Importance of the Holy Spirit

Addressing leaders of France’s Congrès Mission, Pope Francis said: “I recommend you read the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles and see what the Holy Spirit does. It is the Spirit who guides the Church, he stirs hearts. And hope is born here. At times, letting oneself be shaken by the Holy Spirit can mean coming out of our habitual mindsets and even accepting to ‘mess up’.

“The Holy Spirit is the Master. The Holy Spirit urges creativity! Look at the lives of the saints: all creative, because there is the Spirit within! The Holy Spirit invites us to proclaim the Gospel not only in consolidated structures, but everywhere our brothers and sisters find themselves: proclaiming the Gospel in everyday life, in their joys, in their wounds, in their questions.”

The shame of hunger

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, spoke of the shamefulness of hunger, adding that no one should be allowed to die a needless death.

“Is it not shameful that we shall say in the future and history that people died here merely struggling for what to eat? Is it not a shame for the nation? And when the international community hears about it, they also wonder what is happening to Nigeria, despite our immense human and natural resources.”

The Catholic Church in Nigeria runs over 100,000 charitable and healthcare centres.

Attempt to ban confession

Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan expressed his surprise and condemnation at a bill before the Polish Parliament proposing the banning of confession for anyone under the age of 18.

He said: “It is difficult to understand how in a Christian culture, where confession has existed for nearly 2,000 years, suddenly a man appears who demands a ban on child confession.”

Gadecki argued that the proposed legislation was reminiscent of the anti-religious policies of the Stalinist era.

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)