Pope Francis visit to Lesbos to highlight the plight of Syrian Refugees






Crux - Pope visits Greece to put faces, names on refugee crisis
Crux - Pope Francis brings twelve refugees to Rome on papal plane

Vatican Radio:
Pope makes emotional visit to refugees at Moria camp
Pope has lunch with refugees at Moria camp on Lesbos
Pope's powerful example of solidarity speaks to an indifferent world
Pope Francis, Patr. Bartholomew, ABP Ieronymos sign joint declaration in Lesbos

CNA:
Full Text of Pope Francis' in-flight interview from Lesbos to Rome
In Greece, Pope Francis tells migrants 'you are not alone'
‘It makes you weep,’ pope says of refugees’ stories

NYT - Pope Francis Takes 12 Refugees Back to Vatican After Trip to Greece

World Day of Peace - Pope Francis message 2016 - “Overcome indifference and win peace.”

The World Day of Peace is a feast day of the Roman Catholic Church dedicated to peace, held on 1 January, on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. It was introduced in 1967 by Paul VI, inspired by the encyclical Pacem in terris of John XXIII and with reference to his own encyclical Populorum progressio. The day was first observed on 1 January 1968.

The World Day of Peace has often been a time when popes make magisterial declarations relevant to the social doctrine of the Church. Paul VI and John Paul II have each year made important statements on the United Nations, human rights, women's rights, labour unions, economic development, the right to life, international diplomacy, peace in the Holy Land, globalization and terrorism. 
Vatican Radio summary report for 2016 message here.
CNA report for 2016 message here.

 

  

MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE FRANCIS FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE
XLIX WORLD DAY OF PEACE

1 JANUARY 2016

Overcome Indifference and Win Peace

 

1. God is not indifferent! God cares about mankind! God does not abandon us! At the beginning of the New Year, I would like to share not only this profound conviction but also my cordial good wishes for prosperity, peace and the fulfilment of the hopes of every man and every woman, every family, people and nation throughout the world, including all Heads of State and Government and all religious leaders. We continue to trust that 2016 will see us all firmly and confidently engaged, on different levels, in the pursuit of justice and peace. Peace is both God’s gift and a human achievement. As a gift of God, it is entrusted to all men and women, who are called to attain it.

Maintaining our reasons for hope

2. Sadly, war and terrorism, accompanied by kidnapping, ethnic or religious persecution and the misuse of power, marked the past year from start to finish. In many parts of the world, these have became so common as to constitute a real “third world war fought piecemeal”. Yet some events of the year now ending inspire me, in looking ahead to the new year, to encourage everyone not to lose hope in our human ability to conquer evil and to combat resignation and indifference. They demonstrate our capacity to show solidarity and to rise above self-interest, apathy and indifference in the face of critical situations.

Here I would mention the efforts to bring world leaders together at COP21 in the search for new ways to confront climate change and to protect the earth, our common home. We can also think of two earlier global events: the Addis Ababa Summit for funding sustainable development worldwide and the adoption of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aimed at ensuring a more dignified standard of living for all the world’s peoples, especially the poor, by that year.

For the Church, 2015 was a special year, since it marked the fiftieth anniversary of two documents of the Second Vatican Council which eloquently expressed her sense of solidarity with the world. Pope John XXIII, at the beginning of the Council, wanted to open wide the windows of the Church and to improve her communication with the world. The two documents, Nostra Aetate and Gaudium et Spes, are emblematic of the new relationship of dialogue, solidarity and accompaniment which the Church sought to awaken within the human family. In the Declaration Nostra Aetate, the Church expressed her openness to dialogue with non-Christian religions. In the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, based on a recognition that “the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well”,[1] the Church proposed to enter into dialogue with the entire human family about the problems of our world, as a sign of solidarity, respect and affection.[2]

Along these same lines, with the present Jubilee of Mercy I want to invite the Church to pray and work so that every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart, one capable of proclaiming and witnessing to mercy. It is my hope that all of us will learn to “forgive and give”, to become more open “to those living on the outermost fringes of society - fringes which modern society itself creates”, and to refuse to fall into “a humiliating indifference or a monotonous routine which prevents us from discovering what is new! Let us ward off destructive cynicism!”[3]

Vatican Radio follows SS102fm to a story.........

Of interest on Vatican Radio this morning is an interview with Cathal Barry of the Irish Catholic newspaper about the study guide written by Fr Eamon Conway and himself to help people work through the papal encyclical "Laudato Si". We kindly refer you to SS102fm interview with Fr Eamonn Conway here.

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation - Drop in the Ocean Ireland and Climate Change? - Trocaire

Climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity today and yet our political systems refuse to move quickly enough to do anything about it. It threatens to undo all the gains that have been made against poverty in recent decades.

But how does it affect Ireland and where do we fit in the global picture? ‘Drop in the Ocean?’ talks to some of Ireland’s leading environmental scientists, writers and activists to find out.

 

Find out more about Trócaire's Climate Justice campaign HERE.

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation - CST 101 from Catholic Relief Service

CST 101 is a collaborative 7-part video series presented by the USCCB and Catholic Relief Services on Catholic Social Teaching. Hear from Father James Martin, SJ, Dr. Carolyn Woo, and Cardinal Peter Turkson as they discuss Care for God's Creation.

 

12th July 2015 - Laudato Si: A discussion with Professor Eamonn Conway

On this weeks programme John and Shane are joined by Professor Eamonn Conway of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick to discuss the recent papal encyclical Laudato Si.

You can listen to the podcast of this weeks programme HERE.

Laudato Si - On Care for our common home 

On this weeks programme John, Ann and Shane are joined by Fr Eamonn Conway who is a Professor of Theology at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick to discuss the latest papal encyclical Laudato Si.

The discussion on the encyclical in this weeks programme is excerpted from the main programme and available HERE.

We have posted a lot of coverage on the encyclical over the last number of weeks which is available under the tag "Laudato Si" which you are invited to check out to see the various commentaries and analysis of the encyclical.

“LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”. 

This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Fr Eamonn has co-authored a study to the encyclical which is available from the Irish Catholic newspaper. You can order it online HERE.

You can find a Vatican summary of the encyclical HERE.

NCR has also produced an extremely short reading guide HERE.

Gospel - Mark 6:7-13

"He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them."

Reflections on this weeks gospel:

Sunday Reflections

Centre for Liturgy

English Dominicans

Word on Fire

Liturgical Odds & Ends

Liturgy of the Hours - psalter week 3; 15th week in ordinary time

July 13th - St Henry

July 14th - St. Kateri Tekakwitha

July 15th - St Bonaventure

July 16th - Our Lady of Mount Carmel

July 17th - Servant of God Francis Garcés and Companions

July 18th - Saint Aemilian of Dorostorium

"Let's Not Be Afraid To Say It – We Need Change, We Want Change": To Poor and Powerful Alike, Pope's Watershed Call for "Justice"

Over at Whispers in the Loggia, Rocco discusses the most recent address by Pope Francis during his trip to South America:

While much of yesterday's PopeTrip news-cycle fixated on what Francis did or didn't say to the Bolivian President Evo Morales on receiving a crucifix in the shape of a Communist hammer and sickle – or the reported use of a Burger King as a makeshift sacristy before yesterday's mega-Mass – yet again, the big story in reality lay elsewhere: his unleashing of a bombshell text that immediately takes its place among the handful of truly landmark addresses of this pontificate.

Before a summit of social movements representing workers, the poor and marginalized, the Pope delivered one of the longest and strongest speeches of his 28 months as Bishop of Rome – a loaded call for social justice born from "the barrio, the land, the office, the labor union" and its demand for "real change, structural change" from the "tyranny of mammon" through a revolution of an "intolerable" economic system that, he said, "runs counter to the plan of Jesus" as it "kills," "excludes" and "destroys Mother Earth."

The address was the second Papa Bergoglio's given to the World Meeting of Popular Movements – a joint venture of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Vatican's Academy for Social Sciences – following his appearance at an initial gathering in Rome last October.

In a rarity for a speech from the usually free-wheeling Pope, the heavily programmatic product was laid out in numbered paragraphs with footnote citations – not merely a signal of its import, but the intent for the text to be received less as fleeting remarks able to be discounted than an enduring, consequential teaching document.



The centerpiece talk of this eight-day trek – which, later today, enters its home-stretch in Paraguay – the bombshell speech indeed doubles as the principal curtain-raiser to date for the most intensely awaited moment of Francis' September US trip: the unprecedented papal address to a joint meeting of Congress (for which, it emerged this week, an inauguration-style staging area is being planned on the Capitol's West Front so the Pope can greet an overflow crowd after the speech's simulcast on outdoor screens).

In the meantime, a manifesto of this magnitude has already seen no shortage of attempts at summary and will birth a flood of commentary for weeks. Even for that, just do your intelligence the favor of reading the actual text first.

Continue reading HERE.

Laudato Si - Videos exploring the encyclical from iCatholic

Laudato Si - analysis & reaction (III)

The basic question for people - "Why Pope Francis' encyclical matters"

Salt + Light have a roundup of coverage including their own daily news programme Behind Vatican Walls: Laudato Si’

Millenial has a running series of articles over at their website including Read Pope Francis’ Twitter Version of Laudato Si

Focus - Summary of Laudato Si, Pope Francis' Encyclical on the Environment

NCR - World weighs in on 'Laudato Si''  - NCR will be tracking reception worldwide to Pope Francis' environmental encyclical, "Laudato Si', on Care for Our Common Home." Check back at this post throughout the day as it is updated with the latest reactions.

CNA - "'Laudato si' is not only an example of the Magisterium's social teaching: it also represents the birth of a new literary genre among papal documents. Normally in the modern epoch, Popes have included in encyclicals doctrinal themes. But 'Laudato si' is not a doctrinal text -- it is rather a pastoral letter based on the classical Latin American method: see, judge, act." Continue reading here.

Crux coverage:
What to do? The pope’s practical tips for helping the environment
John Allen looks at how Pope’s eco-manifesto looks like a game-changer in the US
Both praise, skepticism greet Pope Francis’ eco-encyclical

RNS - Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical is even more radical than it appears

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The ad intra arguments of the so called "right" and "left" wing elements of the church have also started. Take a look at NCR which calls out how those on the right wing who have problems accepting what has been defined as being part of Catholic Social teaching -  Laudato Si' - Magistra No.

"There is something a little endearing about watching some conservative Catholic wrestle with the fact that they are dissenting from papal teaching. They are a bit clumsy at it. Perhaps, here at NCR, we could offer a symposium or something. What has become abundantly clear in the last twenty-four hours is that these conservatives are dissenting, and not just from one item in a long papal document, but from the very foundations of Catholic Social Teaching......."

New Republic discusses "The Last Time Conservatives Dismissed a Major Encyclical, It Ended Terribly for Them"

On the other side of the debate Fr John Zuhlsdorf who blogs at Fr Z's Blog is tracking the responses and difficulties of those viewed as being more conservative and poses "A few mischievous thoughts" including,

"If Pope Francis is truly interested in the environment, he should, without delay, ditch the cars he is driven around in and use the sedia gestatoria.  It’s for the planet! Furthermore, to save the planet by reducing fossil fuel use (and planet killing Air Conditioning), Francis should immediately cancel World Youth Day........ 

And, again, if everyone is going to be required by the elite liberal set to accept the Pope’s musings on the environment and markets as nearly infallible teaching, then perhaps we should give them all copies of … say… Mortalium animos… Humanae vitae… Ordinatio sacerdotalis… Summorum Pontificum… and hold them to their own standards."

Spiritual Friendships reflects on Awe and Wonder: A Preliminary Comment on Laudato Si’

Laudato Si’ is shaping up to be the most controversial papal encyclical since Humanae Vitae. On the surface, the dissent from these two encyclicals seems very different: the rebellion against Humanae Vitae came from the political “left,” while the present rebellion comes from the “right.” If, however, we dig beneath the shallow political categories, we find that the two rebellions are “ultimately due to the same evil: the notion that there are no indisputable truths to guide our lives, and hence human freedom is limitless” (LS, 6).

The “left” has focused more on sexual freedom, and the “right” on economic freedom. The fundamental question for both, however, is: can we discover a rational order in nature, put there by God, an order to which we are called to conform our lives? Or do we see in nature—including our own human nature—only raw materials to be exploited for ends that we choose for ourselves?

The Vatican's presentation of Pope Francis' new encyclical said the intent behind the document goes beyond political debates, aiming for something more essential: the well-being of all creation.

Laudato Si - analaysis & reaction (II)

 

 

 

 



10 quotes from Laudato Si - iCatholic

Laudato Si - the reaction and analysis - UPDATED

Irish Conference of Bishops - Laudato Si coverage

Time - Exclusive: Patriarch Bartholomew on Pope Francis’ Climate Encyclical
USCCB - Environment/Environmental Justice Program

NCR - Laudato Si arrives - Michael Sean Williams
NCR's coverage of the encyclical which has various articles constantly being posted here.

Crux - If ‘Laudato Si’ is an earthquake, it had plenty of early tremors
Crux - Pope Francis: Heed ‘the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor’
Millenial - 7 Surprising Ways that Pope Francis’ Encyclical is Calling You to Change
The Anchoress - Laudato Si: All of our Sin, All of our Hatred on Trial
NCR - Pope Francis' Letter to World: Learn to Give, And Not Simply to Give Up

America - Laudato si': A 'Map'
America - coverage of the encyclical
America - History is Made as Pope Francis’ Encyclical is Presented in the Vatican

Vatican Radio - Metropolitan John Zizioulas: Laudato Si' give Orthodox "great joy"
Ennis Blue
Wall Street Journal - Pope Delivers Strong Message on Climate Change in Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’’
The Guardian coverage - The Guardian view on Laudato Si’: Pope Francis calls for a cultural revolution
BBC - Pope Francis blames 'human selfishness' for global warming

UPDATE:
Irish Independent - The Pope was right to issue stark message on climate change
Salt + Light - Awe and Wonder: A Preliminary Comment on Laudato Si’
Phil has been tracking analysis and comments as well as her own reading of the new encyclical over at Ennis Blue

Laudato Si - On care for our common home

ENCYCLICAL LETTER

LAUDATO SI' 

OF THE HOLY FATHER

FRANCIS

ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

“Laudato si’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord”. In the words of this beautiful canticle, Saint Francis of Assisi reminds us that our common home is like a sister with whom we share our life and a beautiful mother who opens her arms to embrace us. “Praise be to you, my Lord, through our Sister, Mother Earth, who sustains and governs us, and who produces various fruit with coloured flowers and herbs”.

This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her. We have come to see ourselves as her lords and masters, entitled to plunder her at will. The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

More than fifty years ago, with the world teetering on the brink of nuclear crisis, Pope Saint John XXIII wrote an Encyclical which not only rejected war but offered a proposal for peace. He addressed his message Pacem in Terris to the entire “Catholic world” and indeed “to all men and women of good will”. Now, faced as we are with global environmental deterioration, I wish to address every person living on this planet. In my Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, I wrote to all the members of the Church with the aim of encouraging ongoing missionary renewal. In this Encyclical, I would like to enter into dialogue with all people about our common home....

***********

 

 

You can read full version of the encyclical HTML and PDF.

The Vatican has produced a quick 12-page guide available here courtesy of Rocco over at Whispers.

The on-demand press conference from the Pope Paul VI Hall in the Vatican this morning is available here.

Time - Patriarch Bartholomew on Pope Francis’ Climate Encyclical

Pope Francis Environmental Encyclical - Laudato Si - UPDATED

One blog post bringing together the links and resources already posted in advance of the publication of Laudato Sii. It will be updated over the next couple of days.

17th June 2015

Laudato Eve... Almost.
Concern for the poor is not Communism, Pope says in homily


16th June 2015

• As we prepare for the "official" publication of the encyclical, quotations from various previous papal encyclicals.
• Independent Catholic News - Count down to the Encyclical
• Crux - The pope’s eco-encyclical is likely to stir a hornet’s nest
• Crux - Why Pope Francis will never be a radical ‘Green’
• The Guardian - Explosive intervention by Pope Francis set to transform climate change debate
• The Guardian - Pope Francis warns of destruction of Earth's ecosystem in leaked encyclical
• The Catholic Herald - The world must act to stop climate change, says Pope Francis in leaked draft of encyclical

********

The ongoing drama of the leak of the draft by Sandro Magister:

• Holy See Press Office suspends credentials of journalist who leaked encyclical
• The Deacons Bench - Holy See pulls press credentials for prominent Vatican journalist over encyclical leak
• The Irish Times - Italian magazine leaks draft of Pope’s environment encyclical
• Crux - Why we wrote about the encyclical

15th June 2015

• Ignatian Solidarity has a list of resources, reflections and prayer resources ahead of 18th June and encourages people to use the #Hope4Pope
• Pope Francis’ Encyclical on Ecology: What to Expect and What Not
• Salt + Light - The Ecology Encyclical: Care for Our Common Home
• NCR - Climate encyclical expected to send strong moral message to the world
• Encyclical on environment intended for all, Pope says
• Catholic Herald - Catholic, Orthodox Christian and atheist to present Pope’s encyclical 

**********

• Draft of Pope Francis’ /Laudato Si/ Encyclical Leaked Today
• Version of encyclical leaks; Vatican calls for respect of embargo
• Draft of pope's environment encyclical leaked by magazine
• The Washington Post - Draft of the pope’s encyclical blames climate change on human activity

14th June 2015

Get ready for the newest summer blockbuster. No, it’s not Jurassic World — it’s even bigger, crazier, and more action packed: a religious document issued by the pope. The new encyclical is set to address climate change and humanity’s moral obligation to fight it. But unlike any encyclical ever issued before, this one has an epic (unofficial) movie trailer. (Continue reading HERE and the trailer is below!)

• BBC - Is Pope Francis a communist?
• Rocco Palmo - Whispers in the Loggia -  "Nature Never Forgives" – For Eco-cyclical, The Final Countdown - Rocco gives some back ground to the forth coming encyclical as well as showing how the linkages are being made between Pope Francis forth coming message and his predecessors.
• CNA - Caring for creation is a duty for all, Pope says ahead of encyclical launch
• Crux - John Allen - Environmental manifesto may confirm Pope Francis as ‘Benedict 2.0’
• An alternative view being proposed to Pope Francis ahead of the publication of his encyclical this week (Catholic Herald) - A mad, bad and dangerous doctrine - Neo-Malthusian thinking risks even more poverty and environmental damage

10th June 2015

• Crux - Vatican announces plans for release of pope’s eco-encyclical
• Crux - Climate encyclical expected to send strong moral message to the world
• National Catholic Reporter coverage of the environmental encyclical

UPDATE: 

• Crux's analysis and coverage of the encyclical.
• From the Jesuit Post: Laudato Sii — Pope Francis’s Ecology Encyclical Is Almost Here! which has a number of suggestions for digesting the encyclical when it is published:

1. Remember it’s not only about climate change.2. Climate change “propaganda” – According to whom?3. The Church is not walking into another “Galileo Affair”4. Regardless of our preferences, the encyclical has something to say to everyone.5. Collective action on the environment is inherently Catholic.6. Read it, absorb it, and talk about it!

9th June 2015

• John Allen over at Crux gives an excellent article on Getting ahead of the spin on the pope’s environmental encyclical
• Salt + Light discusses What is an encyclical? Is this Pope Francis’ first encyclical? Why is an encyclical on the environment necessary at this moment in history?
• Preview of encyclical? Pope sends encouragement to UN conference on climate change
• National Catholic Reporter responds to some of the over the top right wing political reaction in the USA to a document that is not yet published! - The Crazed Politics of Religion
• Patriarch Bartholomew urges the world to "Protect the Oceans" on World Ocean Day

2nd June 2015

As the publication date of Pope Francis encyclical on the environment approaches, it is interesting to note that the initial outlines of the new encyclical were given at an address by Cardinal Peter Turkson at the Pontifical University in Maynooth back in March 2015:

• Vatican Radio - Cardinal Turkson: together for stewardship of creation
• Irish Bishops Conference - Cardinal Peter Turkson delivers the Trócaire 2015 Lenten Lecture, Saint Patrick’s Pontifical University, Maynooth
• Crux - Cardinal previews Francis’ encyclical on the environment
• iCatholic - you can watch the video of the talk here

Analysis of the yet unpublished encyclical continues

• What makes environment encyclical unusual? The pope sees 2015 as an ideal time for the Church to weigh in on ecology, but critics are lining up.
• Pope’s environmental encyclical to be titled ‘Laudato Sii’ (Praised Be You)
• Greenbacks and the green economy: Ecology is good business

26th May 2015

Papal authority and Climate change - as we head into the summer and the approaching publication date of Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment and climate change there is a lot of disquiet and opposition growing in certain quarters of the church - before we even see a word of the encyclical! 

• Millennial writer Daniel DiLeo has a new article at US Catholic

Other articles which have caught our eye in relation to it:

• The Jesuit Post - Pope Francis’s Ecology Encyclical – What Can We Expect?
• Thinking Faith - Donal Dorr - ‘The fragile world’: Church teaching on ecology before and by Pope Francis
• Crux - Pro-life anxiety over Pope Francis’ looming ecological manifesto
• Catholic Herald - There’s no need to fear Pope Francis’s environment encyclical
• NCR - Conservative corners have tepid take on Pope Francis' environment encyclical
• The Guardian - How will the world react to Pope Francis's encyclical on climate change?
• NCR - The Rollout of the Encyclical on the Environment