Since the Gospel message touches every aspect of a person’s life, it must be proclaimed in a way people can understand, Pope Francis said at his weekly general audience Oct. 25
Pope Francis
Members of the Synod of Bishops will issue a “Letter to the People of God” at the close of the first session of the synod assembly, which ends Oct. 29, the Vatican said.
Warning against a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and ongoing conflicts elsewhere, Pope Francis has called for a day of fasting, penance and prayer for peace in the world Oct. 27. “War does not solve any problems, it only sows death and destruction. It increases hatred, multiplies revenge. War erases the future,” he said at the end of his general audience talk in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 18.
Pope Francis will celebrate a memorial Mass Nov. 3 for Pope Benedict XVI and cardinals and bishops who have died in the past year. The Mass will take place at the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica at 11 a.m., the Vatican announced.
Speaking to thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 8 for the recitation of the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis said he is following events in Israel and Gaza “with apprehension and sorrow.”
Pope Francis released his new apostolic exhortation “Laudate Deum” (“Praise God”) Oct. 4 as a follow-up to his 2015 encyclical “Laudato Si’, On Care for Our Common Home.” The exhortation’s publication coincided with the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron of ecology, whose famous canticle inspired the title of “Laudato Si’.”
Hope and fraternity must be kept alive, organized and coordinated into concrete action so every crisis can be read as an opportunity and dealt with positively, Pope Francis said.
Pope Francis said the title of his new letter on the environment will be “Laudate Deum,” (Praise God), a frequent refrain in several psalms, including Psalm 148, which tells the heavens and the angels and the sun and moon to praise the Lord.
Jesuit Brother Bob Macke, a Vatican astronomer and meteorite expert, has built a custom device for studying material from the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid.
Pope Francis said he knows people wonder why he traveled close to 6,000 miles to Mongolia to visit a Catholic community of only 1,450 people.