Pope Francis prays in front of the “Miraculous Crucifix” from the Church of St. Marcellus in Rome during a prayer service in an empty St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in this March 27, 2020, file photo. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY
“We have an anchor: By his cross we have been saved. We have a rudder: By his cross we have been redeemed. We have a hope: By his cross we have been healed and embraced so that nothing and no one can separate us.” (Pope Francis, March 27, 2020, in St. Peter’s Square)
Recent surges of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the delta and other coronavirus variants are increasing fears worldwide. But our Holy Father offers hope through the recent release of an inspiring album titled “‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’ — The World Facing a Pandemic.” This book displays dozens of photographs from the historic March 27 papal event when churches were on lockdown, people were unable to receive the sacraments, and Pope Francis was compelled to pray in an empty St. Peter’s Square.
The book’s introduction begins by saying, “Something simple and huge happened. An extraordinary moment of prayer.” It explains how a prison chaplain helped inspire this memorable moment by publicly asking the pope to “perform a powerful gesture … a statio orbis … to stop the world, the entire church, so that the world might raise its mind and heart to God.”
The book is a beautiful blend of photos, prose and prayer collected to comfort a world experiencing pain and loss. The pope’s words of solace and compassion are paired with images of His Holiness praying beneath the Miraculous Crucifix of St. Marcello and the icon of Mary the Madonna, Protectress of the Roman People from the time of ancient plagues. It ends with an extraordinary eucharistic adoration and benediction. This prayerful publication includes the pope’s moving meditation on the Gospel passage of Jesus calming the Apostles’ fears as they huddled together on a boat in a turbulent storm.
The book contains excerpts from a later intimate interview with Pope Francis who recalled that, when he walked alone into the deserted St Peter’s Square, he was struck by the life-sized sculpture there depicting the world’s migrants and refugees huddled together on a rudimentary boat. He remembers thinking how all of humanity on the planet are in the same boat … “and in this boat we do not know how many will be able to land … the whole drama is in front of the boat, the plague, the loneliness … in silence. Everything was united: the people, the boat and everyone’s suffering.”
The pope said that, throughout the extraordinary solitary moment of prayer, “I was in contact with the people. There was no moment in which I was alone.” Perhaps one of the most moving images is of Pope Francis kissing the feet of Jesus on the miraculous crucifix from St. Marcello Church. “Kissing the feet of the Crucified Christ always gives hope,” he said. “He knows what it means to walk and he knows all about quarantine because they put two nails there to keep him there. Jesus’ feet are a compass for people’s lives, when to walk and when to stand still.” At the end of the interview, our Holy Father humbly acknowledged, “It all began because of a poor prison chaplain.”
The book compiles texts from nine papal general audiences from April through September of last year, which our Holy Father calls a catechesis on healing the world. Pope Francis shares how Catholic social teaching offers important pastoral and moral guidance on how to respond to the pandemic and provides the basis for the papal position that receiving a COVID-19 vaccine is not only morally acceptable but morally responsible, and that the equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide, especially to the most vulnerable, is a moral imperative.
“We must go ahead with tenderness,” the pope said. “A fair and equitable society is a healthier society. A participatory society — where the ‘last’ are taken into account just like the ‘first’ — strengthens communities. A society where diversity is respected is much more resistant to any kind of virus.”
The book ends hopefully: “Hope is not a dream, but a way of translating dreams into reality. Suffering passes; having suffered remains. Out of suffering arises a new dawn.”
This new papal publication of Catholic social teaching can be a valuable prayerful resource for all those involved in pastoral ministries, who witness to Jesus by responding to the impact of the pandemic. These include ministers in worship and religious formation, in parish outreach to kupuna, the homebound and homeless persons, to brothers and sisters in prison and released from prison, and those who provide food for hungry families. It can also be a resource for Catholic-affiliated social services addressing COVID-19 here in Hawaii.
“By his cross we have been healed and embraced so that nothing and no one can separate us.”
For more of Pope Francis’ writings on the pandemic, please visit the website https://f.e.va/statioorbis/en/index.html.
Mahalo,
Your friends at the Office for Social Ministry
