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“It gives me an outreach to people. … And music is healing to people. You witness God’s hand in all of this.” | Mercy Sister Gail Anne Jarvis, a part-time deejay who goes by “DJ Joy” on pinkscrystalradio.com, an online contemporary Christian music radio station (Catholic News Service)
In the news
Pope brings migrants home
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM GREECE — When an aide suggested Pope Francis offer to fly some Syrian refugees back to Rome with him, the pope said he agreed immediately because it was “an inspiration of the Holy Spirit.”
In the end, he said, 12 Syrians — members of three families, including six children — had all the necessary papers from the Greek and Italian governments in time to fly with the pope April 16.
The fact that the 12 are all Muslims did not enter into the equation, the pope said. “I gave priority to children of God.”
Spending about half an hour answering reporters’ questions, Pope Francis insisted his visit to Greece with Orthodox leaders was not about criticizing a recent agreement between the European Union and Turkey to return to Turkey those entering EU territory without legal permission.
“What I saw today and what you saw in that refugee camp — it makes you weep,” the pope told reporters.
“Look what I brought to show you,” the pope told them. He held up some of the drawings the children in the camp had given him. “Look at this,” he said, “this one saw a child drown.”
“Really, today is a day to weep,” he said. (CNS)
Saints under 40
Pure bravery
Antonia Mesina, born in 1919 in Sardinia, Italy, was an obedient and faithful child in a large family with an ailing mother. Though she had to help with the house
and her nine siblings — which required her to abandon school — at a young age, she still had time to join the lay organization Catholic Action.
Antonia’s death came tragically early, when she was just 16. She was attacked and murdered by a teenager who tried to rape her while she was away gathering wood. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1987 and is the patron saint of rape victims. (catholicnewsagency.com, catholic.org)