Hell is Empty false teacher Newpriest Fr. Barron named auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles

         Is any human beings in hell??
      Robert Barron "We don't know???

Father Robert Barron, two others, named auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles

Pope Francis on Tuesday named three new auxiliary bishops to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the United States.

Among them was Father Robert E. Barron, the Rector of the University of St. Mary and Mundelein Seminary in Chicago. Father Barron is also the founder of the multimedia "Word on Fire Catholic Ministries”, which produces programs which have been broadcast regularly on WGN America, EWTN, Relevant Radio and the Word on Fire YouTube Channel.

Monsignor Joseph V. Brennan, the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, was also made an auxiliary bishop.

Irish-born Monsignor David G. O’Connell, pastor of Saint Michael Parish in Los Angeles, was also made an auxiliary bishop.

In addition, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Los Angeles auxiliary bishop Gerald E. Wilkerson, who reached retirement age.

Source

Fr. Robert Barron on Whether Hell is Crowded or Empty

                                                             Beware of false teachers!

POPE FRANCIS A WOLF IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

Pope trashes Christian ideology for Marxism

Bergoglio has 'great hope' that Paris climate summit will succeed

Pope Francis delivers speech in the Synod Hall during a conference on Modern Slavery and Climate Change at the Vatican, Tuesday, July 21, 2015.

Pope Francis joined a Vatican gathering of at least 50 mayors from around the world on Tuesday, signing a declaration that states the upcoming climate summit in Paris will likely be the last chance to limit global warming. The mayors, which include New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, detailed the actions they have been taking in their communities to promote sustainable development and limit poverty.

Pope Francis joined the meeting for about a half an hour on Tuesday afternoon, local time, telling the audience that protecting the environment is an issue of human responsibility. His comments echoed his writing in the landmark Encyclical on the environment, known as "Laudato Si," which was released on June 18.

He also detailed his specific thoughts on the upcoming round of U.N. climate negotiations in Paris in early December. This is viewed as a crucial meeting, where negotiators are tasked with devising a new climate agreement that would go into effect in 2020.

Pope Francis poses for a photograph with mayors at the Vatican. New York Mayor Bill deBlasio is behind Pope Francis and to the right.

The mayoral meeting, which also featured one governor — Jerry Brown of California — demonstrates the Vatican's continued engagement on global warming as the world approaches the Paris talks, which begin on November 30.

“I have a great hope in the Paris summit in November, I really do hope that a fundamental basic agreement is reached," Pope Francis said. "I have great hopes in that. The United Nations really needs to take a very strong position on this, particularly the human trafficking of people” [related to environmental degradation], he said.

The Pope said that mayors are key players in implementing climate and other policies.

“Individual countries may be able to make nice speeches at the United Nations but if the work doesn’t come from the periphery to the center there is no effect, and that is the responsibility of you mayors of cities,” he said.

Mayoral Declaration

The declaration signed by the mayors and other attendees calls upon world leaders to negotiate a strong climate agreement in Paris. It was written under the auspices of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, which provide the Pope with science advice.

“Human-induced climate change is a scientific reality, and its effective control is a moral imperative for humanity,” the declaration states.

The declaration reflects the scientific consensus on climate change, which holds that meeting the agreed upon global warming target of 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above preindustrial levels will be extremely difficult given current emissions trends. It says that Paris is the last chance the world has to meet that goal, above which world leaders and scientists say that more calamitous climate impacts, such as many feet of sea level rise and devastating droughts and floods, become more likely.

“The world should take note that the climate summit in Paris later this year (COP21) may be the last effective oppoortuniy to negotiate arrangements that keep human-induced warming below 2 degrees Celsius, and aim to stay well below 2 deg C for safety, yet the current trajectory may well reach a devastating 4 degrees Celsius or higher," the Declaration says.

The declaration continues:

Political leaders of all UN member states have a special responsibility to agree at COP21 to a bold climate agreement that confines global warming to a limit safe for humanity, while protecting the poor and the vulnerable from ongoing climate change that gravely endangers their lives. The high-income countries should help to finance the costs of climate change mitigation in low income countries as the high-income countries have promised to do.

The declaration adds to the political momentum for climate action during the run-up to Paris. The Pope himself will continue to advocate for world leaders to agree on a more sustainable development pathway, with dramatically lower greenhouse gas emissions.

The Pope stands apart from other advocates that are trying to rally the world to turn onto a global warming offramp, from President Obama to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, because he alone is appealing to moral, ethical and spiritual justifications for climate action. The Encyclical, in particular, reframed the climate challenge in ways that had never been done before.

At the mayoral meeting, Pope Francis echoed many of the themes he explored in the environmental manifesto.

“Taking care of the environment means an attitude of human ecology, so we can’t say that the person is here and the creation the environment is over there," Pope Francis said. "The ecology is something total, it is something human.”

“We cannot separate man from everything else," he said.

He said cities have grown in unsustainable ways, with an urban core surrounded by widening belts of poverty and shantytown slums.

“One of the things which we notice most, when there is not care for the environment and creation, is the uncurtailed growth of cities, the uncontrolled growth of cities,” Pope Francis said. “The cities grow but there are belts of poverty around them which grow wider.”

Pope Francis also discussed the problems of unemployment and migration, particularly human trafficking, which has taken on new importance this year as tens of thousands of migrants have attempted to make a perilous journey from Africa to Europe, many perishing during the voyage.

“There is a lot of unemployment and unemployment means that new people have to seek new horizons by emigrating.”

The mayoral meeting at the Vatican will continue on Wednesday, when the theme will be: “Prosperity, People and Planet: Achieving Sustainable Development in Our Cities.”

Source

SATANIC FRUITS OF NEWCHURCH: I Was a Gay Priest for 25 Years!

"Sacred Scripture itself confirms that sulfur evokes the stench of the flesh, as it speaks of the rain of fire and sulfur poured upon Sodom by the Lord. He had decided to punish Sodom for the crimes of the flesh, and the very type of punishment he chose emphasized the shame of that crime. For sulfur stinks, and fire burns. So it was just that Sodomites, burning with perverse desires arising from the flesh like stench, should perish by fire and sulfur so that through this just punishment they would realize the evil they had committed, led by a perverse desire. - St. Gregory the Great

Sodomite priest: Catholic bishops don’t have to wait for a change in doctrine in order to help, instead of hurt, LGBT people. Here are four proposals.

At age 54, and after 25 years as a Roman Catholic priest, I left the priesthood in November 2014, and came out as a gay man.

Seeking to be more honest with myself, and understanding the limitations that come with being a gay priest, this was a choice that was healthiest for me. There is no infrastructure within the Church to support me as a gay man. And the Church is not at her best when speaking to and about people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT), or even questioning their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Before leaving, I had a unique role in priesthood in that I provided leadership training, development, and consulting primarily for bishops and priests throughout the country. I served them, I assisted them, and I coached them.

Because I thought I had a credible relationship with bishops, in particular, I invited them to seize an opportunity regarding the LGBT community and the recent Supreme Court decision on marriage equality and October’s Synod on the Family at the Vatican, in which bishops and cardinals will discuss a range of issues related to family and evangelism.

The Church, and the bishops who lead it, have an opportunity to more thoughtfully and sensitively understand who we are as LGBT persons—and to use language that is responsible and respectful when speaking to us and about us. So, this past April, I reached out to the bishops I knew and offered my counsel.

Alas, only one of the 82 bishops I contacted has chosen even to respond. I found the non-response to be a great disappointment.

Still, as someone who was a Roman Catholic priest and who understands my own sexual orientation, I am offering to be a part of the solution for the Church leaders in their struggling relationship with LGBT people. Here are four things the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church can do, without changing Church teaching on sexuality: 

First, as the Hippocratic Oath holds, they should do no harm: pause the public statements that deny LGBT people’s experience of themselves, that fan the flames of fear regardingreligious freedom in America, and that perpetuate misunderstanding. Enter a period of silence and reflection—not hesitation, but consideration.

Second, to open such a period of reflection, bishops should organize an ad-hoc committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) that seeks to understand the LGBT community and persons—hopes, contributions, concerns, and self-identifying language. This understanding, then, influences a common national plan to use language and Catholic terminology that is pastorally respectful and inclusive whenever the LGBT community is addressed or discussed.

The next step would be to revisit the 2006 pastoral document,Ministry to Persons with Homosexual Inclinations, and the Pope John Paul II letter to bishops, Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, so as to update recommendations and language. For instance, gay persons are not persons who have “homosexual inclinations.” To refer to our expression of sexual love as “intrinsically disordered” is neither helpful nor useful.

Finally, put in place an education process, through the USCCB, to enable all ecclesial leadership—ordained and lay—to live a life of ministry and/or celibacy with more authenticity and self-acceptance. Currently, gay and bisexual priests and bishops, for the most part, are quietly closeted, even amongst themselves.

This sort of leadership can reap significant benefits for the Roman Catholic Church, both tangible and intangible:

First, bishops will finally be able to effectively demonstrate pastoral care and relevance to LGBT persons and all those with whom they relate and associate. Many members of the flock, the people of God, are LGBT. They are a part of families, and many of them worship as Catholics. And, of course, many of them have left the Church. This is an opportunity to exercise care and leadership and sensitivity.

Second, understanding LGBT persons and respecting their identities facilitates sensitivity when speaking about issues, concerns, and hopes—whether it applies to the Church or society. In theological terms, it manifests the love of God.

Third, it strengthens episcopal credibility. Ordained and professional ecclesial leaders will better respect bishops, and seek them out for guidance on how to better care for, speak about, and minister to LGBT persons—and how that translates into a holistic ministry for the full people of God.

Even in the absence of doctrinal change, promoting understanding, sensitivity, and proper language are acts of profound ministry. Through them, all of us become more inclusive, understanding, and respectful—even if we don’t always agree on issues or teachings.

My purpose is to be of service to the Church on this issue. There is a unique opportunity here given the events that are shaping people’s lives in the Church and throughout the nation. The right and responsible thing to do, as an act of leadership, is to understand LGBT persons, and to use language that respects them by listening and seeking to understand the joys and challenges they face in their lives. Everyone benefits, and the face of God is experienced more deeply.

Source

Related: Fr Steven Fisher: a tragic trajectory

Cardinal George Pell takes a swing at Pope Francis’ environmental encyclical!

By Rosie Scammell

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s financial chief, Cardinal George Pell, has taken the unusual step of criticizing Pope Francis’ groundbreaking environmental encyclical, arguing the Catholic Church has “no particular expertise in science.”

Nearly 18 months after Pell was brought to the Vatican by Pope Francis and given a mandate to reform the city-state’s banking affairs, the Australian cardinal gave an interview to the Financial Times, whacking his boss’ landmark document.

“It’s got many, many interesting elements. There are parts of it which are beautiful,” he said. “But the church has no particular expertise in science the church has got no mandate from the Lord to pronounce on scientific matters. We believe in the autonomy of science,” Pell told the Financial Times on Thursday (July 16).

In the papal letter, released last month, Francis called for global action on climate change and criticized world leaders for not addressing the issue urgently enough. While the pope won praise from environmental activists, others have argued the pope should not be wading into the political and scientific debate.

Until now, Pell had remained quiet on the contents of the encyclical, despite gaining a reputation in Australia as a climate change denier. In 2011, he clashed with the then-head of Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, Greg Ayers, who said Pell was “misled” in his climate change views.

Despite the cardinal’s criticism of the pope’s environmental stance, Pell noted the encyclical had been “very well received” and said Francis had “beautifully set out our obligations to future generations and our obligations to the environment.”

Since the document’s release the Vatican has hosted a high-level meeting on the environment, while Francis has taken his message on the road throughout Latin America.

Source

One Billion Euros "Tucked Away" in Vatican Bank revealed following Pope's reforms

By Desmond Busteed

An extra €1 billion euros have turned up on the Vatican's latest balance sheet in net assets that had never been reported before.

The 2014 budget is the first since major reforms of the Holy See's scandal-ridden finances were introduced by Pope Francis, which came into effect in March, under the new Secretariat for the Economy, Australian Cardinal George Pell.

The Vatican deficit fell from €37.2 million ($54.7m) in 2013 to €25.6m last year. The 30 per cent improvement was mainly due to currency fluctuations that boosted returns on investments.

"But we can't continue like this for too much longer,'' Cardinal Pell said in Rome On Thursday.

In an article for the Catholic Herald in December, Cardinal Pell said the new budgeting and reporting procedures had meant the secretariat discovered "some hundreds of millions of euros were tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet".

The Vatican's final figures for 2014 also showed a continued budget deficit on the part of the Roman Curia, but this was offset by profits coming from the Vatican Museums' "cultural activities," which include the Sistine Chapel.

The Director of the Office of the Prefect of the Economy, Danny Casey, the former financial guru for the archdiocese of Sydney, said the Vatican which totaled €1.1 billion, and liabilities, which totaled €222 million.

The most significant expense for the Holy See was the cost of its 2,880 staff, which totaled €126m.

Asked if it took blood, sweat and tears to get the Vatican accounts to this point Mr Casey said "just a bit". But, he said: "We've got our arms around it now and we know where to start."

The Vatican's offshore status has fueled rumors of unethical financial practices for decades, particularity since Roberto Calvi, dubbed "God's Banker," was found hanging under Blackfriar's Bridge in London in 1982, amid claims he was involved in mafia money-laundering.

Source

Does Walmart Do More for the Global Poor than the Vatican?

In reply to Pope Francis’s recent criticism of free market capitalism, AEI’s Mark Perry provides a provocative response.

Not only do free markets do more to reduce world poverty than the Catholic Church, says Perry, one single company—Walmart—had done more for the global poor than the Vatican:

I would argue that free market capitalism, American style, has done more to reduce world poverty than any anti-poverty efforts of the Catholic Church and the Vatican. In fact, I would even argue that just one free-market capitalist corporation – Walmart – might even do as much, or more, to alleviate poverty by providing everyday low prices and jobs for hundreds of thousands of low-income people than the anti-poverty efforts of the Catholic Church in the countries where Walmart operates (US, Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, India, China, and nine African countries). In addition to reducing poverty with low-cost groceries, clothing and household goods, Walmart improves the lives of underserved individuals and communities with $1.4 billion in charitable giving every year, which is almost $4 million every day!

Let’s clarify that what Perry is referring to is material poverty. Most Christians would point out that alleviating spiritual poverty is as necessary, and even more important, than reducing material poverty. On that scale the Catholic Church would contend that it is doing a great amount of good (as I’m sure Perry would agree).

But does Perry have a point about global material poverty? Does Walmart provide more financial benefit to the global poor than the Catholic Church?

Source

What kind of a drinker are YOU?

What kind of a drinker are YOU? 

From the Nutty Professor to the Mary Poppins, psychologists reveal how our personalities change when we've had a few

• University of Missouri-Columbia psychologists identified 4 types of drunk personalities: The Hemingway, Nutty Professor, Mary Poppins and Mr Hyde
• Hemingways change only slightly despite drinking large qualities
• Mary Poppins-style drinkers remain agreeable and conscientious
• But Mr Hyde and Nutty Professors change dramatically, to become more disagreeable and extroverted respectively, when drunk

The relaxing effects of a glass of wine or a pint of beer are well-known, but have you ever considered how your personality is affected by that tipple or two?

Psychologists have and now they’ve put identified four types of drunken personalities: The Hemingway, the Nutty Professor, the Mary Poppins and the Mr Hyde.

The Hemingways are the lucky ones who change only slightly even after large amounts of drink, the researchers from the University of Missouri-Columbia found.

                             

Psychologists have identified four types of drunken personalities: The Hemingway, the Nutty Professor, the Mary Poppins (pictured above) and the Mr Hyde. The Hemingways are the lucky ones who change only slightly even after large amounts of drink, they said. An image of the author, Ernest Hemingway is shown below.


                  

Specifically, members of this group showed fewer reductions in the personality traits such as conscientiousness, which is defined as being reliable, organised and prompt, and Intellect -understanding abstract ideas, being imaginative - than the rest of the sample, when drinking.

‘Notably, two previous studies have found that, on average, these two factors reportedly decrease the most with intoxication, so the moderate decreases demonstrated by this group make its members stand out as being “less affected” than drinkers in some of the other groups, much like the author Ernest Hemingway, who claimed that he could “drink hells any amount of whiskey without getting drunk,”’ the researchers said.

Just over four in 10 of those in the study fitted this category, which was made up of an equal number of men and women.

'Nutty Professors' however, change quite dramatically. They are the ones who suddenly gain confidence after imbibing a few.

Named after the main character of two Disney films who is chemically transformed into a more outgoing character, these people are particularly introverted when sober and become much more extroverted when drunk.

THE FOUR DRUNKEN PERSONALITIES: FROM MARY POPPINS TO MR HYDE 

The Hemingways: This group change only slightly when drunk, retaining a level of contentiousness and intellect.

Around four in 10 of the participants fell into this group.

The Nutty Professors: These drinkers become more confident and extroverted with a few drinks inside them. They also become less conscientious.

More men than women fall into this category and one in five participants overall.

The Mary Poppins: This group remains friendly, cooperative, compassionate and agreeable when drunk.

Around 15 per cent of participants fell into this personality group.

The Mr Hydes: This unfortunate group of people become less conscientious and intellectual, but more disagreeable when they drink. They are most likely to experience memory blackouts or be arrested.

The Mr Hydes made up 23 per cent of the drinkers, with more women than men.

'Nutty Professors' suddenly gain confidence after imbibing a few. An image of Eddie Murphy playing the role is shown. This group also show a large drop in conscientiousness when under the influence, the study found

This group also show a large drop in conscientiousness when under the influence, the study found.

One in five of those assessed were Nutty Professors, with more men than women falling into this category.

Meanwhile, members of the Mary Poppins group, which made up 15 per cent of the drinkers, embody the sweet traits of the ever-positive nanny of the screen production, rather than the less caring version in the book.

When sober, they score particularly high on the agreeableness scale, meaning they are friendly, cooperative, compassionate. 

And their positive outlook remains as the night wears on.

‘They decrease less than average in conscientiousness, intellect and agreeableness when intoxicated,’ the researchers wrote in the journal Addiction Research and Theory.

                       

People in the Mr Hyde group become increasingly disagreeable when drinking. An image of the sinister literary character is shown.

‘The Mary Poppins group of drinkers essentially captures the sweet, responsible drinkers who experience fewer alcohol-related problems.’

For the Mr Hydes, however, it is a very different story.

Named after the sinister alter-ego of Dr Jekyll, these people show large reductions in conscientiousness and intellect – as well as becoming increasingly disagreeable, when drinking.

‘In other words, members of this group, much like the dark-sided Mr Hyde, reported a tendency of being particularly less responsible, less intellectual, and more hostile when under the influence of alcohol than they are when they are sober, as well as relative to members of the other groups,’ said the psychologists.

This personality type is the one most likely to suffer the negative consequences of alcohol, they added.

‘Individuals in this group not only embody less savoury personality characteristics when drunk, but also incur acute harm from their drinking, for example experiencing a memory blackout or being arrested because of drunken behaviour.’

The Mr Hydes made up 23 per cent of the drinkers, with, again, more women than men.

Members of the Hemingway group showed fewer reductions in the personality traits such as conscientiousness, which is defined as being reliable, organised and prompt, and Intellect, than the rest of the sample, when drinking. An image of one of the author's favourite bars in Havana, Cuba is shown

For the study, the researchers asked 364 men and women to complete a 50-item personality test twice – once considering themselves as they normally are, and the other considering how they behave and feel when drunk. 

In order to gather honest answers the participants were assured that their responses would be kept in absolute confidence.

The researchers said that their findings could be used to develop treatment programmes for people who need help.

‘Some individuals “change” more dramatically than others when intoxicated, and the nature and magnitude of these changes can result in harmful outcomes,’ they said.

‘These results, as well as the concept of “drunk personality” more broadly, hold promise for developing novel assessment-based and motivational interventions for problem drinkers.’  

Source

Bergoglio: Blessed Mother doubted God...“What happened to all those things promised by the angel? “Where is he now?”

Pope's Homily in Paraguay's Marian Sanctuary of Caacupe

"Under the sign of the rosary, we know that we are never alone."

Below is the Vatican-provided text of Pope Francis' homily during the Mass he celebrated this morning in Paraguay's Marian Sanctuary of Caacupe, during his Apostolic Visit to Latin America, July 5-13:

Being here with you makes me feel at home, at the feet of our Mother, the Virgin of Miracles of Caacupé. In every shrine we, her children, encounter our Mother and are reminded that we are brothers and sisters. Shrines are places of festival, of encounter, of family. We come to present our needs. We come to give thanks, to ask forgiveness and to begin again. How many baptisms, priestly and religious vocations, engagements and marriages, have been born at the feet of our Mother! How many tearful farewells! We come bringing our lives, because here we are at home and it is wonderful to know there is someone waiting for us.

As so often in the past, we now come because we want to renew our desire to live the joy of the Gospel.

How can we forget that this shrine is a vital part of the Paraguayan people, of yourselves? You feel it, it shapes your prayers, and you sing: “Here, in your Eden of Caacupé, are your people, Virgin most pure, who offer you their love and their faith”. Today we gather as the People of God, at the feet of our Mother, to offer her our love and our faith.

In the Gospel, we have just heard the greeting of the angel to Mary: Rejoice, full of grace. The Lord is with you. Rejoice, Mary, rejoice. Upon hearing this greeting, Mary was confused and asked herself what it could mean. She did not fully understand what was happening. But she knew that the angel came from God and so she said yes. Mary is the Mother of Yes. Yes to God’s dream, yes to God’s care, yes to God’s will.

It was a yes that, as we know, was not easy to live. A yes that bestowed no privileges or distinctions. Simeon told her in his prophecy: “a sword will pierce your heart” (Lk 2:35), and indeed it did. That is why we love her so much. We find in her a true Mother, one who helps us to keep faith and hope alive in the midst of complicated situations. Pondering Simeon’s prophecy, we would do well to reflect briefly on three difficult moments in Mary’s life.

1. The birth of Jesus. There was no room for them. They had no house, no dwelling to receive her Son. There was no place where she could give birth. They had no family close by; they were alone. The only place available was a stall of animals. Surely she remembered the words of the angel: “Rejoice, Mary, the Lord is with you”. She might well have asked herself: “Where is he now?”. (??)

2. The flight to Egypt. They had to leave, to go into exile. Not only was there no room for them, no family nearby, but their lives were also in danger. They had to depart and go to a foreign land. They were migrants, on account of the envy and greed of the King. There too she might well have asked: “What happened to all those things promised by the angel? (??)

3. Jesus’ death on the cross. There can be no more difficult experience for a mother than to witness the death of her child. It is heartrending. We see Mary there, at the foot of the cross, like every mother, strong, faithful, staying with her child even to his death, death on the cross. Then she encourages and supports the disciples.

We look at her life, and we feel understood, we feel heard. We can sit down to pray with her and use a common language in the face of the countless situations we encounter each day. We can identify with many situations in her own life. We can tell her what is happening in our lives, because she understands.

Mary is the woman of faith; she is the Mother of the Church; she believed. Her life testifies that God does not deceive us, or abandon his people, even in moments or situations when it might seem that he is not there. Mary was the first of her Son’s disciples and in moments of difficulty she kept alive the hope of the apostles. A woman attentive to the needs of others, she could say – when it seemed like the feast and joy were at an end – “they have no wine” (Jn 2:3). She was the woman who went to stay with her cousin Elizabeth “about three months” (Lk 1:56), so that Elizabeth would not be alone as she prepared to give birth.

We know all this from the Gospel, but we also know that in this land she is the Mother who has stood beside us in so many difficult situations. This shrine preserves and treasures the memory of a people who know that Mary is their Mother, and that she has always been at the side of her children.

Mary has always been in our hospitals, our schools and our homes. She has always sat at table in every home. She has always been part of the history of this country, making it a nation. Hers has been a discreet and silent presence, making itself felt through a statue, a holy card or a medal. Under the sign of the rosary, we know that we are never alone.

Why? Because Mary wanted to be in the midst of her people, with her children, with her family. She followed Jesus always, from within the crowd. As a good Mother, she did not want to abandon her children, rather, she would always show up wherever one of her children was in need. For the simple reason that she is our Mother.

A Mother who learned, amid so many hardships, the meaning of the words: “Do not be afraid, the Lord is with you”. A Mother who keeps saying to us: “Do whatever he tells you”. This is what she constantly says to us: “Do whatever he tells you”. She doesn’t have a plan of her own; she doesn’t come to tell us something new. She simply accompanies our faith with her own.

You know this from experience. All of you, all Paraguayans, share in the living memory of a people who have made incarnate these words of the Gospel. Here I would like especially to mention you, the women, wives and mothers of Paraguay, who at great cost and sacrifice were able to lift up a country defeated, devastated and laid low by war. You are keepers of the memory, the lifeblood of those who rebuilt the life, faith and dignity of your people. Like Mary, you lived through many difficult situations which, in the eyes of the world, would seem to discredit all faith. Yet, like Mary, inspired and sustained by her example, you continued to believe, even “hoping against all hope” (Rom 4:18). When all seemed to be falling apart, with Mary you said: “Let us not be afraid, the Lord is with us; he is with our people, with our families; let us do what he tells us”. Then and now, you found the strength not to let this land lose its bearings. God bless your perseverance, God bless and encourage your faith, God bless the women of Paraguay, the most glorious women of America.

As a people, we have come home, to this house of all Paraguayans, to hear once more those words which are so comforting: “Rejoice, the Lord is with you”. They are a summons to cherish your memory, your roots, and the many signs which you have received as a people of believers tested by trials and struggles. Yours is a faith which has become life, a life which has become hope, and a hope which leads to eminent charity. Yes, like Jesus, may you be outstanding in love. May you be bearers of this faith, this life and this hope. May you continue to build these up in Paraguay’s present and for its future.

Gazing once more on Mary’s image, I invite you to join me in saying: “Here, in your Eden of Caacupé, are your people, Virgin most pure, who offer you their love and their faith”. Pray for us, Holy Mother of God, that we may be worthy of the promises and graces of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Zenit.org

Bergoglio still encouraging youth to 'make a mess!'

Pope Francis waves as he arrives to visit the Banado Norte neighborhood in Asuncion, Paraguay, July 12, 2015.

Pope closes South America trip urging youth to ‘make a mess!!’

Pope Francis left for Rome on Sunday at the end of a trip to South America during which he censured capitalism, championed the rights of the poor, warned of irreversible damage to the planet and urged youths to “make a mess”.

Bergoglio enjoys making a mess... Bergoglio smiles as he receives a Blasphemous Communist Crucifix!

In passionate speeches, the Argentine pontiff urged the destitute to change the world economic order and branded the unfettered pursuit of money as the “dung of the devil”. He also sought forgiveness for the sins committed by the Catholic Church against native Americans during the colonial era.

At a final rally in Paraguay, Francis urged tens of thousands of youths to look after their less fortunate peers and fight for a dignified life filled with hope and strength.

“They wrote a speech for me to give you. But speeches are boring,” the Argentine pontiff said to loud cheers, casting aside his script. “Make a mess, but then also help to tidy it up. A mess which gives us a free heart, a mess which gives us solidarity, a mess which gives us hope.”

It was not the first time Francis has called on young people to shake things up, repeating a mantra he voiced in Brazil in 2013 when he urged youngsters to demand a more outward-looking Catholic Church.

“We don’t want young weaklings. We do not want young people who tire quickly, who live life worn out with faces of boredom. We want youths with hope and strength,” Francis told the crowd, as night fell over the banks of the Paraguay River outside the capital Asuncion.

Earlier on Sunday the pope heard harrowing tales of life in a flood-prone shantytown and appealed to the slum dwellers, many forced from their farms and now squatting on city land, to stay united in their struggle for better living and working conditions.

The Argentine pontiff made defending the poor a major theme of his “homecoming” trip, which also took him to Ecuador and Bolivia, ranked among Latin America’s poorest countries.

On Saturday night, he said world leaders charged with promoting economic development must ensure it had a “human face” and denounced corruption as the “gangrene of society”.

In Banado Norte, murals adorned the walls of houses made of corrugated metal, wood and cement blocks. One of them read: “Yes to life, no to drugs, fight for change.”

“We built our neighborhoods inch by inch, overcoming difficult terrain, floods and hostile public authorities,” Maria Garcia, a local organizer, told him. “It’s been a tough fight to put up a home in the midst of hardship, but we never gave in nor let ourselves be swept away by sadness.”

HUMAN DIGNITY

From Banado Norte, the pope went to hold a mass for more than a million people in a disused air base.

The altar’s backdrop was designed by a local artist who used corn cobs, coconuts, squashes, beans, seeds and other local produce to create huge murals of St Francis of Assisi, from whom the pope took his name, and St Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, the religious order to which he belongs.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez flew in to attend the mass and greeted Francis at the altar at the end of the service. She and Francis had a tricky relationship when he was an archbishop, because of his criticisms of corruption and their differing views on social issues like gay marriage.

Francis has used two major speeches on his trip to excoriate unbridled capitalism and champion the rights of the poor.

In Bolivia on Thursday, he urged the downtrodden to change the world economic order and called for the poor to have the “sacred rights” of labour, lodging and land.

On Saturday he urged politicians and business leaders “not to yield to an economic model which is idolatrous, which needs to sacrifice human lives on the altar of money and profit”. Food and shelter were essential to human dignity, he said.

In a foretaste of his September trip to the United States, Francis said in Ecuador, a biodiversity hot spot, that protecting the environment was no longer a choice but a duty if the world wanted to save the planet from ruin.

Source