Sunday, October 28, 2018

Angelus after the closing of the Synod

At noon today in Rome (6:00am EDT), at the conclusion of the Mass celebrated inside the Vatican Basilica at the conclusion of the XV Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, focused on the theme: Youth, faith and vocational discernment, the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square for the usual Sunday appearance.


Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
But it doesn't seem to be such a good morning!
(there was rain and wind)

This morning, inside Saint Peter's Basilica, we celebrated the closing Mass of the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops dedicated to young people. The first reading from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah (31: 7-9), was particularly pertinent at this moment, because it is a word of hope that God gives to his people. It is a word of consolation, founded on the fact that God is a father to his people, loves them and treats them like sons (cf Jer 31:9); He opens up a horizon of the future, an accessible, practicable road on which the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and the woman in labor (Jer 31:8), ie people in difficulty, can walk. Because God's hope is not a mirage - like certain advertisements where everyone is healthy and beautiful - but rather a promise for real people, with strengths and weaknesses, potentiality and fragility, like all of us: God's hope is a promise for people like us.

This Word of God expresses the experience we have lived during the weeks of the Synod: it was a time of consolation and hope. First of all it was a moment of listening: in fact, listening requires time, attention, openness of mind and heart. But this commitment was transformed every day into consolation, above all because we had among us the lively and stimulating presence of the young, with their stories and their contributions. Through the testimonies of the Synod Fathers, the multifaceted reality of the new generations has entered the Synod, as it were, on all sides: from every continent and from many different human and social situations.

With this fundamental attitude of listening, we tried to read reality, to grasp the signs of our times. Community discernment, done in the light of the Word of God and of the Holy Spirit. This is one of the most beautiful gifts that the Lord offers to the Catholic Church, that is, to gather voices and faces from the most varied realities and thus be able to attempt an interpretation that takes into account the richness and complexity of the phenomena, always in the light of the Gospel. So, in these days, we discussed how to walk together through many challenges, such as the digital world, the phenomenon of migration, the sense of body and sexuality, the drama of wars and violence.

The fruits of this work are already fermenting, like grape juice in barrels after the harvest. The Youth Synod was a good harvest, and it promises good wine. But I would like to say that the first fruit of this Synodal Assembly should be precisely in the example of a method that we have tried to follow, even in the preparatory phases. A synodal style that does not have as its main objective the drafting of a document, which is also valuable and useful. More than the document, however, it is important that a way of being and working together is spreading: young and old, listening and discerning, in order to reach pastoral choices that respond to reality.

For this we invoke the intercession of the Virgin Mary. To her, who is the Mother of the Church, we entrust our thanksgiving to God for the gift of this Synodal Assembly. She will help us now to carry forward what has been experienced, without fear, in the ordinary life of the communities. May the Holy Spirit make the fruits of our work grow with his wise imagination, to continue to walk together with the young people of the whole world.



Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father continued:

Dear brothers and sisters,

I express my closeness to the city of Pittsburgh, in the United States of America, and in particular to the Jewish community, struck yesterday by a terrible attack in a synagogue. May the Most High welcome the dead in his peace, comfort their families and support the wounded. In reality, we are all wounded by this inhumane act of violence. May the Lord help us to extinguish the outbreaks of hatred that develop in our societies, strengthening the sense of humanity, respect for life, moral and civil values, and the holy fear of God, who is Love and Father of all.

Yesterday, in Morales, Guatemala, José Tullio Maruzzo, a religious of the Friars Minor, and Luis Obdulio Arroyo Navarro, who were killed in hatred of the faith in the last century during the persecution against the Church, were proclaimed Blessed.  They were committed to promoting justice and peace. We praise the Lord and entrust the Church in Guatemala to their intercession, as well as all the brothers and sisters who unfortunately still today, in various parts of the world, are persecuted because they are witnesses of the Gospel.  Everyone, some applause for these two new Blesseds.

I greet you with affection, dear pilgrims from Italy and various countries, especially young people from Maribor (Slovenia), the Spanish Centro Académico Romano Foundation and the parishioners from San Siro Vescovo in Canobbio (Switzerland). I greet the volunteers from the Shrine of San Giovanni XXIII in Sotto il Monte, 60 years after the election of the beloved Pope from Bergamo; as well as the faithful from Cesena and Thiene, as well as the ministers and the children from Catholic Action in the diocese of Padua.

Today is celebrated the party of El Señor de los Milagros (The Lord of Miracles), very well known in Lima and throughout Peru; I extend a grateful thought to the Peruvian people and to the Peruvian community of Rome. Last Sunday you were here with the icon of El Señor de los Milagros, and I did not notice. Celebrate well on the day of the party! And I affectionately greet the Venezuelan community in Italy, gathered here with the image of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, la Chinita.

I wish you all a good Sunday and, please, don't forget to pray for me.  Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
(Original text in Italian)

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