Catholic Trek : Pope Francis

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Pope: Absurd To Follow Jesus & Not Church

EWTN News:

In his daily Mass, Pope Francis reflected on the intrinsic relationship between the Church and the People of God, emphasizing that we need to be humble and obedient to her teachings in order to be faithful.

“It is an absurd dichotomy to love Christ without the Church; to listen to Christ but not the Church; to be with Christ at the margins of the Church. One cannot do this. It is an absurd dichotomy,” the Pope explained in his Jan. 30 homily.

Pope Francis began his reflections, offered to those present in the chapel of the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse, by turning again to the figure of King David in the day’s first reading take from the Second Book of Samuel.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Pope Planning Asia Trip

Pope Francis traveling to Asia in 2014 or 2015:

The first Jesuit Pope in the history of the Church, who once wanted to go as a missionary to Japan, has his eyes fixed on Asia, the continent where two-thirds of the world’s population lives but where Christians count for a minority 3% , and Catholics 2%. He wishes to share the Good News of Jesus with the many Asian peoples who do not yet know him, and to build good relations with the leaders and followers of the other major religions that live there.

Benedict XVI did not visit Asia, but Francis is on record as saying that he intends to do so. Many Asian Church leaders say they expect him to make his first visit to their continent in the second half of 2014. He has received several invitations, including from the Philippines – the country with the largest Catholic population, Korea –a country with a vibrant Catholic Church, Japan - which he visited in 1987, where Shintoism and Buddhism are the dominant religions, and Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country which is still recovering from a bloody civil war and massive violation of human rights. The Vatican has yet to announce any such trip.