"To you, who from the great digital community, ask for my prayers and blessing, I wish to say that you will be the precious gift in my prayer
to the Father. And you, don't forget to pray for me so that I may be a servant of the Gospel of Mercy."
Franciscus

"After celebrating Mass at St. Francis’ tomb on Saturday October 3, 2020, the eve of the saint’s feast day, Pope Francis signed his new encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship,” on the altarunder the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi, source of the document’s title and inspiration.
Due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Mass was described as “private.” Only about two dozen people were in the small crypt chapel: they sat socially distanced and they wore masks. Several Franciscan sisters were present, as were the ministers general of the main Franciscan orders of men: Father Michael Perry, minister general of the Franciscans; Father Roberto Genuin, minister general of the Capuchins; and Father Amando Trujillo Cano, minister general of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis.
The encyclical was released to the public in Rome on Sunday October 4 just after the Angelus (midday).
This is Pope Francis’ third encyclical letter, after “Lumen Fidei” in 2013 (a text largely prepared under Pope emeritus Benedict XVI) and “Laudato Si” in 2015. It is by far his most comprehensive; a social and political testament and an encapsulation of his entire papacy.
Perhaps the best overall way
to frame the encyclical is as an extended meditation on political and economic life in the early 21st century, including the impact of the coronavirus crisis. Pope Francis sees a contest between two flawed alternatives: privileged individualist indifference and blind, nationalist populism. Instead, Pope Francis’ “third way” is a social ethic of human fraternity, rooted for Christians in the Gospel parable of the Good Samaritan.
Pope Francis’ proposed remedy is human fraternity: care for the elderly; combatting racism and sexism; compassion for immigrants; debt forgiveness for impoverished nations;
a strong role for the U.N. and for regional alliances; and abolitionist positions on both war and capital punishment. More than anything else, the specific issues treated in “Fratelli Tutti” appear to be illustrating an ethic of fraternity - one which begins with rejecting aggression as
a means of relating to others. The tendency to aggression,
he believes, has been made significantly worse by the coronavirus and the shift to increasingly “virtual” relationships."
Jessica Easthope and Cindy Wooden (Currents News Staff) and John L. Allen Jr. (Adapted)

Vatican publishes book containing Pope Francis’s “lockdown” homilies

Vatican Publishing House publishes downloadable .pdf publication containing Pope Francis’s daily homilies from Casa Santa Marta and prayers suggested for the Coronavirus pandemic.

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp


21/04/2020
UP-DATE: 24 JULY 2020
Downloadable publication of Pope’s prayers and homilies now available
Digital edition of Pope's homilies 
Playbacks of the Mass and summaries of Pope Francis’s homilies were made accessible through the Vatican News’s YouTube channel and web portal. The complete texts of his homilies were available as a downloadable digital file, kept up-to-date as English translations became available.
Entitled Strong in the Face of Tribulation: The Church in Communion – A Sure Support in Time of Trial, the text also contains blessings and prayers, including the prayer used during the extraordinary moment of prayer with Pope Francis on 27 March; as well as the decrees of the Apostolic Penitentiary regarding the special indulgences granted because of the special circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic.
Pope's words are precious
Father Giulio Cesareo, editorial director of Libreria Editrice Vaticana (the Vatican Publishing House), underlined how important Pope Francis’s homilies were. “He is a father,” Father Giulio said, “a spiritual guide who accompanied us as we lived that period. His homilies are precious because they are not only valid for back then. We still experience conflicts, shame, difficulties in praying. We were perhaps more receptive and attentive to what he told us back then. But it is important to keep his words with us so as to allow ourselves to be continually nourished by the beautiful things he said that concern life”.
Print edition of Pope's homilies
Since the suspension of the daily transmission of the Pope’s Mass, the feedback received from many readers was that the .pdf edition be made available in print. Thus, the booklet that “accompanied them as they lived through faith the first phase of the coronavirus pandemic” could also be a concrete keepsake of the closeness of both Pope Francis and our Lord at this devastating time.
The digital edition of Strong in the Face of Tribulation is no longer available. The printed edition is available through publishers who obtain the rights to publish it.

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