Tag Archives: Pope

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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Reflections of a Paralytic » Francis Leaves Popemobile to Bless Disabled Man

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Francis Leaves Popemobile to Bless Disabled Man
Before his inaugural Mass this morning, Pope Francis descended the popemobile to bless a disabled man in St. Peter’s Square.

He’s preaching the Gospel of Life without saying a word. I love this man.

He also has to be giving his security team some mild heart attacks. I like what Elizabeth Scalia had to say this morning on Twitter in response to concerns over his safety: “#PopeFrancis seems determined to teach that you go forward in faith, not fear, on God’s timetable. Good lesson.”

An excellent lesson, but still, “Let us pray for our Sovereign Pontiff Francis. The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon earth, and deliver him not to the will of his enemies.” (Prayer for the Pope, Handbook of Prayers)

“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.

Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival

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It’s time once again for Sunday Snippets. We are Catholic bloggers sharing weekly our best posts with one another.  Join us to read and contribute if you like. To participate, go to your blog and create a post titled Sunday Snippets–A Catholic Carnival. Make sure that the post links back to here, and leave a link to your  snippets post on our host, RAnn’s, site, This, That and the Other Thing.

“Benedict XVI taught with stark clarity for eight years, Papa Franceso,  Il Poverello, is about to translate into prophetic thunder” Thomas J. Neal, Ph.D.