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04 Aug GENERAL AUDIENCE

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Appeal for Lebanon
one year after the port explosion in Beirut
In these days, I think especially of the beloved country of Lebanon a year after the terrible port explosion in its capital, Beirut, with its toll of death and destruction. I think above all of the victims and their families, the many injured, and those who lost their homes and livelihoods. So many people have lost the desire to go on.
During the Day of Prayer and Reflection for Lebanon last 1 July, together with Christian religious leaders, all of us listened to the hopes and aspirations, the frustrations and weariness of the Lebanese people, and we prayed for God’s gift of hope to overcome this difficult crisis.
Today I would also appeal to the international community to offer Lebanon concrete assistance, not only with words but with concrete actions in undertaking a journey of “resurrection”. It is my hope that the current International Conference hosted by France with the support of the United Nations will prove productive in this regard.
Dear Lebanese friends, I greatly desire to visit you and I continue to pray for you, so that Lebanon will once more be a message of peace and fraternity for the entire Middle East. […]

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15 Jul MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE GENERAL CHAPTER OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR

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Dear brothers!
[…] For many months, due to the pandemic, we find ourselves living in situations of emergency, isolation and suffering. This critical experience, on the one hand, spurs us all to recognize how much our earthly life is a path to be traveled as pilgrims and strangers, itinerant men and women, willing to relieve ourselves of personal things and demands. On the other hand, it is a propitious occasion to intensify the relationship with Christ and with the brothers: I am thinking of your communities, called to be a humble prophetic presence in the midst of the people of God and a witness for all of fraternity and of a simple and joyful life. […]

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11 Jul ANGELUS

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After the Angelus:
Dear brothers and sisters, in recent days my prayer has often been aimed at Haiti, following the assassination of its President and the wounding of his wife. I join in the heartfelt appeal of the country’s Bishops to “lay down weapons, choose life, choose to live together fraternally in the interest of all and in the interest of Haiti”. I am close to the beloved Haitian people; I hope that the spiral of violence will cease and the nation can resume the journey toward a future of peace and harmony.
Today is “Sea Sunday”, dedicated in a particular way to seafarers and to those whose source of work and sustenance is the sea. I pray for them and exhort everyone to take care of the oceans and seas. Take care of the health of the seas: no plastic in the sea! […]

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09 Jul JOINT MESSAGE FOR THE 10th ANNIVERSARY OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTH SUDAN

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Their Excellencies
The Political Leaders of South Sudan

Your Excellencies,

On this day marking ten years since South Sudan’s Independence, we send you our cordial good wishes, conscious that this anniversary calls to mind your past struggles and points with hope to the future. Your nation is blessed with immense potential, and we encourage you to make even greater efforts to enable your people to enjoy the full fruits of independence.

When we last wrote to you at Christmas, we prayed that you might experience greater trust among yourselves and be more generous in service to your people. Since then, we have been glad to see some small progress. Sadly, your people continue to live in fear and uncertainty, and lack confidence that their nation can indeed deliver the ‘justice, liberty and prosperity’ celebrated in your national anthem. Much more needs to be done in South Sudan to shape a nation that reflects God’s kingdom, in which the dignity of all is respected and all are reconciled (cf 2 Corinthians, 5). This may require personal sacrifice from you as leaders – Christ’s own example of leadership shows this powerfully – and today we wish you to know that we stand alongside you as you look to the future and seek to discern afresh how best to serve all the people of South Sudan.

We recall with joy and thanksgiving the historic meeting of the political and religious leaders of South Sudan at the Vatican in 2019 and the weighty promises made on that occasion. We pray that those promises will shape your actions, so that it will become possible for us to visit and celebrate with you and your people in person, honouring your contributions to a nation that fulfils the hopes of 9 July 2011. In the meantime, we invoke upon you and all in South Sudan God’s blessings of fraternity and peace.

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02 Jul VIDEO MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO MARK THE INTERNATIONAL MEETING “SCIENCE FOR PEACE”

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I wish to express my gratitude to the organisers of the meeting “Science for Peace” on the occasion of the Jubilee of Saint Gabriel [of Our Lady of Sorrows], whose shrine is located on the slopes of the Gran Sasso, home to the National Laboratories for Nuclear Physics.

I greet the academic and scientific authorities, the guests of the national and European institutions, and all the men and women engaged in scientific research.

Among these, I would like to recall Professor Antonino Zichichi, President of the World Federation of Scientists – awarded on this occasion with the highest honour of the University of Teramo – who continues to dedicate his life to the development of science and the education of new generations.

Dear distinguished scientists, your meeting is a great gift of hope for humanity. Never before has the need for a revival of scientific research been so keenly felt in order to rise to the challenges of contemporary society. And I am happy that it is the diocesan community of Teramo that is promoting this meeting, thus demonstrating that there cannot and must not be any opposition between faith and science.

As I recalled in the Encyclical Fratelli tutti, it is urgent to know reality so as to build together (cf. 204). To nurture and develop the desire for knowledge that is hidden in the heart of every man and woman, scientific research must put its results at the service of all, always seeking new forms of collaboration, sharing results and building networks.

Furthermore, I continued in the Encyclical, we must not overlook the “risk that a single scientific advance will be seen as the only possible lens for viewing a particular aspect of life, society and the world” (ibid.).

The experience of the health emergency even more so, and in some ways even more urgently, has prompted the world of science to rethink the prospects for prevention, treatment and health organisation, taking into account the anthropological implications linked to sociality and the quality of relations between family members and, above all, between generations.

No scientific knowledge should stand alone and believe it is self-sufficient. Historical reality is increasingly becoming a single reality (cf. ibid.) and needs to be served in the plurality of knowledge, which in its specificity contributes to the growth of a new culture capable of building society by promoting the dignity and development of every man and woman.

In the face of new challenges, you, dear friends of science, are entrusted with the task of bearing witness to the possibility of constructing a new social bond, committing yourselves to making scientific research close to the whole community, from the local to the international one, and showing that together it is possible to overcome every conflict.

Science is a great resource for building peace!

I ask you to accompany the formation of the new generations, teaching them not to be afraid of the effort of research. The Master also lets Himself be sought: He instils in everyone the certainty that when one seeks honestly, one encounters the truth. The changing age needs new disciples of knowledge, and you, dear scientists, are the teachers of a new generation of peacemakers.

I assure you, I am close to you and the whole Church is close to you, with prayer and encouragement.

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01 Jul ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS CONCLUSION OF THE ECUMENICAL PRAYER “THE LORD GOD HAS PLANS FOR PEACE. TOGETHER FOR LEBANON”

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Dear brothers and sisters,
We assembled today to pray and reflect, impelled by our deep concern for Lebanon – a country very close to my heart and which I wish to visit – as we see it plunged into a serious crisis. I am grateful to all the participants for having readily accepted the invitation and for their fraternal sharing. Sustained by the prayers of the Holy People of God, in facing this dark situation, we, as pastors, have sought together to be guided by God’s light. And in God’s light, we have seen our own lack of clarity: the mistakes we have made in failing to bear consistent witness to the Gospel, and above all the opportunities we have missed along the path to fraternity, reconciliation and full unity. For all this, we ask forgiveness, and with contrite hearts we pray: “Lord, have mercy” (Mt 15:22). […]
[…] Plans for peace and not for woe. As Christians, today we wish to renew our commitment to building a future together. For our future will be peaceful only if it is shared. Human relationships cannot be based on the pursuit of partisan interests, privileges and advantages. No, the Christian vision of society arises from the Beatitudes; it is born of meekness and mercy, and it inspires us to imitate in this world God’s own way of acting, for he is a father who desires his children to live in peace. We Christians are called to be sowers of peace and builders of fraternity, not nursing past grudges and regrets, not shirking the responsibilities of the present, but looking instead with hope to the future. We believe that God has shown us but one way: the way of peace. Let us therefore assure our Muslim brothers and sisters, and those of other religions, of our openness and readiness to work together in building fraternity and promoting peace. For “peace does not call for winners or losers, but rather for brothers and sisters who, despite the misunderstandings and hurts of the past, are journeying from conflict to unity” (Address, Interreligious Meeting, Plain of Ur, 6 March 2021). It is my hope that this day will be followed by concrete initiatives under the aegis of dialogue, of efforts to educate, and of solidarity. […]

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29 Jun ANGELUS

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After the Angelus:

[…] I warmly greet you all, pilgrims from Italy and from various countries; but today I address myself in a special way to the people of Rome, on the feast of our Patron Saints. I bless you, dear Romans! I wish every good to the city of Rome: that, thanks to the commitment of all of you, of all the citizens, it may be liveable and welcoming, that no one be excluded, that children and the elderly may be cared for, that there may be work and that it may be dignified, and that the poor and the last may be at the centre of political and social projects. I pray for this. And may you too, dear faithful of Rome, pray for your Bishop. Thank you. […]

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28 Jun ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE DELEGATION OF THE ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE

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[…] For us Christians on the path to full communion, taking seriously the current crisis means asking ourselves how we wish to move forward. Every crisis represents a crossroads: we can withdraw into ourselves, seeking our own security and expediency, or we can be open to others, which entails risks but also God’s promised fruits of grace. Dear brothers, has not the time come for giving further impetus to our efforts, with the help of the Spirit, to break down ancient prejudices and definitively overcome harmful rivalries? Without ignoring the differences that need to be resolved through charitable and truthful dialogue, could we not begin a new phase of relations between our Churches, marked by walking more closely together, by desiring to take real steps forward, by becoming more willing to be truly responsible for one another? If we are docile to love, to the Holy Spirit who is the creative love of God and who brings harmony to diversity, he will open the way to a renewed fraternity. […]

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27 Jun POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS

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After the Angelus:
[…] I assure my closeness to the populations of South-west of the Czech
Republic struck by a strong hurricane. I pray for the departed and the injured
and for those who have had to leave their seriously damaged homes. […]

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27 Jun LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE CATHOLIC PATRIARCHS OF THE MIDDLE EAST

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Beatitudes,

Dear brothers in Christ,

It is with joy that I have accepted your invitation to join you on this special day, when each of you celebrates with your faithful a Divine Liturgy to invoke from the Lord the gift of peace in the Middle East and to consecrate it to the Holy Family.

From the beginning of my Pontificate I have sought to be close to your sufferings, first by making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, then to Egypt, to the United Arab Emirates and finally, a few months ago, to Iraq, and by inviting the whole Church to pray and to show concrete solidarity with Syria and Lebanon, so tried by war and by social, political and economic instability. I also remember clearly the meeting of 7 July 2018 in Bari, and I thank you because with your gathering today you are preparing hearts for the convocation of next 1 July in the Vatican, together with all the Heads of Churches of the Land of the Cedars.

The Holy Family of Jesus, Joseph and Mary, to whom you have chosen to consecrate the Middle East, well represents your identity and your mission. Above all, it enshrined the mystery of the Son of God incarnate, it was constituted around Jesus and because of him. It was given to us by Mary, through her “yes” to the angel’s announcement in Nazareth; it was received by Joseph, who even while he slept listened to God’s voice and was ready to do His will once he awoke. A mystery of humility and spoliation, as in the birth in Bethlehem, recognised by the humble and the far away, but undermined by those who were too attached to earthly power to be able to wonder at the fulfilment of God’s promise. To guard the Word made flesh, Joseph and Mary set out on their journey to Egypt, combining the humility of the birth in Bethlehem with the poverty of people forced to emigrate. In this way, however, they remained faithful to their vocation and unknowingly anticipated the destiny of exclusion and persecution that would be that of the adult Jesus, who would reveal the Father’s answer on Easter morning.

Consecration to the Holy Family also calls each one of you to rediscover as individuals and as a community your vocation as Christians in the Middle East, not only by demanding due recognition of your rights as original citizens of those beloved lands, but also by living your mission as custodians and witnesses of the first apostolic origins. On two occasions during my visit to Iraq I used the image of the carpet, which the skilful hands of the men and women of the Middle East know how to weave into precise geometries and precious images, and which are the fruit of the interweaving of numerous threads that only by standing side by side become a masterpiece. If violence, envy, division can tear even one of these threads, the whole is lacerated and disfigured. At that moment, human plans and agreements can do little if we do not trust in God’s power to heal. Do not seek to quench your thirst at the poisoned springs of hatred, but let the field of your hearts be watered by the dew of the Spirit, like the great saints of your respective traditions: Coptic, Maronite, Melkite, Syriac, Armenian, Chaldean, Latin.

How many civilisations and dominations have arisen, flourished and then fallen, with their admirable works and conquests on the ground: all have passed away. Beginning with our father Abraham, the Word of God has continued to remain a lamp that has enlightened, and continues to enlighten our steps.

I leave you peace, I give you my peace, the Risen Lord said to the disciples who were still afraid in the Upper Room after Passover: I too, thanking you for your witness and your perseverance in the faith, invite you to live the prophecy of human brotherhood, which was at the heart of my meetings in Abu Dhabi and Najaf, as well as of my Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti.

Truly be the salt of your lands, give flavour to social life, wishing to contribute to the building of the common good, according to those principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church which so urgently need to be known, as was indicated by the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente and as you wished to recall in commemorating the hundred and thirtieth anniversary of the Encyclical Letter Rerum Novarum.

As I heartily impart the Apostolic Blessing to all who have taken part in this celebration and to those who will follow it through the media, I ask you to pray for me.

Rome, Saint John Lateran, 27 June 2021