What happened?
Pope Francis and Orthodox leaders urged world leaders not to “ignore the colossal humanitarian crisis” caused by armed conflict throughout the world during their visit to refugees on the Greek island of Lesbos. Francis, Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople and Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and all Greece also spent time greeting the refugees and listening to their stories. The children received a pat on the head and the men a handshake.
What the British media are saying
The Guardian described the visit as an “extraordinary piece of political theatre”, saying that the Pope’s decision to take home with him three Muslim families was the most eloquent of papal gestures since John Paul II kissed Poland’s soil in 1979.
In a leading article the paper said: “This is a direct and radical challenge to almost all the European countries’ responses to the migration crisis. For Francis, the problem is suffering, and the immediate duty of a Christian, or of any human being, is to relieve it.”
Meanwhile, The Times reported that the Pope “evoked the spirit of the Good Samaritan” with his visit. But it said that Francis failed to address “the dilemma of the refugee eventually returning to a broken state”, adding that the Pope’s next trip should be the refugee settlements of Jordan.
What the vaticanisti are saying
Erasmus, The Economist’s religious affairs columnist, said the trip was a “political and theological minefield”, reporting that “Greece’s ultra-rightist Golden Dawn party played on atavistic sentiments by comparing the Pope’s arrival to the conquest of Greek Constantinople by Latin soldiers in 1204. But the abiding images of the visit,” Erasmus added, “were of refugees in the Moria camp bursting into tears as they met the Pontiff”.
Fr Francis X Clooney of America magazine said that “something new” was happening under Francis. “I am used to the more cerebral approach of Benedict XVI, who tended to the view that the theology and doctrine needed to be worked out before the dialogue could proceed. In the papacy of Francis, it is theology that is having to catch up with the practice on the ground.”
What happened?
Pope Francis will travel to Armenia in late June and to Georgia and Azerbaijan in the autumn, the Vatican has announced. The Armenia trip from June 24-26 comes in response to an invitation from the patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, and from the government, the Vatican said.
Why was it under-reported?
The “pope of the peripheries” is choosing to visit three countries that the media rarely pays attention to and the invitation comes from two religious leaders who are not well known either – patriarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Catholicos Karekin II, and Georgian Patriarch Ilia II. However, the trip is significant. For a start, the Pope may be visiting an active conflict zone. Fighting recently broke out in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in Azerbaijan, whose mainly Armenian population voted to secede in 1988.
What will happen next?
The trip will be a tightrope walk for Francis. For example, releasing the dates of both trips at the same time was seen as a diplomatic necessity given the ongoing dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. Francis will face the challenge of trying to improve dialogue between the two sides. The current president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, has been associated with corruption scandals and the WikiLeaks project uncovered a US embassy cable comparing him to a “mafia boss”.
April 23-24 is a special weekend to pray for teenagers as part of the Year of Mercy. The teenagers’ jubilee will begin on Saturday evening with a festival at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, followed by a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square the next day. Also on Saturday, there will be a Confirmation service for teenagers in Westminster Cathedral at 2pm.
News anchor Katie Couric is among the speakers at a Vatican conference on adult stem cell research starting on Thursday. The conference, Cellular Horizons, brings together scientists, philanthropists, and cultural figures.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols will be in Rome to mark 150 years since an icon, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, arrived at his titular church, Sant’ Alfonso. The 15th-century Byzantine icon is thought to have come from a monastery in Crete. Our Lady of Perpetual Help is the patron of Haiti and of the Diocese of Middlesbrough.
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