Getting personal, as in engaging and knowing one another, underlies Pope Francis’ urging for a culture of encounter. He speaks against the tendencies to intellectualize, judge, dismiss and demonize the poor, the unemployed, the undocumented migrants, etc. They are categories of social construction with statistics, theories, precedents, antecedents and solutions that delineate costs and benefits. Too often they are devoid of faces, stories, pains, dreams. That need not be the case.
After less than 48 hours in Rome, “dream” is the word used most often by the six Syrian adults Pope Francis brought back to Italy with him from a refugee camp in Greece.
When an aide suggested Pope Francis offer to fly some Syrian refugees back to Rome with him, the pope said he agreed immediately because it was “an inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”
In an effort to highlight the dramatic situation of refugees left in limbo on the Greek island of Lesbos, Pope Francis and other Christian leaders will meet with the migrants April 16.
Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Christophe Pierre, papal nuncio to Mexico since 2007, to be the new apostolic nuncio to the United States.
At the Easter Vigil a few weeks ago, tens of thousands of men and women, mature adults, were baptized or entered into full communion with the Catholic Church. Each of them walked a unique itinerary of conversion; each of these “newborn babes” (1 Peter 2:2) is a singular work of the Holy Spirit.
The heart of the work of the Church, Cardinal Nichols said, is “to look to, to rescue, to nurture, to comfort, to give freedom and a fresh start to the victims of trafficking.”
In “Amoris Laetitia” (“The Joy of Love”), Pope Francis’ postsynodal apostolic exhortation on the family, there is passion and devotion, but also heartache and sweat. The “magic” he wrote about is not momentarily sparkly, but the result of prayer, grace, hard work and a willingness to apologize – time and time again.
The same mercy and patience that are essential for building a strong family must be shown to those whose families are in trouble or have broken up, Pope Francis said in his highly anticipated postsynodal apostolic exhortation.
Each month, Pope Francis entrusts two special intentions to his worldwide prayer network, known as the Apostleship of Prayer. For April, the intention is “that small farmers may receive a just reward for their precious labor,” and “that Christians in Africa may give witness to love and faith in Jesus Christ amid political-religious conflicts.”
