At the episcopal ordination of archbishops Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot and Peter Wells, Pope Francis said: “Proclaim the Word on every occasion: opportune and not opportune. Admonish, rebuke and exhort with all magnanimity and teaching. And through prayer and the offering of the sacrifice for your people, draw from Christ’s holiness the multiform richness of divine grace.”
Foreign priests barred
The Catholic bishops of Belarus lamented that “it’s becoming ever more difficult for priests from abroad to come to Belarus”. Two Polish priests who wanted to serve in Belarus were not granted permission. The government of the eastern European country is very close to the Russian government and the Orthodox Church.
The government alleged that Catholic priests get involved in the internal political affairs of Belarus and that this involvement has been described as “destructive”. A request by the Catholic Church to operate a radio station have not been granted.
Easter is declared a holiday in Pakistan
Pakistan’s national assembly has approved a resolution recognising Easter as a holiday for Christians, and Holi and Diwali as holidays for Hindus. This is a positive gesture towards religious minorities in this predominantly Muslim country that has been marked by religious strife on several occasions. While welcoming the move, Christian leaders said what their communities really need is protection of their rights.
Pope joins Instagram
Within three days of joining Instagram, Pope Francis had 1.5 million followers. Franciscus is the Pope’s account name on this photo-sharing social media platform.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook (which bought Instagram in 2012), posted a “welcome to Instagram” message to the Pope on his personal Facebook page. “No matter what faith you practise, we can all be inspired by Pope Francis’s humility and compassion,” Zuckerberg wrote.
The Pope already has more than 27 million followers on Twitter.
Bishops call for respect of prisoners’ dignity
In their Lenten pastoral letter the Bishops of Argentina addressed the situation of prisons and prisoners in their country. The bishops denounced overcrowding and the excessive use of solitary confinement and violence.
They said every prisoner is still “a person, a son of God, and a member of the human family”. They added that prisoners should not be deprived of the “goods essential to every person: food, worthy housing, healthcare, education, work, religion, family bonds, recreation and art”.
The Argentinian bishops appealed to Christian communities to offer support to families of the imprisoned.
The Cross, God’s glory
Speaking to families from the Neocatechumenal Way, the Pope said:
“Before his Passion, Jesus foretells that he will be ‘glorified’ on the cross: there his glory will appear. But it is a new glory: worldly glory manifests itself when one is important, admired, has assets and success. But God’s glory is revealed on the cross. It is a paradoxical glory with no gain and no applause. This is the only glory that makes the Gospel fruitful.
The Church too is fruitful when it imitates the merciful love of God, that offers itself, it never imposes. It is humble, it’s like the rain on the earth, the air we breathe, like a seed that bears fruit in silence. Whoever proclaims that love can do so only with the same loving approach.”
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)