Tag: vatican

Shimon Perez and Mahmoud Abbas will meet at Vatican on June the 8th


(by pio dal cin)

 Shimon Perez and Mahmoud Abbas will meet at the Vatican on June 8th
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Is...
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Israeli President Shimon Peres. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(by pio dal cin)Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet at the Vatican and pray for peace together at an unprecedented gathering on June 8, the Vatican said on Thursday.

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St. Francis of Assisi (circa 1182-1220)
St. Francis of Assisi (circa 1182-1220) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
St. Francis of Assisi (circa 1182-1220) (Photo credit:Wikipedia)
Pope Francis waves to crowds
Pope Francis waves to crowds (Photo credit: Christus Vincit)

(by pio dal cin) Stunning decision by Pope Francesco today when he announced that He will not move into thePapal Apartmentpreviously occupied by His predecessor Benedict XVI but He will stay in the Santa Marta Humble Apartment  where he was when theConclave was held.

The decision underlines a behaviour that has made George Bergoglio, Pope Francis, or Papa Francesco as you may want to call the new Pontiff, so popular with millions of people. 

Few days ago He announced that the Good Thursday’s celebrations of the “washing of the feet” will be held in a Jailhouse in Rome, where minors are detained for small crimes.

His ways and His words of Peace and Poverty, resemble more and more the life and the “modus operandi” od Saint Francis of Assisi, the most famous Saint of Christianity who left all his belonging to the poors and tried to be in touch with the last ones, trying to live pratically the teachings of Jesus.

Today’s decision of staying in the apartment he shared with His fellow Cardinals during the conclave determines the path that He is going to take during His Papacy and makes people go crazy for Him and His simple ways


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(by pio dal cin)

MAR
22

The Real Twitter account of Pope Francesco

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase

Pope Francesco. The power of humility.Many fear for His life


(by pio dal cin)

Pope Francesco George Bergoglio has conquered the Hearts of the people. First with the choice of the name, taken from  Saint Francis of Assisi,the greatest Saint in the history of Catholic Church, known around the world for his simple ways and love for the poor. When Pope Francesco was elected last week, the Dalai Lama made a short statement saying ” Although I am not familiar with all the Saints of Christianity, I know Saint Francis of Assisii very well as a man of simplicity and Love for all Creatures of the Universe”.

Personally I have detached myself from the Catholic Church in the last years. I could not understand what was happening. When I learned that the Vatican owns the most powerful bank in the world the IOR, I was disgusted, and even more when I red in the past weeks about a scandal that was rocking the Vatican’s owned bank involving a sum of  ten million of Euros.

Wasn’t the Church supposed to be poor? Wasn’t the Church supposed to help the poor, the needy, the last ones? Why all this Love for richness and confort? Why was the Pope travelling around sporting a golden cross and ring that could have easily made the yearly  budget of a couple of middle class families?

If that was the case, plus the pedophile’s scandals that we all heard about and the misterious Vatileaks files, it was enough to call myself out.

I  travelled the world during my years as a young photojournalist, trying to discover the “Thruth”. As I grew up in a small town in Northern  Italy, I always wanted to find out what was on the other side of the fence. I often asked myself it there was a Religion that could represent my need for the Immense, a Religion that could be considered the “Right One”.

I studied  Islam, Ebraism, Buddhism, not in schools or in the books (even though I red about them  whenever I found an interesting text) but through the people I met, because I felt that the best way to get to know a new way of thinking , was through understanding the people and how the Religion itself was perceived by them.

When I realized that all of these three major Religions have all some of “the Truth” but none of them have the “complete truth” I came in touch with the Native American philosophy and Spirituality. I like that very much and I believe that the natural way of worshipping the Creator is a very interesting and fulfilling way to live, in respect for all Creatures of the Universe.

That brought my thoughts back to Saint Francis of Assisi, a man who was the son of the richest person in town and decided to give up all he had to go help the poor and the needy. He loved each and every creature he met. He was the living testimony of the word of Jesus.

Pope John Paul I was a bishop in Vittorio Veneto Italy, when I met Him.

He was a very simple person, like Pope Francesco. He also wanted a poor Church but His papacy only lasted 33 days. Many books and articles have been written about Him and his death. Some say he was killed, but the conspiracy, if there was ever one, was never discovered.

In Italy we live the news of this Pope Francesco as a great blessing. Something we were all waiting for. A Simple Church that can show us through the Pope that simple ways can go a long way. George Bergoglio was living the New Testament even when He was a simple priest, then as a Cardinal, now as a Pope He is trying to tell the world that the world can be changed, that the Church itself can go back to the original. 

“I Love this Pope, but I hope He will last” is the most common comment I have heard in the past week. It seems impossible that such a simple man, who love simple ways can really be leading the Catholic Church out of the muddy waters.

The fear for His life is a real feeling that I sensed talking to many people. Every comment as I said, ends with ” I hope He will last..”

This odd feeling comes from the fact that many know that there is corruption and evil inside the Vatican as there is inside any other Government in the world. 

The Church is made by people and there is good an bad everywhere. If there was a right time for a “Saint Francis of Assisi” this is it, and by assuming His name, George Maria Bergoglio has taken a very heavy load on His back. That is probably why, on the night he was elected as the successor of Saint Peter, he kneeled before the two hundred thousand people who gathered under the rain to receive His first blessing as Pope Francesco, and with great humility, after greeting them with a “Brothers and Sisters, Buonasera”, he asked  for a moment of silence and a prayer; the people’s prayer for the Pope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8IyCuTVXZ8

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Pope Francis will clean the Vatican like San Francesco


(by pio dal cin)March 15th 2013 00:18 a.m (Rome Time GMT+1) As Pope Francesco begins His Papacy with a visit to the Church of  Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome to pay respect to Mary Mother of Jesus. known to the people of Rome as

Maria Salus Populi Romani.


 
Pope Francesco boarded a simple car instead of the Official Vatican Car and with a simple bouquet of flowers in His hand went to the Church to pray silently for about ten minutes in front of the Altar.
 
His simple ways highlited here by The New York Times appeared immediate as He choose his papal name as Francesco as the Greatest Saint in the History of the Church.

Even the +Dalai Lama  made a +Google+  post to acknowledge that He knows and Loves Saint Francis of Assisi for His discipline,simple ways, and Love for All Creatures.

Being the first Pope ever to choose  such a Great Name puts Him on a very important spot. Not easy to manage.

The need for a simple Man that can embrace the Original Message of Jesus through the New Testament withnessed in person by Saint Francis of Assisi was strongly needed in a corrupted and evil world that hasn’t spared even the Vatican in the past decade.

1)Vatican Leaks
2)Pedophile Scandals in the Catholic Church
3)The IOR Vatican Bank Scandals
4)Vatican richness

He has a though job ahead of Him, but His simple ways (He greeted the crowd in St.Peter with a “Fratelli e Sorelle Buonasera”) have already conquered the world. He asked the people who gathered in the Square to Bless Him, before He would Bless them.
How many Wolves will this Pope with Italian Origins will have to encounter inside the Vatican, like

Saint Francis with the Gubbio’s Wolf (see video here)

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Pope Francis George Bergoglio has Italian Origins


(by pio dal cin) March 13 2013 10:50 pm Rome Time (GMT+1) A Pope that choses to call Himself for the first time ever in the history of the Catholic Church Francesco I has shown the world as He appeared on theSaint Peter‘s Balcony Blessing the crowd and the World that He is going to inspire Himself to the example of Saint Francis of Assisi.

First Pope from Argentina, First Jesuit Pope. He is known for His simple ways and poverty.
When He was to come to Rome to be elected Cardinal by John Paul II he asked the people who collected the money to make the trip to Italy, to give the money in charity to the poor.

George Bergoglio has a though job in front of Him. The scandals of pedophilia, Vatican Leaks and the handling of the most powerful bank in the world owned by theVatican , the Most Secret Bank in the world (IOR).

He will have to find the strenght to fight all these “evils” but He has what it takes. Pope Francis has Italian Origins as he was born in Portacomaro Piedmont before his father emigrated in Argentina.

St. Francis of Assisi (circa 1182-1220)
St. Francis of Assisi (circa 1182-1220) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

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New Pope O’Malley Cardinal with “what it takes” (a plea to the Holy Spirit)


(by pio dal cin) Saturday March 9th 2013 7:00 Rome Time.
With the Conclave Extra Hommnes  from the Latin word “cum clavem” (with key) that comes from what happened in 1270 when the people of Viterbo locked the cardinals in the City’s Palace until they reached the election of Gregory X

The process to elect the new Head of the Catholic Church will begin on Tuesday March 12th. 
As I stated in a previous post( A fool’s prediction),  trying to make a prediction is like to be able to guess the lottery numbers. Anyone can be right or wrong.


I was brought up a Christian Catholic in a very strict way. My name comes from Padre Pio da Petrelcina whom my dad met many times when he was a “small friar” battered by the Church and confined without the permission to Celebrate the Mass as he was becoming popular among the crowds for His “miracles”.

                      (Mons. Albino Luciani-Pope John Paul the I with my father) I met two Popes personally in my life: Pope John Paul

the I and Pope John Paul the II. (foto copyright pio dal cin 2013)



During my travelling around the World, as a photojournalist I came in touch and I studied 
Islam, Ebraism, Buddhism and the Religion of the Native Americans, out of my curiosity of understanding where, if there is one, lies the Truth.

I must admit that I wasn’t thrilled about Pope Benedict VXI; not much for His great personality and profound culture, but for the fact that he “sported” those huge golden crosses on His neck and the “fisherman ring” was big enough to buy a couple of apartments.

I kept repeating to myself that “This cannot be Sacred..” Isn’t the Church supposed to support the poverty as one of the three wows?”

Native Americans have a saying “If it is Sacred it must be Free..” I like this. But how many controversial, not free items are there in the Catholic Church today? Why is the Legacy of Saint Peter obliterated by scandals of the Vatican’s funds of million of Euros? 

I learned that the IOR (the Vatican Bank)is the most powerful bank in the whole world.


This should change, in my humble opininion. Saint Francis of Assisi was called by Jesus
to “Repair the Church”“Vai Francesco, ripara la mia Chiesa” and was cited here by Benedict VXI.

Times are very hard and the sex scandals, Vatican Leaks and not so transparent transactions of the Church are “rocking the Boat” like never before. 

Given my statement that “You have to be a Fool to make a prediction of choosing a Pope”, I will have another approach and “write a letter of plead to the Holy Spirit“, asking to pick the only one I saw that fits the description of Saint Francis of Assisi: Cardinal Sean O’Malley (read His blog)

LETTER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT: I will start with this Song to the Holy Spirit, that is sung by the Cardinals upon entering the Conclave, to ask for Divine Inspiration.






Dear Holy Spirit,

I am just a grain of sand in the Universe. I understand nothing about the Laws and the Forces that balance the Great Space.

Many Humans call upon Your Force and Greatness. Some call You Great Spirit, other call You Holy Spirit, other do not even believe in You.

During these days the Catholic Church is called to elect the Captain of the Ship.  

It is been very hard for me in these past years to believe that Your Holy Presence is among those walls, given all the scandals that we heard about.

It is very hard to boftenelieve that the Spirit of Jesus and of Saint Peter, and Saint Francis of Assisi is behind the gold and richness ofnen shown by those who are called to be Your servants, while there are million of people who suffer in the World.

So here is my humble plea: If You are really among those walls, Shed  a Great LIght upon those who are called to elect the new Pope so that His ways will be as Jesus requested of
simplicity and trasparency. a real Sheperd that can show the World that Jesus is still among us human beings in the way HE  taught us.

My pick is Sean O’ Malley

(I know that You don’t need suggestions but at least I casted my vote)

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The new Pope? Who will He be? A fool’s prediction(mine)


(by pio dal cin) March 6th 2013 11:00 pm (GMT+1)
As I red the “Washington Post” article about the”AmericanCardinals” involved in the election of the new Pope, my attention was attracted by these few lines:
“Di Nardo and O’Malley drew laughs when one reporter asked O’Malley, a member of the Capuchin order, if he would continue to wear his trademark brown robes if elected pope.

“I’ve worn this uniform for over 40 years and I presume I will wear it until I die,” he said. “I don’t expect to be elected pope, so I don’t expect to have to change.”
t
This was the second time I heard this today: first time on the Italian National Radio. The words “Capucine” attracted my attention, as I did not know that there was an American Cardinal who wears the “saio” (the Capucine uniform) for forty years.
 
Whomever tries to make a prediction about who is going to be the next Pope is a fool, as there are two ways of looking at this event that is monopolizing the attention of over Five thousand accredited journalists from all over the world:
 
A): The Vatican is a Earthly Power made by people like you and I, owners of the most powerful bank in the world (the IOR). As any other power on this earth the election will deliver the new Pontiff as the Head of a State (The Vatican)and any name among the 115 cardinals could be the one to take St.Peter’s Legacy.
 
B): As seen from a Christian Catholic point of view the “Conclave” is fueled by the Holy Spirit, therefore the Chosen will be absolutely without any possibility of mistake the “Right One”.
 
After this any prediction is impossible. There are no ways. Probably guessing the Lotto numbers will be a lot easier.
 
A FOOL PREDICTION
 
My name is Pio. My father Narciso named me after a Capucine Saint he had the priviledge of knowing when He was an unknown Capucine Friar healing people and making “miracles.
The Church confined him without the permission to celebrate the Holy Mass, for ten long years, on the ground that He, Himself was considered “strange”. He is now a Saint; Saint Pio or better known as “Padre Pio da Petrelcina”.
 
I grew up in a very Christian Catholic environment and my life was filled with its simbols from my childhood. I had the opportunity of meeting two Popes in my life: the first one was John Paul the First, Albino Luciani. More than once, as He was the Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, where I grew up, and then, during a private visit of my family to the Partiarcat of Venice, where He spent his last years before becoming Pope John Paul I.
 
The second Pope I met was Pope John Paul II for three times as I followed him as a young photojournalist during His vacation on the Dolomites‘ town of Lorenzago.
Does this make me an expert on Popes?
Absolutely not, just another fool trying to make a prediction.
 
HARD TIMES FOR THE CHURCH
 
Times are hard for the Catholic Church, battling amid sex scandals and the “Vatican Leaks” files.
The need is for a strong Pope, one Captain that can take the helm of the Ship and go trough one of  Church’s worst hurricanes in history.
 
It is time for a Pope with the “saio” who can bring the Church back to the times of Saint Francis of Assisi, the poor friar who made a great revolution in the Church with His humble, poor ways.
Without a Pope that can rid the Vatican from all the “evils” represented by richness, golden crosses, money trades that cannot be tracked for million of Euros and all the sex scandals that have come up in the last few years, more than a Ship, it will look like the Titanic, headed for a Iceberg.
 
As a Fool prediction I will pick Cardinal O’Malley, hoping that if He gets elected He will keep wearing the “saio” for the next forty years, but this time as a Pope, making the “B” option above more credible.

 

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