A cartoon which sums it up...

Francis the ‘humble’ with his broken cross 

and heresiarch Martin Luther pose for a selfie.

Vatican honors Martin Luther with stamp

& 

issues Joint Statement with Lutherans

Wow! The Vatican honors two heretical men, Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchton, on the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing 95 theses to the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg, Germany (October 31st, 1517). The stamp (see above) depicts Luther and Melanchton at the foot of the Cross at Our Lord’s Crucifixion as if they were faithful sons of Our Lord and of the Church He instituted! How can this be the same Church that condemned Luther’s errors in 1520 and excommunicated him in 1521?

Zenit writes of the new issue,

“The postage stamp issued by the Philatelic Office for the occasion depicts in the foreground Jesus crucified and in the background a golden and timeless view of the city of Wittenberg. With a penitential disposition, kneeling respectively on the left and right of the cross, Martin Luther holds the Bible, source and destination of his doctrine, while Philipp Melanchthon, theologian and friend of Martin Luther, one of the main protagonists of the reform, holds in hand the Augsburg Confession (Confessio Augustana), the first official public presentation of the principles of Protestantism written by him.”

Symbolically, this stamp is stating that Martin Luther’s condemned 95 theses are correct as well as the Augsburg Confession  — that Our Lord is in agreement with the two heresiarchs, Luther and Melanchton.  To have the nerve to replace the Blessed Mother and St. John at the foot of the Cross with the two heresiarchs takes chutzpah!  These are people who denied the presence of Our Lord’s Body and Blood for Melanchthon said, “Christ instituted the Eucharist as a memorial of His Passion. To adore It is therefore idolatry” and Luther, “It is, therefore, clearly erroneous and impious to offer or apply the merits of the Mass for sins, or the reparation thereof, or for the deceased. Mass is offered by God to man, and not by man to God.”  It also a sign that these Protestants and the Revolt they led away from the Church is part of the sacrifice of the Cross!  And to put Wittenberg, the infamous place where Luther’s movement started, in the background is another mocking jest that only the wicked would take delight in!

Simultaneously with the issue of the stamp many Novus Ordo churches had joint services with Lutherans marking the anniversary.  Below is video of one of these services in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels, Belgium which was interrupted by a few young Catholics who were saying a Rosary to Our Lady because of the atrocious joint celebration taking place.  Notice the police come and cart them away one by one.  Who called the police?  One of the Cathedral’s prelates!  When Francis told the youth to “make a mess” and cause “trouble” in “their dioceses” he didn’t mean for one to practice the Catholic Faith.






The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity also issued a Joint Statement with the Lutheran World Federation for the Conclusion of the Year of the Common Commemoration of the Reformation, 31st October 2017.  It begins by stating,

“we are very thankful for the spiritual and theological gifts received through the Reformation, a commemoration that we have shared with and with our ecumenical partners globally.”

And as if that isn’t bad enough states a little later that Lutheran-Novus Ordo commemoration is,

“[a] pilgrimage, sustained by our common prayer, worship and ecumenical dialogue,”

This document concludes with these gems,

“Again, it has become clear that what we have in common is far more than that which still divides us.”

[and]

“Looking forward, we commit ourselves to continue our journey together, guided by God's Spirit, towards the greater unity according to the will of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Does this sound Catholic to your ears or Protestant?

Two stamps fitting of the heretic Martin Luther and his revolt

source for two psuedo-stamps: Opportune Importune, Nuova emissione filatelica - Edizione per il quinto centenario della Pseudoriforma Luterana - Francobollo da € 0,70 e da € 2,50

We will conclude this post with an observation.  Francis is an occultist.  In the Renaissance, occultists/alchemists were obsessed with two things: 1) the unity of opposites; and 2) the law of inversion.  Here we have Francis trying to alchemically unify two opposites — the Catholic Church & the Lutheran churches — as well as invert the teachings of Our Lord Jesus the Christ — through the issuance of the stamp.  This should come as no surprise from the man who has already inverted the hierarchy of the church, celebrated Martin Luther on the 99th anniversary of the sixth apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fatima, and is actively seeking to invert the Sacrament of Marriage.  It’s fitting all this is also happening on the secular holiday of Halloween which glorifies the hideous and wicked while inverting the Vigil of All Saints’ Day, with its fast and abstinence, as children gorge themselves on candy and adults drink alcohol to excess.  What more perverts the Feasts of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day and the holy religious activities that surround them than Francis and his behavior?

Francis the chemist fittingly dressed as Martin Luther for 
Halloween and laughing at the macabre joke he pulled off.

Related:

• Francis & brother 'bishop' Tony

• the commemoration of Martin Luther’s Revolt

• Vatican to issue stamp commemorating Luther’s Revolt

Francis expresses his closeness to the oldest sect of protestanism (400 years before Martin Luther) in latest letter

Francis’ Letter to the Methodist

and Waldensian Churches

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On the occasion of the opening of your annual Synod, I wish to express the Catholic Church’s and my own closeness to you. I greet you fraternally and assure you with much cordiality of my remembrance in prayer.

I keep alive in my memory our recent meetings at Turin and Rome, as well as those in Argentina. I am grateful for the beautiful testimonies I have received and for the many faces I cannot forget. I hope that these days of sharing and reflection, which are taking place on the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation, are animated by the joy of putting yourselves before the face of Christ; may His gaze, which is turned to us, be the source of our peace, so that we feel ourselves beloved children of the Father and makes us see others, the world and history in new way.

May Jesus’ gaze also illumine our relations, so that they are not only formal and correct but fraternal and lively. The Good Shepherd wills us to be on the way together, and His gaze now embraces all of us, His disciples that He desires to see fully united.

It is so important to walk towards full unity, with a look of hope that acknowledges the presence of God stronger. It is so especially today, in a world marked by violence and fear, of lacerations and indifference, where the egoism of affirming oneself at the expense of others darkens the simple beauty of welcoming, sharing and loving one another. However, our Christian witness cannot yield to the logic of the world: together we must help one another to choose and live the logic of Christ!

I thank you with fraternal affection and ask you, please, not to forget to pray for me and for all of us your brothers and sisters.

From the Vatican, August 10, 2017

FRANCIS

[Original text: Italian]

© Translation by ZENIT, Virginia M. Forrester

Related:

• Francis to meet with the Waldensians

• Guest columnist, Jimmy Achin' is pushing his shopping cart full of excuses for Francis!

• Francis kisses a heretical Bible ...at least it wasn't a Koran!

Why don’t they just go ahead and declare the heresiarch a saint already?

Francis in front of a statue of heresiarch, Martin Luther, at a private audience

with Swedish Lutherans in Paul VI Hall on 13 October 2016.

A few quotes which demonstrate how the Novus Ordo thinks about the excommunicated heresiarch, Martin Luther.  As always the underline are our for emphasis.

“At the same time, we keep alive in our hearts sincere contrition for our faults. In this spirit, we recalled in Lund that the intention of Martin Luther five hundred years ago was to renew the Church, not divide her. The gathering there gave us the courage and strength, in our Lord Jesus Christ, to look ahead to the ecumenical journey that we are called to walk together.”

— Francis to Finnish Lutherans, 19 January 2017 —

“In this regard, the Second Vatican Council, which bound together, in an irrevocable manner, the ecumenical commitment to restoring Christian unity and the renewal of the Catholic Church, has made an essential contribution, such that we can state, even in this respect, that in the Second Vatican Council, Martin Luther would have “found his own council.” The council would have appealed to him in the time in which he lived. ”

— Cardinal Koch in L’Osservatore Romano, 17 Jan. 2017 —

Danilo Bogoni : Through newly issued stamps, the Vatican continues to clear the pages of history previously considered, at the least embarrassing: in 2011 the centenary of the unification of Italy, in this 2017 soon the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation. [CMJ - Luther’s Revolt] The issue of which a few years ago was unthinkable with the mark of the crossed keys.

Mauro Olivieri : We have to try to understand the present time and be interpreters of the messages that the Holy Father wishes to convey; with the help and understanding of my Superiors of the Governorate, we develop the idea of a modern philately [CMJ - philately is the collection and study of postage stamps], which mark the important moments of history: no doubt the issue dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation [CMJ - Protestant Revolt] marks the rapprochement and overcoming of mutual misunderstandings between Christians, and the philately there is.

— Holy See’s director of Philatelic & Numismatic Office —

“In Benedict XVI we have a Pope better than any which even Martin Luther could have imagined. A Pope who sees it as one of his first priorities to give testimony to Jesus Christ with all the powers of reason and of historical insight. How much recognition he found in the entire world as the Pope of Theologians, whose legacy we in Regensburg are allowed to treasure, preserve, and carry into the future in such particularly qualified manner.”

— Bishop Voderholzer to pilgrims in St. Peter’s, 5 Apr. 2016 —

“Separating that which is polemical from the theological insights of the Reformation, Catholics are now able to hear Luther’s challenge for the Church of today, recognising him as a “witness to the gospel” (From Conflict to Communion 29). And so after centuries of mutual condemnations and vilification, in 2017 Lutheran and Catholic Christians will for the first time commemorate together the beginning of the Reformation.”
 —Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Resources for THE WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY and throughout the year 2017, 31 May 2016 —


“I think that the intentions of Martin Luther were not mistaken. He was a reformer. Perhaps some methods were not correct. But in that time, if we read the story of the Pastor, a German Lutheran who then converted when he saw reality – he became Catholic – in that time, the Church was not exactly a model to imitate. There was corruption in the Church, there was worldliness, attachment to money, to power...and this he protested. Then he was intelligent and took some steps forward justifying, and because he did this. And today Lutherans and Catholics, Protestants, all of us agree on the doctrine of justification. On this point, which is very important, he did not err. He made a medicine for the Church, but then this medicine consolidated into a state of things, into a state of a discipline, into a way of believing, into a way of doing, into a liturgical way and he wasn’t alone; there was Zwingli, there was Calvin, each one of them different, and behind them were who? Principals! We must put ourselves in the story of that time. It’s a story that’s not easy to understand, not easy. Then things went forward, and today the dialogue is very good. That document of justification I think is one of the richest ecumenical documents in the world, one in most agreement.”

— Francis on flight from Armenia to Rome, 26 June 2016 —

“Medieval theologians used to say in Latin, that the Church is always in need of reform,” Ecclesia semper reformanda, the Pope said, receiving waves of applause that rippled through the Paul VI Hall where around a thousand Lutheran pilgrims were gathered: “This is what progress and maturing is about and the Church progresses, matures and so many small and not so small Church reforms moved, wanted to move along this path, some reforms were not successful, they were too much. Human things never are but reformation is an ecclesial process, that is what I mean. The question was: ‘who do you see as the Church’s the Churches’ and history’s greatest reformers?,” Francis said repeating the question. “I would say,” he continued, “that the Church’s greatest reformers are the saints, in other words the men and women who follow the Word of the Lord and practice it. This is the path we need to take, this is what reforms the church and they are great reformers, they may not be theologians, they may not have studied, they may be humble but these people’s soul is steeped in the Gospel, it’s full of it and they are the ones who successfully reform the Church. Both in the Lutheran and Catholic Churches there are saints, men and women with a holy heart who follow the Gospel: they are the Church’s reformers.”

— Francis at private audience with Lutherans, 13 Oct. 2016 —

“I feel much freer now that I am certain the pope is the Antichrist.”

— Luther in letter to Georg Burkhardt (aka Georg Spalatin) —

Vatican to issue stamp commemorating Luther’s Revolt

An image found on twitter posted by Antonio Carrabino 

of what he feels the future stamp should be.

A recent article, Novità Vaticane Targate 2017,  in the January 2017 issue of  l’Arte del Francobollo, contains an interview with Mauro Olivieri, the director of the Holy See’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office.  One question and answer stands out in the interview.

Danilo Bogoni : Through newly issued stamps, the Vatican continues to clear the pages of history previously considered, at the least embarrassing: in 2011 the centenary of the unification of Italy, in this 2017 soon the beginning of the Lutheran Reformation. [CMJ - Luther’s Revolt] The issue of which a few years ago was unthinkable with the mark of the crossed keys.

Mauro Olivieri : We have to try to understand the present time and be interpreters of the messages that the Holy Father wishes to convey; with the help and understanding of my Superiors of the Governorate, we develop the idea of a modern philately [CMJ - philately is the collection and study of postage stamps], which mark the important moments of history: no doubt the issue dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation [CMJ - Protestant Revolt] marks the rapprochement and overcoming of mutual misunderstandings between Christians, and the philately there is.

The Vatican’s website of The Philatelic and Numismatic Office confirms the statement of its director, Mauro Olivieri.  First screenshot is from the English language edition of the page and the second screenshot is from the Italian language version, see entry #16 in both screenshots below.

“16. 5th Centenary of the Protestant Reformation”

 “16. V Centenario della Rifroma Protestante”

The above mentioned interview with the director of the Holy See’s Philatelic and Numismatic Office, Mauro Olivieri, conducted by Danilo Bogoni

(click images to enlarge)

l’Arte del Francobollo, Gennaio 2017 (The Art of Stamps, January 2017)

page 7

page 8 (has the above translated quote)

page 9

Scalfari writes, “Francis agrees with Lutheran theses”

Inventor of Christianity? On December 17th, the anti-Catholic Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari, to whom Pope Francis talks regularly, revealed in La Repubblica how Francis answered the question which saint he prefers. Francis said, “The first is obviously Paul. He is the one who constructed our religion.”

Lutheran theses coincide with what happened in the first centuries: At the end of his article, Scalfari writes, "In the early centuries of Christianity, the sacraments were celebrated directly by the faithful and the priests only served.” Scalfari continues, “Francis agrees on these Lutheran theses that coincide with what happened in the first centuries." The Vatican did not deny Scalfari’s claims.

source: Gloria.TV, News on the 22nd of December 2016

“When Pope Francis participated in the celebration of Martin Luther and his Reformation it captured the essence of the Lutheran thesis: the identification of the faithful with God with no need of intermediation of the clergy but occuring directly. [from the people] This brings us to the one God and assigns a secondary role to the priesthood. So it was in the early centuries of Christianity, when the sacraments were celebrated directly by the faithful and priests only did the service. Francis agrees on these Lutheran theses that coincide with what happened in the first centuries.”

source: La Repubblica, Papa Francesco che cammina sulle tracce di Agostino

Scalfari: “80 years of my revolutionary Pope”

source: La Repubblica, Scalfari: "Gli 80 anni del mio Papa rivoluzionario"

Thesis. Antithesis. Synthesis?

Francis made the cover of this week’s edition of the conservative evangelical weekly paper ZEIT: Christ & Welt (Christ & World) dressed as Martin Luther.  Notice the Hegelian dialectic of Thesis—Antithesis—Synthesis.  We at Call Me Jorge... haven’t read the article but would bet it is one assuring their readers not to worry — nothing has changed between Lutherans and the Vatican.

source: facebook, Z Christ und Welt, 2 November 2016

the commemoration of Martin Luther’s Revolt

 the official logo of the trip

“Good morning to all of you. I thank you for your company and for your work. This voyage is an important one because it is an ecclesial voyage, very ecclesial in the ecumenical sphere. Your work will help many people to understand it, so that people can understand it well. Thank you very much.”
— Francis aboard the flight from Rome to Malmö —

Lutheran ‘bishop’ Munib Younan, earlier this year, presents Francis with cross at the Vatican after a meeting.  This cross is to become the official logo of Francis’ trip to Sweden.

• From Conflict to Communion | Lutheran–Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 Document

 Lutheran ‘bishop’ Munib Younan and Francis after signing the ‘Official Joint Statement

on the occasion of the Joint Catholic-Lutheran Commemoration of the Reformation’

• the Joint Common Prayer Lutheran–Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017 Program

Francis and female Lutheran ‘bishop’ Antje Jackelén admire the official logo.

• THE OFFICIAL JOINT STATEMENT SIGNED BY FRANCIS & LUTHERAN ‘BISHOP’ MUNIB YOUNAN

Getting the party started at the Lutheran Cathedral of Lund

Francis’ homily at Lutheran Cathedral of Lund

“Abide in me as I abide in you” (Jn 15:4). These words, spoken by Jesus at the Last Supper, allow us to peer into the heart of Christ just before his ultimate sacrifice on the cross. We can feel his heart beating with love for us and his desire for the unity of all who believe in him. He tells us that he is the true vine and that we are the branches, that just as he is one with the Father, so we must be one with him if we wish to bear fruit.

Here in Lund, at this prayer service, we wish to manifest our shared desire to remain one with Christ, so that we may have life. We ask him, “Lord, help us by your grace to be more closely united to you and thus, together, to bear a more effective witness of faith, hope and love”. This is also a moment to thank God for the efforts of our many brothers and sisters from different ecclesial communities who refused to be resigned to division, but instead kept alive the hope of reconciliation among all who believe in the one Lord.

As Catholics and Lutherans, we have undertaken a common journey of reconciliation. Now, in the context of the commemoration of the Reformation of 1517, we have a new opportunity to accept a common path, one that has taken shape over the past fifty years in the ecumenical dialogue between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church. Nor can we be resigned to the division and distance that our separation has created between us. We have the opportunity to mend a critical moment of our history by moving beyond the controversies and disagreements that have often prevented us from understanding one another.

Jesus tells us that the Father is the “vinedresser” (cf. v. 1) who tends and prunes the vine in order to make it bear more fruit (cf. v. 2). The Father is constantly concerned for our relationship with Jesus, to see if we are truly one with him (cf. v. 4). He watches over us, and his gaze of love inspires us to purify our past and to work in the present to bring about the future of unity that he so greatly desires.

We too must look with love and honesty at our past, recognizing error and seeking forgiveness, for God alone is our judge. We ought to recognize with the same honesty and love that our division distanced us from the primordial intuition of God’s people, who naturally yearn to be one, and that it was perpetuated historically by the powerful of this world rather than the faithful people, which always and everywhere needs to be guided surely and lovingly by its Good Shepherd. Certainly, there was a sincere will on the part of both sides to profess and uphold the true faith, but at the same time we realize that we closed in on ourselves out of fear or bias with regard to the faith which others profess with a different accent and language. As Pope John Paul II said, “We must not allow ourselves to be guided by the intention of setting ourselves up as judges of history but solely by the motive of understanding better what happened and of becoming messengers of truth” (Letter to Cardinal Johannes Willebrands, President of the Secretariat for Christian Unity, 31 October 1983). God is the vinedresser, who with immense love tends and protects the vine; let us be moved by his watchful gaze. The one thing he desires is for us to abide like living branches in his Son Jesus. With this new look at the past, we do not claim to realize an impracticable correction of what took place, but “to tell that history differently” (LUTHERAN-ROMAN CATHOLIC COMMISSION ON UNITY, From Conflict to Communion, 17 June 2013, 16).

Jesus reminds us: “Apart from me, you can do nothing” (v. 5). He is the one who sustains us and spurs us on to find ways to make our unity ever more visible. Certainly, our separation has been an immense source of suffering and misunderstanding, yet it has also led us to recognize honestly that without him we can do nothing; in this way it has enabled us to understand better some aspects of our faith. With gratitude we acknowledge that the Reformation helped give greater centrality to sacred Scripture in the Church’s life. Through shared hearing of the word of God in the Scriptures, important steps forward have been taken in the dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation, whose fiftieth anniversary we are presently celebrating. Let us ask the Lord that his word may keep us united, for it is a source of nourishment and life; without its inspiration we can do nothing.

The spiritual experience of Martin Luther challenges us to remember that apart from God we can do nothing. “How can I get a propitious God?” This is the question that haunted Luther. In effect, the question of a just relationship with God is the decisive question for our lives. As we know, Luther encountered that propitious God in the Good News of Jesus, incarnate, dead and risen. With the concept “by grace alone”, he reminds us that God always takes the initiative, prior to any human response, even as he seeks to awaken that response. The doctrine of justification thus expresses the essence of human existence before God.

Jesus intercedes for us as our mediator before the Father; he asks him that his disciples may be one, “so that the world may believe” (Jn 17:21). This is what comforts us and inspires us to be one with Jesus, and thus to pray: “Grant us the gift of unity, so that the world may believe in the power of your mercy”. This is the testimony the world expects from us. We Christians will be credible witnesses of mercy to the extent that forgiveness, renewal and reconciliation are daily experienced in our midst. Together we can proclaim and manifest God’s mercy, concretely and joyfully, by upholding and promoting the dignity of every person. Without this service to the world and in the world, Christian faith is incomplete.

As Lutherans and Catholics, we pray together in this Cathedral, conscious that without God we can do nothing. We ask his help, so that we can be living members, abiding in him, ever in need of his grace, so that together we may bring his word to the world, which so greatly needs his tender love and mercy.

Ecumenical event in Malmö Arena in Malmö

Francis’ Address at the Ecumincal Event in Malmö Arena

I thank God for this joint commemoration of the five-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation.  We remember this anniversary with a renewed spirit and in the recognition that Christian unity is a priority, because we realize that much more unites us than separates us.  The journey we have undertaken to attain that unity is itself a great gift that God gives us.  With his help, today we have gathered here, Lutherans and Catholics, in a spirit of fellowship, to direct our gaze to the one Lord, Jesus Christ.

Our dialogue has helped us to grow in mutual understanding; it has fostered reciprocal trust and confirmed our desire to advance towards full communion.  One of the fruits of this dialogue has been cooperation between different organizations of the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church.  Thanks to this new atmosphere of understanding, Caritas Internationalis and the Lutheran World Federation World Service will today sign a joint agreed statement aimed at developing and strengthening a spirit of cooperation for the promotion of human dignity and social justice.  I warmly greet the members of both organizations; in a world torn by wars and conflicts, they have been, and continue to be, a luminous example of commitment and service to neighbour.  I encourage you to advance along the path of cooperation.

I have listened closely to those who gave the witness talks, how amid so many challenges they daily devote their lives to building a world increasingly responsive to the plan of God, our Father.  Pranita talked about creation.  Clearly, creation itself is a sign of God’s boundless love for us.  Consequently, the gifts of nature can themselves lead us to contemplate God.  I share your concern about the abuses harming our planet, our common home, and causing grave effects on the climate.  As we say in our land, in my land: “In the end, it is the poor who pay for our great festivity”.  As you rightly mentioned, their greatest impact is on those who are most vulnerable and needy; they are forced to emigrate in order to escape the effects of climate change. All of us, and we Christians in particular, are responsible for protecting creation.  Our lifestyle and our actions must always be consistent with our faith.  We are called to cultivate harmony within ourselves and with others, but also with God and with his handiwork.  Pranita, I encourage you to persevere in your commitment on behalf of our common home.  Thank you!

Mgr Héctor Fabio told us of the joint efforts being made by Catholics and Lutherans in Colombia.  It is good to know that Christians are working together to initiate communitarian and social processes of common interest.  I ask you to pray in a special way for that great country, so that, through the cooperation of all, peace, so greatly desired and necessary for a worthy human coexistence, can finally be achieved.  And because the human heart, when it looks to Jesus, knows no limits, may it be a prayer that goes further, embracing all those countries where grave conflicts continue.

Marguerite made us aware of efforts to help children who are victims of atrocities and to work for peace.  This is both admirable and a summons to take seriously the countless situations of vulnerability experienced by so many persons who have no way to speak out.  What you consider a mission has been a seed, a seed that has borne abundant fruit, and today, thanks to that seed, thousands of children can study, grow and enjoy good health.  You invested on the future!  Thank you!  And I am grateful that even now, in exile, you continue to spread a message of peace.  You said that everybody who knows you thinks that what you are doing is crazy.  Of course, it is the craziness of love for God and our neighbour.  We need more of this craziness, illuminated by faith and confidence in God’s providence.  Keep working, and may that voice of hope that you heard at the beginning of your adventure and your investment on the future, continue to move your own heart and the hearts of many young people.

Rose, the youngest, gave us a truly moving testimony.  She was able to profit from the talent God gave her through sport.  Instead of wasting her energy on adverse situations, she found fulfilment in a fruitful life.  While I was listening to your story, I thought of the lives of so many young people who need to hear stories like yours.  I would like everyone to know that they can discover how wonderful it is to be children of God and what privilege it is to be loved and cherished by him.  Rose, I thank you from the heart for your efforts and your commitment to encouraging other young women to go back to school, and for the fact that you pray daily for peace in the young state of South Sudan, which so greatly needs it.

And after hearing these powerful witnesses, which make us think of our own lives and how we respond to situations of need all around us, I would like to thank all those governments that assist refugees, all the governments that help displaced persons and asylum-seekers.  For everything done to help these persons in need of protection is a great gesture of solidarity and a recognition of their dignity.  For us Christians, it is a priority to go out and meet the outcasts – for they are truly cast out of their homelands – and the marginalized of our world, and to make felt the tender and merciful love of God, who rejects no one and accepts everyone.  We Christians are called today to be active players in the revolution of tenderness.

Shortly we will hear the testimony of Bishop Antoine, who lives in Aleppo, a city brought to its knees by war, a place where even the most fundamental rights are treated with contempt and trampled underfoot.  Each day the news tells us about the unspeakable suffering caused by the Syrian conflict, by that conflict in our beloved Syria, which has now lasted more than five years.  In the midst of so much devastation, it is truly heroic that men and women have remained there in order to offer material and spiritual assistance to those in need.  It is admirable too, that you, dear brother Antoine, continue working amid such danger in order to tell us of the tragic situation of the Syrian people.  Every one of them is in our hearts and prayers.  Let us implore the grace of heartfelt conversion for those responsible for the fate of the world, of that region and for all those who are intervening there.

Dear brothers and sisters, let us not become discouraged in the face of adversity.  May the stories, the testimonies we have heard, motivate us and give us new impetus to work ever more closely together.  When we return home, may we bring with us a commitment to make daily gestures of peace and reconciliation, to be valiant and faithful witnesses of Christian hope.  And as we know, hope does not disappoint us! Thank you!

Giving credit where credit is due — it was Benedict XVI’s idea to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Revolution

Not to worry, Francis will see this plan to the end and the hermeneutics of continuity between Benedict XVI & himself will persist without interruption.

By the way Francis has his problems with grace too, recall his comments that if ‘one is in a state of grace...one is in a state of sin.’