St. Daniel Church

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Courageous trust in God, oneself and others is needed to see the good in one's life and to be able to embrace a difficult and imperfect world, said the preacher of the papal household.

It is a matter of "adjusting our heart, happy to believe that reality, just as it is, can always be a place of happiness because it is the place where God chose to be with us forever," Capuchin Father Roberto Pasolini told Pope Francis and members of the Roman Curia in his Advent reflection Dec. 13.

Father Pasolini, 53, was named the papal preacher in November, succeeding Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, who, at 90, had served in the role for more four decades.

Father Pasolini began a series of weekly Advent reflections Dec. 6 on biblical prophets "who can point us to the ideal doors (of hope) to walk through for getting ready for Christmas and the upcoming Jubilee, too."

After reflecting on "the door of wonder" last week, the priest focused on "the door of trust" and having confidence or faith in something.

"It is a courageous choice to trust," he said, because "it is not a certainty free of risks" and it is not being naive or gullible.

"The Old Testament prophets teach us that trusting means keeping hope alive even in times of trial and desolation," he said.

God created humanity to be free, and "he respects our freedom," he said. God is "happy when we use it to become like him, and he respects this freedom even when we turn away and close ourselves off in sin and selfishness."

"If we turn away from his gaze, though, God cannot turn his gaze away from us. He continues to trust us because he recognizes us as his children capable of returning to him and thus also to ourselves," Father Pasolini said.

God knows that his trusting gaze is "the thing we need most when we are a little scared, frightened and stuck in life," he said. "Only trust releases our best resources and allows us to start walking again."

And, he said, faith in God and caring for others are not separable. "Our faith in God is authentic to the extent that we believe that trust and kindness are never superfluous in our relationships."

"It is a matter of always finding the time and the way to put ourselves in the other person's shoes," he said.

"I think we also need the ability to have such great faith in everything and everyone to generate a virtuous circle of friendship and solidarity," he said. "This is a very strong reminder for us and our own faith journeys where we often find ourselves to be reserved, distrustful and selfish."

"The door of trust," he said, requires "great responsibility. In order to pass through it, it is not enough to show some optimism or perhaps fake it with a few smiles."

"We need to turn our gaze toward God and open our hearts wide to the action of his Spirit," he said, because "it is his trust in us that reactivates the best resources we are capable of (giving)."

"Therefore, if we can rediscover trust not only in God but also in ourselves and in others," he said, "we will know how to see the good around us and then we will also know how to embrace reality" even when it is "uncomfortable, almost repulsive, by trying not simply to seek justice, but by repairing our heart."

The American Jewish Commitee and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs have published Translate Hate: The Catholic Edition.

The American Jewish Commitee provided a “glossary of antisemitic terms, phrases, conspiracies, cartoons, themes, and memes” for the 63-page resource. The US bishops’ committee provided annotations.

“It is more important than ever to renew our commitment to stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters against all forms of anti-Semitism,” said Bishop Joseph Bambera of Scranton, Pennsylvania, the chairman of the US bishops’ committee. “Sadly, we are currently witnessing a tragic rise in anti-Semitic incidents both globally and here in the United States, a painful reminder that our work is not done.”

Pope Francis received members of a Spanish seminary on December 12 and told them that the aim of priestly formation is “to become shepherds of the People of God, shepherds forged according to the measure of the Heart of Christ, humble and merciful.”

“Do not be afraid to open your heart to the Lord and allow yourselves to be accompanied by Him, so that He may shape your lives,” the Pope said to seminarians from the St. James the Apostle Interdiocesan Major Seminary of Galicia (map).

“Do not forget, moreover, that along the way you will meet many different people, some of whom may be going through difficult times, are wounded or do not know God,” the Pope continued. “Be witnesses of the joy of the Gospel for all of them, give them the Lord’s tenderness and consolation of the Lord so that he may heal their sores along the way.”

Pope Francis has named Auxiliary Bishop Ernesto Giobando, SJ, of Buenos Aires as bishop of Mar del Plata, Argentina—the third bishop appointed to the see in the past year.

In November 2023, Pope Francis appointed Auxiliary Bishop José María Baliña of Buenos Aires as bishop of Mar del Plata, Argentina’s fifth-largest city. Bishop Baliña resigned three weeks later, citing retinal operations.

In December 2023, Pope Francis appointed Auxiliary Bishop Gustavo Larrazabal, CMF of San Juan de Cuyo as the bishop of Mar del Plata. He, too, resigned a month later, and the Pontiff appointed Bishop Giobando as apostolic administrator.

Also, in May 2024, Archbishop Gabriel Antonio Mestre—who was bishop of Mar del Plata from 2017 to 2023— resigned from his new position at the Pope’s request. Archbishop Mestre said that he resigned at the Pontiff’s request “after confronting some different perceptions with what happened in the Diocese of Mar del Plata from November 2023 to the present.”

Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said that the “real motivation” of the Pope’s nine-hour visit to Corsica, scheduled for December 15, is his devotion to popular piety.

“The Pope’s attention to the theme of popular devotion and religiosity is well known, as demonstrated by the visits to so many shrines during his travels: in Latin America and in other parts of the world,” Matteo Bruni said at a December 12 press briefing.

During his visit to the French island, Pope Francis will attend the conclusion of a conference on popular religiosity in the Mediterranean region.

Pope Francis presided at an evening Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (video) and said that “the mystery of Guadalupe is to venerate her and to hear in our ears: ‘Am I not here, I who am your mother?’”

“Mary’s motherhood is recorded on that cloak, that simple cloak,” the Pope preached. “Mary’s motherhood is shown in the beauty of the roses that the Indian finds and takes with him, and Mary’s motherhood performs the miracle of bringing faith to the somewhat incredulous hearts of prelates.”

In his brief homily, delivered in Spanish, the Pontiff also warned that “ unfortunately many ideologies have sought to derive ideological benefit” from the message of Guadalupe.

Pope Francis received a delegation from ResQ – People Saving People and praised the organization for rescuing migrants in danger of death in the Mediterranean Sea.

“The action pursued by your organization aims to save lives: the lives of people fleeing from places where serious conflicts rage,” the Pope said in a December 11 audience. “Faced with the drama of forced migration, which at times becomes a tragedy, you did not remain indifferent, but asked yourselves: what can I, we, do?”

“At the root of this attitude is the conviction that every human being is unique, and their dignity is inviolable, whatever their nationality, the color of their skin, or their political or religious opinion,” the Pope added. “Unfortunately, many times it does not happen this way, and many lives are exploited, rejected, abused, and reduced to slavery.”

Pope Francis welcomed representatives of the Evangelical Baptist Roma Mission as “children of the same Father and brothers in Christ” and said that “fraternal cooperation among Christians is in itself a sign, a witness, the first instrument of evangelization for the benefit of all.”

After beginning the December 12 audience with a greeting to the Roma people, Pope Francis said, “I would like that, by welcoming this greeting, we renew the common certainty that nothing and no one can ever separate us from God’s love.”

“And may this certainty make us credible witnesses through an industrious charity, through some shared experiences of prayer and service,” he added.

Pope Francis has named four people—two cardinals and two women—to the Ordinary Council of the Synod, the group charged with implementing the directives of the Synod on Synodality and planning the next Synod.

The new members are Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, who was relator general for the October meeting of the Synod; Cardinal Roberto Repole of Turin, who was raised to the College of Cardinals last week; Sister Simona Bramballa, the secretary of the Dicastery for Religious; and Maria Lia Zervino, the president of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations. Under new Vatican rules, the members of the Ordinary Council for the Synod of Bishops need not be bishops.

The Ordinary Council consists of 17 members. The Synod elected 12 members, the Pope has appointed these four. The final member will be the prefect of the dicastery responsible for the issue to be discussed at the next Synod meeting; that issue—and thus the final member—has not yet been chosen.

Pope Francis met on December 13 with Najib Mikati, the interim president of Lebanon’s Council of Ministers.

During the meeting the Pope welcomed the ceasefire that has stopped active fighting in the south of Lebanon, and voiced his hope for a return to the country’s tradition of coexistence among different religious groups. He also expressed his concern about the prolonged failure of Lebanon’s political leaders to select a new president.