Skip to main content

A day after March for Our Lives, Pope urges youth to speak out

Pope Francis blesses attendees and palm leaves during at St Peter's square on March 25, 2018
Pope Francis blesses attendees and palm leaves during at St Peter's square on March 25, 2018 (CNN)A day after hundreds of thousands of people protested gun violence at March for Our Lives events in the US and around the globe, Pope Francis called on the world's youth to continue speaking out and standing up.

"Dear young people, you have it in you to shout," the Pope said in his Palm Sunday address at St. Peter's Square in Rome.
Pope Francis at the the end of Palm Sunday Mass in Vatican City

Pope Francis at the the end of Palm Sunday Mass in Vatican City
Palm Sunday -- celebrated on the Sunday before Easter -- is commemorated by Christians as the day Jesus entered Jerusalem in the week of his crucifixion, when palm leaves were strewn in his path. Noting that this Palm Sunday coincides with World Youth Day, the pontiff used the opportunity to compare youth to Jesus's followers, who were scorned by his detractors.

"It is up to you not to keep quiet," Pope Francis said. "Even if others keep quiet, if we older people and leaders -- so often corrupt -- keep quiet, if the whole world keeps quiet and loses its joy, I ask you: Will you cry out?"

March for Our Lives: Top moments that made up a movement


March for Our Lives: Top moments that made up a movement
A day earlier, survivors of the shooting massacre at a Parkland, Florida high school led protests around the country and even abroad in favor of stricter gun control laws.
That followed the National School Walkout in mid-March, when thousands of students protesting gun violence left their classrooms for 17 minutes -- one for each of the 17 people killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on Valentine's Day.
A generation raised on gun violence sends a loud message to adults: Enough

A generation raised on gun violence sends a loud message to adults: Enough
In a message prepared in advance of World Youth Day, the Pope told young people: "Do not be afraid to face your fears honestly, to recognize them for what they are and to come to terms with them."
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pope Francis: Gun-makers are hypocrites if they call themselves Christians

MAX ROSSI/REUTERS Pope Francis criticized weapons manufacturers who call themselves Christians on Sunday. “They say one thing and do another,” he said. TURIN, Italy — People who manufacture weapons or invest in weapons industries are hypocrites if they call themselves Christian, Pope Francis said on Sunday. Francis issued his toughest condemnation to date of the weapons industry at a rally of thousands of young people at the end of the first day of his trip to the Italian city of Turin. "If you trust only men you have lost," he told the young people in a long, rambling talk about war, trust and politics after putting aside his prepared address. "It makes me think of ... people, managers, businessmen who call themselves Christian and they manufacture weapons. That leads to a bit a distrust, doesn't it?" he said to applause. He also criticized those who invest in weapons industries, saying "duplicity is the cur...
5 comments
Read more

Pope Francis prays for Texas shooting victims and calls for stricter gun control

article link VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Saying his heart was broken at the news of at least 19 children and two adults being shot and killed at a Texas elementary school, Pope Francis said it was time to say “Enough!” and enact stricter laws on gun sales. At the end of his weekly general audience May 25, with thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the pope prayed publicly for the victims of the shooting the day before at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. “With a heart shattered over the massacre at the elementary school in Texas, I pray for the children and adults who were killed and for their families,” the pope told the crowd. “With a heart shattered over the massacre at the elementary school in Texas, I pray for the children and adults who were killed and for their families,” the pope said. Tweet this “It is time to say, ‘Enough!’ to the indiscriminate trafficking of guns,” the pope said. “Let’s all work to ensure that such tragedies never happen again...
Post a Comment
Read more