September 8, 2017

On Wednesday, September 6, Pope Francis (Papa Francisco in Spanish) arrived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a five-day apostolic journey to the South American nation. Apostolic is another word for papal or having to do with the pope. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to welcome the pope, who is particularly popular in the mostly Roman Catholic nations of Latin America. Francis is from Argentina and has been leader of the Roman Catholic Church since 2013.

Pope Francis and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos talk during ceremonies at Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace in Bogotá, Colombia, on Sept.7, 2017. Credit: © Raul Arboleda, AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, September 7, Francis met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace in Bogotá, where he congratulated the Nobel Peace Prize winner on ending a decades-long civil war between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The FARC formed in the mid-1960′s as a guerrilla group with Communist ideals. Santos oversaw a peace process that culminated in a historic treaty with the FARC in November 2016. A month later, Santos accepted an invitation from Francis and visited the pope at Vatican City. The pope then promised to go to Colombia in return.

The theme of Francis’s Colombian journey is Demos el primer paso (Take the first step), a reference to the peacemaking process in Colombia—which is not yet complete. Violent drug cartels still reign in pockets of the country, and a second revolutionary group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), is still conducting peace talks with the government.

Yesterday afternoon, Francis visited the Catedral Primada (Primary Cathedral) in Bogotá’s teeming Bolívar Square, and he delivered a blessing from the the Cardinal’s Palace next door. Francis then held an outdoor Mass before more than 1 million worshipers at the city’s Simon Bolívar Park. Today, September 8, Pope Francis is in the central city of Villavicencio for a Mass and the beatification of Jesús Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve and Pedro María Ramírez Ramos, priests who were both assassinated during times of violence in Colombia. Beatification is the declaration by papal decree that a dead person is among the blessed in heaven and deserves religious honor.

Tomorrow, Francis’s visit to the northwestern city of Medellín will include a Mass and a stop at the Hogar San José orphanage. Francis will wrap up the apostolic journey on Sunday in the Caribbean coast city of Cartagena, where events will include services at the church and plaza of San Pedro Claver. The church contains the preserved remains of San Pedro Claver (1581-1654), a priest who dedicated his life to helping enslaved peoples of Spanish America. He is the patron saint of slaves and also a patron saint of the nation of Colombia.

Francis is the first pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope. Jesuits are members of a religious order called the Society of Jesus. Francis is known for his commitment to social justice, especially for the poor; his humble lifestyle; and his conservative religious beliefs. This was his fifth visit to Latin America since becoming pope. His previous stops were in Brazil; Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay; Cuba; and Mexico.

September 6, 2016

The Roman Catholic nun Mother Teresa was canonized (formally declared) a saint on Sunday, September 4, one day before the 19^th anniversary of her death in 1997. Tens of thousands of faithful attended the canonization service led by Pope Francis outside St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Francis praised the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Teresa, saying she embodied the ideal of a “poor church for the poor.” Sometimes referred to as the saint of the gutters, Teresa founded a religious order (community) in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India, called the Missionaries of Charity. The order provides food and services for the needy.

Mother Teresa cradles an armless baby girl at her order’s orphanage in Calcutta, India, in 1978. A champion among the poor, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize on Oct. 17, 1979. Credit: © AP Photo

Mother Teresa’s original name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. She was born on Aug. 27, 1910, in what is now Skopje, Macedonia. In 1928, she joined a religious order, which sent her to India. She took the name Teresa after joining the order. A few years later, she began teaching in Calcutta. In 1948, the Catholic Church granted her permission to leave her convent and work among the city’s poor people. She founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1950.

Mother Teresa received numerous awards for her work with the needy. These awards include the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize, which she received in 1971; India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, given to her in 1972; the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize; and honorary U.S. citizenship, given to her in 1996. She died on Sept. 5, 1997. In 2003, Pope John Paul II beatified Mother Teresa. Beatification is an important step toward declaring an individual a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.

A saint is a holy person who exemplifies a virtue or virtues of his or her religion. The word comes from the Latin word sanctus, meaning a holy one. Teresa was the 29^th saint canonized since Francis became pope in 2013. Among these new saints are Franciscan missionary Junípero Serra and John Paul II.

Present Roman Catholic procedures of canonization were officially established between the late 1500′s and the mid-1600′s. A commission appointed by the church strictly examines the subject’s life and works and any miracles associated with the person. If the investigation produces enough evidence, the person is eligible for beatification. That is, he or she may officially be declared “blessed.” If further investigation produces proof of two miracles associated with the person, he or she may be canonized as a saint.

February 12, 2016

In 1054, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, French Benedictine monk Humbert of Silva Candida, paid a visit to the city of Constantinople at the request of Pope Leo IX. Constantinople (now Istanbul) was at that time the center of the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Humbert sought an interview with the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Patriarch Michael Cerularius.

Relations between the two branches of the Christian church had been deteriorating for years. The Eastern Church was Greek-speaking. The Roman Catholic Church used the Latin language, and its clergy spoke Romance languages in their everyday life. The two branches disagreed on who had the ultimate authority. Pope Leo felt that he had authority over the Eastern Orthodox Church and its patriarch. The patriarch disagreed. The Catholics used unleavened bread (bread without yeast or a rising agent) for Communion and had added the phrase “from the son” (filioque, in Latin) to the Nicene Creed (an expression of what Christians believe).

Relations had been strained for some time, but the feud escalated with Humbert’s visit. The Patriarch refused to see the cardinal, who waited in Constantinople for months. Finally, Humbert sent the Patriarch of Constantinople a letter of excommunication. This was a serious matter. People who were excommunicated could not receive any sacraments, such as Communion or penance (forgiveness). The faithful believed that if one died while excommunicated, it was impossible to go to heaven. In retaliation, the patriarch excommunicated Humbert and Pope Leo. (Leo had been dead for a few months by this time.)

Since 1054, there has been a schism (break) in relations between the two churches. Over the last few years, however, some work has been done to heal the breach in Christianity. In 2010, the Patriarch of Constantinople wrote an encyclical (letter) discussing the importance of  working toward unity among all Christians. In 2013, Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, invited the Patriarch of Constantinople to attend his installation, and the patriarch accepted. The Russian Orthodox Church, however, has largely stayed away from any ecumenical dialogue with Francis. Today, in Havana, Cuba, Francis met with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Church experts closely followed the meeting, hoping to gauge whether a 1,000-year-old feud may be nearly over. Francis was in the Western Hemisphere to start a six-day visit to Mexico. 

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