Audience with the president of Israel: responsibility of religious leaders in promoting reconciliation and peace

Vatican City, 3 September 2015 (VIS) Today in the Vatican Apostolic Palace the Holy Father Francis received in audience Reuven Rivlin, president of the State of Israel, who subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by the secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul Gallagher.

During the cordial discussions the Parties focused on the political and social situation in the Middle East, affected by several conflicts, with special attention to the condition of Christians and other minority groups. In this respect the importance of interreligious dialogue was recognised, along with the responsibility of religious leaders in promoting reconciliation and peace.

The need and urgency of promoting a climate of trust between Israelis and Palestinians was highlighted, alongside the resumption of direct negotiations with the aim of reaching an agreement respecting the legitimate aspirations of the two Populations, as a fundamental contribution to peace and stability in the Region.

Various issues were considered regarding the relations between the State of Israel and the Holy See, and between the state authorities and local Catholic communities. The Parties expressed their hope that the bilateral Agreement currently being drafted be concluded promptly, and that an adequate solution be found for various matters of common interest, including the situation of Christian schools in the country.

The Pope to Schoenstatt priests: “keep your ear to God's heart and your hand on the pulse of the time”

Vatican City, 3 September 2015 (VIS) – Contemplation, service, fraternity – three facets of priestly life that Pope Francis proposed to the participants in the general chapter of the Schoenstatt Fathers. The Apostolic Schoenstatt Movement was founded on 18 October 1914 by Fr. Jose Kentenich as a path of spiritual renewal within the Catholic Church, and his name is drawn from the Marian shrine near Koblenz, Germany, which houses the image of Our Lady, and where there are the head offices of the movement's communities, now present in 42 countries. The Secular Institute of Schoenstatt Fathers was instituted by Fr. Jose Kentenich on 18 July 1965, in the service of the Apostolic Movement.

The Pope remarked that, after these years of progress, their concern is to “keep alive your foundational charism and the ability to communicate it to the young, so as to continue to inspire and support your lives and your mission. You are aware that a charism is not a museum piece, that remains intact in a display cabinet, to be contemplated alone. Fidelity, keeping the charism pure, does not in any way mean closing it in a sealed bottle, like distilled water, so that it is not contaminated by the outside world. … Fr. Kentenich expressed this very well when he said that it was necessary to keep an ear to God's heart and a hand on the pulse of the time. … These are the two pillars of an authentic spiritual life”.

The Pope went on to speak about contact with God: “it is not a good approach to neglect prayer or, worse still, to abandon it with the excuse of a demanding ministry. … It would be a grave error to think that the charism stays alive focusing on external structures … or forms. God frees us from the spirit of functionalism. The vitality of the charism is rooted in the 'first love', renewed daily, in our willingness to listen and to respond with loving generosity. … May this healthy and necessary 'decentralisation' work in us, so that we set ourselves aside to allow Christ to occupy the centre of our life”.

The second pillar is formed by the expression “taking the pulse of the time”, that is, reality and people. “We must not be afraid of reality”, emphasised Francis. “Dialogue with God in prayer also leads us to listen to his voice in the people and the situations that surround us. We do not have two separate ears, one for God and one for reality. … When we meet with our brothers, especially those who in our eyes or in the eyes of the world are less agreeable, what do we see? Do we realise that God loves them, that they are of the same flesh that Christ assumed, or are we indifferent to their problems? … In prayer we learn not to pass by Christ Who suffers in His brothers. Let us learn to serve”.

“You are practically the last reality of the Movement founded by Fr. Kentenich, and this carries an important lesson, and is very good”, observed the Pope. “This fact of being the 'last' clearly reflects the role held by priests in relation to their brothers. The priest must never be above or in front of others, but instead must walk alongside them, loving them with the same love of Christ, Who came not to be served but rather to serve and to give His life in return for so many others. … Let us ask the Lord to give us shoulders as strong as His, to carry those who are without hope, those who seem lost, those to whom no-one offers a glance … and free us from 'careerism' in our priestly life”.

Finally, the Pope commented on priestly fraternity. “Please, never be alone”, he warned. “The presbyteral ministry cannot be conceived of in an individual or, worse still, individualist way. Fraternity is the great school of discipleship. … It is not we who choose our brothers, but we have the conscious and fruitful option to love them as they are, with their flaws and their virtues. … Please, may there not be any indifference in your communities. Behave as men: if disagreements or differences of opinion arise, do not worry: better the heat of the argument than the coldness of indifference, which is the real tomb of fraternal charity”.

At the end of the meeting the Pope gave three recommendations to the Schoenstatt priests. “Firstly, accompany and care for families, so that they are able to live the holy alliance of love and life, especially those who experience moments of crisis or difficulty. Secondly, and thinking of the upcoming jubilee of mercy, dedicate plenty of time to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Be great forgivers. … May you be witnesses of God's mercy and tenderness in your communities. And thirdly, pray for me, as I need your prayers”, he concluded.

Audiences

Vatican City, 3 September 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretary for the Economy;

- Archbishop Anselmo Guido Pecorari, apostolic nuncio in Bulgaria and Macedonia;

- Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, and entourage.

General audience: the family, conduit of faith

Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) – The family as the conduit of faith was the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis during September's first general audience.

Francis remarked first that Jesus, both in His words and His signs, frequently presented family bonds as an example of our relationship with God. These bonds “within the experience of faith and God's love, are transformed and acquire a higher meaning, and are able to go beyond themselves, to create a broader paternity and maternity, and to welcome as brothers and sisters those who are at the margins”. To this purpose, the bishop of Rome cited the Gospel passage in which Jesus responded to those who said that His mother and brothers were seeking him outside: “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother”.

“The wisdom of affections that cannot be bought or sold is the finest quality of the family. It is precisely in the family that we learn to grow in that atmosphere of emotional wisdom. … When family affections are allowed to be converted by the witness of the Gospel, they become capable of unimaginable things, the actions that God works in history, like those that Jesus achieves for the men, women and children he encounters. A smile miraculously snatched from the despair of an abandoned child, who starts to live again, explains to us God's work in the world better than a thousand theological treatises. One man and one woman, capable of risking and making sacrifices for the child of others and not only their own, tell us things about love that scientists are not able to understand”.

“The family that responds to Jesus' call restores the rule of the world to the alliance of man and woman with God”, Francis emphasised. “Let us imagine that the helm of history (of society, the economy, politics) is finally passed to the alliance between man and woman, so that they might govern with a view to the generation to come. The themes of the earth and the home, the economy and work, would play a very different tune!”

“Effectively, the alliance between the family and God is called upon to oppose to the community desertification of the modern city. But our cities have been desertified through a lack of love, a lack of smiles. There is so much entertainment, so many things to pass the time, to make us laugh, but there is a lack of love. The smile of a family is able to conquer this desertification of our cities. And this is the victory of family love”.

“No form of economic or political engineering is able to substitute the contribution families make”, he concluded. “The project of Babel builds lifeless skyscrapers. The Spirit of God, instead, makes deserts bloom. We must leave the towers and strongholds of the elites, in order to frequent once more the homes and open spaces of the multitudes, open to the love of the family”.

May the world never experience again the horrors of World War

Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) – After today's catechesis the Pope launched a new appeal for peace, on the anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

“During these days, also in the Middle East, we commemorate the end of the Second World War”, he said. “I renew my heartfelt prayers to the Lord of all so that, by the intercession of Our Lady, today's world may never again experience the horrors and the appalling suffering of similar tragedies. But it experiences them! This is also the enduring desire of all peoples, especially those who are victims of the various current bloody conflicts. Persecuted minorities, persecuted Christians, the madness of destruction, and then those who produce and deal in arms, weapons soaked with the blood of so many innocent people. No more war! It is the fervent cry that, from our hearts and from the hearts of all men and women of good will, rises up to the Prince of peace”.