Tag Archives: Pope Francis

Pope Francis Condemns ISIS, Boko Haram

Pope Francis condemned the prosecution of Christians by Islamic terrorists groups like ISIS and Boko Haram.

The Pope held a mass with a reading from John 16:2-3 where Jesus says “the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or Me.”

Francis said that Christians should take heart when they see people who are killing “Christians in the name of God because they think they are infidels” because Jesus said His followers would be persecuted as He was persecuted.

The Pope cited the murder of 21 Coptic Christians on a beach by ISIS terrorists.

“I called to mind his faithful, who were slaughtered on the beach because they are Christians. Because of the strength given them by the Holy Spirit, they were not scandalized,” he said. “They died with the name of Jesus on their lips. This is the power of the Spirit. Witness. Martyrdom is the supreme witness.”

Vatican police have said that the Islamic terrorist extremists have threatened the Pope’s life.

Raul Castro Says Pope Inspiring Him To Return To Faith

Cuban President Raul Castro says he has returned to the Catholic Faith after a meeting with Pope Francis.

“I will resume praying and turn to the Church again if the Pope continues in this vein,” Castro said after a 50-minute private audience with Francis at the Vatican on Sunday.

“As I’ve already told my council of advisers, I read all of the Pope’s speeches,” he added, according to CNN. “I promise that I will go to all of his Masses — and with satisfaction. I left the meeting this morning impressed, very impressed by his knowledge, his wisdom, modesty, and by all the virtues that we know he has.”

Catholic activity in Cuba was suppressed by the government after the revolution and several media outlets like the BBC say that they cannot say for sure that Castro is being completely serious with his comment.

“The fact that the man who helped lead the Cuban Revolution would even joke about returning to the Catholic Church shows just how far the relationship between Havana and the Vatican has moved forward recently,” offered BBC correspondent Will Grant from Havana.

Pope Francis has been very critical of the world’s economic systems.

“Jesus affirms that you cannot serve two masters, God and wealth,” Francis said in an interview back in January about the Vatican report titled “This Economy Kills.”

“Is it pauperism? No, it is the Gospel.  Jesus tells us that it is the ‘protocol’ on the basis of which we will be judged, it is what we read in Chapter 25 of Matthew: I had hunger, I had thirst, I was in prison, I was sick, I was naked and you helped me: dressed me, visited me, you took care of me,” Francis argued.

“This attention to the poor is in the Gospel, and in the tradition of the church, it is not an invention of Communism and [we] need not ideologize it, like sometimes happened in the course of history.”

“We Know God’s Law Can’t Be Undone By Man’s Law”

Texas Governor Greg Abbott made bold declarations about the Lord in an address to the 11th annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

Abbott, 57, who became paralyzed after a tree fell on his back in 1984, said he is one of many proofs that God answers prayers.

“Let me just start by making a very simple point. My very being here today is proof that prayers do work,” Abbott told those in attendance at the Marriott Marquis hotel.

“Looking back, I can tell that if you have seen all that I have seen, if you have gone through all that I have gone through, you would never again question the Lord,” Abbott continued. “You would never fear the valley of the shadow of death because you knew that you could palpably feel God’s presence with you and you would pray with gratefulness with the connection established with God that comes through prayer.”

Abbott quoted Pope Francis saying that prayer opens the door for God to do something miraculous in our lives and the lives of those around us.

“Have you all ever noticed how prayers increase in times of great need?” Abbott asked. “In America today, we are in a time of great need and there is an urgent need to pray now, more than ever, especially the need to pray for our religious liberties. I have heard it said that ‘America did not create religious liberty but religious liberty created America.’ That religious liberty is being tested by some who want to silence the faithful and purge God from the public square.”

Abbott mentioned several court victories where the rights of Christians were upheld.

“We see these assaults on faith continue to expand across the entire country,” Abbott said. “We see this in the never-ending battle to defend the unborn and we see this with the legal assault on marriage defined by God, but we know that God’s law cannot be undone by man’s law.”

Abbott mentioned Proverbs 29:2 and said that the world needs righteous leaders in place.  He called on Christians to pray for righteous leaders.

Shroud of Turin On Display For First Time in Five Years

Over a million people are expected to head to Turin, Italy for a glimpse of one of the most rarely viewed historical items.

The Shroud of Turin is believed to be imprinted with the face of Christ.  The shroud has only been displayed to the public five times since 1933. The shroud is usually kept inside a sealed container in a chapel next to the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist.

The BBC said that one of the visitors will be Pope Francis.  The Vatican has never acknowledged the shroud as authentic although they admit the item is “important.”

Gary Habermas of Liberty University says that one of the recent discoveries on the Shroud is that the teeth of the person wrapped in it are visible.

“His skin is intact, his beard is intact, but you are able to see what’s inside coming out, just like if you are able to see what’s on the back of a hand,” he said.

“This is one of the best indications that the man in the Shroud, who was dead and was crucified, (has) radiation coming out,” he said of the teeth discovery. “And if that’s what this is, you’ve got something from the inside (coming out).

“(The teeth) are on the inside, but on the photo they are showing outside. Whichever way (the radiation) is coming, it dragged the image from the inside to the outside.”

The Archbishop of Turin says that regardless of what people believe about the Shroud, the relic is important.

“[It shows] in a clear and precise manner how the Gospels describe the passion and death of Jesus,” Archibishop Cesare Nosiglia said.

Pope Francis Believes Reign Will Be Short

Pope Francis said in an interview published Friday that he doesn’t believe he will serve as Pope until his death.

The Pope spoke with Mexican broadcaster Televisa on the second anniversary of his election as Pontiff.  Francis told the broadcaster that he didn’t mind being Pope but that it would be nice to be able to go out in Rome and get a pizza without being recognized.

“I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief – four or five years, even two or three. Two have already passed. It’s a somewhat strange sensation,” he said, according to a Vatican translation from Spanish.

“I feel that the Lord has placed me here for a short time.”

The Pope said that he likes what Pope Emeritus Benedict did in stepping down from the position.

“In general, I think what Benedict so courageously did was to open the door to the popes emeritus. Benedict should not be considered an exception, but an institution,” Francis said.

Vatican Confirms ISIS Threat On Pope’s Life

The Vatican has confirmed that ISIS has threatened to kill Pope Francis but that so far they have not been able to find evidence of an imminent attack.

The Pope, meanwhile, has ramped up his criticism of the terrorist group, condemning the “intolerable brutality” of the group.

The terrorists released a video last week talking about conquering Rome, installing Shariah law and then throwing gays from the top of “the leaning power of pizza.”  

“The threat exists. This is what has emerged from my conversations with Italian and foreign colleagues,” said Domenico Giani, inspector general of the Corpo della Gendarmeria, Vatican City’s state police force.

The Pope has called on those around the world to do everything they can to show Christ’s love to the victims of the brutality of ISIS.  

The inspector general said Pope Francis has refused to change the way he deals with the public and refuses to cancel public appearances because of the ISIS threats.  

“Even as pope, he’s still a priest who doesn’t want to lose the contact with his flock. It’s us, those in charge of his safety, are the ones that have to help him, not the other way around,” Giani added.

Pope: Devil Is “The Father of Hate”

Pope Francis surprised of a small Roman district by appearing at a shantytown for homeless families and then teaching at a nearby parish.

The Pope stopped at a shantytown called “Campo Arcobaleno” where he visited with the families and prayed with them.  He also met with some of the homeless families at the parish of San Michele Arcangelo where the church cares for the homeless.

“The fact that people do not know your name, and call you ‘homeless’ and you carry this: It is your cross, and your patience,” said Pope Francis. “But there is something in the heart of all of you – of this, please be assured – there is the Holy Spirit.”

The Pope then met with the children of the parish, speaking mostly to the older children in attendance about war and evil in the world.  He had the children make a list of places they know war is taking place such as Iraq, Ukraine and Africa and then he said that wars are easier for people who do not possess God.

The Pope asked the children who was the father of war and smiled when they responded “the devil.”

Pope Francis then said the devil is the “father of hate” and “the father of lies.”

“But God wants unity,” Pope Francis said. “If in your heart you feel jealousy, this is the beginning of war.  Jealousies are not of God.”

“Because the devil takes stupidity and makes a world,” he continued. “Then these enmities continue and multiply for years.  It destroys the family: Parents suffer because their children do not speak to each other, or with the wife of a son…And so this jealousy and envy, it is sowed by the devil.  And the only one who can drive out demons is Jesus.  The only one who can heal these things is Jesus. So to each of your: Have yourself healed by Jesus.”

The concluded the visit with a teaching to the entire congregation about the importance of Jesus in their lives and how vital is it to stay in contact with the Scriptures.

“Have this daily contact with the Gospel,” Pope Francis said.  “Pray with the Gospel.”

Pope Calls Euthanasia A Sin Against God

Pope Francis is speaking out against euthanasia calling it a “sin against God” and saying that anyone who endorses it supports a “false sense of compassion.”

“We’re are living in a time of experimentation with life. But a bad experiment… (we’re) playing with life,” the Pope said to a conference of 4,000 doctors.  “Be careful, because this is a sin against the Creator: against God the Creator.”

The Pope’s remarks are seen to have been a response to a woman who ended her life in Oregon after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.

The Pope also blasted abortion as being the same as euthanasia.  He said it was like telling God “I do it, like I want.’ It’s a sin against God. Think well about this.”

The Pope acknowledged the doctors can be placed in a tough situation.

“Your mission as doctors puts you in daily contact with so many forms of suffering,” he said.

However, the Pope said, they need to be “courageous and against-the-grain” in standing for live and refusing to participate in euthanasia and abortion.

Pope: Evolution Not Inconsistent With Creation

Pope Francis spoke to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and said that evolution is not “inconsistent” with creation.

“When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,” he told those gathered for a discussion on “Evolving Concepts of Nature.” “He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment.”

“And so Creation continued for centuries and centuries, millennia and millennia, until it became which we know today, precisely because God is not a demiurge or a magician, but the Creator who gives being to all things,” Francis continued. “The Big Bang, which today we hold to be the origin of the world, does not contradict the intervention of the divine creator but, rather, requires it. … Evolution in nature is not inconsistent with the notion of creation, because evolution requires the creation of beings that evolve.”

The statements from the Pope come a month after the official papal astronomer said that he rejected the literal interpretation of Genesis and said that he finds truth in “science.”

Pope Francis Calls For End of the Death Penalty

Pope Francis has issued a call to all Christians to stand up and end the death penalty in their home countries.

“It is impossible to imagine that states today cannot make use of another means than capital punishment to defend peoples’ lives from an unjust aggressor,” Francis said Wednesday in a meeting with representatives of the International Association of Penal Law according to Catholic News Service.

“All Christians and people of good will are thus called today to struggle not only for abolition of the death penalty, whether it be legal or illegal and in all its forms, but also to improve prison conditions, out of respect for the human dignity of persons deprived of their liberty. And this, I connect with life imprisonment,” he said. “Life imprisonment is a hidden death penalty.”

Most Americans still support the death penalty.  A Gallup poll released Wednesday showed 63% of Americans still support capital punishment.  The total is still lower than the high of 80% reached in 1994 but still a large majority of citizens.

The Pope spoke out about prisoners being held around the world without trial.  In many of those cases, death penalties are being issued without a clear and open process.