Easter is a feast of hope, a celebration of God’s mercy and a call to pray for and assist all who suffer, Pope Francis said before giving his solemn blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).
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Easter is a feast of hope, a celebration of God’s mercy and a call to pray for and assist all who suffer, Pope Francis said before giving his solemn blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world).
During Holy Week and in the Easter season, the Vatican will take part in several initiatives highlighting the importance of ecology and the care for creation.
Just as the crowds and government officials tried to dodge responsibility for Jesus’ fate after He was arrested, so today too many individuals and countries want someone else to care for refugees fleeing violence and migrants seeking a better life, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis, condemning the terrorist attacks in Brussels, offered his prayers to the victims, the injured, their families and all offering assistance in the aftermath of the bombings.
“When everything seems too much, when it seems that the world is crashing down around you, embrace his cross, draw close to him and please, never let go of his hand; please, never leave him,” Pope Francis said.
Exercise a little courage and go to confession, turn away from selfishness and sin and back to God during the Year of Mercy, Pope Francis urged people at a Lenten penance service.
The four Missionaries of Charity murdered March 4 in Yemen “are the martyrs of today,” Pope Francis said. “They gave their blood for the church.”
The exchange between Pope Francis and Donald Trump was the biggest much-ado-about- nothing political story of the campaign. The headlines blared about the pope denouncing Trump and Trump firing back at the pope. It was all nonsense. A tempest in a fuselage.
Speaking from the symbolic platform of the U.S.-Mexico border, Pope Francis pleaded for the plight of immigrants while warning those refusing to offer safe shelter and passage that their actions and inhospitable attitudes were bringing about dishonor and self-destruction as their hearts hardened and they “lost their sensitivity to pain.”
At the border of Mexico and the United States, Pope Francis blessed a large cross in memory of all the people who have crossed the frontier. The pope said nothing Feb. 17, but he clasped his hands tightly in prayer and bowed his head in silent prayer. He left a bunch of flowers on a table in front of the cross.