The Holy Door of the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major was officially opened on Wednesday, January 1, 2025, marking the beginning of the Jubilee Year.
“In this issue the religious leader has a voice to say something and to add motivation to the present commitment of the world to tackle this issue,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said.
Our assembly took place in the context of a world in crisis, whose wounds and scandalous inequalities resonated painfully in our hearts, infusing our work with a particular gravity, especially since some of us come from countries where war rages.
“The Church has to change. Let’s think of the ways it has changed since the [Second Vatican] Council until now and the way it must continue changing its ways, in the way to propose an unchanging truth,” said the Holy Father.
Two clergymen from Asia were elected to the Synod’s Commission on Synthesis Report, the team tasked to oversee the preparation of the document that will summarize the topics discussed during the entire Synodal Assembly.
At Paul VI Hall, there were strong appeals for peace and the people suffering from war. “Reference was made to how Christians can be a sign of peace and reconciliation in a world disfigured by wars and violence," said Dr. Ruffini.
“Please stop the attacks and the weapons and understand that terrorism and war do not lead to any solution, but only to the death and suffering of so many innocent people,” Pope Francis was cited by the Vatican News.
For the President of the Commission for Information of the Synodal Assembly, the Synod on Synodality this October in Rome is not only a time for dialogue but also an opportunity to pause and profoundly listen to one another.
The Holy Father on Monday lengthily responded to questions or doubts called “dubia” presented by five Cardinals, according to the website of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The Holy Father named Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan, S.J., bishop of Hong Kong, China, for the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue and Cardinal Sebastian Francis, bishop of Penang, Malaysia, for Promoting Integral Human Development.
Pope Francis has published an Apostolic Exhortation building on his 2015 encyclical. “We’re not reacting enough,” he says, “we’re close to breaking point,” according to Vatican News.
Despite facing rejection, Jesus does not allow Himself “to be imprisoned by disappointment,” but instead looks to the Father, remaining “serene even in the storm,” the Pope said.
“That is why we ask, in common prayer, to learn again to be silent: to listen to the voice of the Father, the call of Jesus and the groaning of the Spirit,” Pope Francis said.
Speaking to RVA News from Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, Father Sales, a member of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM), said that it was a very happy experience for him and all Mongolian Catholics with Pope Francis’ apostolic visit.
"At the end of the half-hour meeting," Bruni said, "Pope Francis and the young people recited the Our Father together, "with their thoughts turned toward martyred Ukraine."
