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23 Sep APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF THE HOLY FATHER IN LITHUANIA, LATVIA AND ESTONIA [22-25 SEPTEMBER 2018] MEETING OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS WITH THE JESUITS

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[…] I want to tell you this: we say that Jesus descended to the underworld, and I
advise you not to be afraid of descending into the underworld of people. At times,
this even means entering the field of the devil. But the human, social and conscience
sufferings … we have to go down to the underworld, we have to go down there.
Touch the sores. And touching the wounds of people, you touch the wounds of Christ.
The Jesuit must not be afraid of this. It is a grace that is received from the hand of
the Lord. And these wounds have not only opened in Vilnius and in the past. The
same thing happens today in many sociopolitical situations in the world. I’m thinking
of a video that testifies to the situation of some North African prisons built by people
traffickers. When governments send back those who managed to save themselves,
the traffickers put them in those prisons, where the most horrible tortures are
practiced. That’s why it’s important for you to talk about yours experience of
captivity. People must know what that means. It’s good that you talk about it. Today
we are tearing our clothes for what the Communists, the Nazis and the Fascists have
done … but today? Does not it happen today? Of course, it is done with white and
silk gloves! When Ignazio offers us the third week, there is something that seems too
voluntary, but it is not: it is only very human. You know, St. Ignatius asks us to try
to feel pain, to cry for Christ who suffers the passion. This is not Pelagianism, no!
Ignatius knew the resistance we have to put the pains of others inside our hearts.
This is why he asks us to try. This is why it is important to meditate on the Lord’s
passion. I must make you a confidence. I always carry this pocket-sized Via Crucis
with me, to remember the Lord’s passion [and pull it out of my pocket]. It is the
passion of so many people who are today imprisoned, tortured. It is good for me to
meditate on the Via Crucis. Thank you, father! Thanks for his testimony! […]
[…] Thank you! Thank you for coming to visit me and thank you for what you do for
the Church! Pray! I recommend two readings, as I often do with Jesuits. Read the
speech made by Paul VI on 3 December 1974 to the fathers gathered in the XXXII
General Congregation. For me it is the most beautiful thing that a Pope has said to
the Jesuits. It’s a gem. Take it, meditate on it. And I also recommend that you read
the last thing Father Arrupe said, that is the speech to the Jesuits who worked in the
refugee camps in Thailand. It was his “swan song”. Then, during the flight back to
Rome, he was hit by a stroke. And the speech he had addressed to the Jesuits who
were working with the refugees was to never neglect prayer. Read these two
documents. This is more substantial and more beautiful than what I could tell you.
Pray for me! Thank you! Now let’s pray together the Madonna, Regina Societatis Iesu
… […]

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22 Sep APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO LITHUANIA, LATVIA AND ESTONIA [22-25 SEPTEMBER 2018] MEETING WITH THE AUTHORITIES, WITH CIVIL SOCIETY AND WITH THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS, ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER

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[…] Throughout its history, Lithuania was able to shelter, receive and accept peoples
of various ethnic groups and religions. All found a place to live in this land –
Lithuanians, Tartars, Poles, Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Armenians, Germans
… Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, old believers, Muslims, Jews – lived together in
peace until the arrival of totalitarian ideologies that, by sowing violence and lack of
trust, undermined its ability to accept and harmonize differences. To draw strength
from the past is to recover those roots and keep alive all that continues to be most
authentic and distinctive about you, everything that enabled you to grow and not
succumb as a nation: tolerance, hospitality, respect and solidarity. […]

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21 Sep ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO THE PRIESTS AND THE MEMBERS OF THE CURIA OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF VALENCIA (SPAIN)

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[…]
At this moment, I must thank you for all you do in this Archdiocese on behalf of the
most needy, especially for the generosity and greatness of heart in welcoming
migrants. I jumped for joy when I saw that you have welcomed that ship … All of
them find a friendly hand in you and a place where you can experience closeness and
love. Thank you for the example and the testimony you give, very often with scarcity
of means and aid, but always with the highest compensation, which is not the
recognition of the powerful nor of the public opinion, but the smile of gratitude on
the face of many people to whom you have returned hope.. […]

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20 Sep VIDEOMESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE V NATIONAL MEETING OF THE ISPANO-LATIN PASTORAL

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Dear Brother Bishops and delegates at the V National Meeting of Hispanic / Latin
Pastoral Care, I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak to you on this
occasion. It is a historical fact for the Church in the United States. Through this V
Meeting you try to create a culture of encounter that arouses hope: different cultures,
different ways of living, of thinking, of feeling meet and walk in hope. You have
proposed to obtain a different way of being and of relating, which encourages each
person and each group to share the richness of its traditions, the richness of its
experiences, to break down walls, to build bridges. I see that the V Meeting is a
concrete way of the Church in the United States to respond to the challenge of “going
out” of all kinds of comfort, of accommodation, and becoming a leaven of communion
with all those who look for a future of hope, especially with young people. and with
families living in the suburbs of society.
[…]
I know that the process of this V meeting has comforted many immigrants who live
in situations of fear and uncertainty. The V Incontro offered them a greater sense of
community, friendship and support. It was also an instrument of grace that led to the
conversion of the hearts of many people and, above all, to the pastoral conversion of
situations, and to the pastoral conversion of particular Churches, parishes, colleges,
all kinds of ecclesial meetings. Pastoral conversion through the meeting, naturally, in
the adoration of Jesus Christ. I hope this V Meeting will continue to bear fruit. And
that the Church, in all its areas, continues to accompany this process with its own
reflection, with its own pastoral discernment, even after the development of the
National Meeting. That is, that particular Churches continue to accompany this whole
process. In a particular way, I ask you to consider how your particular Churches they
can better respond to the growing presence, gifts and potential of youth and Hispanic
families and other cultures. […]

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20 Sep ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS AT THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON “XENOPHOBIA, RACISM AND POPULIST NATIONALISM IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL MIGRATION”

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Your Eminence,
Reverend Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Priesthood,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I am happy to receive you on the occasion of the World Conference on the theme
“Xenophobia, racism and populist nationalism in the context of global migration”
(Rome, 18-20 September 2018). I cordially greet the representatives from the United
Nations Organizations, the Council of Europe, Christian Churches, in particular the
World Council of Churches, and those of other religions. I thank Cardinal Peter
Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, for the
kind words he addressed to me on behalf of all the participants.
We live in times in which feelings that to many had seemed to be outdated appear to
be reemerging and spreading. Feelings of suspicion, fear, contempt and even hatred
towards other individuals or groups judged to be different on the basis of their
ethnicity, nationality or religion, and as such, believed not to be sufficiently worthy
to participate fully in the life of society. These feelings, then, too often inspire real
acts of intolerance, discrimination or exclusion that seriously harm the dignity of
those involved as well as their fundamental rights, including the very right to life and
to physical and moral integrity. Unfortunately in the political world too, it happens
that one gives in to the temptation to exploit the fears and the objective difficulties
of some groups and to make misleading promises out of shortsighted electoral
interests.
The seriousness of these phenomena cannot leave us indifferent. We are all called,
in our respective roles, to nurture and promote respect for the inherent dignity of
every human person beginning with the family — the place in which we learn from a
very tender age the values of sharing, welcoming, brotherhood and solidarity — but
also in the various social contexts we engage in.
I think first of all of formators and educators who are asked for a renewed
commitment so that, in schools, universities and other places of learning, respect will
be taught for each human person, accepting the physical and cultural differences that
distinguish them, overcoming prejudice.
In a world in which access to information and communication tools is ever more
widespread, a special responsibility falls to those who work in the field of social
communication, who have the duty to put themselves at the service of truth and to
broadcast information taking care to promote a culture of encounter and openness
to others with mutual respect for diversity.
Those, then, who reap economic benefits from the climate of distrusting the
foreigner, whose irregular or illegal residence fosters and feeds the system of
precariousness and exploitation — which at times reaches a level that gives rise to
real forms of slavery — should make a profound examination of conscience in the
knowledge that one day they will be held accountable before God for the choices they
have made.
In the face of the spread of new forms of xenophobia and racism, the leaders of all
religions also have an important mission: that of spreading among the faithful the
ethical principles and values inscribed by God on the heart of man, known as the
natural moral law. It is about making and inspiring gestures which can contribute to
building up societies founded on the principal of the sacredness of human life and on
respect for the dignity of each person, on charity, on fraternity — which goes well
beyond tolerance — and on solidarity.
In particular, may Christian Churches be humble and hardworking witnesses to
Christ’s love. Indeed for Christians, the above-mentioned moral responsibilities
assume an even more profound meaning in the light of faith.
The common origin and the unique bond with the Creator makes all people members
of a single family, brothers and sisters, created in God’s image and likeness as taught
in biblical Revelation.
The dignity of all men and women, the fundamental unity of mankind, and the call to
live as brothers and sisters are confirmed and further strengthened in the measure
to which one receives the Good News that all are equally saved and reunited by
Christ, to the point that — as Saint Paul says — “There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for [we] are all one
in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28).
In this perspective, the other is not only a being to be respected by virtue of his or
her inherent dignity but above all a brother or sister to be loved. In Christ, tolerance
is transformed into fraternal love, into tenderness and active solidarity. This applies
above all in regard to the least of our brothers and sisters, among whom we can
recognize the stranger, the foreigner with whom Jesus identified himself. On the Day
of Judgment, the Lord will recall “I was a stranger and you did not welcome me” (Mt
25:43). But today too he asks us: ‘I am a foreigner, do you not recognize me?’.
And when Jesus told the Twelve: “It shall not be so among you” (Mt 20:26), he was
not referring solely to the dominion of the heads of nations with regard to political
power, but to the entire Christian being. Indeed, being Christian is a call to go against
the current to recognize, welcome and serve Christ himself, abandoned in our
brothers and sisters.
Conscious of the many expressions of closeness, welcome and integration toward the
foreigners already present, I hope that from the meeting that just ended, many other
initiatives of cooperation may occur so that together we can build more just and
supportive societies.
I entrust each one of you and your families to the intercession of Mary Most Holy,
Mother of tenderness, and I impart my heartfelt Apostolic blessing to you and your
loved ones.

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16 Sep POPE FRANCIS: ANGELUS

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After the Angelus, Pope Francis continued:
[…]
Today, two days after the Feast of the Holy Cross, I wanted to give a Crucifix to you
who are here in the Square. Here it is [holding it up]. The Crucifix is a sign of the
love of God who in Jesus gave his life for us. I invite you to accept this gift and bring
it into your homes, to the rooms of your children or of your grandparents …
anywhere, but so that it can be seen in the home. It is not a decorative object but a
religious symbol for contemplation and prayer. In looking at Jesus Crucified, we are
looking at our salvation. It is free of charge. If someone tells you that you have to
pay, he is a swindler! No, nothing! This is a gift from the Pope! I thank the nuns, the
poor people and the refugees who are now distributing this small but precious gift!
As always, faith comes from the little ones, from the humble. […]

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15 Sep PASTORAL VISIT OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS AT THE DIOCESE OF PIAZZA ARMERINA AND DI PALERMO ON THE OCCASION OF THE 25th ANNIVERSARY OF DEATH DEL BEATO PINO PUGLISI MEETING WITH THE YOUNG ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

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[…]
The second question. Let’s see if I wrote something … Really, your island is a meeting
place of many cultures … I do not know Sicily, it’s the first time: I’ve been in
Lampedusa and now, now, here. Even your language, your dialects have roots of
many languages, many, because it has been a crossroads of cultures and all have
left a cultural trace. You are a people [fruit of] the meeting of cultures and people. I
liked to hear this, to hear from you, from you, that Sicily – it is at the center of the
Mediterranean, has always been a meeting ground. It is not just a beautiful cultural
tradition, it is a message of faith. Your vocation will surely be men and women of
encounter. Meet and meet; encourage meetings, because today’s world is a world of
confrontation; of wars, of clashes … People are not understood … And faith is
founded on the encounter, an encounter with God. God did not leave us alone, He
came down to meet us. He there He comes to meet us, He precedes us, to meet us.
Faith is founded on the encounter. And [in] the meeting between us, how important
is the dignity of others? God wants us to be saved together, not alone, that we are
happy together, not selfishly alone; that we save ourselves as a people. This word,
“people”: you are a people with a great identity and you must be open to all peoples
who, like in other times, come to you. With that work of integration, of acceptance,
of respecting the dignity of others, of solidarity … For us they are not good intentions
for educated people, but distinctive traits of a Christian. A Christian who is not in
solidarity is not a Christian. Solidarity is a trait of the Christian. What is lacking today,
of which there is famine, is love: not sentimental love, which we can look at in the
teleromanzi, in the telenovele, but the concrete one, the love of the Gospel. And I
will tell you, to you and to all those who have asked the question with you: how is
your love? How is the thermometer of your love?[…]

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15 Sep PASTORAL VISIT OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS AT THE DIOCESE OF PIAZZA ARMERINA AND DI PALERMO ON THE OCCASION OF THE 25th ANNIVERSARY OF DEATH DEL BEATO PINO PUGLISI MEETING WITH THE FAITHFUL ADDRESS OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

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[…]
Your Bishop has just recalled the choice that the Church of Piazza Armerina is making
with joyful hope, amid the various problems that limit the serenity of this territory.
There are not a few sores that afflict you. They have a name: social and cultural
underdevelopment; exploitation of workers and lack of dignified employment for
young people; migration of whole families; usury; alcoholism and other addictions;
gamble; fraying of family ties. And faced with so much suffering, the ecclesial
community may sometimes appear lost and tired; sometimes, thanks to God, it is
lively and prophetic, while seeking new ways of announcing and offering mercy above
all to those brothers who have fallen into disaffection, distrust, and the crisis of faith.
Because it’s true: it is not easy to carry on the faith among so many problems. It’s
not easy, I understand it. […]

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14 Sep ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS AT THE WORKING MEETING ON THE CRISIS IN SYRIA AND NEIGHBOURING COUNTRIES

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Dear brothers and sisters,
I greet all of you warmly and thank you for taking part in this sixth meeting for
coordinating the Church’s response to the crisis in Iraq, Syria and neighbouring
countries, a meeting which this year includes also the Section for Migrants and
Refugees.
I thank particularly Cardinal Peter Turkson and the Dicastery for Promoting Integral
Human Development who have organized this meeting, in conjunction with the
Secretariat of State and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. I am grateful
also to Mr Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for his
presence and his work helping refugees.
For too many years the conflicts of bloodshed in that region, and the situation of
peoples in Syria, Iraq and neighbouring countries, have continued to cause great
concern. Every day, in prayer, I bring before the Lord the suffering and needs of the
Churches and the peoples of these beloved lands, as too the needs of those seeking
to provide help.
With this third study regarding humanitarian aid provided by ecclesial groups, you
are offering an important contribution to better understand the needs of these
populations and to coordinate aid to them.
As I have recalled on several occasions, there is the real risk that the Christian
presence may disappear in the very land from which the light of the Gospel first
emanated. In cooperation with the Sister Churches, the Holy See is working to
diligently ensure a future for these Christian communities.
The whole Church looks to these brothers and sisters in the faith and encourages
them through closeness in prayer and concrete charity not to give in to the darkness
of violence and to keep alive the light of hope. The witness of love with which the
Church listens and responds to the cry for help from all, starting with the weakest
and poorest, is a source of light in the present and a seed of hope that will bear fruit
in the future.
This particularly fine Christian project reminds me of some passages from the prayer
attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi: “Where there is hatred, let me bring love… Where
there is despair, let me bring hope. Where there is sadness, let me bring joy”.
Among the many praiseworthy initiatives you promote, it is important this year to
mention the great project of supporting the return of Christian communities to the
Nineveh Plain in Iraq, in a special way through the Open Hospitals project.
Dear brothers and sisters, by God’s grace let us look together to the future. I
encourage you, who work in the name of the Church, to continue to provide for the
education of children, employment for young people, closeness to the elderly and
those who are psychologically wounded; without forgetting the wounds of the heart,
which the Church is called to heal: “Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring harmony”.
Finally, and forcefully, I ask the international community not to neglect the many
needs of the victims of this crisis, and above all to set aside special interests in order
to be at the service of peace, and to bring an end to war.
We cannot close our eyes to the reasons that have forced millions of people to leave
– painfully – their home countries. At the same time, I encourage all parties involved,
and the international community, to renew their commitment to ensuring the safe
return of displaced persons to their homes. Ensuring their protection and their future
is a demand imposed by civilized behaviour. It will be through drying the tears of
children who have seen nothing but ruins, death and destruction that the world will
recover its dignity (cf. Address at the Conclusion of the Dialogue, Bari, 7 July 2018).
In this regard, I reiterate my appreciation for the great efforts undertaken on behalf
of refugees by various countries of the region and by a variety of organizations,
among whom are those represented here.
Let us make the Prayer our own: “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace […].
Where there is darkness, let me bring light”. Being instruments of peace and light:
this is what I wish for each of you. From the depths of my heart: thank you for
everything you are doing each day, together with so many other men and women of
good will. May the Lord bless you and may Our Lady accompany you.

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01 Sep MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CARE OF CREATION

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[…]
Let us pray that waters may not be a sign of separation between peoples, but of
encounter for the human community. Let us pray that those who risk their lives at
sea in search of a better future may be kept safe. Let us ask the Lord and all those
engaged in the noble service of politics that the more sensitive questions of our day,
such as those linked to movements of migration, climate change and the right of
everyone to enjoy primary goods, may be faced with generous and farsighted
responsibility and in a spirit of cooperation, especially among those countries most
able to help.
Let us pray too, for all those who devote themselves to the apostolate of the sea, for
those who help reflect on the issues involving maritime ecosystems, for those who
contribute to the development and application of international regulations on the seas
in order to safeguard individuals, countries, goods, natural resources – I think, for
example, of marine fauna and flora, and coral reefs (cf. ibid., 41) or sea beds – and
to guarantee an integral development in view of the common good of the entire
human family and not particular interests. Let us remember, too, all those who work
to protect maritime areas and to safeguard the oceans and their biodiversity, that
they may carry out this task with responsibility and integrity.
. […]