Catholic News Agency
Archbishop Paglia writes new book about old age as a ‘time for inner growth’
CNA Staff, Sep 3, 2024 / 14:07 pm (CNA).
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, 79, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, has written a new book titled “Destinati alla Vita,” which translates to “Destiny for Life.” The book is a reflection on old age and highlights how this time of life can serve as a time for inner growth.
In an excerpt published by L’Osservatore Romano, Paglia praises Pope Francis’ work throughout his papacy to honor the elderly and their importance in our lives, especially in the establishment of the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly.
“Pope Francis has taken up the spiritual challenge of old age … As a pope he developed his teaching even more, to the point of establishing a special liturgical feast to celebrate his grandparents,” Paglia wrote. “But it is through the specific catechesis on the subject that he proposed a more articulated and comprehensive help to the elderly — in particular the believers, but not only — so that they face this last age of life as a time of grace, an appropriate time, a time of growth even if the body becomes fragile.”
He continued: “The years of old age lead to the fulfillment of every personal existence. We do not walk in the void and aimlessly at the mercy of fate,” he said.
Speaking about the COVID-19 pandemic, Paglia emphasized that the experience people endured served as a reminder that we are all fragile — not just the elderly.
He also touched on an “anti-age ideology” that “has led to a deep fracture between generations.”
“The ties have weakened, they have no duration, they have no history, they have no destination,” he said. “The effect is a sort of endless adolescence that empties affections and bonds. The change is sending the traditional humanistic parameters of training out of the axis.”
The archbishop went on to ask: “How can you educate the new generations to the values of life that are not consumed over time if the time of old age is assimilated to that of an expired product?”
In his book, Paglia urged that a “new alliance between generations” be formed, “especially among the elderly and the young.”
Pope Francis sends telegram of condolence to Cardinal Parolin after mother’s death
Vatican City, Sep 3, 2024 / 10:15 am (CNA).
Pope Francis sent a telegram of condolence on Tuesday to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin following the death of the Italian prelate’s mother.
After landing in Jakarta, Indonesia — the first destination of the Holy Father’s 45th apostolic journey in Southeast Asia and Oceania — Pope Francis assured Parolin of his closeness with him and his extended family during their “moment of human suffering.”
“I raise my prayer to the Lord that he may welcome her into eternal joy, and for all of you relatives who mourn her departure, I invoke consolation in faith in the risen Christ,” the Holy Father’s telegram reads.
Parolin presided over the funeral Mass of his 96-year-old mother on Tuesday morning at the Church of Schiavon in the northeastern Italian diocese of Vicenza.
Though postponing his Sept. 2 departure from Rome to be with his family during their time of mourning, the Vatican state secretary is soon expected to join and accompany Pope Francis on his 45th apostolic journey.
During his 12-day journey, the pope will meet with both Catholic and civil leaders and communities in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Singapore.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis will meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the Istana Merdeka Presidential Palace and give an address to the country’s leaders and diplomatic corps.
Parolin has served as the Vatican’s secretary of state since October 2013, after Francis chose him for the position shortly after being elected pope in March of the same year.
He has worked with the diplomatic service of the Holy See since 1986.
Pope Francis begins historic apostolic journey to Southeast Asia and Oceania
Vatican City, Sep 2, 2024 / 08:18 am (CNA).
Pope Francis departed Rome on Monday to commence his 45th apostolic journey, one that will take him to Southeast Asia and Oceania over the course of nearly two weeks.
During his 11-day journey — the longest trip of his papacy to date — the 87-year-old pontiff will visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste (East Timor), and Singapore from Sept. 2–13.
Prior to commencing his trip, the pope paid a visit to Salus Populi Romani (the Byzantine icon depicting the Blessed Virgin as the health and protector of the Roman people) at the Basilica of St. Mary Major on Sunday to entrust his journey to the Mother of God.
On Sept. 3, the Holy Father will first land in Jakarta, Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, to promote religious harmony and interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims in the country.
During his visit the pope will meet with Catholic bishops, priests, religious brothers and sisters, seminarians, and catechists at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in the Archdiocese of Jakarta.
Francis will also meet with the country’s President Joko Widodo on Sept. 4 and deliver a speech to political leaders at the Istana Merdeka Presidential Palace.
The Holy Father will also participate in an interreligious meeting at Istiqlal Mosque, the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, located directly opposite the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption.
Following Indonesia, the pope will travel to Port Moresby, the capital city of Papua New Guinea, on Sept. 6. Approximately 4 million Catholics live in the country, representing the largest denomination in the majority-Christian nation.
The pope will meet with the country’s civil and religious leaders as well as visit a number of communities involved with Catholic ministries aimed at promoting the spiritual and social welfare for the people of the Oceania nation.
The motto chosen by the bishops of Papua New Guinea for Pope Francis’ apostolic visit — the second papal visit in the country’s young history — is “Pray,” inspired by the passage in the Gospel of Luke “Lord, teach us to pray” (Lk 11:1).
From Sept. 9–11, the Holy Father will visit Timor-Leste (East Timor) and meet with Catholic leaders and faithful at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the country’s capital, Dili. The Holy Father will also meet with the country’s leaders and deliver a speech at the Presidential Palace.
The pontiff will also preside over Mass in Esplanade of Tasitolu, which is expected to attract the attendance of thousands of Catholics from around the country.
Pope Francis’ visit will mark the first visit by a pontiff to the 97%-majority Catholic country.
Singapore is the last country in the pope’s itinerary of his apostolic journey to Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Between Sept. 11–13, Pope Francis will meet with both civil and religious leaders in the Asian city-nation before presiding over the Holy Mass at the National Stadium.
The elderly, sick, and the youth are a priority for the Holy Father in his first visit to Singapore.
He will visit residents of St. Theresa’s Home, a nursing home founded by the Little Sisters of the Poor in 1935, as well as participate in a youth-led interreligious meeting at Catholic Junior College before returning to Rome at the conclusion of the journey.
On Monday, meanwhile, Vatican News reported that Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin would not be leaving with the pope on his Monday flight due to the death of the prelate’s mother, Ada, who died on Aug. 31.
Parolin will celebrate the funeral of his mother in Schiavon, in the Italian province of Vicenza, on Sept. 3.
Pope Francis urges release of hostages, aid for polio outbreak in Gaza
Vatican City, Sep 1, 2024 / 13:15 pm (CNA).
After the bodies of six hostages killed by Hamas were recovered by Israeli forces this weekend, Pope Francis made an impassioned plea for peace in the Holy Land, urging the release of the remaining hostages and humanitarian aid for the polio outbreak in Gaza.
Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer, the pope expressed deep concern at the risk of the war between Israel and Hamas “spreading to other Palestinian cities.”
“I appeal for the negotiations to continue, for an immediate cease-fire, the release of hostages, and relief to the people of Gaza, where many diseases are also spreading, such as polio,” Pope Francis said on Sept. 1.
“May there be peace in the Holy Land!” he urged. “May there be peace in Jerusalem. May the Holy City be a place of encounter where Christians, Jews, and Muslims feel they are respected and welcomed, and no one questions the status quo in the respective Holy Places.”
The pope’s comments come just hours after Israel announced on Sunday that it had recovered the bodies of six hostages killed by Hamas from a subterranean tunnel in the Gazan city of Rafah shortly before the arrival of Israeli Defense Forces and as a humanitarian polio vaccination campaign began in Gaza.
Among the hostages killed was 23-year-old Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose mother met Pope Francis last fall to appeal for the hostages’ release and spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August. According to the Associated Press, Israel believes that 101 hostages remain captive by Hamas in Gaza, including 35 who are believed to be dead.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to a “humanitarian pause” for three consecutive days to allow aid workers to begin the campaign, which aims to vaccinate more than 640,000 Palestinian children under the age of 10 against polio.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated rapidly as the conflict drags on. Aid agencies’ officials in the territory have warned of a potential public health disaster if immediate action is not taken.
Pilgrims gather in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer on Sept. 1, 2024, where Pope Francis appealed for peace in the Holy Land and called for aid to the people in Gaza and for the hostages to be released. The pope also expressed his closeness to the people of Burkina Faso after hundreds were killed there in a terrorist attack on Aug, 24. Credit: Vatican MediaDuring his Angelus address, the pope also prayed for the hundreds of people who were killed in a terrorist attack in Burkina Faso on Aug. 24. An Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group in West Africa known as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) claimed responsibility for the attack.
“In condemning these heinous attacks against human life, I express my closeness to the nation as a whole and my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. May the Virgin Mary help the beloved people of Burkina Faso to regain peace and security,” Pope Francis said.
The pope also expressed his concern that over a million people have been left without electricity and water after attacks on energy infrastructure in the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“I am always close to the tormented Ukrainian people, hard hit by attacks on the energy infrastructure. Besides causing deaths and injuries, they have left over a million people without electricity and water,” he said.
“Let us remember that the voice of the innocent is always heard by God, who does not remain indifferent to their suffering,” Francis added.
In his reflection on Sunday’s Gospel, Pope Francis warned against the temptation of hypocrisy and underlined the importance of having genuine purity of heart.
“Purity, Jesus says, is not linked to external rites but is first and foremost linked to inner dispositions, interior dispositions,” the pope said, citing chapter 7 of the Gospel of Mark.
“To be pure, therefore, it is no use washing one’s hands several times if one then, within the heart, harbors evil feelings such as greed, envy, or pride, or evil intentions such as deceit, theft, betrayal, and slander.”
Pope Francis added that Christians should take care not to live a “double life” in which they appear “pious in prayer but then treat one’s own relatives at home with coldness and detachment, or neglect their elderly parents, who are in need of help and company” or “gossip wickedly” in front of the church after Mass.
“Let us ask ourselves, then: Do I live my faith in a consistent manner, that is, what I do in Church, do I try to do outside in the same spirit?” he said.
“And may Mary, Mother most pure, help us to make our life, in heartfelt and practiced love, worship pleasing to God,” Pope Francis prayed.
At the end of the Sunday Angelus on Sept. 1, 2024, Pope Francis asked for prayers for his apostolic journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore Sept. 2-13, which will be the longest international trip of his pontificate. Credit: Vatican MediaThe 87-year-old pope also asked for prayers for his apostolic journey to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Singapore Sept. 2–13, which will be the longest international trip of his pontificate.