Revisiting the highlights of Pope Francis’ visit to Turkey
Pope Francis has just concluded a three-day pastoral visit to Turkey which took him to the cities of Ankara and Istanbul.  It was a journey that had a strong emphasis on ecumenical relations and interfaith dialogue and saw the Pope and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I sign a joint declaration pledging to intensify their search for Christian unity and calling for a constructive dialogue with Islam. Our correspondent travelling with the Pope to Turkey was Philippa Hitchen and in an interview with Linda Bordoni, she revisited some of the highlights of this papal trip. Pope Francis’ final engagement before he left Istanbul on Sunday was a meeting with a group of young people including many refugees from conflict zones of ...

Pope to journalists: I prayed for Turkey, for peace, for Christian unity
Half a century on from the first meeting between a Pope and an Orthodox Patriarch, one of the frequently asked questions at the end of this visit to Turkey is how long will it take before the two Churches are reunited again? A second question that’s been on everyone’s lips in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation is what difference will this trip make to the interreligious tensions that continue to inflame conflicts in countries such as Syria, Iraq and Nigeria, to cite just those places that have been mentioned by name over the past three days. Pope Francis responded to both these questions during a lengthy press conference on the plane back to Rome. (He also walked down between the seats shaking ...

Pope Francis: May Turkey have peace, coexistence, dignity
Shortly after his arrival in Ankara Friday for a three day pastoral visit to Turkey, Pope Francis visited the Mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first President of the modern-day Republic of Turkey. The Pope was greeted by the Commander of the Guards, laid a wreath of flowers and paused for a few moments of silence.  Pope Francis was then accompanied to the Tower of “National Pact” at the entry to the Anitkabir Atatürk Museum which exhibits the founder of the Turkish Republic’s personal items, wardrobe, and a number of the gifts presented to him.  There, the Holy Father signed The “Gold Book”, with the following inscription: “May the Almighty grant peace and prosperity to the dear Turkish ...

Pope Francis: Interreligious dialogue can help end forms of fundamentalism
Pope Francis has urged more interreligious dialogue to help bring peace and end all forms of “fundamentalism,terrorism and irrational fears.” His appeal came in a speech to Turkey’s President Erdogan and other top political leaders on the first day of his pastoral visit to the cities of Ankara and Istanbul.  In his discourse, the Pope also stressed the importance of religious freedom, respect for human dignity and said we must never “resign ourselves” to ongoing conflicts in the Middle East. He spoke of his concern over the conflicts in Iraq and Syria along with the “grave persecution” of minorities there and praised Turkey’s “generous” response in welcoming a large number of refugees from these regional conflicts.  Please find below an ...

Pope: God lives in big cities. We must be there with Him.
Pope Francis has urged bishops and pastoral care workers to take up the challenge of bringing the Gospel into big cities with a profound change of attitude and renewed committment. In a message to participants of the International Pastoral Congress on the World’s Big Cities, held in Barcelona this week, the Pope issued an encouragement to reflect creatively on the way they face the task of evangelization in great urban centers that are in increasing expansion, and in which everyone needs to feel the closeness and mercy of God. Delivering his message to a group of Cardinals and bishops from big cities across the world whom he received in audience on Thursday morning, Pope Francis began with a reflection on ...

Pope at Santa Marta: Depression and hope
Reality can be ugly, but despite the suffering, corruption and indifference in today’s world as Christians we must hold our heads high in hope said Pope Francis at Mass Thursday morning in Casa Santa Marta. Basing his reflections on the Readings of the Day, Pope Francis spoke of the fate of the two cities of Babylon and Jerusalem. The Pope pointed out that both the First Reading from Revelation and the Gospel from St Luke Chapter 21, draw our attention to the end of this world. He noted that they speak of the fall of two cities that refused to welcome the Lord and that drifted away from Him.  These two cities fall for different reasons, he said.   Babylon is ...

Pope at Santa Marta: Everything for the Lord and others
When the Church is humble and poor, then “it is faithful” to Christ, giving all it has for the Lord and others, leaving nothing for itself said Pope Francis at morning Mass in  Casa Santa Marta Monday. Pope Francis based his reflections on the Gospel of the Day which recounts the episode of the poor widow who gives all that she has – two small coins or mites – to the Temple treasury, while the rich made offerings from their surplus wealth under the gaze of Jesus. Pope Francis said the Gospel captures two tendencies always present in the history of the Church. The Church tempted by vanity and the “poor Church”, which – he says – “must have no ...

Pope Francis: Marriage and the family are in crisis
(Vatican Radio) On Monday, Pope Francis addressed a Colloquium being held on the theme “The Complementarity of Man and Woman in Marriage.” The Holy Father began his address by dwelling on the word “complementarity”: “a precious word, with multiple meanings.” Although complementarity can refer “situations where one of two things adds to, completes, or fulfills a lack in the other” it also means much more than that. Christians, he said, “find its deepest meaning in the first Letter to the Corinthians where Saint Paul tells us that the Spirit has endowed each of us with different gifts so that-just as the human body’s members work together for the good of the whole-everyone’s gifts can work together for the benefit of ...

Thanks to the Resurrection of Jesus our faith is full of the joy of truth and eternal life.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Monday, November 3, celebrated Mass in remembrance of all the Cardinals and Bishops who died during the past year. During the Mass, which was held in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Pope reminded us that thanks to the Resurrection of Jesus our faith is full of the joy of truth and eternal life. Reflecting on the reading from the second Book of Maccabees in which the ruler of Jerusalem collects “two thousand silver drachmas for sacrifice to be offered for the sins of the dead, thinking well and religiously concerning the resurrection” (2 Mac 12, 43-46),  – the Pope said – that thanks to God’s Word this celebration is enlightened by our faith in the Resurrection. ...

Holy Father’s Angelus address for the Solemnity of All Saints and the Faithful Departed: today we are called to remember those who no one remembers
  Below a Vatican Radio translation of the Holy Father’s Angelus address: Dear Brothers and Sisters, Good day! Yesterday we celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints, and today the liturgy invites us to commemorate the faithful departed. These two occurrences are intimately linked to each other, just as joy and tears find a synthesis in Jesus Christ, that is the foundation of our faith and our hope. On the one hand, in fact, the Church, a pilgrim in history, rejoices through the intercession of the saints and blessed who support her in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel; on the other, she, like Jesus, shares the tears of those who suffer the separation from loved ones, and like Him and ...