is very consistent! —; the restorers of the Multi-Material Laboratory, and all those who cooperate in this work. Thanks to everyone!

And also thank you for having wished to inaugurate this new installation with a special exhibition dedicated to the Amazon, precisely in the days in which we are experiencing the Synod dedicated to this region. And for this I also thank the Consolata Missionaries, the Salesians, the Capuchins, the Xaverians: different charisms that have encountered each other on behalf of the Amazon.

May this Ethnological Museum safeguard its specific identity over time and remind everyone of the value of harmony and of peace among peoples and nations. And may the art collected here make the voice of God resonate in those who will visit this collection. Thank you very much.

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE WORLD FOOD DAY 2019

To His Excellency Qu Dongyu
FAO Director-General

The yearly celebration of World Food Day makes us hear the dramatic plea of those of our brothers and sisters who suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Despite efforts made in recent decades, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is yet to be implemented in many parts of the world. As a way of responding to this plea of our brothers and sisters, the theme chosen by FAO this year – “Our Actions Are Our Future. Healthy Diets for a #ZeroHunger World” – points to the distorted relationship between food and nutrition.

We are in fact witnessing how food is ceasing to be a means of subsistence and turning into an avenue of personal destruction. 820 million of the world’s people suffer from hunger, while almost 700 million are overweight, victims of improper dietary habits. The latter are no longer simply a by-product of the diet enjoyed by “peoples blessed with abundance” (cf. Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, 3); they are now found in poorer countries too, where they eat little but increasingly poorly, since they imitate dietary models imported from developed areas. Due to poor nutrition, pathologies arise not only from the imbalance caused by “excess”, often resulting in diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and other forms of degenerative diseases, but also by “deficiency”, as documented by an increasing number of deaths from anorexia and bulimia.

This reality calls for a conversion in our way of living and acting, and nutrition represents an important starting point. Our lives depend on the fruits of creation (cf. Ps 65:10-14; 104:27-28); these cannot be reduced to mere objects to be recklessly handled and used. Nutritional disorders can only be combatted by the cultivation of lifestyles inspired by gratitude for the gifts we have received and the adoption of a spirit of temperance, moderation, abstinence, self-control and solidarity. These virtues, which have accompanied the history of humanity, summon us to a more simple and sober life, and unfailing concern for the needs of those around us. By adopting such a lifestyle, we will grow in a fraternal solidarity that seeks the common good and avoids the individualism and egocentrism that serve only to generate hunger and social inequality. Such a lifestyle will enable us to cultivate a healthy relationship with ourselves, with our brothers and sisters, and with the environment in which we live.

Here the family has a primary role to play; for this reason, FAO has devoted special attention to protecting rural families and promoting family farming. Within the family, and thanks to the particular sensitivity and wisdom of women and mothers, we learn how to enjoy the fruits of the earth without abusing it. We also discover the most effective means for spreading lifestyles respectful of our personal and collective good.

At the same time, the increasing interdependence of nations can help to set aside special interests, while fostering trust and relationships of friendship between peoples (cf. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 482). It is my hope that this year’s theme will remind us that many continue to eat in an unhealthy way. It is a cruel, unjust and paradoxical reality that, today, there is food for everyone and yet not everyone has access to it, and that in some areas of the world food is wasted, discarded and consumed in excess, or destined for other purposes than nutrition. To escape from this spiral, we need to promote “economic institutions and social initiatives which can give the poor regular access to basic resources” (Laudato Si’, 109).

The battle against hunger and malnutrition will not end as long as the logic of the market prevails and profit is sought at any cost, with the result that food is relegated to a mere commercial product subject to financial speculation and with little regard for its cultural, social and indeed symbolic importance. Our first concern should always be the human person: concrete men, women and children, especially those who lack daily food and have a limited ability to manage family and social relationships (cf. Laudato Si’, 112-113). When priority is given to the human person, humanitarian aid operations and development programs will surely have a greater impact and will yield the expected results. We must come to realize that we are accumulating and wasting is the bread of the poor.

Mr Director General, in offering you these reflections for the celebration of World Food Day, I pray that God may bless all associated with the work of FAO and prosper your efforts to promote peace by serving the authentic and integral development of the whole human family.

From the Vatican, 16 October 2019

Francis

Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning!

The Gospel’s journey through the world, which Saint Luke recounts in the Acts of the Apostles, is accompanied by the supreme creativity of God which is manifested in a surprising way. God wants his children to overcome all particularism in order to open themselves up to the universality of salvation. This is the aim: to overcome particularism in order to be open to the universality of salvation, because God wants to save everyone. Those who are reborn by water and by the Holy Spirit — the baptized — are called to go out of themselves and be open to others, to live the closeness, the way of living together, which transforms every interpersonal relationship into an experience of fraternity (cf. Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, n. 87).

The witness to this process of “fraternization” that the Spirit wishes to initiate in history is Peter, the protagonist in the Acts of the Apostles, along with Paul. Peter experiences an event that marks a decisive turning point in his life. While he is praying, he receives a vision that acts as divine “provocation”, so as to bring about a change of mindset in him. He sees a great tablecloth that descends from on High, containing various creatures: four-legged animals, reptiles and birds, and he hears a voice that invites him to eat of that flesh. He, as a good Jew, responds by claiming that he has never eaten anything unclean, as required by the Law of the Lord (cf. Lev 11). Then the voice reiterates forcefully: “What God has cleansed, you must not call common” (Acts 10:15).

With this event the Lord wants Peter to no longer value events and people according to the categories of clean and unclean, but that he learn to go further, to look at the person and at the intentions in his or her heart. What renders man unclean, in fact, comes not from outside but only from within, from the heart (cf. Mk 7:21). Jesus said it clearly.

After that vision, God invites Peter to go to the house of an uncircumcised Gentile, Cornelius, “a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort, a devout man who feared God”, who gave alms liberally to the people and always prayed to God (cf. Acts 10:1-2), but was not a Jew.

In that Gentile’s home, Peter preaches Christ Crucified and Risen, and the forgiveness of sins to those who believe in Him. And as Peter speaks, the Holy Spirit pours out upon Cornelius and his household. And Peter baptizes them in the name of Jesus Christ  (cf.  Acts 10:48).

This extraordinary fact — it is the first time that this sort of thing happens — becomes common knowledge in Jerusalem, where the brethren, scandalized by Peter’s behaviour, criticize him bitterly (cf. Acts 11:1-3). Peter did something that went beyond what was customary, beyond the law, and this is why they criticize him. But after the encounter with Cornelius, Peter is more free of himself and in greater communion with God and with others, because he has seen the will of God in the action of the Holy Spirit. Thus he is able to understand that the election of Israel is not a reward for merit, but the sign of the freely given call to be a mediator of the divine blessing among the Gentiles.

Dear brothers and sisters, we learn from the Prince of the Apostles that an evangelizer cannot be an impediment to the creative work of God, who “desires all men to be saved” (1 Tim 2:4), but one who fosters the encounter of hearts with the Lord. And we, how do we behave towards our brothers and sisters, especially those who are not Christian? Are we an impediment to the encounter with God? Do we obstruct their encounter with the Father or do we facilitate it?

Today let us ask for the grace to allow ourselves to be astonished by God’s surprises, not to obstruct his creativity, but to recognize and foster the ever new ways through which the Risen One pours out his Spirit upon the world and attracts hearts by making them come to know him as “Lord of all” (Acts 10:36). Thank you.

Special Greetings

I welcome all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those from England, Scotland, Finland, Norway, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, Malawi, Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America. I greet in particular the Delegation from the nato Defense College, with good wishes for their efforts in the cause of peace. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!

Lastly I greet young people, the elderly, the sick and newlyweds. The day after tomorrow we will celebrate the Feast of Saint Luke, the Evangelist who best reveals Jesus’ heart and his mercy. May that occasion help everyone to rediscover the joy of being Christian, witnesses to the goodness of the Lord.