Pope Francis' appeal for peace in Syria at the General Audience - St. Peter's Square - Vatican City, April 09, 2014 Last Monday, at Homs in Syria, the Reverend Father Frans van der Lugt, a Dutch Jesuit confrere of mine, 75, was killed. He arrived in Syria about 50 years ago, and always did good to everyone, with [...]
Pope Francis' General Audience on a new series of catechesis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit - St. Peter's Square - Vatican City, April 09, 2014 Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! We begin today a series of catecheses on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You know that the Holy Spirit constitutes the soul, [...]
Pope Francis Angelus - St. Peter's Square - Vatican City, March 16, 2014 Dear brothers and sisters, hello! Today the Gospel presents the event of the Transfiguration. It is the second stage on the Lenten journey. The first was the temptation in the desert, last Sunday; the second is the Transfiguration. Jesus “takes Peter, James and [...]
Pope Francis' appeal for Venezuela during the General Audience - St. Peter's Square - February, 26 2014 "I am following with particular concern what is happening these days in Venezuela. I hope profoundly that the violence and hostilities will cease as soon as possible and that the whole Venezuelan people, beginning with political and institutional leaders, will use the [...]
Pope Francis' Angelus - St. Peter Square - February 23, 2014 Dear brothers and sisters, hello! In the second reading this Sunday, St. Paul says: “So let no one boast of men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future, all [...]
Pope Francis'General Audience - St. Peter’s Square - Vatican City, February 19, 2014 Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Through the Sacraments of Christian initiation -- Baptism, Confirmation and the Eucharist -, man receives new life in Christ. Now we have this life “in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7), we are still subject to temptation, [...]
Pope Francis Angelus in St. Peter's Square - Vatican City, February 16, 2014 Dear brothers and sisters, hello! The Gospel this Sunday is part of the so-called “Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus’ first important preaching. Today the theme is Jesus’ attitude toward the Jewish Law. He says: “Think not that I have come to abolish [...]
Pope Francis General Audience - St. Peter Square - February 12, 2014 Dear Brothers and Sisters: Continuing our catechesis on the Sacraments of Initiation, I wish to reflect on how we live the Eucharist in our daily lives, as a Church and individual Christians. First, the Eucharist affects the way we see others. In his life, [...]
Pope Francis Angelus at St. Peter Square - Vatican City, February 8, 2014 Brothers and sisters, good morning! In this Sunday’s Gospel reading, which follows directly after the Beatitudes, Jesus says to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth ... You are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13, 14). This surprises us a little [...]
Wednesday Audience - St. Peter Square - February 5, 2014 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good morning! Today I will speak to you about the Eucharist. The Eucharist is at the heart of “Christian initiation”, together with Baptism and Confirmation, and it constitutes the source of the Church's life itself. From this Sacrament of love, in fact, [...]