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Tag: Pope Francis

  • ‘Be wary of easy sex, drugs, money’, pope warns

    ‘Be wary of easy sex, drugs, money’, pope warns

    Catholics should be wary of easy sex, drugs and money offered by “false prophets,” Pope Francis warned on Tuesday, in a message for Lent.

    Lent is a period of penance observed in the six weeks leading up to Easter, the most important feast in the Christian calendar, which celebrates the resurrection of Christ.

    This year, Lent starts on Feb. 14, while Easter falls on April 1.

    “How many of God’s children are mesmerized by momentary pleasures, mistaking them for true happiness!

    “How many men and women live entranced by the dream of wealth, which only makes them slaves to profit and petty interests,” Francis deplored.

    “False prophets can also be ‘charlatans,’ who offer easy and immediate solutions to suffering that soon prove utterly useless.

    “ How many young people are taken in by the panacea of drugs, of disposable relationships, of easy but dishonest gains,” he added.

    Hailing the virtue of charity, the pope said: “More than anything else, what destroys charity is greed for money.”

    He urged believers to turn to “the soothing remedy of prayer, almsgiving and fasting” during Lent.

    Francis, the first pope to adopt the name of a Medieval saint who gave up all his riches to live as a monk, has made a point of rejecting symbols of papal grandeur.

    For example, he uses an ordinary hatchback as an official car, and days after his election in 2013, he said he wanted to lead “a poor church, for the poor.”

  • Pope Francis apologises for sexual abuse within catholic church

    Pope Francis apologises for sexual abuse within catholic church

    Pope Francis has apologised for cases of sexual abuse by clergy in the Catholic Church, saying he felt “pain and shame at the irreparable damage caused to children by some ministers of the church’’.

    “I am one with my brother bishops, for it is right to ask for forgiveness and make every effort to support the victims.

    “Although, we have committed ourselves to ensuring that such things do not happen again,’’ the pope said.

    He was speaking before Chilean dignitaries in Santiago de Chile.

    Earlier this week, the Vatican took over a Peru-based Catholic sect whose founder has been accused of sexual and psychological abuse.

    Meanwhile, in Chile during the pope’s visit on Monday, activists promised to protest every day of the visit over his 2015 appointment of a bishop accused of covering up for one of the country’s most notorious pedophiles.
    On Jan. 10, the Vatican said it had appointed a commissioner to oversee the lay Catholic movement Sodalitium of Christian Life.

    However, Peruvian prosecutors had announced they were seeking the arrest on charges of sexual, physical and psychological abuse, of the group’s founder, Luis Fernando Figari, and five other members.

    Meanwhile, the Pope had shown particular attention to the gravity of the information.

    The pontiff would return to the Vatican on Sunday.

    NAN

  • Pope orders takeover of Catholic group in Peru

    Pope orders takeover of Catholic group in Peru

    Pope Francis on Wednesday ordered the Vatican takeover of an elite Catholic society in Peru whose founder is accused of sexually and physically abusing children and former members of the group.

    The move, according to a statement that was released by the Vatican, is the latest step in a saga that has damaged the reputation of the Catholic Church in Peru.

    It comes a week before Francis is due to make his first visit as pope to the country and Chile as victims of sexual abuse said that he has not done enough to stop root it out.

    The credibility of a commission he formed in 2014 has been severely damaged by the defections of senior members who accused the Vatican of dragging its feet.

    The Vatican said the pope had appointed an administrator to run Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV), whose founder Luis Figari, a layman, is due to go on trial in Peru for the sexual abuse of minors later in the year.

    However, Figari has denied wrongdoing.

    An internal report by the group in 2017 concluded that Figari, who founded it in 1971 and headed it till 2010, and three other high-ranking ex members had abused 19 minors and 10 adults.

    Most of the cases took place between the 1970s and 2000.

    The report, published on the group’s website, describes Figari as a charismatic, authoritarian and cult-like leader who publicly humiliated members as part of his strategy to control them.

    Peruvian authorities opened an investigation into Figari in 2015 following the publication of a book into the alleged abuse written by Peruvian investigative journalists Pao Ugaz and Pedro Salinas.

    Salinas once belonged to the ultra-conservative Sodalitium, whose members include businessmen, writers and politicians from Peru’s upper classes and was founded as a part of a backlash to the “Liberation Theology”, which took sides with the poor.

    The Vatican statement said the pope had been following the group’s situation “with worry” for years and had taken the action “after a detailed analysis of all the documentation”.

    It said the pope was concerned about “the gravity of information regarding the internal system, (religious) formation (of members) and economic and financial management”.

    The Vatican move came a month after a lawyer for victims said a public prosecutor was seeking pre-trial detention for Figari and three other former leaders of the group.

    The Vatican, which officially recognised the group in 1997, however, in 2017 prohibited Figari from having any contact with members.

    The takeover of the SCV was similar to the action the Vatican took against another conservative group, the Legionaries of Christ.

    An administrator was appointed to run the Legionaries after its founder, the late Mexican priest Marcial Degollado, was discovered to have been sexually abusive with a secret family.

    The Vatican said the SCV would be run by a Colombian Bishop Noel Buitrago.

  • Insecurity: Pope urges FG to prioritize future of youth

    Insecurity: Pope urges FG to prioritize future of youth

    To check youth restiveness and insecurity in different parts of Nigeria, Pope Francis on Saturday urged the Federal Government to prioritize the future of its youths.

    Pope Francis made the call at the official commissioning of newly built catholic secretariat in Kaduna.

    The Pope, who was represented by the Vatican Ambassador to Nigeria, Most Rev. Anthonio Guido Fillipazi, warned that if a country finds it difficult to create job opportunities and give quality education to its teeming youths, they become vulnerable to restiveness and other social vices which would affect their productivity.

    He said it has become imperative for the government and its citizens to work collectively in other to tackle the problems facing the country.

    The Pope said: “I think the government of Nigeria sees very clear, what the problems are. The President mentioned three issues – security, corruption and poverty. So, all the government and the citizens have to do is to work on that. I think it is very simple, but also very difficult.”

    Earlier in his remarks, the Archbishop of Kaduna Catholic Diocese, His Grace, Man-oso Ndagoso, urged Nigerians to hold public office holders accountable on management of public funds.

    Man-oso Ndagoso said: “Once people get to office, they collect public funds and turn the funds to their personal property.

    “Our common resources are being stolen and squandered in the broad daylight and nothing is done about it. It is our duty as citizens to hold our leaders responsible.

    “During the military, they came into power through barrel of gun, but now we are in democracy, even if somebody rigged an election, he rigged it with your name and my name, therefore we have the responsibility to hold them accountable.”

  • Pope Francis calls for change in ‘The Lord’s Prayer’

    Pope Francis calls for change in ‘The Lord’s Prayer’

    Pope Francis has said the Roman Catholic Church should adopt a better translation of the phrase “lead us not into temptation” in the ‘The Lord’s Prayer,’ the best known prayer in Christianity.

    “That is not a good translation,” the pope said in a television interview on Wednesday night.

    Francis said the Catholic Church in France had decided to use the phrase “do not let us fall into temptation” as an alternative and indicated that it or something similar should be applied worldwide.

    Read also:Pope Francis prays for peace in Nigeria

    The prayer, also called ‘Our Father’, is part of Christian liturgical culture and memorized from childhood by hundreds of millions of Catholics.

    It is a translation from the Latin vulgate, which was translated from ancient Greek, which was in turn translated from Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus.

    Liturgical translations are usually done by local Churches in coordination with the Vatican.

    NAN

  • Pope preaches peace, reconciliation in Myanmar

    Pope preaches peace, reconciliation in Myanmar

    Pope Francis called for peace and reconciliation as he delivered Mass to around 150,000 Catholics in Myanmar’s commercial hub Yangon on Wednesday, as part of his first papal trip to the country.

    “I know that many in Myanmar bear the wounds of violence, wounds both visible and invisible,” he told those gathered for the open-air mass.

    “Yet the way of revenge is not the way of Jesus.”

    Most of Myanmar’s nearly 700,000 Catholics are ethnic minorities from the country’s restive fringes, where a number of ethnic armed groups are still at war with government forces.

    Michael Salai Soe Aung, a 40-year-old from Myanmar’s western Chin State who attended the Mass, told dpa: “I’m so happy I can’t describe my feelings with words. I believe the pope brings peace wherever he goes.”

    The pope has faced pressure during his trip to confront alleged atrocities against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.

    Su Hlaing from Yangon also attended the Mass on Wednesday and said she hoped the pope’s visit could bring peace to Rakhine.

    On Tuesday, the pope appeared alongside civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has faced international condemnation over a military operation that has sent 620,000 Rohingyas fleeing across the border to Bangladesh, in what the U.S. and UN have described as “ethnic cleansing.”

    In an address on Tuesday in the capital Naypyitaw, the pope urged a “commitment to justice and respect for human rights” in Myanmar but did not refer to the Rohingya by name.

    He also refrained from uttering the word on Wednesday.

    The Catholic Church in Myanmar had urged the pontiff to respect the views of the majority of Myanmar’s population, who do not consider Rohingya to be citizens and call them “Bengali,” inferring they are from Bangladesh.

    The pope is currently on a six-day trip to Myanmar and Bangladesh and will travel to Dhaka on Thursday where he will remain until Saturday.

    NAN

  • Pope Francis arrives in Myanmar amid humanitarian crisis

    Pope Francis arrives in Myanmar amid humanitarian crisis

    Pope Francis landed in Yangon on Monday, the start of a delicate visit for the world’s most prominent Christian to majority-Buddhist Myanmar, which the U.S. has accused of “ethnic cleansing” its Muslim Rohingya people.

    The pope will also visit Bangladesh, where more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled to escape what Amnesty International has dubbed “crimes against humanity”.

    The Myanmar army has denied the accusations of murder, rape, torture and forcible displacement.

    After leaving Rome, the pope told reporters on his plane: “They say it’s too hot (in Myanmar). I‘m sorry, but let’s hope it will at least be fruitful.”

    Ethnic minorities in traditional dress welcomed Francis at Yangon airport, and children presented him with flowers as he stepped off his plane.

    He waved through an open window at dozens of children waving Vatican and Myanmar flags and T-shirts with the motto of the trip – “love and peace” – as he set off in a light blue Toyota car for St. Mary’s Cathedral in the heart of the city.

    Only about 700,000 of Myanmar’s 51 million people are Roman Catholic.

    Thousands of them travelled by train and bus to Yangon, and they joined crowds at several roadside points along the way from the airport to catch a glimpse of the pope.

    “We come here to see the Holy Father. It happens once in hundreds of years,” said Win Min Set, a community leader who brought a group of 1,800 Catholics from southern and western states of the country.

    “He is very knowledgeable when it comes to political affairs. He will handle the issue smartly,” he said, referring to the sensitivity of the pope’s discussions about the Rohingya.

    Large numbers of riot police were mobilised in the country’s main city but there were no signs of any protests.

    The trip is so delicate that some papal advisers have warned him against even saying the word “Rohingya”, lest he set off a diplomatic incident that could turn the Buddhist-majority country’s military and government against minority Christians.

    The Rohingya exodus from Rakhine state to Bangladesh’s southern tip began at the end of August, when Rohingya militants attacked security posts and the Myanmar army launched a counter-offensive.

    U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lon Thursday called the military operation “ethnic cleansing” and threatened targeted sanctions for “horrendous atrocities”.

    Myanmar’s government has denied most of the accusations made against it, and the army says its own investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by troops.

    Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as citizens nor as members of a distinct ethnic group with their own identity, and it even rejects the term “Rohingya” and its use.

    Many people in Myanmar instead refer to members of the Muslim minority in Rakhine state as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

    Francis is expected to meet a group of Rohingya refugees in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on the second leg of his trip.

    The most tense moments of his Myanmar visit are likely to be private meetings with the army chief, Gen.  Min Aung Hlaing and, separately, civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

    More than 150,000 people have registered for a mass that Francis will say in Yangon on Wednesday, according to Catholic Myanmar Church spokesman Mariano Soe Naing.

    Vatican sources say some in the Holy See believe the trip was decided too hastily after full diplomatic ties were established in May during a visit by Suu Kyi.

    Suu Kyi’s reputation as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been tarnished because she has expressed doubts about the reports of rights abuses against the Rohingya and failed to condemn the military.

    “I have great admiration for the pope and his abilities, but someone should have talked him out of making this trip,” said Father Thomas Reese, a prominent American author and analyst at Religion News Service.

    The pope has already used the word Rohingya in two appeals from the Vatican this year.

    Asked if he would say it in Myanmar, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Francis was taking the advice he had been given seriously, but added: “We will find out together during the trip … it is not a forbidden word”.

    A hardline Buddhist monk group previously known as Ma Ba Tha said it welcomed the pope’s visit but warned, without elaborating, of “a response” if he spoke openly about the Rohingya.

    “I hope he doesn’t touch on sensitive issues that Myanmar people couldn’t accept,” said Tawparka, a spokesman for the influential group, who goes by a single name.

    “There’s no problem if he talks about Islam, but it’s unacceptable if he speaks about Rohingya and extreme terrorists.”

    NAN

  • Pope decries murder of women, children at service for Africa

    Pope decries murder of women, children at service for Africa

    Pope Francis on Thursday denounced the murder of innocent women and children as the “horrid face” of war as he presided at a special prayer service for peace in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

    Francis had planned to go later this year to South Sudan, which has been hit by civil war, famine and a refugee crisis, but had to scrap the project for security reasons.

    During the service, which was punctuated by African singing in English, French, Italian and Swahili, Francis asked God to “break down the walls of hostility that today divide brothers and sisters, especially in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

    “May he protect children, who suffer from conflicts in which they have no part, but which rob them of their childhood and at times of life itself,” he said in his brief homily.

    Read Also: The Mugabes in our midst

    “How hypocritical it is to deny the mass murder of women and children! Here war shows its most horrid face,” he said.

    St. Peter’s Basilica was decked out with photographs of African children.

    South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 after protracted bloodshed, then fell into civil war in late 2013, with troops loyal to President Salva Kiir fighting those backing Riek Machar, a former vice president Kiir had sacked.

    Both sides have targeted civilians, human rights groups say.

    “Right now, we are moving into the lean season, and by July of 2018, many thousands of people across South Sudan – not just isolated pockets of the country – will be dying from hunger,” said Jerry Farrell, country representative in South Sudan for Catholic Relief Services.

    “What is most tragic is there absolutely shouldn’t be hunger in South Sudan,” he said in an email.

    He added that people of different tribes inter-marry and work together but that the conflict is instigated and fanned by politicians.

    In the Democratic Republic of Congo, dozens of people have died in protests against President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down at the end of his constitutional mandate in December 2016.

    Unrest sparked by the uncertainty surrounding the polls has raised fears Congo could witness a repeat of the kind of violence that killed millions around the turn of the last century, mostly from hunger and disease.

  • Pope Francis recognises “heroic virtues” of predecessor, John Paul I

    Pope Francis recognises “heroic virtues” of predecessor, John Paul I

    Pope Francis has agreed to recognise the “heroic virtues’’ of his predecessor, John Paul I, bringing the Italian-born pope closer to Catholic sainthood, the Vatican said on Thursday.

    A candidate with heroic virtues earns the title of “Venerable’’ and is two steps away from sainthood.

    Beatification, which gives a person the right to the “Blessed’’ title, is next in line for John Paul I.

    Born Albino Luciani in northern Italy, the late pope led the Catholic Church for only 33 days, died on Sept. 28, 1978, at relatively young age of 65.

    The official cause of death was heart attack, but conspiracy theorists suggested that John Paul I was murdered by people afraid of his plans to clean up the Vatican’s murky finances.

    Earlier this week, a journalist also involved in John Paul I’s canonisation process published a book, claiming to have found evidence that there was no foul play.

    John Paul I suffered chest pains hours before his death but turned down medical assistance, neglecting symptoms of fatal heart trouble, Stefania Falasca wrote, quoting confidential medical report.

    Normally, miracles would have to be attributed to John Paul I to justify his beatification and, later, sainthood, but Francis could waive such requirements.

    Many popes made it to sainthood, most recently John Paul II and John XXIII in 2014.

    NAN

  • Pope sends condolences for slain investigative journalist

    Pope sends condolences for slain investigative journalist

    Pope Francis is praying for the “eternal rest’’ of slain Maltese journalist, Daphne Galizia, and offered his sympathy to her family, the Vatican said on Friday.

    “His Holiness, Pope Francis, offers prayers for her eternal rest and asks you kindly to convey his condolences to her family.

    “The Holy Father also assures you of his spiritual closeness to the Maltese people at this difficult moment, and implores God’s blessings upon the nation,’’ the pontiff told Malta Archbishop, Charles Scicluna.

    Galizia, 53, was killed in a car bomb on Monday, metres away from her home.

    The blogger and journalist were highly critical of government and opposition politicians in her country.

    Her reporting in the wake of a massive document leak known as the Panama Papers in which two labour government figures were embroiled forced an early general election in June.

    More recently, she accused conservative opposition leader, Adrian Delia, of making money from “a London prostitution racket,’’ a charge he denied.

    Galizia last blog post, from Monday, ended with: “There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.’’

    Her murder has caused international outrage and drawn attention to Malta’s shady politics.

    Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has pledged to leave “no stone unturned’’ in the search for culprits.