The Secular Franciscan

Category Archives: Pope Francis

Death is not the end, Pope reminds audience

Catholic World News – November 27, 2013

As he nears the conclusion of a series of weekly talks on the Apostle’s Creed, Pope Francis devoted his public audience on November 27 to the resurrection of the body.

Death is frightening, the Pope said, “when we consider our life as a period of time closed between two poles, birth and death; when we do not believe in a horizon that goes beyond that of our present life; when we live as if God did not exist.” Human nature rebels against the idea that death means the end of existence, he said; our “nostalgia for eternity” leads us to believe that death is not the final end.

“This thirst for life finds its true and reliable answer in the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” the Pope continued. For those who believe, and who keep themselves prepared to face God, death is not so frightening.https://rhinoweb.org/?page_id=21115&preview=true
“Those who live with mercy do not fear death,” the Holy Father concluded.

Pope Francis came to the Wednesday audience wrapped in a white overcoat to combat the unusually chilly Roman weather. He made a point of praising the hardiness of the 50,000 people who braved the cold to attend his audience.

Editor’s Note: St. Thomas More said this:

Life of the unborn is ‘sacred and inviolable’

fetus-150x150Pope Francis emphasizes: the life of the unborn is ‘sacred and inviolable’

Children and grandparents are the hope of a people!

“We know human life is sacred and inviolable,” the Pope said. “Every civil law is based on the recognition of the first and fundamental right, that to life, which is not subject to any conditions, neither economic nor qualitative nor ideological.”

“One of the most serious risks” today, he added, is the “divorce between economics and morality … It is therefore necessary to reiterate the strongest opposition to any direct attack on life, especially innocent and defenseless life, and the unborn child in the mother’s womb is the innocent par excellence.”

After quoting the Second Vatican Council’s condemnation of abortion and infanticide, Pope Francis recalled an incident in which a repentant abortionist handed him his instruments of abortion. He urged pro-life leaders to be close to women so that “every woman feels regarded as a person, listened to, accepted, accompanied.”

In a “culture of waste,” the Pope added, grandparents as well as children are considered “discardable material … No! Children and grandparents are the hope of a people!”

CWN – April 11, 2014
In an April 11 audience, Pope Francis thanked Italian pro-life leaders for “promoting and defending human life from its conception.”

“We know human life is sacred and inviolable,” the Pope said. “Every civil law is based on the recognition of the first and fundamental right, that to life, which is not subject to any conditions, neither economic nor qualitative nor ideological.”

“One of the most serious risks” today, he added, is the “divorce between economics and morality … It is therefore necessary to reiterate the strongest opposition to any direct attack on life, especially innocent and defenseless life, and the unborn child in the mother’s womb is the innocent par excellence.”

After quoting the Second Vatican Council’s condemnation of abortion and infanticide, Pope Francis recalled an incident in which a repentant abortionist handed him his instruments of abortion. He urged pro-life leaders to be close to women so that “every woman feels regarded as a person, listened to, accepted, accompanied.”

In a “culture of waste,” the Pope added, grandparents as well as children are considered “discardable material … No! Children and grandparents are the hope of a people!”