Cardinal Sergio Obeso Rivera 
God always stands by the suffering – Pope Francis
In hopeless situations of pain and suffering, God never abandons his children but rather remains close to them, Pope Francis said.
“God’s answer to our pain is a closeness, a presence that accompanies us, that doesn’t leave us alone. Jesus made himself the same as us and for this reason we have him near us, to cry with us in the most difficult moments of our lives. Let us look at him, entrust him with our questions, our sorrows, our anger,” the Pope said in a letter published last week in the Italian newspaper Il Secolo XIX.
In his letter, the Pope commemorated the first anniversary of the fatal collapse of the Morandi bridge that killed 43 people and “inflicted a wound in the heart of your city”.
“In the face of such events, the pain of loss is excruciating and not easy to relieve, as is the feeling of not resigning oneself in the face of a disaster that could have been avoided,” he wrote. The Pope said that while there is no answer to the sorrow of losing a loved one, those who suffer must remember that they “are never alone” and that God responds to their cries not with words but through the presence of his son, Jesus.
Calls for John Paul II Institute faculty to be reinstated
A group of 49 academics from universities around the world has asked the administrators of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute in Rome to reinstate several faculty members recently dismissed from the institute.
Contributors, who recently completed an interdisciplinary academic tome on sex, love, and fertility, expressed their view in a letter to administrators of the institute.
The project, which involved scholars from multiple specialisations, was coordinated by recently dismissed John Paul II Institute professor Fr Jose Noriega.
The scholars said that their work on the project was “a very fruitful and professional scientific collaboration which has highlighted to us the outstanding academic profile of your institute”.
“It is therefore with great distress that we learned the news about the sudden dismissals of two full professors, José Noriega and Livio Melina, together with other colleagues: Maria Luisa Di Pietro, Stanisław Grygiel, Monika Grygiel, Przemysław Kwiatkowski, and Vittorina Marini.
“We cannot see any convincing reason – academic, doctrinal or disciplinary – which justifies their dismissal.”
Pope prays for Mexican cardinal who dies age 87
Cardinal Sergio Obeso Rivera, retired archbishop of Xalapa, Mexico, who was created a cardinal by Pope Francis a little over a year ago, died at the age of 87. According to Vatican News, Cardinal Obeso died on August 11 in Xalapa.
The Pope expressed his condolences in a telegram to Archbishop Hipolito Reyes Larios of Xalapa and prayed that Jesus may grant the deceased cardinal “the crown of glory that never withers”.
“Remembering this selfless shepherd who, throughout many years and with faithfulness, gave his life to the service of God and the Church, I pray for the eternal rest of his soul,” Pope Francis said.
In 1931, he was born into a prominent family, which founded and operates one of Mexico’s main supermarket chains.
He was appointed bishop of Papantla in 1971 but returned to Xalapa, the Veracruz state capital, in 1974 as coadjutor archbishop. He became archbishop in 1979.
