Cardinal: True faith is found in compassion, not just creed
Cardinals and bishops attending one of the Novemdiales Masses in St. Peter's Basilica.(Photo: Vatican News)
By Justin McLellan, Catholic News Service
True discipleship is not measured by the creeds Christians recite or the theology they know, but by how deeply they love, a cardinal said at a memorial Mass for Pope Francis.
"It is not the profession of faith, the theological knowledge or the sacramental practice that guarantees participation in the joy of God," said Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, "but the qualitative and quantitative involvement in the human experience of the least of our brothers and sisters."
Celebrating Mass in the basilica April 29 for the fourth day of the "novendiali" -- nine days of mourning for Pope Francis marked with Masses -- the cardinal said that Christ's final judgment will not be based on knowledge or status, but on acts of mercy toward the hungry, the stranger, the sick and the imprisoned.
His message came as cardinals gathered in Rome said they are beginning to reflect on what qualities the next pope must embody. The cardinals are meeting daily in general congregation meetings ahead of the conclave, which is scheduled to begin May 7.
Concelebrating the Mass with Cardinal Gambetti were the cardinals who lead the three other papal basilicas in Rome: Cardinal Baldassare Reina, papal vicar of Rome and archpriest of the Basilica of St. John Lateran; Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, coadjutor archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major; and U.S. Cardinal James M. Harvey, archpriest of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
Patrick Kelly, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, was seated in a front row.
Reflecting on the Gospel's imagery of sheep and goats, Cardinal Gambetti explained that those who are welcomed into God's kingdom are not those who sought independence and self-interest, but those who lived with gentleness, solidarity and compassion.
"At the personal and institutional level, we must ask ourselves: which of these two styles do we embody?" he said.
Pope Francis' humanity, tenderness and commitment to peace touched believers and nonbelievers alike, the cardinal said. Quoting Edith Bruck, a Holocaust survivor, poet and friend of Pope Francis, Cardinal Gambetti said the late pope was "a man who loved, who wept, who invoked peace, who embraced and spread warmth wherever he went."
True evangelization, the cardinal said, does not come through grand proclamations but through humble acts of solidarity that reveal God's love in tangible ways.
"Who touches humanity touches God; who honors humanity honors God; who scorns humanity scorns God," he said.
Recalling Pope Francis' conviction that "all, all, all, are called to live in the church," Cardinal Gambetti reflected the on the episode from the Acts of the Apostles in which St. Peter meets Cornelius.
In that account, St. Peter enters the gentile's home despite Jewish custom forbidding him to do so, and, after preaching about Jesus, the Holy Spirit descends upon them both, and the apostle baptizes Cornelius.
The Gospel account is "an episode that, in an age that is globalized, secularized and thirsting for truth and love such as ours" reveals the first pope's attitude toward evangelization, the cardinal said: "Openness to the human person without reservation, gratuitous concern for others, sharing and deepening experiences to help every man and woman give credit to life, to the grace of creation."--ucanews.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Herald Malaysia
a day ago
- Herald Malaysia
UN human rights lawyer appeals for humanitarian action to save dying in Gaza
A UN human rights lawyer speaks to Vatican News about the famine emergency in Gaza and the need for nations to act immediately to save the population, including 320,000 children, before it is too late. Jul 31, 2025 Palestinian baby Zainab Abu Haleeb, dies due to malnutrition, in Khan Younis By Thaddeus JonesThe latest information from the United Nations shows that more than one third of the residents of Gaza are going without food for days, and more than half a million people are enduring famine-like conditions. All others are facing emergency levels of hunger. The UN agencies providing emergency food aid, helping babies and children with nutrition and medicine have appealed to the international community to act immediately as famine conditions spread. They say without an immediate full-scale humanitarian response, thousands will die very soon, since less than five percent of what is needed to prevent mass starvation is being allowed to enter Gaza. The Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, QU Dongyu, has warned that, 'Gaza is now on the brink of a full-scale famine. People are starving not because food is unavailable, but because access is blocked, local agrifood systems have collapsed, and families can no longer sustain even the most basic livelihoods.' He has appealed for 'safe and sustained humanitarian access and immediate support to restore local food production and livelihoods," the only way to prevent further deaths. "The right to food is a basic human right.' Focusing on the human rights questions regarding Palestine is Australian lawyer Chris Sidoti, who is a commissioner of the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel . In an interview with Vatican News / Vatican Radio, he appealed for full-scale emergency food aid to be allowed in immediately, as time is running out very quickly to save thousands from dying. This action is essential in the short term, he underscores, while a durable ceasefire is also needed to stop the killing. He also looks at the long-term prospects for a two-state solution that would allow a Palestinian state and Israel to live side by side in peace and security. Vatican Radio interview with Chris Sidoti, a commissioner with the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel. Q: About the humanitarian situation in Gaza, there's been a bit of a change with some airdrops, a little more aid being allowed in. But overall, how do you see the situation there? How would you describe it? 'A little more aid getting in' is an accurate description. It is a very small amount at this stage. Airdrops are good, but no substitute in terms of quantity for the provision of aid by trucks. We have to get trucks into Gaza if we are to relieve the desperate situation there. Before this war, before October 2023, there were up to 2,000 trucks a day going into Gaza, and that was still under a situation of very tight Israeli control of the kinds of goods that were able to enter. After October 2023, the supplies were curtailed dramatically. And even during the brief ceasefire this year, from January into late March, there were only 600 trucks a day going into Gaza. Now, the UN agencies and international non-government organisations estimate that at least 2,000 trucks a day are required simply to maintain a very basic level of food supply. Now, during that period that that ceasefire period, it was 600 trucks a day. (On 28 July), under the loosened conditions that the Israeli Prime Minister proclaimed, 90 trucks went in. So that's less than a sixth of the number that went in during the ceasefire, and less than 5% of the number that is required to simply sustain the basic quantity of food and water for the people of Gaza. So it's clearly totally inadequate. It is literally a sop to opinion coming from countries all over the world that are saying that this Israeli imposed mass starvation is a most serious war crime. Do you think, finally, countries speaking up that there's a positive effect this can have and that's led to what is this slight improvement? Certainly this speaking up has led to this very slight improvement, but that's not adequate. As I say this, this is a sop to international pressure. What is really required is not speaking up, but serious action. Action that will place real pressure on the Israeli government and not simply the pressure of words. So, there is certainly a requirement, a desperate need, but also a legal obligation on other states to do everything in their power, short of invading Gaza, to force the Israeli government to allow adequate food supplies to enter Gaza. There are thousands of trucks, in fact, outside the borders of Gaza, waiting to enter if the Israeli authorities will let them in. They need to be allowed in. It's as simple as that. What else needs to happen? Obviously, we're at a critical point from the humanitarian point of view because the time is really running out. But what else needs to happen here, would you say, for the situation to improve even a little bit? Well, the most important thing that needs to happen is adequate quantities of food and water and medical supplies need to be allowed in. Now that is desperate. Some of the UN agencies are saying that the red line has already been crossed, that retrieving the situation without thousands or even tens of thousands of people dying is already too late. I hope that's not the case. I'm not an expert on humanitarian assistance and what people need to eat and how much is required. But I hope against hope, that it is not too late to stop mass starvation in Gaza. But that's the first and most immediate need food, water, and proper medical supplies and fuel to enable hospitals to operate. Power to be provided so that incubators for babies can work, oxygen can be provided, and so forth. The Israeli authorities are showing no sign whatsoever of permitting this. The concession that was given yesterday (27 July), and that has started to be implemented today (28 July), is very, very small and far from adequate to ensure that starvation is adequately addressed. So that's what needs to happen immediately. But it's about time that other states took seriously their obligations under international law that were laid out very clearly by the International Court of Justice last July. The International Court of Justice said unequivocally, any actions by states that aid or assist in any way the unlawful actions of the Israeli government must cease. Now, that should have led governments around the world last July to undertake an urgent examination of all aspects of their relationship with the State of Israel to determine what aspects of the relationship were in any way aiding and abetting Israel's illegality. So it's about time that other states took seriously the legal obligations that the International Court of Justice has identified, and respond by ending all relationships with Israel, that in any way aid or assist Israel's illegalities. How can this be done today, especially at a time when more and more people are questioning the legitimacy of international institutions, and even the whole idea of multilateralism and approaching serious crises like this is under threat? Well, the criticisms of the institutions are coming from two directions. Firstly, there is the small number of states and political leaders who are out to destroy international law and international institutions. The great majority are simply frustrated that the international legal system is not delivering what it promised to deliver. And so there is a crisis in international law. There is a crisis in the multilateral system, in the system of the United Nations itself. And that crisis can only be addressed by the international system demonstrating that it is capable of responding to the most serious violations of international law. And the sad truth is that to date, they have not responded. It's true that there is a crisis in the international system now. I think that this is the most serious crises that the international legal system has faced in the 80 years since World War Two when the steps were taken to establish the system that we now have. Do you see this obviously complicating the whole idea of a two-state solution, which is being discussed in New York today and tomorrow (28-29 July)? How do you see the whole process there, even short-term ending the conflict, long term a two-state solution? It certainly complicates that process. Unless states are prepared to move from rhetoric to action, we will see no progress on the two state solution. It's quite clear that international action is required. It's quite clear that there needs to be pressure placed on the Israeli government in particular, and on the Palestinian authorities as well, to actually implement what has been seen as the necessary response to the situation in the Middle East for the last almost 80 years, 75 years. The United Nations General Assembly passed its resolution on a two-state approach to the Middle East in 1947. And everything that has been done since then, or at least almost everything, perhaps excluding the Oslo Accords of the early 1990s, everything that has been done has been a step, and then another step and then another step away from that decision taken in 1947. And so the problem is not the law. The problem is not the rhetoric. The problem is the failure to act.--Vatican News
Sinar Daily
a day ago
- Sinar Daily
The Palestinian Diaries with Dr Peter Slezak: Why Being Jewish Doesn't Mean Being Zionist
31 Jul 2025 08:52am In this unflinching episode, we speak to Australian philosopher and academic Professor Dr Peter Slezak, a philosopher and outspoken anti-Zionist advocate that has spent decades defending Palestinian rights. As the child of Holocaust survivors, Dr Slezak offers a powerful moral lens on the crisis in Gaza, challenging the idea that support for Israel is synonymous with Jewish identity. From the dangers of religious framing to the weaponization of Holocaust memory, he breaks down why Gaza is not a religious war, but a humanitarian emergency. Watch the full episode on all Sinar Daily media social platforms. #PalestinianDiaries #PeterSlezak #JewishVoicesForPalestine #EndTheGenocide #GazaUnderAttack #AntiZionism #HumanRights #SinarDaily #JusticeForPalestine #HolocaustToGaza #SolidarityNotSilence #InterfaithJustice #MalaysiaForPalestine More Like This
The Sun
3 days ago
- The Sun
Israeli rights groups accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza conflict
JERUSALEM: Two Israeli human rights organisations have accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, marking the first major domestic voices to level such a charge. B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel released reports at a press conference, alleging 'coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza strip.' 'The report we are publishing today is one we never imagined we would have to write,' said Yuli Novak, B'Tselem's executive director. 'The people of Gaza have been displaced, bombed and starved, left completely stripped of their humanity and rights.' Physicians for Human Rights Israel highlighted the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system, stating, 'Israel's actions have destroyed Gaza's healthcare infrastructure in a manner that is both calculated and systematic.' Israel has repeatedly denied genocide allegations, including a case brought by South Africa at the International Court of Justice. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the claims as 'outrageous,' while government spokesperson David Mencer called the latest accusations 'baseless.' 'There is no intent, (which is) key for the charge of genocide ... it simply doesn't make sense for a country to send in 1.9 million tons of aid, most of that being food, if there is an intent of genocide,' Mencer said. Israel's military also rejected the reports, stating it follows international law and takes measures to avoid civilian harm, while accusing Hamas of using civilians as 'human shields.' The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. Israel's subsequent offensive has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to Gaza health officials. The genocide accusation carries deep weight in Israel, given the term's origins in response to the Holocaust. Israeli officials have previously called such allegations libellous and antisemitic. International scrutiny over Gaza's humanitarian crisis has intensified, with UN agencies warning of severe food shortages. Israel maintains it allows sufficient aid but blames distribution failures on the UN. Public opinion in Israel has slowly shifted as images of suffering in Gaza emerge, though many still hold Hamas responsible. 'The Israeli perception is: 'what do you want from us? It's Hamas' fault,'' said Oren Persico of The Seventh Eye. Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, argued against the genocide label but urged recognition of civilian suffering. 'Their anguish is real, and our moral tradition obligates us not to turn away from it,' he wrote. - AFP
