Pope Francis Persecution is drawing Christians closer – Pope
The persecution of Christians in the Middle East and Africa has allowed once-divided Christians to draw closer together, Pope Francis has said.
“Just as in the early Church the shedding of the blood of martyrs became the seed of new Christians, so today the blood of the many martyrs of all the churches has become the seed of Christian unity,” the Pontiff said during an audience with Patriarch Mathias of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
Recalling developments in theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the patriarch’s Oriental Orthodox church, the Pope said through baptism their “rich monastic traditions and liturgical practices” both have “almost everything in common”.
The martyrdom of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, he added, “is a summons to us, here and now, to advance on the path to ever greater unity”.
Vatican envoys are putting mission ahead of their lives
Vatican envoys regularly risk death and stay at their posts in dangerous conditions while working to end what Pope Francis has termed a “piecemeal” Third World War, the Vatican foreign minister has said.
“Let’s not be kidding ourselves about what the stakes are here: If we are going to bring peace, if we are going to reconcile nations, if we are going to secure countries and communities, particularly minorities, particularly people who are persecuted, we are going to have to make an unprecedented effort,” Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, said in an interview.
He cited the obvious example of Archbishop Mario Zenari, the papal nuncio in Syria, who “throughout the whole of this conflict, has remained at his post and has made a very significant contribution” to the current peacemaking effort. “If you have convictions and if you have, above all, faith, you are prepared to take risks”, Dr Gallagher said.
Love for migrants is as necessary as material aid
Christians are called neither to merely give material aid to migrants nor to proselytise to them, but to give witness to Jesus Christ through love of one’s neighbour, the Vatican’s ‘doctrinal watchdog’ has said.
Describing proselytism as “practically a manipulation of the conscience”, Cardinal Gerhard Müller said the Church is called to help mankind relate to and love those escaping war and persecution.
Speaking at a Vatican conference on Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical Deus Caritas Est (‘God is Love’), the cardinal said, “The mission of the Church is to give witness to Jesus Christ. It would be a way of despising someone if I said: ‘You only have material needs’”.
Harmonised European response is needed for migrant crisis
The Pope has called for a harmonised European response to help countries like Greece that are on the front line of the migrant crisis and need the cooperation of all nations to help those fleeing from “wars and other inhuman situations”.
Speaking after reciting the Angelus on February 28 in St Peter’s Square, he said “a harmonised response can be effective and equally distribute the weight”, and noting the generosity of such countries as Greece, which are handling the growing influx of migrants, the Pontiff called on European Union member states to “focus decisively and unreservedly on negotiations” to aid them.
His call came after Balkan countries announced a daily cap on migrants crossing their borders, and thousands of refugees were left stranded in Idomeni, Greece.