Anti-Trafficking Day: “Peace begins with dignity,” Pope stresses

In an Angelus with numerous prayer intentions, the Pope focused on “rekindling joy with concrete gestures of openness and attention to others”. Then, he recalled the feast of the Sudanese nun saint Josephine Bakhita, The first time she was enslaved as a child, she reaffirmed that “peace begins with dignity”.

He also thanked “the nuns and all those who are committed to eliminating the current forms of slavery”. 

In its message for the XII World Day of Prayer and Reflection against Hunger and Poverty Human Trafficking, The Holy Father reaffirms the Catholic Church's commitment to combat this scourge. He also thanks those who serve with delicacy and consideration in approaching victims of trafficking, including international networks and organizations. “I strongly renew the Church's urgent call to confront and put an end to this grave crime against humanity.”. 

‘Cura Valera”: encouragement for priests, “to be faithful in daily life”.”

Along with this appeal, the Holy Father reported on the recently beatified Don Salvador Valera Parra, ‘priest Valera’, in Huércal-Overa (Almería, Spain), “a parish priest fully dedicated to his people, humble and solicitous in pastoral charity. May his example as a priest fully focused on what is essential be an encouragement to the priests of today, so that they may be faithful in daily life lived with simplicity and austerity”.

The Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, said yesterday that the new Blessed, diocesan priest, archpriest and parish priest, in all circumstances, even the most risky, always stood by the weakest. «The sick, the poor and the needy who walked the streets and inhabited the houses of this land.”.

Prayer for Nigeria, and solidarity with those affected by floods

“It is with pain and concern that I have learned of the attacks in Nigeria, which have caused great loss of human life. I express my prayerful closeness to all the victims of violence and terrorism. I hope that the competent authorities will continue to act with determination to ensure the safety and security of every citizen,” the Pope added.

The Pope also assured his prayers for the populations of Portugal, Morocco, Spain, in particular Grazalema in Andalusia, and southern Italy, especially in Niscemi (Sicily), affected by heavy floods. “I encourage the communities to remain united and in solidarity, with the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary,” he said.

“God never discards us”, “attention to others to rekindle joy”.”

After having proclaimed the Beatitudes, the Pope meditated today on the Àngelus on this message of Jesus: “You are the salt of the earth. [You are the light of the world» (Mt 5:13-14)”.

“It seems that Jesus warns those who listen to him not to renounce joy. The salt that has lost its taste, he says, ‘is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by people’ (Mt 5:13).”.

The Successor of Peter said that “Jesus announces to us a God who never discards us, a Father who guards our name and our uniqueness”, and that “concrete gestures of openness and attention to others are what rekindle joy”.

Jesus himself was tempted, in the desert, by other ways, he stressed: to assert his identity, to show it off and to have the world at his feet. “But he rejects the ways in which he would have lost his true flavor, that which we find every Sunday in the breaking of the Bread: the life given, the love that makes no noise.”.

“Mary, Gate of Heaven”.”

“To Mary, Gate of Heaven,” the Pope concluded, “let us now direct our gaze and our prayer, that she may help us to be and remain disciples of her Son.”.