In early April, Pope Francis presided over Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, one in which he urged Christians to ask for the grace to understand shame after one has sinned.
POPE FRANCIS
“When we feel ashamed, we should be grateful: this means that we do not accept evil, and that is good. Shame is a secret invitation of the soul that needs the Lord to overcome evil. The tragedy is when we are no longer ashamed of anything.”
The following day the Vatican published Pope Francis' new apostolic exhortation on the call to holiness among the laity.
GREG BURKE
Vatican spokesperson
'It is not a document about canonizations or beatifications. This is, above all, about holiness today, a normal life and normal people.'
April also marked the beginning of a series of meetings with the pope on the sexual abuse crisis in Chile. After hearing the result of a report on how the bishops handled cases of sexual abuse in the country, he convened with the prelates in Rome. He told them that he felt “pain and shame” for what happened and he acknowledged that he had made a mistake when judging the facts.
April also brought more developments in the case of Alfie Evans, the 23-month-old baby in England with an incurable degenerative disease. After meeting with Alfie's father, Pope Francis prayed for the child during the General Audience and expressed a strong statement in support of life.
POPE FRANCIS
“I would like to reiterate and strongly confirm that the only holder of life, from the beginning to the natural end is God and our duty is to do everything to preserve life.”
On the fourth Sunday of Easter, the Church's Day of Prayer for Vocations, the Holy Father ordained 16 deacons as priests before touching on the importance of mercy once again.
POPE FRANCIS
“Now, I stop to ask you all: please, don't grow tired of being merciful. Think of your sins, in your miseries that Jesus forgives. Be merciful.”
To conclude the month of April, Pope Francis held this moving encounter with the families of children with Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, a severe intellectual disability.
In his message to the parents, the pope lauded their outlook.
POPE FRANCIS
“The association's name says you all know how to see the positive side: that every human life is unique, that if the illness is rare or very rare, life is also rare. That positive view is a miracle typical of love. And love does this: it knows how to see the good in the negative situations, it knows how to safeguard the small flame in the middle of a dark night.”
April was an intense month in the Vatican with shame, mercy and holiness as recurring themes.
