He said in a speech to indigenous groups, unions and political figures in Paraguay: “There the Gospel was the soul and the life of communities which did not know hunger, unemployment, illiteracy or oppression”. The clinic’s director cried as he described how Francis kissed a terminally ill patient who was not strong enough to sit up.
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Pope Francis arrives at the Buen Pastor female penitentiary in Asuncion on July 10, 2015. Their numbers are disputed.
On Saturday morning, Francis visited the country’s most sacred religious site, the shrine of the Madonna of Caacupe.
The Catholic Church teaches that homosexual tendencies are not sinful but homosexual acts are. While in Paraguay, Francis will celebrate two Masses, including one in Caacupe on Satur…
Beginning in the 1500s, Spanish conquerors, with the blessing of the Church, subjugated and enslaved indigenous peoples in the Americas, annihilating native cultures and forcing their conversion to Christianity. In other words, it didn’t just survive after colonization, but thrived. More than a fifth of all Paraguayans live in poverty.
The pope arrived Friday afternoon in the Paraguayan capital of Asuncion on the final leg of his three-nation tour of South America’s poorest countries that included Ecuador and neighboring Bolivia.
“I would like especially to mention you, the women, wives and mothers of Paraguay, who at great cost and sacrifice were able to lift up a country defeated, devastated and laid low by war”, he said.
As an archbishop in Argentina and as pope, Francis frequently has praised the strength of Paraguay’s women, saying they should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their fortitude and faith.
“Then and now, you found the strength not to let this land lose its bearings. God always blesses this”, the pontiff said. God bless and encourage your faith.
At the Mass – and during an evening meeting with government officials and diplomats at the presidential palace in Asunción – Pope Francis expressed his admiration for Paraguayan women.
Among the Argentines who came to Paraguay to see their fellow countryman Pope Francis was 50-year-old Jose Demetrio Barrionuevo. “We are also proud of his humility, that he prefers to be with the poor and not the rich”. The programme, entitled “The Voice of God in the Selvas of Paraguay”, featured a selection of Baroque music traced to the so-called “Jesuit reductions”, the missions run by Jesuits in Paraguay and neighbouring countries from the early 1600s to 1767.
Pope Francis is surrounded by security as he arrives to the Metropolitan Cathedral for evening prayers in Asuncion, Paraguay, Saturday, July 11, 2015. Elderly Paraguayans periodically kneeled on the cement to pray. “It is so important to us to hear that the Paraguayan woman is unique”. Paraguay is considered one of the most corrupt countries in the world, ranked 150 out of 174 by Transparency global.
Standing on the corner of the plaza of the shrine of the Virgin of Caacupe was Santa Cristina Rodriguez.
“This moved me very deeply”, said Gonzalez, 40, a social worker.
At least 70% of Paraguay’s male population was killed, and the nation would have ceased to exist if not for the perseverance of women, historians say.
The Caacupe shrine, which houses a little wooden statue of the Virgin Mary, is close to Francis’ heart. The day her parents decided to take her to a doctor, she saw a painting of the Virgin of Caacupe hanging on a street vendor’s cart. When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, he often visited the Villa 21 slum where many Paraguayan immigrants live, joining them in their religious processions and celebrating baptisms at their church, Our Lady of Miracles of Caacupe.
Argentina’s blue and white national colors were ubiquitous at Caacupe on Saturday. “Some held up a banner reading “Estamos Haciendo Lio” (We’re making a mess”), a reference to Francis telling Argentine young people during his visit to Brazil in 2013 to go back to their country and shake things up.
ASUNCION Pope Francis impressed entire world pioneer on Saturday get a brand new fiscal kind that will help the indegent, and also to spurn products that “forgo our everyday life throughout the sanctuary of some money and income”.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, quipped: “It seems to still work”.
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Taking the microphone back after a prayer, Pope Francis told the crowd: “If you are wondering who I am talking about, tell yourself, ‘He’s talking to me!'”.
