Cindy Wooden, Author at Crux

Pope urges Trappists to share their silence, simplicity

Pope Francis said the Trappist dedication to prayer is “an expression of your love for God and a reflection of a love that embraces all of humanity.” Being contemplatives, he said, is a process or journey in which the monks and nuns become “men and women of prayer, ever more pervaded by love for the Lord and transformed into his friends.”

Pope makes surprise visit to Rome rehabilitation center

Pope Francis visited the Santa Lucia Foundation rehabilitation center in Rome on September 22, The pope began the so-called “Mercy Friday” visits in late 2015 during the Year of Mercy. The visits were designed to reflect the spiritual and corporal works of mercy with “those who live in situations of physical and social exclusion.”

Vatican signs treaty to ban nuclear weapons

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican foreign minister, signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations Sept. 20. “Nuclear arms offer a false sense of security,” the archbishop said. “Peace and international stability cannot be founded on mutually assured destruction or on the threat of annihilation.”

Mercy can scandalize those who don’t see their own sin, pope says at Mass
- Catholic News Service, Vatican
- September 21, 2017
During his daily Mass on Thursday, Pope Francis said even today “we often hear faithful Catholics who see mercy at work and ask, ‘Why?'” But, Francis said, Jesus himself answered them when he said, “I have come not to call the just, but sinners.” So, “if you want to be called by Jesus, recognize you are a sinner.”
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Pope asks new bishops from Florida, Texas about hurricanes’ aftermath
- Catholic News Service, Church in the US
- September 14, 2017
Bishop William A. Wack of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, and Bishop Robert M. Coerver of Lubbock, Texas, went up to shake the hand of Pope Francis on Thursday, and as soon as he heard where they were from, the pope asked about Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma and the people in Texas and Florida.
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Don’t be embarrassed to talk about sex, youths tell Vatican officials
- Catholic News Service, Vatican
- September 13, 2017
Twenty people under the age of 35, along with 70 theologians, priests and academics were meeting September 11-15 as part of the preparatory process for the 2018 Synod of Bishops on “young people, faith and vocational discernment.” Pope Francis wants the synod to not just be about young people, but with young people, assuring they have a voice.
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