Tag Archives: Pope Francis

Pope’s sister: Francis ‘plenty tough enough’ to lead | National Catholic Reporter

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Pope’s sister: Francis ‘plenty tough enough’ to lead | National Catholic Reporter.

TUZAINGÓ, ARGENTINA

Though there aren’t yet hard numbers to back it up, it’s a good bet that the single most interviewed human being on the planet since March 13, 2013, has been a simple 64-year-old housewife in the Argentine city of Ituzaingó, about an hour outside Buenos Aires.The woman is Maria Elena Bergoglio, and her older brother Jorge today is known to the world as Pope Francis. They’re the last surviving siblings of five children, and since the moment Francis stepped out onto the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square, Maria Elena become the go-to point of reference for insight on the new pope.

Listening to her, she seems cut from the same cloth as her now-famous sibling: Humble and unpretentious, and also completely unafraid to speak her mind.

For instance, when stories began to make the rounds about Francis having become a priest only because a young love rejected his marriage proposal, Maria Elena was there to bat it down. She insisted that her brother was only a kid at the time, and the idea of getting married was never serious. More ominously, when critics suggested that her brother had been complicit in Argentina’s military junta, Maria Elena testily pointed out that her family emigrated from Italy because their father was opposed to fascism … the clear suggestion being that Jorge Mario Bergoglio would never betray his father’s memory by cozying up to dictators.Read more……….

Pope Francis washes the feet of God’s wayward children, boys and girls. Mommies and daddy’s wipe noses and evangelize just by being present in the midst of community.

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Pope Francis washes the feet of God’s wayward children, boys and girls. Mommies and daddy’s wipe noses and evangelize just by being present in the midst of community.

Kathleen's avatarKathleen M. Basi

Triduum with young children is not a blissful devotional experience. But we do it anyway, because it’s important.

Michael is a wiggleworm during church at all times, but at bedtime, after immunization shots, it increases exponentially. I kept having to take him to the back so he could run back and forth, put his arms up to be picked up only to squirm back to the floor (rinse & repeat). Then he grabbed my face between his hands and started playing Eskimo kiss. It was less charming than it sounds, considering his version involves crashing foreheads and a runny nose.

But somewhere amid toddler wrestling and trying to show the 6- and 4- year-olds what’s so special about this particular day and why we go to Mass at night, something occurred to me that had I had never processed before:

Jesus washed Judas’ feet.

Now that has some pretty profound…

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Wednesday of Holy Week / DivineOffice.org

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Wednesday of Holy Week

“And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheek to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced (Isaiah 50:5-7).”
Today we continue our focus on Holy Week and our meditations on the four Servant songs in Isaiah. Monday we heard Yahweh announce a chosen Servant, to bring sight and justice to the nations. Tuesday we read about the Savior’s mission to bring salvation to the very ends of the earth. Today’s Servant song shows the agony present in the task. Foreshadowing the Passion, we see a Servant who is suffering and insulted. Despite adversaries and darkness, the Servant remains steadfast. These three texts prepare us for death and the Cross. In the midst of these foreboding premonitions, we are reminded, though, that the Servant is not disgraced and God is ever-present, one with the mission.

In a recent homily Pope Francis echoed this divine mystery: “Jesus on the Cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s love he conquers it, he defeats it with hisWednesday of Holy Week
“And I have not rebelled, have not turned back. I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheek to those who plucked my beard; My face I did not shield from buffets and spitting. The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced (Isaiah 50:5-7).”

Today we continue our focus on Holy Week and our meditations on the four Servant songs in Isaiah. Monday we heard Yahweh announce a chosen Servant, to bring sight and justice to the nations. Tuesday we read about the Savior’s mission to bring salvation to the very ends of the earth. Today’s Servant song shows the agony present in the task. Foreshadowing the Passion, we see a Servant who is suffering and insulted. Despite adversaries and darkness, the Servant remains steadfast. These three texts prepare us for death and the Cross. In the midst of these foreboding premonitions, we are reminded, though, that the Servant is not disgraced and God is ever-present, one with the mission.

In a recent homily Pope Francis echoed this divine mystery: “Jesus on the Cross feels the whole weight of the evil, and with the force of God’s love he conquers it, he defeats it with his resurrection. This is the good that Jesus does for us on the throne of the Cross. Christ’s Cross embraced with love never leads to sadness, but to joy, to the joy of having been saved…”

Pope Francis opts for Vatican guesthouse instead of papal apartment

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VATICAN CITY (RNS) Shunning the spacious papal apartment used by his predecessors, Pope Francis has chosen to continue living in the Vatican guesthouse where he has been staying since the beginning of the conclave.

conclave hotel

The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, explained on Tuesday (March 26) that Francis will live “until further notice” in a suite in the Santa Martha Residence, a modern Vatican guesthouse for priests and bishops who work in the Roman Curia or who are visiting the Vatican for meetings and conferences. Photo by Rene Shaw

 

The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, explained on Tuesday (March 26) that Francis will live “until further notice” in a suite in the Santa Martha Residence, a modern Vatican guesthouse for priests and bishops who work in the Roman Curia or who are visiting the Vatican for meetings and conferences.

Francis made his intentions clear on Tuesday morning, while celebrating Mass in the residence’s chapel for its permanent guests, who occupy about half of the residence’s 130 or so rooms.

The pontiff’s choice is a consequence of his desire to adopt a “simple” living arrangement that allows him “to live in community” with other priests and bishops, Lombardi explained.

 

“A Horizon of Hope”

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“To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman, to look upon them with tenderness and love, is to open up a horizon of hope; it is to let a shaft of light break through the heavy clouds; it is to bring the warmth of hope! For believers, for us Christians, like Abraham, like Saint Joseph, the hope that we bring is set against the horizon of God, which has opened up before us in Christ. It is a hope built on the rock which is God.” Pope Francis (excerpt from Inaugural Mass Homily)

Pope Celebrates Inaugural Mass – WSJ.com.VATICAN CITY—The Catholic Church’s first New World pontiff formally began his ministry Tuesday with a call for politicians, priests and others in positions of power to protect society’s weakest and poorest members.

Pope Francis was officially installed as Pontiff; The Army bought a $300 Million blimp, and now the contractor wants it back; Internet providers oppose FCC recommendations on cyber-security. Photo: Getty Images.

Standing on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis told a group of heads of state, among a crowd of tens of thousands gathered for his inaugural Mass, that secular and religious leaders must act as “custodians” for “every creation of God.”

The new pope, an Argentine Jesuit elected last week to lead the scandal-tarnished church, has moved swiftly to set a more humble tone for the papacy, departing from some of the customary pomp and fueling hopes for change in Rome.

A Papacy Begins

Reuters

The papal pallium is fitted on Pope Francis during his inaugural Mass.

Tuesday’s Mass, a deeply symbolic event watched closely by the clergy as well as those in the pews, signaled Pope Francis’ intention to focus on serving the disadvantaged—as well as his desire to readjust the priorities of the church hierarchy.

“I’d like to ask, please, to anyone who is in charge of the economy, politics, society—to all men and women of good will—let’s be custodians of creation and of the design of God inscribed in nature—custodian of others and of the environment,” the pope said.

A Reluctant Sinner: God bless our Pope! The Holy Father revives an ancient tradition

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God bless our Pope! The Holy Father revives an ancient tradition soon after his election to the See of Peter.

It seems that Pope Francis revived an ancient tradition at the end of the Conclave that elected him to the Papacy.

After accepting the Petrine Ministry, the Holy Father placed his old cardinal’s zucchetto on Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri’s head. Archbishop Baldisseri is the Secretary to the College of Cardinals, and therefore, by virtue of his office, served as Secretary to the Conclave. This act means that Archbishop Baldisseri will be formally created a cardinal at the next consistory.

Until recent times, it was common for a newly elected Pope to elevate the (non-cardinal) Secretary of the Conclave to the ranks of the cardinalate upon his own election to the Papacy. He would do this by giving the Secretary his own cardinal’s zucchetto, as he himself was given the white one reserved for the Pope.

The last Pope to do this was Blessed John XXIII, who, immediately after being elected to the See of Peter in 1958, gave his old red skullcap to the then Secretary of the Conclave, Alberto di Jorio. The tradition, until last week, seemed to have come to an end with the election of Paul VI in 1963.

According to a friend, some commentators had noticed that Archbishop Baldisseri was wearing a cardinal’s zucchetto when he appeared in public during Pope Francis’s greeting from the Loggia of St Peter’s on the night of his election. The story has since been confirmed by Vatican Radio’s Portuguese language news section.

Many congratulations to Archbishop Baldisseri! It is also good to note that Pope Francis decided to revive this beautiful and ancient custom.

God bless our Pope!

via A Reluctant Sinner: God bless our Pope! The Holy Father revives an ancient tradition soon after his election to the See of Peter.