Vatican City, Vatican - September 2022 - On Sunday, Sept. 4, on the parvis of the Vatican Basilica, Pope Francis granted that the Venerable Servant of God, Pope John Paul I, henceforth be called Blessed. He ordered that he be celebrated annually on Aug. 26, commemorating the day in 1978 when Albino Luciani was elected the 263rd successor of Peter. The beatification ceremony presided over by Pope Francis, with more than 500 concelebrants - including cardinals, bishops, priests and deacons - was attended by about 25,000 faithful. One of the most touching moments was the unveiling of an image depicting the "Pope of the Smile," with his white cassock and serene expression, by Chinese artist Yan Zhang. At the conclusion of his homily, Pope Francis said, "With a smile Pope Luciani managed to transmit the goodness of the Lord. Beautiful is a Church with a joyful face, a serene face, a smiling face, a Church that never closes its doors, that does not sour its hearts, that does not complain or harbor resentment, is not angry, is not impatient, does not present itself sullenly, does not suffer from nostalgia for the past by falling into retrospection. Let us pray to this our father and brother, let us ask that he obtain for us 'the smile of the soul,' the transparent one, the one that does not deceive: the smile of the soul. Let us ask, in his words, what he himself used to ask: 'Lord, take me as I am, with my faults, with my failings, but make me as you desire me' (General Audience, Sept. 13, 1978). Amen."

Source: Vatican News

(ANS - Vatican City) – Pope Francis while receiving the representatives of the ecclesial and civil community of Lodi during an audience in the Clementine Hall, on August 26, 2022, shared the reasons for his closeness to that territory and its people: his baptism received from the Salesian priest Fr. Enrico Pozzoli, a priest originally from Lodi, Italy.

Vatican City, Vatican - August 2022 – Yesterday, Aug. 3, at the end of the General Audience, Pope Francis addressed a special greeting to the children who participated in the Youth Summer Camp at the Vatican: " I greet the children of the Summer Youth Camp in the Vatican. They have been quiet until now but you can hear them now. They are accompanied by their parents and the camp animators, whom I thank for their precious work. I wish to thank Fr. Franco, the 'spiritual soul' of the Vatican, who as a good Salesian was able to plant this seed in setting up this summer camp now in its third year." Fr. Franco Fontana, chaplain and coordinator of the initiative told Vatican News that the Pontiff's words meant a great deal to him and of a beautiful moment that took place before the audience, when the Pope received the animators in a small room, thanking them and “above all encouraging them on how this passion for education must animate them throughout their lives.” Fr. Fontana went on to emphasize that the Pope recalled his commitment, the Salesian commitment, to the preparation and organization of the summer center, which this year grew with the participation of 230 children for five weeks.

Source: Vatican News

Edmonton, Canada - July 2022 - As part of the "Penitential Pilgrimage" Pope Francis is making in Canada, on July 25 he went to the Sacred Heart of the First Peoples Church in Edmonton, one of the city’s oldest, for the second meeting with indigenous peoples. The Pontiff was welcomed by Fr. Susai Jesu, OMI, who thanked him on behalf of the indigenous people and the parish community. The Pontiff was pleased with the work carried out by the parish, a meeting place for indigenous people and descendants of the former colonizers where the Catholic faith is expressed in the context of indigenous culture. During his remarks, Pope Francis admitted that shame "must never be erased," for the pain caused even by so many Christians to the detriment of the cultural distinctiveness of indigenous communities, and dwelt on the authentically Gospel meaning of reconciliation. Pope Francis stressed, " Here is a home for all, open and inclusive of all, just as the Church should be, a family of the children of God where hospitality and welcome are paramount, the distinctive values of indigenous culture: and where everyone should feel welcome, regardless of past events and individual circumstances of life."

Pope Francis’ 37th apostolic journey began on July 24; he will be in Canada until Saturday, July 30. On the occasion of this Journey, the Holy See Press Office released statistics on the Canadian Catholic Church.

(ANS - Edmonton) - An apostolic journey that is first and foremost "a penitential pilgrimage, which I hope, with God's grace, may contribute to the journey of healing and reconciliation already undertaken," as Pope Francis himself defined it in the Angelus of July 17. This is what the pontiff is doing in Canada - July 24-30, with stops in Edmonton, Maskwacis, Quebec, and Iqaluit - to ask for forgiveness and bring consolation to indigenous peoples who are victims of colonization.