Interview with Cardinal Kasper on communion to Lutheran spouse: the Council decree on ecumenism and the letters of John Paul II are fundamental.

To linger in the domain of Mary is a divinely great thing. One does not ask about the utility of truly noble things, because they have their meaning within themselves. So it is of infinite meaning to draw a deep breath of this purity, to be secure in the peace of this union with God.

With this we come back to what we said in the beginning. Man needs a place of holy tranquility that the breath of God pervades and where he meets the great figures of the Faith. This place is the inaccessibility of God Himself, which only Christ opens to man.

Francis’ Regina Coeli on Ascension Sunday, a prayer for Indonesia struck by the attacks on three Christian churches. On Social Communications Day, “Shall the media always seek the truth” and he “thanks all the mothers for guarding their families, even from heaven”.

Only about 200,000 to 300,000 Christians are thought to remain in Iraq now, mostly in the Nineveh Plains and the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the country’s north. Around 700,000 emigrated in the violent years that have followed the 2003 US-led invasion and the 2014 appearance of IS, and tens of thousands more have fled to Kurdistan. Politically weak, Christians will be hoping the election process helps rather than hinders the country’s slow progress towards peace.

Jesuit Father Paolo Bizzeti, “Christian refugees from neighboring countries outnumber the local baptized”.

The Pope in the “International Citadel” of the Movement founded by Chiara Lubich. Our “epochal challenge is to build a culture of encounter and a civilization of alliance”.

“The opposite of “I” is not “you” but “we”. Our epochal challenge “is to build a culture of encounter and a civilization of alliance”. Pope Francis affirmed this in Loppiano when he met the Focolare Movement founded by Chiara Lubich (1920 - 2008). The Pontiff said to the Focolarini that one of the attitude that brings closer to God is “sense of humor”.

At Easter, beloved brethren, it was the Lord’s resurrection which was the cause of our joy; our present rejoicing is on account of his ascension into heaven. With all due solemnity, we are commemorating that day on which our poor human nature was carried up, in Christ, above all the hosts of heaven, above all the ranks of angels, beyond the highest heavenly powers to the very throne of God the Father.

Francis was born in 1182 in Assisi. He was the son of a prosperous cloth merchant, Peter Bernadone. His companions saw him as a carefree youth, calling him the “King of Revels.”

Francis enjoyed partying with his friends and had dreams of becoming a knight and gaining glory on the battlefield. But shortly after riding off to fight against Perugia, a nearby town, he ended up in their prison, a broken and disillusioned young man. It was after his return from prison, and during the recovery that followed, that Francis’ life was changed.

The Solemnity of the Ascension celebrates many things, among them the Great Commission to preach the gospel to all nations. Thus, it is a fitting time to ponder the call of Pope John Paul II to a “new evangelization.”

The celebration of the Ascension used to leave me a bit flat. It was clear what Good Friday did for me. And Easter Sunday’s benefits were indisputable. But as for the Ascension, what’s in it for me?

At the general audience, Francis continues his catechesis on Baptism, a sacrament that “imprints an indelible spiritual seal that no sin can erase”. A greeting to the “small farmers” and an invitation to pray the rosary for Syria.