Pope Francis Hypocrisy is the leaven that causes men and women to be self-centred and indifferent to the world around them, according to the Pope.
“This leaven is dangerous,” the Pope said in his homily during Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae. “It is a leaven that grows inward, a leaven that grows without a future because in selfishness, in looking inward, there is no future.”
The Pope reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from St Luke in which Jesus warns his disciples to “beware of the leaven – that is, the hypocrisy – of the Pharisees”.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. Therefore, whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops,” Jesus said.
The Pharisees of the time, the Pope explained, were those who were “closed in on themselves” and whose only concern was their own selfishness and security.
However, the Pope noted, the day’s first reading from St Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians presents a different leaven for Christians, a leaven that allows for an outward growth.
Prelate says Ukraine’s war is forming Catholic leaders
The horror of ongoing war in Eastern Ukraine is shaping the moral compass of a generation of young Ukrainians and preparing them to be heroic Christian leaders, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church has said.
“Frequently, a young person that has suffered, that has gazed into the eyes of death on the field of battle or who has braved bombs to save the life of civilians – learning to preserve life in extreme conditions – understands the value of human life better than an arrogant priest or kleptocratic politician,” Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk told the Synod of Bishops.
Confronted by Russian “military aggression” young Ukrainians especially “are dying for our country”, thus becoming the “principal protagonists of the transformation of our society” the archbishop told the synod.
The Ukrainian Catholic Church, headed by Archbishop Shevchuk, survived almost total destruction by the Soviet Union in the 20th Century and has since risen to an increasingly prominent role in national life and politics.
North Korea visit considered
Pope Francis, at a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, said he is willing to visit North Korea.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had asked Moon to tell the Pope of the invitation. According to Yonhap, the Korean news agency, Mr Moon’s press secretary told reporters the Pope said he would accept “if an [official] invitation arrives and I can go”.
Meeting the South Korean president last week, the Pope praised Moon’s efforts to promote peace in the Korean peninsula.
“Move forward without stopping. Do not be afraid,” Francis told Mr Moon.
In a statement released after the meeting, the Vatican said Pope Francis and Moon discussed the Church’s role in promoting “dialogue and reconciliation between Koreans”.
“Strong appreciation was expressed for the common commitment to fostering all useful initiatives to overcome the tensions that still exist in the Korean Peninsula, in order to usher in a new season of peace and development,” the Vatican said.