At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration inside the Sala Regia at the Vatican Apostolic Palace, at the conclusion of the Meeting for the Protection of Minors in the Church, at noon today (6:00am EST), the Holy Father, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study inside the Vatican Apostolic Palace to recite the Angelus with the faithful and with pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square.
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
This Sunday's gospel (cf Lk 6:27-38) concerns a central and characterizing point of Christian life: love for our enemies. The words of Jesus are clear: To you who hear, I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly (Lk 6:27-28). And this is not an option, it is a command. It is not for everyone, but for the disciples, who Jesus calls you who listen. He knows very well that loving our enemies goes beyond our possibilities, but it was for this reason that he became a man: not to leave us as we are, but to transform us into men and women capable of a greater love, that of his Father and ours . This is the love that Jesus gives to those who listen to him. And then it becomes possible! With him, thanks to his love, thanks to his Spirit we can also love those who do not love us, even those who make us evil.
In this way, Jesus wants God's love to triumph over hatred and rancour in every heart. The logic of love, which culminates in the Cross of Christ, is the badge of the Christian and leads us to go out to meet everyone with a heart of brothers. But how is it possible to overcome human instinct and the worldly law of retaliation? The answer is given by Jesus in the same gospel passage: Be merciful, as your Father is merciful (Lk 6:36). Whoever listens to Jesus, whoever strives to follow him even if it costs, becomes a child of God and begins to really resemble the Father in heaven. We become capable of things that we would never have thought we could say or do, and of which we would rather be ashamed, but instead now give us joy and peace. We no longer need to be violent, with words and gestures; we discover ourselves capable of tenderness and goodness; and we feel that all this does not come from us but from Him!, and therefore we do not boast about it, but we are grateful.
There is nothing greater and more fruitful than love: it confers to the person all his dignity, while, on the contrary, hatred and revenge diminish it, disfiguring the beauty of the creature made in the image of God.
This command, to respond to insult and wrongdoing with love, has generated a new culture in the world: the culture of mercy - we must learn it well !, and practice it well, this culture of mercy - which gives life to a true revolution (Misericordia et misera, 20). It is the revolution of love, whose protagonists are the martyrs of all time. And Jesus assures us that our behaviour, marked by love towards those who make us evil, will not be in vain. He says: Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and you will receive ..., because with the measure with which you measure, it will be measured for you in return (Mk 6:37-38). This is nice. It will be a beautiful thing that God will give us if we are generous and merciful. We must forgive because God has forgiven us and he always forgives us. If we do not completely forgive, we can not pretend to be completely forgiven. Instead, if our hearts are open to mercy, if forgiveness is sealed with a fraternal embrace and the bonds of communion are tightened, we will proclaim before the world that it is possible to overcome evil with good. Sometimes it is easier for us to remember the wrongs they have done to us and the evils they have done us and not the good things; to the point that there are people who have this habit and become a disease. They are collectors of injustice: they only remember the bad things they did. And this is not a road. We have to do the opposite, says Jesus. Remembering good things, and when someone comes to chat, and speaks badly about the other, saying: But yes, maybe ... but he has this good ... Reverse the speech. This is the revolution of mercy.
May the Virgin Mary help us to allow our hearts to be touched by this holy word of God, a word which is burning like fire, able to transform us and make us capable of doing good without seeking recompense, doing good without seeking any payment; bearing witness everywhere to the victory of love.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father said:
Dear brothers and sisters,
This morning a very important meeting on the subject of child protection ended here in the Vatican. The Patriarchs, the Presidents of all the Episcopal Conferences, the Heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Representatives of the Superiors of the religious Congregations and several of my collaborators in the Roman Curia took part in these meetings.
As you know, the problem of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy has long provoked a serious scandal in the Church and in public opinion, both due to the tragic sufferings of the victims and to the unjustifiable inattention towards them and the covering up of the culprits by responsible people in the Church.
Since it is a widespread problem, existing on every continent, I wanted to address it together, in a co-responsible and collegial way, we Pastors of the Catholic communities all over the world. We have heard the voice of the victims, we have prayed and asked God - and people who have been offended - for forgiveness, we have become aware of our responsibilities, of our duty to do justice in the truth, to radically refuse all forms of abuse of power, conscience and sexuality.
We want all Church activities and places to always be safe for minors; that all possible measures are taken so that similar crimes are not repeated; that the Church returns to being absolutely credible and reliable in its mission of service and education for the little ones according to the teaching of Jesus.
In this way we will be able to collaborate with all our hearts and effectively, together with all people of good will and all the components and positive forces of society, in all countries and internationally, so that we can fight to the end, in every its form, the very serious scourge of violence against hundreds of millions of children - girls and boys - all over the world.
I offer a cordial greeting to all of you, pilgrims from Rome, from Italy and from various other countries.
I greet the faithful from the dioceses of Seville; those from Trieste, Agropoli and Lower Venegono.
I greet the groups who have come to Rome on the occasion of the World Day of Rare Diseases and I hope that the patients and their families are being adequately supported along their journey which is not easy, both medically and legally.
And I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
(Original text in Italian)
Greetings of the Holy Father, Pope Francis
prior to the recitation of the Angelus
Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!
This Sunday's gospel (cf Lk 6:27-38) concerns a central and characterizing point of Christian life: love for our enemies. The words of Jesus are clear: To you who hear, I say: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly (Lk 6:27-28). And this is not an option, it is a command. It is not for everyone, but for the disciples, who Jesus calls you who listen. He knows very well that loving our enemies goes beyond our possibilities, but it was for this reason that he became a man: not to leave us as we are, but to transform us into men and women capable of a greater love, that of his Father and ours . This is the love that Jesus gives to those who listen to him. And then it becomes possible! With him, thanks to his love, thanks to his Spirit we can also love those who do not love us, even those who make us evil.
In this way, Jesus wants God's love to triumph over hatred and rancour in every heart. The logic of love, which culminates in the Cross of Christ, is the badge of the Christian and leads us to go out to meet everyone with a heart of brothers. But how is it possible to overcome human instinct and the worldly law of retaliation? The answer is given by Jesus in the same gospel passage: Be merciful, as your Father is merciful (Lk 6:36). Whoever listens to Jesus, whoever strives to follow him even if it costs, becomes a child of God and begins to really resemble the Father in heaven. We become capable of things that we would never have thought we could say or do, and of which we would rather be ashamed, but instead now give us joy and peace. We no longer need to be violent, with words and gestures; we discover ourselves capable of tenderness and goodness; and we feel that all this does not come from us but from Him!, and therefore we do not boast about it, but we are grateful.
There is nothing greater and more fruitful than love: it confers to the person all his dignity, while, on the contrary, hatred and revenge diminish it, disfiguring the beauty of the creature made in the image of God.
This command, to respond to insult and wrongdoing with love, has generated a new culture in the world: the culture of mercy - we must learn it well !, and practice it well, this culture of mercy - which gives life to a true revolution (Misericordia et misera, 20). It is the revolution of love, whose protagonists are the martyrs of all time. And Jesus assures us that our behaviour, marked by love towards those who make us evil, will not be in vain. He says: Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and you will receive ..., because with the measure with which you measure, it will be measured for you in return (Mk 6:37-38). This is nice. It will be a beautiful thing that God will give us if we are generous and merciful. We must forgive because God has forgiven us and he always forgives us. If we do not completely forgive, we can not pretend to be completely forgiven. Instead, if our hearts are open to mercy, if forgiveness is sealed with a fraternal embrace and the bonds of communion are tightened, we will proclaim before the world that it is possible to overcome evil with good. Sometimes it is easier for us to remember the wrongs they have done to us and the evils they have done us and not the good things; to the point that there are people who have this habit and become a disease. They are collectors of injustice: they only remember the bad things they did. And this is not a road. We have to do the opposite, says Jesus. Remembering good things, and when someone comes to chat, and speaks badly about the other, saying: But yes, maybe ... but he has this good ... Reverse the speech. This is the revolution of mercy.
May the Virgin Mary help us to allow our hearts to be touched by this holy word of God, a word which is burning like fire, able to transform us and make us capable of doing good without seeking recompense, doing good without seeking any payment; bearing witness everywhere to the victory of love.
Following the recitation of the Angelus, the Holy Father said:
Dear brothers and sisters,
This morning a very important meeting on the subject of child protection ended here in the Vatican. The Patriarchs, the Presidents of all the Episcopal Conferences, the Heads of the Eastern Catholic Churches, the Representatives of the Superiors of the religious Congregations and several of my collaborators in the Roman Curia took part in these meetings.
As you know, the problem of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy has long provoked a serious scandal in the Church and in public opinion, both due to the tragic sufferings of the victims and to the unjustifiable inattention towards them and the covering up of the culprits by responsible people in the Church.
Since it is a widespread problem, existing on every continent, I wanted to address it together, in a co-responsible and collegial way, we Pastors of the Catholic communities all over the world. We have heard the voice of the victims, we have prayed and asked God - and people who have been offended - for forgiveness, we have become aware of our responsibilities, of our duty to do justice in the truth, to radically refuse all forms of abuse of power, conscience and sexuality.
We want all Church activities and places to always be safe for minors; that all possible measures are taken so that similar crimes are not repeated; that the Church returns to being absolutely credible and reliable in its mission of service and education for the little ones according to the teaching of Jesus.
In this way we will be able to collaborate with all our hearts and effectively, together with all people of good will and all the components and positive forces of society, in all countries and internationally, so that we can fight to the end, in every its form, the very serious scourge of violence against hundreds of millions of children - girls and boys - all over the world.
I offer a cordial greeting to all of you, pilgrims from Rome, from Italy and from various other countries.
I greet the faithful from the dioceses of Seville; those from Trieste, Agropoli and Lower Venegono.
I greet the groups who have come to Rome on the occasion of the World Day of Rare Diseases and I hope that the patients and their families are being adequately supported along their journey which is not easy, both medically and legally.
And I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, don't forget to pray for me. Enjoy your lunch and good bye!
(Original text in Italian)
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