He told them, “Dear young people, you are not the future but the now of God and he invites you and calls you in your communities and cities to go out and find your grandparents and elders; to stand up and with them to speak out and realize the dream that the Lord has dreamed for you.”
Youth
Posted inFaith, News
Like Mary, be ‘influencers’ for God, pope urges at World Youth Day vigil
“Are you willing to be an ‘influencer’ like Mary, who dared to say, ‘Let it be done’?” he asked. “Only love makes us more human and fulfilled; everything else is a pleasant but useless placebo.”
Posted inFaith, News
At lunch in Panama, U.S. pilgrim questions pope on abuse crisis
While sharing a private lunch with pilgrims from around the world, Pope Francis expressed his solidarity with victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy and emphasized the need for unity and prayer, a U.S. pilgrim said.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
For World Youth Day pilgrims, the pope’s presence is a source of inspiration
The presence of the pope at W.Y.D. was something of the utmost importance, an invaluable gift, and a source of immense inspiration and affirmation of the pilgrims’ faith.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope Francis joins World Youth Day Way of the Cross in Panama
The pope said the road to Calvary is “a way of suffering and solitude” that is “prolonged in a society that has lost the ability to weep and to be moved by suffering.”
Posted inFaith, News
Jesus’ love does not use labels, pope tells young detainees in Panama
Speaking to young detainees at a penitential liturgy in Las Garzas de Pacora Juvenile Detention Center in Panama Jan. 25, the pope said society creates “an adjective culture” that prefers to immediately label people as good or bad rather than truly getting to know them.
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Cardinal O’Malley: World Youth Day is ‘an extraordinary grace for the church’
The cardinal described W.Y.D. as “an extraordinary event in the life of the church.”
Posted inDispatches, Faith
Panama mosque offers free water to World Youth Day pilgrims
While hundreds of vendors sold water to the thirsty, the Muslim community at the oldest mosque in Panama City gave it away for free near a banner that said, “Welcome Pilgrim Friends.”
Posted inNews, Politics & Society
Pope in Panama blasts corruption as he prays for Venezuelans
Pope Francis insisted Thursday that public officials live simply, honestly and transparently as he opened a visit to a Central American region that has been rife with corruption scandals and is now coping with political upheaval in nearby Venezuela.
Posted inFaith, News
Pope brings World Youth Day to Panama’s detained youth
Francis on Friday will celebrate a special penitential Mass inside the Las Garzas de Pacora detention center, which is Panama’s main youth lockup.