The Earth is ‘sick,’ in need of prayers and action, pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Earth is ailing, and it needs the prayers of Catholics as well as their personal commitment to caring for creation, Pope Francis said. "Let us pray that each of us listen with our hearts to the cry of the Earth and of the victims of environmental disasters and climate change, making a personal commitment to care for the world we inhabit," the pope said in a video message released Aug. 30 by the Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network.
Pope: Church needs university dedicated to educating missionaries
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- While expert scholarship and good stewardship mean the pontifical universities in Rome should be working together, Pope Francis said it is essential that the Pontifical Urbanian University does not lose its centuries-long focus on preparing missionaries from and to the varied cultures of the world. In fact, he said Aug. 30, it is important that the university's "missionary and intercultural specificity be seen even more clearly in the quality of the formation that it offers, so that its graduates can be creative in mediating the Christian message vis-à-vis other cultures and religions."
Rebel from evil by receiving Communion, pope tells Eucharistic congress
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Simple gestures of piety, such as receiving Communion, sow harmony among humanity and can be acts of rebellion against evil, Pope Francis said. In a video message to the International Eucharistic Congress in Quito, Ecuador, released by the Vatican Sept. 8, the pope highlighted the power of the Eucharist through the story of German Trinitarian Sister Angela Autsch, who was imprisoned by the Nazis and sent to Auschwitz where she died in 1944.
Be reflections of God’s love, pope tells people of Timor-Leste
TASITOLU, Timor-Leste (CNS) -- While it is tempting to want more money and more power, God works great things through those who know how to make themselves small, Pope Francis told a massive crowd in one of the world's poorest countries. In a nation of 1.3 million people -- 96% of whom are Catholic -- local authorities estimated 600,000 people gathered for Mass with the pope Sept. 10 at a park in Tasitolu, which is about five miles outside Timor-Leste's capital, Dili. They came from all over Timor-Leste but also from Indonesia.