Bulletins, Newsletters, and Flocknotes

This morning, the Holy Father Francis received in audience the participants in the 12 th Colloquium between the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and the “Centre for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue” in Tehran.

The following is the Pope’s address to those present:

 

Address of the Holy Father

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Brothers and Sisters, good morning!

I am pleased to meet you during this, your twelfth Colloquium.  As we all know, this long-standing form of cooperation has been most gratifying for all of us, since it fosters a culture of dialogue , something that I consider of critical importance and which I follow closely.

As you know, I plan to elevate the Archbishop of Tehran-Ispahan – a great friar – to the College of Cardinals.  This decision expresses my closeness and concern for the Church in Iran, and in turn honours the entire country.

The life of the Catholic Church in Iran, a “little flock”, is very close to my heart.  The Church is not against the government; to say otherwise is a lie.  I am aware of its situation and the challenges it faces as it perseveres in bearing witness to Christ and contributing, quietly but significantly, to the good of society as a whole, while rejecting all religious, ethnic or political discrimination.

I am particularly appreciative of the theme you have chosen for this Colloquium: “The Education of Young People, particularly in the Family: A Challenge for Christians and Muslims” .  What a beautiful topic!  The family, the cradle of life, is the primordial place of education.  It is in the family that we take our first steps and learn to listen to others, to acknowledge and respect them, to help them and to live with one another in harmony.  A common element of our different religious traditions is the contribution made by the elderly to the education of the young.  This is something I hold very close to my heart; grandparents, by their wisdom, are a crucial aid in the religious education of their grandchildren, and serve as a vital link in family relationships over the generations (cf. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit, 262).  Honouring our grandparents is so important.  Their religiosity, communicated informally by the witness of their lives, is invaluable for the growth of young people.  I will never forget that my own grandmother was the one who taught me to pray.

One educational challenge common to both Christians and Muslims is posed by the growing, complex reality of marriages involving disparity of cult.  It is easy to see that such family settings represent a privileged place for interreligious dialogue (cf. Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia, 248).  And that is what we must pursue.

The weakening of faith and religious practice in some societies has a direct impact on the family.  We know what great challenges the family faces in a world that is changing rapidly and not always in the right direction.  Consequently, in order to fulfil better its educational mission, the family needs the full support of everyone, including the state, the school, its own religious community and other institutions.

Some of the many tasks of the family are those of educating and “being at home” beyond the walls of its own house.  Dialogue between believers of different religions does just that; it enables us to step out of our own familiar patterns of thinking and acting, and to be open to encounter within the greater human family.  But for dialogue to be fruitful, it must meet several conditions: it must be open, it must be sincere, it must be respectful, it must be friendly and it must be concrete.  This is what makes dialogue successful.  This approach will make us credible in the eyes of our own community and before our interlocutors and their communities, while constantly reminding us that we are accountable to God for all that we think, for all that we say and for all that we do.

Finally, the education of the younger generation takes place through fraternal cooperation in the search for God.  In this quest, we must never tire of speaking and working for the dignity and rights of every person, every community and every people.  We must always defend their rights.  Indeed, freedom of conscience and religion is the cornerstone of the entire edifice of human rights.  Nor is freedom of religion limited to the expression of worship; it also entails complete freedom in the matter of one’s own beliefs and religious practice (cf. Second Vatican Ecumenical Council , Declaration Dignitatis Humanae , 3-4).

Brothers and sisters, our world is divided and rent by hatred, hostility, wars and the threat of a nuclear conflict.  We can read the latest threat in today’s newspapers.  This situation prompts us, as believers in the God of Peace, to pray and work for dialogue, reconciliation, peace, security and the integral development of all humanity.  We profess our faith in the all-powerful God of love.  The commitment to peace that we can demonstrate together will make us credible in the eyes of the world and above all to future generations.

Dear brothers and sisters, thank you for coming!  May the Most High keep and bless us, our communities and the whole world, and accompany you at every step of your journey of dialogue.

Let us now take a brief moment in silence as we pray asking God to bless us all.  Let us be silent.

May God bless us all.  Amen.

This morning’s General Audience took place at 9.00 in Saint Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father Francis met with groups of pilgrims and faithful from Italy and all over the world.

In his address in Italian, the Pope continued his cycle of catechesis on “The Spirit and the Bride: the Holy Spirit guides the People of God towards Jesus our hope”, focusing on the theme “ A letter written with the Spirit of the living God: Mary and the Holy Spirit”  (Bible reading: Acts 1:12-14).

After summarizing his catechesis in various languages, the Holy Father addressed special greetings to the faithful present. Then, after announcing the World Meeting on Children’s Rights and the canonization of Blesseds Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati, he made an appeal for Ukraine.

The General Audience concluded with the recitation of the  Pater Noster  and the Apostolic Blessing.

The following text includes parts that were not read out loud, but should be considered as such.

 

Catechesis of the Holy Father: The Spirit and the Bride: the Holy Spirit guides the People of God towards Jesus our hope. 13.  “A letter written with the Spirit of the living God: Mary and the Holy Spirit” 

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Among the various means by which the Holy Spirit implements His work of sanctification in the Church – the Word of God, the Sacraments, prayer – there is one in entirely particular, and it is Marian piety . In the Catholic tradition there is this motto, this saying: “ Ad Iesum per Mariam ”, that is, “to Jesus by means of Mary”. Our Lady lets us see Jesus. She opens the doors to us, always! Our Lady is the mother who leads us by the hand towards Jesus. Our Lady never points to herself, Our Lady points to Jesus. And this is Marian piety: to Jesus by the hands of Our Lady.

Saint Paul defines the Christian community as “a letter of Christ administered by us, written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh” ( 2 Cor 3:3). Mary, as the first disciple and figure of the Church, is also a letter written with the Spirit of the living God. Precisely for this reason, she can be “known and read by all” ( 2 Cor 3:2), even those who do not know how to read theology books, those “little ones” to whom Jesus says that the mysteries of the Kingdom, hidden to the wise, are revealed (cf. Mt 11:25).

By saying her “Yes” – when Mary accepts and says to the Angel, “Yes, let the Lord’s will be done” and accepts to be the mother of Jesus – it is as though Mary said to God: “Here I am, I am a tablet to be written on: let the Writer write what he wants, make of me what the Lord of all wishes” [1]. At that time, people wrote on waxed tablets; today we would say that Mary offers herself like a blank page on which the Lord can write whatever He wants. Mary’s “Yes” to the Angel – as a renowned exegete wrote – represents “the apex of all religious behaviour before God, since she expresses, in the highest manner, passive availability combined with active readiness, the deepest emptiness that accompanies the greatest fullness” [2].

This, then, is how the Mother of God is an instrument of the Holy Spirit in His work of sanctification. In the midst of the endless profusion of words said and written about God, the Church and holiness (that very few, or no-one, is able to read and understand fully), she suggests a few words that everyone, even the simplest, can say on any occasion: “ behold ” and “ let it be done ”. Mary is the one who said “Yes” to the Lord, and with her example and by her intercession urges us to say our “Yes” to Him too, whenever we are faced with an act of obedience to perform or a trial to overcome.

In every age of our history, but in particular at this time, the Church finds herself in the same situation as the Christian community in the aftermath of Jesus’ Ascension to heaven. It had to preach the Gospel to all nations, but was awaiting the “power from on high” in order to be able to do it. And let us not forget that, at that time, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples were gathered around “Mary the mother of Jesus” ( Acts 1:14).

It is true that there were also other women together with her in the Upper Room, but her presence is different and unique among them all. Between her and the Holy Spirit there is a unique and eternally indestructible bond that is the very person of Christ Himself, “who was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary”, as we recite in the Creed. The evangelist Luke deliberately highlights the correlation between the coming of the Holy Spirit upon Mary in the Annunciation and His coming to the disciples at Pentecost, using some identical expressions in both cases.

Saint Francis of Assisi, in one of his prayers, greets Our Lady as “daughter and handmaid of the heavenly Father, the almighty King, Mother of our most high Lord Jesus Christ, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit” [3]. Daughter of the Father, Spouse of the Holy Spirit! The unique relationship between Mary and the Trinity could not be illustrated in simpler words.

Like all images, this one of the “Spouse of the Holy Spirit” must not be rendered absolute, but taken for that amount of truth it contains, and it is a very beautiful truth. She is the bride, but before that, she is the disciple of the Holy Spirit. Bride and disciple. Let us learn from her to be docile to the inspirations of the Spirit, especially when He suggests to us to “arise in haste” and go to help someone who needs us, as she did straight after the angel left her (cf. Lk 1:39). Thank you!

________________________

 

 

[1] Comment on the Gospel of Luke , fragment. 18 (GCS 49, p. 227).

 

 

[2] H. Schürmann, Das Lukasevangelium , Friburgo in Br. 1968: Italian translation Brescia 1983, 154.

 

 

[3] Fonti Francescane , Assisi 1986, no. 281.

 

Greeting in English

!I extend a warm welcome to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, especially those coming from Norway, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and the United States of America.  Upon all of you, and upon your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ!  God bless you!   

 

Announcement and Appeal of the Holy Fathe r

On the occasion of the International Day of the Rights of Children and Adolescents, held today, I wish to announce that next 3 February the World Meeting on Children’s Rights , entitled “Love them and protect them”, will take place here in the Vatican, with the participation of experts and figures from various countries. It will be an opportunity to identify new ways of assisting and protecting millions of children who are still without rights, who live in precarious conditions, who are exploited and abused, and who suffer the dramatic consequences of wars.

There is a group of children preparing for this Day, thanks to all of you who are doing this. And here, there is a brave girl who is coming here… now they are all coming! Children are like that: one starts and then they all come” Let us greet the children! Thank you! Good morning!

I want to say that next year, during the Jubilee for Adolescents, I will canonize Blessed Carlo Acutis, and that on the Jubilee for Young People, next year, I will canonize Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

Yesterday marked one thousand days since the invasion of Ukraine, a tragic milestone for the victims and for the destruction it has caused, but at the same time a shameful catastrophe for the whole of humanity! However, this must not discourage us from continuing to stand beside the tormented Ukrainian people, nor from imploring for peace and working to make weapons give way to dialogue and confrontation to encounter.

The other day I received a letter from a university student from Ukraine, which said: “Father, when on Wednesday you remember my country, and will have the opportunity to speak to the entire world about the thousandth day of this terrible war, I beg you, do not speak only of our sufferings, but also bear witness to our faith: although it is imperfect, its value does not diminish, it paints a picture of the Risen Christ with painful brushstrokes. These days there have been too many deaths in my life. Living in a city where a missile kills and injures dozens of civilians, witnessing so many tears is difficult. I would have liked to escape, I would have liked to go back to being a child embraced by my mother, I would have liked to be in silence and love, but I thank God because through this pain, I learn to love more. Pain is not just a path to anger and despair; if it is based on faith, it is a good teacher of love. Father, if pain hurts, it means that you love; therefore, when you speak of our pain, when you remember the thousand days of suffering, remember also the thousand days of love, because only love, faith and hope give true meaning to the wounds”. This is what was written by this Ukrainian university student.

 

 

On  Thursday 21 November 2024 , at  11.00 , a press conference will be held in the Holy See Press Office, Via della Conciliazione 54, to present the  Holy Father’s Letter on the renewal of the study of Church history , in continuity with the Letter of the Holy Father Francis on the role of literature in formation, published on 4 August 2024.

The speakers will be:

-  His Eminence Cardinal Lazzaro You Heung-sik , prefect of the Dicastery for the Clergy;

-  Archbishop Andrés Gabriel Ferrada Moreira , secretary of the same Dicastery;

-  Professor Andrea Riccardi , president of the Danti Alighieri Society, former ordinary professor of contemporary history at the University of Bari, and at La Sapienza University and the Third University of Rome.

The press conference will be livestreamed in the original language on the Vatican News YouTube channel, at  https://www.youtube.com/c/VaticanNews .

Appointment of chair of the Pontifical Committee for World Children’s Day

The Holy Father has appointed the Reverend Fr. Enzo Fortunato, O.F.M. Conv., until now coordinator of World Children’s Day, as chair of the Pontifical Committee for World Children’s Day.

Last 21 September, the Holy Father appointed His Eminence Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo, archbishop emeritus of Caracas, as his special envoy to the celebration of the Sixth American Missionary Congress (CAM 6), taking place in Ponce, Puerto Rico, from 19 to 24 November 2024.

Letter

Venerabili Fratri Nostro

BALTHASARI HENRICO S.R.E. Cardinali PORRAS CARDOZO

Archiepiscopo emerito Caracensi

Quemadmodum die illa Pentecostes, cum ascendissent Apostoli in cenaculum una cum mulieribus fratribusque et Maria, matre Iesu, omnes Spiritu Sancto sunt repleti, quos postquam elevatus Dominus sibi testes usque ad ultimum terrae confirmaverat (cfr  Act  1,8.14. 2,1-2), ita et nos hodie, qui eundem accepimus Spiritum, evangelizatores cum Spiritu facti sumus, hoc est eiusdem Spiritus virtuti sine timore aperimur e nobismet ipsis egredientes, ut cum  parresìa  contenta voce in re sancti Dei populi, in qua vivimus, licet contrarii spirent venti, Evangelii novitatem tota vita nostra fratribus nuntiemus (cfr  Evangelii gaudium  259).

Certiores porro facti proximo mense Novembri in Portu Divite VI Congressum Americanum Missionarium actum iri, de celebratione huius maximi ponderis eventus laetantes, coniungi cum sacris ibi Pastoribus et christifidelibus Nostramque benevolentiam manifestare cupimus. Quamobrem libenter invitationem Conferentiae Episcopalis Portoricensis accepimus, quam eius nomine subsignavit Praeses et Episcopus Poncensis, Venerabilis Frater Ruben Antonius González Medina, C.M.F., qui humaniter poposcit ut Purpuratum Patrem illuc Nostram gerentem Personam mitteremus, ad Nostros affectus atque aestimationem erga Pastores et christifideles benigne per eum declarandam. Quibus precibus volenti animo concedentes, Te igitur, Venerabilis Frater Noster, ad hunc officium explendum peraptum arbitramur, qui missionalem dilectionem numquam intermisso labore testificatus es et in Christi Ecclesiam sollicitudinem. Harum igitur Litterarum virtute, ad sollemnia VI Congressus Americani Missionarii peragenda, qui inter dies XIX et XXIV proximi mensis Novembris Poncensi in urbe celebrabitur, Te tandem NOSTRUM MISSUM EXTRAORDINARIUM renuntiamus et constituimus.

Mandamus Tibi ut tanta in explenda missione Nostro praesis nomine atque, pastoralibus Nostris sensibus et proximitate clero et populo necnon publicis auctoritatibus atque universis christifidelibus renuntiatis, omnium plane expleas desideria. Ut res ipsa postulat, omnibus praesidebis actibus, qui a sollemni Congressu praestituentur ac de evangelizatorum cum Spiritu argumenti momento loqui perseverabis. Ceterum, insuper, cunctis participibus Nostram sermone tuo significabis salutationem, caritatem pariter Nostram testaberis erga hanc dilectam Ecclesiae portionem, quae Portoricensi in regione ambulat.

Speramus fore ut de fructibus horum sacrorum sollemnium christifideles in America spiritum vere christianum in se ipsis foveant omnesque vires suas in evangelizationis opus, consolatione Spiritus uberrima impleti, impendere valeant.

Dum missionem Tuam, Venerabilis Frater Noster, Beatae Mariae Virginis a Divina Providentia praesidio commendamus, munus Tuum fidentes omnibus illic adstantibus optime esse cessurum, Nostram denique Benedictionem, caelestium gratiarum nuntiam, Tibi libenter impertimur, quam ad cunctos sacros Praesules, universum clerum, religiosos viros mulieresque, publicas auctoritates et christifidelium omnium communitatem pertinere volumus.

Datum Romae, Laterani, die XXII mensis Octobris, in memoria s. Ioannis Pauli II, papae, anno Domini MMXXIV, Pontificatus Nostri duodecimo.

FRANCISCUS