To mark the 57th World Communications Day, this Catholic News podcast looks at Pope Francis' message for the day and the challenges of emerging technologies with Bishop John Arnold.

Bishop Arnold is the Lead Bishop for Communications for the Bishops’ Conference.

As well as discussing the theme for World Communications Day, Speaking with the heart. ‘The truth in love’, we also discuss the need to embrace emerging technologies with an ethical mind, to ensure human beings don’t suffer on the path to ‘progress’.

World Communications Day is celebrated in the parishes of England and Wales on Sunday, 21 May 2023.

Read more here.

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Sunday 14 May, the Sixth Sunday of Easter, marks the International Day of Prayer for Eastern Christians.

It's an opportunity to come together to pray for peace in the world – especially in the Middle East. But with so many noble causes competing for our attention, why is it important for us to pray for the Christians of the East with whom we share an indelible link?

And how can we find out more about these Christian communities and the challenges they face? That's the subject of this Catholic News podcast.

We're joined by Dr Harry Hagopian, an International Lawyer with experience in conflict resolution and a consultant on the Middle East North Africa region. Importantly, Harry is an Armenian Christian and was a former Assistant General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches.

"When we pray for the Christians of the East, what we should say is, 'May thy will be done' and 'thy will' is also the will of the Christians there. They are a self-sustaining community. They have their own problems, they have their own challenges, but they also know their solutions better than we do sitting in the West watching EastEnders or Coronation Street advising them what they should or shouldn't do. That is not being in solidarity. That is religious colonialism.

"What we need to say is, 'I'm with you. We share one common thing, which is Jesus Christ, and therefore I pray so that you have the will, the power and the strength to continue your witness and do what you do, which is continue your life as we do here, but in different circumstances.'"

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Speaking to us shortly after Sunday Mass the day after the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles and Queen Camilla, Cardinal Vincent Nichols looks back on a day of celebration that showcased plenty of elements familiar to Catholics.

Six Catholic prelates attended the historic coronation, including the Cardinal Secretary of State and the Apostolic Nuncio representing the Holy See, and Cardinal Nichols himself who conferred a blessing on King Charles.

The Cardinal prayed that God may pour upon the King "the riches of his grace, keep you in his holy fear, prepare you for a happy eternity, and receive you at the last into immortal glory."

On this 'Catholic News' podcast, Cardinal Nichols reflects on a remarkable and historic occasion, talking about his role, the Catholic elements of the service, not least the Coronation Choir singing William Byrd's 'Gloria in Excelsis Deo' from the Mass for Four Voices, and why we should pray for the King.

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Bishop Tom Neylon, Lead Bishop for Asia for the Bishops' Conference, has recently returned from a week-long trip to Pakistan from 9-16 March.

He visited a number of projects funded by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need and met with the faithful, priests and bishops in the major cities of Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore and Faisalabad.

The Catholic faithful experience various challenges in Pakistan but the practice rate is extraordinary - over 70% attend Mass.

On this Catholic News podcast, we interview Bishop Neylon about his experiences and encounters.

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Archbishop John Wilson tells us of his 'shock' when he learned Pope Francis had been admitted to hospital with viral bronchitis. Thankfully, the Pope is on the mend and is scheduled to be discharged from Gemelli hospital on Saturday morning.

In this short Catholic News interview, the Archbishop of Southwark reflects on two memorable encounters with Pope Francis and tells us why it's important we keep praying for the Holy Father.

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On today's Catholic News podcast, Archbishop John Wilson joins us to talk about the launch of CARITAS Southwark - a new diocesan Caritas social action charity to help those in need across the south east.

Archbishop Wilson is keen to work collaboratively:

"This is not about a takeover. This is about creating a network whereby there can be a real celebration of good practise, and where new initiatives, especially in parishes and schools, can find support and direction from existing organisations and charities within the church, so that our diocese, within which there is enormous social need, can really start to put the practical gospel of love, of neighbour into practise in a new way.

"Starting small. We're sowing little seeds, but from little seeds come mighty oaks. And mighty oaks give shelter, especially to those who suffer and are in pain and in need. We come with faith and we come with a real desire to sow seeds today that will bear fruit in our practical love of those in need."

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Transcript

This is Archbishop John Wilson, the Archbishop of Southwark, and I'm very pleased to share news today of the launch of our Caritas Southwark network, which is a new thing for us in the Archdiocese. Today, thanks be to God, following a long process of consultation with people in our parishes and our schools, we've been able to formally launch Caritas Southwark as an agency of the diocese to put the Gospel into practise - to make the Gospel flesh. To reach out to the weakest and the poorest and those in need in our communities and ask the question, what can we do? How can we serve? How can we be the loving presence of Christ, that sees with the heart of Christ and the eyes of Christ, with the compassion of Christ, and meets the needs of people - whether it's to do with food poverty or issues around refugees, whether it's things to do with care of the elderly, we've got projects that we want to explore that look at how we help our young people, especially those who might be tempted, into areas that involve knife crime.

We're very, very keen to work collaboratively and in partnership and also to explore new ways of how we might work together. We've got very good relationships with Pact, for example, that works with prisoners in supporting the link between prisoners and their families. We've got good links with the Manna Society (a day centre for homeless people near London Bridge), which is based here in the diocese and which the diocese already supports.

So this is not about a takeover. This is about creating a network whereby there can be a real celebration of good practise, and where new initiatives, especially in parishes and schools, can find support and direction from existing organisations and charities within the church, so that our diocese, within which there is enormous social need, can really start to put the practical gospel of love, of neighbour into practise in a new way. Starting small. We're sowing little seeds, but from little seeds come mighty oaks. And mighty oaks give shelter, especially to those who suffer and are in pain and in need. We come with faith and w

This audiobook, recorded and produced in collaboration with the Catholic Truth Society (CTS), sees us re-visit the 'Victims of the Nazis' series to shine a light on a truly remarkable woman - Edith Stein - who we know and venerate as Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.

Born on the Feast of St Wilfred, 12 October 1891, in the then German town of Breslau (now Wroclaw in Poland), Edith Stein was a German Jew who descended to the intellectual heights of atheism, converted to Catholicism and, as a Discalced Carmelite nun, ascended to Mount Carmel to the crystal peaks of mysticism.

Her life on earth ended in the gas chambers of a Nazi concentration camp – which she entered unresisting as an offering to God. Spiritually a giant, in body she was small and frail. At first meeting she often disappointed those who had known her only by her fame as a major contemporary philosopher.

She has many devotees around the world and was declared a saint by Pope Saint John Paul II on 11 October 1998.

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This book was written by Monk Matthew and published by CTS in 2010. It is taken from a collection of texts, published in ebook form, titled: Edith Stein, Marcel Callo, Titus Brandsma: Victims of the Nazis. This audiobook version is read by Monica Nash.

Duration: 38 minutes

ctsbooks.org

You can visit the CTS website for more on this and other great publications.

Bishop Nicholas Hudson, Chairing his first Holy Land Co-ordination, spoke to us on the eve of his return home from Amman, the capital of Jordan.

He had just spent five days leading a pilgrimage of Bishops from 11 countries around the holy sites of Jordan, as well as visiting some of the Catholic parishes and projects active in the country.

Jordan today hosts more displaced people than almost any other country, offering support for those fleeing violence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, through the provision of accommodation, skills-training, medical facilities, pastoral care, and advocacy.

"Jordanian people have a real gift for welcome," said Bishop Hudson. "Their welcome to the refugees is deeply touching and they have a deep desire to welcome more pilgrims too. It's a land of joy in the sense that whenever you encounter people, you sense the joy in their hearts."

The Holy Land Co-ordination, based this year in Amman, Jordan, took place from 14-19 January. It is an annual meeting of the Episcopal Conferences in Support of the Church of the Holy Land. It focuses on the three Ps: Prayer, Pilgrimage and Persuasion.

Podcast Transcript

It has been one of the biggest Holy Land Co-ordinations I've known - and I've been on about five of them. I was counting, at our final meeting this evening, I think we were 35 people sitting in a large circle with bishops representing about eleven different countries - it has been a fantastic week. It began with going to the ordination of two young priests. It was really heart-warming to arrive into such an atmosphere and see a beautifully full church.

The next day saw us go down to the River Jordan, to the newly-developed baptismal site - the very place of the Baptism of Our Lord. There was an almost festival atmosphere with the church completely full and the same number of people outside. They reckoned there were some like 6,500 - 7,000 people there. There was an atmosphere that we recognise from our own experience in England and Wales, where people are so happy to be able to come together for that sort of celebration when COVID prevented them doing it for so long.

The following day we had just as touching an experience, but completely different when we spent the morning with Iraqi refugees, and I'll say a little bit more about that later on, but that was deeply touching.

Then we went out to different parishes - about seven different parishes. Bishops, priests and some of the lay members of the Co-ordination go out to different parishes. I went about 100km north of Amman, where we've been based, to go and celebrate Mass in the parish of Ajloun - and deeply touching it was. The contrast between the 6,500 - 7,000 of the day before and the 40 or so people who were in Ajloun was deeply touching. Just as precious in their smallness, and I could see how much it meant to them when I said, "we've come to let you know that you're not forgotten, because we all belong to the one Body of Christ and we will always hold you in our hearts".

The next day, the whole Co-ordination went somewhere completely different - a third of the way down the country to a place called Madaba. There we had a really excellent and informative presentation from Caritas, where they were telling us everything that they've been doing for refugees. And then we went into an actual school and we had addresses from different members of the school, telling us everything that they've been doing to welcome refugees and also local Jordanian Christians and some Muslims into their school.

Then we had one of the most memorable moments from the scriptural topographical aspect of being in Jordan, which was to go up Mount Nebo, which is of course, the place where Moses viewed the Promised Land for the first time. We came off the mountain to go and meet with young people from the Patriarchate in Jordan. The Patriarchate in Jordan has organised

"In one way it was a very straightforward celebration of a Funeral Mass as would take place at the death

of any Catholic in any parish church. And yet in another way it was a uniquely historical event and an event of great emotional depth and stature.

"I think we can say it's the first time [in over 200 years] that a pope has buried a pope who has just died and in that sense there was a uniqueness to it. But I think it was also a moment in which, for me certainly, there was a heightened sense of loss - a sense of my own sadness that Benedict is no longer with us in person. At the same time the ceremony was an unshakable expression of faith and trust in the promises of Jesus. So we had both sadness and hope, we had the grief of loss and the certainty of faith.

"There were some words used in one of the prayers that appealed to me, particularly, and it was an appeal to Mary Salus Populi Romani, that she would intercede that Benedict would now see the face of Jesus and that we would be comforted on our pilgrim way.

"Those words touched me because I reflected on how much Benedict, his life and his spirituality, was focused on a relationship with Jesus. Those books that he wrote about Jesus of Nazareth in some ways summed up not only his learning but also his spirituality and his prayer.

"The other day, Archbishop Gänswein, who knows him better than anybody did, was saying that it was that image of Jesus always accompanying the Church, always being with the Church, that was the most radically fundamental thing in Pope Benedict's life.

"And I was thinking of the time when I was in St Peter Square when he gave his last homily as serving Pope before he left for Castel Gandolfo. In that homily, he used the image of Jesus asleep in the back of the boat when the storm came on the Sea of Galilee and the disciples were frightened."

Archbishop Gänswein repeated that and gave a little gloss on it. He said, "Benedict used to say, 'but now Jesus never sleeps and he's always with us'."

So during the Mass I was thinking about those things and, quite simply, how lovable Benedict was and therefore thanking God for the gifts that He gave us through him.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols

Vatican, 5 January 2023

Shortly after arriving in Rome the day before Benedict XVI's funeral, Cardinal Vincent Nichols spent some time in prayer and quiet contemplation before the body of the late Pope Emeritus

Lying in state in St Peter’s Basilica, Pope Benedict was visited by tens of thousands of pilgrims who paid their final respects and offered prayers for the repose of his soul.

"Yesterday afternoon, I was able to go into the Basilica of St. Peter's and be in the presence of Pope

Benedict's body to pray for him, and on behalf of many people who had asked me to join their prayers together in the presence of Pope Benedict's mortal remains.

"It was a very simple time, and what was impressive was the movement of people as they came up the whole length of the aisle of St. Peter's and paused ever so slightly in front of the catafalque where the body of Pope Benedict was visible.

"Everybody did the same thing. They made the sign of the Cross. They whispered a prayer and tried to take a picture with their phone. The stewards who were there were saying, "please move on, please don't stop."

"I believe 160,000 or more people have passed through the basilica paying their respects and praying for Pope Benedict. And that, to me, is an expression of how much he was loved.

"For me, I spent a lot of the time reflecting on my association with Pope Benedict and what I loved and appreciated about him. In a way, it was quite difficult to come away. There was a draw. I felt pulled to stay, but then eventually I had to leave. It was very precious time.

"I think how he will be remembered will be as a great scholar who wrote with clarity and simplicity, and who had a very loving disposition and capacity to make people feel welcome and part of whatever it was he was doing - the conversation or the event.

"So he'll be remembered both for his learning, but for his warmth of heart and generosity of character."