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17 Dec ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE CHILDREN OF ITALIAN CATHOLIC ACTION

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[…] In this regard, your charitable initiatives, with the help of God, in favour of migrants in the Diocese of Agrigento, are very good. May the Lord bless this project, which will lend a hand to the community committed in an exemplary manner to accommodate so many brothers and sisters who come full of hope, but also with many wounds and needs, in search of peace and bread. At yesterday’s Audience, a five-month-old baby from Africa was presented to me by his parents and they said that the child “was born on a boat off the coast of Sicily”…. Many, many… So many children manage to arrive while others do not. Everything you are doing for these people is good, thank you for doing it. You can make a special contribution to this initiative with your enthusiasm and your prayer, which I suggest you accompany with some sacrifice, in order to share necessities with other kids who are deprived. With regard to sacrifice, I would like to ask you kids a question, not the adults. If you have two pieces of candy and your friend beside you has none, what would you do? What would you do? [A child responds: “I’d give him one”]. You give one to him. And if you have one piece of candy and he has none, what would you do? [A child answers: “Split it in half!”]. Half! That’s good! Continue like this. […]

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17 Dec ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS ON THE OCCASION OF THE LETTERS OF CREDENCE BY THE AMBASSADORS OF GUINEA, LATVIA, INDIA AND BAHRAIN ACCREDITED TO THE HOLY SEE

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[…] All this is necessary in order to overcome indifference and build peace. The year that is about to end has unfortunately been marked by an increase in violent conflicts, whether war-like or terrorist in nature. On the other hand, in more mature consciences, this situation is increasingly provoking a non-violent but spiritual and moral reaction. This is what we want and must nourish with the means at our disposal and according to our responsibilities. In keeping with her proper mission, with the Jubilee of Mercy that has just begun, the Catholic Church proposes to spread throughout the world the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, calling the faithful and men and women of good will to open themselves up to the gift of God’s grace and to practice what in our tradition are the “spiritual and corporal” works of mercy. “Civil society is likewise called to make specific and courageous gestures of concern for their most vulnerable members, such as prisoners, migrants, the unemployed and the infirm” (Message for the World Day of Peace 2016, n. 8). Moreover, in this Jubilee Year, I wish to formulate an “appeal to national leaders for concrete gestures in favour of our brothers and sisters who suffer from the lack of labour, land and lodging” (ibid.). At the international level, I earnestly hope that all nations will commit themselves to renew relations with others, cooperating actively to ensure the growth of fraternity in the great family of peoples as well (cf. ibid.). […]

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08 Dec MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE XLIX WORLD DAY OF PEACE 2016 Overcome Indifference and Win Peace

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[…] There are many non-governmental and charitable organizations, both within and outside the Church, whose members, amidst epidemics, disasters and armed conflicts, brave difficulties and dangers in caring for the injured and sick, and in burying the dead. I would also mention those individuals and associations which assist migrants who cross deserts and seas in search of a better life. These efforts are spiritual and corporal works of mercy on which we will be judged at the end of our lives.[…]

[…] How many families, amid occupational and social difficulties, make great sacrifices to provide their children with a “counter-cultural” education in the values of solidarity, compassion and fraternity! How many families open their hearts and homes to those in need, such as refugees and migrants! I wish to thank in a particular way all those individuals, families, parishes, religious communities, monasteries and shrines who readily responded to my appeal to welcome a refugee family.[…]

 

[…] Civil society is likewise called to make specific and courageous gestures of concern for their most vulnerable members, such as prisoners, migrants, the unemployed and the infirm.[…]

[…] With regard to migrants, I would ask that legislation on migration be reviewed, so, while respecting reciprocal rights and responsibilities, it can reflect a readiness to welcome migrants and to facilitate their integration. Special concern should be paid to the conditions for legal residency, since having to live clandestinely can lead to criminal behaviour.[…]

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06 Dec ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS ON THE OCCASION OF THE LIGHTING OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE IN ASSISI

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[…] And to all refugees, I say a word, that of the prophet: Raise your head, the Lord is near. And with him is strength, salvation, hope. The heart, perhaps, [is] sorrowful, but the head [is] high in the hope of the Lord.

 

I embrace all of you refugees and all of you in the Navy and I wish you a blessed Christmas, full of hope and with much affection from the Lord.

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02 Dec POPE FRANCIS: GENERAL AUDIENCE

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[…] All of this manifold testimony, enlivened by the very same Holy Spirit, is leaven for the entire society, as shown by the effective work performed in Uganda in the fight against AIDS and in the welcoming of refugees.[…]

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28 Nov VISIT TO THE HOUSE OF CHARITY OF NALUKOLONGO ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

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[…] Today, from this Home, I appeal to all parishes and communities in Uganda – and the rest of Africa – not to forget the poor, not to forget the poor! The Gospel commands us to go out to the peripheries of society, and to find Christ in the suffering and those in need. The Lord tells us, in no uncertain terms, that is what he will judge us on! How sad it is when our societies allow the elderly to be rejected or neglected! How wrong it is when the young are exploited by the modern-day slavery of human trafficking! If we look closely at the world around us, it seems that, in many places, selfishness and indifference are spreading. How many of our brothers and sisters are victims of today’s throwaway culture, which breeds contempt above all towards the unborn, the young and the elderly! […]

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27 Nov MEETING WITH AUTHORITIES AND THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

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[…] Here in East Africa, Uganda has shown outstanding concern for welcoming refugees, enabling them to rebuild their lives in security and to sense the dignity which comes from earning one’s livelihood through honest labour. Our world, caught up in wars, violence, and various forms of injustice, is witnessing an unprecedented movement of peoples. How we deal with them is a test of our humanity, our respect for human dignity, and above all our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in need.[…]

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26 Nov VISIT TO THE U.N.O.N. (UNITED NATIONS OFFICE AT NAIROBI) ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

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[…] Many are the faces, the stories and the evident effects on the lives of thousands of persons whom the culture of deterioration and waste has allowed to be sacrificed before the idols of profits and consumption. We need to be alert to one sad sign of the “globalization of indifference”: the fact that we are gradually growing accustomed to the suffering of others, as if it were something normal (cf. Message for World Food Day, 16 October 2013, 2), or even worse, becoming resigned to such extreme and scandalous kinds of “using and discarding” and social exclusion as new forms of slavery, human trafficking, forced labour, prostitution and trafficking in organs. “There has been a tragic rise in the number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing poverty aggravated by environmental degradation. They are not recognized by international conventions as refugees; they bear the loss of the lives they have left behind without enjoying any legal protection whatsoever” (Laudato Si’, 25). Many lives, many stories, many dreams have been shipwrecked in our day. We cannot remain indifferent in the face of this. We have no right.

 

Together with neglect of the environment, we have witnessed for some time now a rapid process of urbanization, which in many cases has unfortunately led to a “disproportionate and unruly growth of many cities which have become unhealthy to live in [and] inefficient” (ibid., 44). There we increasingly see the troubling symptoms of a social breakdown which spawns “increased violence and a rise in new forms of social aggression, drug trafficking, growing drug use by young people, loss of identity” (ibid., 46), a lack of rootedness and social anonymity (cf. ibid., 149). […]

 

[…] Africa offers the world a beauty and natural richness which inspire praise of the Creator. This patrimony of Africa and of all mankind is constantly exposed to the risk of destruction caused by human selfishness of every type and by the abuse of situations of poverty and exclusion. In the context of economic relationships between States and between peoples, we cannot be silent about forms of illegal trafficking which arise in situations of poverty and in turn lead to greater poverty and exclusion. Illegal trade in diamonds and precious stones, rare metals or those of great strategic value, wood, biological material and animal products, such as ivory trafficking and the relative killing of elephants, fuels political instability, organized crime and terrorism. This situation too is a cry rising up from humanity and the earth itself, one which needs to be heard by the international community.[…]

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20 Nov ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE CONVENTION SPONSORED BY THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY ON THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONCILIAR DECREES “OPTATAM TOTIUS” AND “PRESBYTERORUM ORDINIS”

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[…] Closeness, the depths of mercy, a loving gaze: to experience the beauty of a life lived according to the Gospel and the love of God, which is also made concrete through his ministers. God never refuses. And here I think of the confessional. You can always find ways of giving absolution; to welcome the good. But sometimes you cannot absolve. There are priests who say: “No, because of this I cannot absolve you, go away”. This is not the way. If you cannot give absolution, explain and say: “God loves you so much, God loves you. There are so many ways to reach God. I cannot give you absolution; I give you the blessing. But come back, always come back here, and whenever you come back I’ll give you a blessing as a sign that God loves you”. And that man or woman will go away full of joy because he found the image of the Father, who never refuses; in one way or another, he has embraced that person. […]

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20 Nov ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY ON THEIR “AD LIMINA” VISIT

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[…] We are living in an exceptional moment in time. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have come to Europe or have set out in search of refuge from war and persecution. The Christian Churches and many individual citizens of your country are providing an enormous amount of aid in order to accommodate these people, giving them assistance and human closeness. In the spirit of Christ let us continue to face the challenge of the enormous number of destitute people. At the same time let us support all humanitarian initiatives that aim to render the living conditions in their countries of origin more bearable.[…]