by Paul Brian Campbell,SJ

Sant Kabir was a 16th century mystic-poet revered by both Muslims and Hindus in India.

All his life, he maintained his humble trade as a weaver, living in a hut at the edge of the village. People would come from across India to ask him questions or hear him recite his heart-thrilling poetry, and he would comply joyfully, without interrupting his weaving work.

A group of Muslim scholars were not happy with his ecumenical approach, and decided to test his views in order to ascertain whether he was really Muslim or not. They informed Kabir of their intention and he happily invited them to come to his house the following day.

That evening, Kabir bought a herd of pigs (animals considered impure in Islam) and tied them to a post in front of his door. When the Muslim scholars arrived the next day, they had to push their way through a boisterous herd of pigs before reaching Kabir’s door.

They immediately started complaining and heaping harsh criticism on Kabir demanding to know how he could live in such filth. They thought their reception was disgusting and disrespectful.

Kabir replied calmly, “My learned and esteemed friends, I left my pigs outside, but you brought yours inside.”

by Catholic News Service

Pope Francis has created a five-person commission to review the activities and mission of the Vatican bank. The new pontifical commission, which includes two U.S. members, reflects the pope’s desire to ensure the bank’s activities are in harmony with the mission of the universal church and the Apostolic See, said a Vatican communique published June 26. The commission’s aim is “to collect information on the running of the Institute” for the Works of Religion, the formal name of the Vatican bank, and then to present the results to Pope Francis. The commission, which includes Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard law professor, and Msgr. Peter B. Wells, a top official in the Vatican Secretariat of State, is to have wide and unencumbered access to all “documents, data, information,” the Vatican said.

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Thousands of people packed into a sports hall in the southern Italian town of Pozzuoli to take part in a Requiem Mass for the 38 people who died when a coach plunged 25 metres off a motorway viaduct in one of the worst road accidents in Italian history.

An estimated 4,000 mourners attended the Requiem Mass, which was offered by the Bishop of Pozzuoli, Gennaro Pescarella.

Earlier, Pope Francis sent a telegram of condolence for the victims, saying he shared the “profound pain that has struck the Campania region” and ensuring his “fervent prayers for the many victims”. He prayed for eternal rest for those who had died, healing for the injured, and comfort for those who are mourning the loss of loved ones.

Many of the victims, including numerous young children, came
from Pozzuoli, just outside the southern city of Naples, and
many were related, adding to the sense of loss in the sweltering
hall where the funeral was held.

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the accident
focusing on suspicions of manslaughter, but no charges have been
laid and no clear indications have yet emerged as to what may
have caused the crash.

Listen to Christopher Wells’ report

Pope Francis on Wednesday announced the theme for the celebration of the 47th World Day of Peace.

The theme chosen for this occurence, celebrated every year on January 1, is : “Fraternity, the foundation and pathway to peace”. It’s the first World Day of Peace to be celebrated during the pontificate of Pope Francis.

The World Day of Peace was an initiative of Pope Paul VI and it is celebrated on the first day of each year. The Message for the World Day of Peace is sent to particular churches and chancelleries all around the world, drawing attention to the essential value of peace and the need to work tirelessly in order to attain it.

As the theme of his first Message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Francis has chosen Fraternity. Since the beginning of his Petrine Ministry, the Pope has stressed the need to combat the “throwaway culture” and to promote instead a “culture of encounter”, in order to build a more just and peaceful world.

Fraternity is a dowry that every man and every woman brings with himself or herself as a human being, as a child of the one Father. In the face of the many tragedies that afflict the family of nations – poverty, hunger, underdevelopment, conflicts, migrations, pollution, inequalities, injustice, organized crime, fundamentalisms – fraternity is the foundation and the pathway to peace.

The culture of personal well-being leads to a loss of the sense of responsibility and fraternal relationship. Others, rather than being “like us”, appear more as antagonists or enemies and are often treated as objects. Not uncommonly, the poor and needy are regarded as a “burden”, a hindrance to development. At most, they are considered as recipients of aid or compassionate assistance. They are not seen as brothers and sisters, called to share the gifts of creation, the goods of progress and culture, to be partakers at the same table of the fullness of life, to be protagonists of integral and inclusive development.

Fraternity, a gift and task that comes from God the Father, urges us to be in solidarity against inequality and poverty that undermine the social fabric, to take care of every person, especially the weakest and most defenceless, to love him or her as oneself, with the very heart of Jesus Christ.

In a world that is constantly growing more interdependent, the good of fraternity is one that we cannot do without. It serves to defeat the spread of the globalization of indifference to which Pope Francis has frequently referred. The globalization of indifference must give way to a globalization of fraternity.

Fraternity should leave its mark on every aspect of life, including the economy, finance, civil society, politics, research, development, public and cultural institutions.

At the start of his ministry, Pope Francis issues a message in continuity with that of his predecessors, which proposes to everyone the pathway of fraternity, in order to give the world a more human face.

Dear Brothers in Christ,

Fr. Ignatius Shen Tung-pai went peacefully to the Lord on July 31, 2013 at the Infirmary in Taipei at 8:45 p.m.

Fr. Shen was born in P’utong (Pudong), Shanghai, on Mar. 19, 1920. He entered the Society in Zikawei, Shanghai, on Aug. 30, 1942, was ordained to the priesthood on Mar. 18, 1955 at Baguio, Philippines, and made the last vows on Feb. 2, 1958 in Manila.

Yours in Our Lord,

John Lee Hua, S.J.
Provincial
July 31, 2013

Dear Brothers in Christ,

Fr. Ignatius Shen Tung-pai went peacefully to the Lord on July 31, 2013 at the Infirmary in Taipei at 8:45 p.m.

Fr. Shen was born in P’utong (Pudong), Shanghai, on Mar. 19, 1920. He entered the Society in Zikawei, Shanghai, on Aug. 30, 1942, was ordained to the priesthood on Mar. 18, 1955 at Baguio, Philippines, and made the last vows on Feb. 2, 1958 in Manila.

All priests of the Chinese Province will celebrate one Mass first intention for Fr. Shen’s eternal rest. Those who are not priests will offer one Mass and Communion and recite one “corona”. The members of Tainan – Kaohsiung community will offer two Masses, etc.

Yours in Our Lord,

Luciano Morra, S.J.
Socius
July 31, 2013

Celebrating the World Youth Day Holy Mass in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, Pope Francis told those present that it was time to go and to pass on this experience to others.

Addressing a crowd of over 3 million people gathered on Copacabana beachfront for the concluding Mass of the weeklong event, the Pope focused his message on the very theme chosen to run through World Youth Day: “Go and make disciples of all nations”.

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Pope Francis met with the leadership of the Council of Bishops’ Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean, CELAM, which is holding its general coordinating meeting this week. The meeting was one of two appointments expressly desired by the Holy Father outside the context of World Youth Day, during his week-long visit to Rio for the World Youth Day celebrations. The first was a visit to the Marian shrine at Aparecida.

It was in Aparecida in 2007 that the CELAM bishops held their 5th General Conference, which produced a major three-part document outlining a plan for assessment of the situation of the Church in Latin America and implementing pastoral strategies to renew and revitalize the faith in the region. In his remarks to the CELAM leadership, Pope Francis said that the desired renewal is already underway in many particular Churches. His prepared address focused on the legacy of CELAM 5.

Please find the full text of Pope Francis’ prepared remarks, below:

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Pope Francis on Wednesday visited Aparecida, where he celebrated Mass and had lunch with Bishops of and Seminarians in the Bon Jesús Seminary. When he returned to Rio, he visited the. St. Francis of Assisi of the Providence of God Hospital.

The director of the Holy See Press Office, Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, said one of the most touching moments was not officially on the schedule: Pope Francis met with a group of 30 nuns at the seminary for an unusual photo-op.

“This was not a classic group photo,” Father Lombardi said. “He began to talk with them. They were absolutely enthusiastic, crying and so on. They gave him books to sign, and the Pope began to sign. Then they began to embrace him, and kiss him. He accepted this, and every one of the nuns had a photo embracing and kissing the Pope…it was incredible, it was so happy, so spontaneous.”

Father Lombardi told Vatican Radio this is a typical response to Pope Francis.

“Someone said it was Latin American. Maybe it was Latin American, but it is human. Then at the end, the Pope said to the nuns, ‘I was Daniel in the lion’s [den]’ but he said this obviously with great sympathy and joy.”

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One of the highlights of World Youth Day is the catechesis given around the host city by bishops from around the world. These talks are given in several different languages, including English.

“The theme was given to us: It is the theme throughout the city today on ‘Thirsting for Hope and Thirsting for God’,” said Bishop Hugh Edward Gilbert, OSB, of Aberdeen in Scotland. “So I spoke about the desire that is in every human heart to see the face of God, and how the Revelation given that is given us by God through Christ answers that desire, so I was really speaking on the subject of desire, longing, the dissatisfaction in the human being that there is, and how that dissatisfaction does not condemn us to misery but is what opens us to the Revelation of God he brings in Christ.”

Bishop Gilbert was speaking to young people at the parish of San Giuda in Rio de Janeiro.

“They come because of the thirst in them to know Christ better. They already know him in some way, but they wish to know him better,” he told Vatican Radio. “Yes, that is the same thirst provoked in us by the Holy Spirit, surely.”

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