At the Chrism Mass, D. Rui Valério mentioned that the middle class is suffering from the increase in poverty.
Secundino Cunha 01:30
D. José Cordeiro, archbishop of Braga, at the foot washing ceremony
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D. José Cordeiro, archbishop of Braga, at the foot washing ceremony
Vatican. Highlighting women in the Church, Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 inmates at the Rebibbia women’s prison in Rome
Despite the difficulties, hundreds of priests concelebrated the Chrism Mass in Jerusalem
Spain. Málaga once again attracted thousands of faithful to the majestic processions of its traditional Holy Week
Because of the war between Israel and Hamas, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem was far from the usual floods
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The Patriarch of Lisbon warned on Thursday of the “high fragility” of our country and lamented that poverty continues to increase, to the point that it is increasingly affecting the middle class.
“No one remains indifferent to the current state of high fragility in our country: one could consider that it is merely cyclical, but, in real life, it is synonymous with more poverty and greater difficulties”, said D. Rui Valério at the Chrism Mass .
Appealing to the common sense of politicians, the patriarch referred to “real poverty” which “is constantly increasing, and is already affecting not only the disadvantaged classes, but also the middle class”.On the day that Catholics celebrate the institution of the Eucharist, portrayed in the Last Supper, which included the symbolic moment of washing the feet, the bishops spoke more to the interior of the Church than to the faithful.The bishop of Bragança-Miranda, D. Nuno Almeida, appealed to the sanctity of priests, saying that the “essential of the priestly ministry is unity with Christ and with our brothers”.
The archbishop of Braga, D. José Cordeiro, told the priests that they must continue to pray. “Contrary to popular belief, the faith of priests is not distinguished by being an intellectual faith, because they took a theology course, but by being a faith on their knees, of prayer.”The bishop of Funchal, D. Nuno Braz, also said that “the people of God do not need prayer teachers, but teachers who pray with them”.
Holy Land lives Easter in times of war
Israel’s ban on the entry of the majority of Palestinian Christians from the occupied West Bank into Jerusalem, combined with the fact that many Christians from around the world have avoided traveling to the Holy Land due to the war, has meant that Easter celebrations in the land in which Christ died and rose again had fewer believers.It is “Easter in times of war”, as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, said a few days ago.The Pope did not forget the Christians of the Holy Land and wrote to them, saying that, “in these dark times, when the darkness of Good Friday seems to cover your Land and too many parts of the World disfigured by the useless madness of war, which is always and for all a bloody defeat, you are torches burning in the night”.
CELEBRATIONS BAD WEATHER COMPLICATESIt has been difficult to fulfill the programs for the various Holy Week ceremonies taking place in Portugal. In Braga, for example, on Thursday the second procession, the Procession of Senhor Ecce Homo, known as the procession of farricocos, was cancelled. There is great expectation to see if there will be a Procession of the Burial of the Lord on Friday night.MOURNING CHURCHES TWO DAYS WITHOUT MASSFrom Thursday night until Saturday, after sunset, the Catholic world does not have mass. The celebration of the Eucharist is prohibited this Good Friday, the day of the Lord’s crucifixion, and throughout Saturday, marking the presence of the body of Christ in the Tomb. Mass returns to churches on Saturday night, with the celebration of the Easter Vigil.
“No one should remain indifferent to the current highly fragile state of our country: one could consider that it is merely cyclical, but, in real life, it is synonymous with more poverty and greater difficulties”, said D.
