“No more bloodshed, no more conflicts, no more violence and mutual recriminations about who is responsible for it, no more leaving your people athirst for peace. No more destruction: it is time to build! Leave the time of war behind and let a time of peace dawn!” the Pope insisted.
Pope Francis recommended five ingredients for the future: prayer, community, honesty, forgiveness, and service, with the figurative symbol of five fingers.
“While so many today dismiss the poor, you embrace them; while the world exploits them, you encourage them," Pope Francis tells the representatives of several charities in Kinshasa.
Pope Francis invited the wounded and oppressed Congolese people to give Christ a chance to heal their hearts by handing their past over to him, along with all their fears and troubles.
Pope reminded them that the Congolese people are more precious than the diamonds found abundantly in their soil and reminded them that peace and development comes from ‘spiritual wealth’ ad not from natural resources.
'Sometimes I think that we should put a sign on the door of parishes that says, “Free admission.” Parishes should be close-knit communities, without bureaucracy, people-centered —a place where the gift of the sacraments can be found,' Pope Francis.
Pope Francis entrusted his Apostolic Journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the Republic of South Sudan to Mother Mary as usual at the Saint Mary Major Basilica on Monday afternoon.
Pope Francis insisted that our indifference to violence is ‘sacrilegious’ and grieves God, being a serious motive that offends God. He was speaking at the concluding vespers of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, on January 25.
In his message for the 57th World Day of Social Communications on the theme “Speaking with the heart”, Pope Francis encourages everyone to communicate “with open heart and arms.”
Pope Francis is urging everyone to pray for the soul of a Nigerian priest who was murdered last Sunday, and to continue to remember and pray for the many Christians who suffer violence directly, especially for the suffering people of Ukraine.
Pope Francis stressed interreligious dialogue as a way to cultivate ecological responsibility when he met with a group of Cambodian Buddhists on January 19.
Pope Francis sent his condolences on the attack on the Pentecostal church in DR Congo in a telegram message on January 17. He offered compassion and closeness to all the families affected by the tragedy.
Pope Francis announced the date of an Ecumenical Prayer Vigil for Synod to take place in St Peter's Square on September 30 at his traditional angelus message. The Pope announced the date of the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil in connection with the traditional Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which occurs every year from January 18 to 25.
Pope Francis thanked the Italian police for their service for security around the Vatican at the audience with the Vatican Inspectorate of Public Security. “For all this, I heartily reiterate my esteem and appreciation for your helpfulness and for your dedicated and professional service,” the Pope says.
In his telegram message, Pope Francis said, “I am sad for the news of the passing of the Cardinal, Prefect Emeritus of the Secretariat of the Economy.” Cardinal Pell died in Rome on January 10, following cardiac complications after hip surgery.
Pope Francis met with the former bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun in a private audience at 3:30 PM on January 6, at Santa Marta, his residence in the Vatican. “It was wonderful. He was so very warm!” the elderly cardinal said.
