This site uses cookies to store information on your computer. By using this site, you consent to the placement and use of these cookies. Read our Privacy Policy to learn more.
ACCEPT
For the first time in over two years, Pope Francis rode through the crowd in St. Peter’s Square on the popemobile to begin his Wednesday audience. The Holy Father continued his series of catechesis on the value of old age and the elderly, and explained how the fourth commandment, “honor your father and your mother” extends not only to family, but to all people from older generations.
He expressed his disappointment in today’s youth culture which disregards the value of elderly people, and referred to an instance in Italy of kids who lit an elderly homeless man’s blanket on fire.
“These kids who burned the covers of a homeless person are the tip of the iceberg,” Pope Francis said, “of the contempt for one’s life that is far from the ways of youth and seems like a waste of life, waste is the key word here. To disregard the elderly is to discard their lives, to put them apart, throw them down.”
The pontiff then urged parents to bring their children close to the elderly people in their lives to combat the culture of waste.
“Please, bring your kids, young children, close to the elderly, always bring them close,” the Holy Father said. “And when the elderly person is ill, or can’t think right, keep bringing them close, so that they may know that this is our flesh, this has made it possible for us to be here. Please do not keep the elderly far away.”
Pope Francis then greeted various groups of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, and thanked those from Poland for welcoming Ukrainian refugees into their homes. He then delivered his blessing while surrounded by Easter flowers.
A new face has made an appearance at Carilion’s Crystal Spring Tower Construction Site. Josh Young has brought the ‘Where’s Waldo’ stories to life.
“To try to do something unique, something to brighten their day,” Josh said. “So we came up with the idea to take a cut out of Waldo. Everybody knows the children’s story, Waldo. So we take him each day and put them in a new spot somewhere on the site, so the kids have something to look forward to.”
The site is right below Carilion Children’s hospital, giving patients and staff the perfect view to ask ‘Where’s Waldo?’
“And I literally just got this, like little spark of joy,” said staff member Kathleen Boone. “Um, and this really like fun moment.”
Carilion life specialist Kathleen Boone says its important to bring joy and play to pediatric patients and Waldo is doing just that.
“I can imagine that’s what the children are feeling as well,” Kathleen said. “Just a fun surprise and something that they weren’t expected and something that brings them joy, which is really important to have those pockets of joy I think here because it can be really difficult.”
Each day, you can find the eight-foot-tall Waldo cutout hiding in a different spot at the construction site.
“Just to brighten the day over there with the community and the patients and the staff,” Josh said, “and had guys lined up. So they enjoy every single morning the first thing they do when they show up is find a new place for Waldo.”
The crew has big plans to keep people asking, ‘Where’s Waldo?’
It was Monday morning on April 11 when an Indianapolis apartment building caught fire.
“A lot of times fire has things under control when we get there,” said Police Officer Aaron Laird, “so my first thought was let’s get everyone out of adjacent buildings and get everyone safe.”
As people evacuated the building, officers found a woman and her two children trapped on the second floor. The officers acted immediately putting together a plan of action.
“By the time I had arrived around back,” said Officer Aaron, “I hear Officer Carroll say, ‘can you toss them down to us?’ and ask their ages to see if we were going to be able to catch them or not.”
IMPD Officers Laird, Hupp, and Carroll positioned themselves under the window as the mother dropped her children to safety.
“At that point it was any means to keep them safe,” Office Aaron said, “even if that meant it injured one of us – all that mattered was keeping them safe at that point.”
The mother then was able to jump from the building where officers caught her. All three got out safely.
“We genuinely want to help people when they are in need,” said Officer Aaron, “and whether they are in need for that, or their out of gas, or they’ve been in a car accident. A lot of times when police are called or anyone calls 911, it’s on the worst day of their life, and we have to remember that.”
Officers say it was the quick thinking by everyone that made sure the family is together and safe.
Mila Turchyn does not trust the man she is about to meet. That’s because he’s a smuggler.
She’s anxious looking for her mom and sister, hoping they arrived. She meets her sister Vita and a moment of brief joy occurs.
But there’s no time to hug her mom because the smuggler wants to be paid now. It costs $500 U.S. Dollars for the pair, which is much more than most families can afford who are fleeing war. Getting to safety is dangerous.
This is the story of one family’s escape into Russia after its troops bombed and occupied their city. They are from Izium, a city under siege.
“Somebody saw that a missile actually hit my backyard and I was crying so much…” Mila said. “I don’t know maybe, they are dead already there.”
She finally got a call, but it wasn’t from Izium.
“I heard them for the first time after a whole month,” Mila said. “I was so torn. I was happy they are alive. But I was terrified they were in Russia. And I don’t know, should I be happy? Or should I be sad?”
Mila’s only option, she says, was to hire a smuggler to drive her family from Russia to safety here in Poland.
Now they’re reunited, but how did the victims of Putin’s war end up in Russia? Desperate to flee, they said they could only find one way out by a private driver offered a ride to the Russian border.
“They were more afraid to stay where they were because it was hell and they needed to go somewhere to escape that,” Mila said of her family.
Thousands of Ukrainians have faced the same. Many say they had no choice – it was go to Russia or die.
As of last week, Russian officials claimed that more than 674,000 Ukrainians have been relocated to Russia.
Passengers erupted in applause on a Southwest Airlines airplane after finding out a federal judge overturned the White House’s mask mandate for planes and other public transportation.
“It’s official on Southwest Airlines, yay no more masks wooooo!”
A flight attendant on the plane walked through the aisle so travelers could throw out their masks. It’s optional now. But some at LaGuardia airport in New York say they’ll keep their faces covered.
“Even in traveling here and being in downtown in New York,” said one passenger, “and everybody not wearing, able to not wear masks and things, I felt much more comfortable keeping mine on.”
Don’t get too comfortable without a mask because you’ll still need it underground. The MTA is keeping its mandate in place. As for the city as a whole, Mayor Eric Adams says we’re not there yet.
“We are advising New Yorkers to wear a mask but we’re not at the point of mandate right now,” said Mayor Adams. “Our hospitalizations are at a steady level, deaths at a steady level.”
The mayor says he’s willing to pivot and will consider bringing back masks in schools and they Key to NYC program if his health team recommends it. He agrees with Gov. Kathy Hochul when it comes to keeping the Big Apple open.
“We need healthy bodies,” he said, “healthy minds and healthy economy – they all go together.”
There’s been a ruling on the Biden Administration’s nationwide mask mandate when it comes to planes and public transportation. It was handed down by a U.S. district judge in Florida who said the mandate was unlawful, that the CDC exceeded its statutory authority and its implementation violated administrative law.
“This is obviously a disappointing decision,” said Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary. “The CDC continues recommending wearing a mask in public transit.”
Right now, the ruling has the effect of invalidating the regulation. The Justice Department can request an emergency order to keep mask rules in place while an appeal is underway.
Just last week, the CDC extended its mask mandate on public transportation through May 3.
“I certainly hope this is the last extension,” said Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines, “and we’re all hoping come May 3 that the mandate expires and the government now puts it on individuals to make their own decisions about how they care and protect themselves from any kind of health risk rather than the government mandating it.”
This comes as a group of business owners and residents have now filed a joint lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia after becoming the first major U.S. city to reinstate its indoor mask mandate.
“I want to see the state commonwealth court strike down this mandate as a violation of Pennsylvania law,” said Attorney Thomas W. King III.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The joy of Christ’s resurrection is needed now more than ever in a time when war in Ukraine and other parts of the world makes the hope for peace seem like an illusion, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.
Like the disciples who were at first doubtful of Jesus rising from the dead, “our eyes, too, are incredulous on this Easter of war,” the pope said as he prepared April 17 to give his Easter blessing “urbi et orbi” (“to the city and the world”).
“We have seen all too much blood, all too much violence. Our hearts, too, have been filled with fear and anguish, as so many of our brothers and sisters have had to lock themselves away in order to be safe from bombing,” he said.
Nevertheless, Christ’s victory over death “is not an illusion” and the world needs “the crucified and risen Lord so that we can believe in the victory of love, and hope for reconciliation.”
Earlier in the day, the Vatican said an estimated 55,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the first outdoor Easter Mass since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. A vast floral arrangement adorned the steps leading to the basilica, highlighting the festive atmosphere.
According to Vatican News, the display of flowers, imported from the Netherlands, featured more than 40,000 individual flowers, plants and trees, including tulips, daffodils, and birch trees that accented the joyful celebration of Christ’s resurrection.
Pope Francis did not deliver a homily during the Mass; instead, a hushed silence filled the packed square for several minutes of quiet, prayerful reflection.
As Mass progressed, tens of thousands more began lining the streets outside the square. The Vatican said police estimated 100,000 people had gathered for the post-Mass blessing.
Before the blessing, the pope, standing on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, addressed the crowd. However, due to knee problems that have caused him difficulty walking and standing for long periods of time, the pope sat and spoke for part of his address.
In his address, the pope said the joyous announcement of Jesus’ resurrection is sorely needed “at the end of a Lent that has seemed endless.”
“We emerged from two years of pandemic, which took a heavy toll,” the pope said. “It was time to come out of the tunnel together, hand in hand, pooling our strengths and resources.”
However, the pope said that instead of unity, the world has shown that “we still have within us the spirit of Cain, who saw Abel not as a brother, but as a rival, and thought about how to eliminate him.”
Only Christ, he added, who bears the wounds inflicted “upon him by our sins, by our hardness of heart, by our fratricidal hatred” has the right “to speak to us of peace.”
“The wounds on the body of the risen Jesus are the sign of the battle he fought and won for us, won with the weapons of love, so that we might have peace and remain in peace,” the pope said.
Continuing his address, Pope Francis prayed for peace in Ukraine and for its people who have been “sorely tried” by the “cruel and senseless war into which it was dragged,” and he urged world leaders to listen to the “people’s plea for peace.”
“May there be an end to the flexing of muscles while people are suffering,” the pope said. “Please, let us not get used to war! Let us all commit ourselves to imploring peace, from our balconies and in our streets!”
The pope also prayed for the countless Ukrainian refugees forced to flee the horrors of war, especially children who were left orphaned.
“As we look at them, we cannot help but hear their cry of pain, along with that of all those other children who suffer throughout our world: those dying of hunger or lack of medical care, those who are victims of abuse and violence, and those denied the right to be born,” he prayed.
Pope Francis also prayed that the war in Ukraine may make the world more aware of the suffering caused by war in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, which has been “racked by years of conflict and division.”
The pope prayed for peace in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, as well as the Holy Land.
“May Israelis, Palestinians and all who dwell in the holy city, together with the pilgrims, experience the beauty of peace, dwell in fraternity and enjoy free access to the holy places in mutual respect for the rights of each,” he said.
He also called for peace in Myanmar, Afghanistan, Libya and Yemen, a country he said “suffers from a conflict forgotten by all, with continuous victims.”
The pope prayed that Jesus would bring peace to the African continent “so that the exploitation it suffers and the hemorrhaging caused by terrorist attacks — particularly in the Sahel region — may cease, and that it may find concrete support in the fraternity of the peoples.”
He also prayed that Ethiopia may continue on the path of reconciliation and dialogue and for an end to violence in Congo. The pope also expressed solidarity for the people of South Africa who have suffered due to devastating floods in the eastern part of the country.
Turning his attention toward Latin America, Pope Francis prayed for its people “who have seen their social conditions worsen in these difficult times of pandemic, exacerbated as well by instances of crime, violence, corruption and drug trafficking.”
He also prayed the Indigenous people of Canada, whom he met earlier in the month to apologize for the church’s role in running residential schools, where many children suffered abuse.
“Let us ask the risen Lord to accompany the journey of reconciliation that the Catholic Church in Canada is making with the Indigenous peoples. May the spirit of the risen Christ heal the wounds of the past and dispose hearts to seek truth and fraternity,” he said.
Standing up from his seat before delivering his blessing, Pope Francis said that while the world suffers the consequences of war, the resurrected Christ who conquered death “exhorts us not to surrender to evil and violence.”
“May we be won over by the peace of Christ! Peace is possible; peace is a duty; peace is everyone’s primary responsibility!” the pope said.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Mass graves and the deceased still lying along the roadside became a kind of “Way of the Cross” where Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, and Archbishop Visvaldas Kulbokas, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, stopped and prayed.
Pope Francis had sent the cardinal to Ukraine to spend Triduum and Easter with the people there as his special envoy.
On the way back to Kyiv from Borodyanka, a town that had been under control of Russian forces, the cardinal and archbishop prayed amid the ruins and bodies of those killed, including by an unmarked mass grave, he told Vatican News April 15.
“We found many dead and a grave with at least 80 people, buried without a name,” he said.
The scenes left them speechless, he said, but “Thank goodness there is faith and that this is Holy Week, Good Friday, when we can unite ourselves with the person of Christ and go up with him onto the cross.”
“There will be the Sunday of the resurrection,” he said, and maybe then God will “explain everything to us with his love and change everything within us too, this bitterness and this suffering that we have been carrying for a few days, but particularly from today.”
The cardinal celebrated the Mass of the Lord’s Supper April 14 with the foot washing ritual and he delivered a second ambulance to a hospital in Kyiv.
He told the Vatican newspaper April 15 that many doctors and staff thanked the pope for the gift and for being close to the people there and their suffering.
He said the head of the largest cardiological hospital in Kyiv told him that, as doctors, they have to be like the Good Samaritan, which means not just helping wounded Ukrainians — both civilians and soldiers — but also Russians.
“A difficult thing for him, to perform procedures with the knowledge that he has men before him who may have killed many people,” the cardinal said.
But, he said, the doctor explained to him that this is what it means to be a doctor, a Samaritan and a human being, “despite the bitterness in the heart and the feelings one has inside.”
Cardinal Krajewski said the doctor’s words were like “pure Gospel: It is difficult, but when we follow it, it is beautiful like spring and everything blooms.”
“I learned a lot from this head doctor; it was worth traveling by ambulance for thousands of kilometers” to hear his words, he said.