POPE FRANCIS: DO NOT USE WHEAT AS A WEAPON OF WAR!
At the end of the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis issued a heartfelt appeal not to use food as a weapon of war.
He said, "the blocking of grain exports from Ukraine, on which the lives of millions of people depend, especially in the poorest countries, is of great concern. I make a heartfelt appeal that every effort be made to resolve this issue and to guarantee the universal human right to food. Please do not use wheat, a staple food, as a weapon of war!" (wikipedia photo – wheat fields in Ukraine)
POPE MEDITATES ON ELDERLY THREATENED BY "THROWAWAY CULTURE"
Pope Francis presided at the weekly general audience in a sun-drenched, hot St. Peter's Square, and continued his series of catecheses on the meaning and value of old age in the light of God's word.
Meditating on Psalm 71's opening lines - "You, O Lord, are my hope; my trust, O Lord, from my youth," Francis said the "Psalmist implores God's continued protection and care. In our own day, his anxious concern is shared by many of the elderly, who see their dignity and even their rights threatened by the spread of a "throwaway culture" that views them as useless and indeed a burden to society."
The Pope explained that, "In this throwaway society, this throwaway culture, elderly people are cast aside and suffer these things. A form of cowardice in which we specialize in this society of ours. Indeed, there is no lack of those who take advantage of the elderly, to cheat them and to intimidate them in myriad ways. Often, we read in the newspapers or hear news of elderly people who are unscrupulously tricked out of their savings, or are left without protection or abandoned without care; or offended by forms of contempt and intimidated into renouncing their rights."
The Holy Father noted with sadness that, "Such cruelty also occurs within families – and this is serious, but it happens in families too. The elderly who are rejected, abandoned in rest homes, without their children coming to visit them, or they go a few times a year. … We must reflect on this."
Click here for video (at bottom of page): Pope at Audience: The elderly can inspire a more just and humane society - Vatican News
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