The 'Superpope' graffiti by Mauro Pallotta Healing found in wounds of Christ, Pope tells Stigmatines
A devotion to and meditation on the five wounds of Christ “may sound a bit medieval”, but anyone who recognises he or she is wounded will find mercy and healing in the passion of Christ, Pope Francis has said.
Meeting with members of the Stigmatine order, the Pope distributed his prepared text and then spoke off the cuff about the significance of naming a religious order after the stigmata, or wounds of Christ.
In his meditation of the wounds of Christ, St Bernard of Clairvaux, the Cistercian reformer who died in 1153, referred to Jesus as a “bag of mercy” who poured that mercy out on humanity through the crucifixion wounds to his hands, feet and side, the Pope said. “The Lord’s stigmata, the Lord’s wounds, are precisely the door through which mercy comes.
“If I’m depressed, if I’ve sinned too much, if I’ve done this or that, I take refuge in the wounds of the Lord,” the Pope said, paraphrasing St Bernard.
Forgiveness and healing, he said, come only from uniting one’s wounds to those of Jesus.
‘Superpope’ visits sports stars to raise charity funds
The image of the ‘Superpope’ will gather autographs of sports stars around the world before eventually being auctioned off to raise money for the Pope’s charity.
The initiative began at a Vatican news conference with the unveiling of a simple medium-sized yellow t-shirt bearing the iconic ‘Superpope’ depicting Pope Francis with his fist extended, flying through the air, holding his black bag packed with Christian values and a scarf representing his hometown San Lorenzo soccer team.
The first superstar who signed the t-shirt was recently-retired Roma football legend, Francesco Totti. Next in line for the shirt signing “relay” will be soccer star Diego Maradona, followed by world champion motorcyclist Marc Marquez and many more.
The plan is to get as many famous signatures as possible before it goes on auction, possibly by the end of the summer.
The first ‘Superpope’ image went up on a backstreet near the Vatican on a cold night in January 2014.
The artist, Mauro Pallotta, who signs his work ‘Maupal’, paints his removable street art onto paper that he glues to walls around Rome with a water-based adhesive.
Taiwan offered strength after devastating earthquake
Pope Francis expressed his solidarity with the people of Taiwan after two high-magnitude earthquakes devastated the island nation, killing at least nine people and injuring hundreds more. The Pope “offers the assurance of his prayers for those who have lost their lives and for those who have been injured,” read a telegram sent by the Vatican following the earthquakes.
“As he encourages the civil authorities and emergency personnel engaged in the rescue efforts, His Holiness willingly invokes upon all the Taiwanese people the divine blessings of strength and peace,” said the telegram, signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake rocked the east coast of Taiwan. This initial earthquake caused immense destruction in Hualien, a coastal city, destroying smaller buildings and walls and left some skyscrapers and larger buildings leaning at sharp angles.
But almost before anything could be done, a second earthquake rocked the region. The magnitude 5.7 quake was centred in roughly the same area.