Iwao Hakamada, 83, spent 48 years on death row for a quadruple murder he probably did not commit. For Catholic and civil society activists, the Pope's embrace would put the spotlight on the death penalty in Japan.
On World Mission Day, Francis said that "believers at this time are called to bring everywhere, with new enthusiasm, the good news that mercy overcomes sin in Jesus, hope overcomes fear, brotherhood overcomes hostility.” PIME missionary Fr Alfredo Cremonesi is remembered. Killed in Burma in 1953, he was a tireless apostle of peace and a zealous witness of the Gospel, until his blood was shed.”
Today the martyr's beatification was celebrated in Crema cathedral. Card Angelo Becciu, Crema’s Bishop Daniele Gianotti, and Taungngu’s Bishop Isaac Danu were present at the ceremony. Today is the 95th anniversary of Fr Cremonesi’s first Mass. Participants made a pilgrimage to the places that marked his life. His testimony “is an incentive for young people to reflect on the beauty of the missionary vocation, experienced with enthusiasm and total commitment”.
Out of 12 small groups, five are in favour, four against, three others would leave the decision to the Pope or to a universal synod. There is agreement over environmental problems and the violence endured by indigenous people. The contribution of women to evangelisation must be valued. One proposal calls for an "Amazonian rite".
In the secular and religious media the sense of mission is reduced to things to do, acts of charity, ideological positions. Silence shrouds the "why" a missionary gives his or her life. The passion and the desire that the peoples know the love of Jesus Christ allows a prophetic impulse capable of perceiving and helping the development and destiny of peoples.
The ceremony will be led by Card Becciu in the cathedral of Crema. Fr Cremonesi spent more than 30 years of his life on mission in what was then Burma. He was called "perpetual motion" because of his restlessness and passion for evangelisation. “if I were born a thousand times, I’d go back on mission a thousand times,” he said. The faithful acknowledged his martyrdom right away.
"Today we ask for the grace to be amazed by the surprises of God, not to hinder His creativity, but to recognize and favor the ever new ways through which the Risen One pours His Spirit into the world and attracts hearts making Himself known as the" Lord of all "(Acts 10:36)".
In his message for today's World Food Day, Francis states that having 820 million hungry people live side by side 700 million overweight people shows the need to return to simplicity and sobriety.
There is a call to set up a permanent episcopal body to promote synodality in the Amazon and a permanent observatory for human rights and the protection of the region. The issue of viri probati continues to take centre stage.
“We must learn to accuse ourselves: ‘I did this, I think this way, wickedly ... I am envious; I would like to destroy that ...’. What is inside, ours, and tell ourselves, before God.” “This spiritual exercise is not commonplace, it is not usual, but let us try to do it”.
"Nearly six million indigenous people have left simply to survive. Not to mention those that were massacred for land exploitation or mining activities. In the Amazon there are 35 multinationals operating without any control or authorization ".
Before the Angelus, Pope Francis recalls the exodus of the "populations of the northeast" of Syria, among which "there are also many Christian families". He pleads with "the international community to" sincerely commit to the path of dialogue to seek effective solutions ". Concern and pain for the clashes, the dead and wounded in Latin American country.
At Mass in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis canonized Card. John Henry Newman; the Indian nun Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan; the Italian Sister Giuseppina Vannini; the Brazilian Sister Dulce Lopes Pontes; the Swiss Margherita Bays, a Franciscan tertiary. They are examples of the "sanctity of everyday life". The journey of faith must be lived in three stages: crying out, invoking, walking together, thanking. "A heart that gives thanks remains young".
The lack of priests is driving some people towards false promises, other churches. For Sister Weiler, the Church needs “more women in leadership positions, not to exert power, but to share our gifts, talents and charisms.”
Too often there is talk of "new paths", but "old" ideological patterns are again rooted in 1968 and in the 1970s and 1980s. Cultural anthropology silences the proclamation of Jesus Christ. The exaltation of service reduces the Church to a NGO robbed of all of her mystery. Secularism renders testimony timid. A spiritual desertification is taking place, and the Pentecostal sects are taking advantage. Some pastoral proposals.
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