In today’s liturgy, Pope Francis preached about the need to proclaim the Gospel with “strength and courage,” not shying away from the mandate that has been given to us at baptism but announcing the good news of the Lord with enthusiasm and confidence. The Holy Father explains: The Word of God cannot be given as […]
Tag: Pope Francis
I’m Coming to Cleveland Next Week
I am honored to be delivering the 2017 Faith and Life Lectures at Baldwin Wallace University in Cleveland, OH next week (February 15 & 16). This annual endowed lecture series brings a scholar of religion to campus each year to deliver three talks on a particular theme. Past lecturers include such notable scholars as Martin E. […]
Pope Francis on World Communications Day
Yesterday Pope Francis delivered an address in anticipation of the 51st World Day of Social Communications. Here is the full text: “Fear not, for I am with you” (Is 43:5): Communicating Hope and Trust in our Time” Access to the media – thanks to technological progress – makes it possible for countless people to share news […]
Seriously Seeking Christian Unity
This week (January 18-25) marks the annual celebration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Around the world there are various prayer services and programs offered to engage in conversation about the issues that continue to divide the church, which is fundamentally all the baptized, and the Spirit’s role in reconciliation. Pope Francis, following […]
Pope Francis, Young People, and the 2018 Synod of Bishops
The 2018 Synod of Bishops is set to be focused on the theme “Young People, the Faith and Vocational Discernment.” In advance of releasing the preparatory documents for the synod, Pope Francis wrote a letter to young people that was released earlier today. Pope Francis draws on scripture to encourage young women and men to […]
St. Francis and the Foolishness of God
Among the many things St. Francis of Assisi wrote and which we are privileged to still have is a letter he penned around the year 1220 to leaders within the Franciscan movement often called “The Letter to the Custodians.” Two verses in that brief letter have always struck me as important and insightful because they […]
Pope Francis Continues Advocating for Peacemaking
Today, Pope Francis met with the diplomatic corps of the Holy See and took the opportunity to dedicate his remarks to the theme of “security and peace,” as he described it. He explained, “In today’s climate of general apprehension for the present, and uncertainty and anxious concern for the future, I feel it is important […]
Pope Francis on Feast of Mary, Mother of God
Here is the full text of Pope Francis’s homily for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. “Mary treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart! (Lk 2:19). In these words, Luke describes the attitude with which Mary took in all that they had experienced in those days. Far from trying to understand […]
Pope Francis’s Christmas Message
Here is the full text of Pope Francis’s 2016 Christmas Message Urbi et Orbi (addressed to those in the city of Rome and the whole world). Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Christmas! Today the Church once again experiences the wonder of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph and the shepherds of Bethlehem, as they contemplate the […]
Pope Francis on Necessity of Nonviolence
Every year the pope offers a formal message for the World Day of Peace, which is observed on January 1st. It has served as an opportunity for some of the most memorable statements on the Church’s social teaching, including Pope Paul VI’s 1972 statement in which he famously proclaimed, “If you want peace, work for […]
