Pope Francis arrived by popemobile in St. Peter's Square, where thousands of pilgrims awaited him for his weekly Wednesday Audience.
He dedicated his catechesis to a French woman, Madeleine Delbrêl, who lived for more than 30 years in the poor neighborhoods of Paris. She had a particular way of looking at faith, comparing it to riding a bicycle.
POPE FRANCIS
It's kind of like a bicycle, which cannot stand upright without spinning. We can stand upright only by moving forward, moving in a momentum of charity. It is what she calls the “spirituality of the bicycle.” Only by pedaling without stopping do we live in the balance of faith, which is an imbalance, but it is like a bicycle. If you stop, it does not stand.
At the end of his weekly General Audience, Pope Francis once again called for peace in Ukraine, as well as in Israel and Palestine.
POPE FRANCIS
May the Lord bring us to a just peace. They suffer so much: the children suffer, the sick and the old suffer and so many young people die. War always is a defeat. Let us not forget: always it is a defeat.
Pope Francis concluded the morning in St. Peter's Square by imparting the final blessing and then personally greeted some priests and bishops from around the world.
CA
TR: KG
