Latest news with #WorldChildren'sDay
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pope Francis Taught the World a Lesson About Capitalism
VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - MAY 26: Pope Francis attends a Mass in St .Peter's Square for the first World Children's Day on May 26, 2024 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by) Credit - Getty Images—2024 Franco Origlia On Monday morning, the world lost more than a religious leader. We lost a moral compass. A global shepherd for the poor. A gentle warrior who dared to tell the powerful the truth about their responsibilities to the powerless. His Holiness Pope Francis didn't just preach from the pulpit—he lived among the people, especially the forgotten. In doing so, he redefined what moral leadership looks like in our time. I'm not Catholic. But I have always admired Pope Francis—not simply for his spiritual authority, but for his economic clarity. He understood something most leaders still struggle to grasp: the economy is not just a system. It's a reflection of our values. And if our values are broken—if we worship money more than we uplift people—then the system will break too. Pope Francis believed in capitalism, but not the kind that exploits, extracts, and abandons. He believed in an economy that works for everyone—especially the poor, the marginalized, the excluded. I call this 'Good Capitalism.' And in his own way, so did he. Poverty is not just about money. It's about a lack of access, a lack of opportunity, a lack of belief. It's about systems that were never designed to work for everyone—but can be reimagined to do exactly that. Pope Francis preached the same gospel in different language. When he said, 'No one can remain insensitive to the inequalities that persist in the world,' he was calling out the same economic injustice that inspired me to found Operation HOPE and launch Financial Literacy for All. When he declared that 'an economy that excludes kills,' he wasn't being dramatic. He was being accurate. There's a reason why Pope Francis chose the name of St. Francis of Assisi—the patron saint of the poor. He led with humility. He refused to live in the grand papal apartment. He drove a modest car. He washed the feet of prisoners. This wasn't theater. It was theology. It was servant leadership in its purest form. And it was a quiet rebuke of the pride and greed that too often define our public life. Pope Francis said, 'The rich must help, respect, and promote the poor.' His life—and his death—should challenge all of us to ask harder questions: What kind of economy are we building? Who is it leaving behind? And what would it mean to put people—not profits—at the center of our decisions? For me, this isn't just theory. It's practice. I've seen what happens when we teach someone how money works—when we improve a credit score, help someone buy their first home, or support a small business in a struggling community. Dignity returns. Hope is restored. And the economy grows—not just in dollars, but in strength. This is what Pope Francis understood: that the economy is not a math problem. It's a moral problem. And solving it starts not in boardrooms or bank vaults, but in hearts. He may have been a pope. I'm just a businessman from Compton. But we both believed in the same truth: that we rise by lifting others. And that capitalism, when done right, can be one of the greatest tools for good the world has ever known. Pope Francis believed in 'Good Capitalism.' I do too. And now more than ever, the world needs us to prove that it's possible. Contact us at letters@
News18
21-04-2025
- General
- News18
How Pope Changed The Catholic Church, Why Did He Choose The Name Francis? Explained
Last Updated: Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina was in his seventies when he became Pope in 2013. He chose the name Francis for his pontificate, to honour the saint of Assisi, a town in Central Italy After surviving a bout of double pneumonia in hospital early this year, Pope Francis passed away at his home in the Vatican on Monday morning. He served as the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church for 12 years. Francis was the first Pope from the Americas – a non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years – and also the first Jesuit to be elected to the throne of St Peter. The pontiff, who had a chronic lung condition and had part of one lung removed in his youth, was suffering from two respiratory crises. Who Was Bergoglio Of Argentina? Cardinal Bergoglio of Argentina was in his seventies when he became Pope in 2013. He appealed to conservatives with orthodox views on sexual matters and attracted reformers with his liberal stance on social justice. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936 — the eldest of five children. His parents had fled their native Italy to escape the evils of fascism. He enjoyed tango dancing and was an ardent supporter of his local football club, San Lorenzo. He was lucky to escape with his life after an initial and serious bout of pneumonia, undergoing an operation to remove part of a lung. It would leave him susceptible to infection throughout his life. As an elderly man he also suffered from pain in his right knee, which he described as a 'physical humiliation", as per BBC. He became a Jesuit, studied philosophy and taught literature and psychology. Ordained a decade later, he won swift promotion, becoming provincial superior for Argentina in 1973. He was named Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1992 and then became Archbishop. Pope John Paul II made him a cardinal in 2001 and he took up posts in the Church's civil service, the Curia. He cultivated a reputation as a man of simple tastes. He usually flew economy and preferred to wear the black gown of a priest – rather than the red and purple of his new position. How Pope Derived His Name Francis Cardinal Bergoglio chose the name Francis for his pontificate, to honour the saint of Assisi, a town in Central Italy. 'He explained it in a very simple way, that he chose Francis' name because he's the man of peace, of the poor, of brotherhood. The man who loves and respects creation," said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, who spent 30 years in Assisi and now leads the Vatican's committee on World Children's Day. 'It's a name that contains a life programme." The Pope has also been to Assisi several times. In 2016, he was in the basilica of St. Mary of the Angels. There, he prayed at the place where the Franciscan movement began. St. Francis of Assisi was born in 1182. The son of a merchant, he renounced his inheritance to follow the austerity of Christ. He lived in strict poverty, with a simple life. Accepted into the church by the bishop, he became a champion of the poor and later founded the Franciscan order, which remains active worldwide. For Assisi's current bishop, Rev. Domenico Sorrentino, Francis' rejection of material wealth also reflected his deep appreciation for creation and peace. 'Francis, stripping himself, came back to nature in some sense. So, we must receive nature as a gift of God, and respect this gift," Sorrentino told the Associated Press. What He Did As Pope Pope worked greatly towards bridging the thousand-year rift with the Eastern Orthodox Church. For the first time since the Great Schism of 1054, the Patriarch of Constantinople attended the installation of a new Bishop of Rome. Francis worked with Anglicans, Lutherans and Methodists and persuaded the Israeli and Palestinian presidents to join him to pray for peace. After attacks by Muslim terrorists, he said it was not right to identify Islam with violence. Politically, he allied himself with the Argentine government's claim on the Falklands, telling a service: 'We come to pray for those who have fallen, sons of the homeland who set out to defend their mother, the homeland, to claim the country that is theirs," as quoted by BBC. He also provided a crucial service as mediator when the US government edged towards historic rapprochement with Cuba. He said the Church should welcome people regardless of their sexual orientation, but insisted gay adoption was a form of discrimination against children. After becoming Pope in 2013, he took part in an anti-abortion march in Rome — calling for rights of the unborn 'from the moment of conception". He resisted the ordination of women, declaring that Pope John Paul II had once and for all ruled out the possibility. In 2015, he told people in the Philippines that contraception involved 'the destruction of the family through the privation of children". In 2023, he made a pilgrimage to South Sudan, pleading with the country's leaders to end conflict. He also appealed for an end to the 'absurd and cruel war" in Ukraine. Major Challenges During His Papacy His critics accused him of failing to tackle child abuse and diluting the faith. In August 2018, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former Apostolic Nuncio to the US, published an 11-page declaration of war. He released a letter describing a series of warnings made to the Vatican about the behaviour of a former cardinal, Thomas McCarrick. It was alleged that McCarrick had been a serial abuser who attacked both adults and minors. The controversy was a blot on the Church, and McCarrick was eventually defrocked in February 2019, after an investigation by the Vatican. Meanwhile, he was accused of involvement in the military kidnapping of two priests during Argentina's Dirty War, a period when thousands of people were tortured or killed, or disappeared, from 1976 to 1983. tags : News18 Explains pope francis The Vatican City Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: April 21, 2025, 15:25 IST News explainers How Pope Changed The Catholic Church, Why Did He Choose The Name Francis? Explained
The Independent
05-04-2025
- The Independent
Carlo Acutis relics are being sold online. The Catholic Church isn't happy
The Catholic Church is investigating the online sale of purported relics of soon-to-be-saint Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be canonized. The Church has enlisted Italian police to crack down on the illicit trade, highlighting the tension between the ancient practice of venerating relics and the modern marketplace of the internet. Since the early days of Christianity, relics – typically fragments of a saint's body or clothing authenticated by the Church – have played a significant role in Catholic devotion. Believers often pray for intercession through these relics, which are traditionally housed in churches. However, Church law explicitly forbids their sale. Acutis, who drew hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to his shrine even before his upcoming canonization, has become a focal point for this illicit trade. You shouldn't buy a piece of a saint. Catholic Church denounces online sale of Carlo Acutis relics Show all 15 The increasing demand for relics associated with the young saint has created an opportunity for online vendors to exploit the faithful. The Church's intervention underscores its commitment to protecting both the sanctity of relics and its followers from potential fraud. 'It's not just despicable, but it's also a sin,' said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, who leads the Vatican's World Children's Day committee and has a tiny fragment of Acutis' hair in a chapel by his office for veneration by visiting youth. 'Every kind of commerce over faith is a sin.' An anonymous seller had put up for online auction some supposedly authenticated locks of Acutis' hair that were fetching upward of 2,000 euros ($2,200 US), according to the Diocese of Assisi, before being taken down. Last month, Bishop Domenico Sorrentino asked authorities to confiscate the items and added that if fraudulent, the sale would constitute a 'great offense to religious belief.' Acutis was precocious in developing and sharing his faith Acutis died of leukemia in 2006, when he was only 15 but had already developed a precocious faith life centered on devotion to the Eucharist — which for Catholics holds the real presence of Christ. Savvy with technology, he had created an online exhibit about eucharistic miracles through the centuries. He will formally be declared a saint at a Mass in front of the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica on April 27. Over the past year, about 1 million pilgrims have flocked to the central Italian town of Assisi, where his body — wearing sneakers, jeans, and a sweatshirt — lies in a shrine in a church dedicated to a key moment in the life of medieval hometown saint, St. Francis. What to know about Carlo Acutis, the Catholic Church's new millennial saint Show all 2 Acutis' body was exhumed during the more-than-decade-long canonization process and treated so it could be preserved for public showing, including by removing certain organs. His face, which looks as if he were asleep, was reconstructed with a silicone mask, Sorrentino said. Acutis' heart has been preserved at a dedicated altar in another Assisi church; it will be taken to Rome for the canonization Mass. 'The relics are little, little fragments of the body, to say that that body is blessed, and it explains to us the closeness of God,' Sorrentino said. Handling of relics is a painstaking task for the church There are different 'classes' of relics — the most important are major body parts, such as the heart. Sorrentino gave Acutis' pericardium — the membrane enclosing the heart — to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2022 for the duration of its multi-year Eucharistic Revival. The bishop in charge of the saint's body works with requests from other bishops around the world to give or lend relics — always for free — to be exhibited for veneration at parishes and other churches. 'We give this to communities, to parishes, to priests using the relics for the cult in their parish,' Sorrentino said. 'It's not something magic. It's not something that works automatically, it works through faith.' The practice of gathering relics dates to the earliest days of the church, when many faithful Christians died as martyrs in religious persecutions. Witnesses to the killings would collect blood or fragments of clothing to memorialize their sacrifice and to pray for the saints' intercession, Fortunato said. In Acutis' case, the first miracle in his canonization process was the healing of a boy in Brazil after a prayer service invoking his intercession with the presence of a relic, he added. For clergy and pilgrims who have been visiting Acutis' shrine in Assisi this week, the relics take second place to the example of faith and the power of assisting with prayer that saints provide. 'I would never buy one,' said Amelia Simone, an 18-year-old from Chicago who has been studying in Rome and credits Acutis for help smoothing out tricky visa paperwork. 'I think the intercession aspect is very cool, but I don't think I'd ever want to own a first-class relic. It just would feel a bit weird to me.' Two clergy leading a Holy Year pilgrimage to Italy from the Diocese of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, said it was 'a great tragedy' that online relic sales were happening. 'We continue to pray for people's conversion,' said the Rev. Christopher Pujol. Bishop Larry Kulick added that relics 'are very reverent and very solemn for us as Catholics. And they are not only inspirational for us, but they are really ... opportunities to help us to pray.' 'And so it's unfortunate that such a thing would happen, because that's really a misuse of the relics and actually a disrespect to him and to his memory,' he added. Some mixed views on this sainthood process Already, the uncommon devotion and attention that Acutis' canonization process has generated has been met with some skepticism. In hundreds of social media comments to a recent Associated Press article about the phenomenon, some called his sainthood a marketing ploy by the church to lure more young people back into the pews. Many others — and those making pilgrimage to Assisi — praised Acutis for his devotion and were glad he's become a role model for members of his generation. 'It's a joy for me to have encountered Carlo Acutis' body, and especially to ask for his intercession for the transformation and the conversion of many youth,' said Juana de Dios Euceda, a missionary nun from Honduras.
Yahoo
05-04-2025
- Yahoo
You shouldn't buy a piece of a saint. Catholic Church denounces online sale of Carlo Acutis relics
ASSISI, Italy (AP) — With the upcoming canonization of its first millennial saint, the Catholic Church has turned to police in Italy to investigate the online sale of some purported relics of Carlo Acutis, who already has been drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to his shrine. Since the early days of the faith, many Catholics have prayed for intercession to saints' relics — usually small parts of their body or clothing that are authenticated by ecclesiastical authorities and preserved in churches. But their sale is strictly forbidden. 'It's not just despicable, but it's also a sin,' said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, who leads the Vatican's World Children's Day committee and has a tiny fragment of Acutis' hair in a chapel by his office for veneration by visiting youth. 'Every kind of commerce over faith is a sin.' An anonymous seller had put up for online auction some supposedly authenticated locks of Acutis' hair that were fetching upward of 2,000 euros ($2,200 US), according to the Diocese of Assisi, before being taken down. Last month, Bishop Domenico Sorrentino asked authorities to confiscate the items and added that if fraudulent, the sale would constitute a 'great offense to religious belief.' Acutis was precocious in developing and sharing his faith Acutis died of leukemia in 2006, when he was only 15 but had already developed a precocious faith life centered on devotion to the Eucharist — which for Catholics holds the real presence of Christ. Savvy with technology, he had created an online exhibit about eucharistic miracles through the centuries. He will formally be declared a saint at a Mass in front of the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica on April 27. Over the past year, about 1 million pilgrims have flocked to the central Italian town of Assisi, where his body — wearing sneakers, jeans, and a sweatshirt — lies in a shrine in a church dedicated to a key moment in the life of medieval hometown saint, St. Francis. Acutis' body was exhumed during the more-than-decade-long canonization process and treated so it could be preserved for public showing, including by removing certain organs. His face, which looks as if he were asleep, was reconstructed with a silicone mask, Sorrentino said. Acutis' heart has been preserved at a dedicated altar in another Assisi church; it will be taken to Rome for the canonization Mass. 'The relics are little, little fragments of the body, to say that that body is blessed, and it explains to us the closeness of God,' Sorrentino said. Handling of relics is a painstaking task for the church There are different 'classes' of relics — the most important are major body parts, such as the heart. Sorrentino gave Acutis' pericardium — the membrane enclosing the heart — to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2022 for the duration of its multi-year Eucharistic Revival. The bishop in charge of the saint's body works with requests from other bishops around the world to give or lend relics — always for free — to be exhibited for veneration at parishes and other churches. 'We give this to communities, to parishes, to priests using the relics for the cult in their parish,' Sorrentino said. 'It's not something magic. It's not something that works automatically, it works through faith.' The practice of gathering relics dates to the earliest days of the church, when many faithful Christians died as martyrs in religious persecutions. Witnesses to the killings would collect blood or fragments of clothing to memorialize their sacrifice and to pray for the saints' intercession, Fortunato said. In Acutis' case, the first miracle in his canonization process was the healing of a boy in Brazil after a prayer service invoking his intercession with the presence of a relic, he added. For clergy and pilgrims who have been visiting Acutis' shrine in Assisi this week, the relics take second place to the example of faith and the power of assisting with prayer that saints provide. 'I would never buy one,' said Amelia Simone, an 18-year-old from Chicago who has been studying in Rome and credits Acutis for help smoothing out tricky visa paperwork. 'I think the intercession aspect is very cool, but I don't think I'd ever want to own a first-class relic. It just would feel a bit weird to me.' Two clergy leading a Holy Year pilgrimage to Italy from the Diocese of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, said it was 'a great tragedy' that online relic sales were happening. 'We continue to pray for people's conversion,' said the Rev. Christopher Pujol. Bishop Larry Kulick added that relics 'are very reverent and very solemn for us as Catholics. And they are not only inspirational for us, but they are really ... opportunities to help us to pray.' 'And so it's unfortunate that such a thing would happen, because that's really a misuse of the relics and actually a disrespect to him and to his memory,' he added. Some mixed views on this sainthood process Already, the uncommon devotion and attention that Acutis' canonization process has generated has been met with some skepticism. In hundreds of social media comments to a recent Associated Press article about the phenomenon, some called his sainthood a marketing ploy by the church to lure more young people back into the pews. Many others — and those making pilgrimage to Assisi — praised Acutis for his devotion and were glad he's become a role model for members of his generation. 'It's a joy for me to have encountered Carlo Acutis' body, and especially to ask for his intercession for the transformation and the conversion of many youth,' said Juana de Dios Euceda, a missionary nun from Honduras. ___ Dell'Orto reported from Miami. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The Independent
05-04-2025
- The Independent
You shouldn't buy a piece of a saint. Catholic Church denounces online sale of Carlo Acutis relics
With the upcoming canonization of its first millennial saint, the Catholic Church has turned to police in Italy to investigate the online sale of some purported relics of Carlo Acutis, who already has been drawing hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to his shrine. Since the early days of the faith, many Catholics have prayed for intercession to saints' relics — usually small parts of their body or clothing that are authenticated by ecclesiastical authorities and preserved in churches. But their sale is strictly forbidden. 'It's not just despicable, but it's also a sin,' said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, who leads the Vatican's World Children's Day committee and has a tiny fragment of Acutis' hair in a chapel by his office for veneration by visiting youth. 'Every kind of commerce over faith is a sin.' An anonymous seller had put up for online auction some supposedly authenticated locks of Acutis' hair that were fetching upward of 2,000 euros ($2,200 US), according to the Diocese of Assisi, before being taken down. Last month, Bishop Domenico Sorrentino asked authorities to confiscate the items and added that if fraudulent, the sale would constitute a 'great offense to religious belief.' Acutis was precocious in developing and sharing his faith Acutis died of leukemia in 2006, when he was only 15 but had already developed a precocious faith life centered on devotion to the Eucharist — which for Catholics holds the real presence of Christ. Savvy with technology, he had created an online exhibit about eucharistic miracles through the centuries. He will formally be declared a saint at a Mass in front of the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica on April 27. Over the past year, about 1 million pilgrims have flocked to the central Italian town of Assisi, where his body — wearing sneakers, jeans, and a sweatshirt — lies in a shrine in a church dedicated to a key moment in the life of medieval hometown saint, St. Francis. Acutis' body was exhumed during the more-than-decade-long canonization process and treated so it could be preserved for public showing, including by removing certain organs. His face, which looks as if he were asleep, was reconstructed with a silicone mask, Sorrentino said. Acutis' heart has been preserved at a dedicated altar in another Assisi church; it will be taken to Rome for the canonization Mass. 'The relics are little, little fragments of the body, to say that that body is blessed, and it explains to us the closeness of God,' Sorrentino said. Handling of relics is a painstaking task for the church There are different 'classes' of relics — the most important are major body parts, such as the heart. Sorrentino gave Acutis' pericardium — the membrane enclosing the heart — to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2022 for the duration of its multi-year Eucharistic Revival. The bishop in charge of the saint's body works with requests from other bishops around the world to give or lend relics — always for free — to be exhibited for veneration at parishes and other churches. 'We give this to communities, to parishes, to priests using the relics for the cult in their parish,' Sorrentino said. 'It's not something magic. It's not something that works automatically, it works through faith.' The practice of gathering relics dates to the earliest days of the church, when many faithful Christians died as martyrs in religious persecutions. Witnesses to the killings would collect blood or fragments of clothing to memorialize their sacrifice and to pray for the saints' intercession, Fortunato said. In Acutis' case, the first miracle in his canonization process was the healing of a boy in Brazil after a prayer service invoking his intercession with the presence of a relic, he added. For clergy and pilgrims who have been visiting Acutis' shrine in Assisi this week, the relics take second place to the example of faith and the power of assisting with prayer that saints provide. 'I would never buy one,' said Amelia Simone, an 18-year-old from Chicago who has been studying in Rome and credits Acutis for help smoothing out tricky visa paperwork. 'I think the intercession aspect is very cool, but I don't think I'd ever want to own a first-class relic. It just would feel a bit weird to me.' Two clergy leading a Holy Year pilgrimage to Italy from the Diocese of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, said it was 'a great tragedy' that online relic sales were happening. 'We continue to pray for people's conversion,' said the Rev. Christopher Pujol. Bishop Larry Kulick added that relics 'are very reverent and very solemn for us as Catholics. And they are not only inspirational for us, but they are really ... opportunities to help us to pray.' 'And so it's unfortunate that such a thing would happen, because that's really a misuse of the relics and actually a disrespect to him and to his memory,' he added. Some mixed views on this sainthood process Already, the uncommon devotion and attention that Acutis' canonization process has generated has been met with some skepticism. In hundreds of social media comments to a recent Associated Press article about the phenomenon, some called his sainthood a marketing ploy by the church to lure more young people back into the pews. Many others — and those making pilgrimage to Assisi — praised Acutis for his devotion and were glad he's become a role model for members of his generation. 'It's a joy for me to have encountered Carlo Acutis' body, and especially to ask for his intercession for the transformation and the conversion of many youth,' said Juana de Dios Euceda, a missionary nun from Honduras. ___ Dell'Orto reported from Miami. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
