Month: May 2024

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – A foundation that promotes devotion to St. Pio of Pietrelcina, more widely known as Padre Pio, is making 10 never-before-seen photographs of the saint available to the devout for free.

The images provide personal insight into the life, attitude and spirituality of 20th-century saint, said the photographer. Some photos show Padre Pio solemnly celebrating Mass while in others he is smiling while surrounded by his confreres.

Elia Stelluto, Padre Pio’s personal photographer, stood proudly — camera in hand — before posters of the 10 new images for the presentation of the photos in the Vatican movie theater April 29.

“It’s enough to look at one image of his face” to understand Padre Pio, he told Catholic News Service. “With that you can understand so much; each photo has its own story, one must at them look one by one and that way you see so much more in his expressions.”

Stelluto photographed the saint for decades at the convent where he lived in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy.

During the photo presentation, Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, said the new photos highlight Padre Pio’s identity as someone who was close to those around him and was filled with joy. He said that although it was not customary to smile in photos at the time, candid photos taken by Stelluto show the saint beaming broadly as he was huddled in a group.

Luciano Lamonarca, founder and CEO of the Saint Pio Foundation which promotes devotion to the Italian saint and organized the publication of the photos, said many people would come to Stelluto requesting his photos for articles and books.

“I never saw any kind of availability for the people” to see the photos directly, he said. That’s why he thought, “Padre Pio is the saint of the people, we must do something for the people.”

Lamonarca, an Italian who lives in the United States, said since many people with a devotion to Padre Pio are unable to visit the areas where the saint lived and ministered, he asked himself, “how does one bring Padre Pio to them, the true Padre Pio, the most authentic form of Padre Pio?”

That’s what spurred him to partner with Stelluto to make the photos available to the public, excluding their use for commercial purposes, by being free to download via the St. Pio Foundation website.

Lamonarca said he hoped that by “looking at the image of a greatly suffering father who could also laugh,” people would think to themselves, “if he could laugh, we can laugh too.”

Stelluto described the images he had taken of Padre Pio as “mysterious,” since they always came out clearly despite dark lighting conditions.

He recalled the challenge of taking photos in a dark convent, coupled with Padre Pio’s distaste for the flash of a camera, especially during Mass, and exclusive use of dim candles to light the altar.

“It’s not that I was talented in doing this, I still don’t understand the thing,” Stelluto said during the photo presentation. “The truth is that he was the source of light.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Religious men and women need to be setting people’s faith on fire, not stamping it out, Pope Francis said.

“It makes me sad when I see religious who seem more like firefighters” than men and women who are ardently filled with the flame of faith and ready to share it with others, he told representatives of congregations founded by St. Magdalene of Canossa during an audience at the Vatican April 29.

Members of the Canossian Sons of Charity, also known as the Canossian Fathers, and the Canossian Daughters of Charity were holding their general chapters in Rome with the theme, “The one who does not burn does not set on fire!”

Reflecting on their theme, the pope encouraged them to set people’s faith ablaze and, “please, no firefighters! We already have too many.”

The pope encouraged the Canossian family’s collaboration with each other and with laypeople, “who are increasingly active and involved.”

“This is important: to have laypeople involved in the spirituality of an institute and who collaborate with its apostolic work,” the pope said.

Their legacy also brings about challenges, he said, “but St. Magdalene showed you how to overcome difficulties.”

He encouraged them to emulate her “when the path becomes difficult.” Look at the crucified Jesus and “look into the eyes and wounds of the poor, and you will see that slowly the answers will make their way into your hearts with ever greater clarity.”

During the same audience, the pope also greeted members of the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel, who were attending their general chapter in Rome April 3-May 1.

He praised their great international diversity, calling it a “richness” given to them by God.

This treasure “will do so much good for your growth and your apostolate if you know how to live by welcoming and constructively sharing diversity, among yourselves and with everyone,” the pope said.

“Uniformity in a religious institute, in a diocese, in a lay group, kills,” he said. “Diversity in harmony makes one grow.”

“This is an important message, especially in our world, often divided by selfishness” and divisive distinctions, he said.

Diversity is a precious gift to be shared, he said, encouraging them to “be prophets of this with your lives.”

During XVIII Assembly of the Italian Catholic Action in Sacrofano, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, told those gathered that “the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is now clear on the horizon and looming for the next jubilee year” of 2025.

According to the Italian newspaper Avvenire, the declaration was met with resounding applause by the thousands of members present, marking a momentous occasion for devotees of Frassati and the wider Catholic community. An official declaration on the matter has yet to come from the Vatican.

Pier Giorgio Frassati, born in Turin in 1901, has inspired countless young people. During his life he was known for his zealous love of God and dedication to serving the less fortunate. Though brief, his life was vibrant with activities ranging from mountaineering to serving the poorest through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, showcasing his dynamic approach to faith and charity. He was also a lay Dominican. He died at the young age of 24 and was beatified in 1990.

During his homily at Pier Giorgio’s beatification Mass, St. John Paul II described Frassati as “the man of the Beatitudes.” He emphasized that Pier Giorgio lived his Christian vocation with joy and pride as part of Catholic Action, the first Catholic lay association founded in Italy in 1867, committing himself to loving Jesus and seeing Him in everyone he met.

In his message for World Youth Day 2016, Pope Francis encouraged young people to look to Pier Giorgio’s example. The pope said, “Pier Giorgio was a young man who understood what it means to have a merciful heart that responds to those most in need.” He urged young people to respond to the needs of the poor the way Pier Giorgio did, in a hidden and unassuming way.

The canonization would recognize Pier Giorgio’s impact not only as a spiritual figure but also as a social advocate in his hometown of Turin, where he is considered one of the city’s “social saints.” His efforts in defending the faith and engaging in charitable works set a powerful example of how the Christian faith can intersect with all human experiences.

Giuseppe Notarstefano, president of Italian Catholic Action, expressed immense gratitude for the news to the Italian newspaper Avvenire, seeing it as a “precious gift” to the association, especially as they celebrate their National Assembly. He reflected on how Frassati’s life embodied the ethos of Catholic Action, blending daily life with faith and creating an enduring legacy of Christian fellowship and social advocacy.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The most important outcome of the current Synod of Bishops on synodality is the synodal process itself and not the hot-button topics discussed, Pope Francis said.

With the second synod assembly scheduled for October, the pope said the synod process is approaching its “most challenging and important” stage — the point at which it must become “prophetic.”

“Now it is a matter of translating the work of the previous stages into choices that will give impetus and new life to the mission of the church in our time,” he told members of the Italian Catholic Action lay association in a packed St. Peter’s Square April 25.

But he noted that “the most important thing of this synod is synodality, the subjects and topics (discussed) are there to advance this expression of the church that is synodality.”

“For this, there is a need for people forged in the Spirit, for ‘pilgrims of hope,'” Pope Francis said, “men and women capable of charting and walking new and challenging paths.”

In March, Pope Francis decided that some of the most controversial issues raised at the first synod assembly “requiring in-depth study” will be examined by study groups; the groups are to issue preliminary reports to the synod assembly in October and give their final reports to the pope by June 2025.

The 10 themes to be explored by the study groups include the guidelines for priestly formation, the role of women in the church and their participation in community leadership, listening to the poor and the criteria for selecting bishops.

While some questions require deeper study, Pope Francis told the crowd to “be athletes and standard bearers of synodality in the dioceses and parishes of which you are part, for a full implementation of the (synodal) path taken so far.”

The Vatican said that 60,000 children, young people and adults were gathered in and around St. Peter’s Square for the association’s meeting with the pope.

Italian Catholic Action is a lay Catholic association with roots going back to 1867. In 2021, Vatican News reported that the group had more than 270,000 members.

Looking out into the crowd gathered within the arms of Bernini’s colonnade, the pope asked them to promote peace by being witnesses of the human embrace.

“At the origin of wars are often missed or rejected embraces, which are followed by prejudice, misunderstanding, suspicion, to the point of seeing the other as an enemy,” he said. “All this is unfortunately before our eyes these days in too many parts of the world.”

Pope Francis also encouraged them to let themselves be embraced by God’s love which is revealed in the Eucharist and in Christ on the cross.

“Brothers and sisters, let us be embraced by him, like children,” he said. “We each have something childlike in our hearts that needs a hug. Let us be embraced by the Lord, that way, in the embrace of the Lord we learn to embrace others.”