The Weekly Francis

Introduction

The Weekly Francis is a compilation of documents, speeches, and other texts brought into an ebook format.

The Weekly Francis was inspired by Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin who came up with the idea to create a weekly link page to the words of the Holy Father.

All texts are © Copyright 2013 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Considering the increasing prevalence of electronic book readers and their ease in reading textual documents this provides an ideal format in making available the words of Pope Francis. This ebook compilation is provided as a public service with no associated fees.

Jeff Miller The Curt Jester blog

Catholic Apologist Jimmy Akin's blog can be found at JimmyAkin.org

While this ebook publication take it's cue from Jimmy Akin's weekly post with links, it is done without association and any copyright problems or formatting mistakes are entirely my own.

Index of Source Links

List of direct document links on Vatican.va used.

Angelus

- 9 June 2013

Homilies

- 16 June 2013 - Evangelium Vitae Day

Speeches

- 6 June 2013 - To the Community of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy

- 7 June 2013 - Pope Francis meets the Students of the Jesuit Schools of Italy and Albania

- 8 June 2013 - Speech - Pope Francis meets H.E. Mr Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic

- 14 June 2013 - To His Grace Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Communion

Papal Tweets

- @pontifex, 11 June 2013

- @pontifex, 12 June 2013

- @pontifex, 16 June 2013

Angelus/Regina Caeli

9 June 2013 - Angelus

POPE FRANCIS

ANGELUS

St Peter's Square

Sunday, 9 June 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Good morning! The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the greatest human expression of divine love. In fact last Friday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and this feast sets the tone for the entire month. Popular piety highly values symbols, and the Heart of Jesus is the ultimate symbol of God’s mercy. But it is not an imaginary symbol; it is a real symbol which represents the centre, the source from which salvation flowed for all of humanity.

In the Gospels we find various references to the Heart of Jesus. For example there is a passage in which Christ himself says: “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart” (Mt 11:28-29). Then there is the key account of Christ’s death according to John. Indeed this Evangelist bears witness to what he saw on Calvary, that is, when Jesus was already dead a soldier pierced his side with a spear and blood and water came out of the wound (cf. Jn 19:33-34). In that apparently coincidental sign John recognizes the fulfillment of the prophecies: from the Heart of Jesus, the Lamb sacrificed on the Cross, flow forgiveness and life for all people.

The mercy of Jesus is not only an emotion; it is a force which gives life that raises man! Today’s Gospel also tells us this in the episode of the widow of Nain (Lk 7:11-17). With his disciples, Jesus arrives in Nain, a village in Galilee, right at the moment when a funeral is taking place. A boy, the only son of a widow, is being carried for burial. Jesus immediately fixes his gaze on the crying mother. The Evangelist Luke says: “And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her” (v. 13). This “compassion” is God’s love for man, it is mercy, thus the attitude of God in contact with human misery, with our destitution, our suffering, our anguish. The biblical term “compassion” recalls a mother’s womb. The mother in fact reacts in a way all her own in confronting the pain of her children. It is in this way, according to Scripture, that God loves us.

What is the fruit of this love and mercy? It is life! Jesus says to the widow of Nain: “Do not weep” and then he calls the dead boy and awakes him as if from sleep (cf. vv. 13-15). Let’s think about this, it’s beautiful: God’s mercy gives life to man, it raises him from the dead. Let us not forget that the Lord always watches over us with mercy; he always watches over us with mercy. Let us not be afraid of approaching him! He has a merciful heart! If we show him our inner wounds, our inner sins, he will always forgive us. It is pure mercy Let us go to Jesus!

Let us turn to the Virgin Mary: her Immaculate Heart, a mother’s heart, has fully shared in the “compassion” of God, especially in the hour of the passion and death of Jesus. May Mary help us to be mild, humble and merciful with our brothers.

After the Angelus:

Dear brothers and sisters, today in Krakow two Polish women religious are being beatified: Zofia Czeska Maciejowska, who in the first half of the 17th century founded the Congregation of the Virgins of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and Margherita Lucia Szewczyk, who in the 19th century founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Sorrowful Mother of God. Together with the Church in Krakow, let us give thanks to the Lord!

I greet with affection all the pilgrims present today: groups of parishes, of families and of schools, associations and movements. I greet you all!

I greet the faithful who have come from Mumbai, India.

I greet the Family Love Movement of Rome, the confraternities and volunteers of the Shrine of Mongiovino, near Perugia, Umbria, Franciscan Youth of Umbria, the “House of Charity” in Lecce, the faithful of the province of Modena, whom I encourage in their reconstruction, and those of Ceprano. I greet the pilgrims of Ortona, where we venerate the relics of the Apostle Thomas, who made a journey “from Thomas to Peter”! Thank you!

Today let us not forget the love of God, the love of Jesus: he watches us, he loves us, he waits for us. He is all heart and all mercy. Let us go with faith to Jesus, he always forgives us.

I wish everyone a happy Sunday and have a good lunch!

Homilies

16 June 2013 - Homily - Evangelium Vitae Day

HOLY MASS FOR "EVANGELIUM VITAE" DAY

HOMILY OF POPE FRANCIS

Saint Peter's Square

Sunday, 16 June 2013

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

This celebration has a very beautiful name: the Gospel of Life. In this Eucharist, in the Year of Faith, let us thank the Lord for the gift of life in all its forms, and at the same time let us proclaim the Gospel of Life.

On the basis of the word of God which we have heard, I would like to offer you three simple points of meditation for our faith: first, the Bible reveals to us the Living God, the God who is life and the source of life; second, Jesus Christ bestows life and the Holy Spirit maintains us in life; and third, following God’s way leads to life, whereas following idols leads to death.

1. The first reading, taken from the Second Book of Samuel, speaks to us of life and death. King David wants to hide the act of adultery which he committed with the wife of Uriah the Hittite, a soldier in his army. To do so, he gives the order that Uriah be placed on the front lines and so be killed in battle. The Bible shows us the human drama in all its reality: good and evil, passion, sin and its consequences. Whenever we want to assert ourselves, when we become wrapped up in our own selfishness and put ourselves in the place of God, we end up spawning death. King David’s adultery is one example of this. Selfishness leads to lies, as we attempt to deceive ourselves and those around us. But God cannot be deceived. We heard how the prophet says to David: “Why have you done evil in the Lord’s sight? (cf. 2 Sam 12:9). The King is forced to face his deeds of death; what he has done is truly a deed of death, not life! He recognizes what he has done and he begs forgiveness: “I have sinned against the Lord!” (v. 13). The God of mercy, who desires life and always forgives us, now forgives David and restores him to life. The prophet tells him: “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die”.

What is the image we have of God? Perhaps he appears to us as a severe judge, as someone who curtails our freedom and the way we live our lives. But the Scriptures everywhere tell us that God is the Living One, the one who bestows life and points the way to fullness of life. I think of the beginning of the Book of Genesis: God fashions man out of the dust of the earth; he breathes in his nostrils the breath of life, and man becomes a living being (cf. 2:7). God is the source of life; thanks to his breath, man has life. God’s breath sustains the entire journey of our life on earth. I also think of the calling of Moses, where the Lord says that he is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, the God of the living. When he sends Moses to Pharaoh to set his people free, he reveals his name: “I am who I am”, the God who enters into our history, sets us free from slavery and death, and brings life to his people because he is the Living One. I also think of the gift of the Ten Commandments: a path God points out to us towards a life which is truly free and fulfilling. The commandments are not a litany of prohibitions – you must not do this, you must not do that, you must not do the other; on the contrary, they are a great “Yes!”: a yes to God, to Love, to life. Dear friends, our lives are fulfilled in God alone, because only he is the Living One!

2. Today’s Gospel brings us another step forward. Jesus allows a woman who was a sinner to approach him during a meal in the house of a Pharisee, scandalizing those present. Not only does he let the woman approach but he even forgives her sins, saying: “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little” (Lk 7:47). Jesus is the incarnation of the Living God, the one who brings life amid so many deeds of death, amid sin, selfishness and self-absorption. Jesus accepts, loves, uplifts, encourages, forgives, restores the ability to walk, gives back life. Throughout the Gospels we see how Jesus by his words and actions brings the transforming life of God. This was the experience of the woman who anointed the feet of the Lord with ointment: she felt understood, loved, and she responded by a gesture of love: she let herself be touched by God’s mercy, she obtained forgiveness and she started a new life. God, the Living One, is merciful. Do you agree? Let’s say it together: God, the Living One, is merciful! All together now: God, the Living One, is merciful. Once again: God, the Living One is merciful!

This was also the experience of the Apostle Paul, as we heard in the second reading: “The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). What is this life? It is God’s own life. And who brings us this life? It is the Holy Spirit, the gift of the risen Christ. The Spirit leads us into the divine life as true children of God, as sons and daughters in the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Are we open to the Holy Spirit? Do we let ourselves be guided by him? Christians are “spiritual”. This does not mean that we are people who live “in the clouds”, far removed from real life, as if it were some kind of mirage. No! The Christian is someone who thinks and acts in everyday life according to God’s will, someone who allows his or her life to be guided and nourished by the Holy Spirit, to be a full life, a life worthy of true sons and daughters. And this entails realism and fruitfulness. Those who let themselves be led by the Holy Spirit are realists, they know how to survey and assess reality. They are also fruitful; their lives bring new life to birth all around them.

3. God is the Living One, the Merciful One; Jesus brings us the life of God; the Holy Spirit gives and keeps us in our new life as true sons and daughters of God. But all too often, as we know from experience, people do not choose life, they do not accept the “Gospel of Life” but let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others. It is the eternal dream of wanting to build the city of man without God, without God’s life and love – a new Tower of Babel. It is the idea that rejecting God, the message of Christ, the Gospel of Life, will somehow lead to freedom, to complete human fulfilment. As a result, the Living God is replaced by fleeting human idols which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death. The wisdom of the Psalmist says: “The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Ps 19:8). Let us always remember: the Lord is the Living One, he is merciful. The Lord is the Living One, he is merciful.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us look to God as the God of Life, let us look to his law, to the Gospel message, as the way to freedom and life. The Living God sets us free! Let us say “Yes” to love and not selfishness. Let us say “Yes” to life and not death. Let us say “Yes” to freedom and not enslavement to the many idols of our time. In a word, let us say “Yes” to the God who is love, life and freedom, and who never disappoints (cf. 1 Jn 4:8; Jn 11:2; Jn 8:32); let us say “Yes” to the God who is the Living One and the Merciful One. Only faith in the Living God saves us: in the God who in Jesus Christ has given us his own life by the gift of the Holy Spirit and has made it possible to live as true sons and daughters of God through his mercy. This faith brings us freedom and happiness. Let us ask Mary, Mother of Life, to help us receive and bear constant witness to the “Gospel of Life”. Amen.

Speeches

6 June 2013 - Speech - To the Community of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy

ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS

TO THE COMMUNITY

OF THE PONTIFICAL ECCLESIASTICAL ACADEMY

Clementine Hall

Thursday, 6 June 2013

Dear Brothers in the Episcopate

Dear Priests,

Dear Sisters,

Friends,

I address to you all my most cordial welcome! I cordially greet your President, Archbishop Beniamino Stella, and I thank him for the kind words he has addressed to me on your behalf, recalling my pleasant visits to your house in the past. I also remember the warm insistence with which, more than two years ago, Archbishop Stella convinced me to send to the Academy a priest of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires! Archbishop Stella knows how to knock at doors! I also address a grateful thought to his co-workers, to the Sisters and to the personnel who offer their generous service in your community.

Dear friends, you are training for a particularly demanding ministry in which you will serve directly the Successor of Peter, his charism of unity and communion, and his solicitude for all the Churches. Working in the Papal Representations is moreover a labour which — like every kind of priestly ministry, demands great inner freedom, great inner freedom. Live these years of your training with hard work, generosity and a great heart so that this freedom may really be shaped within you.

But what does having inner freedom mean?

First of all it means being free from personal projects, being free from personal projects. Free from some of the tangible ways in which, perhaps, you may once have conceived of living your priesthood; from the possibility of planning your future; from the prospect of staying for any length of time in a place of “your own” pastoral action. It means, in a certain way, making yourself free also with regard to the culture and mindset from which you come. This is not in order to forget it or even less to deny it, but rather to open yourselves in the charity of understanding different cultures and meeting people who belong to worlds far distant from your own.

Above all it means being alert to ensure you keep free of the ambitions or personal aims that can cause the Church great harm. You must be careful not to make either your own fulfilment or the recognition you might receive both inside and outside the ecclesial community a constant priority. Rather, your priority should be the loftier good of the Gospel cause and the accomplishment of the mission that will be entrusted to you. And I think this being free from ambitions or personal goals is important, it is important. Careerism is a form of leprosy, a leprosy. No careerism, please.

For this reason you must be prepared to integrate all your own views of the Church — however legitimate they may be — and every personal idea or opinion into the horizon of Peter’s gaze. You must integrate them into his specific mission at the service of the communion and unity of Christ’s flock, of his pastoral charity that embraces the whole world and wishes to be present, partly through the action of the papal representations, especially in those all too often forsaken places where the needs of the Church and of humanity are greater.

In a word, the ministry for which you are preparing yourselves — because you are preparing yourselves for a ministry! Not a profession, a ministry — this ministry asks you to leave yourself, to be detached from yourself. It is possible to achieve this only through an intense spiritual journey and a serious unification of life round the mystery of God’s love and the inscrutable plan of his call.

In the light of faith we can experience freedom from our own plans and from our will: not as a cause of frustration or emptying but, rather, as openness to God’s superabundant gift that makes our priesthood fertile. Living the ministry at the service of the Successor of Peter and of the Churches to which you will be sent might seem demanding, but it will enable you, so to speak, to be and to breathe in the heart of the Church and of her catholicity. Moreover this is a special gift since, as Pope Benedict XVI himself reminded your community, “wherever there is openness to the objectivity of catholicity, there is also the principle of authentic personalization” (Address to the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, 10 June 2011).

Take great care of your spiritual life which is the source of inner freedom. Without prayer inner freedom does not exist. You will be able to treasure the means of conformation to Christ that is proper to priestly spirituality by cultivating the life of prayer and by making your daily work the training-ground for your sanctification. I am pleased to recall here the figure of Blessed John XXIII, the anniversary of whose death we celebrated a few days ago. His service as papal representative was one of the areas — and by no means the least significant — in which his holiness was formed. In rereading his writings, his constant painstaking care of his soul in the midst of the most varied occupations in the ecclesial and political areas is striking. This gave rise to his interior freedom, the exterior joy he communicated and the effectiveness of his pastoral and diplomatic action.

So it was that he noted in his Journal of a Soul during the Spiritual Exercises of 1948: “the older I become, the more experience I gain, the better I recognize that the most reliable way to my personal sanctification and the best outcome of my service to the Holy See remains the vigilant effort to reduce everything, principles, addresses, positions, business, to the greatest possible simplicity and calmness; with attention always to prune from my vine all that is only useless foliage... and to go straight to what is truth, justice, charity, especially charity. Every other system of behaving is solely posturing and the search for personal affirmation which is soon betrayed and becomes cumbersome and ridiculous” (Edizioni di San Paolo: Cinisello Balsamo 2000, p. 497). He wanted to prune his vine, to be rid of the foliage, to prune it.

A few years later, after concluding his long service as a papal representative and being appointed Patriarch of Venice, he wrote: “I now find myself in the midst of the ministry for souls. Actually I have always held that for clerics the so-called ‘diplomacy!’ must always be imbued with a pastoral spirit; otherwise it counts for nothing, and makes a holy mission ridiculous (ibid., pp. 513-514).

This is important. Listen well: when in a Nunciature there is a secretary or a nuncio who does not take the path of holiness and lets himself be involved in the many forms and manners of spiritual worldliness, he makes himself ridiculous and everyone laughs at him. Please do not make yourselves a laughing stock, be holy or return to your diocese to be a parish priest; but do not be ridiculous in diplomatic life, where there are so many perils in the spiritual life of a priest.

I would like also to say a word to the Sisters — thank you! — who carry out their daily service in a religious and Franciscan spirit. They are the good Mothers who accompany you with their prayers, with their simple and essential words and especially with the example of their faithfulness, devotion and love. With them I would like to thank the lay staff who work in the house. Theirs is a hidden but important presence that enables you to live your time in the Academy with tranquillity and hard work.

Dear priests, I hope you will undertake your service to the Holy See in the same spirit as that of Blessed John XXIII. I ask you to pray for me and I entrust you to the care of the Virgin Mary and of St Anthony Abbot, your patron. May you be accompanied by the assurance of my remembrance and my blessing, which I warmly extend to all your loved ones. Many thanks.

7 June 2013 - Speech - Pope Francis meets the Students of the Jesuit Schools of Italy and Albania

ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS

TO THE STUDENTS OF THE JESUIT SCHOOLS

OF ITALY AND ALBANIA

Paul VI Audience Hall

Friday, 7 June 2013

The Holy Father addressed to students, alumni, teachers and parents that he had given in his prepared speech for publication but would here summarize the text for them so that they might have time for discussion.

Below is the speech prepared for publication and the transcription of the Holy Father’s summary and of his spontaneous question and answer session with young people.

Dear Young People,

I am glad to receive you with your families, educators and the friends of the great family of Jesuit schools in Italy and Albania. My affectionate greeting to you all: welcome! I truly feel “at home” with all of you. Moreover our meeting coincides with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which is a special cause of joy.

I would like first of all to tell you something that has to do with St Ignatius of Loyola, our founder. In the autumn of 1537, on his way to Rome with a group of his first companions, he wondered: if people ask us who we are, how should we answer? The answer came spontaneously: “We shall say that we are the ‘Society of Jesus’” (Fontes Narrativi Societatis Iesu, vol. 1, pp. 320-322).

This demanding name intends to suggest a relationship of very close friendship and of total affection for Jesus in whose footsteps they wanted to follow. Why have I told you about this event? Because St Ignatius and his companions had realized that Jesus was teaching them how to live well, how to live a life that had profound meaning, that imparted enthusiasm, joy and hope; they had understood that Jesus is a great teacher of life and a model of life, and that he was not only teaching them but also inviting them to follow him on this path.

Dear young people, if I were to ask you now: why do you go to school, what would you answer me? There would probably be a whole range of replies, according to the sensibility of each person. Yet I think that they could all be summed up together by saying that school is one of the educational environments in which we develop through learning how to live, how to become grown-up, mature men and women who can travel, who can follow the road of life. How does school help you to grow? It helps you not only by developing your intelligence, but also by an integral formation of all the aspects of your personality.

In following what St Ignatius teaches us, the main element at school is to learn to be magnanimous. Magnanimity: this virtue of the great and the small (Non coerceri maximo contineri minimo, divinum est), which always makes us look at the horizon. What does being magnanimous mean? It means having a great heart, having greatness of mind; it means having great ideals, the wish to do great things to respond to what God asks of us. Hence also, for this very reason, to do well the routine things of every day and all the daily actions, tasks, meetings with people; doing the little everyday things with a great heart open to God and to others. It is therefore important to cultivate human formation with a view to magnanimity. School does not only broaden your intellectual dimension but also your human one. And I think that Jesuit schools take special care to develop human virtues: loyalty, respect, faithfulness and dedication.

I would like to reflect on two fundamental values: freedom and service. First of all: be free people! What do I mean? Perhaps it is thought that freedom means doing everything one likes, or seeing how far one can go by trying drunkenness and overcoming boredom. This is not freedom. Freedom means being able to think about what we do, being able to assess what is good and what is bad, these are the types of conduct that lead to development; it means always opting for the good. Let us be free for goodness. And in this do not be afraid to go against the tide, even if it is not easy! Always being free to choose goodness is demanding but it will make you into people with a backbone who can face life, people with courage and patience (parrhesia and ypomoné ). The second word is service. In your schools you take part in various activities that accustom you to not retreating into yourselves or into your own small world, but rather to being open to others, especially the poorest and neediest. They accustom you to working hard to improve the world in which we live. Be men and women with others and for others: true champions at the service of others.

In order to be magnanimous with inner freedom and a spirit of service, spiritual formation is necessary. Dear young people, love Jesus Christ more and more! Our life is a response to his call and you will be happy and will build your life well if you can answer this call. May you feel the Lord’s presence in your life. He is close to each one of you as a companion, as a friend who knows how to help and understand you, who encourages you in difficult times and never abandons you. In prayer, in conversation with him and in reading the Bible you will discover that he is truly close. You will also learn to read God’s signs in your life. He always speaks to us, also through the events of our time and our daily life; it is up to us to listen to him.

I do not want to take too long, but I would also like to address directly the educators: the Jesuits, the teachers, those who work in your schools and your parents. Do not be disheartened in the face of the difficulties that the educational challenge presents! Educating is not a profession but an attitude, a way of being; in order to educate it is necessary to step out of ourselves and be among young people, to accompany them in the stages of their growth and to set ourselves beside them.

Give them hope and optimism for their journey in the world. Teach them to see the beauty and goodness of creation and of man who always retains the Creator’s hallmark. But above all with your life be witnesses of what you communicate. Educators — Jesuits, teachers, operators, parents — pass on knowledge and values with their words; but their words will have an incisive effect on children and young people if they are accompanied by their witness, their consistent way of life. Without consistency it is impossible to educate! You are all educators, there are no delegates in this field.

Thus collaboration in a spirit of unity and community among the various educators is essential and must be fostered and encouraged. School can and must be a catalyst, it must be a place of encounter and convergence of the entire educating community, with the sole objective of training and helping to develop mature people who are simple, competent and honest, who know how to love with fidelity, who can live life as a response to God’s call, and their future profession as a service to society.

Now I would like to tell the Jesuits that it is important to nourish your commitment in the educational sector. Schools are a precious means for making a contribution to the progress of the Church and of society as a whole. Moreover, the educational field is not limited to the conventional school. Encourage each other to seek new forms of non-conventional education in accordance with “the needs of the times and of people”.

Lastly a greeting to all the alumni present, to the representatives of Italian schools of the Fe y Alegria Network, which I know well because of the important work it does in South America, especially among the poorest classes. And a special greeting to the delegation of the Collegio albanese di Scutari, which after the long years of repression of religious institutions, resumed its activity in 1994, accepting and educating Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim children as well as several pupils born into agnostic milieus. The school is thus becoming a place for dialogue and serene exchanges to encourage attitudes of respect, listening, friendship and a spirit of collaboration.

Dear friends, I thank you all for this meeting. I entrust you to the motherly intercession of Mary and accompany you with my blessing: the Lord is always close to you, he picks you up when you fall and impels you to develop and to make ever loftier decisions, “con grande ánimo y liberalidad”, with magnanimity. Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam.

Dear Girls and Boys, Dear Young People,

I prepared this address for you… but it is five pages long! Somewhat boring. Let’s do something else: I will briefly summarize it and give the written text to Father Provincial, and I will also give it to Fr Lombardi so that you may all have it in writing. And then it will be possible for a few of you to ask a question and we can have a little dialogue. Do we like this idea or not? Yes? Good. Let’s follow this route.

The first point in the text is that the key point in the education we Jesuits give — for our personal development — is magnanimity. We must be magnanimous, with a big heart, without fear; always betting on the great ideals. However this also means magnanimity in little things, in daily things — the big heart, the great heart. And it is important to find this magnanimity with Jesus, in contemplating Jesus. Jesus is the One who opens windows for us on the horizon. Magnanimity means walking with Jesus, with a heart attentive to what Jesus tells us. On this track I would like to say something to the educators, to those who work in schools, and to parents. Educating, in educating a balance must be maintained, your steps must be well balanced, one step on the cornice of safety but the other into the zone of risk. And when the risk becomes safe, the next step must venture into another area of risk. Education cannot be confined to the safety zone. No. This would mean preventing personalities from developing; yet it is not possible to educate solely in the risk zone either: this is too dangerous. It is a balance of steps: remember it well.

We have come to the last page. I also want to encourage you, educators, to seek new, unconventional forms of education, so as to comply with the needs of places, times and people. This is important; in our Ignatian spirituality: always go a step “further” and never be satisfied with conventional things. Seek new forms in accordance with the places, times and people. I encourage you to do this.

And now I am willing to answer several questions which you, both the young and the educators, may want to ask me. I am ready. I have asked Father Provincial to help me to do so.

A boy: I am Francesco Bassani, of the Istituto Leone XIII. I am a boy who, Papa, as I wrote in my letter to you, seeks to believe. I am searching… searching, yes, to be faithful. However I have difficulties. Sometimes doubts come to me. And I believe that this is absolutely normal for my age. Since you are the Pope who I believe I will have the longest in my heart, in my life, because I am meeting you in the time of my adolescence, of my development, I wanted to ask you for a few words to help me in my growth and to support all the other young people like me.

Pope Francis: Walking is an art; if we are always in a hurry we tire and cannot reach our destination, the destination of our journey. Yet if we stop and do not move, we also fail to reach our destination. Walking is precisely the art of looking to the horizon, thinking about where I want to go, and also coping with the weariness that comes from walking. Moreover, the way is often hard-going, it is not easy. “I want to stay faithful to this journey, but it is not easy; listen: there is darkness, there are days of darkness, days of failure, and some days of falling… someone falls, falls”. Yet always keep this in your thoughts: do not be afraid of failure, do not be afraid of falling. In the art of walking it is not falling that matters, but not “staying fallen”. Get up quickly, immediately, and continue to go on. And this is beautiful: it is working every day, it is walking humanly. But also: it is terrible to walk alone, terrible and tedious. Walking in community, with friends, with those who love us: this helps us, it helps us to arrive precisely at the destination where we must arrive. I don’t know if I have answered your question. Have you understood? You won’t be afraid of the journey? Thank you.

A girl: I am Sofia Grattarola from the Istituto Massimiliano Massimo. And I wanted to ask you, given that like all children, when you were at elementary school you had friends, didn’t you? And since today you are Pope, do you still see these friends?

Pope Francis: I have been Pope for two and a half months. My friends are a 14-hour flight away, they are far away. But I want to tell you something: three of them came here to see me and greet me, and I see them and they write to me, and I love them very much. It is impossible to live without friends. This is important, it is important.

A young girl: My name is Teresa: But Francis, did you want to be Pope?

Pope Francis: Do you know what it means when a person does not really love himself? A person who wants, who has the wish to be Pope does not love himself. God does not bless him. No, I did not want to be Pope. Is that okay? Come, come, come….

A woman: Your Holiness, we are Monica and Antonella, members of the Alunni del Cielo Choir of the Istituto Sociale of Turin. Since we were educated at Jesuit schools, we are often asked to reflect on the spirituality of St Ignatius. We wanted to ask you: At the time when you chose the consecrated life, what was it that urged you to be a Jesuit rather than a diocesan priest or a member of another order? Thank you.

Pope Francis: I frequently stayed at the Sociale of Turin. I know it well. What I liked about the Society is its missionary outreach and I wanted to be a missionary. And when I was studying theology I wrote to the General, who was Fr Arrupe, asking him to dispatch me, to send me to Japan or to some other place. However, he thought about it at length and said to me, with great kindness, “But you have had a lung disease, which is not very good for such demanding work”, so I stayed in Buenos Aires. Fr Arrupe was so kind because he did not say: “But you are not holy enough to become a missionary”: he was kind, he was charitable. It was the dimension of mission that gave me such great determination to be a Jesuit: to go out, to go to the missions and proclaim Jesus Christ. I believe this is feature specific to our spirituality: to go out, to go out to always proclaim Jesus Christ and to never stay somehow closed in our structures, which are so often transient. This is what motivated me. Thank you.

A woman: I am Caterina De Marchis of the Istituto Leone XIII, and I was wondering: why you [Lei]— that is, you [using the familiar tu] — have renounced the riches of a Pope, like a luxurious apartment and an large car. Instead you have opted for a small apartment close by, and you even took the bus for bishops. Why ever did you give up riches?

Pope Francis: Well, I believe it is not only a matter of wealth. For me it is a question of personality: that is what it is. I need to live with people, and were I to live alone, perhaps a little isolated, it wouldn’t be good for me. I was asked this question by a teacher: “But why don’t you go and live there?”. I replied: “please listen, professor, it is for psychological reasons”. It is my personality. Also, the apartments [in the Papal Palace] are not so luxurious, they are peaceful…. however, I cannot live alone, do you understand? And then I believe, yes: the times speak to us of such great poverty throughout the world, and this is a scandal. The poverty of the world is a scandal. In a world where there is such great wealth, so many resources for giving food to everyone, it is impossible to understand how there could be so many hungry children, so many children without education, so many poor people! Poverty today is a cry. We must all think about whether we can become a little poorer. This is something we must all do. How I can become a little poorer to be more like Jesus, who was the poor Teacher. This is the thing. But it is not a problem of my personal virtue, it is only that I cannot live alone, and the matter of the car, as you said: to not have too many things and to become a little poorer. It is this.

A boy: My name is Eugenio Serafini, I attend the Istituto CEI, the Ignatian Educational Centre. I wanted to ask you a quick question: how did you get through it, when you decided to become, not Pope, but a parish priest, to become a Jesuit. How did you do it? Wasn’t it difficult for you to abandon or leave your family and friends.

Pope Francis: You know, it is always difficult. Always. It was hard for me. It is far from easy. There are beautiful moments, and Jesus helps you, he gives you a little joy. All the same there are difficult moments when you feel alone, when you feel dry, without any interior joy. There are clouded moments of interior darkness. There are hardships. But it is so beautiful to follow Jesus, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus, that you then find balance and move forward. And then come even more wonderful moments. But no one must think that there will not be difficult moments in life. I would now like to ask a question myself. How do you think you can move forward with the hardships? It isn’t easy; but we must go ahead with strength and with trust in the Lord, with the Lord everything is possible.

A young woman: Hello, my name is Federica Iaccarino and I come from the Istituto Pontano in Naples. I wanted to ask you for a word about today’s youth, about the future of young people today, considering the difficult situation that Italy is in. And I would like to ask for your help in improving that situation, help for us, so that these young people, so that we young people, can move ahead.

Pope Francis: You say that Italy is going through a difficult time. Yes, there is a crisis. But I will tell you this: it is not only in Italy. Right now the whole world is in crisis. And crisis is not a bad thing. It is true that the crisis causes us suffering but we — and first and foremost all you young people — must know how to interpret the crisis. What does this crisis mean? What must I do to help us to come through this crisis? The crisis we are experiencing at this time is a human crisis. People say: it is an economic crisis, it is a crisis of work. Yes, that’s true. But why? This work problem, this problem in the economy, is a consequence of the great human problem. What is in crisis is the value of the human person, and we must defend the human person. Now, I have said this three times already, but I will say it for a fourth. I once read a story about a medieval rabbi in the year 1200. This rabbi explained to the Jews of that time the history of the Tower of Babel. Building the Tower of Babel was not easy. They had to make bricks; and how is a brick made? Mud and straw must be fetched, they must be mixed and the bricks brought to the kiln. It involved a lot of work. And after all this work a brick became a real treasure! They then had to hoist the bricks in order to build the Tower of Babel. If a brick fell it was a tragedy! But if a man fell nothing happened! It is this crisis that we are living today, this same crisis. It is the crisis of the person. Today the person counts for nothing, it is coins, it is money that count. And Jesus, God, gave the world, the whole creation, to the person, to men and women that they might care for it; he did not give it to money. It is a crisis, the person is in a crisis because today — listen carefully, it is true — the person is a slave! We must liberate ourselves from these economic and social structures that enslave us. This is your duty.

A young boy: Hello, I am Francesco Vin and I come from the Collegio Sant’Ignazio in Messina. I wanted to ask you if you have ever been to Sicily?

Pope Francis: No. I can say two things: no or rather not yet.

The young boy: If you come we will look forward to it!

Pope Francis: Let me tell you one thing: I know a wonderful film about Sicily that I saw 10 years ago. It is called Kaos, with a “k”: Kaos. It is a film based on four short stories by Pirandello and it really is a beautiful film. This is the only thing I know about Sicily. But it is beautiful!

A teacher: Holy Father, I am a Spanish language teacher, Jesús Maria Martínez, because I am Spanish: I’m from San Sebastian. I also teach religion and I can say that we, the teachers and professors, really love you; that is for sure. I am not speaking on behalf of anyone, but seeing so many alumni, so many important figures too, and also we adults, teachers educated by the Jesuits, I wonder about our political, and social commitment, in society, as adults in the Jesuit schools. Please give us a few words: how can we give our task, our work today in Italy and throughout the world, a Jesuit hallmark? How can we make it evangelical?

Pope Francis: Very well. Involvement in politics is an obligation for a Christian. We Christians cannot “play the role of Pilate”, washing our hands of it; we cannot. We must be involved in politics because politics is one of the highest forms of charity for it seeks the common good. And Christian lay people must work in politics. You will say to me: “But it isn’t easy!”. Nor is it easy to become a priest. Nothing is easy in life. It is not easy, politics has become too dirty: but I ask myself: Why has it become dirty? Why aren’t Christians involved in politics with an evangelical spirit? I leave you with a question. It is easy to say: “It is so and so’s fault”. But me, what do I do? It is a duty! Working for the common good is a Christian’s duty! And often the way to work for that is politics. There are other ways: being a teacher, for example, teaching is another route. However, political life for the common good is one of the ways. This is clear.

A young man: Father, my name is Giacomo. In fact, I am not alone here today but have come with a large number of youth from the Lega Missionaria Studenti. It is a somewhat transversal movement, so we have some Missionary League Students from more or less all the schools. So Father, first of all my thanks and those of all the young people whom I have also been in touch with in the past few days, because at last with you we have found that message of hope which earlier we felt obliged to seek travelling round the world. Now, being able to hear it at home is something very powerful for us. Above all, Father, may I say that this light has been lit in this place where we young people were really beginning to lose hope. Thank you, therefore, because it really has reached us. My question is this, Father: we, as you well know from your experience, have learned to experience, to coexist with many different kinds of poverty which are material poverty — I am thinking of the poverty of our twinning in Kenya — spiritual poverty — I am thinking of Romania, I am thinking of the injuries of political events, I am thinking of alcoholism. Therefore, Father, I would like to ask you: how can we young people live with this poverty? How should we behave?

Pope Francis: First of all I would like to say one thing to all you young people: do not let yourselves be robbed of hope! Please, do not let yourselves be robbed of it! And who robs you of hope? The spirit of the world, wealth, the spirit of vanity, arrogance, pride. All these things steal hope from you. Where do I find hope? In the poor Jesus, Jesus who made himself poor for us. And you mentioned poverty. Poverty demands that we sow hope. It requires me to have greater hope, too. This seems a little hard to understand, but I remember that Fr Arrupe once wrote a good letter to the Centres for Social Research, The Society’s Social Centres. He spoke of how the social problem must be studied. But in the end he told us, he said to all of us: “Look, it is impossible to talk about poverty without having an experience with the poor”. You mentioned the twinning with Kenya: the experience with the poor. It is impossible to talk about poverty, about abstract poverty. That does not exist! Poverty is the flesh of the poor Jesus in this hungry child, in the sick person, in these unjust social structures. Go, look over there at the flesh of Jesus. But do not let yourselves be robbed of hope by well-being, by the spirit of well-being which, in the end brings you to become a nothing in life! The young must stake themselves on high ideals: this is my advice. But where do I find hope? In the flesh of the suffering Jesus and in true poverty. There is a connection between the two. Many thanks.

I now impart to all, to all of you, to your families, to everyone the Lord’s blessing.

8 June 2013 - Speech - Pope Francis meets H.E. Mr Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic

OFFICIAL VISIT OF H.E. Mr GIORGIO NAPOLITANO

PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ITALY

ADDRESS OF POPE FRANCIS

Saturday, 8 June 2013

Mr President of the Republic,

I would like to thank you warmly for this pleasant visit that affords me the opportunity to address my most cordial greeting to you and to the whole Italian people, whose representatives recently elected you for a new mandate in the highest office of the State. I then extend my greeting and my thanks to all the members of the distinguished delegation that has accompanied you.

Your visit, Mr President, fits into our now long history of relations and confirms once again — even after anguishing and painful events — the normality and excellence of relations between Italy and the Holy See. These relations especially developed after the Reconciliation and the insertion of the Lateran Pacts into the Italian Constitution. Hence they fitted into a new perspective following the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and the Agreement on the Revision of the Concordat.

It has been reasserted several times by both parties — rightly and without question — that the principal purpose of the dialogue between Italy and the Holy See is the good of the Italian people and that its ideal background is the unique role Italy has played in the history of Europe and of the world. In this regard Italy can truly be an example in the community of peoples. This has been recognized on various occasions by the most diverse figures and in recent times has been obvious from the depth of the relations of esteem and friendship between you, Mr President, and His Holiness Benedict XVI.

Always in the interest of the people and of society, in Italy collaboration between Church and State is lived out in the daily relationship between the civil bodies and those of the Catholic community, represented by the bishops and their institutions and in a very special way by the Bishop of Rome. This first visit of the President to the Pope — subsequent to the President’s participation in the Mass for the inauguration of the Petrine Ministry — can likewise be effectively expressed by the image of the two hills, the Quirinal and the Vatican, that face each other with esteem and liking.

The 17th centenary of the Edict of Milan is being commemorated this year, 2013. It is seen on many sides as a symbol of the first affirmation of the principle of religious freedom. A century ago the celebrations of this event were a milestone in the historical process that encourages awareness and the contribution of Catholics to building Italian society, a contribution that continues to be important for the nation’s progress.

In the world today freedom of religion is often talked about rather than put into practice. Indeed, it is forcibly subjected to threats of various kinds and not seldom violated. The serious affronts inflicted on this primary right are a source of grave concern and must see the unanimous reaction of the world’s countries in reaffirming the intangible dignity of the human person, against every attack. One and all are duty bound to defend religious freedom and to promote it for everyone. The shared protection of this moral good is also a guarantee of the entire community’s growth and development.

In Italy too, as in many other countries, the historical period in which we are living is characterized by a profound and persistent global crisis. This crisis accentuates economic and social problems and is weighing most heavily upon the weakest social strata. Particularly alarming are phenomena such as the undermining of the family and of social bonds, demographic decline, the prevalence of types of logic that give priority to profit rather than to work, and insufficient attention to the younger generations and their training, also with a view to a serene and secure future.

In this certainly far from easy context it is fundamental to guarantee and develop the overall structure of democratic institutions to which in these past decades Italian Catholics have made a crucial, loyal and imaginative contribution. It is urgent that a new view of political commitment develop, especially among young people. It is also urgent that believers and non-believers alike collaborate in promoting a society in which injustice in all its forms may be surmounted and individuals, each and every one, be accepted and permitted to contribute to the common good as befits their dignity and bringing their skills to fruition. The gap between the letter and the spirit of the systems and the democratic institutions, as yet to be recognized, demands the commitment of all those involved, if they are to bridge it anew each time. It is also our duty as Catholics to work harder and harder in a serious process of spiritual conversion to come closer every day to the Gospel that spurs us to carry out an effective practical service to individuals and to society.

Also in the civil context it is true that faith assures us: there is no need to lose hope. How many examples of this have our parents and grandparents given us in their time by facing harsh trials with great courage and a spirit of sacrifice! On several occasions Benedict XVI reaffirmed that the current crisis must be an opportunity for a fraternal renewal of human relations.

The Italian people must draw with trust and creativity on the great wealth of its Christian tradition and on the examples of its holy Patrons, Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena. It must also draw on a wide range of both religious and lay figures and on the silent witness of so many women and men. It can and must surmount every division and increase in justice and peace. Thereby it will continue to play its special role in the European context and in the family of nations, and to work to create a culture of encounter.

Mr President, I renew my thanks to you for this most agreeable meeting. Furthermore I am glad to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to you and to all the Italians for the warm affection with which they welcomed me after my election: they made me feel at home again! Thank you. May Italy always be a welcoming home to everyone! I assure you of my prayers for this as I impart to you, to your loved ones, to all who serve the Government and to the entire Italian People my truly heartfelt blessing. Many thanks.

14 June 2013 -  Speech - To His Grace Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Communion

ADDRESS OF HOLY FATHER FRANCIS

TO HIS GRACE JUSTIN WELBY

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY AND PRIMATE OF THE ANGLICAN COMMUNION

Friday, 14 June 2013

Your Grace, Dear Friends,

On the happy occasion of our first meeting, I make my own the words of Pope Paul VI, when he addressed Archbishop Michael Ramsey during his historic visit in 1966: "Your steps have not brought you to a foreign dwelling ... we are pleased to open the doors to you, and with the doors, our heart, pleased and honoured as we are ... to welcome you ‘not as a guest or a stranger, but as a fellow citizen of the Saints and the Family of God’" (cf. Eph 2:19-20).

I know that during Your Grace’s installation in Canterbury Cathedral you remembered in prayer the new Bishop of Rome. I am deeply grateful to you – and since we began our respective ministries within days of each other, I think we will always have a particular reason to support one another in prayer.

The history of relations between the Church of England and the Catholic Church is long and complex, and not without pain. Recent decades, however, have been marked by a journey of rapprochement and fraternity, and for this we give heartfelt thanks to God. This journey has been brought about both via theological dialogue, through the work of the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission, and via the growth of cordial relations at every level through shared daily lives in a spirit of profound mutual respect and sincere cooperation. In this regard, I am very pleased to welcome alongside you Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster. These firm bonds of friendship have enabled us to remain on course even when difficulties have arisen in our theological dialogue that were greater than we could have foreseen at the start of our journey.

I am grateful, too, for the sincere efforts the Church of England has made to understand the reasons that led my Predecessor, Benedict XVI, to provide a canonical structure able to respond to the wishes of those groups of Anglicans who have asked to be received collectively into the Catholic Church: I am sure this will enable the spiritual, liturgical and pastoral traditions that form the Anglican patrimony to be better known and appreciated in the Catholic world.

Today’s meeting, my dear brother, is an opportunity to remind ourselves that the search for unity among Christians is prompted not by practical considerations, but by the will of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who made us his brothers and sisters, children of the One Father. Hence the prayer that we make today is of fundamental importance.

This prayer gives a fresh impulse to our daily efforts to grow towards unity, which are concretely expressed in our cooperation in various areas of daily life. Particularly important among these is our witness to the reference to God and the promotion of Christian values in a world that seems at times to call into question some of the foundations of society, such as respect for the sacredness of human life or the importance of the institution of the family built on marriage, a value that you yourself have had occasion to recall recently.

Then there is the effort to achieve greater social justice, to build an economic system that is at the service of man and promotes the common good. Among our tasks as witnesses to the love of Christ is that of giving a voice to the cry of the poor, so that they are not abandoned to the laws of an economy that seems at times to treat people as mere consumers.

I know that Your Grace is especially sensitive to all these questions, in which we share many ideas, and I am also aware of your commitment to foster reconciliation and resolution of conflicts between nations. In this regard, together with Archbishop Nichols, you have urged the authorities to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict such as would guarantee the security of the entire population, including the minorities, not least among whom are the ancient local Christian communities. As you yourself have observed, we Christians bring peace and grace as a treasure to be offered to the world, but these gifts can bear fruit only when Christians live and work together in harmony. This makes it easier to contribute to building relations of respect and peaceful coexistence with those who belong to other religious traditions, and with non-believers.

The unity we so earnestly long for is a gift that comes from above and it is rooted in our communion of love with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As Christ himself promised, "where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mt 18:20). My dear brother, let us travel the path towards unity, fraternally united in charity, and with Jesus Christ, our elder Brother, as our constant point of reference. In our worship of Jesus Christ we will find the foundation and raison d’être of our journey. May the merciful Father hear and grant the prayers that we make to him together. Let us place all our hope in him who "is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think" (Eph 3:20).

Papal Tweets

11 June 2013 - 16 June 2013

- “We must not be afraid of solidarity; rather let us make all we have and are available to God.” @pontifex, 11 June 2013

- “How many kinds of moral and material poverty we face today as a result of denying God and putting so many idols in his place!” @pontifex, 12 June 2013

- “Let the Church always be a place of mercy and hope, where everyone is welcomed, loved and forgiven.” @pontifex, 16 June 2013

Table of Contents

Introduction

Index of Source Links

Angelus/Regina Caeli

9 June 2013 - Angelus

Homilies

16 June 2013 - Homily - Evangelium Vitae Day

Speeches

6 June 2013 - Speech - To the Community of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy

7 June 2013 - Speech - Pope Francis meets the Students of the Jesuit Schools of Italy and Albania

8 June 2013 - Speech - Pope Francis meets H.E. Mr Giorgio Napolitano, President of the Italian Republic

14 June 2013 - Speech - To His Grace Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Anglican Communion

Papal Tweets

11 June 2013 - 16 June 2013