VATICAN CITY — Christians are called to follow the spirit of the beatitudes by comforting the poor and the oppressed, especially migrants and refugees who are rejected, exploited and left to die, Pope Francis said. The least ones, “who have been thrown away, marginalized, oppressed, discriminated against, abused, exploited, abandoned, poor and suffering” cry out to God, “asking to be freed from the evils that afflict them,” the pope said in his homily July 8 during a Mass commemorating the sixth anniversary of his visit to the southern Mediterranean island of Lampedusa. “They are persons; these are not mere social or migrant issues. This is not just about migrants, in the twofold sense that migrants are, first of all, human persons and that they are the symbol of all those rejected by today’s globalized society,” he said. According to the Vatican, an estimated 250 migrants, refugees and rescue volunteers attended the Mass, which was celebrated at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis greeted each person present after the Mass ended.
Pope clarifies rules limiting celebration of pre-Vatican II Mass Diocesan bishops must have Vatican authorization to allow the celebration of the pre-Vatican II Mass in a parish church, to establish a new “personal parish” for devotees of the old Mass or to allow its celebration by a priest ordained after July 2021 when Pope Francis issued rules restricting the celebration, he said.
The Francis pontificate, 10 years on Pope Francis is preparing to mark 10 years since his election as bishop of Rome. Jorge Mario Bergoglio arrived for the 2013 conclave with a return ticket to Argentina and a small briefcase. He didn’t expect to be elected pope. But the cardinal from Argentina emerged from the balcony on that rainy evening as the first Roman pontiff from Latin America and the first pope to name himself after St. Francis of Assisi.
Celebrate Pope Francis’ 10th anniversary with prayer Tin might be the traditional gift for a 10th anniversary, but Pope Francis really has no use for metal knickknacks.