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The two Apostles, Simon and Jude Thaddeus, are celebrated on the same day, possibly because of their shared apostolate in Mesopotamia and Persia, where they went to proclaim the Gospel. Not much is known about them. The little we know is what is in the New Testament.
Cardinal Karol Józef Wojtyła was elected Pope on 16 October 1978. In line with his predecessor, who died suddenly on 28 September 1978, he chose the name John Paul II. He was the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years, since the death of the last foreigner, Adrian VI from Utrecht, in 1523. He was also the first Pope from Poland and the first Pope to be a native speaker of a Slavic language. His Pontificate was among the longest in history, second only to Saint Peter and Pius IX. It lasted almost 27 years.
Born in Antioch to a pagan family, Luke was a physician who was concerned about his patients and who was well aware of their weaknesses and misery. After hearing Saint Paul speak about Jesus, Luke embraced the faith and never left the Apostle again, following him to his martyrdom in Rome in 67 A.D.
The Apostolic Nuncio in Spain, Archbishop Filippo Sega, described Teresa of Jesus as “a restless and wandering woman… whose teachings opposed Saint Paul’s command that women should not teach”. His description of the restlessness of Teresa of Jesus, in the world Teresa de Ahumada, was accurate. Indeed, at the time of his comments, she had already founded 12 monasteries throughout Spain and had travelled more than 50,000 kilometres. And she had done all this with the travel means available at the time, journeying on roads that were not quite roads, with all the discomforts involved in moving from one side of the kingdom to the other, especially for a woman, and even more so, for a nun. She managed to open 17 monasteries with very few funds, health problems and countless difficulties in finding homes that could be turned into religious convents. Her “crime” was that she was a woman, and above all, a reformer of consecrated life, including that of males.
“With your hand on your conscience may each one hear the anguished cry which is raised to the skies from all parts of the earth, from the innocent children to the elderly, from the people of the communities: Peace, peace! We renew this solemn plea today”. With these words broadcast on Vatican Radio on 25 October 1962, Saint John XXIII launched an appeal for peace to world leaders, in particular those of the United States of America and the Soviet Union. The world was in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis, and had not come this close to a third world conflict, since the end of World War II. Indeed, between 14 and 19 October, the world was on the very edge of a nuclear abyss. The words of the Pope, who had opened the Second Vatican Council on 11 October, were strongly persuasive on the consciences of people, especially those of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev ((Sergeevič Chruščëv).
Jesus, “Stay with me, and then I shall begin to shine as Thou shinest: so to shine as to be a light to others” (Meditations on Christian Doctrine, VII,3). These celebrated words by Cardinal John Henry Newman sum up his thoughts and his legacy. He was a person who was “inconvenient” for his time, who drew many different reactions including among Catholics. He is known for his openness to lay people and to their participation in the evangelization of England in the 19th century, at a time when the country was still tied to tradition and against change. But Newman was certainly not one to take a step back, and he promoted an intelligent and well instructed laity: “I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious, but men who know their religion, who enter into it, who know just where they stand, who know what they hold, and what they do not, who know their creed so well, that they can give an account of it, who know so much of history that they can defend it” (The Present Position of Catholics in England, IX, 390). He involved laypeople in teaching catechesis, and was met with opposition, even among the clergy.
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Profound sorrow for the death of Pope Francis
Sr. Raffaella Petrini, Archbishop Emilio Nappa and Atty. Giuseppe Puglisi-Alibrandi, respectively President and the Secretary Generals of the Governorate, together with Cardinal Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, President Emeritus, join the entire Church in mourning for the passing of beloved Pope Francis, whose papacy was a blessing for the whole world.
He is remembered as a promoter of peace who, with great authority, defended freedom and human dignity, firmly opposing armed conflict as a means of resolving international disputes.
Throughout his pontificate, Francis promoted interreligious and intercultural dialogue, constantly calling all people to seek what unites rather than what divides them, pointing to the values of solidarity and civility in building societies that are more human-centered. He showed particular attention to friendship and love of neighbor, always keeping a special focus on the poor, forgotten and most vulnerable.
The State’s governing bodies, together with all the employees of the Governorate of the Vatican City State in all its Departments and Offices, join with the Church’s liturgy for the departed, lifting their prayers to God for the late Pontiff.