Pope Francis I

Free discussion of anything human or divine ~ Philosophy, Religion and Spirituality

Moderators: Xar, Fist and Faith

User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 23440
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 30 times

Post by Fist and Faith »

Conventional geopolitical discussion is not allowed to spread to the Close.

I wouldn't have a problem with a political sub-forum here, though. It's not like it's all unrelated. It makes perfect sense to me that someone's religious beliefs would have a strong influence on their political stance.
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon
User avatar
Avatar
Immanentizing The Eschaton
Posts: 61651
Joined: Mon Aug 02, 2004 9:17 am
Location: Johannesburg, South Africa
Has thanked: 13 times
Been thanked: 19 times

Post by Avatar »

Or even their moral or philosophical convictions... ;)

--A
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Pope to 'JP II' Pontifical Institute: family is not ideology
Image


Image
Pope Francis meeting the academic community of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences. (Vatican Media)


Addressing the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences, Pope Francis highlights the need for the Church as well as the State “to listen and support families� in these turbulent times, reminding that the family is the very fabric of society, while warning against ideological approaches.


Pope Francis on Monday met the academic community of the John Paul II Pontifical Theological Institute for Marriage and Family Sciences.

Established in 2017

The Institute was established in 2017 with the Motu Proprio Apostolic Letter Summa familiae cura, succeeding and replacing the Pontifical Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, created in 1981 by Pope St. John Paul II on the heels of the 1980 Synod of Bishops on the Family.

An academic reference centre on marriage and family

It was founded as an academic reference centre “in the service of the mission of the universal Church� in the field of theology and human sciences concerning marriage and the family, and related issues, with affiliated campuses around the world.

Its main mission is to develop interdisciplinary studies regarding marriage and family and to prepare graduates — laypersons, priests or religious — for teaching, research, and pastoral work in this field; for work in the medical, legal and other professions; and for the evangelization of the family as the “original cell� of human society.

Its aim is to provide a comprehensive understanding of marriage and family in light of the Catholic teachings, and of the modern world assumptions regarding the human person.

In his 2017 Motu Proprio (a document issued by the Pope on his own initiative) Pope Francis expanded its mandate and non-Catholic experts have also been included.

Giving new vigour and a broader scope to the Institute

[…]

Need for a concrete theology of the condition of the family

The Pope went on to insist that the mission of the Church urgently demands an integration of the “theology of the conjugal bond� with a more “concrete theology of the condition of the family�, remarking that the “unprecedented turbulence� of our time which is putting a strain on all family ties, “requires careful discernment to grasp the signs of God's wisdom and mercy�.
We are not prophets of misfortune, but of hope. Therefore, in considering the reasons for this crisis, we will never lose sight of the consoling, sometimes touching the signs of the capacity that family ties continue to show, benefitting the community of faith, civil society, and human coexistence.
An irreplaceable “anthropological grammar� of society

In this regard, Pope Francis reiterated that the family remains an irreplaceable “anthropological grammar� of society. “When this grammar is neglected or upset�, he said, “the entire order of human and social relations suffers its wounds�.
The quality of marriage and the family decides the quality of the love of the single person and of the bonds of the human community itself.
He, therefore, highlighted that “It is the responsibility of both the State and the Church� to listen and support families so as to help build a “more human world, that is, more supportive and more fraternal�.

The family is not an ideology, it is a reality

At the same time, speaking off the cuff, the Holy Father warned against “imprisoning� the family in ideological stances.
We must preserve the family but not imprison it, make it grow as it should grow. Beware of ideologies that interfere to explain the family from an ideological point of view. The family is not an ideology, it is a reality. And a family grows with the vitality of reality. But when ideologies come to explain what the family is, everything is destroyed. Ideologies ruin things!
Marriage and families must not be expected to be perfect

To support their vital mission in society, the Pope further remarked that we don't have to wait for families to be perfect: “Marriage and family�, he said, “will always be imperfect and unfinished until we are in Heaven�.

Pope Francis concluded by invoking the Lord's and the Virgin Mary's accompaniment in the Institute's “formidable task of supporting, caring for, and cheering this creatural and ecclesial blessing which is the family�.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Fratelli Tutti

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Francis will preach message of 'human fraternity' in Shiite-majority Bahrain
Image


Image
Pope Francis walks with Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, crown prince of Bahrain, during a private audience at the Vatican in this Feb. 3, 2020, file photo. The pope's visit to Bahrain Nov. 3–6 will make him the first pope to visit the archipelago nation in the Persian Gulf. (CNS/Paul Haring)


When Pope Francis becomes the first pontiff to ever set foot in Bahrain during his upcoming Nov. 3–6 visit to the Persian Gulf kingdom, in many ways, it will be a journey that began not in Rome, but five years ago with his 2017 visit to Egypt.

It was there, at an international peace conference hosted by Al-Azhar — at what is considered the most authoritative theological institution in Sunni Islam — that Francis cemented his friendship with its grand imam, Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb.

A photo of the two men embracing cheek-to-cheek went viral in the Middle East as an "icon of hope." Two years later, in February 2019, Francis became the first pope to travel to the Arabian Peninsula, where he and el-Tayeb signed a Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together, which has been widely heralded as a major advancement in the Catholic Church's relationship with the Muslim world.

In September, Francis was joined by el-Tayeb for a meeting of interfaith leaders in Kazakhstan that adopted the Human Fraternity Document. Now, less than two months later, the duo will meet again at the "Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence," where Francis will offer the closing address on Nov. 4 to the estimated 200 interfaith leaders gathered in the nation's capital city of Manama.

"The fact that a simple friendship is at the heart of their major initiatives is very profound and it is a model for the rest of us," said Jordan Denari Duffner, a scholar of Muslim–Christian relations.


Image
Pope Francis and Sheikh Ahmad el-Tayeb, grand imam of Egypt's Al-Azhar mosque and university, embrace during an interreligious meeting at the Founder's Memorial in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in this Feb. 4, 2019, file photo. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)


"Interreligious dialogue and the coexistence of diverse religious communities is built on friendship," said Duffner, who is the author of Finding Jesus Among Muslims: How Loving Islam Makes Me a Better Catholic and Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination. "Francis' friendship with the grand imam shows us what interreligious dialogue is supposed to look like."

At the heart of the Human Fraternity Document, which the friendship between Francis and el-Tayeb birthed into existence, is a condemnation of the instrumentalization of religion for terrorism or violence and a call to work together on practical matters, such as for the care of the environment.

"It's a very practical document that outlines a good number of things where Muslims and Christians can discuss and hope to do things together," Cardinal Michael Fitzgerald told NCR.

Fitzgerald, a British expert on Muslim–Christian relations and former head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, said that while the document has been accepted in many places, some Muslims view it as "an Egyptian document" or an "Al-Azhar document" and more of a political document, rather than a dialogue document.

Francis' strategy for expanding Muslim–Christian relations, he said, is not just through the Vatican's office responsible for interfaith work, but through the pope's "personal presence."

"That is something new," said Fitzgerald, describing the pope's willingness to attend and participate in meetings organized by other religions.

The small Kingdom of Bahrain, which will mark Francis' 39th trip outside of Italy since becoming pope in 2013, is home to 1.8 million people. An estimated 70% of the country is Muslim, about two-thirds of whom are Shiites. Francis' invite to the country comes from Bahrain's King Hamad, who is a Sunni Muslim, and who has officially endorsed the Human Fraternity Document.

To date, most of Francis' engagement in the Muslim world has been with Sunnis, and his visit to a Shiite majority country will provide the pontiff an opportunity to further his Islamic outreach.

When the pope traveled to Iraq in 2021, there was speculation that the revered Shiite cleric, the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, would sign on to the Human Fraternity Document following his closely watched meeting with Francis, but in the end, he did not.

Now, in Bahrain, both Francis and el-Tayeb will have the opportunity to promote the document and its message to another Shiite audience, though there are already underlying tensions that may complicate the visit.

[…]

At a press conference on Oct. 28, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni declined to comment on whether the pope would directly address the discrimination concerns, including as a possible topic when he holds a meeting with the Muslim Council of Elders on Nov. 4, but emphasized the "position of the Holy See and of the pope concerning religious freedom and liberty is clear and is known."

Bruni said that both the Human Fraternity Document and Pope Francis' 2020 encyclical Fratelli Tutti ("Brothers and Sisters All") will shape the pope's messages on the trip, adding that the latter document mentions the word "dialogue" 44 times.

While the pope's interreligious efforts may be the motivating factor for the trip, Bishop Paul Hinder — who has worked in the region for over 20 years and is the current administrator of the Catholic Church's territory that includes Bahrain — said that the visit will also help provide a booster shot of hope for the country's estimated 80,000 Catholics, served by just 20 priests.

Historically, he said, Catholics in the region "feel a bit forgotten."


Image
A visitor takes photo in front of a welcome banner Oct. 30 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Manama, Bahrain. The church is one of the places Pope Francis will visit during his Nov. 3–6 trip to Bahrain. (CNS/Reuters/Hamad I. Mohammed)


"But to have a second visit from the Holy Father in a three-year period is of great encouragement to them," he told NCR, referring to Francis' 2019 visit to the United Arab Emirates.

During his second day in the country, Francis will visit the newly consecrated Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral, which is now the largest Catholic cathedral in the Persian Gulf, for an ecumenical prayer service. On Nov. 5, Francis will celebrate a Mass for an estimated 20,000 attendees at the Bahrain National Stadium.

While the country has a small local population of Catholics, the vast majority of Catholics come from other countries who reside in Bahrain for work, especially those from Sri Lanka, India, the Philippines and other surrounding Middle East countries.

Hinder said that along with feeling forgotten or "spiritually starved," many of these Catholics feel insecure, "wondering whether next year will I still be here or will I have to look for another future?"

He hopes the visit will provide yet another occasion for the pope to remind Catholics and Muslims alike that all of their lives are better improved through living alongside each other in shared friendship.

"This is not to have a mixture of religions," said Hinder, "but to have a certain basis of common action when there is the question of how to deal with important questions of the future of humanity."

"Pope Francis has a vision, and he wants it to be realized," he added.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

As a rabbi, he worked on Jewish–Catholic relations. Now the pope is knighting him.
Image


Image
Rabbi A. James Rudin, right, meets Pope John Paul II at World Youth Day in Denver in 1993. (Photo courtesy of Rudin)


Rabbi A. James Rudin, the longtime interreligious affairs director for the American Jewish Committee, will be conferred the prestigious Papal Knight of St. Gregory for his work on Catholic–Jewish relations, one of the few non-Catholics to receive the honor.

Only eight other Jews have been knighted by the order, established in 1831, that recognizes personal service or unusual labor in support of the Catholic Church. Among them are three other rabbis, David Rosen and the late Mordecai Waxman and Leon Klenicki.

A Reform rabbi and also a writer who has contributed hundreds of columns over the years to Religion News Service, Rudin traveled widely meeting with popes, presidents, Protestant denominational leaders and world-famous evangelists in his efforts to improve Jewish-Christian relations in the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust.

[…]

“For more than 50 years, Rabbi James Rudin has worked to advance Catholic–Jewish relations, and interfaith relations on a wider scale, with extraordinary skill, dedication, and success,� Cardinal Seán O’Malley, archbishop of Boston, said in a statement. “The impact of this work continues to grow as successive generations build on the foundation Rabbi Rudin has established.�

Rudin, 88, said his relations with Catholics go back to his youth in Alexandria, Virginia. At that time, Jews and Catholics were vastly outnumbered by white evangelicals who viewed them with a certain disdain.

In grade school, one teacher asked Rudin, the only Jew in the class, and his two Catholic classmates to leave the room during a reading of the New Testament.

“That was my first introduction to Catholic–Jewish relations: little kids singled out and humiliated standing outside the classroom,� Rudin said.

Later, as an Air Force chaplain in Japan and Korea, he said, his closest colleague was a Catholic priest with whom he cooperated on Catholic–Jewish programming.

Rudin joined the American Jewish Committee in 1968 and developed a close working relationship with another priest, John O’Connor, who went on to become archbishop of New York and ultimately a cardinal.

Rudin also co-founded the St. Leo University’s Center for Catholic–Jewish Studies, where he has taught Judaism for several years.

The investiture will take place there. O’Malley will represent Pope Francis in the ceremony on Nov. 20, on the campus of the Catholic liberal arts school, about 40 miles north of Tampa.

Rabbi Eric J. Greenberg, who helped nominate Rudin for the knighthood, said the honor comes at a critical time of growing antisemitism. “This knighthood clearly demonstrates the evolving positive relations between Catholics and Jews,� said Greenberg, director of United Nations relations and strategic partnerships for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “Rabbi Rudin well deserves this historic, international honor.�
Last edited by Wosbald on Fri Nov 04, 2022 5:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.


Image
User avatar
Fist and Faith
Magister Vitae
Posts: 23440
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 8:14 pm
Has thanked: 6 times
Been thanked: 30 times

Post by Fist and Faith »

I didn't know popes knighted people. If I did know, I would not have guessed they knighted any Jewish people.
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest
-Paul Simon
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+
Fist and Faith wrote:I didn't know popes knighted people. If I did know, I would not have guessed they knighted any Jewish people.
I guess I "knew" on an unconscious level, but never really thought about it. I study Philosophy and Theology, but have never paid all-that-much attention to Vaticanology (i.e. the Regalia and all that jazz).

Image

=========================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================================

In Bahrain, Pope Francis pleads for greater commitment to human rights
Image


Image
Pope Francis is greeted by Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as he arrives Nov. 3 at the Sakhir Royal Palace, Bahrain. (AP photo/Alessandra Tarantino)


Francis is first pope to visit Bahrain, where he condemned the death penalty and religious discrimination.


Pope Francis kicked off a four-day visit to the Kingdom of Bahrain on Nov. 3 by appealing to the country to strengthen its commitment to human rights through the abolition of the death penalty and ending religious discrimination.

The Sunni Muslim leaders of the Persian Gulf kingdom have been under fire by leading international human rights organizations, as well as the U.S. State Department, for their treatment of the country's Shiite Muslim-majority population, which makes up some two-thirds of the inhabitants of the tiny nation.

In an address to Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and other government officials, Francis — the first pontiff to ever set foot in the kingdom — cited the country's own constitution, which forbids discrimination on the basis of sex, origin, language, religion or creed.

Such commitments, said the pope, "need constantly to be put into practice, so that religious freedom will be complete and not limited to freedom of worship; that equal dignity and equal opportunities will be concretely recognized for each group and for every individual; that no forms of discrimination exist and that fundamental human rights are not violated but promoted."

In particular, the pope singled out the country's recent reliance on the death penalty. Bahrain's de-facto moratorium on capital punishment ended in 2017. Since then, six people have been executed.

"I think in the first place of the right to life, of the need to guarantee that right always, including for those being punished, whose lives should not be taken," Francis said.

[…]


Image
Young people wave flags of the Vatican and Bahrain as they wait for Pope Francis Nov. 3 outside the Sakhir Royal Palace. The pontiff is on a four-day visit to Bahrain. (CNS/Reuters/Yara Nardi)


Francis praised the country for continually welcoming immigrants who have resettled here to pursue greater economic opportunities. But, in a place where human rights organizations have also documented wage theft and health care disparities towards migrants, the pope also warned that all Bahraini residents must be treated with equal dignity and respect.

"Let us guarantee that working conditions everywhere are safe and dignified, that they foster rather than hinder people's cultural and spiritual growth; and that they serve to advance social cohesion, to the benefit of common life and the development of each country," said the pope.

Labor, he said, is "not only necessary for earning a livelihood: it is a right, indispensable for integral self-development and the shaping of a truly humane society."

Francis' primary reason for visiting the country is to take part in the "Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence," where on Nov. 4 he will offer a keynote address to some 200 interfaith leaders participating in the summit.

Bahrain, a country whose cities have been built on desert sands with soaring, ultramodern skyscrapers influenced by a range of cultures, Francis said, "has always been a place of encounter between different peoples."

At a time when the world is witnessing "the massive spread of indifference and mutual distrust, the burgeoning of rivalries and conflicts that we had hoped were a thing of the past, and forms of populism, extremism and imperialism that jeopardize the security of all," the pope said it was all the more important for such encounters to take place.

"In spite of progress and so many forms of social and scientific achievements, the cultural disparity between various parts of the world is growing, and destructive attitudes of conflict are preferred to beneficial opportunities for fruitful encounter," Francis said.

The pope's remarks were delivered in the opulent Sakhir Royal Palace, home of Bahrain's King Hamad, who has ruled since 1999. In 2002, Hamad was responsible for implementing a new constitution, which declared the kingdom a constitutional monarchy.

While the pope praised the oil-rich kingdom for its history of being the first in the region to allow women the right to vote in elections and to establish schools for them to attend, he said the work of deepening its commitment to human rights must be kept in focus.

"Authentic, humane and integral development is measured above all," said the pope, by concern shown towards those on the margins, especially migrants and prisoners.

During his nearly 20 minutes of remarks, the pope also spoke about his concern for the wars raging throughout the world, including in nearby Yemen, and the need for greater international cooperation to fight climate change.

"How many trees are cut down, how many ecosystems are devastated, how many seas are polluted by our insatiable human greed, which then comes back to bite us!" the pope lamented.

"Let us work tirelessly in confronting this dramatic emergency and enact concrete and farsighted decisions inspired by concern for coming generations, before it is too late and their future is compromised!" he added, noting that he hopes next week's United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP27, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, helps unite the international community in this regard.

[…]


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Keep the creche in Christmas, pope urges [Video]
Image


Image
The figure of one of the Three Kings is seen as the the Nativity scene and Christmas tree decorate St. Peter's Square after a lighting ceremony at the Vatican Dec. 3, 2022. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)


VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Stopping to gaze at and perhaps pray before a Nativity scene is one of the best ways to remember the real meaning of Christmas, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis met Dec. 3 with the artisans who carved the 18-piece Nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square; the donors of the white pine Christmas tree; the residents of a psychiatric rehabilitation center who, along with a group of students and grandparents, created the ornaments; and with representatives of the government of Guatemala, which set up another Nativity scene in the Vatican audience hall.

“Simple and familiar, the Nativity scene recalls a Christmas that is different from the consumerist and commercial Christmas. It is something else. It reminds us how good it is for us to cherish moments of silence and prayer in our days, often overwhelmed by frenzy,� Pope Francis told them during a midday gathering.


Image
Pope Francis visits a Nativity scene during an audience with the donors of the Vatican Christmas tree and the Nativity scenes, in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican Dec. 3, 2022. (CNS photo/Remo Casilli, Reuters)


[…]

“Silence encourages contemplation of the child Jesus,� the pope said, and “helps us to become intimate with God, with the fragile simplicity of a tiny newborn baby, with the meekness of his being laid down, with the tender affection of the swaddling clothes that envelop him.�

“If we really want to celebrate Christmas,� he said, “let us rediscover through the crib the surprise and amazement of littleness, the littleness of God, who makes himself small, who is not born in the splendor of appearances, but in the poverty of a stable.�


Vatican reveals Nativity scene, lights tree [YouTube: 1 min]
Image


To truly encounter Jesus, the pope said, people must meet him in the manger, leaving their own vanity and pretense behind.

“Prayer is the best way to say thank you before this gift of free love, to say thank you to Jesus who desires to enter our homes and our hearts,� he said. “Yes, God loves us so much that he shares our humanity and our lives.�

“Even in the worst moments,� the pope said, “he is there, because he is the Emmanuel, the God with us, the light that illuminates the darkness and the tender presence that accompanies us on our journey.�

The lights on the Christmas tree, he said, are a reminder that Jesus came “to lighten our darkness, our existence often enclosed in the shadow of sin, fear, pain.�

But, the pope said, the tree also should make people think about the importance of roots.

Like a tree, he said, only a person who is “rooted in good soil remains firm, grows, matures, resists the winds that shake him and becomes a point of reference for those who look upon him.�

The Christmas tree, Pope Francis said, is a reminder of the need to remain rooted in Christ.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

The Right to Migrate

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Pope thanks Brownsville, Flores for accompanying immigrants
Image


Image
Pope Francis greets Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, during a Jan. 20, 2020, meeting with U.S. bishops from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas during their “ad limina� visits to the Vatican. (Credit: CNS photo/Vatican Media)


NEW YORK — Pope Francis recently wrote to Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, thanking him and the diocese as a whole for their work accompanying immigrants at the southern border.

Straddling the U.S.–Mexico border, the Diocese of Brownsville is the southernmost diocese in Texas and has long been at the epicenter of the church’s response to migration, especially as the crisis has ballooned in recent years.

Flores posted the letter to social media on Dec. 5 saying it came in response to a letter he previously sent Francis, where he expressed the diocese’s closeness to him as a local Church, offered prayers, and described the work of many in the diocese “on behalf of the immigrant and the poor.�

“Thank you for your communication, with which you express your closeness to me and the work being done in the Diocese of Brownsville, especially in favor of those who for various circumstances are far from their homeland,� Francis said in the letter.


Amigo de Frodo @bpdflores | Twitter
Image


Image


Included in the Diocese of Brownsville’s robust immigration services programs is the Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley Humanitarian Respite Center, which helps hundreds of migrants everyday get their immediate needs taken care of and get set up to continue onto their next destination in the United States. The center is led by Sister Norma Pimentel.

In the letter to Flores, Francis also noted that “the efforts that must be made to adequately accompany the migratory reality are multiple.�

“But, I have no doubt that the current situation should encourage us in the promotion and integration of those who share the same condition in which the Lord found himself,� the pontiff wrote. “I thank you for all that you are doing to promote the culture of encounter.�

“I pray for you and for the People of God under your care, to whom I sent my blessing,� he continued. “I ask you not to stop praying for me.�

Commenting on the letter on social media, Flores said he is “grateful� for the pope’s “gracious reply.�
Last edited by Wosbald on Wed Dec 14, 2022 6:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Antisemitism

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Pope: Antisemitism shows need for Christian–Jewish understanding
Image


Image
Pope Francis greets Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, during an audience with members of Amitié Judéo–Chrétienne de France, a Jewish–Christian dialogue organization founded in France in 1948, at the Vatican Dec. 12, 2022. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)


VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Decrying what he described as "hostile times" when antisemitism and violence against Christians are on the rise, Pope Francis said a renewed commitment to Catholic–Jewish dialogue is needed.

"The path we have traveled together is considerable," but the work clearly is not done, the pope told members of the Amitié Judéo–Chrétienne de France, a dialogue and education group founded in 1948 by Jules Isaac, a French historian who worked to improve Christian–Jewish relations after World War II and met with Popes Pius XII and John XXIII.

"We must give thanks to God" for the progress, the pope said, especially "given the weight of mutual prejudices and the sometimes-painful history that must be acknowledged."

"The task is not finished, and I encourage you to persevere on the path of dialogue, fraternity and joint initiatives," the pope said. "This beautiful work, which consists in creating bonds, is fragile, always to be resumed and consolidated, especially in these hostile times in which attitudes of closure and rejection of the other are becoming more numerous, including with the worrying reappearance of antisemitism, particularly in Europe, and of violence against Christians."

Pope Francis praised Isaac and, particularly, his work at the 1947 Seelisberg Conference of the International Council of Christians and Jews, which came up with a 10-point list of facts Christians must keep in mind when speaking with or about their Jewish brothers and sisters. They begin with the affirmation that there is one God who "speaks to us all through the Old and the New Testaments" and with the fact that Jesus, his mother and his disciples all were Jews.

Many of the points later were incorporated into the Second Vatican Council document Nostra Aetate on relations with the Jews, Muslims and other non-Christians, Pope Francis noted.

Thanking the French group for its "untiring" work, the pope said members had helped "Jews and Christians rediscover themselves as brothers and sisters, children of the same father."


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Fratelli Tutti

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Papal message for World Peace Day: War, hunger, turmoil are connected
Image


Image
Salesian Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, speaks at a news conference for the release of Pope Francis' message for the Jan. 1 celebration of World Peace Day, at the Vatican Dec. 16, 2022. Looking on is Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the same dicastery. (CNS photo/Cindy Wooden)


The interconnected "moral, social, political and economic crises" facing the world cannot be solved if individuals and nations continue to focus only on their own, immediate interests, Pope Francis said in his message for World Peace Day 2023.

"The time has come for all of us to endeavor to heal our society and our planet, to lay the foundations for a more just and peaceful world, and to commit ourselves seriously to pursuing a good that is truly common," the pope wrote in the message, which was released at the Vatican Dec. 16.

The Catholic Church celebrates World Peace Day Jan. 1 and distributes the pope's message to heads of state and government around the world. Francis personally gives signed copies of it to visiting leaders throughout the year.

The theme for the pope's 2023 message was "No one can be saved alone," and the text urged people to learn from the experience of the global effort to combat COVID-19 and to recognize the poverty and inequalities the pandemic laid bare, especially as regards to access to food, medicine, health care, education and technology.

Francis asked people to reflect on a series of questions: "What did we learn from the pandemic? What new paths should we follow to cast off the shackles of our old habits, to be better prepared, to dare new things? What signs of life and hope can we see, to help us move forward and try to make our world a better place?"

As soon as it seemed the pandemic was nearly over, the pope wrote, "a terrible new disaster befell humanity. We witnessed the onslaught of another scourge: another war."

[…]

"This war, together with all the other conflicts around the globe, represents a setback for the whole of humanity and not merely for the parties directly involved," the pope said.

Massive cooperative efforts led to vaccines for COVID-19, he said, but "suitable solutions have not yet been found for the war," even though it is true "the virus of war is more difficult to overcome than the viruses that compromise our bodies, because it comes, not from outside of us, but from within the human heart corrupted by sin."

Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, presented the message at a news conference and spoke to Catholic News Service afterward.

"The message gives me hope because it puts a finger on not what some important person needs to do but what each of us needs to do, which is just to take the time to ask ourselves, 'What did I learn or not learn? And how is my life going to change from there?" the cardinal said. "Hopefully, the lessons will be for the good of everyone."

People's experience of the pandemic, the lockdowns, the possibility of continuing to work and the scrambling for vaccines were different around the world, he said, but that experience loses its power if people do not reflect on it and share it.

Francis' message, he said, is a reminder "that we are too quick to forget" and then humanity is forced to move on to the next disaster without having made changes to alleviate suffering.

Salesian Sr. Alessandra Smerilli, secretary of the dicastery, told reporters the pope was asking people "to return for a moment to those frightening, difficult and painful moments" at the beginning of the pandemic in early 2020. "This is time to ask ourselves whether, as individuals and a community, are we better or worse off three years later?"

The reflection, Francis wrote, should encourage people to change from a self-centered focus to a real commitment to the common good and to promoting solidarity and a greater sense of fraternity.

Cooperative efforts are needed to ensure health care for all and to "put an end to the conflicts and wars that continue to spawn poverty and death," he said. People must work together to combat climate change, overcome inequality, end hunger and create dignified work for all.

"We also need to develop suitable policies for welcoming and integrating migrants and those whom our societies discard," the pope said. "Only by responding generously to these situations, with an altruism inspired by God's infinite and merciful love, will we be able to build a new world and contribute to the extension of his kingdom, which is a kingdom of love, justice and peace."


Image
User avatar
Damelon
Lord
Posts: 8540
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2002 10:40 pm
Location: Illinois
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 4 times

Post by Damelon »

I saw it on the news this morning that the pope has a standing resignation letter ready, from his first days as Pontiff, in case of ill health.
Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Antisemitism

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Poles executed for hiding Jews are declared martyrs by pope
Image


Image
Jozef Ulma and wife Wiktoria, with their family. (Credit: Screen capture)


VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Saturday declared as martyrs a Polish couple who were executed by German police during World War II for hiding Jews in their farmhouse.

A farmer and beekeeper, Jozef Ulma, and wife Wiktoria in the Polish town of Markowa hid several members of the Jewish community, who were being hunted down during the German occupation of Poland. An informant apparently betrayed them, and the Jews were killed by police in March 1944. The couple were then shot to death along with their six young children, the oldest of whom was 8 years old.

Recognition of martyrdom would permit the couple to be beatified, the last formal step before possible sainthood. After beatification, a miracle attributed to their intercession would be necessary for eventual canonization, as the Catholic church’s sainthood process is called.

According to Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, the couple had witnessed the execution of Jews who were seized from their homes during the summer of 1942.

While the search was on for other Jews, a Jewish family of six sought shelter with the Ulmas, who took them in, along with two sisters from another Jewish family, hiding them in the garret of their farmhouse. German police discovered the Jews on the farm and fatally shot them, before they murdered the farmer, his wife, who was seven months pregnant, and children.

According to the Vatican, Pope Francis learned about the Ulma family when he visited Poland during a 2016 pilgrimage. At a public audience in 2018, Francis hailed the family as “an example of faithfulness to God and His commandments, of love for neighbor and of respect for human dignity.�

[…]


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+
Damelon wrote:I saw it on the news this morning that the pope has a standing resignation letter ready, from his first days as Pontiff, in case of ill health.
Though I'd heard about it obliquely, I wasn't really tracking this story 'til you'd mentioned it. Vatican intrigue has never been on my radar to any great extent. Turns out, there's quite a few layers of the onion to it.

Image

Pope’s big reveal on resignation letter revives an old quandary [News Analysis]
Image


Image
Yulia Fedosiuk, top left, wife of Arseny Fedosiuk, a member of Azov regiment salutes Pope Francis at the end of his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. (Credit: Andrew Medichini/AP)


ROME — Roughly a year after he resigned the papacy in February 2013, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI found it necessary to respond to an Italian journalist’s query about whether that decision was valid, though his irritation seemed evident.

“There is absolutely no doubt regarding the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry,� the emeritus pope wrote. “The only condition for the validity of my resignation is the complete freedom of my decision. Speculations regarding its validity are simply absurd.�

Benedict was responding to theories that had circulated in some traditionalist Catholic circles to the effect that he had been forced to step aside, perhaps with threats to expose various Vatican scandals, in order to make way for the more progressive Pope Francis.

Bear in mind, those doubts metastasized despite the fact that Benedict XVI delivered his resignation in person, in real time and in his own voice, and in a moment in which he was clearly in full possession of his faculties. (I mean, for the love of God, he proclaimed the resignation in flawless Latin!)

So, imagine what might happen should a papal resignation be announced by someone else, years later, based on a vaguely worded letter which might or might not actually reflect the pope’s will at the moment it was invoked.

That’s precisely the question posed by a recent interview with Pope Francis by the Spanish newspaper Abc, in which the pontiff revealed that shortly after his election in 2013 he signed a letter of resignation in case of medical incapacity and gave it to his Secretary of State at the time, Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who resigned shortly afterwards.

Francis did not indicate whether his letter defined what would constitute “incapacity,� nor who would have the authority to invoke the letter and thus declare a sede vacante, meaning a transition from one pope to another.

As Francis noted in the interview, this is not the first time a pope has written such a preemptive resignation.

We know that in 1804, Pope Pius VII signed a document of renunciation should he be imprisoned in France while in Paris to attend Napoleon’s coronation as Emperor. Pope Pius XII likewise signed a similar document in 1943, in case he were kidnapped by the Nazis; according to the legendary Cardinal Domenico Tardini, Pius XII had indicated that if he were taken away, the College of Cardinals would regroup in Lisbon, Portugal, to elect a successor.

St. Pope Paul VI wrote a letter of resignation in 1965 in case of incapacity and kept it in his desk, making his priest secretary, Pasquale Macchi, aware of its existence. The idea was that Macchi would give the letter to the Dean of the College of Cardinals, who could then pronounce the office vacant.

[…]

St. Pope John Paul II wrote two such letters, in 1989 and 1994, which were revealed as part of the document in his canonization process. In them, the pope provided for his resignation in case of “incurable illness� which makes it impossible “to exercise sufficiently the functions of the apostolic ministry.� John Paul specified that the decision to invoke the letter should be made by a group of cardinals, including the Dean of the College of Cardinals, the heads of dicasteries in the Roman Curia, and the Cardinal Vicar of Rome.

Here’s the problem with all the above.

Papal resignations are governed by canon 332, subsection 2, of the Code of Canon Law, which states: “If it happens that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity only that the resignation is made freely and properly manifested but not that it is accepted by anyone.�

The key word is “freely.� Even if a pope freely signed a resignation letter ten years earlier, how would we know it was still his will when it was actually invoked?

Church historians often cite Paul VI as a cautionary tale, since he eventually changed his mind about resignation, declaring to his confessor, Italian Jesuit Paolo Dezza, that it would be a “trauma for the church.� In one sign of his change of heart, in September 1977 L’Osservatore Romano carried an article titled “Why the pope can’t resign.�

All that, naturally, would have generated serious doubt about the pope’s intent should Paul’s letter ever have been invoked.

The late Father James Provost, one of America’s most renowned canon lawyers, was dubious about the legal validity of undated resignation letters signed in advance and put into effect by someone else. Shortly before his own death in 2000 he wrote in America, “He [the pope] would have to be of sound mind on the date when the letter is eventually dated for it to be canonically valid.�

That’s just one opinion, but it’s likely to be widely discussed and shared should the scenario ever materialize, potentially creating doubts about the legitimacy of a new papacy before it even begins.

In the case of Francis’s letter, there are other question marks.

For one thing, how serious could Francis actually be if he handed it off to an aide who exited the scene ten years ago, and never bothered to follow up to find out what happened to it? For another, it’s not clear from the way Francis described it who would be empowered to invoke the letter’s provisions.

In the past, it’s been assumed that a decision to declare the Throne of Peter vacant would have to run through at least some subgroup of cardinals, if not the entire College of Cardinals. Shortly after Celestine V stepped down in 1294, his successor, Boniface VIII, issued a decretal affirming the validity of that resignation, offering as proof that Celestine had obtained the “concordant counsel and assent� of his cardinals.

Yet under Francis, given the way he’s opened up Vatican leadership to non-cardinals and even non-clergy, it’s not even intuitively obvious that would be his will.

In other words, it’s just not clear to anyone whether, or how, a pope can resign in advance … which, perhaps, helps explain why none of the previous preemptive resignation letters were ever invoked. After all, recall that Pius VII actually was imprisoned by Napoleon from 1809 to 1814, exactly as the pontiff had foreseen, but no one ever tried to declare a sede vacante based on his 1804 letter.

So what would happen if Pope Francis were to suffer a grave medical condition that rendered him permanently incapable of governing, and someone tried to invoke the 2013 letter left in Bertone’s care?

As unsettling as such uncertainty may be, the only honest answer probably is that God alone really knows.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Fratelli Tutti

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Peace requires a 'defense of life,' pope tells ambassadors
Image


Image
Pope Francis greets George Poulides, ambassador of Cyprus to the Holy See and dean of the Vatican diplomatic corps, during his annual meeting with diplomats accredited to the Holy See at the Vatican Jan. 9 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)


"Peace requires before all else the defense of life," which is threatened by the "alleged 'right to abortion,'" Pope Francis told ambassadors accredited to the Holy See.

The defense of life is "jeopardized not only by conflicts, hunger and disease, but all too often even in the mother's womb," the pope told the ambassadors Jan. 9 during his annual meeting with them to mark the start of the new year.

No one, he said, "can claim rights over the life of another human being, especially one who is powerless and thus completely defenseless."

Francis called on political leaders to "safeguard the rights of those are weakest and to combat the throwaway culture that also, tragically, affects the sick, the disabled and the elderly," and insisted governments have a "primary responsibility to ensure that citizens are assisted in every phase of human life until natural death."

The right to life, Francis said, also is put at risk in places where the death penalty is still used. He cited as an example Iran where, as of Jan. 9, four people have been executed in connection to nationwide protests that the pope characterized as "demanding greater respect for the dignity of women."

The death penalty, the pope said, is "always inadmissible, since it attacks the inviolability and the dignity of the person."

"We cannot overlook the fact that, up until his or her very last moment, a person can repent and change," he added.

Francis had entered the long Hall of Blessings above St. Peter's Basilica walking with a cane, a sign that the knee pain that had previously put him in a wheelchair may be improving.

[…]

Throughout his speech, he cited the encyclical Pacem in Terris written by St. John XXIII in 1963 after the Cuban missile crisis, which called for a ban on nuclear weapons.

"Sadly, today, too, the nuclear threat is raised, and the world once more feels fear and anguish," the pope said, referring to the statements of Russian officials in connection with the country's war on Ukraine.

The mere possession of atomic weapons is "immoral," he said, repeating a statement he made during a visit to Hiroshima, Japan, in November 2019, shifting the church's line which previously had only defined as immoral the use of atomic weapons.

"There is a need to change the way of thinking and move toward an integral disarmament, since no peace is possible where instruments of death are proliferating," he told the ambassadors.

In recalling the various ongoing conflicts in the world, Francis condemned the "third world war" fought in pieces around the world, which "involve only certain areas of the planet directly, but in fact involve them all."

The pope specifically discussed the war in Ukraine and called for an "immediate end" to the "senseless conflict."

[…]

The pope also called for greater international cooperation in addressing three areas of public policy: migration, the economy and work, and care of the environment.

While summarizing the Vatican's diplomatic achievements in 2022, Francis recalled that the Holy See and China agreed to extend their provisional agreement regarding the appointment of bishops in the country for another two years. The terms of the deal, which was first signed in 2018, are not public.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Fratelli Tutti

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Health care is a universal right, not a luxury, pope says
Image


Image
Pope Francis greets Teresa Calandra, president of an Italian federation of health care associations, during an audience with Italian technicians and specialists working in the fields of radiology, rehabilitation and preventative medicine, at the Vatican Jan. 16, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)


Health care is not a luxury, it is a right that belongs to everyone, Pope Francis told health care workers.

"A world that rejects the sick, that does not assist those who cannot afford care, is a cynical world with no future. Let us always remember this: health care is not a luxury, it is for everyone," the pope said.

The pope was speaking Jan. 16 with members of an Italian federation of professional associations of technicians and specialists working in the fields of radiology, rehabilitation and preventative medicine.

He expressed his deep gratitude for their work, especially during the pandemic.

"Without your commitment and effort many people who were ill would not have been looked after," he said. "Your sense of duty inspired by the power of love enabled you to serve others, even putting your own health at risk."

In a world marked by a throwaway culture, the health professionals promote a culture of care, embodied in the good Samaritan, who does not look the other way, but approaches and helps a person in need with compassion, the pope said.

[…]

Every country must actively seek "strategies and resources in order to guarantee each person's fundamental right to basic and decent health care," he said, quoting this year's message for the World Day of the Sick, to be celebrated Feb. 11.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Antisemitism / Fascism

Post by Wosbald »



Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Holy Land Peace / Fratelli Tutti

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Pope Francis makes urgent appeal for peace in Holy Land
Image


Image
Israeli security personnel work at a scene where a suspected incident of shooting attack took place, police spokesman said, just outside Jerusalem's Old City Jan. 28, 2023.


Pope Francis today made an urgent, passionate appeal to the Israeli and Palestinian governments, and to the international community, to find ways “immediately and without delay� to dialogue and search for the attainment of peace in the Holy Land.

He did so as he greeted thousands of pilgrims at midday on Sunday, Jan.29, and drew their attention to the violence and killings that have rocked the Holy Land over the past week.

“With great sorrow I received the news that comes from the Holy Land, in particular of the news of the deaths of 10 Palestinians, including a woman, killed by actions of the Israeli anti-terrorism forces in Palestine, and of what happened near Jerusalem on Friday evening when seven Israeli Jews were killed by a Palestinian, and three were wounded coming out from the synagogue,� he said.

[…]

“The sowing of killing that takes place day by day does nothing except close the few openings of trust that exist between the two peoples,� Pope Francis said.

He recalled that “since the beginning of the year tens of Palestinians have been killed in the gunfire clashes with the Israeli forces.� The BBC report that “since the start of January, 30 Palestinians, both militants and civilians, have been killed in the [occupied] West Bank.�

Pope Francis concluded by issuing a heartfelt appeal to the Israeli and Palestinian governments and the international community to take action immediately.

“I appeal to the two governments and to the international community that they find immediately, without delay, other ways that lead to dialogue and the search for the attainment of peace,� he said. His appeal reflects his deep concern, one shared by many observers, that the situation in the Holy Land could deteriorate rapidly into a wider conflict, given that Israel now is governed by the most right-wing government in its history.

The pope invited people to pray that his appeal be heard. “Brothers and sisters, let us pray for this,� he said.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Fratelli Tutti

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

In Congo, Pope Francis demands world leaders 'stop choking Africa'
Image


Image
Pope Francis, left, meets authorities, civil society and diplomatic corps in the garden of the Palais de la Nation with President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, Jan. 31 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (AP photo/Gregorio Borgia)


Kicking off a six-day trip to two African nations on Jan. 31, Pope Francis delivered a terse warning to both world leaders and warring ethnic groups to stop exploiting the continent's vast natural resources and depriving its people of a "future of peace and prosperity."

"Hands off the Democratic Republic of the Congo!" Francis declared upon his arrival here in the Congolese capital city of Kinshasa. "Hands off Africa! Stop choking Africa: It is not a mine to be stripped or a terrain to be plundered."

In a rousing speech at the country's presidential palace, the pope chided both outside powers and the country's political leaders to halt the endless cycles of violence that have defined the country's modern history.

"This country, so immense and full of life, this diaphragm of Africa, struck by violence like a blow to the stomach, has seemed for some time to be gasping for breath," he lamented.

The pope, going off script, added that the Democratic Republic of Congo has suffered a "forgotten genocide."


Image
Pope Francis and Congolese President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo attend a welcome ceremony at the Palais de la Nation Jan. 31 in Kinshasa, Congo. (CNS/Paul Haring)


Francis centered his nearly 20-minute remarks around the image of the diamond. It is one of the country's most valued natural resources, but also at the root of widespread exploitation and seemingly endless war — from the time when early European colonizers sought to plunder the land over a century ago, to the various armed rebel groups competing over its resources today.

"Political exploitation gave way to an 'economic colonialism' that was equally enslaving," he said. "As a result, this country, massively plundered, has not benefited adequately from its immense resources: paradoxically, the riches of its land have made it 'foreign' to its very inhabitants."

"The poison of greed," said Francis, "has smeared [the country's] diamonds with blood."

At the end of the 19th century, European explorers began to seize major swaths of land surrounding the Congo River, claiming an estimated eight to ten million local lives during their conquests. In 1960, the former Belgian colony — home today to some 95 million inhabitants — gained independence, with its fragile democracy constantly being tested by ongoing political, social and economic turmoil, particularly following the 1994 genocide in neighboring Rwanda.

"May the world acknowledge the catastrophic things that were done over the centuries to the detriment of the local peoples, and not forget this country and this continent," Francis said, adding that the international community had seemingly resigned itself to what is happening in the country.

"We cannot grow accustomed to the bloodshed that has marked this country for decades, causing millions of deaths that remain mostly unknown elsewhere," implored the pope. "What is happening here needs to be known."

The pope's remarks were met with widespread praise, with the audience interrupting his remarks on over a dozen occasions, often with cheers and shouts of "amen."


Image
People cheer as they wait for Pope Francis to pass on a road near the international airport Jan. 31 in Kinshasa, Congo. (CNS/Paul Haring)


Francis' much anticipated visit — his fifth to the African continent since becoming pope in 2013 and the first papal visit to Congo since Pope John Paul II visited in 1985 — comes following a postponement in July 2022 due to the pope's ongoing issues with his knee.

[…]


Image
Pope Francis is welcomed by Prime Minister Sama Lukonde as he arrives at the international airport Jan. 31 in Kinshasa, Congo. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)


[…]

At the presidential palace on Jan. 31, seated next to President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, Francis urged the country's civic leaders to commit to transparency, especially ahead of what is expected to be another divisive presidential election later this year.

"Those holding civil and governmental offices are called to operate with crystalline clarity, experiencing the charge they have received as a means of serving society," said the pope. "Power is meaningful only if it becomes a form of service."

The pope went on to call for "free, transparent and credible elections," that include greater participation of young people, women and other marginalized groups.

With ongoing war among various ethnic groups in the country's east and international superpowers like China, Russia and the United States vying for mining contracts for critical natural resources that are essential to transition to green energy, Francis charged the country's leaders to be good stewards of their land, which he said serves as one of the "great green lungs of the world."


Image
Pope Francis and Congolese President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo attend a welcome ceremony at the Palais de la Nation Jan. 31 in Kinshasa, Congo. (CNS/Paul Haring)


"May no one be manipulated, much less bought, by those who would foment violence in the country, and exploit it in order to make shameful business deals," said the pope.

During the seven-hour flight from Rome, the 86-year-old pontiff — making one of his most closely watched and physically demanding international voyages of his 10-year papacy — remained seated as he greeted journalists.

As the papal plane crossed over Algeria, the pope paused in silent prayer for the thousands of migrants who have died attempting to cross the Sahara Desert in search of what he called "a bit of freedom."

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, during his first full day in Congo, Francis will turn his attention to the country's rapidly growing Catholic population — the largest on the African continent — where he will celebrate Mass for a crowd expected to reach over a million participants.


Image
User avatar
Wosbald
A Brainwashed Religious Flunkie
Posts: 6085
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2015 1:35 am
Been thanked: 2 times

Laudato Si' / Fratelli Tutti

Post by Wosbald »

+JMJ+

Pope: We must listen to Indigenous Peoples to address climate crisis
Image


Image
Pope Francis blesses a participant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development's Indigenous Peoples' Forum during an audience at the Vatican Feb. 10, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)


Meeting a group of Indigenous delegates attending the 6th Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Forum, Pope Francis calls for the protection of their rights and highlights the crucial role of indigenous peoples in the fight against climate change.


Pope Francis has urged governments and the international community to respect the cultures, dignity and rights of Indigenous Peoples, acknowledging their crucial role in helping address the current global environmental crisis.

The appeal came on Friday as he addressed a group of 40 Indigenous delegates attending the 6th Global Meeting of the Indigenous Peoples Forum, taking place this week in Rome in conjunction with the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

The Forum was established in 2011 as a platform for consultation and dialogue where Indigenous Peoples’ representatives convey their concerns, requests and recommendations to improve their ongoing partnership with IFAD to eradicate world poverty and hunger.


Image
Pope Francis gives his blessing to participants from the International Fund for Agricultural Development's Indigenous Peoples' Forum during an audience at the Vatican Feb. 10, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)


Indigenous Peoples’ Climate Leadership

This year’s meeting, running until 13 February, is focused on Indigenous Peoples’ Climate Leadership: Community-based Solutions to Enhance Resilience and Biodiversity.

In his address in the Consistory Hall, Pope Francis remarked that the theme offers an opportunity to recognize the critical role indigenous peoples play in protecting the environment and to “highlight their wisdom to find global solutions to the immense challenges that climate change poses to humanity on a daily basis�.
We should listen more to indigenous peoples and learn from their way of life to properly understand that we cannot continue to greedily devour natural resources, because “the Earth was entrusted to us in order that it be mother for us, capable of giving to each one what is necessary to live�. Therefore, the contribution of indigenous peoples is essential in the fight against climate change.
Reconverting Western models to address the climate crisis

The Pope insisted on the urgent need for “joint actions� and dialogue to reconvert “the consolidated power structures that govern Western societies and, at the same time, “transform the historical relations marked by colonialism, exclusion and discrimination�, because, he said, “the environmental challenge we are experiencing and its human roots have an impact on each of one of us�.


Image
Pope Francis greets a participant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development's Indigenous Peoples' Forum during an audience at the Vatican Feb. 10, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)


Valuing Indigenous People’s cultural heritage

He therefore called upon governments to recognize the indigenous peoples “with their cultures, languages, traditions and spiritualities�, and to respect their dignity and rights, remarking that “Ignoring the original communities in the safeguarding of the Earth is a serious mistake, not to say a great injustice�.
Valuing Indigenous People’s cultural heritage and their ancestral techniques will help to embark on paths for better environmental management.
[…]

Harmony with creation key for a good life

Continuing off the cuff, the Pope encouraged Indigenous peoples to persevere in pursuing harmony with creation and in their communities as a key for a "good life", and expressed his support for their fight against the current extractivist policies which are destroying the Earth. Indeed he said, the good life “is not doing nothing, ‘la dolce vita’�, it’s harmony with our environment which is more than an equilibrium, because “it’s not functional� to something.
When people don’t respect the good of the environment, (…) our common good, they become inhuman, because they lose contact with our Mother earth, not in a superstitious sense, but in the sense that culture gives us harmony.
Indigenous peoples know this too well. This is why, the Pope insisted, “Aboriginal cultures must not be converted to a modern culture�, but “need to be respected�, and allowed to follow their own path to development, and their wisdom should be listened to.


Image
Post Reply

Return to “The Close”