Holocaust Remembrance Day: 'Eradicate anti-Semitism and all religious persecution'

Pope Francis at the Angelus spoke of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp: "The horror cannot be forgotten". In Sudan the "most serious humanitarian crisis in the world".  On the Word of God Sunday: "It is alive: walk with us". Catholic Action youth: "It would be nice if the great of the Earth also passed through the Holy Door".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - Today, Sunday of the Word of God, after the recitation of the Angelus, Pope Francis recalled the International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Shoah that tomorrow, 27 January, marks.

"The horror of the extermination of millions of Jews and people of other faiths that took place during those years can neither be forgotten nor denied," he said. "I renew my call for everyone to work together to eradicate the scourge of anti-Semitism, along with all forms of discrimination and religious persecution."

He hoped that the construction of a "more fraternal world" would begin with education.

After saying the Marian prayer, Bergoglio immediately dedicated a thought to the "most serious humanitarian crisis in the world": that in Sudan and South Sudan. "I am close to the populations of both countries and I invite them to fraternity, solidarity, to avoid any kind of violence and not to allow themselves to be instrumentalised," he said.

"Let them cease hostilities and agree to sit at a negotiating table." He urged the warring parties and the international community to provide aid to the displaced - who number in the millions - and to 'help the belligerents find paths to peace soon'.

And words of peace were also sounded by a young boy who flanked the pontiff at the window of the Vatican Apostolic Palace. The message read out was for the occasion of the Caravan of Peace, an appointment of the Catholic Action of Children (ACR) of the diocese of Rome.

A large group of young Catholics went festively to St Peter's Square to bear witness to peace in the streets of the Eternal City. "How beautiful it would be if the great of the Earth also passed through the Holy Door, hand in hand," said the young people.

A gesture that would be extremely significant in this time of Jubilee dedicated to hope. "Then they would be able to silence the weapons". Francis praised these last words.

Before the Angelus recitation, the pontiff commented on the Gospel of the day (Lk 1:1-4; 4:14-21), the beginning of the work of the evangelist Luke.

In the passage, Jesus returns to the synagogue in Nazareth, reads a passage from Isaiah and causes consternation among those present.

"On that day in Nazareth, Jesus confronted his interlocutors with a choice about his identity and mission. No one in the synagogue could help but wonder: is he only the carpenter's son who arrogates to himself a role that does not belong to him, or is he truly the Messiah, sent to save the people from sin?" he said. Like the people who mistakenly believed they knew him because they knew who Mary and Joseph were, 'we too are challenged by the presence and words of Jesus'.

This morning, at 9.30am, Pope Francis presided over Mass at St Peter's Basilica, as part of the Jubilee of the World of Communication, which is being celebrated these days. "When we hear the Gospel, the words of God, it is not just a matter of hearing them, of understanding them, no. They must reach the heart, and produce what I said: 'amazement'. The Word of God always amazes us, always renews us, it enters our hearts and always renews us,' he said during his homily.

The Sunday of the Word was desired by Bergoglio in 2019. Men and women are "contemporaries" of the Word of God.

It "is alive: through the centuries it walks with us, and by the power of the Holy Spirit it works in history. For the Lord is always faithful to his promise, which he keeps out of love for mankind. This is exactly what Jesus said in the synagogue in Nazareth: 'Today it is fulfilled'," the Pope said.