Admit sins and recognise faults urges Pope
Fear and the shame of admitting one’s own sins leads to pointing fingers and accusing others rather than recognising one’s own faults, Pope Francis said.
“It’s difficult to admit being guilty, but it does so much good to confess with sincerity. But you must confess your own sins,” the Pope said at his first general audience of the New Year.
A person who has a heart “full of himself, of his own success” receives nothing because he is already satiated by his “presumed justice”.
“Listening to the voice of conscience in silence allows us to realise that our thoughts are far from divine thoughts, that our words and our actions are often worldly, guided by choices that are contrary to the Gospel,” the Pope said.
Confessing one’s sins to God and the Church helps people understand that sin not only “separates us from God but also from our brothers and sisters,” he added.
“Sin cuts, it cuts our relationship with God and with our brothers and sisters, in our family, in society, in the community,” the Pope said. “Sin always cuts, separates, divides.”
Pupils must learn care for all creation
A green lifestyle must be consistent and complete, driven by a love for God the creator and all of his creation, the Pope {pictured] said in a speech to the Italian Association of Catholic Teachers.
The primary school teachers must help children from a young age understand and practice an environmentally ethical lifestyle that must not be “schizophrenic”, that is, a kind of disconnected concern for “taking care of animals in extinction, but ignoring problems facing the elderly. No. Or defending the Amazon rainforest, but neglecting the rights of workers to have a fair wage”, he said.
This approach demands teaching the importance of personal responsibility, not bombarding the children with slogans or catchy commands that someone else will have to carry out, he said. Teach children to have an enthusiastic appetite for “experiencing an environmental ethics that stem from the choices and behaviours in daily life”, he said.
The Pope also encouraged teachers and schools to rebuild a new alliance with families that mutually supports and strengthens each other.
The educational alliance or “pact” that once existed among the state, schools and parents unfortunately “is broken” and must be repaired, he said.
Pope visits sick children
On the eve of Epiphany, when most Italian children wake up to find gifts and sweets, Pope Francis visited a paediatric hospital outside Rome.
The Pope arrived at the Palidoro Bambino Gesu Hospital at about 3pm and visited the various wards where about 120 children are receiving treatment, according to the Vatican press office.
The Pope greeted the children and “exchanged some words of comfort with the parents who are caring for their children in their tiring and painful trials,” the statement said.
Visiting the hospital, Pope Francis was “continuing the experience of the Mercy Fridays,” visits he made to hospitals, orphanages and other care facilities during the 2015-16 Year of Mercy.
