'Faith in Jesus allows us to carry out God's works' : Pope Francis

Pope invited the faithful to cultivate their relationship with God, because faith in Jesus, he said allows us spiritually nourished and to carry out good works for good of our brothers and sisters. The Pope was speaking to the crowd gathered in the St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus. He reflected on the day’s Gospel passage and recalled the beloved Pope VI – the Pope of modernity – who 40 years ago was living in the last hours of his earthly life.Reflecting on the liturgy tells about  that a crowd that had been nourished by Jesus and that sets out in search of him, Pope explained that for Jesus, "it is not enough that people simply search for him", "He wants the people to know him and also to understand that He came to bring us more than material satisfaction", opening our lives to a horizon that is broader than the daily concerns of eating, clothing oneself, a career, and so on.

Jesus is the true bread of life,

“He, the true ‘bread of life’, the Pope said, wants to satisfy not only bodies but also souls, offering spiritual nourishment that can satisfy the deepest hunger”.Commenting on how often we too do not understand the Lord’s invitation not to “work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life”, Pope Francis said ithat is “a common temptation to reduce religion to the practice of the laws” thinking that it is enough to perform  good actions in order to please God.

Works that have the perfume of the Gospel

The Pope continued, faith in Jesus allows us to carry out God's works.“If we allow ourselves to be involved in this relationship of love and trust with Jesus, we will be able to do good works that smell of the Gospel, for the good and the needs of our brothers and sisters.”
The Lord, Pope concluded that , invites us “not to forget that, if it is necessary to be concerned about material needs, it is even more important to cultivate our relationship with Him, to strengthen our faith in Him who is the "bread of life", the one who came to satisfy our hunger for truth, justice and love.

Pope: makes changes within College of Cardinals

The Pope Francis has named four Cardinals to the Order of Bishops within the College of Cardinals. The rescript, signed by Cardinal-elect Angelo Becciu, the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, says the new Cardinal Bishops will be equal “in all respects to the Cardinals holding the title of a suburbicarian Church.”

Traditionally, the Order of Bishops within the College is composed of six Bishops who are given the “title” of Bishops of the suburbicarian sees – that is, dioceses in the immediate vicinity of Rome. The new Cardinal Bishops are Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State; Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches; Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops; and Fernando Filoni, Prefect for the Congregation for Peoples. From that moment the rescript enters into force on 28 June, the new Cardinal Bishops will be equivalent in to all respects to their confreres who hold the title of suburbicarian churches.

“The Roman Pontiffs have always looked with fraternal predilection to the College of Cardinals,” the rescript says. “Indeed, they offer special support to the mission of the Successor of Peter, bringing the precious contribution of their experience and the service to the particular Churches dispersed throughout the world and effectively enriching the bond of communion with the Church of Rome.”

Except by special permission of the Pope Francis, all Cardinals of the Roman Church receive sacramental consecration as Bishops. However, within the College itself there are three “Orders” or ranks of Cardinals: Cardinal Bishops, Cardinal Priests. The titles are related to the historical connection of cardinals to positions within the Church of Rome.According to law, Eastern patriarchs who are made Cardinals are also in the episcopal order; they have their own patriarchal See as their title.

The rescript notes that although the numbers of Cardinals who belong to the Orders of Priests and Deacons have increased with the growth of the College, the number of Cardinal Bishops “has remained constant and unchanged over time.” The elevation of new Cardinals to the Order of Bishops is intended to meet them “the need to enlarge the current composition” of the Order.

Holy See: Human rights abuse in the fight against terrorism fuels terrorism

“Terrorism is a threat to us all, and so we must fight it wherever it is, whichever flag it flies, and whatever means it employs.” 

Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Apostolic Nuncio and Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York, made the remark at a high-level conference on counter-terrorism, June 28-29, at the UN headquarters.

Rights abuse feeds terrorism

Abusing human rights is actually increases local support for terrorism, and any counter-terrorism tactic that allows for human rights abuses will always backfire,” the Filipino archbishop warned.
Hence, it is vital to observe the rule of law, and the Human Rights Conventions and international humanitarian law, in order to prevent terrorists from using human rights abuses as excuses for their heinous acts.

Radicalization

The Holy See diplomat urged that every counter-terrorism strategy involve the engagement of local populations, governments and grassroots organizations, capacities and initiatives to address the problems of communities most at risk of radicalization and recruitment and to achieve their satisfactory social integration.   Among others, they are key in mobilizing the youth against terrorism and in providing education, employment and other healthy options to keep them away from being radicalized.

Local communities

Civil society can also stimulate Governments to respect human rights and thereby gain the support of the population in fight against terrorism.  Respect for the right to assembly and freedom of speech is vital in defeating violent extremism, because the freedom to channel expressions of dissent and grievances through democratic processes can go a long way in damping impulses toward violence.

Action of the Holy See

In this regard, Archbishop Auza said that the Holy See is working with leaders of other religions and their faith communities in preventing incitement to any form of radicalization,fostering and intensifying further sincere interreligious and intercultural dialogue and fruitful cooperation.

Holy See: human trafficking is the “largest manifestation of modern slavery”

The Holy See says that human trafficking, the “largest manifestation of modern slavery”, can be defeated by the “eliminating the culture of consumerism” and also fostering a culture of encounter centred on respect for human dignity.

Even as Pope was visiting Geneva on Thursday, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, the Holy See’s Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva made by the statement at a Human Rights Council in the Swiss city during a session on trafficking in persons.

Lucrative business

Using the words of St. Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Jurkovic said trafficking in persons is “a shocking offence against human dignity and a grave violation of fundamental human rights.”

The archbishop noted that with more than 900 million people on the move, this transnational crime has developed as a lucrative business that takes advantage of conflict, misery, corruption, lack of education and the struggle for a better future.  Most of the victims are women and children.

This is why, he said, Pope Francis started what is called the Santa Marta Group that engages law enforcement agencies and religious actors to consider common actions that aim to improve cooperation to eradicate trafficking in persons and modern slavery, placing the victims at the very centre of its strategy.

Measures against the scourge

Among several measures that the Vatican diplomat suggested in combatting the scourge are decriminalizing victims, prosecuting traffickers and consumers,protection and re-integration of victims and using convicted traffickers’ assets for assisting victims.

Trafficking can be eliminated

“We can defeat trafficking in persons only by eliminating the culture of consumerism, which feeds in it,” Archbishop Jurkovic said.  “Furthermore, we need to foster a new culture of encounter centred on respect for the inalienable human dignity of every person,” he said, stressing, “No one is born to be treated as a slave.”




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