Every Christian, whatever his or her vocation, must be able to always forgive and never cause scandal, because “scandal destroys the faith”, said Pope Francis at Monday morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta.

Emer McCarthy reports listen: 

The Pope was commenting on the Gospel of the Day in which Christ says to the Apostles “It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin”.  Pope Francis said that Jesus chose to be blunt rather than polite to get the message through to the Apostles…

The Church is present on the internet because she is called to accompany and be a neighbour to every individual person. It is not about a communications strategy, but a response to her missionary vocation. Of course, the internet is not lacking in ambiguity and utopianism, and the challenges are demanding. Despite that, the Church does not cease from wanting to proclaim the good news of Jesus where people live…

In a meeting on Thursday with a delegation from the World Evangelical Alliance, Pope Francis expressed his confidence that the Holy Spirit “can inaugurate a new stage in the relations between Catholics and Evangelicals—a stage that allows us to realize more fully the will of the Lord to bring the Gospel even to the furthest ends of the earth.”

Pope Francis spoke about the Sacrament of Baptism as “an inestimable divine gift” that all Christians have in common…

Pope Francis on Wednesday spoke about the importance of fairness and accessibility in the proceedings of Church Tribunals trying to adjudicate the validity of marriages.  

He made his remarks before his General Audience, when he briefly greeted participants of a course offered by the Tribunal of the Roman Rota on “Instructing a Case for the Dispensation of a Marriage ‘Super rato et non consumato’”  -valid, but unconsummated marriages – which can be dissolved under certain conditions according to Church law…

A Church that is not united around its bishop is a sick Church.  Jesus wanted unity between the bishop and all the faithful, starting with priests and deacons. However the role of bishop is not a position of honor, it is a service.  Therefore, there is no room in the Church for a worldly mentality, for people who seek ‘ecclesiastical careers’, for bishops who instead of lowering themselves in service, are vain, proud and power-hungry. 

The Ordained Ministries and in particular the role of Bishops and episcopal collegiality were the focus of Pope Francis’ General Audience catechesis this week…