Pope Francis and Medjugorje

Pope dismisses Madonna 'visions' as shrine decision nears

                    

By NICOLE WINFIELD 

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis gave a hint Tuesday about his take on the reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the Medjugorje shrine in southern Bosnia, dismissing a reliance on regular visions of the Madonna as mere "novelty-seeking" for the faithful.

Francis spoke during his morning homily, three days after making a day trip to Sarajevo. En route home, Francis told reporters the Vatican would soon decide whether to formally recognize the Medjugorje phenomenon as authentic.

In his homily, Francis dismissed those "who always need novelty in their Christian identity" and say: "But where are the visionaries who tell us today about 'The letter that the Madonna will send tomorrow at 4 p.m.?'"

"This isn't Christian identity," he said. "God's last word is called Jesus and nothing more."

                                                                                               

The Medjugorje apparition has been disputed since 1981, when six youths said they had regularly seen visions of the Virgin there. Unlike Fatima in Portugal or Lourdes in France, the Vatican has been cautious about calling the sightings authentic. Neither Rome nor the local diocese has approved Medjugorje as an official shrine site and the Vatican has told dioceses not to organize official pilgrimages there.

That hasn't stopped the remote village 70 miles (110 kilometers) southwest of Sarajevo from thriving from the financial boost brought by more than 30 million faithful who have visited since 1981.

The local church itself has cast doubt on the sightings, in part because one of the visionaries says the apparitions have continued regularly for over a quarter century.

In 2010, then-Pope Benedict XVI formed an international commission to study the Medjugorje phenomenon. On Saturday, Francis said commission's report had been taken up by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, although the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said it hadn't yet been discussed.

Lombardi acknowledged that Francis was probably referring to Medjugorje in his homily but he stressed that his brief mention was not the Vatican's final word. Francis' off-the-cuff comments "are not an official pronouncement that gives a wide-ranging and articulated doctrinal or pastor indications," he said.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield

Ruling on Medjugorje Near: The Pope has said the Vatican is "about to make decisions" on the controversial apparitions



by Christine Niles  •   June 7, 2015     





                                 

                            

MEDJUGORJE, June 7, 2015 (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Holy Father has said a ruling on Medjugorje is near.
On the papal plane Saturday, Pope Francis said the case was now in front of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and that "[w]e are about to make decisions ... ."
Medjugorje has been steeped in controversy, as alleged visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary have reportedly been taking place like clockwork in the Bosnian town for more than three decades, with thousands of messages from Our Lady, some of which are doctrinally questionable.
Both bishops of the diocese with jurisdiction over the reported apparitions have condemned the visions as false. Bishop Ratko Peric, current bishop of Mostar, said

During my official visit to the Holy Father Benedict XVI, I not only expressed my doubts but also my disbelief in the "apparitions" of Medjugorje. The Holy Father, who prior to his election was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, replied with this thought: "We at the Congregation always asked ourselves how a believer could possibly accept as authentic, apparitions that occur every day for so many years?"

The most recent official message from the Vatican on the topic occurred in October 2013, in a letter from Apostolic Nuncio Carlo Maria Vigano. He issued a message to every U.S. diocese on behalf of the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith forbidding the faithful to participate in any events where "the credibility of such 'apparitions' would be taken for granted."
The Vatican also reaffirmed that

with regard to the credibility of the "apparitions" in question, all should accept the declaration, dated 10 April 1991, from the Bishops of the former Republic of Yugoslavia, which asserts: "On the basis of the research that has been done, it is not possible to state that there were apparitions or supernatural revelations."

The letter was sent in response to a speaking tour of one of the seers, Ivan Dragicevic, who was scheduled to speak in various American parishes. The letter clarified that the faithful were not permitted to attend such events. To this day, dioceses and parishes are not allowed to organize official pilgrimages to Medjugorje, and several of the Franciscan priests at the heart of the Medjugorje phenomenon have been suspended for disobedience.
For our FAQ on Medjugorje, visit our resource page.
Watch Michael Voris' presentation on Medjugorje here.

Christine Niles is a staff writer, producer and anchor for ChurchMilitant.com

Follow Christine on Twitter: @ChristineNiles1

Third World War being fought piecemeal’: Pope Francis slams global ‘atmosphere of war’

Published time: June 06, 2015 18:32

 Get short URL

Pope Francis has attacked what he called “the atmosphere of war,” which he believes is hampering the world. He also attacked those profiteering from war and those engaging in arms sales, as he led a mass in Bosnia on Saturday.

Francis received a joyous welcome from around 100,000 people who lined the streets of Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital, as his motorcade made its way to the national stadium, where the pontiff celebrated mass for a mainly Catholic audience of around 65,000, speaking in Italian.

Pope Francis arrives at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina June 6, 2015. (Reuters / Stringer)

Many conflicts across the planet amount to “a kind of Third World War being fought piecemeal and, in the context of global communications, we sense an atmosphere of war,” the pontiff said, according to AFP.

“Some wish to incite and foment this atmosphere deliberately,” he added, attacking those who want to foster division for political ends or profit from war through arms dealing.

Pope Francis waves from his ‘Popemobile’ along a street in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina June 6, 2015. (Reuters / Stringer)

 

“But war means children, women and the elderly in refugee camps; it means forced displacement, destroyed houses, streets and factories: above all countless shattered lives.”
“You know this well having experienced it here,” he added, alluding to the wars that preceded the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s.

Pope Francis (C) celebrates a Holy Mass at the stadium in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, June 6, 2015. (Reuters / Dado Ruvic)

 

Security was tight, with thousands of police officers lining the route taken by the pope. Shops and cafes were closed, while local residents were told not to open their windows or stand on their balconies.
Just prior to the visit, Islamists claiming to be members of the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) called for Muslims to take-up jihad in the Balkans. In the video, a Kosovo Albanian, introduced as Abu Muqatil Al-Kosovo, said that “misbelievers” in the Balkans would face “horrible days.”

….

Taken from: http://rt.com/news/265486-pope-francis-sarajevo-bosn

Pope Francis and Our Lady of Fatima



By Father Peter West

With Pope Francis’ announcement that his pontificate will be consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima on May 13, it is fitting to join the Holy Father in recalling the significance of Fatima, and the importance of repentance if we are to know true peace as a society.
Pope Francis joins his predecessors in acknowledging the importance of Fatima. When the Blessed Mother appeared to three shepherd children almost 100 years ago, it was shortly after an urgent prayer to the Blessed Virgin as the Queen of Peace by Pope Benedict XV for the end of World War I.
Blessed John Paul II credited Our Lady of Fatima with saving his life after an assassination attempt on May 13, 1981. In a 2010 visit to Fatima, Benedict XVI expressed his hope that the (then) seven years until the 100^th anniversary of the apparitions would “hasten the fulfillment of the prophecy of the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to the glory of the Most Holy Trinity.”

Pope Francis honoring an altar of Our Lady at the Basilica of Maria Maggiore

There is also precedent in the Old Testament for what Pope Francis and previous pontiffs ask of us in calling for repentance and for intercession: the Book of Esther. Indeed, many scholars over the years have portrayed Queen Esther as a prefigurement of Mary, and the Book of Esther as a prefigurement of the Book of Revelation.
You will recall that the king of Persia was asked by a scheming administrator to destroy the Jewish people since the administrator had been personally offended by Mordecai, Esther’s uncle who was also a servant of the king. The king, unaware that his young and exceptionally beautiful wife Esther was Jewish, consented to the attack. Before she dared to approach the king to ask that her people be spared, Queen Esther clothed herself in sackcloth and ashes, and asked her people to join her in fasting from food and water for three days.
When Esther entered into the king’s presence, something she was forbidden to do without invitation, he extended his scepter, thus sparing her life. Esther also rather audaciously invited the King and Haman to a banquet, where she revealed that she was a Jew and begged the King to spare the life of her people.
The King was angered by his administrator’s schemes against Mordecai and the Jewish people, and dealt with the administrator accordingly. But since royal orders could not be annulled, the attack was allowed to continue, though the Jewish people were allowed to defend themselves and defeated their enemies in battle. The Jews celebrate this triumph each year as their Feast of Purim.
The date set for destruction of the Jews had been the 13^th of the month of Adar, a month that corresponds more or less to February, which is when Purim is now remembered. This date is also significant in Jewish history for another reason: It is the day that the Maccabees liberated Israel after a four-year battle with the Seleucid Empire.
The significance of this for faithful and pro-life Catholics who seek greater understanding in what Scott Hahn calls Catholics’ “away game” of the Old Testament, is this: Just as the Jewish people were saved through the intercession of Queen Esther, so Mary intercedes for the Church throughout history, and now.
The Book of Revelation foretells a great persecution of Christians at the end of time, but it also speaks about the Ark of the Covenant (an image scholars have long used to portray Mary, who bore the Word in her womb) appearing in the sky and the Woman crushing the head of the dragon (cf.  Revelation 12).
When the Blessed Mother appeared at Fatima, she wore around her neck the Star of Esther. And like Esther, Our Lady of Fatima came as a queen to spare her people from war and persecution. Through the child seers, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, she asked the faithful to repent of sin, pray the Rosary, go to confession, and receive the Eucharist worthily.
On July 13, 1917, Our Lady said to Lucia:

I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various nations will be annihilated. … In the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and an era of peace will be granted to the world.

As if to put an exclamation mark on the Fatima prophecies, Sister Lucia died on February 13, 2005, the feast of Purim. Our Lady of Fatima’s first appearance to the three shepherd children was May 13, 1917. Her last appearance was October 13 of the same year.
With all of the talk about prophecies lately, especially those centering around the papacy and the persecution of the Church, sometimes it helps to step back and look at the long view of history. Surely Pope Francis is not counseling panic over interpretations of impending doom. This message should not be reduced to a fearful apocalyptic foreboding any more than we can take Pope Francis’ decision to consecrate his papacy as a validation of any particular scenario. That being said, however, the attention that the popes have given to the message of Fatima deserves our notice.
Our Lord certainly speaks to us through Holy Scripture, as well as through history and sometimes through private revelation.  It is certainly wise to heed a message so many popes have taught is worthy of our belief and soberly embark on a more urgent effort to grow in faith. Countless saints from St. Thomas More to Blessed Teresa of Calcutta counseled the wisdom of keeping “the last things” in mind, to be mindful of our mortality, the consequences of sin and the great mercy of God the Father.
These gifts of revelation, and our own responses in faith, can have dire real world consequences. Had the requests of Our Lady of Fatima been heeded, the world would have been spared the horrors of World War II, in which over 50 million people were killed, as well as countless other wars and persecutions provoked by Communists throughout the world.
In 1920, Russia was also the first country to legalize abortion, following Lenin’s 1913 demand for “the unconditional annulment of all laws against abortions or against the distribution of medical literature on contraceptive measures.” There can be little doubt that these and other “errors” of Russia have spread and continue to spread, destroying countless lives and even our ability to live together in society.
Great evils threaten our world. Sin increases. So many hearts are hardened.
Queen Esther asked her people to pray and do penance with her, and the Mother of Mercy continues this call today, with her call echoed by popes, bishops, priests, religious, and the lay faithful. With the Holy Father, we need to call on the Queen of Heaven for her intercession.
Pray and do penance, and ask her to intercede with her Son Jesus Christ that He might spare us, our nation, and our world.

Father Peter West is the vice president for missions at Human Life International.

Articles by Fr. West:

• Katy Perry's Influence on Culture
• Pope Francis and Our Lady of Fatima

....

 

Taken from: http://www.truthandcharityforum.org/pope-francis-and-our-lady-of-fatima/

Pope Francis: let Jesus’ gaze change our hearts



                        

Pope Mass - OSS_ROM

22/05/2015 12:42

 

 

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says each of us should ask Jesus to gaze at us and tell us what we need to do to change our hearts and repent for our sins. We should consider whether Jesus looks at us with a call, with a pardon or with a mission? The Pope’s remarks came during his homily at morning Mass on Friday (May 22nd) at the Santa Marta residence.

 

Taking his inspiration from the day’s readings, Pope Francis’ homily was a reflection on the three different types of looks which Jesus gave to the Apostle Peter. He said these three different looks were one of choosing, one of forgiveness and one of mission.


 

The Pope recalled how according to the gospel reading the apostle Andrew told his brother Peter that they had found the Messiah and took him to see Jesus. Christ looked at him and said “You are Simon, son of John. You will be called Peter (Cephas) which means Rock.” He said Peter was enthusiastic after that first look from Jesus and wanted to follow our Lord.

 

Moving ahead to the night before Jesus’ crucifixion, Pope Francis recalled how Peter disowned him three times and when Jesus turned and looked straight at him after that third denial, Peter wept.

“The gospel of Luke says: ‘He wept bitterly.’ That earlier enthusiasm about following Jesus had turned to grief, because he had sinned: He denied that he knew Jesus.That look (by Jesus) changed Peter’s heart, more than before. The first change was being given a new name and a new vocation.

 

That second look was a gaze that changed his heart and it’s a change of conversion to love.”

The Pope said the third look that Jesus gave Peter was one of mission when he asked three times for a confirmation that Peter loved him and urged him to feed his sheep. He noted how the gospel recounts that Peter was hurt when Jesus asked him that question a third time.

 

“Hurt because Jesus asked him for the third time ‘Do you love me?’ and he said: 'Lord, You know everything: You know I love you.' Jesus replied: ‘Feed my sheep.’ This was the third look, a look of mission.  The first, a look of choosing, with the enthusiasm of following Jesus: the second, a look of repentance at the time of that very grave sin of having disowned Jesus: the three look is one of mission: ‘Feed my lambs,’ ‘Look after my sheep,’ ‘Feed my sheep.’”

 

Pope Francis urged his listeners to re-read that dialogue with the Lord and think about Jesus’ gaze on us.

 

“We too can reflect: what look is Jesus giving me today?  How is Jesus looking at me?  With a call? With a pardon? With a mission? But on the path He created, all of us are being looked at by Jesus.

 

He always looks at us with love.  He asks us something, he forgives us for something and he gives us a mission.  Jesus is now coming on the altar.  May each one of us think: ‘Lord, You are here, among us.  Fix your gaze on me and tell me what I must do: how I must repent for my mistakes, my sins; what courage do I need to go forward on the path that You first created.”

Listen to this report by Susy Hodges: 

 

....

 

Taken from: http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/05/22/pope_francis_let_jesus%E2%80%99_gaze_change_our_hearts/1145944

Pope Francis calls Palestinians' Abbas 'angel of peace'



 

Pope Francis has met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican, calling him "an angel of peace".

The Pope made the remark as he presented the Palestinian leader with a medallion.

President Abbas is visiting the Vatican for the canonisation of two 19th-Century Palestinian nuns on Sunday.

His visit came days after the Vatican said it would formally recognise Palestinian statehood in a treaty.

The treaty states that the Holy See favours a two-state solution to the conflict with Israel and allows the Vatican to oversee aspects of Roman Catholic life in the areas President Abbas controls.

 

Israel expressed disappointment with the treaty, which uses the term "Palestinian state".
 

Civil rights

The BBC's David Willey in Rome says that after 20 minutes of private talks, Pope Francis gave Mr Abbas the medallion depicting an angel of peace adding: "It is appropriate because you are an angel of peace."

Correspondents say the Vatican is keen to protect the property and civil rights of the Catholic Church in the Palestinian territories.

The Vatican's move also comes amid growing momentum to recognise Palestinian statehood.

Over the past year the European Parliament as well as the UK, Republic of Ireland, Spain and France have all passed non-binding motions in favour.

Sweden has gone further, officially recognising Palestine as a state.

The moves have been criticised by Israel, which says recognition of statehood in this way discourages Palestinians from resuming talks on a final status agreement.

 

....

 

Taken from: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-32769752

‘Many powerful people don’t want peace,’ Pope tells children

 

Pope Francis kisses a child during an audience with the boys and girls of the

“Fabbrica della Pace” groups at the Vatican, May 11, 2015. (Reuters/Max Rossi)

The “industry of death” exists in the world as many people in power live off war, Pope Francis told Italian schoolkids in the Vatican on Monday.
“Many powerful people don’t want peace because they live off war,” the Pontiff said as he met with pupils from Rome’s primary schools in the Nervi Audience Hall.
Talking to children during the audience organized by the Peace Factory Foundation, he explained that every war has the arms industry behind it.
“This is serious. Some powerful people make their living with the production of arms and sell them to one country for them to use against another country,” the Pope was cited by AGI news agency as saying.
The head of the Catholic Church labeled the arms trade “the industry of death, the greed that harms us all, the desire to have more money.”
“The economic system orbits around money and not men, women,” he told 7,000 kids present at the audience.
Despite the fact that wars “lose lives, health, education,” they are being waged to defend money and make even more profit, the Pope said.
“The devil enters through greed and this is why they don’t want peace,” 78-year-old Francis said.
“There can be no peace without justice,” the Pope said and asked the children to repeat those words out loud three times.

Pope Francis calls to end ‘barbarous violence’ and bloodshed in global hotspots

“Peace must be built day by day and even if, one day in the future, we can say that there will finally be no more wars, then too peace will be built day by day because peace is not an industrial product, it is artisanal: it is built day by day through our mutual love, our closeness,” he said.
In his April Easter Address, the Pontiff urged to end “absurd” violence, bloodshed and persecution in hotspots around the world.
“We ask for peace, above all, for Syria and Iraq, that the roar of arms may cease and that peaceful relations may be restored among the various groups which make up those beloved countries,” he told tens of thousands of pilgrims at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican.
Francis also asked the Lord to “bring light to beloved Ukraine” and called for resuming the “peace process” between Israelis and Palestinians “to end years of suffering and division.”


….


Taken from: http://rt.com/news/257545-pope-francis-war-arms/