On Holy Thursday, Pope Thanks God for World’S Priests,Franciscans in Brazil Use Frevo Music in Video Urging People To

On Holy Thursday, pope thanks God for world’s priests

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Unable to invite Rome’s priests to mark Holy Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis thanked all priests for their service and called those who died ministering to the sick and health care workers part of the community of “saints next door.”

More than 60 priests have died of COVID-19 in Italy after contracting the coronavirus while carrying out their ministry helping others, he said during the Mass of the Lord’s Supper, broadcast on Vatican media April 9.

Because of the pandemic, liturgical celebrations with the pope have been pared down to the essential, eliminating or postponing optional rites and celebrations.

For Holy Thursday, the usual morning chrism Mass with Rome’s priests was postponed to a later unspecified date; the optional foot-washing ritual was omitted; and the traditional procession with the Blessed Sacrament at the end of the Mass was also omitted, with the Eucharist placed directly in the tabernacle.

In the past, Pope Francis celebrated the Holy Thursday Mass in detention facilities, rehabilitation centers and with refugees.

This year, the pope presided over the Mass in a vast and empty basilica with a handful of assisting deacons and priests, a reduced choir and a small congregation of about a dozen people, including Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of the basilica.

Because Holy Thursday is usually the day priests renew their priestly vows at the morning chrism Mass, Pope Francis said he could not let the Mass of the Lord’s Supper go by without remembering the world’s priests.

“Today, all of you, brother priests, are here with me at the altar,” he said, speaking off-the-cuff in his homily.

The pope said he wished to hold close to his heart every priest, starting with those who offer their lives for the Lord; those who are servants; and those who are missionaries, taking the Gospel to far-off lands, where some will die.

The pope said he was thinking of those priests who minister to people in small villages, taking the time to get to know everyone. He said one priest he knew was so close to his people, he even knew the dogs’ names.

Others he was holding close in his heart, he said, were all those priests who must bear insults when they are in public because of the “terrible things” other priests have done.

Close to his heart, he said, are “sinner priests, who together with sinner bishops and a sinner pope, do not forget to ask for forgiveness. They learn to forgive because they know that they need to ask for forgiveness and to forgive. We are all sinners.”

He said he was thinking of all those priests who are experiencing a personal crisis and are in a place of “darkness,” not knowing what to do.

Speaking to all priests, Pope Francis said, “I have one thing to say: Do not be hard- headed like Peter. Let him wash your feet. The Lord is your servant. He is near you to give you strength, to wash your feet.”

When one understands the need to be washed by the Lord, one will become “a great forgiver. Forgive people,” have a big heart, don’t be afraid, he said.

If there are any doubts, “look at Christ,” who offers forgiveness for everyone. “As you have forgiven, you will be forgiven,” he told priests.

“I thank God for you, priests. Jesus loves you. He only asks you to let him wash your feet,” he said.

During the prayers of the faithful, one petition asked God to sustain all those who are suffering and to help “governing leaders seek the true good and people rediscover hope and peace.” Another petition asked God to “console an afflicted humanity with the certainty of your victory over evil, to heal the sick, console the poor and free everyone from epidemics, violence and selfishness.”

On display, like previous ceremonies, were the “Salus Populi Romani” (health of the Roman people) icon and the “Miraculous Crucifix,” normally housed in the Church of St. Marcellus. Over the centuries, the icon and crucifix have been associated with miraculous interventions to save the city and its people.

Franciscans in Brazil use frevo music in video urging people to stay home

SAO PAULO (CNS) — To the soundtrack of the official hymn of Recife’s Galo da Madrugada, said to be the largest carnival block in the world, Franciscans from five convents in northeastern Brazil dance to a typical Brazilian rhythm known as the frevo with one request: “Fique em Casa” (Stay Home).

“I was thinking of a way to make people aware. I thought of creating something that would be joyful, festive, because as Franciscans (we) have the characteristic of the joy that is proper to Franciscan life,” Franciscan Brother Flavio Lorrane Clementino de Almeida told Catholic News Service.

“It needed to be something different from what the media was showing. I wanted to convey that, despite the tense moment, we need to be calm,” he said.

“First, I thought about making a video on my own, but then I decided to invite the younger brothers in our province to make this video,” he said, adding that all the friars taped their part of the video and sent them to a friar who edited and finalized the video.

The video received thousands of “shares” in WhatsApp groups and other social media channels and was also reproduced in religious websites. Although it was generally praised, there were some who criticized the effort.

“We received some criticism from people saying that there are a lot of people getting sick and dying and that we shouldn’t be playing, dancing. Our mission as religious is to show the joy that comes from God; it is a sign of hope. To experience these moments, we need hope. The intention (of the video) is to bring hope to others,” said Brother Lorrane.

The Portuguese lyrics encourage people to enjoy bonding with the family and encourage proper hand-washing. “Listen to the radio, watch TV; there are many options to laugh and pray,” it also says.

Pope on Palm Sunday: Life, measured by love, is meant to serve others

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With a small procession down the vast and empty central nave of St. Peter’s Basilica, Pope Francis began the first of a series of Holy Week liturgies celebrated without the presence of the faithful from the general public.

Palm Sunday Mass, the liturgy that begins with a commemoration of Jesus entering Jerusalem among a jubilant crowd, was celebrated April 5 without the usual outdoor procession and blessing of the faithful’s palm fronds.

A small number of pews were set out, with 13 people — each holding a woven palm frond — sitting one per pew; just eight people sang in the choir. The basilica was decorated with a potted olive tree and greenery. Also displayed were the “Salus Populi Romani” (health of the Roman people) icon and what Romans call the “Miraculous Crucifix,” normally housed in the Church of St. Marcellus; over the centuries, both the icon and crucifix have been associated with miraculous interventions to save the city and its people.

Broadcast and livestreamed over a wide range of media, the pope preached in his homily about the betrayal and abandonment Jesus experienced before and during his Passion.

He was betrayed by a disciple who “sold him” and one who denied him, betrayed by people who sang “hosanna” to him and then shouted “crucify him,” betrayed by “the religious institution that unjustly condemned him and by the political institution that washed its hands of him,” the pope said.

Then, on the cross, Jesus asked God “the most excruciating question, ‘Why.’ ‘Why did you, too, abandon me?'”

“Why did all this take place?” the pope asked. “It was done for our sake, to serve us.”

“God saved us by serving us” and by taking upon himself all the punishment for people’s sins “without complaining, but with the humility, patience and obedience of a servant, and purely out of love,” he said.

“The Lord served us to the point of experiencing the most painful situations of those who love — betrayal and abandonment,” he said.

The reason, the pope said, was so “when we have our back to the wall, when we find ourselves at a dead end, with no light and no way of escape, when it seems that God himself is not responding, we should remember that we are not alone.”

Jesus experienced total abandonment, he said, “in order to be one with us in everything. He did it for me, for you, to say to us, ‘Do not be afraid, you are not alone. I experienced all your desolation in order to be ever close to you.'” “Today, in the tragedy of a pandemic, in the face of the many false securities that have now crumbled, in the face of so many hopes betrayed, in the sense of abandonment that weighs upon our hearts, Jesus says to each one of us, ‘Courage, open your heart to my love. You will feel the consolation of God who sustains you,'” Pope Francis said.

Inspired by the Lord’s example of love and service despite the cost, the faithful are also called to “refuse to betray him for whom we were created and not abandon what really matters in our lives.”

“We were put in this world to love him and our neighbors,” the pope said. “Everything else passes away; only this remains.”

“The tragedy we are experiencing summons us to take seriously the things that are serious and not to be caught up in those that matter less; to rediscover that life is of no use if not used to serve others,” he said. “For life is measured by love.”

So with the start of a Holy Week with people in their homes, “let us stand before the crucified one, the fullest measure of God’s love for us, and before the God who serves us to the point of giving his life, and let us ask for the grace to live in order to serve.”

The pope asked that people reach out to those who are suffering and most in need, and be concerned less with “what we lack, but what good we can do for others.”

“Loving, praying, forgiving, caring for others, in the family and in society, all this can certainly be difficult,” he said. “It can feel like a ‘via crucis.’ But the path of service is the victorious and life-giving path by which we were saved.”

Also marking the day when World Youth Day is celebrated on a diocesan level, the pope called on young people to not be afraid of devoting their lives to God and others and putting “your lives on the line.”

“Dear friends, look at the real heroes who come to light in these days: they are not famous, rich and successful people; rather, they are those who are giving themselves in order to serve others,” he said. “Life is a gift we receive only when we give ourselves away, and our deepest joy comes from saying yes to love, without ifs and buts. As Jesus did for us,” he said.

Before praying the Angelus, the pope recalled how young people from Panama were supposed to have handed over the World Youth Day cross to a delegation from Lisbon, Portugal, which will host the event in 2022. That ceremony now will be held Nov. 22, the feast of Christ the King.

The pope also greeted all those who had followed the Mass through the media and asked families and individuals who cannot participate in Holy Week liturgies in person to pray at home even with the help of the internet and other means.

Be spiritually close to those who are sick, their families and those who are selflessly taking care of them, the pope said, and praying for the deceased, he said, “everyone is present in our heart, our memory, our prayer.”

Stay firm in faith, seek St. Joseph’s intercession, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the daily lives and routines of millions of people have been turned upside down, Pope Francis said, but they must help each other stay firm in faith.

In a video message released March 19, the feast of St. Joseph, the pope said Jesus’ stepfather also knew “uncertainty and disappointment” and worry about what the future would bring, but he still placed himself without reservation into God’s hands.

The Vatican released the text of the pope’s message a few hours before the video was to be broadcast as part of a campaign, led by the Italian bishops’ conference, to have Catholics pray the rosary together for an end to the pandemic, for the healing of the sick and for the well-being of families in their second week of lockdown.

“The rosary is the prayer of the humble and of the saints who use its mysteries to contemplate with Mary the life of Jesus, the merciful face of the Father,” the pope said in his message. “How we all need to be truly consoled, to feel surrounded by his loving presence!”

“With the Virgin Mother, we beg the Lord to free the world from every form of pandemic,” he prayed.

Pope Francis said he understood how the lockdown could be difficult for families whose worlds now are “restricted to the walls of our homes,” but he urged people to be kind and gentle and “be the first to demonstrate charity, understanding, patience, forgiveness.”

“This evening,” he said, “we pray together, entrusting ourselves to the intercession of St. Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family, guardian of our families. Even the carpenter from Nazareth knew uncertainty and disappointment, concern about the future, but he also knew how to walk in the dark of certain moments letting himself be guided, without reservation, by God’s will.”

Pope Francis prayed that God would enlighten scientists seeking a cure for the pandemic and political leaders, so that, like St. Joseph, they would safeguard the good of all those entrusted to their care.

“Sustain those who give of themselves for the needy,” he prayed to St. Joseph, mentioning especially “the volunteers, nurses (and) doctors, who are on the frontlines in caring for the sick, even at the cost of their own safety.”

He prayed that God would make the church “a sign and instrument of your light and goodness.”

“St. Joseph,” he prayed, “accompany families. With your prayerful silence, build harmony between parents and children, especially the smallest ones.”

And, he continued, “protect the elderly from solitude. Make sure that no one is left in the desperation of abandonment and discouragement. Console those who are most fragile, encourage those who waver, intercede for the poor.”

Archbishop Lori leads Mass in ‘extraordinary times’ for coronavirus

If all the people watching the livestream of the 11 a.m. Mass March 15 at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Homeland had been in the cathedral itself, it would have been filled to capacity.

Instead, as Archbishop William E. Lori canceled all public Masses around the archdiocese as of 6 p.m. March 14, the archbishop celebrated a private Mass in the Lady Chapel that was broadcast live on the cathedral’s YouTube channel, with 1,780 people watching at one point, and consistently more than 1,600.

With the coronavirus pandemic limiting large gatherings, the Mass was attended only by the archbishop, four priests, a deacon, an altar server, a lector, two musicians, an archdiocesan staff member and one cathedral staff member who handled the live feed.

Masses throughout the archdiocese are being offered without the physical presence of the faithful.

“We gather this Sunday at a time unprecedented in living memory,” the archbishop said in his homily. “As the coronavirus continues to spread, we are facing a global pandemic, a pandemic that has hit home, here in Maryland.”

Citing the number of those afflicted in Maryland at 24, he noted that the number of people who are actually infected may be higher. “To date, there is neither a vaccine nor a cure, and, as a result, many – especially the elderly and those with weakened immune systems – are at risk.”

A recording of the archbishop’s Mass follows; story continues below.

He referred to recommended measures to keep people safe and to prevent the spread of the virus and noted that all should take those to heart “for your own sake and also for the sake of others. I’m neither a prophet nor a medical expert, but I think we should be prepared to see this crisis become much worse before it becomes better and, God-willing, passes into the history books,” he said.

“In the meantime, what should we do as followers of Christ and members of his Church, to maintain our spiritual health in the midst of this crisis?” he asked.

Even as Catholics are unable to attend Sunday Mass in person or to take part in the Lenten Stations of the Cross or other devotions, the archbishop urged people to continue to pursue their life of prayer vigorously and stay close to the Lord Jesus and to the Church.

Daily prayer is the primary way to do this and “does not have to be elaborate and lengthy but these days we should make a point of setting aside additional time for prayer,” he said. “We should surely ask the Lord to grant eternal life and peace to those who have already succumbed to the virus. We should pray for those who are currently struggling with it, and for those who have it, but have not yet been diagnosed.

“Naturally, we will want to pray for our families and loved ones. And let us pray earnestly for researchers and healthcare providers and for those who must make difficult public decisions in this time of crisis. While we’re at it, let’s not forget to pray for the poor, the needy, and the vulnerable, especially those who do not have access to adequate healthcare,” Archbishop Lori said.

“What is the point of praying to the Lord in this way? Surely the Lord knows that tens of millions of people earnestly want nothing more than that this pandemic would come to a swift conclusion. Yet, it is important for you and for me to pour out our hearts in prayer,” he said.

Often, children go to their parents with some deep need, likely something that the parents are already aware of, but the fact the child makes known that need shows intimacy and trust. In a similar way, the Lord already knows our needs, even though his ways are not the ways of humans.

“Yet when we ask him for what we need and for the needs of others, we draw near to him and his wisdom and love are poured into our hearts,” the archbishop said. “Prayer lifts us up and helps us see our problems, including a crisis such as this, not merely from our own limited perspective and interests, but indeed through the lens of God’s kindness and generosity and mercy.

“When we confide our needs to the Lord in heartfelt and sincere prayer, we grow in our trust in the provident love of God,” he said. “I think we’d all admit that trust is something that is hard to come by in time of crisis. It may be easy to say we put our trust in God when things are going well but the real test of our trust in God comes when things seem to be falling apart.”

He invited those listening to see the days and weeks ahead as an opportunity to grow in trust of God, and encouraged people to remember that “Jesus has experienced the full measure of human suffering, that the Lord suffered and died for us and for our salvation, and that, no matter what befalls us, our hope in his love will not disappoint us,” Archbishop Lori said. “In this way we will find the grace to join our sufferings to his, and as we do so, we will come to realize something of the depth and beauty of God’s love for us.”

The archbishop tied his message to the Gospel reading for the day from John in which Jesus visits Jacob’s Well and tells the Samaritan woman there that he is the living water.

“One piece of medical advice we’re receiving these days is to stay hydrated. If our physical health requires that we drink plenty of water, so too our spiritual health requires that the living water of the Holy Spirit flow freely through our mind, our heart and our soul,” he said. “Growth in holiness doesn’t happen only when times are relatively calm and peaceful; often, we grow in God’s likeness when we are called to love in extraordinary ways, as surely we are being challenged to do in these days,” he said.

The archbishop concluded his homily with a novena prayer that he wrote for the faithful of the archdiocese, adapted from a prayer by Pope Francis. He invited those in the archdiocese to ask for Mary’s intercession during the crisis.

Notably, the kiss of peace, during which congregants usually shake hands after the consecration and Our Father, was skipped for the Mass.

At the end of Mass, Archbishop Lori referenced the National Day of Prayer for the coronavirus called for by President Donald Trump and noted that the Archdiocese of Baltimore was joining its prayers to those of all faiths in the country.

The cancellation of all Masses in the archdiocese came after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan mandated that all gatherings of more than 250 people be canceled. The archdiocese followed that guidance and planned to allow Mass only in places where all weekend Masses have fewer than 250 people at normal times.

However, after consulting with state officials, medical experts and the governor March 14 and receiving additional information about the impact of COVID-19, the archbishop made the decision to cancel all Masses, which was announced late that day.

The archdiocese is allowing churches to remain open for private prayer and adoration. People should contact check their local parish website or contact the parish for local information.

At the end of the broadcast Mass, Archbishop Lori encouraged Catholics in the archdiocese to remain connected to their church by downloading the myParish App, which is provided by the archdiocese and Catholic Review Media to all the parishes. “If it’s not on your iPhone, it should be,” he said. “We can use technology to keep us connected to our faith in these extraordinary times.”

To download the myParish App, text “app” to 88202 on any smartphone, then select your parish for local information and updates. Links to online or other broadcast Masses can be found on the archdiocesan website at https://www.archbalt.org/online-mass/. Other information and resources can be found at https://www.archbalt.org/coronavirus/.

Vatican closes museums, beefs up measures to stop virus spread

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican has instituted new measures and closures to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.

In addition to urging employees to work from home if possible and providing family leave for workers with minors at home due to school closures, Pope Francis also was making some events — normally held outdoors with large crowds — closed to visitors, filmed indoors and broadcast online.

The pope’s Wednesday general audience March 11, like the March 8 Sunday Angelus, was to be livestreamed on Vatican News and YouTube “to avoid the risk of spreading the COVID-19 (coronavirus),” especially given the crowding that occurs at the security checkpoints on entering the square, the Vatican announced March 7.

The Vatican also said that until March 15, the pope’s morning Masses at his residence would not be open to visitors but would be shown in their entirety online.

The Italian government and Vatican City State health services have asked people throughout Italy to avoid large gatherings, particularly indoors, and to keep a yard’s distance between people in public in the hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.

In fact, in photos of the pope’s private audience March 9 with nearly 30 bishops from France, who were in Rome on their “ad limina” visits, the prelates were seated far apart from one another and from the pope, and the audience was held in a large marbled hall of the apostolic palace, rather than the smaller, carpeted papal library.

Following the lead of the Italian government, the Vatican also announced March 8 that the Vatican Museums, the necropolis under St. Peter’s Basilica and the museum at the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo would be closed until April 3 to do its part in reducing attractions that normally draw a large number of international visitors to closed and crowded places.

The beefed-up measures were made public after the Vatican reported March 6 that its health clinic was temporarily closed to disinfect the area after a person using the clinic tested positive for the coronavirus.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said in a communique March 8 that the unnamed individual had gone to the clinic as part of a pre-employment medical examination and that five people who had been in close contact with him had been quarantined as a precautionary measure.

The person was not a Vatican resident or employee, but he had attended a major conference at the end of February sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life. The academy issued a press release March 6 saying it had alerted all those who took part in the conference on ethics and artificial intelligence. The pope had not attended.

Based on precautions and protocols consistent with Italian government health standards, the Vatican issued a large number of recommendations and measures for all offices and entities that are part of the Roman Curia, the Holy See and Vatican City State. The Vatican released copies of the provisions March 8.

In addition to all previous health protocols already issued, the Vatican health and hygiene department recommended people: not congregate in common areas; avoid using elevators unless physically impaired; stay a yard apart from others in closed areas; frequently disinfect areas and objects; avoid having outside visitors; notify management in case of travel to high-risk areas; and contact medical professionals by telephone if displaying flu-like symptoms.

The Vatican also urged those in charge of Vatican offices to consider the impact emergency measures were having on employees and to consider offering their staff the following options where appropriate or possible: avoid having staff work overtime or calling in volunteers or outside help; suspend hiring new personnel unless absolutely necessary; promote flexibility in scheduling for employees who have children so they can spend more time with their families; promote working from home for employees where possible; allow extra family leave provisions for employees who request it and have children under the age of 14 and need supervision because of nationwide school closures.

Citing cold, pope skips Lenten retreat with Curia

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Continuing his recovery from a mild cold, Pope Francis said that he would be unable to attend his annual Lenten retreat with Roman Curia officials.

“Unfortunately, my cold forces me to not participate,” the pope told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square March 1 for his Sunday Angelus address.

“This year, I will follow the meditations from here. I spiritually join the curia and all the people who are living this moment of prayer, doing spiritual exercises at home,” he said.

According to a March 2 report by Vatican News, the pope sent a message to members of the Roman Curia attending the retreat at the Pauline Fathers’ retreat and conference center in Ariccia, a town about 20 miles southeast of Rome. The message was read by Jesuit Father Pietro Bovati, secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission, who was leading the Lenten meditations on: “The encounter between God and man, in the light of Exodus, the Gospel of Matthew and the prayer of the psalms.”

“I accompany you from here. I will do the exercises in my room, following the preaching of Father Bovati whom I thank very much. I will pray for you; please, do the same for me,” the pope said.

This is the first time in his papacy that Pope Francis has missed the annual Lenten retreat.

The tradition of having weeklong, preached “spiritual exercises” for the pope and members of the papal household began with Pope Pius XI in 1925. For more than 35 years, it was an Advent, not a Lenten retreat.

Pope John XXIII broke the Advent tradition in 1962 when he spent a week in September on retreat to prepare for the Second Vatican Council. His successor, Pope Paul VI, made the retreats a Lenten staple in 1964.

Pope Francis has had a reduced schedule since the Vatican announced Feb. 27 that he would be unable to attend a traditional penitential service with priests of the Diocese of Rome due to “a slight indisposition.”

While the pope has continued celebrating his daily morning Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae and holding one-on-one meetings, he canceled audiences with several groups.

The pope did not attend audiences with “members of International Group of Bioethics, and participants of the general chapter of the Legionaries of Christ and the general assembly of consecrated and lay members of Regnum Christi,” the Vatican said Feb. 29.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Lent is a time to remove all distractions and bitterness from one’s life in order to better hear God and those who suffer silently and need help, Pope Francis said.

“It is the right time to turn off the television and open the Bible. It is the time to disconnect from cellphones and connect ourselves to the Gospel,” the pope said at his weekly general audience Feb. 26, Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent for Latin-rite Catholics.

“It’s a time to give up useless words, idle chatter, rumors, gossip” and speak intimately with the Lord, he said.

It was the first general audience of the year held outside in St. Peter’s Square given the mild temperatures.

However, given increased concern in Italy about the spread of the coronavirus, the pope reduced his contact with people in the square, shaking hands with only a few people before beginning his talk. In the popemobile, the pope circled the square, waving and blessing people from afar, and the driver and the pope’s security detail did not stop to pick up any children as is customary.

In fact, at the end of his audience, the pope assured all those affected by the virus of his closeness and prayers. He said his prayers were also with the health care professionals and public officials who were working hard to help patients and stop the spread of the disease.

In his main audience talk, the pope explained “the spiritual significance” of the desert, where Jesus spent 40 days praying and fasting to prepare for his public ministry.

Jesus often headed off to “deserted” places to pray, “teaching us how to seek the Father who speaks to us in silence,” the pope said.

“The desert is a place to get away from the racket that surrounds us. It is the absence of words in order to make room for another word, the Word of God, who like a light breeze, caresses the heart,” he said.

Just as Jesus spent time in the desert, he said Catholics must spend Lent creating similarly sparse surroundings and a “healthy environment of the heart.”

These places need a thorough “cleaning,” he said, because “we live in an environment polluted by too much verbal violence, by so many offensive and harmful words, which the internet amplifies.”

People today lob insults with the same frequency and nonchalance as if they were saying “hello,” he said.

“We are buried under empty words, advertisements, devious messages,” the pope said. “We are used to hearing everything about everybody and we risk slipping into a worldliness that atrophies the heart. And there is no bypass (surgery) to fix that, only silence.”

For Christians, the desert isn’t a place of death, but of life, “because being in silence, in dialogue with the Lord, gives us life again,” he said.

Pope Francis asked that people strip away the superfluous and unnecessary in their lives so they could find what really counts, what is essential and even rediscover the people already by their side.

Fasting is part of that process, he said, because it exercises the ability to go without things that are excessive or frivolous.

Making time for silence and solitude will also help the faithful become more aware of those who suffer silently around them, the pope said.

Lent is a time to draw near to those who are alone, abandoned, poor or elderly and anyone else in need of help, he said.

“Prayer, fasting and acts of mercy — this is the path of the Lenten desert,” because it is only in the desert that one finds the way from death to life, the pope said. “Let us follow Jesus in the desert and with him our deserts will bloom.”

At the end of the general audience, the pope gave special greetings to visitors from Iraq, emphasizing how his prayers were with them and all people in the nation, which is “a battleground” of war and conflict.

“I pray for you and pray for peace in your country, which I had been scheduled to visit this year,” he said. It would have been the first visit by a pope to Iraq, where tradition holds Abraham was born.

For more on Lent, visit www.archbalt.org/lent.

Being meek does not mean being a pushover, pope says at audience

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Those who are meek are patient, gentle and merciful, drawing people together and salvaging relationships, Pope Francis said.

Meekness entails tenaciously holding onto one’s trust in and relationship with God and protectively guarding his gifts of peace, mercy and fraternity, the pope said Feb. 19 during his weekly general audience in the Paul VI hall. The pope continued a series of talks on the Eight Beatitudes by reflecting on the third beatitude, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.”

It seems strange that meekness and inheriting land are somehow related, the pope said.

But, he said, it is rooted in Psalm 37:3-11, which tells believers to trust in the Lord, refrain from anger, be patient and “make your righteousness shine” for then shall they “inherit the earth” and “delight in great prosperity.”

The “land” the psalm refers to is something greater than some earthly territory, which is so often a source of conflict, war and aggression, the pope said.

“That land is a promise and a gift for the people of God,” he said. It is heaven — that “new earth” that God has made for his children.

“Therefore, the meek are those who ‘inherit’ the most sublime of territories,” Pope Francis said. “They are not cowards, weak, looking for some fallback moral principle in order to steer clear of trouble. Far from it!”

Whether a person is meek is seen during moments of conflict, crisis or pressure, he said, since it’s easy to seem meek when life goes smoothly.

“You see it in how they react to a hostile situation,” when they are attacked or offended, he said.

Meekness is what Jesus displayed during his passion since, according to St. Peter, Jesus returned no insult, did not threaten and instead, “handed himself over to the one who judges justly.”

The meek are those who know and trust in what God has offered and they do not want to lose it, the pope said.

“The meek are not people-pleasers but are Christ’s disciples who have learned to defend a whole other land,” he said. “They defend their peace, they defend their relationship with God and God’s gifts, guarding mercy, fraternity, trust, hope.” “People who are meek are people who are merciful, fraternal, trusting and hopeful,” he said.

To talk about meekness, the pope said, it is important also to talk about the sin of wrath.

“A moment of anger can destroy so many things; you lose control and you don’t evaluate what is really important and you can ruin a relationship” with someone, sometimes irreparably, he said.

How many family members, he added, no longer speak with each other or are cold with each other because of anger, which always divides, while meekness, “gathers together.”

“Meekness conquers many things. Meekness is able to win over hearts, salvage friendships and much more,” he said.

It’s natural to get angry, he said, but then people should “calm down, rethink it and get back on track and this is how you can rebuild with meekness.”

“There is no earth more beautiful than the heart of another person,” he said, “no land more wonderful to win over than that peace” reestablished with another, and this is the land the meek shall inherit.

Raphael’s tapestries briefly return to Sistine Chapel

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — An artistic masterpiece conceived by the Renaissance master Raphael was on display for one week in the Sistine Chapel to help celebrate the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death.

“It’s an important moment” and a way to celebrate a truly great artist, Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, told Vatican News Feb. 17. Raphael died in Rome on Good Friday, April 6, 1520, at the age of 37.

The 10 enormous tapestries designed by Raphael for the lower walls of the chapel were on display Feb. 17-23 in the Sistine Chapel, “putting them in the place they were commissioned for in 1515 and where (some) were hung in 1519,” Jatta said. The tapestries are normally displayed behind glass on a rotating basis elsewhere in the museums.

The colorful and detailed tapestries depict the lives of Sts. Peter and Paul and events from the Acts of the Apostles. They were designed to specifically correspond to the frescoed images higher on the walls depicting scenes from the lives of Moses and Jesus, and Michelangelo’s images from the story of Genesis.

After Michelangelo had completed the Sistine Chapel ceiling in 1512, Pope Leo X wanted to leave his mark on the chapel, but every surface had already been painted by Michelangelo, Pietro Perugino, Sandro Botticelli and Domenico Ghirlandaio.

Pope Leo chose the young and rising star, Raphael, to create 10 designs for a special set of tapestries for the chapel’s lower walls, whose panels had already been adorned with “trompe l’oeil” drapery. Tapestries were a popular art form at the time and the church liked to use them for special liturgical ceremonies.

The painted designs, called “cartoons,” were sent to famed tapestry artisans at Pieter Van Aelst’s workshop in Brussels. Seven of the 10 original cartoons still survive and belong to the British Royal Collection.

The tapestries cost 1,600 gold ducats a piece — an enormous amount of money because of the intense labor involved and the expensive materials used, including real gold and silver thread. The total cost for the 10 designs and tapestries was five times the amount Michelangelo was paid for decorating the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

Seven of the tapestries were completed and sent to Rome in 1519 and the last three arrived in 1521, right before Pope Leo died in December and one year after Raphael passed away.

Miraculously, they have survived the centuries despite numerous unfortunate events. First, they were stolen during the Sack of Rome in 1527 but, by 1536, seven of the 10 tapestries made their way back home. Pirates got hold of the others and some ended up in Tunisia and Turkey.

The missing tapestries eventually were recovered in Venice in 1554, but others were snatched again from their home in 1798 during the Napoleonic Wars. It took the diplomatic finesse of Pope Pius VII’s secretary of state to wrangle for their return in 1808.

All 10 tapestries have been restored over the years. Each covers about 35 square yards (30 square meters) and weighs between 110 and 132 pounds. (50-60 kilograms).

Pope says there is no quick fix for priest shortage in Amazon region

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis acknowledged the serious shortage of priests in remote areas of the Amazon, but he insisted not all avenues have been exhausted to address the issue.

In his apostolic exhortation, “Querida Amazonia” (“Beloved Amazonia”), which was released by the Vatican Feb. 12, the pope said that confronting the priest shortage simply by “facilitating a greater presence of ordained ministers who can celebrate the Eucharist” would be “a very narrow aim.”

The members of the Synod of Bishops for the Amazon in October asked Pope Francis to open the way for the priestly ordination of married permanent deacons so that Catholics in the region could go to Mass and receive the sacraments regularly.

In response, Pope Francis wrote in his new document that the priest shortage must be seen as an opportunity for the Catholic Church to “awaken new life in communities.”

“We need to promote an encounter with God’s word and growth in holiness through various kinds of lay service that call for a process of education — biblical, doctrinal, spiritual and practical — and a variety of programs of ongoing formation,” he said.

In an interview with Vatican News Feb. 12, Cardinal Michael Czerny, who served as secretary of the synod in October, said Pope Francis believes that “the question is not one of numbers and that a greater presence of priests is not the only requirement.”

“What is needed is a presence of laypeople at the local level who are animated by a missionary spirit and capable of representing the authentic face of the Amazonian Church. This, he seems to indicate, is the only way that vocations will return,” he said.

Cardinal Czerny told journalists that while there is no mention in the pope’s document of ordaining married men to the priesthood or to women deacons, the pope “has not resolved them in any way beyond what he has said in the exhortation.”

The synod is a journey “with long roads ahead as well as roads already traveled,” Cardinal Czerny said Feb. 12 during a briefing at the Vatican press office. “So, if there are questions that you feel are open or that the church feels are open, thanks to the exhortation they will continue to be debated, discussed, discerned, prayed over and when mature presented to the appropriate authority for decision.”

Pope Francis urged bishops, especially in Latin America, to encourage those who wish to be missionaries “to opt for the Amazon region.”

Much like in past exhortations, the pope drove the point home in the footnotes.

“It is noteworthy that, in some countries of the Amazon Basin, more missionaries go to Europe or the United States than remain to assist their own vicariates in the Amazon region,” he said.

While the shortage of vocations is an issue felt throughout the church, even the severe shortages in places like the United States pale in comparison to their Amazonian counterparts.

The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, for example, has an estimated 900,000 Catholics and a total of 103 priests, which is an average of one priest for every 8,737 people. It has one of the lowest priest-to-Catholics ratios in the United States.

In comparison, the Diocese of Caxias do Maranhao, Brazil, has only 25 priests for a population of 825,000 Catholics, an average of one priest for every 33,000 people.

And remote villages, such as the Kichwa indigenous community in the Ecuadorian Amazonian region, are difficult areas for priests to visit since they are accessible only by small plane or canoe.

In his exhortation, the pope said that priests are essential for the full life of Catholic communities since they are the only ones who can consecrate the Eucharist and grant absolution in the sacrament of reconciliation.

“If we are truly convinced that this is the case, then every effort should be made to ensure that the Amazonian peoples do not lack this food of new life and the sacrament of forgiveness,” the pope said.

Nonetheless, Pope Francis also called for a renewal “of both initial and ongoing priestly formation” before considering other suggestions.

While priests are necessary, religious women, lay people and permanent deacons — “of whom there should be many more in the Amazon region” — could perform other functions necessary for Catholic life “with the aid of suitable accompaniment,” he said.

Also see:

Pope shares his ‘dreams’ for Amazon region, its Catholic community

U.S. bishops ask pope about Amazon synod, discuss range of issues

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Talking about debates, differences and discernment, Pope Francis told a group of U.S. bishops that people focused on the possibility of ordaining some married men and women deacons for service in the Amazon will be disappointed in his apostolic exhortation.

The Vatican will release “Querida Amazonia” (Beloved Amazonia), the pope’s postsynodal document, Feb. 12. The document came up Feb. 10 in the two-and-a-half-hour discussion Pope Francis had with bishops from New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, two of the bishops said. The bishops were making their “ad limina” visits to Rome to report on the status of their dioceses.

As is his normal practice, Pope Francis told the bishops they could talk about whatever issues they wanted to raise, offering him information, asking him questions or even critiquing him, as long as the critique remained in the room.

Archbishop John C. Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico, told Catholic News Service the pope told the bishops: “I want to hear what you have to say. Criticisms, complaints and questions are welcome. That’s how the Holy Spirit works. The Holy Spirit can’t work if we’re all walking on eggshells and afraid to say anything.”

The clerical sexual abuse crisis, immigration, polarization in society and in the church, training seminarians, the ministry of bishops and the role of women in the church were among the topics discussed, several bishops said.

Bishop Oscar A. Solis of Salt Lake City said Pope Francis did not go into detail about “Querida Amazonia,” but he did give the bishops the impression that the issues of ordaining married men and women deacons for ministry in far-flung communities would still be a matter for future discussion and discernment.

“He said he didn’t actually believe in the ordination of married men, but what are you going to do with all those people who are deprived of the Eucharist,” the bishop said. There are communities where a priest arrives only once a year for Mass.

Pope Francis did warn the bishops that many in the media and the general public will be focusing on those two issues — married priests and women deacons — while he wanted to focus on the social, pastoral, ecological and cultural challenges facing the Amazon region.

Archbishop Wester said, “A lot of the media sometimes will glom on to something because it fits a particular agenda, or it sparks a particular controversy that they know is going to kind of bring a lot of future business.” The archbishop told CNS that Pope Francis was asked for “a clarification” about the synod.

“The pope, very gently and very calmly, said, ‘You know, this point was really not a big point,” although it did come up, the archbishop said, without saying whether the issue was married priests, women deacons or something else. The gist of the pope’s response, the archbishop continued, was “I don’t even think at this point that it’s something we’re going to move on because I haven’t sensed that the Holy Spirit is at work in that right now.”

Summarizing his take on the discussion about the Amazon synod document, Archbishop Wester told CNS, “It’s what’s not going to be said that people will notice.”

Retired Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, said having met almost all the U.S. bishops for “ad limina” conversations since November, “I’m sure he’s gotten an earful.”

The bishop said he believes the pope has specific hopes for the church in the United States.

“I think he senses that there’s a kind of, his phrase would be, a spiritual worldliness that has taken over and not having the sense of living my life in a sacrificial way, in a serving kind of way, in a giving kind of way, in a generous way,” Bishop Kicanas said.

“My impression is that he sees the United States is very blessed, but perhaps needing to learn how to share those blessings and how to be bring those blessings to the service of others,” he said. One example of that, the bishop said, is immigration. “He would love to see countries do their part, not everybody can do everything and there are limits to what any country can do. But we do our part.”

Highlight how “all of us are immigrants,” Pope Francis told the bishops, “As I look around the room and listen to your names, none of you are Native Americans so we need to realize that most of us have come from elsewhere,” Bishop Kicanas said. The pope “would like to see a more generous society, a more giving society, a society that’s attentive to those who are in need.”

Archbishop Wester said the pope “was very strong on” the importance of lay leadership, especially the participation of women in the life of the church.

“The gifts that women bring — it’s so important not to exclude that, but to include that in our various schools and parishes, etc.,” the archbishop said.

The pope also discussed the sexual abuse crisis and the need for the church to not only help survivors heal, but to heal itself.

“A wound has been opened, and in some cases, reopened” — for example, because of grand jury reports — “but we see that as providential in that Christ can help us now to heal,” Archbishop Wester said. “You have to open the wound in order for the healing to take place.”

While it is painful to look back at the abuse that occurred in the church, Archbishop Wester said the bishops “need to look so we can learn from history, to learn from our mistakes.”

And in a world marked by “polarization, that division,” Bishop Solis said, Pope Francis emphasized the role of the bishop as a builder of unity, a person who must be willing to listen to a diversity of opinions, pray about decisions and trust the Holy Spirit will guide the discernment.

“He values differences of opinion,” the bishop said. “I think he must have heard about the lack of civility” that seems to be afflicting public discourse in the United States. “People don’t discuss anymore” but move immediately to “looking at each other with hatred.”

Pope Francis encouraged the bishops to be close to one another and to discuss their differences calmly and openly, Bishop Solis said. “You could see that he’s concerned about it like a typical father when siblings are not in sync with one another.”

Bishop Solis was celebrating the 16th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop Feb. 10 and said he spent it “engaging in a very, very personal and beautiful, Spirit-filled conversation our Holy Father, Pope Francis. It was the best gift I’ve ever received in my life. I forgot all my problems.”

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Contributing to this story were Junno Arocho Esteves, Cindy Wooden and Carol Glatz.

On Holy Thursday, Pope Thanks God for World&#8217;S Priests,Franciscans in Brazil Use Frevo Music in Video Urging People To

On Holy Thursday, Pope Thanks God for World’S Priests,Franciscans in Brazil Use Frevo Music in Video Urging People To