Former sex slaves to take part in South Korea Mass with Pope

(CNA).- A group of South Korean women who were used as sex slaves by the Japanese army during World War II will attend an Aug. 18 Mass with Pope Francis when he visits the country.

According to local media reports, the Archdiocese of Seoul announced on Monday that it had invited the women to take part in the ceremony with Pope Francis. The Mass will be held at the Cathedral of Myeongdong in Seoul. A personal meeting between the pontiff and the women, many of whom are Catholic, has not been set.

Pope Francis will visit South Korea Aug. 14-18 to take part in the VI Asian Youth Day. It will be the third time a pontiff has visited Asia, the last time being St. John Paul II’s trip to the Korean peninsula in 1989.

Some 200,000 young girls and teenagers – more than half of whom were Korean – were forced to become sex slaves by the Japanese empire, which ruled Korea from 1910 to 1945.

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Pope Francis banner in downtown Denver aims to inspire

(CNA/EWTN News).- A 10-foot tall banner depicting Pope Francis embracing a young child was hung July 1 on the exterior of the Samaritan House homeless shelter in downtown Denver, as a reminder of the need for loving service and encounter.

“This beautiful image illustrates the Holy Father’s vision of love and charity in Jesus Christ,” said Wendy Oldenbrook, director of marketing and communications at Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Denver.

The banner shows Pope Francis embracing a child present at his inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square last year.

“We seek to live out this vision every day at Catholic Charities in service to the poor,” Oldenbrook said in a statement.

She explained to CNA July 2 that the Samaritan House rotates banners frequently. Previous banners have included images of the Divine Mercy of Jesus and the Good Samaritan.

The Pope Francis banner was put up with the hope that the image will communicate “kindness, respect for the most vulnerable, and the joy of serving others.”

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Pope selects Michigan priest to become bishop of Gaylord, MI

(CNA) Pope Francis has named Monsignor Steven J. Raica of the Diocese of Lansing to become the next bishop of Gaylord, Mich.

“In these days, as I prepare myself to serve the People of God in the northern part of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula as a new bishop, I offer my praise and gratitude to the Lord Jesus whose presence in my life has enabled me to experience an abundance of life,” Bishop-designate Raica said June 27.

“My gratitude also goes to Pope Francis for entrusting me with this honor and great responsibility.”

Bishop-designate Raica, 61, asked for prayers that he may “serve the Lord totally and faithfully” in his position in Gaylord.

Bishop Earl Boyea of Lansing praised the bishop-to-be as “a good priest, a good friend, and a man of good counsel” who is “gentle, considerate, and solid in his pastoral abilities.” He said the bishop will be “an intelligent, cultured, pastoral, gentle, and faith-filled leader of the Church.”

“The entire Diocese of Lansing offers him our heartiest congratulations and prayers!” Bishop Boyea said in a statement.

Coadjutor Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Newark, the previous Bishop of Gaylord, welcomed the appointment. He said he has known the bishop-designate for over 25 years. The archbishop praised his “pastoral zeal, collaborative spirit, and intellectual gifts.”

“I believe that he will be an excellent shepherd – after the Heart of Jesus – for a flock that I will always remember as being incredibly loving.”

Bishop-designate Raica is currently chancellor of the Lansing diocese.

He was born Nov. 8, 1952, in Munising, Mich., to Mary and Steve Raica. In 1978, Lansing’s then-bishop Kenneth Povish ordained him to the priesthood, the Lansing diocese said. Pope John Paul II named him a prelate of honor in 1998.

He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Michigan State University in East Lansing as well as a master’s degree in divinity from St. John Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Mich., and a master’s degree in religious studies from the University of Detroit.

Bishop-designate Raica served as associate pastor or pastor at Catholic churches in Burton, Flint, Ovid, Charlotte and Bellevue. He served as co-rector of Lansing’s St. Mary Cathedral and chaplain of Olivet College in Olivet.

He was also superior of Casa Santa Maria, the North American College’s graduate studies house in Rome. He served as spiritual director and adjunct faculty at the college from 1999-2005. From 2007-2009, he was vice postulator of the sainthood cause of Servant of God Antonietta Meo, a devout Italian girl who died of cancer at the age of six in 1937.

The future bishop has worked in deaf ministry and is capable of conversing in sign language as well as Italian and Polish. He is able to read Latin, French, Spanish and German.

He is a music lover with an affinity for classical, jazz, classical organ and choral music. He enjoys...

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Pope: "Excommunicated" The courage to label mobsters “adorers of evil”

(Vatican Insider, by Andrea Tornielli) Never before has a Pope said publicly, without mincing words, that “the mafia is excommunicated”. Pope Francis made the declaration from the pulpit, in the land of the mafia. Following his visit to the frontier of Lampedusa, an island inundated by refugees and immigrants, and the journey amongst the unemployed of Sardinia, Francis’ current visit has taken him to the fringes of the country, in Calabria. It is the ‘geography’ of a pope who favours the less fortunate, as yesterday he visited Cassano allo Jonio to show that he is close to those who live in a land plagued by organised crime and encourage those in attendance with signs of hope and prospects. In the prison of Castrovillari, Bergoglio embraced the father and two grandmothers of Cocò Campolongo, the three-year-old burned alive in an ‘ndrangheta ambush, and during the mass held on the plains of the village of Sibari, he deviated from the text prepared for the homily and declared that “this evil must be fought and distanced”, inviting the Church to commit itself even more in this regard. He said, with potency, that as many as there are that follow this path, “the mafia is excommunicated”.

Yet this is not the first time that Francis has spoken of the mafia. Last March he met two families, victims of the mafia, at a meeting promoted in Rome by “Libera”, with father Ciotti. On that occasion he asked the “men and women of the mafia” to convert and change their lives “so that they do not end up in hell”, “which is what awaits if they continue on this path… The power, the money you have now through illicit business, from many mafia crimes, is bloody money, it is bloody power and you cannot take it with you to the next life”. This time the appeal, clear and strong, and with reference to excommunication, was declared by the Pope from the altar in the land of the mafia. Resolved in his choice, the message echoes that famous address by John Paul II in the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento, in 1993.

For Bergoglio, speaking out against organised crime is nothing new after his years at the episcopacy in Buenos Aires. In 2009, father Pepe di Paola, one of the priests he had assigned to the parish in the shanty town of Barracas, received death threats from drug traffickers. The future Pope told the priest: “If something is to happen to one of mine, I want them to kill me”. He removed the priest to protect him and defended him publicly saying that the appeals to fight crime and narcotics came from him, the archbishop.

“The Gospel contains answers for us all, even against the ‘ndrangheta” said the bishop of Cassano and secretary of the CEI, Nunzio Galantino. Today Francis reiterated this not only to those fighting for change, but also to those “sleeping consciences”, which are complicit.

Pope Francis: the joy of priesthood and the beauty of fraternity

(Vatican Radio) “I have very much desired this meeting with you who bear the daily burden of parish work” Pope Francis said on Saturday, greeting the priests of the Diocese of Cassano all’Jonio.

In his address, the Holy Father spoke to the assembled clerics about “the joy of being a priest.” There is nothing more beautiful for a man than to be called to the priesthood, he said… called to follow Jesus, to be with Him, to bring Jesus to others, to bring them His Word and His forgiveness. Although the work of a priest is not always easy, drawing near to Jesus in the tabernacle can renew and re-animate priestly zeal. Stopping for a moment before the tabernacle can also lead priests to examine their consciences: “In the silence of prayer Jesus make us see if we are working as good workers, or if we have become a little like ‘employees;’ if we are open, generous ‘channels,’ through which His love, His grace can flow abundantly; or if instead we place ourselves at the center, and so instead of being channels we become screens that do not help the encounter with God, with the light and the strength of the Gospel.”

Pope Francis also spoke about “the beauty of fraternity.” Priests especially do not follow the Lord just as individuals, but as members of a community, with “a great variety of gifts and personalities” which enrich the priesthood when they are lived “in communion and fraternity.” Even priests, however, “are immersed in a subjective culture that exalts the ‘I’ even to the point of idolizing it.” Pope Francis warned of “a certain pastoral individualism that unfortunately is diffused in our dioceses.” Priestly fraternity, then, is a conscious choice that must be cultivated, sought “in communion in Christ in the presbyterate gathered around the Bishop.”

Finally, the Holy Father encouraged the priests in their work “with families and for the family.” It is a difficult time, he said, both for the family as an institution and for individual families that struggle in the crises they face. Priests, he said, “are called to be witnesses and mediators” of God’s “nearness to families, and of the prophetic force” of God’s Word “for the family.”

The theme of the pilgrimage was one word: HERE

(by Fr. Greg Shaffer, Chaplain, GWCatholics, George Washington University Newman Center)

Nineteen of us from GW just returned from a 10 day pilgrimage to the Holy Land, including seventeen students.  

It was AWESOME!  For almost all of us, it was our first time.  God completely blessed our trip, and made each day greater than the one before it.  The first half of our time was spent at the Sea of Galilee which was gorgeous.  This is where Jesus was!  He performed miracles there, walked on water there, and handed over his authority to Peter there (“feed my sheep”).  The views in the morning and evening were especially breath-taking.  So many of us fell in love with the Sea of Galilee.  It was so beautiful and peaceful, and lended easily to prayer.  Think I’ve found my retirement spot!  One morning, I posted on Facebook that I went for a run and touched the Sea of Galilee.  Incredible!

The second half of our pilgrimage was in Jerusalem.  This was much more chaotic, busy, and touristy.  But, the holy sites there were so powerful and overwhelming.  We visited the Church of the Annunciation and the students got that that’s where it all started…the Word became flesh.  The Mass at the Church of Agony at the Garden of Gethsemane was particularly powerful because that’s where Christ first shed His blood that we offer at every Mass. And, then, we had Mass in the tomb!  I celebrated Mass on a marble slab where Christ’s body laid for 3 days and then was resurrected…!  That was the most emotional Mass I have ever celebrated. 

The theme of the pilgrimage was one word: HERE.  At each of these places, the prayers in the priest’s book (missal) said HERE.  “The Word became flesh HERE”.  “Christ was born HERE”.  “Christ rose from the dead HERE”.  No other missals in the world say that. We were there and celebrated Mass where these major events of our salvation happened!

If you ever get a chance to go the Israel, please do.  First, it was very safe. At no time was our safety at risk. Second, it was life-changing.  19 of us went; there were 19 conversions.  We are all different people now.  We spanned the spectrum of faith; some were full of faith, some were doubters going into the trip.  We are all believers now, having had a special encounter with Christ in the Holy Land.

Towards the end of our time there, we visited the Upper Room.  This is a significant site for us for a number of reasons: it was there that Christ celebrated the Last Supper, instituted the Eucharist and Priesthood, and where today’s feast of Pentecost occurred.  At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles as tongues of fire (why the sanctuary and priest are donned with red today).  The Apostles had been afraid to even go outside after Jesus ascended “for fear of the Jews”.  I talked to our students about this on the trip.  It was actually on the feast of the Ascension that I quoted the Gospel: “they worshiped but doubted”.

Think about what that means.  The Apostles were taught by Jesus for three years, got to know him well as a friend, witnessed His passion, death, resurrection, and ascension.  After all that, they doubted and were afraid. They were at all of the holy sites we were…and they were with Jesus!  I pointed this out to the students, and asked them what changed for the Apostles.  It was the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  The Spirit filled them with faith, not fear.  He filled them with courage, wisdom and zeal to go out and proclaim Jesus. They did that, and on the first day of going out, three thousand people were baptized.  It was the start of the Catholic Church.  The Spirit spoke through the Apostles that day, started the Church, and has been guiding the Church ever since. 

As I told the students, pray to the Holy Spirit.   If you are doubting or are afraid or feel that God is a million miles away, ask the Spirit to help you know Christ’s presence.  “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful”.  Fill our hearts with your love.  Fill our hearts with your truth, your peace, your joy. Help us to be filled with faith, not fear.  Help us to go out and proclaim Jesus as the Apostles did.

Pentecost was the first Confirmation.  It was for our own sake that you and I were baptized; it was for the sake of others that we were confirmed.  The purpose of Pentecost was to send the Apostles out; the purpose of our Confirmation was to go out on the mission of the Church.  Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid to go out and proclaim Jesus with your lives.

College Students Begin Holy Land Pilgrimage Day After Pope Leaves

Fr. Greg Shaffer, Chaplain of the George Washington University Newman Center will be leading students on an 11-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land, the first of its kind for the student center for Catholics. The GWCatholics arrive the day after Pope Francis departs.

The planning for their pilgrimage began over one year ago. But the time has passed quickly, according to George Washington University Newman Center Chaplain, Fr. Greg Shaffer.

Departing on May 27, Fr. Shaffer and Olivia Bee, student coordinator, will embark on an 11-day pilgrimage to the Holy Land. They will narrowly miss Pope Francis, who departs the Holy Land after his “pilgrimage of prayer” on May 26.

Though the GWCatholics, as they are called, have done service projects and mission trips with the students before, according to Fr. Shaffer this will be the first Holy Land pilgrimage they will make.

Speaking about the difference between prior mission trips and a pilgrimage, Fr. Shaffer emphasized the power of the "extraordinary graces available" on a pilgrimage.

"A pilgrimage helps individuals be more open to what God is doing in their lives," said Tekton PR Associate, Chris Weldon.

"By being in a particular place and encountering the history of events and people in that place, one can be more open to the underlying message that was communicated at that time, much like being at the Statue of Liberty can help people to enter into the experience of the waves of immigrants who came to the United States in the 19th century."

When asked what he wanted for his student parishioners to take away from their upcoming pilgrimage, Fr. Shaffer's answer was clear. "I want them to have a deeper conversion to Christ."

He himself is looking forward to his Tekton Ministries Holy Land pilgrimage, "being in the places where Jesus was, especially where the acts of our salvation took place."

The GWCatholics return from their pilgrimage on June 6.

Tekton Ministries has been providing pilgrimages to the Holy Land since 1996.

For more information, contact Chris Weldon, PR Associate and Social Media Coordinator for Tekton Ministries at (866) 905-3787.For more information on Catholic pilgrimages or other Tekton services contact Chris Weldon at Tekton Ministries, (866) 905-3787.

Pope Francis to make pilgrimage to Albania on September 21, 2014

(Vatican Radio) At his Angelus address on Sunday, Pope Francis announced that he will be visiting the city of Tirana in Albania on Sunday 21 September. “With this brief visit,” he said, “I want to confirm the Church of Albania in the faith, and bear witness to my encouragement and love for a country that has suffered for so long in consequence of the ideologies of the past.”

Pope Francis' practical program for holiness

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says the Beatitudes spell out a program for Christian life.

During his homily at Monday morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, the Pope focused on the Beatitudes; on the day following the historic meeting for peace in the Vatican, he called for the courage of meekness to defeat hatred.

Reflecting on the Gospel reading of the day which focuses on the Beatitudes, Pope Francis described them as a “program”, the “identity card of a Christian”.  If you ask yourself how to become a good Christian,  this is where you can find Jesus’s answer, an answer – he said - that points to an attitude that is currently very much against the tide: Blessed are the poor in spirit. Wealth – Francis pointed out – offers no guarantee, in fact – he continued – when the heart is rich and self-satisfied, it has no place for the Word of God: “Blessed are they who mourn for they will be comforted”.

The world tells us that happiness, joy and entertainment are the best things in life. And it looks the other way when there are problems of disease or pain in the family. The world does not want to suffer, it prefers to ignore painful situations, to cover them up. Only the person who sees things as they are, and whose heart mourns, will be happy and will be comforted. Thanks to the consolation of Jesus, not to that of the world. Blessed are the meek in this world which is filled with wars, arguments, hatred. And Jesus says: no war, no hatred. Peace and meekness.”

Pope Francis continued saying “if you are meek in life, people will think you are not clever”. Let them think that – he said – “but you are meek because with this meekness you will inherit the Earth”. “Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. It is so easy – the Pope observed – to become part of the corrupt and referred to “that daily approach of ‘do ut des’. Everything is business”. How much injustice does that approach cause – he noted – and how many people suffer because of injustice. And Jesus says: “Blessed are they who fight against injustice. Blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy”. The merciful – the Pope said – “those who forgive and understand the mistakes of others”. Jesus – he pointed out – does not say “blessed are they who seek revenge”.

“Blessed are they who forgive, who are merciful. Because we are all part of an army of people who have been forgiven! We have all been forgiven. That is why blessed is he who undertakes this path of forgiveness. Blessed are the pure of heart, they who have a simple, pure heart without dirt, a heart that knows how to love with purity. Blessed are peace-makers. But it is so common amongst us to be war-makers or perpetrators of misunderstandings! When I hear something from one person, and I go and say it to someone else in a second, enlarged, edition… the world of gossip. People who gossip, who do not make peace, are enemies of peace. They are not blessed”.

“Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness”. How many people – Pope Francis said – have been persecuted, “and continue to be persecuted simply for having fought for justice”. And recalling the Beatitudes, the Pope pointed out that they represent “a program for life offered to us by Jesus”: “So simple and yet so difficult”. And he said: “if we are searching for more, Jesus gives us other indications” as written in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 25: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was ill and you cared for me,  I was in prison and you visited me”. With these two things – the Beatitudes and Matthew 25 – “one can live a holy, Christian life”.

“Few words, simple words, but practical for all. Because Christianity is a practical religion: it is not just to be imagined, it is to be practiced. If you have some time at home today, take the Gospel, Matthew’s Gospel, chapter five. At the beginning there are the Beatitudes; in chapter 25 the rest. And it will do you good to read them once, twice, three times. Read this program for holiness. May the Lord give us the grace to understand his message”.

Invocation for Peace

Feel free to skip ahead or go backward to watch moving scenes from Invocation for Peace at the Vatican, hosted by Pope Francis and attended by President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and President Peres of Israel, along with Church leaders in the Holy Land, including Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land Fr. Pier Battista Pizzaballa.

Pope Francis making Mexico pilgrimage in 2015

(CNA/EWTN News).- President Enrique Peña Nieto on Saturday announced that Pope Francis has accepted an invitation to visit Mexico.

“Without doubt, this is cause for great joy,” President Peña Nieto declared after telling reporters the Pope “has accepted the invitation.”

The president made the announcement after his private meeting with the pontiff in the Apostolic Palace.

The dates for the visit are not known, but could come near the Pope’s hoped-for visit to Philadelphia for the World Meeting for Families in late September 2015. Such a visit to the U.S. has not been confirmed by the Vatican.

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Never forget your first love, Pope encourages priests

(Vatican Radio) Priests must be pastors first, scholars second, and they should never forget Christ, their "first love".  This was Pope Francis’ message to all men consecrated to God in the priesthood, at Friday morning Mass in Casa Santa Marta.

"How is your first love?". That is, are they still as in love with you as the first day? Are they happy with you or so they ignore you? These are universal questions which we should all ask ourselves regularly, says Pope Francis. And not just couples, but priests, bishops too, in front of Jesus.  Because He asks us just as he one day asked Peter, "Simon son of John, do you love me?".

The Pope began his homily reflecting on the this dialogue in the Gospel where Christ asks the first of the Apostles three times if he loves Him more than others: "This is the question I ask myself, my brother bishops and priests: how is your love today, the love of Jesus? Is it like first love? Am I as in love today as on the first day? Or does work and worries lead me to look at other things, and forget love a little? There are arguments in marriage. That's normal. When there is no love, there are no arguments: it breaks. Do I argue, with the Lord? This is a sign of love. This question that Jesus asks of Peter brings him to first love. Never forget your first love. Never".

In addition to this first aspect, says Pope Francis, there are three others to be considered in relation to a priest’s dialogue with Jesus. First of all – before study, before wanting to become "a scholar of of philosophy or theology or patrology – [a priest must be ] a "shepherd", as Jesus urged Peter: "Feed my sheep". The rest, says the Pope, comes "after":

"Feed. With theology, philosophy, with patrology, with what you study, but feed. Be the shepherd. For the Lord has called us to this. And the bishop's hands on our head is to be shepherds. This is a second question, is not it? The first is: 'How is your first love?'. This, the second: 'Am I a shepherd, or an employee of this NGO that is called the Church?'. There is a difference. Am I a shepherd? A  question that I have to ask myself, that bishops need to ask, even priests: all of us. Feed. Lead. Go forward".

Pope Francis continued,  there is no "glory" or "majesty” for the pastor consecrated to Jesus: "No, brother. You will end up in the most common, even humiliating circumstances: in bed, having to be fed, dressed ... useless, sick ... ". It is our destiny is "to end up like Him": Love that dies "as the seed of wheat, that will bear fruit. But I will not see it".

Finally, the fourth aspect, the "strongest word", with which Jesus concludes his conversation with Peter, "Follow me!".

"If we have lost the way or do not know how to respond to love, we do not know how to respond to being pastors, we do not know how to respond or we do not have the certainty that the Lord will not abandon us even in the worst moments of life, in sickness. He says, 'Follow me'. This is our certainty. In the footsteps of Jesus. On that path. 'Follow me”.

Pope Francis concludes, may the Lord give all of us priests and bishops "the grace to always find or remember our first love, to be pastors, not to be ashamed of ending up humiliated on a bed or even losing our faculties. And that He always give us the grace to follow Jesus, in the footsteps of Jesus: the grace to follow Him".

Indianapolis Archbishop warns of “balkanization” of Catholic Church in America

Here are some of Archbishop Tobin's words given at a theological convention last Friday.  In the address, and consequent question and answer, he said:

"In my opinion, finger pointing does a great harm to religious life because it makes us defensive." Under such finger pointing, he said, "we feel constantly compelled to defend ourselves against other parties in the church."

In response to one question, Tobin even said some U.S. bishops are finding Pope Francis' leadership style difficult to understand.

"What I've seen is how disruptive Pope Francis has been within the hierarchy of the United States," said Tobin. "I was talking to a couple of brother bishops a while back and they were saying that bishops and priests were very discouraged by Pope Francis because he was challenging them."

"I think there was a particular image, perhaps, of what it means to be a pastoral leader in this country, and Francis is disturbing it," he continued. "I think there is some resistance to a different way of doing the Gospel mission of the church."

"I wonder whether some of the echo of name-calling, labeling, and intolerance that appears to increasingly characterize the American political discourse — I wonder whether this intolerance passes unchallenged in the heart of the American Catholic church."

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"Do not cage the Holy Spirit!" says Pope Francis

(CNA/EWTN News).- On Sunday afternoon Pope Francis told throngs of Charismatic Catholics to not obstruct the work of the Holy Spirit in evangelizing, but make the adoration of God the “foundation of renewal.”

“Go forth into the streets and evangelize, proclaim the Gospel. Remember that the Church was born to go forth, that morning of Pentecost,” the Pope said June 1.

“Let yourselves be guided by the Holy Spirit, with that same freedom. And please, do not cage the Holy Spirit!”

He addressed 52,000 people from 55 countries who had gathered in Rome's Olympic Stadium for the national convocation of “Renewal in the Spirit.”

Pope Francis to participate in charismatic convention at Olympic Stadium

(VIS) – Next Sunday afternoon, the Holy Father will participate in a charismatic convention at the Olympic Stadium of Rome, which will take place from 1-2 June with the theme “Convert! Believe! Receive the Holy Spirit!”. Francis will arrive at the stadium at 5 p.m. and will enjoy the event from a box in the VIP area. It will be the first ever papal visit to a stadium in the Italian capital. This celebration of faith, organised by Renewal in the Spirit, will be attended by representatives of more than fifty countries, and an influx of more than 52,000 people is expected. During the encounter, which will involve moments of prayer, music and dance, the Holy Father will give an address.

Pope Francis meets with doctor who saved his life

(CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis met recently with Dr. Juan Carlos Parodi, the Argentinean surgeon who operated on him for gall bladder failure in 1980 and whom he attributes with saving his life.

Dr. Parodi recounted the story to the Argentinean daily La Nacion May 20.

“It was a surprise for me. In 1980 I was called by a doctor who said he was treating a humble priest who was very sick. He was a Jesuit and had taken the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and did not have any money. He asked me, ‘Are you able to help him?’ I was honored. I dropped everything and went to see this priest. He was very sick.”

“I operated on him, I don’t remember much else but that he came out okay and gave me a book. He insisted on paying me and of course I refused. He gave me a book which he signed. Later I found out that that humble and very sick priest was Bergoglio,” Parodi recalled.

Speaking on Radio Continental, he shared details about his recent visit with his former patient.

“On April 9 I was at a congress in London, and I was told I could have a private audience. It was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. First, because I learned many things that I did not know, and plus to see the Holy Father.”

“He was radiant as he came into St. Martha’s and he said to me, ‘Juan Carlo, you look the same as that night when I saw you and I thought I was dying. You saved my life.’ ‘What?’ I said. ‘Yes, you saved my life because I had gall bladder failure, and everyone knows that that is very deadly. You operated on me that very night. I will never forget your face, because when I saw your face I began to feel better, I got better’,” the Pope told him.

“He was very ill, and according to him, I saved his life. That made me very happy,” Dr. Parodi said.

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Pope Francis looks to Philippines & Sri Lanka for next pilgrimage

Aboard the papal plane, May 27, 2014 / 05:43 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On his return flight from the Holy Land, Pope Francis announced that he will visit Sri Lanka and the Philippines in January 2015.

“There are two Asian trips planned: one to South Korea and then next January, a two-day trip to Sri Lanka and the Philippines, to the area affected by the tsunami,” Pope Francis said during an in-flight press conference May 26, according to the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

Pope Paul VI visited the Philippines in 1970. St. John Paul II visited the Philippines in 1981 and again in 1995 during a trip that included Sri Lanka, Australia, and Papua New Guinea.

In February, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo had invited Pope Francis to visit the country.

“I welcome this invitation, and I think the Lord will grant us the grace,” the Pope told Sri Lankan pilgrims at the Vatican Feb. 8.

Pope Francis also acknowledged that “many tears have been shed” by the...

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Pope Francis prays at Western Wall

Vatican City, 25 May 2014 (VIS) – At 8 a.m. the Pope transferred from Temple Mount to the Western Wall, or “Wailing Wall”. Fifteen meters high, this wall is a place of worship for the Jews for historical and religious reasons, and is linked to numerous traditions such as that of leaving prayers written on small pieces of paper between the blocks of the wall. Francis was received by the Chief Rabbi, who accompanied him to the wall. The Pope prayed in silence before the wall and, like his predecessors, left a piece of paper on which he had written the Lord's Prayer; he said, “I have written it in Spanish because it is the language I learned from my mother”.

He then proceeded to Monte Herzl where, in accordance with protocol on official visits and assisted by a Christian boy and girl, he left a wreath of flowers in the Israel national cemetery at the tomb of Theodore Herzl, founder of the Zionist movement. The Holy Father also strayed slightly from his itinerary to pray at a tomb for the victims of terrorism in Israel.

He then traveled by car to the Yad Vashem Memorial, a monument built in 1953 by the State of Israel to commemorate the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Along with the president and director of the Center, the Pope walked around the perimeter of the Mausoleum before entering the Remembrance Hall, where he was awaited by the president, the prime minister, and the Rabbi president of the Council of Yad Vashem. Inside the Hall there is a monument with an eternal flame positioned in front of the crypt, which contains several urns with the ashes of victims of various concentration camps. The Pope lit the flame, placed a yellow and white floral wreath in the Mausoleum and, before his address, read from the Old Testament. He then spoke briefly about strength and the pain of man's inhuman evil and on the “structures of sin” that oppose the dignity of the human person, created in the image and semblance of God.

“'Adam, where are you?'. Where are you, o man? What have you come to? In this place, this memorial of the Shoah, we hear God’s question echo once more: 'Adam, where are you?' This question is charged with all the sorrow of a Father who has lost his child. The Father knew the risk of freedom; he knew that his children could be lost… yet perhaps not even the Father could imagine so great a fall, so profound an abyss! Here, before the boundless tragedy of the Holocaust, that cry – “Where are you?” – echoes like a faint voice in an unfathomable abyss…

“Adam, who are you? I no longer recognize you. Who are you, o man? What have you become? Of what horror have you been capable? What made you fall to such depths? Certainly it is not the dust of the earth from which you were made. The dust of the earth is something good, the work of my hands. Certainly it is not the breath of life which I breathed into you. That breath comes from me, and it is something good.

“No, this abyss is not merely the work of your own hands, your own heart… Who corrupted you? Who disfigured you? Who led you to presume that you are the master of good and evil? Who convinced you that you were god? Not only did you torture and kill your brothers and sisters, but you sacrificed them to yourself, because you made yourself a god.

“Today, in this place, we hear once more the voice of God: “Adam, where are you?”

“From the ground there rises up a soft cry: 'Have mercy on us, O Lord!' To you, O Lord our God, belongs righteousness; but to us confusion of face and shame.

“A great evil has befallen us, such as never happened under the heavens. Now, Lord, hear our prayer, hear our plea, save us in your mercy. Save us from this horror.

“Almighty Lord, a soul in anguish cries out to you. Hear, Lord, and have mercy! We have sinned against you. You reign for ever. Remember us in your mercy. Grant us the grace to be ashamed of what we men have done, to be ashamed of this massive idolatry, of having despised and destroyed our own flesh which you formed from the earth, to which you gave life with your own breath of life. Never again, Lord, never again!

“'Adam, where are you?' Here we are, Lord, shamed by what man, created in your own image and likeness, was capable of doing. Remember us in your mercy”.

The Holy Father concluded his visit by speaking with some Holocaust survivors and signed the Yad Vashem Book of Honour, where he wrote: “With shame for what man, created in the image and likeness of God, was able to do. With shame that man become the patron of evil; with the shame for what man, believing himself to be god, sacrificed his brothers to himself. Never again! Never again!"

He bid farewell to the chorus and the authorities who had greeted him upon arrival, and left by car for the Heichal Shlomo Centre.

Pilgrimage to Italy meaningful to visitors

By Judy Horan / World-Herald correspondent

Trappist nuns carefully watch over a more-than-2,000-year-old veil in the ancient Italian town of Manoppello. The veil, said to have covered Christ during his burial and resurrection, is believed to show the image of his face. It is displayed in the Basilica of the Holy Face.

For University of Nebraska-Lincoln philosophy major Ben Mattern, who recently was part of a group that traveled to Italy, seeing the face on the veil in person was an awesome experience.

“If you lay this cloth up against the Shroud of Turin, they match perfectly,” Mattern said. “We spent the morning for three hours praying and reflecting on the cloth. We had Mass there. It was a very big moment for everybody in our group.”

Mattern was one of 44 college students, mostly from UNL, who signed up for the March 20-30 trip, the fourth pilgrimage to Italy sponsored by the Newman Center.

“When you come into the church, the veil is completely transparent. You can see through it, but when light hits the silk, the image of Christ’s face is clearly seen,” said the Rev. Ben Holdren, associate pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, who led the pilgrimage. “Nobody knows quite sure how the image is there.”

Holdren also is assistant spiritual director for the Newman Center, a student organization attached to the church on UNL’s campus.

He said the Newman Center and St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church are busy places for “huskercatholic” students. (Students can be seen wearing T-shirts with “huskercatholic” on them). About 1,200 students walk through the doors Sunday for Mass. More than 600 students participate in Bible studies.

Another face that awed Mattern on the pilgrimage was the smiling face of Pope Francis in Vatican City.

“One of the biggest highlights was seeing the pope and seeing his great joy for all of us. The Holy Father had this huge smile on his face. He loves seeing us as much as we loved to see him,” the UNL senior said.

Sophomore Kathryn Kopetzky, an education major at UNL, sat about 5 feet from the popemobile as Pope Francis rode by, greeting visitors before his papal address.

“Being that close to Pope Francis was so incredible,” she said. “I’ve seen videos and pictures of him, but it was different just being that close to him, seeing him in real life and seeing he was an actual person.”

Pope Francis addressed the group in Italian, and priests from countries that were represented translated.

Mattern found joy at St. Peter’s Basilica, the center of the Catholic faith, despite waiting in St. Peter’s Square for three hours in pouring rain.

“My group was surrounded by Italians and French people, and we were having a good time and talking and laughing,” he said.

“Joy spread all around, in spite of the fact that we couldn’t communicate with each other. It was so much fun. One person would start a song, and others would join in. The joy was infectious.”

Kopetzky was struck, while at the papal audience, by how Catholicism brings the world together.

“The pope was translated into about seven different languages,” Kopetzky said. “They were from all over the world, but were united being Catholic.”

The group from Lincoln celebrated Mass at the Tomb of John Paul II in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“He was the pope for most of my life growing up,” Kopetzky said. “The pope was kind and loving. He always said, ‘Do not be afraid,’ and that stuck with me. I’ve always had a love of him.”

Holdren said the visit is about making Christianity tangible.

“We can actually go to the place where the first Christians would have had Mass in underground catacombs,” he said. “We can actually physically see the bones of St. Peter and climb the stairs that Jesus would have climbed when condemned by Pontius Pilate.”

Mattern climbed the same Holy Stairs that Christ had climbed. The Lincoln student ascended the steep staircase on his knees along with other pilgrims. There are 28 steps.

“It’s incredibly painful, but we made it up by the grace of God,” said Mattern, who stopped to pray on each step while climbing. Despite the pain, he managed the climb in 30 minutes.

“It’s a very spiritual experience.”

For Mattern, the pilgrimage was a way of getting away from routine life to spend time with God.

“I needed some time away from the daily grind of life to spend time with Him so he could reveal to me all the changes in my life I needed to do,” he said. “The 10 days were very spiritual. A lot of things were revealed to me that I need to work on. Some were hard to hear, and some were great to hear.”

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Video message of Custos of Holy Land on Pope Francis pilgrimage to the Holy Land May 24-26