Author Archives: Jimmy Burns

  Pope Francis on saturday night underlined the importance he attaches to grassroots renewal of he Catholic Church by appealing to his young followers to become key players of a fresh and meaningful  project of evangelisation. “We are building a church and you must become protagonists of history,” he told a gathering of Wold Youth Day that had grown to overthree million on Rio’s Copacabana beach by today, sunday, the final day. In a scene which has been repeated through the week, the Pope looked relaxad as he engaged with …

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  On Friday  night there was a rare hush among the crowds-broken only by occasional applause- as Pope Francis spoke from the heart and directly to over one and half million mainly young pilgrims who had packed Rio’s Copacabana beach. Christ’s Crucifiction was not defeat but a victory of good over evil, of hope over despair, the certainty of God’s love for the sinner, and the prospect of redemption, he prayed. Whatever our personal suffering, we know we are not alone, for Jesus is with us, in communion, offering us …

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  I walked for miles today, following the inner streets, tunnels, and coastline that weave their way across Rio- a city that nature invades, but where rampant consumerism and social inequality prevail. Behind and in-front were thousands of youths, from different parts of the world, although mainly Latin America, on their way to Copacabana to see the Pope. I struggled. They had a spring in their step.  It was a pilgrimage of sorts. `They’ve been taking cold showers and sleeping rough, but their happiness is undimmed. You can feel Jesus …

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  Pope Francis likes tango because its is the music of the street, of the people, of his neighbourhood. He also has often recalled that Jesus Christ that he believes in  spent most of his life walking, meeting people,listening, talking to them, from the heart. Today, his fourth day in Brazil, Francis took to the streets, deep into the depth of Rio’s poor, in the favela of Manguinhos. Earlier, his restored a sense of humanity amidst the  suited local authorities and frocked bishops and sports celebrities gathered round him in …

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One of the most loved public figures in the world, Pope Francis is in Rio de Janeiro, one of the friendliest and beautiful cities in the world  on his first ever trip abroad since being elected. With hundreds of journalists and half a million young pilgrims in town, you would have thought the authorities would have taken steps to make sure than matters are organised well. Such is the good nature …of the Pope and the joy of his faithful  youth, neither deserve to be blighted by cock-up, And yet …

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