“During the return flight from Rio de Janeiro I said that if a homosexual person is of goodwill and is in search of God, I am no one to judge. By saying this, I said what the catechism says. Religion has the right to express its opinion in the service of the people, but God in creation has set us free: it is not possible to interfere spiritually in the life of a person.”
― Pope Francis, A Big Heart Open to God: A Conversation with Pope Francis
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February 20, 2021
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During the Season of #Lent, the Holy Spirit drives us too, like Jesus, into the desert (Mk 1:12-15). It is not a physical place, but rather an existential dimension in which we can be silent and listen to the word of God, so that a true conversion might be effected in us.
May the example of so many doctors and healthcare workers who have risked their life to the point of losing it due to the #pandemic move us to feeling truly grateful for how generously, and sometimes heroically, they carry out their profession.
In this #LentenSeason, accepting and living the truth revealed in Christ means, first of all, opening our hearts to God’s word, which the Church passes on from generation to generation.
Lord, Our God, grant that we Christians may live the Gospel, and recognize Christ in each human being, so as to see him crucified in the sufferings of the abandoned and forgotten of our world, and risen in each brother or sister who makes a new start. #WorldDayOfSocialJustice
Fasting, prayer and almsgiving, as preached by Jesus (cf. Mt 6:1-18), enable and express our conversion. #Lent
#Lent is precisely the season of hope when we turn our gaze back to the God who is patient. Saint Paul passionately urges us to place our hope in reconciliation: “Be reconciled to God” (2 Cor 5:20).
Let us return to the Holy Spirit, the Giver of Life, to the Fire that resurrects our #ashes. Let us pray once more to the Spirit and rediscover the fire of praise, which consumes the ashes of lamentation and resignation. #Lent
Today we bow our heads to receive #ashes. #Lent is a humble descent both inwards and towards others. It is about realizing that salvation is not an ascent to glory, but a descent in love. It is about becoming little. vatican.va/content/f…
We are now embarking on our #LentenJourney, which opens with the words of the prophet Joel. They point out the path we are to follow. We hear an invitation that arises from God: “Return to me with all your heart” (Joel 2:12). Lent is a journey of return to God.
During this season of #conversion, let us renew our faith, draw from the “living water” of hope, and receive with open hearts the love of God, who makes us brothers and sisters in Christ. #Lent vatican.va/content/f…
This haste, this everything right now, does not come from God. If we get worked up about the right now, we forget what remains forever: we follow the passing clouds and lose sight of the sky.
Let us pray together today in memory of twenty-one Coptic Martyrs: may they intercede for us all before the Father. vatican.va/content/f…
To understand God's plan for our lives better, let us seek to strengthen our relationship with Him through #Prayer. Thus we will discover that God is a compassionate Father who always takes care of us.
May the Lord inspire everyone to draw near to those who suffer, especially children, and to put the weakest in first place. I entrust the doctors and all sick children to the Virgin Mary so that with her mother affection she might look after them. #ICCDay
We are created to love and through the conjugal union of a man and a woman, this vocation is lived reciprocally and in complete and definitive communion of life. On this memorial of St Valentine, I accompany engaged and married couples with my prayer.
May the intercession of Saints Cyril and Methodius, evangelizers of the Slavic people, help us find new ways to communicate the Gospel and that the Christian churches grow in their desire to walk toward full unity while respecting differences.
Each of us might experience wounds, failure, suffering, selfishness that make us close ourselves off from God and others. In the face of all this, Jesus draws near with compassion and touches our life to heal it. #GospelOfTheDay
#Radio has this beautiful trait: it carries the word to the most distant places #WorldRadioDay
Those who put arms into the hands of children instead of food, books and toys commit a crime not only against the little ones, but against all of humanity. #ChildrenNotSoldiers
On the #WorldDayOfTheSick special attention goes toward those who are ill and to those who assist them. I think especially of those who suffer the consequences of the #coronavirus pandemic. I express my nearness to everyone, especially to the poorest.
Through the intercession of #OurLadyOfLourdes, patroness of the sick, let us ask the Lord to grant health of soul and body to all those who suffer due to illness and the current pandemic. May He give strength to those who assist them in this time of trial.
I express my closeness to the victims of the calamity that happened in #India where part of a glacier separated itself provoking violent flooding that devastated two power plants. I pray for the workers who died, for their families and for all those who were wounded.
The person who prays is like someone in love with the beloved in his or her heart wherever they go. So we can pray at any moment, and during what happens every day: on the street, in the office, on public transportation, through words and in the silence of our hearts. #Prayer
All of us are responsible for the communications we make, for the information we share, for the control that we can exert over fake news by exposing it. All of us are to be witnesses of the truth. #SaferInternetDay
#Fraternity is the true cure for the pandemic and the many evils that have affected us. Along with vaccines, fraternity and hope are, as it were, the medicine we need in today’s world. vatican.va/content/f…
The International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking encourages us to not stop praying and fighting together so that every person who is enslaved might be restored to freedom. #PrayAgainstTrafficking vatican.va/content/f…
The wounds of our brothers and sisters exploited by human trafficking cry out to us. They are victims of an economic system that, by maximizing profit, causes "the human person to be commotidized". Let us all be committed to a just and solidary economy. #PrayAgainstTrafficking
Let us ask for the grace that our eyes might see the drama of our brothers and sisters who are the victims of trafficking in persons, and for the courage to act so that our communities will be free of slavery. #PrayAgainstTrafficking
I would like to make an appeal in favor of unaccompanied minors, those who find themselves on the so called "Balkan route" and those on all the other "routes". May they not lack the care they deserve or the and preferential humanitarian channels because of us.
Once again I would like to assure my spiritual closely and solidarity to the people of Myanmar. And I am praying so that all those with leadership responsibilities in the country might make themselves sincerely available to serve the common good.
Let us to allow Jesus to heal us – we always need this, everyone – so that we might in our turn be witnesses to God’s healing tenderness. #GospelOfTheDay
In the spirit of human fraternity, I invite everyone not to forget the most vulnerable populations, and to give particular attention to neglected tropical diseases that affect the poorest people. Let us promote the necessary treatments so that no one will be left behind.
Social friendship and universal fraternity necessarily call for an acknowledgement of the worth of every human person, always and everywhere. #FratelliTutti
There is no time today for indifference. Either we are brothers and sisters, or everything will fall apart. Fraternity is the new frontier for humanity on which we need to build; it is the challenge of our century. @alimamaltayeb #HumanFraternity vatican.va/content/f…
I would like to congratulate the UN Secretary General António Guterres, and Latifah Ibn Ziaten, Foundress of the Imad Association for Youth and Peace, winners of the 2021 #ZayedAward for #HumanFraternity. I thank both of you for your witness.
Tomorrow we will celebrate the first #HumanFraternityDay. Let us pray and work each and every day so that everyone might live fraternally together in our world and in peace.
The Church evangelizes and is herself evangelized through the beauty of the Liturgy.Let us ask the grace of a personal and authentic encounter with the living Christ in the liturgical celebration,so that our lives might become a spiritual sacrifice offered to God.#GeneralAudience
The Lord does not call us to be soloists, but to be part of a choir that can sometimes miss a note or two, but must always try to sing in unison. #ConsecratedLife
Let us contemplate God’s patience and implore the trusting patience of Simeon (Lk 2:25). In this way, may our eyes, too, see the light of salvation and bring that light to the whole world.
Grandparents are the uniting link between generations to transmit to the young the experience of life and faith. Therefore, I have decided to institute the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly which will be held annually on the fourth Sunday of July.
The pandemic has confirmed how necessary it is to protect the right to health for the weakest: I hope that the leaders of the nations may unite forces to cure those who are ill with Hansen's disease and for their inclusion in society.
When we read the Gospel by ourselves with an open heart, a little of its light and beneficial power always reaches us, enlightening, healing, consoling. #GospelOfTheDay Mk 1:21-28
The Lord looks for us where we are, he loves us as we are, and he patiently walks by our side. With his word, he wants to change us, to invite us to live fuller lives and to put out into the deep together with him.
The culture of life is the heritage that Christians want to share with everyone. Every human life, unique and unrepeatable, is priceless. This must be courageously proclaimed ever anew through word and action.
The history of evangelization began with the Lord’s own passionate desire to call and enter into friendly dialogue with everyone, just as they are (Jn 15:12-17). vatican.va/content/f…
The words of the Sacred Scripture were not written to remain imprisoned on papyrus, parchment or paper, but to be received by a person who prays, making them blossom in his or her heart. #Prayer #WordOfGod
Today we celebrate #RemembranceDay. To remember is an expression of humanity; it means being attentive because these things can happen again, starting with ideological proposals that are intended to save a people and end up destroying humanity.
The word of God is the antidote to our fear of having to face life. In speaking to us, the Lord reminds us that we are in his heart, that we are precious in his eyes, and that he holds us in the palm of his hand.
We are branches of the same vine, we are communicating vessels: the good and the bad each one does is poured out on the others. To the extent that we remain in God we draw closer to others, and to the extent that we draw closer to others we remain in God. #ChristianUnity
I wish to thank all those who, during this Week, have prayed and will continue to pray for #ChristianUnity.
Let us not ignore God’s word! It is a love letter, written to us by the One who knows us best. In reading it, we again hear his voice, see his face and receive his Spirit. #SundayOfTheWord
May the Word of God sown in the soil of our hearts, lead us in turn to sow hope through closeness to others. Just as God has done with us. #SundayOfTheWord
Prior to every word of ours about God, there is his word to us, his Word who continues to tell us: “Do not be afraid, I am with you. I am at your side and I will always be there”. #SundayOfTheWord vatican.va/content/f…
Jesus speaks of God to everyone, wherever they find themselves: he speaks “walking along the shore”,to fishermen who were “casting their nets” (Mk 1:16).He speaks to people in the most ordinary times and places. Here we see the universal power of the Word of God. #SundayOfTheWord
The #WordOfGod consoles and encourages us. At the same time it summons us to conversion, challenges us, frees us from the bondage of our selfishness. For His word has the power to change our lives and to lead us out of darkness into the light.
The #WordofGod took on a face. The invisible God let Himself be seen, heard and touched (see 1 Jn 1:1-3). The word is effective only if it is “seen”, if it engages us in experience, in dialogue. Thus, the invitation to “come and see” was, and continues to be, essential.
I would like to devote this Message for World Communications Day this year to the invitation to “come and see” (Jn 1:46). In order to tell the truth we need to go and see, listen to people and confront reality. #WCD vatican.va/content/f…
During this time of serious hardship, this #Prayer is even more necessary so that unity might prevail over conflicts. Our good example is fundamental: it is essential that Christians pursue the path toward full visible unity. #ChristianUnity
I strongly encourage all States and all people to work decisively toward promoting conditions necessary for a world without nuclear weapons, contributing to the advancement of #peace and multilateral cooperation which humanity greatly needs today.
