‘An ocean of mercy transcends human misery’ – Pope
God’s mercy transcends the misery that so often marks human experience, Pope Francis has said.
“A torrent of misery, swollen by sin, seems to contradict the fullness of time brought by Christ”, he said in a homily at St Peter’s Basilica on January 1, asking, “how can the fullness of time have come when we are witnessing hordes of men, women and children fleeing war, hunger and persecution, ready to risk their lives simply to encounter respect for their fundamental rights?
“And yet,” he continued, “this swollen torrent is powerless before the ocean of mercy which floods our world. All of us are called to immerse ourselves in this ocean, to let ourselves be reborn, to overcome the indifference which blocks solidarity, and to leave behind the false neutrality which prevents sharing.”
The grace of the Gospel can open new pathways to reason and negotiation, he said, overcoming such obstacles to solidarity, explaining that “the power of forgiveness is the true antidote to the sadness caused by resentment and vengeance”.
“Forgiveness leads to joy and serenity because it frees the heart from thoughts of death, whereas resentment and vengeance trouble the mind and wound the heart, robbing it of rest and peace,” he said.
Francis effect novelty wears off
Fewer Catholics are flocking to see Pope Francis as the novelty of his papacy gradually wears off, the Vatican has said. More than 3.2 million pilgrims visited and attended papal events, liturgies or prayer services at the Vatican in 2015, citing statistics compiled by the Prefecture of the Papal Household, which coordinates papal events and distributes tickets to papal audiences and liturgies.
This marks a significant drop from the 5.9 million visitors received by Pope Francis in 2014, itself a lower figure than the 6.6 million pilgrims who visited the Vatican between his election in March 2013 and the end of that year.
“We’re back to more normal figures”, said Holy See spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi SJ, explaining how the early part of Francis’ pontificate had boasted “absolutely extraordinary” turnouts because of the Argentine Pontiff’s “novelty effect”.
At least 704,000 people attended the Pope’s 42 weekly general audiences last year, with more than 408,000 attending special group audiences; at least 513,000 took part in papal liturgies in St Peter’s Basilica or St Peter’s Square, and more than 1.5 million attended the Pope’s Angelus addresses in St Peter’s Square.
These figures, based on ticket requests and estimates of crowd sizes, do not include papal events in the city of Rome or international visits made by Pope Francis.
Bavarian anticipation
A collection of unscripted homilies by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, delivered as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger between 1986 and 1999, has been published in Italy.
The Homilies of Pentling consists of 10 informal, off-the-cuff reflections addressed to ordinary Catholics in the small Bavarian parish of Pentling, where the cardinal would vacation and kept a house to which he hoped to retire.
“Apart from a few small corrections, I kept the familiar style of the text just as it flowed out back then,” the retired Pontiff writes in the book’s preface, explaining that he hopes the homilies, taken from transcribed audio recordings, will help not just “my fellow citizens of Pentling”, but all readers in “understanding and living the word of the Gospel”.
The homilies are in a colourful style which has been compared to that of Pope Francis, and seek to make the mystery, force and relevance of the Gospel comprehensible and accessible to ordinary Catholics.
