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News Briefs October 4

October 4, 2013 – 4:47 pm

Catholic News Service is the official news agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Read their news briefs for today.

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Pope in Assisi: Christians must strip themselves of worldliness

October 4, 2013 – 11:23 am

(Vatican Radio) Christians and the Church must strip themselves of worldliness, said Pope Francis while addressing some of the poor in the Italian hill town of Assisi early Friday. The Pope offered this message in the same hall in which St. Francis, about 800 years ago, undressed himself and laid his fine clothes at his wealthy father’s feet, renouncing his riches and inheritance in favour of a life of poverty consecrated to God.

The Pope once again put aside his prepared speech and began his impromptu remarks by debunking a notion that had circulated in the press in recent days: that he would imitate St. Francis by divesting the bishops, the cardinals and himself, as well. However, he said, today serves as a good occasion to invite the Church to strip itself of worldliness.
All of the baptized comprise the Church and all have to follow Jesus, who stripped himself and chose to be a servant and to be humiliated on his way to the Cross. “And if we want to be Christians, there is no other way,” he said.

Without the Cross, without Jesus and without stripping ourselves of worldliness, he said, “we become pastry shop Christians… like nice sweet things but not real Christians.”
“We need to strip the Church,” he said. “We are in very grave danger. We are in danger of worldliness.”

The Christian cannot enter into the spirit of the world, which leads to vanity, arrogance and pride, he continued. And these lead to idolatry, which is the gravest sin.
The Church is not just the clergy, the hierarchy and religious, he said. “The Church is all of us and we all have to strip ourselves of this worldliness. Worldliness does us harm. It is so sad to find a worldly Christian.”

“Our Lord told us: We cannot serve two masters: either we serve money or we serve God.…We can’t cancel with one hand what we write with another,” he remarked. “The Gospel is the Gospel.”
The Pope acknowledged the local poor who were gathered with him, saying: “Many of you have been stripped by this savage world that does not give work, that does not help, that does not care if children die of hunger …, that does not care if many families do not have anything to eat or money to bring bread home.”

Referring to the hundreds of refugees who died in a shipwreck off the Italian island of Lampedusa Thursday , the Pope lamented the large numbers of people who die trying to escape dire conditions in their home countries.
It is ridiculous that a Christian would want to follow a worldly path, he continued. “The worldly spirit kills; it kills people; it kills the Church.”

The Pope then asked the Lord to bestow upon Christians the courage to strip themselves of the spirit of the world, which he called “the leprosy, the cancer of society and the cancer of the revelation of God and the enemy of Jesus.”
He concluded: “I ask the Lord that he gives us all the grace to strip ourselves.”

Vatican Radio

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Pope’s homily at Assisi Mass

October 4, 2013 – 11:19 am

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday is celebrating an outdoor solemn mass in the St. Francis Square of the central Italian town of Assisi where he says he is a pilgrim “like countless other pilgrims” who has come to give thanks for the gift of St. Francis to the Church. Today, October 4th, is the Saint’s feast day. As the Pope recalled in his homily in this morning’s liturgy, his namesake and Patron of Italy was the son of a wealthy merchant of Assisi whose “encounter with Jesus led him to strip himself of an easy and carefree life in order to espouse ‘Lady Poverty’ and to live as a true son of our heavenly Father.”

Read the Holy Father’s homily as translated by Vatican Radio.

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Pope Francis visits Seraphic Institute in Assisi

October 4, 2013 – 11:14 am

(Vatican Radio) It was a moving scene this morning in the chapel of the Serafico Institute of Assisi, when Pope Francis warmly greeted a room full of children and young people with disabilities and their caregivers. The Pope approached each of the residents and held their hands, caressed their faces, signed the Cross on their foreheads and often kissed them on the cheek. One of the residents also kissed the Pope’s pectoral cross.

After words of welcome from the mayor of Assisi, Claudio Ricci, and the president of the Serafico Institute, Francesca Di Maolo, the Pope addressed the people gathered. He put aside his prepared message and, obviously inspired by his encounter, spoke off the cuff, comparing the scars of Christ to the suffering carried by the young people before him. “These scars (in the sick) need to be recognized and listened to,” he said. After the Resurrection, Jesus appeared to his Apostles, who recognized him by his scars.

Referring to the Eucharist in the tabernacle, he said: “Jesus chooses to be present there in the simplicity and meekness of the bread. And Jesus is hidden in these children, these young people.”
“A Christian adores Jesus, seeks Jesus, knows how to recognize the scars of Jesus. “When Jesus rose he was beautiful,” he continued. “He didn’t have his wounds on his body, but he wanted to keep the scars, and he brought them with him to heaven. The scars of Jesus are here, and they are in heaven before the Father. We care for the scars of Jesus here, and he from heaven shows us his scars and tells all of us, ‘I am waiting for you’.”

The Pope concluded by giving all of those present his blessing, which was followed by applause and shouts of “Long live the Pope!”

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News Briefs, September 30

September 30, 2013 – 4:57 pm

Catholic News Service is the official news agency of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Read their News Briefs for Monday, Sept. 30.

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Meetings of the Council of Cardinals begins tomorrow, Oct. 1

September 30, 2013 – 9:55 am

Vatican City, 30 September 2013 (VIS) – The first of three meetings between Pope Francis and the Council of Cardinals, instituted by the Holy Father’s Chirograph of 28 September, will take place tomorrow, 1 October.

The council is composed of Cardinals Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State; Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile, Chile; Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, India; Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo; Sean Patrick O’Malley O.F.M. Cap., archbishop of Boston, USA; George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia; Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, in the role of coordinator; and Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, Italy, in the role of secretary.

During the three days the Council will meet in the private library of the third loggia in the papal apartment, and the working sessions will take place in the morning and in the evening. The Holy Father will participate, except on Wednesday morning during the general audience, explained the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., who went on to clarify that the conversations will be private, so no communication is to be given at the end. He also emphasised that, as stated in the Chirograph published today, the Pope reserves the faculty of configuring the Council in the most suitable form, and may therefore increase the number of members.

He also observed that all the members of the Council, with the exception of the Secretary and Cardinal Bertello (who represents the Curia) are archbishops with large dioceses and in most cases with broad pastoral experience. “The institution of the Council of Cardinals”, he said, “is a further enrichment provided by the Pope to the governance of the Church”, and recalled that during his pontificate Francis has frequently made use of consultation, as is demonstrated by the case of the meeting with the heads of the dicasteries and his interest in reviving the working method of the Synod.

The Council has no relation with other Church institutions and is not an element of the architecture of the latter, but rather an organ of consultation for the Pope, Fr.Lombardi continued, explaining that since the announcement in April of the institution of a group of eight cardinals to assist the Pope in the governance of the Church, the members have received suggestions and proposals in their respective areas of competence. Furthermore, in preparation for the October meeting, contributions of various types have been sent to the Pope, the opinions of the heads of dicasteries have been sought, and the Secretary of State and College of Cardinals have been consulted. “The Council has eighty documents that have been circulated amongst its members, and the secretary, Bishop Semeraro, has prepared a comprehensive synthesis. Similarly, over these months the members have have also spoken with each other and on occasion with the Holy Father”.

From Vatican Information Service

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Pope officially institutes “Council of Cardinals”

September 30, 2013 – 9:50 am

Vatican City, 30 September 2013 (VIS) – We publish below the full text of the Chirograph by by which the Holy Father institutes a Council of Cardinals to assist him in the governance of the universal Church and to draw up a project for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus on the Roman Curia.

“Among the suggestions that emerged from the General Congregations of Cardinals prior to the Conclave, mention was made of the expediency of instituting a limited group of Members of the Episcopate, from various parts of the world, with whom the Holy Father could consult, individually or collectively, on specific matters. Once elected to the See of Rome, I have had the opportunity to reflect on this issue on a number of occasions, and consider that such an initiative would be of significant use in fulfilling the pastoral ministry of Peter’s Successor entrusted to me by my brother cardinals.

“For this reason, on 13 April I announced the constitution of the aforementioned group, at the same time indicating the names of those who had been called to participate. Now, following reflection, I consider it opportune that such a group, by means of the present Chirograph, be instituted as a ‘Council of Cardinals’, with the task of assisting me in the governance of the universal Church and drawing up a project for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution Pastor bonus on the Roman Curia. It will be composed of the same persons previously nominated, who may be called upon, both in Council and singly, on matters that I will from time to time consider worthy of attention. The aforementioned Council which, with regard to the number of members, I will compose in the most appropriate way, will constitute a further expression of Episcopal communion and of the aid to the munus petrinum that the Episcopate, disseminated throughout the world, may offer”.

The chirograph is dated 28 September 2013, the first year of Francis’ Pontificate

From Vatican Information Service

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We must never resign ourselves to the pain of war

September 30, 2013 – 9:46 am

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday addressed participants of the International Meeting for Peace in the spirit of Assisi organised by the Rome-based Community of Saint Egidio.

The meeting, held from September 29 to October 1 sees the participation of religious leaders of all denominations and of men and women who are committed to building peace in the world. Read more

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Canonization dates for John XXIII and John Paul II

September 30, 2013 – 7:54 am

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday morning held the Public Ordinary Consistory for the forthcoming Canonization of Blessed Pope John XXIII and Blessed Pope John Paul II. During the course of the Consistory in the Vatican’s Consistory Hall, the Pope decreed that his two predecessors will be raised to Sainthood on April 27, 2014, the day on which the Church celebrates the Second Sunday of Easter and Divine Mercy.

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Angelus Message: Pope greets faithful, catechists, and Orthodox Patriarch

September 29, 2013 – 4:41 pm

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis prayed the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St Peter’s Square at the end of Mass to mark the worldwide Day for Catechists, organised by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. In his brief remarks, the Holy Father thanked the scores of thousands of catechists who came from all around the world to participate in the two-day catechetical conference sponsored by the same Pontifical Council, and make pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles. Pope Francis also had special greetings for His Beatitude, Youhanna X, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. The Pope said that the Patriarch’s presence offers an invitation to all the Christian faithful everywhere to renew their prayers for peace in Syria and throughout the entire Mideast region. Below, please find Vatican Radio’s translation of the Holy Father’s remarks before the Angelus prayer.
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Dear brothers and sisters,
Before concluding this celebration, I would like to greet you all and thank you for your participation, especially the catechists come from so many parts of the world.
A special greeting to my brother, His Beatitude Youhanna X, greek orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East. His presence invites us to pray once again for peace in Syria and the Middle East.
I greet the pilgrims who have come from Assisi on horseback, as well as the Italian Alpine Club, on the 150th anniversary of its founding.
Saludo con afecto a los peregrinos de Nicaragua, recordando que los pastores y fieles de esa querida Nación celebran con alegría el centenario de la fundación canónica de la Provincia eclesiástica. [I greet with affection the pilgrims from Nicaragua, recalling that the pastors and the faithful of that beloved nation are celebrating with joy the hundredth anniversary of the canonical foundation of their Ecclesiastical Province.]
With joy we recall that yesterday, in Croatia, Miroslav Bulešić, a diocesan priest, who was martyred in 1947, was beatified. We praise the Lord, who gives the defenseless the strength to offer the ultimate witness.

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