Pope Francis on Wednesday appealed for prayers for his Apostolic Voyage to Cuba and to the United States, which begins on Saturday. “I greet the Cuban and the American people,” he said, “who, guided by their Pastors, have prepared themselves spiritually” for the visit. The Pope invoked the “light and strength of the Holy Spirit, and the intercession of Mary Most Holy” the Patroness of Cuba under the title of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre, and the Patroness of America under the title of the Immaculate Conception…

Message from the Plenary Assembly of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences – Holy Land 2015

The Presidents of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European nations, at their Plenary Assembly in the Holy Land (11-16 September), express their closeness to the faithful and thank the Patriarch of Jerusalem for the invitation. They also express their thanks to the religious, in this year devoted to the Consecrated Life, and to all the Christians whom they have met and who live in this Land, for their testimony of faith and safekeeping of the Holy Places as places of Christian remembrance and living worship…

Pope Francis says the Church is a mother and must have that loving and tender maternal feeling and human warmth as otherwise all that remains is rigidity and discipline. That was the message at the heart of the Pope’s homily on Tuesday (15th September) at the Mass celebrated in the Santa Marta Residence. Tuesday’s Mass was also attended by the C-9 Cardinals who are meeting in the Vatican this week…

Grupp ta’ 27 resident/a tad-Dar tal-Providenza, flimkien mal-carers tagħhom, iltaqgħu ma’ Papa Franġisku dalgħodu wara r-reċita tal-Angelus biswit Casa Santa Marta. Magħhom kien hemm l-Arċisqof Mons Charles J. Scicluna, l-Arċisqof Emeritus Pawl Cremona OP, Fr Martin Micallef, Direttur tad-Dar tal-Providenza, l-amministrazzjoni u l-carers tad-Dar. Il-Papa kellem, ħa b’idejn u ċċajta mar-residenti u għannaq lil Frankie Bonello, wieħed mir-residenti li kien għadu kif ippreżentalu kallotra bajda f’isem ir-residenti kollha tad-Dar tal-Providenza…

L-inizjattiva ta’ evanġelizzazzjoni li bdiet f’Malta kienet u għada inizjattiva importanti fit-tixrid tal-Evanġelju fl-erbat’irjieħ tad-dinja. Hekk qal il-Kardinal Peter Turkson, il-President tal-Kunsill Pontifiċju tal-Ġustizzja u Paċi tal-Vatikan li ġie Malta għaċ-ċelebrazzjoni li saret ilbieraħ fil-Knisja ta’ San Franġisk f’Birkirkara biex tfakkar il-bidu tal-Institute for World Evangelization – ICPE Mission tletin sena ilu. Il-Kardinal Turkson kompla jgħid li l-Knisja mingħajr missjoni m’hijiex il-Knisja vera nisranija u  li d-dinja għandha bżonn kbir ta’ persuni b’mod partikolari lajċi li jiddedikaw ħajjithom kompletament biex iwasslu ‘l Kristu lill-oħrajn…

If we want to move forward “on the path of Christian life” we must fall, just as Jesus did when he carried the Cross.

This was the message at the heart of Pope Francis’ homily on Monday morning during Mass at Casa Santa Marta.

The Mass, which took place on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, was also attended by the C9 Cardinals who are meeting in the Vatican until September 16…