Lambasting what he called "intolerable brutality" against Christians in Syria and Iraq, Pope Francis on Sunday, March 1, called for the faithful to practise love that "transforms all." Said the pontiff: "In reality, love has the capacity to transfigure all. Love transforms all."
Pope Francis on Sunday again lambasted what he called the "intolerable brutality" being perpetrated against Christians in Syria and Iraq, leading pilgrims in St. Peter's Square in a moment of silence for those being persecuted because of the faith.
Speaking during his weekly Angelus address, the pontiff also called on faithful to follow Jesus in "making your existence a gift of love to others."
Meditating on the Gospel text of the day, the powerful story of the Transfiguration of Jesus, when the Nazarene is said to have momentarily taken on a transparent countenance and appeared to the apostles alongside Moses and Elijah, Francis said Christians must accept a message of love that transforms all.
"We also climb the mountain of the Transfiguration and stop in contemplation of the face of Jesus in order to accept the message and translate it into our lives; because we too can be transfigured by love," the pope told the crowd.
Breaking away from his prepared text, he then said: "In reality, love has the capacity to transfigure all. Love transforms all."
"Do you all believe in this?" he asked the crowd, waiting for a response before asking again: "Do you believe love is capable of transfiguring all?"
Francis was speaking Sunday before and after leading the traditional Angelus prayer in St. Peter's. Before the prayer, he offered a short homily on the meaning of the Transfiguration. Afterwards, he spoke about the violence in Iraq and Syria.
While the pontiff did not specifically mention the so-called Islamic State during his remarks after the prayer, he said that the "dramatic news from Syria and Iraq about violence, kidnapping of persons and harassment against Christians and other groups does not stop."
Saying that he had offered Mass last Friday along with members of the Vatican bureaucracy for Christians facing such struggle, Francis said: "We want to assure those involved in these situations that we do not forget them, but we are close to them and pray insistently that very quickly the intolerable brutality of which they are victims is put to an end."
Then, breaking from his text again, the pope asked for those in the Square to pray in silence "for these brothers and sisters that suffer for the faith in Syria and Iraq."
Francis then said he wanted to remember Venezuela, where ongoing protests against President Nicolas Maduro led to the death of a 14-year-old boy last Wednesday.
Saying that country is "again living moments of acute tension," the pope said he was praying for the victims and urging people in the country to renounce violence.
"I urge everyone to reject violence and respect the dignity of every person and the sanctity of human life and encourage you to take a journey together for the good of the country, opening spaces for meeting and sincere and constructive dialogue," he said.
Earlier in his Angelus remarks, Francis said that the meaning of Jesus' Transfiguration for both the disciples and modern Christians is to indicate that we need to listen to Jesus.
"Listen to him!" the pope exhorted. "Listen to Jesus. He is the Savior: Follow him!"
Francis continued: "Listening to Christ, in fact, involves assuming the logic of his Paschal Mystery, putting yourself on the path with him to make your existence a gift of love to others, in docile obedience to the will of God, with an attitude of detachment from worldly things and interior freedom."
Breaking from his text, the pope then repeated three times: "The way of Jesus always brings us to happiness."
