The Father Dreamed of You, as Expectant Parents Dream, Pope Says... from ZENIT of Roswell, Georgia, United States for Thursday, 13 October 2016

The Father Dreamed of You, as Expectant Parents Dream, Pope Says... from ZENIT of Roswell, Georgia, United States for Thursday, 13 October 2016
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The Father Dreamed of You, as Expectant Parents Dream, Pope Says by ZENIT Staff

Just as expectant parents dream of their child — how he will look and smile and what his name shall be — so the Father has dreamed of us, says Pope Francis. “The Father wanted you, not the mass of people, no — you, you, you. Each of us.”
The Pope said this today at Mass in the Casa Santa Marta, Vatican Radio reported. He was emphasizing that a characteristic of the Christian is that we are “chosen” and that this should give us great security.
“The Christian is blessed by the Father, who is God,” Pope Francis said in his homily, drawing from St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. Focusing on the “traits of this blessing,” he noted that the Christian is “chosen.” The Father chose us one by one, he loves us and gave us a name, God calls us one by one, “not as an oceanic crowd.” The Holy Father reiterated, “we have been chosen, expected by the Father:”
“Think of a couple, when expecting a baby: ‘How will it be? And how will he or she smile? And talk? ‘But I dare say that we, each of us, has been dreamed of by the Father as a father and a mother dreams of their awaited baby. And this gives you great security. The Father wanted you, not the mass of people, no, you, you, you. Each of us. And ‘the foundation, is the basis of our relationship with God. We speak of a Father who loves us, who chose us, who gave us a name. ”
It can also be noted, the Pope continued, when a Christian “does not feel chosen by the Father.” But when they feel they belong to a community, “it is like a fan of a football club.” “The fan – Pope Francis commented – is choosing the team and belongs to the football team.”
The Christian, therefore, “is chosen, he or she is a dream from God.” And when we live like this, the Pope added, “our hearts are filled with great consolation,” we do not feel “abandoned.”
“The second part of the Christian blessing is feeling forgiven,” he said. “A man or woman who does not feel forgiven,” the Holy Father cautioned, is not fully “Christian”:
“We have all been forgiven with the price of the blood of Christ. But what have I been forgiven of? It’s a memory and a reminder of the bad things you have done — not your friend, your neighbor, you. ‘What bad things have I done in life?’ The Lord has forgiven these things. Here, I am blessed, I am a Christian. That is, the first part: I am chosen, dreamed by God, with a name that God gave me, loved by God. Second part: forgiven by God. ”
The third part, continued Pope Francis: the Christian “is a man and a woman walking towards fullness, towards an encounter with Christ who redeemed us”:
“A Christian cannot stand still. The Christian must always move forward, he must walk. The Christian who stands still is the Christian who received the talent and for fear of life, fear of losing, fear of his boss, out of fear or convenience, buried it. He is calm and spends his life going nowhere. The Christian is a man on a journey, a woman walking, who are always doing good, trying to do good and going forward.”
This, summed up the Pope, is the Christian identity: “blessed, because they are chosen because they are forgiven and forging a path.”
We, he concluded, ” are not anonymous, we are not proud”, so as not to have “need of forgiveness. “We are not still.” “May the Lord – in his invocation – be with us through the grace of the blessing he has given us, that is the blessing of our Christian identity.”
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Readings provided by the US bishops’ conference:
Reading 1 EPH 1:1-10
Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
to the holy ones who are in Ephesus
and faithful in Christ Jesus:
grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him.
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ,
in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved.
In Christ we have redemption by his Blood,
the forgiveness of transgressions,
in accord with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us.
In all wisdom and insight, he has made known to us
the mystery of his will in accord with his favor
that he set forth in him as a plan for the fullness of times,
to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.
Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4, 5-6
R. (2a) The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
Sing praise to the LORD with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the LORD.
R. The Lord has made known his salvation.
Alleluia JN 14:6
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
I am the way and the truth and the life, says the Lord;
no one comes to the Father except through me.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 11:47-54
The Lord said:
“Woe to you who build the memorials of the prophets
whom your fathers killed.
Consequently, you bear witness and give consent
to the deeds of your ancestors,
for they killed them and you do the building.
Therefore, the wisdom of God said,
‘I will send to them prophets and Apostles;
some of them they will kill and persecute’
in order that this generation might be charged
with the blood of all the prophets
shed since the foundation of the world,
from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah
who died between the altar and the temple building.
Yes, I tell you, this generation will be charged with their blood!
Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.”
When Jesus left, the scribes and Pharisees
began to act with hostility toward him
and to interrogate him about many things,
for they were plotting to catch him at something he might say.
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Pope’s Message for World Day of Migrants by ZENIT Staff

“Child migrants, the vulnerable and the voiceless” is the theme of the Pope’s message for the 103rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees, to be held on 15 January 2017.
This time the Holy Father wishes to draw attention to “the reality of child migrants, especially the ones who are alone,” asking all to take care of the young who are defenceless, “forced to live far from their homeland and separated from their families.”
Here is the text of the message:
Dear brothers and sisters,
“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me”. With these words, the evangelists remind the Christian community of Jesus’ teaching, which both inspires and challenges. This phrase traces the sure path which leads to God; it begins with the smallest and, through the grace of our Saviour, it grows into the practice of welcoming others. To be welcoming is a necessary condition for making this journey a concrete reality: God made himself one of us. In Jesus God became a child, and the openness of faith to God, which nourishes hope, is expressed in loving proximity to the smallest and the weakest. Charity, faith and hope are all actively present in the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, as we have rediscovered during the recent Extraordinary Jubilee.
But the Evangelists reflect also on the responsibility of the one who works against mercy: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin: it is better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and be drowned in the depth of the sea”. How can we ignore this severe warning when we see the exploitation carried out by unscrupulous people? Such exploitation harms young girls and boys who are led into prostitution or into the mire of pornography; who are enslaved as child labourers or soldiers; who are caught up in drug trafficking and other forms of criminality; who are forced to flee from conflict and persecution, risking isolation and abandonment.
For this reason, on the occasion of the annual World Day of Migrants and Refugees, I feel compelled to draw attention to the reality of child migrants, especially the ones who are alone. In doing so I ask everyone to take care of the young, who in a threefold way are defenceless: they are children, they are foreigners, and they have no means to protect themselves. I ask everyone to help those who, for various reasons, are forced to live far from their homeland and are separated from their families.
Migration today is not a phenomenon limited to some areas of the planet. It affects all continents and is growing into a tragic situation of global proportions. Not only does this concern those looking for dignified work or better living conditions, but also men and women, the elderly and children, who are forced to leave their homes in the hope of finding safety, peace and security. Children are the first among those to pay the heavy toll of emigration, almost always caused by violence, poverty, environmental conditions, as well as the negative aspects of globalisation. The unrestrained competition for quick and easy profit brings with it the cultivation of perverse scourges such as child trafficking, the exploitation and abuse of minors and, generally, the depriving of rights intrinsic to childhood as sanctioned by the International Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Childhood, given its fragile nature, has unique and inalienable needs. Above all else, there is the right to a healthy and secure family environment, where a child can grow under the guidance and example of a father and a mother; then there is the right and duty to receive adequate education, primarily in the family and also in the school, where children can grow as persons and agents of their own future and the future of their respective countries. Indeed, in many areas of the world, reading, writing and the most basic arithmetic is still the privilege of only a few. All children, furthermore, have the right to recreation; in a word, they have the right to be children.
And yet among migrants, children constitute the most vulnerable group, because as they face the life ahead of them, they are invisible and voiceless: their precarious situation deprives them of documentation, hiding them from the world’s eyes; the absence of adults to accompany them prevents their voices from being raised and heard. In this way, migrant children easily end up at the lowest levels of human degradation, where illegality and violence destroy the future of too many innocents, while the network of child abuse is difficult to break up.
How should we respond to this reality?
Firstly, we need to become aware that the phenomenon of migration is not unrelated to salvation history, but rather a part of that history. One of God’s commandments is connected to it: “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”; “Love the sojourner therefore; for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt”. This phenomenon constitutes a sign of the times, a sign which speaks of the providential work of God in history and in the human community, with a view to universal communion. While appreciating the issues, and often the suffering and tragedy of migration, as too the difficulties connected with the demands of offering a dignified welcome to these persons, the Church nevertheless encourages us to recognise God’s plan. She invites us to do this precisely amidst this phenomenon, with the certainty that no one is a stranger in the Christian community, which embraces “every nation, tribe, people and tongue”. Each person is precious; persons are more important than things, and the worth of an institution is measured by the way it treats the life and dignity of human beings, particularly when they are vulnerable, as in the case of child migrants.
Furthermore, we need to work towards protection, integration and long-term solutions.
We are primarily concerned with adopting every possible measure to guarantee the protection and safety of child migrants, because “these boys and girls often end up on the street abandoned to themselves and prey to unscrupulous exploiters who often transform them into the object of physical, moral and sexual violence”.
Moreover, the dividing line between migration and trafficking can at times be very subtle. There are many factors which contribute to making migrants vulnerable, especially if they are children: poverty and the lack of means to survive – to which are added unrealistic expectations generated by the media; the low level of literacy; ignorance of the law, of the culture and frequently of the language of host countries. All of this renders children physically and psychologically dependent. But the most powerful force driving the exploitation and abuse of children is demand. If more rigorous and effective action is not taken against those who profit from such abuse, we will not be able to stop the multiple forms of slavery where children are the victims.
It is necessary, therefore, for immigrants to cooperate ever more closely with the communities that welcome them, for the good of their own children. We are deeply grateful to organisations and institutions, both ecclesial and civil, that commit time and resources to protect minors from various forms of abuse. It is important that evermore effective and incisive cooperation be implemented, based not only on the exchange of information, but also on the reinforcement of networks capable of assuring timely and specific intervention; and this, without underestimating the strength that ecclesial communities reveal especially when they are united in prayer and fraternal communion.
Secondly, we need to work for the integration of children and youngsters who are migrants. They depend totally on the adult community. Very often the scarcity of financial resources prevents the adoption of adequate policies aimed at assistance and inclusion. As a result, instead of favouring the social integration of child migrants, or programmes for safe and assisted repatriation, there is simply an attempt to curb the entrance of migrants, which in turn fosters illegal networks; or else immigrants are repatriated to their country of origin without any concern for their “best interests”.
The condition of child migrants is worsened when their status is not regularised or when they are recruited by criminal organisations. In such cases they are usually sent to detention centres. It is not unusual for them to be arrested, and because they have no money to pay the fine or for the return journey, they can be incarcerated for long periods, exposed to various kinds of abuse and violence. In these instances, the right of states to control migratory movement and to protect the common good of the nation must be seen in conjunction with the duty to resolve and regularise the situation of child migrants, fully respecting their dignity and seeking to meet their needs when they are alone, but also the needs of their parents, for the good of the entire family.
Of fundamental importance is the adoption of adequate national procedures and mutually agreed plans of cooperation between countries of origin and of destination, with the intention of eliminating the causes of the forced emigration of minors.
Thirdly, to all I address a heartfelt appeal that long-term solutions be sought and adopted. Since this is a complex phenomenon, the question of child migrants must be tackled at its source. Wars, human rights violations, corruption, poverty, environmental imbalance and disasters, are all causes of this problem. Children are the first to suffer, at times suffering torture and other physical violence, in addition to moral and psychological aggression, which almost always leave indelible scars.
It is absolutely necessary, therefore, to deal with the causes which trigger migrations in the countries of origin. This requires, as a first step, the commitment of the whole international community to eliminate the conflicts and violence that force people to flee. Furthermore, far-sighted perspectives are called for, capable of offering adequate programmes for areas struck by the worst injustice and instability, in order that access to authentic development can be guaranteed for all. This development should promote the good of boys and girls, who are humanity’s hope.
Lastly, I wish to address a word to you, who walk alongside migrant children and young people: they need your precious help. The Church too needs you and supports you in the generous service you offer. Do not tire of courageously living the Gospel, which calls you to recognise and welcome the Lord Jesus among the smallest and most vulnerable.
I entrust all child migrants, their families, their communities, and you who are close to them, to the protection of the Holy Family of Nazareth; may they watch over and accompany each one on their journey. With my prayers, I gladly impart my Apostolic Blessing.
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It’s Not My Jesus vs Your Jesus, But Our Jesus, Pope Says to Ecumenical Group by ZENIT Staff

On Wednesday before the general audience Pope Francis received in audience the participants in the Conference of Secretaries of Christian World Communions, the international ecumenical association that meets annually in October, each year in a different country, to improve mutual awareness.
The conference is made up of the Anglican Communion, the World Baptist Alliance, the Disciples Ecumenical Consultative Council, the Ecumenical Patriarchate (Eastern Orthodox), General Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists, the International Old Catholic Bishops’ Conference, the World Lutheran Foundation, the Mennonite World Conference, the Moravian Church Worldwide Unity Board, the Patriarchate of Moscow (Eastern Orthodox), the Pentecostals, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Catholic Church), the Reformed Ecumenical Council, the Salvation Army, the Friends World Committee for Consultation (Quakers), the World Convention of Churches of Christ, the World Evangelical Alliance and the World Methodist Council. A representative of the World Council of Churches is also usually present.
Here is a ZENIT translation of his address, given off-the-cuff:
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Two things you [the Head of the Delegation] said caught my attention. First thing: Jesus is with us. Second thing: Jesus sets out with us.
These things make me reflect and pose two questions to myself: Am I capable of believing that Jesus is with us? Am I capable of walking together with all, also with Jesus?
So often we think that the ecumenical work is only that of theologians. It is important that theologians study, come to an agreement and express their disagreement; this is very important. However, in the meantime, ecumenism is done by setting out – and setting out with Jesus: not with my Jesus against your Jesus, but with our Jesus.
The way is simple: it is done with prayer, and with helping others. To pray together: <it is> the ecumenism of prayer, for one another and for unity. And then, the ecumenism of work for so many needy, for so many men and women who today suffer injustices, wars … such terrible things. All of us, together, must help; <it is> charity to our neighbor. This is ecumenism. This is already unity — unity on the way with Jesus.
There is another ecumenism, which we must recognize and which is so timely today: the ecumenism of blood. When terrorists or world powers persecute Christian minorities or Christians, when they do this, they do not ask: But are you Lutheran? Are you Orthodox? Are you Catholic? Are you reformed? Are you Pentecostal? No. “You are Christian.” They recognize only one: the Christian. We are witnesses, and I am thinking, for instance, of the Coptic Orthodox brothers beheaded on the beaches of Libya: they are our brothers. They gave witness to Christ and they died saying: “Jesus, help me!” With the name: they confessed Jesus’ name.
So, ecumenism of prayer, ecumenism of the way; and the enemy teaches us the ecumenism of blood. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for this visit.
[Translation by ZENIT]
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Pope Stresses to Lutherans: What Unites Us Far Greater Than What Divides Us by ZENIT Staff

Lutherans and Catholics are on a journey from conflict to communion, Pope Francis says.
The Pope offered this reflection today when he received a thousand Lutherans from Germany, Luther’s birth country, on an ecumenical pilgrimage to the see the Bishop of Rome. The Holy Father described this as a “beautiful initiative” and thanked the bishops who supported and accompanied the pilgrims.
“Let us give thanks to God,” he said, “because today, as Lutherans and Catholics, we are journeying together on the way from conflict to communion. We have already travelled an important part of the road. Along the path we feel contrasting sentiments: pain for the division that still exists between us, but also joy at the fraternity we have already rediscovered. Your presence, so numerous and enthusiastic, is a clear sign of this fraternity, and it fills us with the hope that mutual understanding may continue to grow.”
“The apostle Paul tells us that, by virtue of our baptism, we all form the single Body of Christ. The various members, in fact, form one body. Therefore, we belong to each other and when one suffers, all suffer; when one rejoices, we all rejoice. We can continue trustfully on our ecumenical path, because we know that despite the many issues that still separate us, we are already united. What unites us is far greater than what divides us,” the Holy Father emphasised, noting that at the end of the month he will travel to Lund in Sweden to commemorate, along with the World Lutheran Federation, the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, and to give thanks to God for the official dialogue between Lutherans and Catholics.
“An essential part of this commemoration,” he observed, “will consist of turning our gaze towards the future, with a view to a common Christian witness to today’s world, that thirsts so greatly for God and His mercy. The witness that the world expects of us is above all that of rendering visible the mercy God has towards us, through service to the poorest, to the sick, to those who have abandoned their homelands to seek a better future for themselves and for their loved ones. In placing ourselves at the service of those most in need we experience that we are already united: it is God’s mercy that unites us.”
He concluded by encouraging the young, in particular, to be “witnesses of mercy.”
“While theologians continue their dialogue in the doctrinal sphere, continue insistently to seek opportunities to meet each other, to get to know each other better, to pray together and to offer your help to each other and to all those who are in need. In this way, freed of every prejudice and trusting only in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that announces peace and reconciliation, you will be true protagonists of a new season in this journey that, with God’s help, will lead to full communion. I assure you of my prayer, and ask you, please to, pray for me, as I am in need. Thank you.”
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Canadian Caritas Launches Emergency Appeal for Haiti by ZENIT Staff

The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace – Caritas Canada has launched an emergency fundraising campaign for Haiti.
With the support of the Executive Committee of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), bishops across the country are encouraging their parishes to organize a special collection to assist the people of Haiti who are again impacted by a major natural disaster.
CCODP has already sent $50,000 from its Humanitarian Fund to Caritas Haiti. The Development and Peace involvement with the Caritas network will provide food for 2,700 families hit by the hurricane and help reduce the risk of spreading infectious diseases.
Funds raised will be used to meet the need for sanitation, water, shelter and food as well as basic non-food items in the most affected regions of the country.
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Prelate Named for Tagbilaran, Philippines by ZENIT Staff

Pope Francis has named Fr. Alberto S. Uy as bishop of Tagbilaran, Philippines.
Alberto Uy was born in 1966 in Ubay, Philippines, and was ordained a priest in 1993. He studied philosophy at the Immaculate Heart of Mary seminary of Tagbilaran City and theology at the St. John Mary Vianney Theological seminary of Cagayan de Oro City, where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in theology and a master’s degree in pastoral ministry.
He also holds a licentiate in sacred theology from the Loyola School of Theology in Quezon City.
He succeeds Bishop Leonardo Y. Medroso.
The diocese of Tagbilaran has about three-quarters of a million Catholics. They are served by around 140 priests and 175 religious.
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Cardinal Turkson’s Address to German-African Healthcare Symposium by ZENIT Staff

Here is the address given by Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, on Wednesday at the German-African Healthcare Symposium (GAHS) in Berlin.
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With warm greetings from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace to all the participants in today’s Symposium, I wish to thank the organizers for their kind invitation to address this gathering today and for their concern to promote and ensure access to high quality health care to the people of Africa.[1] Indeed, too many Africans have been deprived of such access for too long a period of time, despite the significant progress in the fields of technology, treatment, and prevention that has become commonplace in many high- and middle-income parts of the world.
You are probably already well aware of the significant engagement in health care and in the formation of health professionals by the Catholic Church, at national and local levels, in Africa. The 2014 Statistical Directory of Catholic Church-inspired Programs indicate that our Church maintains 1,298 hospitals; 5,256 dispensaries; 29 leprosy centres; and 632 homes for the elderly, chronically ill, and disabled. Pope Francis has pointed out, on numerous occasions, that the Catholic health care ministry does not limit its attention only to Catholics but rather, “on the basis of this ‘loving attentiveness’, the Church cooperates with all institutions concerned for the good of individuals and communities.”[2]
These and other faith-based organizations often assume significant responsibility for the burden of health care delivery, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and most especially among the poorest sectors of the population and in rural areas. Too often, however, these same service providers are not allowed a “place at the table” during the formulation of health care plans on the national or local levels. They are also denied an equitable share in the resources – both from the national or local budgets and from international donors. Such funding is essential to facilitate the maintenance of ongoing health systems; the training, recruitment, and retention of professional staff; as well as the scaling up necessary to address the ever-increasing burden of global pandemics such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and other infections, of anti-microbial resistance, and of non-communicable diseases that disproportionately affect the poorest sectors of society.
I will situate my comments today within the context of the Catholic Church’s teaching and tradition of service and ministry to all persons in need, but with particular regard to the most needy and most marginalized and without any limitation based on religious, ethnic, national, or socio-economic status. I propose that Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Si’, could serve as a very significant resource for our reflection and dialogue on the theme of this conference. Many people incorrectly assume that this letter dealt only with climate change and the environment. As crucial as those issues are in today’s world, Pope Francis did not restrict his teaching to these themes alone. In fact, his principal objective was to propose a social teaching of the Church that creates awareness about the immensity and urgency of the challenge of the present situation of the world and its poor, the two fragilities which lie at the heart of Pope Francis’ integral ecology. He issued an urgent appeal for a new dialogue about how to shape the future of our planet, and he encouraged a response of the entire human family with profound faith and trust in humanity’s ability to work together to build a common home.
The Pope does not mince words in his teaching. He insists that, now more than ever, the world needs leadership in all its fields of endeavour, and the various fields need to work together in pursuit of the common good of humanity. Pope Francis speaks to everyone; everyone must play a role. He exhorts those in high station in politics, business and science, and he encourages those who live and work in very humble circumstances—all must commit to meeting the needs of all who live on this planet and of the planet itself. We are all in this together, each of us responsible for the other.
The major focus of this Third German-African Healthcare Symposium is the urgent need for investing in much stronger health systems and on the special role of new multi- and cross-sectoral strategies and approaches. In this connection, let us keep in mind the powerful messages delivered by Pope Francis. During his visit to Bolivia, in July 2015, he said: “Working for a just distribution of the fruits of the earth and human labour is not mere philanthropy. It is a moral obligation. For Christians, the responsibility is even greater: it is a commandment. It is about giving to the poor and to peoples what is theirs by right. The universal destination of goods is not a figure of speech found in the Church’s Social Teaching. It is a reality prior to private property. Property, especially when it affects natural resources, must always serve the needs of peoples.”[3]
Pope Francis urges us to think of our relationship with the world and with all people. Caring for our common home, and for all people who live on this earth, requires not just an economic and technological revolution, but also a cultural and spiritual revolution—a profoundly different way of living the relationship between people and the environment, a new way of ordering the global economy. He insists on the urgency of changing our sense of progress, our management of the economy, and our style of life.
He forcefully maintains that dialogue is “the only way to confront the problems of our world and to seek solutions that are truly effective”. Authentic dialogue is honest and transparent. It does not permit the particular interests of individual countries or specific interest groups to dominate discussions. The Holy Father offered this ideal in his remarks in Nairobi last November: “What is needed is sincere and open dialogue, with responsible cooperation on the part of all: political authorities, the scientific community, the business world and civil society. Positive examples are not lacking; they demonstrate that a genuine cooperation between politics, science and business can achieve significant results.”[4]
Catholic Social Teaching contains important principles for true dialogue. How can we promote and sustain positive dialogue that results in positive actions? Three helpful principles for such dialogue are solidarity, subsidiarity, and the common good. Solidarity means we care about the concerns of others as much as our own. Subsidiarity means we accept others as equals; they speak for themselves, we listen; and we help them to participate if they need such help. As for the “what” of dialogue, Catholic Social Teaching tells us to always focus on the common good and to show special concern for the poor and for the earth.
During the discussions today, I sincerely hope that it will be possible to identify and to develop action-oriented strategies to overcome the public health challenges that still plague our global human family. Let us confront them honestly and transparently, and try to search for more effective and efficient solutions. Despite the tremendous progress that has been made, we still find tragic health deficits in low- and some middle-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, and even among the poor and marginalized populations in high-income countries. We find significantly higher rates of maternal and under-5 mortality, lack of strong health infrastructures, higher prevalence of infectious as well as non-communicable diseases, and lack of access to even basic but life-saving medicines that are taken for granted by the “privileged few” in the global human family. We must all be part of the solution to accessible, affordable care for these vulnerable brothers and sisters. In this regard, let us be inspired and motivated by this imperative offered by Pope Francis: “There is no human life that is more sacred than another, as there is no human life that is qualitatively more significant than another.”[5]
Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson
President
—[1] With gratitude to Mons. Robert Vitillo, Attaché for Health, Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the UN in Geneva, for advice and help in drafting this address, and to Mr. Robert Czerny, Ottawa, for final editing.
[2] Address to the Members of the Diplomatic Corps Accredited to the Holy See, Vatican City, 13 January 2014.
[3] Address to the Second World Meeting of Popular Movements, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, 9.7.2015, § 3.1
[4] Address at the United Nations Office in Nairobi, 26 November 2015.
[5] Address to the Participants in the Meeting Organized by the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, Clementine Hall, 20 September 2013-------

Pope: It’s Not Enough to Get Mercy; We Have to Give It Too... from ZENIT of Roswell, Georgia, United States for Wednesday, 12 October 2016
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Pope: It’s Not Enough to Get Mercy; We Have to Give It Too by Kathleen Naab

Receiving God’s mercy is not enough, we also have to be a “sign and instrument” of mercy for others, says Pope Francis. And “mercy is not reserved only for particular moments, but it embraces the whole of our daily existence.”
The Pope said this today during his address at the general audience, in which he continued his catechesis on the theme of mercy as the jubilee nears its end.
“How, then, can we be witnesses of mercy?” the Holy Father asked.
It’s nothing complicated, he answered, saying it’s about simple gestures that have great value in God’s eyes — “to the point that He said to us that it is on these that we will be judged.”
“Jesus says that every time we feed someone who is hungry and give drink to someone who is thirsty, that we clothe a naked person and receive a stranger, that we visit a sick or imprisoned person, we do it to Him,” the Pope said. “The Church has called these gestures ‘corporalworks of mercy,’ because they help persons in their material needs.”
He continued: “There are, however, seven other works of mercy called ‘spiritual,’ which have to do with other equally important needs, especially today, because they touch the depth of persons and often make one suffer more.”
Indifference
The Pope said future catecheses will consider these works of mercy, which have given “genuine witness of the faith” down through the centuries.
“In a world stricken, unfortunately, by the virus of indifference, the works of mercy are the best antidote,” he said. “In fact, they educate us to pay attention to the most elementary needs of our ‘least brothers.’”
“To recognize His face in that of one who is in need is a real challenge against indifference. It enables us to be always vigilant, avoiding Christ passing beside us without our recognizing Him.”
Francis cited St. Augustine’s phrase, “Timeo Iesum transeuntem,” saying “I wondered why Saint Augustine said he was afraid of Jesus’ passing. The answer, unfortunately, is in our behaviour, because we are often distracted, indifferent, and when the Lord passes close to us we lose the occasion of an encounter with Him.”
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On ZENIT’s Web page:
Full text: https://zenit.org/articles/general-audience-on-works-of-mercy/
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Pope Francis Calls for Immediate Ceasefire in Syria by Deborah Castellano Lubov

During his weekly General Audience this morning in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis repeated his appeals to help the suffering nation of Syria and has called for an immediate ceasefire.
According to Vatican Radio, at the conclusion of the audience, Francis said, “I wish to stress and confirm my closeness to all the victims of the inhuman conflict in Syria.”
“It is with a sense of urgency,” he continued, “that I renew my appeal, imploring those responsible with all my strength, to provide an immediate cease-fire, which is imposed and respected at least for the necessary time to make possible the evacuation of civilians, especially children, who are trapped again under bloody bombardments.”
In the past day, Russia has resumed its airstrikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo. More than 25 people have reportedly died in the bombardments, including children. The strikes followed the Syrian government’s temporary lull, partially to make it possible for civilians to leave rebel-held areas in the city’s eastern section.
Pope Francis, during several of his General Audiences and Angelus addresses, has expressed, that through prayer and spiritual closeness, he feels united in suffering with these people.
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Knowing Who We Are; Knowing What We Are Supposed to Do by Bishop Robert Barron

This fall I am giving presentations to all of the high school teachers, staff and administrators in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. These talks take place on an annual basis, and they are dedicated to a regular cycle of topics. This year, the theme is morality. Lucky me! My guess is that disquisitions on doctrine or Church history or pastoral practice wouldn’t raise too many hackles, but ethics is practically guaranteed to rile people up, especially now when issues of same-sex marriage, transgenderism, and assisted suicide are so present to the public consciousness.
I am not sure whether I’m delighting or disappointing my audiences, but I am not ordering my talks to adress these hot-button questions. Indeed, it is my conviction that a good deal of mischief and confusion is caused precisely by characterizing Catholic morality primarily as a matrix for adjudicating such matters. A purely rational or deductive approach to controversial ethical choices is largely an exercise in missing the point. For to know how to behave as a Christian is a function of knowing, first, who we are as Christians. Understanding how to act is, if I can pun a little, a function of understanding what play we are in. The great Biblical scholar, N.T. Wright, has said that most of us are like actors who are dressed up for Hamlet, who have memorized all of the right lines from Hamlet, and who thoroughly grasp the thematics of Hamlet. The only problem is that we are in Romeo and Juliet. Therefore, what I am sharing with the good teachers of the L.A. Archdiocese is largely Christian anthropology, a fancy way of saying the articulation of what play we’re in and what role we’ve been given in that production.
Like the great Shakespeare plays, the drama of salvation history consists of five acts: Creation, the Fall, the Formation of Israel, the Coming of the Messiah, and the Church. Comprehending the dynamics of all five acts is indispensable to knowing how to behave. So let’s take things one step at a time. According to the still breathtaking poetic account in the first chapter of Genesis, all created things come forth in an orderly and harmonious manner from the hand of the Creator. Sun, moon, planets, stars, the earth itself, animals, even those things that crawl upon the earth, come into existence as a sort of stately liturgical procession. What the author is showing, first, is that none of these things—all of which at one time or another in the ancient world were the object of worship—is divine. What he is demonstrating, secondly, is that all of them find their purpose in giving praise to the Creator. It is of crucial significance that the final element in the parade—like the last figure in a liturgical procession—is the human being. We are meant to see our identity and our task: to give praise to God on behalf of all creation. Before the Fall, Adam was the first priest.
So what is the Fall? What takes place in act two is the loss of our priestly identity. Grasping at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we end up worshipping our own egos rather than God, and from this misdirected praise, chaos follows. Things fall apart, both inside and outside, that is to say, in our hearts and in the natural order—and the Garden becomes a desert. Throughout the Bible, the basic problem, though it manifests itself politically, culturally, psycho-dynamically, etc., is always bad praise.
But God does not abandon his people; on the contrary, he sends a rescue operation. Beginning with the covenant with Abraham, God shapes a nation according to his own mind and heart; he teaches a particular tribe to worship him aright, to be his priestly people. His ultimate intention is to use Israel for the instruction of all the nations of the world. Mt. Zion, the locale of the Temple, the place of right worship, is meant to become a magnet to the whole of humanity: “There all the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord” (Psalm 122:4). The entire drama of Israel is the content of act three.
But we hear, over and again, that Israel does not live up to its high calling, that it falls short of its vocation to worship the Lord alone. And so the best and the brightest among the chosen people commence to dream of a Messiah, a figure who would represent the full realization of Israel’s mission and identity. The coming of this anointed one is the central drama of act four. The still startling claim of the first Christians is that Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, is this long-awaited Messiah, the one in whom faithful Yahweh finally meets faithful Israel. Notice, please, how Jesus is consistently presented as a priestly figure. John the Baptist declares him to be the “Lamb of God;” at the climax of his life, he comes into the holy city of Jerusalem and cleanses the Temple, declaring, “I will destroy this place and in three days rebuild it,” referring to the Temple of his own body; and on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, he offers a final priestly sacrifice, offering right praise to his Father and bringing sinful humanity back on line with him. This is precisely why, in the light of the Resurrection, St. Paul would refer to Jesus as “the new Adam,” which is to say, the one who restores the human race to correct praise.
Now, we are ready for act five and the proper context for speaking of morality. Act five is the life and work of the Church. Grafted on to Jesus, members of his mystical body, all of the baptized are meant to do what Jesus did and be who Jesus was. We are meant, as Paul put it, to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord.” This implies that we are to turn every aspect of ourselves—our minds, our wills, our personal affairs, our jobs, our recreation, and yes, our sexuality—into acts of worship. To make it more pointed, our bodies and their desires do not belong to us; they are not intended to serve our selfish purposes. They are designed to be turned to God’s purpose, which implies that they be placed under the aegis of love. Now we can understand why the Church is so demanding in regard to sex, why it stands so staunchly athwart divorce, contraception, same-sex marriage, masturbation, etc. It is not because the Church is against sex or against pleasure or against self-determination. It is because the Church is for turning the whole of life into an act of radical love. And its dearest hope is that the very quality of its right praise will attract the whole world to Christ. I realize that it sounds strange to put it this way, but the moral lives of the baptized are not meant finally for them; they are meant to be salt and light for the rest of humanity.
What I’m telling the Catholic high school teachers of L.A. is what I want to tell all Catholics: you won’t know how to behave until you know who you are. And you won’t know who you are until you realize what play you’re in!
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Syria: Church Leaders Bring Children’s Call for Peace to European Leaders by Eva-Maria Kolmann

Acting as “Ambassadors of the Children,” three prominent Syrian Church leaders—Patriarch Gregorios III, the head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church; Greek Orthodox Metropolitan George Abou Zakhem of Homs; and Syrian Orthodox Bishop Selvanos Boutros Al Nemeh of Homs—are this week visiting EU and UN officials, respectively in Brussels and Geneva.
They are carrying close to a million Syrian school children’s signatures on a petition for peace in their country as well as countless drawings expressing the youngsters’ longing for peace, which were formally presented in the Belgian capital to the President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, and the President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz.
In Geneva, they will present the children’s messages to the High Commissioner for Refugees, Dr. Filippo Grandi, and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Al-Huzain.
The prelates’ mission is the fruit of the February 2016 joint declaration of Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, which called on Catholic and Orthodox Christians to speak out in unison in calling for peace in Syria and for support of persecuted Christians.
Father Andrzej Halemba, head of the Middle East section of international Catholic charity Aid to the Church In Need—which sponsored the prelates’ mission as well as last week’s gathering of children’s signatures—said: “The more we Christians are united in our defense of peace and in our support, in particular of children in need, the stronger our voice and the more effective our efforts.”
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Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. www.churchinneed.org (USA); www.acnuk.org (UK); www.aidtochurch.org (AUS); www.acnireland.org (IRL); www.acn-aed-ca.org (CAN)www.acnmalta.org (Malta)
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Religious Liberty Isn’t a Code for Discrimination, Say US Bishops and Other Faith Leaders by ZENIT Staff

Archbishop William E. Lori, Chairman of the US bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, and Bishop Gregory J. Mansour of the Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn, joined leaders from diverse faiths in writing to President Barack Obama, Senate President Pro Tempore Orrin Hatch, and House Speaker Paul Ryan concerning a report released last month by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.
The letter calls upon these political leaders “to renounce publicly the [report’s] claim that ‘religious freedom’ and ‘religious liberty’ are ‘code words’ or a ‘pretext’ for various forms of discrimination.” The President, Sen. Hatch, and Rep. Ryan each appoint members of the Commission.
The interfaith leaders’ letter states, in part: “We wish to express our deep concern that the Commission has issued a report, Peaceful Coexistence: Reconciling Non-Discrimination Principles with Civil Liberties, that stigmatizes tens of millions of religious Americans, their communities, and their faith-based institutions, and threatens the religious freedom of all our citizens.”
The letter continues: “We understand that people of good faith can disagree about the relationship between religious liberty and antidiscrimination laws in our country, and how that relationship should best be structured. … At the same time, we are one in demanding that no American citizen or institution be labeled by their government as bigoted because of their religious views, and dismissed from the political life of our nation for holding those views. And yet that is precisely what the Civil Rights Commission report does.”
The signatories went on to state that “[e]ach of us opposes hateful rhetoric and actions. We believe in the equality of all Americans before the law, regardless of creed or community. But we are both determined and unafraid to speak the truth about beliefs we have held for millennia. A robust and respectful debate over ideas is not something harmful to be demonized. Rather, debate is good for our democracy, and should be encouraged. Slandering ideas and arguments with which one disagrees as ‘racism’ or ‘phobia’…only cheapens the meaning of those words.”
Signatories of the letter include Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Baha’i, Mormon, African Methodist Episcopal, Southern Baptist, and Evangelical leaders as well as leaders of non-religious organizations.
The full text of the letter is available at: www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/upload/Letter-to-President-Senator-Hatch-Speaker-Ryan-FINAL-dated-October-7.pdf
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Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Rejects Plan to Legalize, Regulate Surrogacy by ZENIT Staff

On Tuesday, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe voted to reject a proposal to legalize and regulate surrogacy across all 47 Member States. The Recommendation came out of a much disputed report by Belgian Senator Petra De Sutter, who was pushing for regulations that would validate prohibited surrogacy agreements in Europe. Many considered the findings to be biased as De Sutter is the head of a hospital department that offers surrogacy in Ghent, Belgium.
“Today, by rejecting De Sutter’s proposals, the Parliamentary Assembly has voted to affirm the rights and dignity of women and children. Ultimately, surrogacy exploits women and treats children as commodities. We have to move away from the unrealistic view of so-called altruistic surrogacy that De Sutter tried to convey in the reports. There are few material differences between altruistic and commercial surrogacy. Whether we talk about a favour or a business transaction, the same consequences apply to surrogate children,” said Lorcán Price, Legal Counsel for ADF International based in Strasbourg, after the historic vote.
“The Parliamentary Assembly sided with women and children who are entitled to be protected from this commoditization, and refused to adopt the approach taken by the European Court of Human Rights which has previously ruled in favour of giving effect to unlawful surrogacy arrangements.”
A biased report
Surrogacy is a practice whereby children are transferred from their birth mother to other parties, often in exchange for large sums of money. This has been criticized by many human rights organizations and was condemned in a 2011 resolution of the European Parliament as an “exploitation of the female body and her reproductive organs”.
De Sutter’s proposals regarding surrogacy have been highly controversial. Many members of the Social Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly considered the reports raised concerns about a conflict of interest given De Sutter’s connection with surrogacy clinics in India and regular comments to the media in favor of the practice. The proposals initially called for legal regulations for the recognition of surrogacy agreements across the 47 Member States.
“International law protects the right to family life, which means children are entitled to know their parents. Most cases of surrogacy render this impossible. The Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights consider themselves to be champions of human rights. If they are serious about the rights of women and children, they will not stop until they have achieved a complete ban on this problematic practice,” said Laurence Wilkinson, Legal Counsel for ADF International in Strasbourg.
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is composed of 324 parliamentarians in 47 delegations from the national parliaments of each of the Member States. The Council of Europe, based in Strasbourg, France, was formed in 1949 with the mandate of upholding human rights, democracy, and the rule of law. The Court is an independent organ within the Council of Europe.
ADF International is an alliance-building legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.
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Canadian Bishops Ask Govt to Re-establish Funding of UN Relief for Palestine Refugees by ZENIT Staff

The president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Bishop Douglas Crosby of Hamilton, has signed a joint ecumenical letter to the Government of Canada requesting the reestablishment of Canada’s financial contributions to UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees).
The Government of Canada has recently signaled its openness to reestablishing such funding. The letter was sent on October 4, 2016, to the Minister for International Development and La Francophonie, the Honorable Marie-Claude Bibeau. In their letter, the signatories “urge Canada to restore its annual contribution in support of UNRWA’s work, and to increase its contribution significantly.”
UNRWA was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1949 to address the Palestinian refugee crises following the Arab-Israeli conflict in 1948. UNRWA resources provide education, health care, relief and social services, camp infrastructure and improvement, microfinance and emergency assistance for about 5 million Palestinian refugees located in five regions: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. UNRWA has received donations from the Holy See in past years, and is currently funded by several governments including the United States of America, the European Union, Japan, and several others.
Link to the website of UNRWA
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Pope: Care for Our Earth So As to Reduce Natural Disasters by ZENIT Staff

Pope Francis today concluded his weekly general audience with a mention of the International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction, which this year features the theme: “Reducing mortality.”
The Pope noted that natural disasters could be limited if we would take better care of the environment.
“Therefore I encourage you to join far-sighted efforts in the protection of our common home, promoting a culture of prevention, also with the help of new advances, in order to reduce the risk to the most vulnerable populations.”
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GENERAL AUDIENCE: On Works of Mercy by ZENIT Staff

Here is a ZENIT working translation of Pope Francis’ prepared address during this morning’s general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
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THE HOLY FATHER’S CATECHESIS
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!
In preceding catecheses we entered a little in the great mystery of God’s mercy. We meditated on the Father’s action in the Old Testament and then, through evangelical accounts, we saw how Jesus is the incarnation of Mercy in His words and in His gestures. He, in turn, taught His disciples: “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke6:36). It is a commitment that challenges the conscience and action of every Christian. In fact, it is not enough to experience God’s mercy in one’s life; it is necessary that whoever receives it becomes also a sign and instrument of it for others. Moreover, mercy is not reserved only for particular moments, but it embraces the whole of our daily existence.
How, then, can we be witnesses of mercy? We do not think that it has to do with making great efforts or superhuman gestures. No, it is not like this. The Lord indicates to us a much simpler way, made up of little gestures, which, however, in His eyes have great value, to the point that He said to us that it is on these that we will be judged. In fact, one of the most beautiful pages of Mark’s Gospel reports to us a teaching that we can regard in some way as “Jesus’ testament” on the part of the evangelist, who experienced directly in himself the action of Mercy. Jesus says that every time we feed someone who is hungry and give drink to someone who is thirsty, that we clothe a naked person and receive a stranger, that we visit a sick or imprisoned <person>, we do it to Him (cf. Matthew 25:31-46). The Church has called these gestures “works of corporal mercy,” because they help persons in their material needs.
There are, however, seven other works of mercy called “spiritual,’ which have to do with other equally important needs, especially today, because they touch the depth of persons and often make one suffer more. We all certainly remember one that has entered our common language: “To endure patiently annoying persons.” It might seem to be something of little importance, which makes us smile, instead, it contains a sentiment of profound charity; and it is so also for the other six, which it is good to recall: to counsel the doubtful, to teach the ignorant, to admonish sinners, to console the afflicted, to forgive offenses, to pray to God for the living and the dead.
In the forthcoming catecheses we will pause on these works, which the Church presents to us as the concrete way to live mercy. So many persons in the course of the centuries put them into practice, thus giving genuine witness of the faith. Moreover, the Church, faithful to her Lord, nourishes a preferential love for the weakest. Often they are the persons closest to us who are in need of our help. We do not have to go in search, who knows, of endeavors to carry out. It is better to begin with the simplest, which the Lord points out as the most urgent. In a world stricken, unfortunately, by the virus of indifference, the works of mercy are the best antidote. In fact, they educate us to pay attention to the most elementary needs of our “least brothers” (Matthew 25:40), in whom Jesus is present. To recognize His face in that of one who is in need is a real challenge against indifference. It enables us to be always vigilant, avoiding Christ passing beside us without our recognizing Him. Saint Augustine’s phrase comes to mind: “Timeo Iesum transeuntem”(Sermon 88, 14, 13). I wondered why Saint Augustine said he was afraidof Jesus’ passing. The answer, unfortunately, is in our behaviour, because we are often distracted, indifferent, and when the Lord passes close to us we lose the occasion of an encounter with Him.
The works of mercy awaken in us the exigency and capacity to render faith alive and active with charity. I am convinced that through these simple daily gestures we can carry out a true cultural revolution, as happened in the past. How many Saints are still remembered today not for the great works they did but for the charity they were able to transmit! We think of Mother Teresa, just canonized: we do not remember her for the many houses she opened in the world, but because she bent over every person she found in the middle of the street to restore to him his/her dignity. How many abandoned children she held in her arms; how many dying <persons>, on the threshold of eternity, she accompanied holding their hand! These works of mercy are the features of the Face of Jesus Christ, who takes care of his least brothers to bring to each of them God’s tenderness and closeness. May the Holy Spirit enkindle in us the desire to live with this style of life; may we learn again by heart the works of corporal and spiritual mercy and ask the Lord to help us to put them into practice every day.
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
In Italian
Dear Italian-speaking pilgrims, welcome! I am happy to receive the faithful of the Dioceses of Cremona, Pescia, Anagni-Alatri and Conversano-Monopoli, accompanied by their respective Pastors, and I exhort them to draw fruit from the Jubilee we are celebrating, to be heralds of the Gospel with a consistent witness of life. I greet the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth, gathered here on the occasion of their General Chapter, and I hope that the foundational charism is rediscovered in the perspective of Divine Mercy. I greet the young people of the Folklore Festival of Cori; the participants in the European Conference of Christian Radios and the Saint Rita Work Foundation of Prato with the Bishop, Monsignor Franco Agostinelli. May the crossing of the Holy Door be an act of personal and communal faith, and stimulate all to exercise the works of mercy in their own environments.
A special greeting goes to the organizers and participants in the “Match for Peace and Solidarity,” which will be held this evening in the Olympic Stadium, promoted by Scholas Occurrentes, the Love and Liberty Community, the Italian Spots Center and UNITALSI.
Finally, a greeting goes to young people, the sick and newlyweds. Yesterday we celebrated the Memorial of Saint john XXIII. Dear young people, invoke his heavenly intercession to imitate the gentleness of his paternal love; pray to him in moments of the cross and of suffering, dear sick, to face difficulties with his same meekness; learn from him, dear newlyweds, the art of educating children with tenderness and with example.
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
The Holy Father’s Appeals
Tomorrow, October 13, is the International Day for the Reduction of Natural Disasters,” which this year proposes the topic: “Reduce Mortality.” In fact, natural disasters could be avoided or at least limited, because their effects are often due to the lack of care of the environment on man’s part. Therefore, I encourage the joining of forces in a farsighted way in the protection of our common home, promoting a culture of prevention, also with the help of new knowledge, reducing the risks for the most vulnerable populations.[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
I wish to stress and confirm my closeness to all the victims of the inhuman conflict in Syria. It is with a sense of urgency that I renew my appeal, imploring those responsible with all my strength, to provide an immediate cease-fire, which is imposed and respected at least for the necessary time to make possible the evacuation of civilians, especially children, who are trapped again under bloody bombardments.
[Original text: Italian] [Translation by ZENIT]
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English Summary of Pope’s General Audience by ZENIT Staff

Here is the Vatican-provided English-language summary of Pope Francis’ General Audience this morning in St. Peter’s Square:
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Speaker:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: During this Holy Year of Mercy, we have reflected on God’s mercy, revealed especially in the incarnation of his Son, and on our duty, as followers of Jesus, to be “merciful like the Father”. In Saint Matthew’s Gospel, the Lord tells us that we will be judged by the mercy we show to him, present in the least of our brothers and sisters. His words have inspired the seven traditional “corporal” works of mercy – feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, welcoming the stranger, healing the sick, visiting the imprisoned and burying the dead. The Church’s tradition also adds seven “spiritual” works of mercy – counseling the doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing sinners, comforting the afflicted, forgiving offences, bearing patiently those who do us ill, and praying for the living and the dead. As expressions of living faith, these works are often carried out quietly and with simple gestures. Yet, as Saints like Mother Teresa of Calcutta show us, they reveal the merciful face of Christ and can change the culture around us. Let us keep them always in mind and strive to practice them daily.
Speaker:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly those from England, Jersey, Ireland, Denmark, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and the United States of America. With prayerful good wishes that the present Jubilee of Mercy will be a moment of grace and spiritual renewal for you and your families, I invoke upon all of you joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.[Original text: English] [Vatican-provided text]
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