All things Pope Francis! :)

Pope Francis pulled off his kid gloves Wednesday, denouncing in the strongest terms what he called a “society without fathers.”

“Particularly in Western culture,” he said, the father figure is “symbolically absent, missing and removed.”

Click to expand...

These days, the Pope said, it sometimes seems “that fathers don’t really know what their place is in the family and how to educate their children. So, when in doubt, they abstain, they withdraw and neglect their responsibilities, perhaps hiding behind an unworkable relationship ‘on a par’ with their children.”

It’s true, he said, that “you must be your child’s friend, but do not forget that you are the father! If you act only as a companion on a par with your child, you will do no good to the child,” he said.

Click to expand...

Diego Neria Lejárraga wrote to Francis after being rejected by his parish, according to Spanish paper

Click to expand...

Hoy reported that Diego Neria Lejárraga wrote a letter to the Pope in December about being rejected by his parish in Spain and being called “the devil’s daughter” by a priest. He said he subsequently received a phone call from the Pontiff on Christmas Eve.

Click to expand...

(RNS) Pope Francis on Friday (Jan. 23) warned the Vatican’s top marriage judges that they should not “lock the salvation of persons within the straits of legalism” and indicated he wants the church to no longer charge for the sometimes onerous and expensive annulment process.

“This is a point I want to emphasize: the sacraments are free,” Francis told jurists of the Roman Rota, the church’s final court of appeals for annulments.

“The sacraments give us grace,” he said. “And a marriage proceeding” — like an annulment — “touches on the sacrament of marriage.”

Click to expand...

After last Wednesday’s smackdown on absentee fathers, this week, Pope Francis weighed the positive qualities of good fathers, even their willingness to punish their children when needed.

Click to expand...

Francis said that the most important thing is for fathers to be present in the family, close to his wife and close to his children, without being overbearing or controlling.

“He needs to be there for his children as they are growing up,” Francis said, “when they are playing and when they are working, when they are carefree and when they are distressed, when they express themselves and when they are silent, when they dare, and when they are afraid, when they mess up and when they find their way. The father should always be there!” he said.

Click to expand...

Pope Francis has sent Catholic clergy a powerful reminder of their duty to stamp out sexual abuse of children by priests, warning that they must never let a fear of scandal lead to cover-ups.

In a strongly worded letter to the heads of national bishops’ conferences and religious orders, Francis demanded “close and complete” cooperation with a new child protection commission he has established at the Vatican.

Click to expand...

Crimson clover said:

Happy Easter!
A monumental day for believers!
I hope you've felt love today!
Cc

Click to expand...