Pope Francis

Pope at Audience recognises the suffering of parents in raising their children

26/01/2022

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today I would like to focus on the figure of St Joseph as a man who dreams. In the Bible, as in the cultures of ancient peoples, dreams were considered a means by which God revealed himself. The dream symbolises the spiritual life of each of us, that inner space that each of us is called to cultivate and guard, where God manifests himself and often speaks to us… Read more »

Pope’s Communications Day message: ‘Listening is essential for dialogue’

24/01/2022

Pope Francis conversing with journalists – archive photo  (Vatican Media)

After focusing last year on seeing reality and conveying it to others, Pope Francis in his 2022 Message for the World Communications Day emphasized the quality of listening, which he said “is decisive in the grammar of communication and is a condition for genuine dialogue.”

The Pope noted that people are quickly losing the ability to listen to one another, while at the same time listening is undergoing new developments, especially due to new forms of communicating… Read more »

Pope at Angelus: The Word of God is the beacon that guides the synodal journey that has begun throughout the Church

23/01/2022   The Vatican

Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!

In the Gospel of today’s liturgy, we see Jesus beginning his preaching (cf. Lk 4:14-21): it is Jesus’ first sermon. He goes to Nazareth, where he grew up, and participates in prayer in the synagogue. He gets up to read and, in the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, he finds the passage regarding the Messiah, who proclaims a message of consolation and liberation for the poor and oppressed (cf. Is 61:1-2)… Read more »

‘Dignity, discernment, and faith’: Pope addresses Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

22/01/2022

Human dignity must be respected from the moment of conception until natural death, Pope Francis said on Friday. 

Addressing a plenary session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Francis underlined three keywords, dignity, discernment, and faith. 

Archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna was among those present at the plenary session at the Clementine Hall in the Vatican. Since November 2018 Mgr Scicluna has served as Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the curial body responsible for doctrinal matters, also dealing with clerical sexual abuse cases on minors… Read more »

The Pope at Audience: God is not frightened by our sins

19/01/2022   The Vatican

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today, I would like to explore the figure of Saint Joseph as a father in tenderness.

In my Apostolic Letter Patris corde, (8 December 2020) I had the opportunity to reflect on this aspect of tenderness, an aspect of Saint Joseph’s personality. In fact, although the Gospels do not give us any details about how he exercised his paternity, we can be sure that his being a “just” man also translated into the education he gave to Jesus… Read more »

The Pope at Angelus: May we all join in Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

17/01/2022   The Vatican

Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!

The Gospel of today’s liturgy recounts the episode of the wedding at Cana, where, to the couple’s delight, Jesus transformed water into wine. This is the way the account ends: “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (Jn 2:11)… Read more »

Pope at Audience: Work is essential for our growth in holiness

12/01/2022

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

The evangelists Matthew and Mark refer to Joseph as a “carpenter” or “joiner.” We heard earlier that the people of Nazareth, hearing Jesus speak, asked themselves: “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (13:55; cf. Mk 6:3). Jesus practised his father’s trade.

The Greek term tekton, used to specify Joseph’s work, has been translated in various ways… Read more »

Pope at Angelus: prayer is the key that opens our heart to the Lord

09/01/2022   The Vatican

Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!

The Gospel of today’s Liturgy shows us the scene with which Jesus’ public life begins: he, who is the Son of God and the Messiah, goes to the banks of the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist. After about thirty years of hidden life, Jesus does not present himself with a miracle, or by rising to the podium to teach… Read more »

Pope at Audience calls for institutions to simplify adoption procedures

05/01/2022   The Vatican

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today we will reflect on Saint Joseph as the father of Jesus. The evangelists Matthew and Luke present him as the foster father of Jesus, and not as his biological father. Matthew specifies this, avoiding the formula “the father of”, used in the genealogy for all the ancestors of Jesus; instead, he defines Joseph as the “husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” (1:16)… Read more »

Pope at Angelus: the Lord does not withdraw when faced with our frailties

02/01/2022   The Vatican

Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!

Today’s Liturgy offers us a beautiful phrase, that we always pray in the Angelus and which by itself reveals to us the meaning of Christmas. It says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. These words, if we think about it, contain a paradox… Read more »