Pope’s Morning Homily: Be Children of Light, Not ‘Mafiosi’ Nor ‘Lukewarm’... from ZENIT in Roswell, Georgia, United States for Monday, September 19, 2016Like
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Pope’s Morning Homily: Be Children of Light, Not ‘Mafiosi’ Nor ‘Lukewarm’ by Deborah Castellano Lubov
Do not be among the ‘mafiosi,’ nor the ‘lukewarm,’ for God calls all His baptized to be ‘children of light.’According to Vatican Radio, the Pontiff highlighted this during his daily morning Mass today, as drew inspiration from today’s Gospel according to St Luke’s.
Francis discussed the many ways in which we hide the light of faith, especially “through jealousy and arguments, by plotting evil against our neighbours or simply by putting off until tomorrow the good that we should do today.”
Lukewarm christians
On the day of our Baptism, the Holy Father reminded those present, each of us receives from God the light of faith. While recalling that Baptism was called ‘Illumination’ in the first centuries of Christianity, the Jesuit Pope pointed out that in some Eastern Churches today, the term is still used.
But just as Jesus warned the crowds not to conceal the light, so the Pope said if we hide that light we become lukewarm Christians. Francis discussed the many ways in which we risk putting out that light, starting with delaying the help that we’re called to give to our neighbors in need.
The Pope reiterated Jesus’ words, urging his listeners to be ‘children of light’ and to take care of the light, rather than “hiding it under a bed.”
Don’t ‘Put Off’
“Never put off doing good until tomorrow,” the Pope said, “because it’s a form of injustice and you can’t put ‘good’ in the fridge.”
Pope Francis went on to warn about those who plot evil against their neighbours instead of responding to the trust placed in them.
“Anyone who conspires against a neighbour and takes advantage of that trust is a ‘Mafioso,'” he underscored, saying the “darkness of every mafia puts out the light of faith.”
Francis also commented on the human inclination to argue, even with those who haven’t done any wrong to us. “Arguments wear us out,” he said, “so it’s better to pardon and to let these things go.”
Pope Francis also warned against envying those who are powerful, successful or violent “because God spurns them and calls the righteous to be His friends.”
Same corpse devouring worms
“To be jealous of power and wealth is another way of hiding the light,” Franci said, adding, “yet the same worms who devour our corpses will eat the bodies of the rich and powerful too.”
“May the Holy Spirit which we received at Baptism,” he concluded, “help us to avoid these bad habits which hide the light and let us instead nurture the light of friendship and humility, the light of faith and hope, the light of patience and goodness.”
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Pope Makes Surprise Visits to Neonatal Unit, Hospice by ZENIT Staff
In the framework of his “Fridays of Mercy,” Pope Francis visited a neonatal unit and a hospice for the terminally ill in a Roman hospital.According to a statement released by the Holy See Press Office, the Pontiff’s first visit was to the Accident and Emergency department and to the Neonatal unit of Rome’s San Giovanni Hospital.
After putting on a mask and completing the other health and safety procedures, the Pope stopped beside the incubators of twelve new born babies, five of whom are suffering from severe complications, including one set of twins, reported Vatican Radio.
Before going on to meet with staff and families at the nursery on the floor above, the Holy Father offered words of comfort and support to all of the parents.
Later in the afternoon the Pope visited some 30 terminally ill patients at the Villa Speranza Hospice, located in the north of Rome as part of the Gemelli University Hospital Foundation.
On arrival, the leaders welcomed the pope, who wanted to greet them one by one, in each of the patient’s rooms. This was a great surprise on the part of everyone, including patients and relatives, who lived moments of intense emotion, full of tears and smiles of joy.
“With this “Friday of Mercy”, the Holy Father wanted to give a strong sign of the importance of life, from its first instant to its natural end,” the Vatican statement said.
“The acceptance of life and the guarantee of human dignity at all times of development is a lesson repeatedly stressed by Pope Francis, who, with this dual visit, has given a concrete and tangible sign of the importance of caring for the weakest and most vulnerable in order to show mercy in our lives.”
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Pope’s Address to Participants of Jesuit Migration Conference by ZENIT Staff
Below is a Vatican-provided translation of Pope Francis’ address to members of the European Confederation and World Union of Jesuit Alumni and Alumnae on Saturday in the Vatican. The Jesuit group had been participating in a 14-16 September conference in Rome entitled “Global Migration and Refugee Crisis: Time to Contemplate and Act:”***
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Members of the European Confederation and of the World Union
of Jesuit Alumni and Alumnae,
I am pleased to receive you today as part of your conference on migration and the refugee crisis. It the greatest humanitarian crisis, after the Second World War. Graduates of Jesuit schools, you have come to Rome as “men and women for others” to explore on this occasion the roots of forced migration, to contemplate your responsibility in response to the current situation and to be sent forth as promoters of change in your home communities.
Tragically, at present, more than sixty-five million persons are forcibly displaced around the globe. This unprecedented number is beyond all imagination. The displaced population of today’s world is now larger than the entire population of Italy! If we move beyond mere statistics, however, we will discover that refugees are women and men, boys and girls who are no different than our own family members and friends. Each of them has a name, a face, and a story, as well as an inalienable right to live in peace and to aspire to a better future for their sons and daughters.
You have dedicated your world association to the memory and example of Father Pedro Arrupe, who was also the founder of the Jesuit Refugee Service, the organization that has been accompanying you during this past week in Rome. More than thirty-five years ago, Father Arrupe was moved to act in response to the plight of the South Vietnamese boat people who were exposed to pirate attacks and storms in the South China Sea, while trying desperately to flee from violence in their homeland. Sadly, the world today still finds itself embroiled in countless conflicts. The terrible war in Syria, as well as civil conflicts in South Sudan and elsewhere throughout the world, can seem irresolvable. This is precisely why your gathering “to contemplate and act” on the issue of refugees is so important.
More than ever today, as war rages across God’s creation, as record numbers of refugees die trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea – which has become a cemetery – and refugees spend years and years languishing in camps, the Church needs you to draw on the bravery and example of Father Pedro Arrupe. Through your Jesuit education, you have been invited to become “companions of Jesus” and, with Saint Ignatius Loyola as your guide, you have been sent into the world to be women and men for and with others. At this place and time in history, there is great need for men and women who hear the cry of the poor and respond with mercy and generosity.
At the close of World Youth Day in Krakow a few weeks ago, I told the youth gathered there to be brave. As graduates of Jesuit schools, you also must know how be brave in responding to the needs of refugees in today’s world. It will help you to recall your Ignatian roots as you address the problems experienced by refugees. You must offer the Lord “all your liberty,your memory, your understanding and your entire will” as you continue to understand the causes of forced migration and serve refugees in your countries.
Throughout this Year of Mercy, the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica has remained open as a reminder that God’s mercy is offered to all those in need, now and always. Millions of the faithful have made the pilgrimage to the Holy Door here and in churches throughout the world, recalling that God’s mercy lasts forever and reaches out to all. Also with your help, the Church will be able to respond more fully to the human tragedy of refugees through acts of mercy that promote their integration into the European context and beyond. And so, I encourage you to welcome refugees into your homes and communities, so that their first experience of Europe is not the traumatic experience of sleeping cold on the streets, but one of warm human welcome. Remember that authentic hospitality is a profound gospel value that nurtures love and is our greatest security against hateful acts of terrorism.
I urge you to draw on the joys and successes that your Jesuit education has given you by supporting the education of refugees throughout the world. It is a disturbing truth that less than fifty percent of child refugees have access to primary education. Unfortunately, that number drops to twenty-two percent for adolescents enrolled in secondary schools and less than one percent who have access to a university education. Together with the Jesuit Refugee Service, put your mercy in motion and help transform this educational reality. In doing so, you will build a stronger Europe and a brighter future for refugees.
Sometimes we can feel that we are alone as we try to put mercy into action. Know, however, that you join your work with that of many ecclesial organizations which work for humanitarian causes and which dedicate themselves to the excluded and marginalized. Yet more important, remember that the love of God accompanies you in this work. You are God’s eyes, mouth, hands and heart in this world.
I thank you for stepping into the difficult issues involved in welcoming refugees. Many doors have been opened for you through your Jesuit education while refugees find many doors closed to them. You have learned much from the refugees you have met. As you leave Rome and return home, I urge you to help transform your communities into places of welcome where all God’s children have the opportunity not simply to survive, but to grow, flourish and bear fruit.
And as you persevere in this faithful work of providing welcome and education for refugees, think of the Holy Family — Mary, Joseph, and the Child Jesus — on their long journey to Egypt as refugees, fleeing violence and finding refuge among strangers. Remember as well the words of Jesus: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me” (Mt 25:35). Take these words and these gestures with you today. May they bring you encouragement and consolation. As for me, assuring you of my prayers, I ask you also, please, do not forget to pray for me. Thank you![Original Text: Italian] [Vatican-provided translation]
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Pope’s Homily at Mass With Vatican Gendarmerie for Their 200th Anniversary by ZENIT Staff
At 9:30 am Sunday morning, in the Lourdes Grotto of the Vatican Gardens, Pope Francis presided over Mass, for the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Corps of the Gendarmerie of Vatican City State. Below is a ZENIT-provided translation of the Pope’s discourse delivered during the celebration:***
This Sunday’s biblical readings present us three types of persons: the exploiter, the crook and the faithful man.
The exploiter is the one the prophet Amos speaks to us about in the First Reading (cf. 8:4-7). He is a person prey to a maniacal way of earning, to the point of feeling annoyance and intolerance of liturgical days of rest, because they break the frenetic rhythm of business. His sole divinity is money, and his action is dominated by fraud and exploitation. His expenses are above all the poor and the indigent, reduced to slavery, and whose price is like that of a pair of sandals (v. 6).
Unfortunately, he is a human type that is found at all times; today also there are many.
The crook is the man who is not faithful. His method is to engage in frauds. The Gospel speaks of him in the parable of the dishonest steward (cf. Luke 16:1-8). How did this steward get to the point of swindling, of robbing his master? From one day to another? No, little by little. Perhaps giving a bribe one day here, a percentage another day there, and thus little by little one arrives at corruption. In the parable, the master praises the dishonest steward for his craftiness. But this is an altogether worldly craftiness and intensely sinful, which does so much harm! There is, instead, a Christian craftiness, of doing things with guilefulness, but not with the spirit of the world: to do things honestly, and this is good. It is what Jesus says when He invites us to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves: to put these two dimensions together is a grace of the Holy Spirit, a grace that we must ask for. Today also, there are so many crooks, corrupt men. I am struck to see corruption spread everywhere.
The third is the faithful man. We can find the profile of the faithful man in the Second Reading (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1-8). He is in fact the one that follows Jesus, who gave Himself as ransom for all; He gave His testimony according to the Father’s will (cf. VV. 5-6). The faithful man is the man of prayer, in the twofold sense that he prays for others and trusts in others’ prayer for him, to be able “to lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way” (v. 2). The faithful man can walk with his head held high.
The Gospel also speaks to us of the faithful man: one who knows how to be faithful in little things as well as in big things (cf. Luke 16:10).
The Word of God leads us to a final choice: “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” (Luke 16:13). The crook likes fraud and hates honesty. The crook likes percentages, dark agreements, those agreements that are made in the dark. And the worst thing is that he believes he is honest. The crook likes money, he likes riches: riches are an idol <for him>. As the prophet says, he does not mind trampling on the poor. They are those that have the great “industries of slave labor.” And in the world today, slave labor is a style of management.
Dear brothers, you who today celebrate your task – what is your task? You who today celebrate 200 years of service, also against fraud, against crooks, against exploiters … With Saint Paul’s words we can say: ”that all men may be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). Your task is to avoid evil things being done, such as the exploiter and the crook do. Your task is to defend and promote honesty, so often badly paid. I thank you for your vocation; I thank you for the work you do. I know that many times you have to fight against the temptations of those that want to “buy you,” and I am proud to know that your style is to say: “No, this is not right.” I thank you for this service of two centuries, and I wish for all of you that the society of Vatican State, that the Holy See, from the least to the greatest, recognize your service, a service that protects, a service that seeks not only to have things go in the right way, but also to do so with charity, with tenderness, and even risking your life. May the Lord bless you for all this. Thank you.[Original text: Italian]
[Translation by ZENIT]
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Pope Gives New Bishops 3 Ways to Make Mercy Pastoral by Deborah Castellano Lubov
Pope Francis has given new bishops three ways to make mercy pastoral.Receiving the participants in an annual course of formation for new bishops, organized jointly by the Congregation for Bishops and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches on Friday in the Vatican, he gave the new bishops some advice about how to best live out their ministry.
The Holy Father had begun his discourse stating how happy he was to receive to receive them and share some thoughts with them, some “which come to the heart of the Successor of Peter, when I see before me those who have been “caught” by God’s heart to guide His Holy People.”
The thrill of having been loved first
“Yes! God precedes you in His loving knowledge!” Francis stressed, noting, “He has “caught” you with the hook of His amazing mercy. His nets were mysteriously tightened and you could do none other than let yourselves be captured.
“Do not be ashamed,” he reminded, “of the times when you were also touched by this distance from God’s thoughts. Instead, abandon the pretext of self-sufficiency and entrust yourselves as children to Him who reveals His Kingdom to little ones.”
Admiral condescension!
The Holy Father stressed how good it is to let oneself be “pierced” by the loving knowledge of God. “It is consoling to know that He truly knows who we are and is not alarmed by our smallness. It is reassuring to keep in our heart the memory of His voice that in fact called us, despite our insufficiencies,” he said.
“It gives peace to abandon oneself to the certainty that it will be Him, and not us, who will bring to fulfillment what He Himself has initiated.”
Cross the heart of Christ, the true Door of Mercy
Pope Francis urged the new bishops to always keep their eyes fixed on Christ, never letting their gaze stray from Him. “The most precious richness you can take from Rome at the beginning of your episcopal ministry is the awareness of the Mercy with which you were looked at and chosen.”
“The only treasure that I ask you not to let rust in you is the certainty that you are not abandoned to your own strength. You are Bishops of the Church, participants of one Episcopate, members of an indivisible College, firmly grafted as humble shoots onto the vine, without which you can do nothing (John 15:48).
“Because now you cannot go along anywhere, because you carry the Bride entrusted to you as a seal imprinted on your soul, in crossing the Holy Door , do so carrying on your shoulders your flock: not by yourselves! — with the flock on your shoulders, carry in your heart the heart of your Bride, of your Churches.”
The task of rendering Mercy pastoral
To render mercy pastoral, Francis stressed, is not an easy task. “Do not be afraid to propose Mercy as the summary of all that God offers to the world, because man’s heart cannot aspire to anything greater.”
“As my venerable and wise Predecessor taught,” Francis said, quoting Benedict, “it is ‘Mercy that puts a limit to evil. In it is expressed the altogether peculiar nature of God – His holiness, the power of truth and of love.’ It is ‘the way with which God opposed the power of darkness with His different and divine power,” in fact “that of Mercy’ (Benedict XVI,Homily, April 15, 2007). ”
Therefore, Francis highlighted, do not let yourselves be frightened, but rather “keep intact the certainty of this humble power with which God knocks at the heart of every man: holiness, truth and love.”
Three recommendations to render Mercy pastoral:
Pope Francis then offered three little thoughts on how to render mercy pastoral, “namely, how to make it accessible, tangible, to be found.”
Be Bishops capable of enchanting and attracting.
“Make of your ministry an icon of Mercy, the only force capable of seducing and attracting in a permanent way the heart of man,” he said.
“God never gives up! It is we who, used to surrendering, often accommodate ourselves, preferring to let ourselves be convinced that they have really been able to eliminate Him and we invent bitter discourses to justify the sloth that blocks us in the immobile sound of vain complaints.”
Be Bishops capable of initiating those who have been entrusted to you
The second point the Pope also stressed was to always use mercy: “He reminded them that Christ is the face of Mercy. In Him,” Francis noted, “remains a permanent and inexhaustible offer; in Him it proclaims that no one is lost – no one is lost!”
“Everyone is unique for Him!” he said.
“Be Bishops capable of initiating your Churches in this abyss of love, which means having healthy intimacy with God and go out to others. “Do not deprive seminarians of your firm and tender paternity.”
Be Bishops that are capable of accompanying
After making the third recommendation to always accompany, Francis blessed all the bishops, adding that he will ask the Lord to walk with them and give them the courage to walk with Him. “It is His face that attracts us, is imprinted in us and accompanies us. So be it!” he said.
***
On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full Translation: https://zenit.org/articles/popes-address-to-new-bishops/
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Pope Has Morning Mass for Nuncios by ZENIT Staff
From Vatican Radio:***
Pope Francis was the principal celebrant at Mass on Saturday morning in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, together with a large group of Apostolic Nuncios who are in Rome for a major Jubilee Year of Mercy gathering.
In remarks following the Readings of the Day, the Holy Father thanked the Papal diplomats for their willingness to renew their commitment to service in new and different countries with joy and enthusiasm, and encouraged the members of the corps to get out of their comfort zones and go beyond the limits of their own strengths and abilities in order to carry the Gospel of Christ to every corner of the globe.
Taking the Gospel parable of the sower as his focal point, Pope Francis reflected on how Apostolic Nuncios sow the Good News everywhere in the world. The Pope acknowledged that often the life of the Nuncios is a “gypsy life” spent constantly on the road: “Just when you have learned the language well,” in one post, “a phone call from Rome and … ‘Oh, look, how are you?’ – ‘Well …’ – ‘You know, the Holy Father, who loves you so much … he thought …’ – because these calls, these calls are made of sugar, is it not so? – ‘… he thought of you for this …. and so you pack your bags and go to another place, leaving friends, leaving habits, leaving many things one has done … to get out of yourselves, get out of that place to go to another,’ and there, to begin again.”
“When you arrive in a new country,” the Holy Father continued, “the Nuncio must make another” exit”:
“[He must get out of the – even only very lately acquired – comfort of his own skin] to learn, to dialogue, to study the culture, the way of thinking.
Sow the Word of God without getting caught up in mundane sophistication
Pope Francis went on to note how, “getting out” can often mean “attending receptions” – some of which are “rather boring” – but even so, “you can sow there,” too. “The seed is always good, the grain is good.” Someone, he noted, may think it is a job that is, “too functional, even administrative,” work many qualified lay people might do: “The other day, talking about this, I heard the Secretary of State who said, ‘But, look, at receptions, the many people who seem superficial look for the collar – and you all know what you have done in so many souls: in that mundane society, but without taking on the worldliness, only taking people as they are, hearing them, talking with them … this is also [one way in which] the Nuncio gets out of himself, to understand the people, to talk … it IS a cross.”
The Pope went on to recall that Jesus says that we – that the sower – sows the seed, and then he rests, for it is God who makes it sprout and grow.” The Nuncio, too, he said, “must come out of himself and go toward the Lord who makes the seed grow and germinate – and he must go beyond himself before the tabernacle, in prayer, in worship.”
Always begin anew with joy and enthusiasm, even amid difficulties
It is a “great witness”, this, he reiterated, “the lone Nuncio adoring the One who makes things grow, the One who gives life”:
“These are the three ways in which a Nuncio must be called to ‘go beyond’ himself: there is the physical going beyond of the Nuncio’s ‘gypsy life’; there is the cultural skin that he must shed: to learn the culture, learn the language … ‘Tell me’ – in that phone call – ‘tell me, what languages do you speak?’ – ‘I speak good English, French, I get along with him Spanish …’ – ‘Ah, well, well … But listen: the Pope has decided to send you to Japan, eh!’ – ‘But I do not know even one letter, of Japanese!’ – ‘But, you’ll learn!’. I was edified by one of you, before submitting credentials, in two months had learned a difficult language, and had learned how to celebrate [Mass] in that language: he started over with enthusiasm and with joy. This is the third ‘way of being for others’: prayer, worship.”
Thanks to Nuncios for their service to the Church, and may they always be ‘outward bound’
This, he said, “is stronger in emeriti nuncios.” It is also a task of “brotherhood”, the “Nuncio emeritus prays more, he must pray more for the brothers who are there, out in the world.” The Nuncio who is still in service, Pope Francis explained, must not forget this adoration, “that the Master might prosper that, which he has sown”:
“Three ways of being ‘outward bound’ and three ways to serve Jesus Christ and the Church: and the Church thanks you for all three of these. Thanks so much. And I, personally, want to thank you. I admire so often, when I, early in the morning, receive your communications: look how this fellow is getting on … May the Lord give you all the grace to stay current in these three ways of being for others – these three ways of getting out of yourselves.”
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Pope’s Address to Nuncios by ZENIT Staff
Below is a ZENIT working translation of Pope Francis’ address to nuncios on Saturday in the Vatican. The Meeting of Papal Representatives, was held in the Vatican from September 15-17, on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy:* * *
Dear Fellow Brothers, I am happy for this moment of Jubilee prayer which, in addition to calling us as Pastors to rediscover the roots of Mercy, is the occasion to renew, through you, the bond between the Successor of Peter and the various local Churches of which you are the bearers and craftsmen of that communion, which is the lymph for the life of the Church and for the proclamation of her message. I thank Cardinal Parolin for his words and the State Secretariat for the generosity with which it prepared these days of meetings.
Welcome to Rome! To re-embrace <Rome> in this Jubilee hour has a special meaning for you. Dwelling here are many of your sources and your memories. You arrived here when you were still young for the purpose of serving Peter; you have returned here often to meet him; and from here you continue to go out again as his envoys taking his message, his closeness and his testimony. In fact, Peter has been here from the dawn of the Church; Peter is here today in the Pope, which Providence wanted him to be; Peter will be here tomorrow; he will always be here! So the Lord desired: that impotent humanity, which on its own would only be a stumbling block, should become an unwavering rock by Divine disposition.
I thank each one of you for the service you give to my ministry. Thank you for the care with which you receive, from the Pope’s lips, the confession on which the Church of Christ rests. Thank you for the fidelity with which you interpret with an undivided heart, an honest mind, with an unambiguous word all that the Holy Spirit asks Peter to say to the Church at this moment. Thank you for the delicacy with which you “auscultate” my heart of universal Pastor and try to have this breath reach the Churches that I am called to preside over in charity.
I thank you for the dedication and the prompt and generous disposition of your life, dense in commitments and marked often by difficult rhythms. You touch with the hand the flesh of the Church, the splendour of the love that renders her glorious, but also the sores and wounds that make her beggar of forgiveness.
With a genuine ecclesial sense and humble seeking of knowledge of the various problems and subjects, you render the Church and the world present to the Pope’s heart. I read daily, in the main in the early morning and in the evening., your “communications” with news of the realities of the local Churches, of the events of countries to which you are accredited and of the debates that are incumbent on the life of the International Community. I am grateful for all of this! Know that I accompany you every day – often with name and face – with friendly remembrance and confident prayer. I remember you in the Eucharist. As you are not diocesan Pastors and your name is not pronounced in a particular Church, know that the Pope remembers you in every amphora as extension of his person, as his envoys to serve with sacrifice and competence, accompanying the Bride of Christ and the Peoples in which she lives.
I would like to say some things to you
Serve with sacrifice as humble envoys
On reforming the diplomatic service of the Holy See, Blessed Paul VI wrote thus:
Apostolic Letter Sollicitudo Omnium Ecclesiarum:
AAS 61 [1969], 476. In your work, therefore, you are called to take to everyone the solicitous charity of the one you represent, thus becoming one that sustains and protects, who is ready to support and not only to correct, who is willing to listen before deciding, to take the first step to do away with tension and foster understanding and reconciliation.
No service is possible and fruitful without humility. A Nuncio’s humility passes through love for the country and for the Church in which he is called to serve. It passes through the serene attitude of being where the Pope wished him to be and not with the heart distracted by waiting for the next destination. He must be there wholly, with undivided mind and heart; unpack his bags to share the riches that he brings with him, but also to receive what he does not yet possess.
Yes, it is necessary to assess, compare, notice those that can be the limits of an ecclesial course, of a culture, of a religiosity, of social and political life to form oneself and be able to report an exact idea of a situation. To look, analyze and report are essential but not sufficient verbs in the life of a Nuncio. It is also necessary to encounter, listen, dialogue, share, propose and work together so that sincere love, sympathy and empathy transpires with the population and the local Church. What Catholics, but also the civil society want in a broad sense and must perceive, is that the Nuncio is at ease in their country, as if he were at home; he feels free and happy to establish constructive relations, to share the daily life of the post (kitchen, language, customs), to express his opinions and impressions with great respect and a sense of closeness, and to accompany with his look, which helps to grow.
It is not enough to point the finger or attack one who does not think like us. That is a miserable tactic of today’s political and cultural wars, but it cannot be the method of the Church. Our look must be broad and profound. Our primordial duty of charity is the formation of consciences and that requires delicacy and perseverance in our action.
Present certainly again is the threat of the wolf that from outside seizes and attacks the flock, confuses it, creates disarray, disperses and destroys it. The wolf has the same semblances: incomprehension, hostility, evil, persecution, removal of truth, resistance to goodness, closure to love, unexplainable cultural hostility, diffidence and so on. You know well of what stuff the snare of all sorts of wolves is made of. I think of the Christians in the East, to whom the violent siege seems geared, with the complicit silence of many, to their eradication.
The activity of the Papal Representative renders first of all a precious service to the Bishops, to the Priests, to the Religious and to all the Catholics of the place, who find in him support and protection, in as much as he represents a Higher Authority, which is to the advantage of all. His mission is not superimposed on the exercise of the Bishop’s powers, nor does he substitute or hamper him, but respects him and, instead, favors and supports him with fraternal and discreet counsel” (Not requested is the candor of sheep, but rather the magnanimity of doves and the astuteness and prudence of the wise and faithful servant.) It is good to have one’s eyes open to recognize from whence hostility comes and to discern the possible ways to oppose its causes and address its snares. However, I encourage you to not dwell on an atmosphere of siege, to not yield to the temptation to feel sorry for yourselves, to be victims of those who criticize you, goad you, and sometimes even denigrate you. Spend your best energies to have resound again, from the spirit of the Churches you serve,the joy and power of the beatitude proclaimed by Jesus (cf. Matthew 5:11).
Be ready and happy to spend (sometimes even lose time) with Bishops, priests, Religious, parishes, cultural and social institutions; in short, it is what “makes the work” of the Nuncio. Created on these occasions are the conditions to learn, to listen, to send messages, to understand personal problems and situations or those of ecclesial governments that are to be addressed and resolved. And there is nothing that facilitates discernment and eventual correction more than closeness, availability and fraternity. Therefore, very important for me are: closeness, availability and fraternity with the local Churches. It is not about a servile strategy, to gather information and manipulate realities or persons, but about an attitude that is suitable to one who is not just a career diplomat, or just an instrument of Peter’s solicitude, but also a Pastor gifted with the interior capacity to witness Jesus Christ. Surmount the logic of bureaucracy, which often can take hold of your work – I understand it; it is natural – rendering it closed, indifferent and impermeable.
May the headquarters of the Apostolic Nunciature be truly the “House of the Pope,” not only for its traditional annual celebration, but as a permanent place, where all the ecclesial team can find support and advice, and the public authorities a point of reference, not only for the diplomatic function, but for the proper and unique character of papal diplomacy. Watch so that your Nunciatures never become a refuge of the “friends and friends of friends.” Flee from gossips and social climbers.
May your relation with the civil community be inspired by the evangelical image of the Good Shepherd, capable of knowing and representing the exigencies, the needs and the condition of the flock, especially when the only criteria that determines them is contempt, precariousness and rejection. Do not be afraid to push yourselves to complex and difficult frontiers, because you are Pastors who are truly concerned with the good of individuals.
In the enormous task to guarantee the freedom of the Church in face of every form of power that wants to silence the Truth, do not deceive yourselves that this freedom is only the fruit of understandings, agreements and diplomatic negotiations, no matter how perfect and successful. The Church will be free only if her institutions can operate to “proclaim” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 23), but also if she manifests herself as true sign of contradiction in regard to recurrent fashions, to the negation of the evangelical Truth and to easy comforts that often also infect Pastors and their flocks. Remember that you represent Peter, rock that survives the overflow of ideologies, the reduction of the Word only for convenience, the submission to powers of this passing world. Therefore, do not espouse political lines or ideological battles, because the permanence of the Church does not rest on the consensus of salons and squares, but on fidelity to her Lord that, as opposed to foxes and birds, does not have dens or nests to rest her head (Matthew 8:18-22).
The Church-Bride cannot rest her head except on the pierced breast of her Spouse. Her true power gushes from there, the power of Mercy. We do not have the right to deprive the world, including in the forums of bilateral and multilateral diplomatic action and in the great realms of the international debate, of this richness that no other can give. May this awareness push you to dialogue with all, and in many cases to be the prophetic voice of the marginalized because of their faith or their ethnic, economic, social or cultural condition: “<repulsions> and without fear” <proclaim> the Gospel to all, in all places, on all occasions, without delay, without <…> May their cry become ours <so that> together we can break the barrier of indifference that often reigns sovereign to hide hypocrisy and egoism” (Bull Misericordiae Vultus, 15.
Accompany the Churches with the heart of Pastors
The multiplicity and complexity of the problems to address daily must not distract you from the heart of your apostolic mission, which consists in accompanying the Churches with the look of the Pope, which is none other than that of Christ, the Good Shepherd.
And to accompany, it is necessary to move. The cold paper of missives and reports is not enough. It is not enough to learn by hearsay. It is necessary to see in loco how the good seed of the Gospel is spread. Do not wait for persons to come to you to expose a problem to you or because they are desirous to have a question resolved. Go to the dioceses, to the Religious Institutes, to the parishes, to the seminaries, to understand what the People of God experience, think and ask. Be, that is, the true expression of an “outgoing” Church, of a “field hospital” Church, capable of living the dimension of the local Church, of the country and of the Institutions to which you have been sent. I know the great volume of work that awaits you, but do not let your spirit of generous and close Pastors be suffocated. In fact this closeness – closeness! — is an essential condition today for the Church’s fruitfulness; people need to be accompanied. They are helped by a hand on their back not to get lost on the way or not to be discouraged.
Accompany the Bishops by supporting their best strengths and initiatives. Help them to address the challenges and to find the solutions that are not in manuals, but are the fruit of patient and suffered discernment. Encourage every effort for the qualification of the clergy.Profundity is a decisive challenge for the Church: profundity of faith, of adherence to Christ, of the Christian life, of the following and of discipleship. Vague priorities and theoretical pastoral programs are not enough. It is necessary to focus on the concreteness of the presence, of the company, of the closeness of accompanying.
An earnest concern of mine regards the selection of future Bishops. I spoke to you about it in 2013. Speaking to the Congregation for Bishops some time ago, I sketched the profile of Pastors that I consider necessary for the Church of today: witnesses of the Risen One and not bearers of a curriculum; praying Bishops, familiarized with the things of “on high” and not crushed by the weight of the “below”; Bishops capable of entering “in patience” in the presence of God, so has to have the freedom not to betray the Kerygma entrusted to them; Pastor Bishops, not princes and functionaries, I beg you!
In the complex task of finding in the midst of the Church those that God has already singled out in His heart to guide His people, an essential part is up to you. You must be the first to scrutinize the fields to ascertain where the little David’s are holed up (cf. 1 Samuel 16:11-13): they exist, God does not make them lack! But if we always go to fish in the aquarium, we will not find them!
It is necessary to move to seek them. To go around the fields with the heart of God and not with some prefixed profile of headhunters. The look with which one searches, the criteria to assess, the features of the sought physiognomy cannot be dictated by the vain attempts with which we think we can program in our offices the Church we dream of. Therefore, it is necessary to let down the nets in the deep. One cannot be content to fish in the aquaria, in the reserve or in the breeding of “friends of friends.” At stake is trust in the Lord of history and of the Church, who never neglects their good; therefore, we must not beat about the bush. The practical question that comes to me now is to ask: but is there not another? That <question> of Samuel to David’s father: “But is there not another?” (cf. 1 Samuel 16:11). And go to find them, and they exist! They exist!
Accompany the people in whom the Church of Christ is present
Your diplomatic service is the vigilant and lucid eye of the Successor of Peter on the Church and on the world! I beg you to be at the height of such a noble mission, for which you must prepare yourselves continually. It is not only about acquiring contents on subjects, in fact changeable, but of a discipline of work and of a style of life that enables one to also appreciate routine situations, to pick up changes and act, to assess novelties, to be able to interpret them with measure and suggest concrete actions.
It is the speed of the times that calls for a permanent formation, avoiding taking everything for granted. Sometimes the repetition of work, numerous commitments, the lack of new stimulations fuel an intellectual sloth that does not delay in producing its negative fruits. Serious and continuous deeper reflection would succeed in overcoming that fragmentation for which individually one seeks to carry out one’s work to the best of one’s ability, but without any, or with very little, coordination and integration with others. Do not think that the Pope is not aware of the solitude (not always “blessed” as for the hermits and Saints) in which not a few Papal Representatives live. I always think of your state of “exiles,” and I ask continually in my prayer that supporting column may never fail, which makes possible interior unity and the sense of profound peace and fecundity.
The exigency we must increasingly make our own is to work in a unitary and coordinated network, which is necessary to avoid a personal vision, which often does not hold up in face of the reality of the local Church, of the country or of the International Community. One risks proposing an individual vision that can certainly be the fruit of a charism, of a profound ecclesial sense and intellectual capacity, but which is not immune from a certain personalization, from emotiveness, from different sensibilities and not least, from personal situations that inevitably condition the work and the collaboration.
Great in our days are the challenges that await you, and I do not feel like making a list. You know them. Perhaps it is wiser to intervene on their roots. As it is being progressively designed, papal diplomacy cannot be foreign to the urgency of rendering mercy palpable in this wounded and crushed world. Mercy must be the cipher of the diplomatic mission of the Apostolic Nuncio, who, in addition to his personal ethical effort, must have the firm conviction that God’s mercy is inserted in this world’s affairs, in society’s affairs, in human groups of families, of peoples, of nations. In the international ambit also, it implies never considering anything or anyone as lost. The human being is never unrecoverable. No situation is impermeable to the subtle and irresistible power of the goodness of God, who never desists in what concerns man and his destiny.
This radical novelty of perception of the diplomatic mission frees the Papal Representative from immediate geopolitical, economic or military interests, calling him to discern in his first government, political and social interlocutors and in public institutions the longing to serve the common good and to leverage on this trait, even if sometimes it presents itself obfuscated or mortified by personal and corporate interests or by ideological, populist or nationalistic tendencies.
The Church, although without undervaluing the present, is called to work long-term, without the obsession for immediate results. She must endure difficult and adverse situations with patience, or changes of plans that the dynamism of the reality imposes. There will always be the tension between fullness and limits, but it is not for the Church to occupy places of power or self-affirmation, rather she must make the good seed be born and grow; she must accompany its development patiently, rejoice over the provisional harvest that can be obtained, without being discouraged when an unexpected or cold storm ruins what seemed golden and ready to be harvested (cf. John 4:35). She must begin new processes confidently; start again from steps already taken, without going back, fostering all that makes the best of people and institutions emerge, “without anxiety, with clear and tenacious convictions” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 223).
Do not be afraid to converse with confidence with public individuals and institutions. We face a world in which it is not always easy to identify centers of power and many are discouraged, thinking that they are anonymous and unreachable. Instead be convinced that persons are still approachable. An interior space subsists in man where God’s voice can resound. Dialogue with clarity and do not be afraid that mercy might confound or diminish the beauty and strength of the truth. Truth is attained in fullness only in mercy. And be sure that the last word of history and of life is not conflict but unity, for which the heart of every man yearns. Unity conquers, transforming the dramatic conflict of the Cross into the source of our peace, because there the wall of separation was pulled down (cf. Ephesians 2:14).
Dear Fellow Brothers, in sending you again to your mission, after these days of fraternal and happy meetings, my conclusive word is to entrust you to the joy of the Gospel. We are not salesmen of fear and of the night, but custodians of the dawn and of the light of the Risen One.
The world has so much fear — so much fear! — and it spreads it. It often makes it the key to the reading of history and not rarely adopts it as a strategy to build a world resting on walls and ditches. We can even understand the reasons for fear, but we cannot embrace <fear>, because “God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of strength, of charity and of prudence” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Draw from this spirit and go: open doors; build bridges; knit bonds; engage in friendships; promote unity. Be men of prayer: never neglect it, especially silent Adoration, true source of all your work.
Fear always dwells in the darkness of the past, but it has a weakness: it is provisional. The future belongs to the light! The future is ours, because it belongs to Christ! Thank you!
I invite you to pray the Angelus together. It is midday.
Angelus Blessing[Original text: Italian] [Working Translation by ZENIT]
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Pope Accepts Credentials of Britain’s New Ambassador to Holy See by ZENIT Staff
From Vatican Radio:**
Pope Francis on Monday accepted the credentials of Britain’s new ambassador to the Holy See, Sally Axworthy, who has worked extensively on conflict resolution in north and eastern Africa.
Axworthy, who is married with four children, joined the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1986 and has recently headed its department for North Africa, as well as for the Great Lakes, East Africa and Somalia regions.She has also had diplomatic experience in Russia, Ukraine, Germany and India.
Just after the papal audience, she came to Vatican Radio to share her impressions and to talk about the skills she hopes to bring to this new position.
Ambassador Axworthy speaks first of her first meeting with Pope Francis who, she said, was very humble, simple, friendly and keen to “pass on his good memories of meeting the Queen”.
In her first blog post, the new ambassador talks about her top priorities as countering violent extremism and conflict resolution. She notes that in the last 5 years she’s worked on Somalia and Libya, two countries where “the UK took a lead with international partners in trying to bring conflicts to an end” by getting the warring parties around the negotiating table. In Somalia, she points out, a new government has been formed which “is inching forwards towards greater stability” and in Libya there’s also been a government of national unity formed, so it has been an important experience “to see how the international community could support local processes”.
In preparing for her new job, Axworthy says she’s been very struck by the extensive networks of both bishops conferences and religious communities, “often working in conflict areas when others have found it too dangerous or too difficult to remain”. She believes the Holy See and the UK have “complementary things to bring to the table”, the former through its grass roots information networks and the latter through its political and diplomatic influence, so she hopes to help “bring the two things together to support peace processes in some of the troubled parts of the world”.
Asked about the migration crisis and about Britain’s intention to build a wall in Calais to stop migrants heading towards the country, the ambassador says this issue was not on the agenda during her first papal audience. She says the solutions to this crisis are “not clear to anyone” but she praises the Pope’s focus on treating people as individuals with their dignity respected. The UK, she continues, also has to consider the impact of migration on the local population, and she points to the need to help end the conflicts in those countries from where most of the migrants come.
Speaking of Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union, Axworthy says the Holy See is not part of the EU so the referendum should not affect that working relationship. The will of the people must be respected, she says and the government must work “in line with that decision”.
On a personal note, she says that in preparation for her new job, she walked along parts of the ancient pilgrim route from Canterbury to Rome, the Via Francigena, to help her “step back” and reflect on the challenges ahead. She explains that although she is an Anglican, she used to stay in Catholic monasteries in the UK to find space for peace and reflection. She notes that “one doesn’t apply to this role without being interested in faith and religion”.
Speaking of the challenge of operating in “largely male world” in the Vatican, the new ambassador notes that the UK has moved a long way over the last 20 or 30 years towards greater gender equality, so that “you’d now expect to see women in all walks of life”, and in every job. “This is a different environment”, she says with a smile, “so I’m going to need to get used to that!”
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