The Mother Church speaks all languages, the faith is handed down by mothers and grandmothers in the local dialects.
Pope Francis urged the worldwide presence of the church and the spreading of the faith in simple language and with simple gestures at the Saturday celebratory mass held in St. Peter's Square, during which he created twenty-one new cardinals.
At the beginning of his homily, Pope Francis expressed gratitude for the fact that the new members of the body of cardinals represent many parts of the world and the most diverse nations.
The Mother Church speaks all languages
he declared.
He emphasized that the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ came to us in our own languages, through the lips and gestures of our grandparents and parents, catechists, priests, and monks.
"Remember that faith is passed on in local dialects by mothers and grandmothers"
Pope Francis declared.
He noted that the transmission and spread of faith, that is, evangelization, is considered a "current gift" in every age. And the task of the cardinals is to maintain the power of evangelization, since they are members of God's people and not officials. The church does not support itself from annuities either, it is not some valuable but lifeless archaeological find.
"The church and every person who has received baptism lives in God's reality today"
- He told.
The Pope compared the body of cardinals to a symphony orchestra, which creates balance and harmony between different instruments, even if sometimes only one instrument plays, sometimes the other, sometimes all of them at the same time.
"Difference is necessary and essential, but all voices must contribute to the common plan, so mutual listening is essential"
he declared.
In July, the Pope announced that he would appoint 21 new cardinals, 18 of whom are under the age of eighty, meaning that they can take part in a possible next papal election (conclave). At the beginning of the ceremony, the Pope presented the new cardinals with the title of their titular church, the cardinal's ring and the purple biretta, which corresponds to the headgear.
This is the ninth consistory since the election of Pope Francis in 2013. With the new cardinals, the number of cardinals electing the pope will rise to 136, and then decrease again until the end of the year, as several of them will have reached their eightieth year of age by then, thus losing the opportunity to participate in the conclave. In the last ten years, Pope Francis of Argentina has significantly modified the geographical composition of the body of cardinals: more than half of the cardinals who elect the pope currently represent the southern, developing regions of the world.
On Saturday evening, an ecumenical prayer vigil will be held in St. Peter's Square. Pope Francis invited the leaders of the various denominations and young people before the work of the synod starting on October 4. In the square, the famous crucifix at which St. Francis prayed in the 13th century in the church of St. Damian in the city of Assisi is exhibited.
The vigil will be led by Pope Francis, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who heads the Anglican Church, will be present.
MTI
Featured image: Tiziana Fabi / AFP
