Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Today I would like to touch briefly on another of the terms with which the Second Vatican Council defined the Church, that of “People of God” (cf. Dogmatic Constitution. Lumen Gentium, 9; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 782). I shall do so with a few questions upon which we […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters! The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the highest human expression of divine love. Just this past Friday, in fact, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus: the feast that sets the tone for the whole month. Popular piety highly prizes symbols, […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning! Today I want to focus on the issue of the environment, which I have already spoken of on several occasions. Today we also mark World Environment Day, sponsored by the United Nations, which sends a strong reminder of the need to eliminate the waste and disposal of food. When […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Last Thursday we celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi, which in Italy and other countries is transferred to Sunday. It is the Feast of the Eucharist, the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. The Gospel tells the story of the miracle of the loaves (Luke 9:11-17). I want to […]
Yesterday in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. He then led, on foot, the Eucharistic procession that wound along Rome’s Via Merulana, until reaching the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. Following are ample extracts from the Holy Father’s homily, which focused on the Gospel story […]
The mystery of the Church will be the theme of Pope Francis’ new cycle of catechesis during the Wednesday general audiences. “A mystery,” he said, “that we all live and in which we all take part.” The Pope, who will discuss this topic in light of Vatican Council II texts, began from the parable of […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, good day! In the Creed, after having professed faith in the Holy Spirit, we say: “We believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.” There is a deep connection between these two realities of faith: the Holy Spirit gives life to the Church, guides Her steps. Without the presence and the […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today we contemplate and re-live in the liturgy the outpouring of the Holy Spirit sent by the risen Christ upon his Church; an event of grace which filled the Upper Room in Jerusalem and then spread throughout the world. But what happened on that day, so distant from us and yet […]
“We are living in an age when we are rather sceptical regarding truth,” the Holy Father said to the over 75,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on May 15th. “Benedict XVI spoke many times about relativism, that is, the tendency to believe that there is nothing definitive and to think that truth comes from […]
Dear brothers and sisters, good day. The season of Easter that we are living with joy, guided by the liturgy of the Church, is par excellence the time of the Holy Spirit, given to us “not by measure” (cf. John 3:34) by the crucified and risen Jesus. This time of grace ends with the feast […]
Pope Francis dedicated the catechesis of his Wednesday general audience to three Gospel texts that help us to enter into the mystery of one of the truths professed in the Creed: that Jesus “will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead”. The three texts are: the parable of the ten virgins; […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the Creed, we find the affirmation that Jesus “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” The earthly life of Jesus culminates in the event of the Ascension, that is, when he passes from this world to the Father, and is lifted up to His […]
“The Lord saves us by His love: not with a letter, nor with a decree, but with his love,” a love so great that it led him to send his Son, who, “became one of us, walked with us,” and this, he said, “saves us.” The Holy Father went on to explain that “salvation” means, […]
Pope Francis’ General Audience for Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today we turn to the Catechism of the Year of Faith. In the Creed we repeat this phrase: “He rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures”. This is the very event that we are celebrating: the Resurrection of […]
This homily was preached at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul on Easter morning, the thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand thirteen. My brothers and sisters in the Risen Christ: For the forty days known as Lent we have been on a pilgrimage, journeying with Jesus and His […]
The full text of the Holy Father’s Urbi et Orbi Message, Easter 2013. Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy Easter! What a joy it is for me to announce this message: Christ is risen! I would like it to go out to every house and every family, especially where the […]
“I am happy to welcome you to this, my first general audience,” Pope Francis said to the thousands of faithful who filled St. Peter’s Square to participate in the Bishop of Rome’s first catechesis. “With gratitude and veneration,” he continued, “I take up this ‘witness’ from the hands of my beloved predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. […]
I would be remiss not make mention on this website dedicated to fatherhood that habemus papam — we have a papa – and indeed, what a remarkable papa Francis is turning out to be! Even from the outset, our new Holy Father has offered many examples of fatherly love, wisdom, and practical judgment at work. […]
Following is the whole text of Pope Francis’ homily during the Palm Sunday Mass that begins the Holy Week celebrations. The Holy Father commented on the World Youth Day that the entire Church celebrates today, asking that we live the faith “with a young heart”. The pontiff urged the youth to “tell the world that […]
On Sunday, March 17th, 2013, Pope Francis delivered the first Angelus address of his pontificate. Given that he spoke before and after a Marian prayer, the Angelus, one should not be surprised that Our Lady was invoked in some way. He shared three pertinent things regarding Mary. 1. Pope Francis relayed the story of an […]
Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Ordinary for Eastern-rite faithful in Argentina who lack an Ordinary of their own rite, was born on 17 December 1936 in Buenos Aires. He studied as and holds a degree as a chemical technician, but then chose the priesthood and entered the seminary of Villa […]
Brothers and sisters, good evening. You all know that the duty of the Conclave was to give a bishop to Rome. It seems that my brother Cardinals have come almost to the ends of the Earth to get him … but here we are. I thank you for the welcome that has come from the […]
Homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God A new year invites us to think of goals we would like to achieve and resolutions we want to make. In short, it seems to be the ideal time for renewal and commitment. However, in all honesty, do we really expect 2013 to be different than […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters, “May God bless us and make his face to shine upon us.” We proclaimed these words from Psalm 66 after hearing in the first reading the ancient priestly blessing upon the people of the covenant. It is especially significant that at the start of every new year God sheds upon us, […]
