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Pope Francis: My grandfather taught me to loathe war

Midweek, March 23, 2022 7:41

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Pope Francis' general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, March 23, 2022. / Vatican Media.

Vatican City, Mar 23, 2022 / 05:xxx am (CNA).

Pope Francis recalled at his Wednesday general audience how his veteran grandfather taught him to loathe war.

Speaking in the Vatican'southward Paul VI audience hall on March 23, the pope offered a "personal testimony" to the power of hearing an elderly person tell their life story.

He said that he heard virtually the horrors of the Outset World War directly from his grandad, Giovanni Carlo Bergoglio, a radio operator defenseless upwards in fighting at the Piave River in northern Italy.

"I learned hatred and anger for war from my grandfather, who fought at the Piave in 1914, and he passed on to me this rage at state of war, because he told me well-nigh the suffering of a war," the pope said.

"And this isn't learned in books or in other ways… it's learned in this way, existence passed downward from grandparents to grandchildren. And this is irreplaceable."

"Today, unfortunately, this is not the instance, and we think that grandparents are discarded material: No! They are the living retentiveness of a people, and young people and children ought to listen to their grandparents."

The pope has spoken previously of the deep impression left by his gramps's war stories.

During a visit to the Augustinianum Establish in Rome in 2018, he noted that today's young people had no experience of the 2 world wars.

"I learned from my grandfather who fought in the kickoff one, on the Piave," he said. "I learned many things from his story … What does a war leave behind? Millions of dead, in the groovy slaughter."

The 85-yr-erstwhile pope made the off-the-cuff comments about his gramps during his fourth live-streamed catechesis on quondam historic period, part of a series he launched in Feb.

He focused on the biblical story of the death of Moses, which is preceded by the "Song of Moses" (Deuteronomy 32), in which the prophet offers his spiritual testament.

He said: "When Moses pronounces this confession of faith, he is on the threshold of the promised country, and also of his divergence from life. He was 120 years old, the account notes, 'but his heart was not dim' (Deuteronomy 34:7)."

"That power to see, to really meet, too to see symbolically, as the elderly have, who know how to see things, the most rooted pregnant of things."

Pope Francis expressed business organisation that "straight, person-to-person storytelling" between generations was dying out because the elderly were considered "waste cloth."

"An older person, 1 who has lived a long fourth dimension, and receives the gift of a lucid and passionate testimony of his history, is an irreplaceable blessing," he said.

"Are we capable of recognizing and honoring this souvenir of the elderly? Does the manual of faith — and of the significant of life — follow this path today, of listening to the elderly?"

The pope said that present-day civilisation, "which is so 'politically correct,'" posed obstacles to the transmission of wisdom between generations.

He said this also affected the Christian community, which sometimes attempted to pass on the faith without "the passion of a 'lived history.'"

"How is the faith handed on? 'Ah, here'due south a book, written report it.' No. Religion can't be handed on like that," he commented.

"The organized religion is passed on in dialect, that is, in familiar speech, betwixt grandparents and grandchildren, betwixt parents and their children."

He went on: "Sometimes I reflect on this strange anomaly. Today, the catechism of Christian initiation generously draws on the Word of God and conveys accurate data on dogmas, the morals of the faith, and the sacraments."

"What is often lacking, however, is a knowledge of the Church that comes from listening to and witnessing the real history of the religion and the life of the Church building community, from the beginning to the nowadays day."

He added: "It would be a expert matter if catechesis were to include, from the very offset, the habit of listening, to the lived experience of the elderly; to the candid confession of the blessings received from God, which nosotros must cherish; and to the faithful testimony of our own failures of allegiance, which nosotros must repair and correct."

After his catechesis, the pope invited pilgrims to say a Hail Mary together for the victims of state of war.

Alluding to the conflict in Ukraine, he said: "The news of displaced persons, of people fleeing, of people killed, people wounded, of so many soldiers fallen on both sides, is news of expiry."

"Nosotros ask the Lord of life to deliver us from this decease of war: with state of war, everything is lost, everything. There is no victory in a state of war: everything is defeated."

"May the Lord ship His Spirit to make us sympathise that state of war is a defeat of humanity, which we need to defeat, all of us; that waging war is a need that destroys u.s.a., and to deliver us from this need for self-devastation."

"We pray, too, for leaders to understand that buying weapons and making weapons is not the solution to the problem. The solution is to work together for peace and, equally the Bible says, to turn weapons into instruments for peace."

A summary of the pope's catechesis was read out in seven languages and he greeted members of each language group.

Addressing English-speaking Catholics, he said: "I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking function in today's Audition, especially the groups from England, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, and the Usa of America."

"May our Lenten journey bring u.s. to celebrate Easter with hearts purified and renewed past the grace of the Holy Spirit. Upon each of yous, and your families, I invoke joy and peace in Christ our Redeemer."

Speaking to Shine pilgrims, Pope Francis noted that Poland is at the forefront of welcoming refugees from Ukraine. He likewise referred to the global act of consecration of Russian federation and Ukraine to the Immaculate Center of Mary, which he will preside over on March 25.

He said: "This yr, on the path of Lenten penance, we fast and inquire God for peace, shattered by the ongoing war in Ukraine. In Poland, you lot are witnesses to this by welcoming refugees and listening to their stories."

"As we prepare to live a special twenty-four hour period of prayer on the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, we ask that the Mother of God lift the hearts of our brothers and sisters afflicted by the cruelty of state of war. May the act of consecration of peoples to her Immaculate Heart bring peace to the whole earth."

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/250763/pope-francis-my-gramps-taught-me-to-loathe-war

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Source: https://beforeitsnews.com/religion/2022/03/pope-francis-my-grandfather-taught-me-to-loathe-war-2563690.html

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