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15 Nov VISIT TO THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH OF ROME ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

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[…] Otherwise, it continues to be compromised by the divisions and conflicts between the Churches and between believers. Let us assume together the joy and toils of the diakonia of charity through greater ecumenical cooperation. Let us do this with children and the elderly who are most in need, with refugees, and with all those who need care and support. […]

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14 Nov ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO MEMBERS OF THE “JESUIT REFUGEE SERVICE”

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

I am happy to receive you on this, the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Jesuit Refugee Service envisaged by Fr Pedro Arrupe, then the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. The profound impact made on him by the plight of the South-Vietnamese boat people, exposed to pirate attacks and storms in the South China Sea, was what led him to undertake this initiative.

 

Fr Arrupe, who had lived through the atomic bomb explosion in Hiroshima, realized the scope of that tragic exodus of refugees. He saw it as a challenge which the Jesuits could not ignore if they were to remain faithful to their vocation. He wanted the Jesuit Refugee Service to meet both the human and the spiritual needs of refugees, not only their immediate need of food and shelter, but also their need to see their human dignity respected, to be listened to and comforted.

 

The phenomenon of forced migration has dramatically increased in the meantime. Crowds of refugees are leaving different countries of the Middle East, Africa and Asia, to seek refuge in Europe. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has estimated that there are, worldwide, almost 60 million refugees, the highest number since the Second World War. Behind these statistics are people, each of them with a name, a face, a story, an inalienable dignity which is each of theirs as a child of God.

 

At present, you are active in 10 different regions, with projects in 45 countries, through which you provide services to refugees and peoples in internal migrations. A group of Jesuits and women religious work alongside many lay associates and a great number of refugees. In all this time, you have remained faithful to the ideal of Fr Arrupe and to the three basic goals of your mission: to accompany, to serve and to defend the rights of refugees.

 

The decision to be present in areas of greatest need, in conflict and post-conflict zones, has brought you international recognition for your closeness to people and your ability to learn from this how better to serve. I think especially of your groups in Syria, Afghanistan, the Central African Republic and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where you accept men and women of different religious beliefs who share your mission.

 

The Jesuit Refugee Service works to offer hope and prospects to refugees, mainly through the educational services you provide, which reach large numbers of people and are of particular importance. Offering an education is about much more than dispensing concepts. It is something which provides refugees with the wherewithal to progress beyond survival, to keep alive the flame of hope, to believe in the future and to make plans. To give a child a seat at school is the finest gift you can give. All your projects have this ultimate aim: to help refugees to grow in self-confidence, to realize their highest inherent potential and to be able to defend their rights as individuals and communities.

 

For children forced to emigrate, schools are places of freedom. In the classroom, they are cared for and protected by their teachers. Sadly, we know that even schools are not spared from attacks instigated by those who sow violence. Yet they are places of sharing, together with children of other cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds; places which follow a set pace and a reassuring discipline, places in which children can once more feel “normal” and where parents can be happy to send them.

 

Education affords young refugees a way to discover their true calling and to develop their potential. Yet all too many refugee children and young people do not receive a quality education. Access to education is limited, especially for girls and in the case of secondary schools. For this reason, during the approaching Jubilee Year of Mercy, you have set the goal of helping another hundred thousand young refugees to receive schooling. Your initiative of “Global Education”, with its motto “Mercy in Motion”, will help you reach many other students who urgently need an education which can help keep them safe. I am grateful to the group of supporters and benefactors and the international development group of the Jesuit Refugee Service who are with us today. Thanks to their energy and support, the Lord’s mercy will reach any number of children and their families in the future.

 

As you persevere in this work of providing education for refugees, think of the Holy Family, Our Lady, St Joseph, and the Child Jesus, who fled to Egypt to escape violence and to find refuge among strangers. Remember too the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Mt 5:7). Take these words with you always, so that they can bring you encouragement and consolation. As for me, I assure you of my prayers. I ask you also, please, do not forget to pray for me.

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12 Nov ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CONFERENCE OF SLOVAKIA ON THEIR “AD LIMINA” VISIT

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[…] I meet you with joy, Pastors of the Church in Slovakia, during this ad limina visit in which you come to the Tombs of the Apostles, renewing your faith in Jesus Christ and your bond of communion with the Successor of Peter, thereby further deepening your sense of collegiality and mutual cooperation. I want to encourage you in the pastoral work that you are doing, even in the midst of all the current difficulties, characterized by rapid changes in so many spheres of human life and by the great challenge of globalization. At times the less populated countries feel threatened by this challenge, but at the same time it can also afford new opportunities. One such opportunity that has become a sign of the times is the phenomenon of migration, which needs to be understood and met with sensitivity and a sense of justice. The Church is called to proclaim and set an example of welcoming migrants in a spirit of charity and of respect for the dignity of the human person, in the context of the requisite observance of the law. […]

 

[…] In facing the prospect of an ever more extensive multicultural environment, it is necessary to adopt an attitude of mutual respect in order to facilitate the encounter with migrants. It is to be hoped that the people of Slovakia retain their identity and their cultural heritage of ethical and spiritual values, strongly bound to their Catholic tradition. In this way they will be able to fearlessly open themselves up to confronting the wider continental and global horizon, contributing to a sincere and fruitful dialogue also on subjects of vital importance such as the dignity of human life and the essential role of the family. Today, more than ever, it is necessary to illuminate the journey of peoples with Christian principles, taking the opportunities offered by the current situation to develop an evangelization which, employing new expressions, can make Christ’s message more comprehensible. For this reason it is important that the Church instil hope so that all the changes occurring today may be transformed into a renewed encounter with Christ, prompting your people to make authentic progress. The lay faithful, called to enliven temporal realities with the leaven of the Gospels, cannot shrink from also working within political processes destined for the common good. To be joyful witnesses of the Gospel in all areas they must feel that they are a vital part of the Church. It is your task to also recognize their role in the life of the ecclesial communities in the elaboration and implementation of pastoral projects. […]

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06 Nov ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE ITALIAN CONVENTION OF PRO-LIFE MOVEMENTS

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[…] I thank you for the good you have done and that you continue to do with so much love, and I exhort you to continue with confidence on this path, continuing to be Good Samaritans! Never tire of working to protect the most vulnerable people, who have the right to be born to life, as well as for the many who ask for a healthier and more dignified existence. There is a particular need for work at different levels and with perseverance, for the promotion and defence of the family, society’s first resource, especially in reference to the gift of children and affirming the dignity of women. In this regard, I would like to highlight that in your activity you have always welcomed everyone regardless of religion and nationality. The number of women, especially immigrants, who come to your centres, shows that when concrete support is offered, women, in spite of problems and constraints, are able to make sense of love, life and motherhood triumph within themselves. […]

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01 Nov SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS: POPE FRANCIS ANGELUS

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Appeal for the Central African Republic

 

Dear brothers and sisters, the painful events in recent days have intensified the delicate situation in the Central African Republic, causing my soul great concern. I appeal to the parties involved to put an end to this cycle of violence. I am spiritually close to the Comboni Missionary Fathers at Our Lady of Fatima parish in Bangui, who are welcoming large numbers of refugees. I express my solidarity with the Church, with other religious denominations and with the entire Central African nation, who are sorely tried while making every effort to overcome divisions and return to a path of peace. To express the prayerful closeness of the entire Church to this nation that is so afflicted and tormented, and to urge all Central Africans to be ever greater witnesses of mercy and reconciliation, I intend to open the Holy Door of the Cathedral of Bangui on on Sunday, 29 November, during the apostolic journey that I hope to be able to make to the nation.

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28 Oct MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE CONFERENCE ON HUMAN TRAFFICKING ORGANIZED BY THE “SANTA MARTA GROUP”

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Your Majesty, Bishops, Distinguished Authorities, Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

It gives me great joy and pastoral satisfaction that the Santa Marta Group has once again gathered in the symbolic Monastery of St Lawrence of El Escorial, Spain. In its brief existence, this praiseworthy group has been able to achieve much and is called to a decisive task in the eradication of the new forms of slavery. In the course of this year, there have been several significant institutional innovations, which undoubtedly can sustain your activity and collaborate in the charitable activity of the Santa Marta Group. I am referring to the 21 July meeting of the Bishops in Vatican City, whom I addressed. In that encounter, those important figures signed a declaration by which they personally committed themselves to eradicating the new forms of slavery, which they condemn as a crime against humanity.

 

I would also like to mention the recent approval of the 2030 Agenda, with the new objectives of sustainable development of the United Nations Organization, whose Goal 8.7 states: “Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms”.

 

As I had the opportunity to affirm just before the unanimous approval of this Agenda in my address to the United Nations Organization in New York this past 25 September: “Our world demands of all government leaders a will which is effective, practical and constant, concrete steps and immediate measures for preserving and improving the natural environment and thus putting an end as quickly as possible to the phenomenon of social and economic exclusion, with its baneful consequences: human trafficking, the marketing of human organs and tissues, the sexual exploitation of boys and girls, slave labour, including prostitution, the drug and weapons trade, terrorism and international organized crime. Such is the magnitude of these situations and their toll on innocent lives, that we must avoid every temptation to fall into a declarationist nominalism which would assuage our consciences. We need to ensure that our institutions are truly effective in the struggle against all these scourges”.

 

Today the 193 States who belong to the UN have a new moral imperative to fight human trafficking, an authentic crime against humanity. Cooperation between the Bishops and civil authorities, each according to their own mission and proper nature, to the end of discovering the best practices to accomplish this delicate task, is a decisive step in assuring themselves that the will of the governments reaches the victims in a direct, immediate, constant, effective and tangible way. You, ecclesiastical and civil authorities, are called to remain beside the victims and to accompany them in their journey of dignity and freedom. This must be felt by the many brothers and many sisters, victims of human trafficking. Today you, dear members of the Santa Marta Group, are not alone in this delicate undertaking: you can count on the support of the most enlightened mayors and on that of the whole international community, given the respective commitment they have undertaken and signed. Let us give thanks to God.

 

From my part, I ask Almighty God to give you the grace to carry forward this most delicate, most humanitarian and most Christian mission, to heal the open and painful wounds of humanity, which are also the scourge of Christ. I assure you all of my support and my prayers, and of the support and prayers of the faithful of the Catholic Church. With God’s help and with your cooperation, this indispensable service of the Santa Marta Group will be able to free the victims of the new forms of slavery, to rehabilitate them, along with detainees and the excluded, to unmask the traffickers and those who create this market, and to offer effective assistance to cities and nations; a service for the common good, and for the promotion of human dignity, that it may be able to draw out the best of every person and of every citizen. May God bless you all.

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28 Oct POPE FRANCIS INTERRELIGIOUS GENERAL AUDIENCE ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROMULGATION OF THE CONCILIAR DECLARATION “NOSTRA AETATE”

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[…] Dialogue based on confident respect can bring seeds of good that in their turn may bud into friendship and cooperation in many fields, especially in service to the poor, to the least, to the elderly, through welcoming migrants, and attention to those who are excluded. We can walk together taking care of one another and of creation. All believers of every religion. Together we can praise the Creator for giving us the garden of the world to till and keep as a common good, and we can achieve shared plans to overcome poverty and to ensure to every man and woman the conditions for a dignified life.[…]

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26 Oct MEETING WITH THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE PILGRIMAGE OF GYPSIES ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

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[…] I know the difficulties of your people. Having visited some parishes on the outskirts of Rome, I have been able to understand your problems, your anxieties, and I have seen that these issues require the attention not only of the Church but also of the local authorities. I have been able to see the precarious conditions in which many of you live, due to negligence and unemployment and the lack of the necessary means of subsistence. This is contrary to the right of every person to a dignified life, to dignified work, to education and to health care. According to the moral and social order, every human being must be able to enjoy his fundamental rights and fulfil his duties. On this basis it is possible to build peaceful coexistence, in which the different cultures and traditions protect their respective values, not by adopting a closed or opposing attitude, but through dialogue and integration. We no longer want to witness family tragedies in which children die from cold or are burnt alive, or become objects in the hands of depraved persons, or in which young people and women are involved in the trafficking of drugs or of human beings. And this happens because we often fall prey to indifference and are unable to accept customs and ways of life that are different from our own.[…]

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25 Oct POPE FRANCIS: ANGELUS

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[…] I confess that I compared this prophecy of the people on a journey with refugees trudging the streets of Europe, a tragic reality of our time. To them too the Lord says: “With great weeping they departed, and with consolations I will lead them back”. These greatly suffering families, uprooted from their lands, were also present with us in the Synod, in our prayers and in our work, through the voice of several of their pastors present in the Assembly. These people seeking dignity, these families seeking peace, are still with us, the Church does not abandon them, because they are part of the people that God wants to set free from slavery and guide to freedom.

 

Thus, both the synodal experience that we lived, and the tragedy of the refugees trudging the streets of Europe are reflected in this Word of God. May the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, help us, too, to put [the Word of God] into practice by way of fraternal communion. […]

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04 Oct HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS

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[…] The drama of solitude is experienced by countless men and women in our own day. I think of the elderly, abandoned even by their loved ones and children; widows and widowers; the many men and women left by their spouses; all those who feel alone, misunderstood and unheard; migrants and refugees fleeing from war and persecution; and those many young people who are victims of the culture of consumerism, the culture of waste, the throwaway culture. […]