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Pope Francis spoke about pornography and how to avoid the devil’s temptation to sin via the internet during his 500th general audience.
In his first general audience since returning from the longest international trip of his pontificate, the pope expressed gratitude to God for his experiences.
During his general audience in the Vatican, Pope Francis spoke about the Holy Spirit, focusing on the fruits of being anointed with blessed oil in the sacraments of baptism and confirmation.
Francis’ reflections marked his fifth catechesis on the theme “The Spirit and the Bride: The Holy Spirit Guides the People of God toward Jesus Our Hope.”
Speaking in St. Peter’s Square during his weekly public audience, the pope gave the second lesson in a series of catechesis on the Holy Spirit and the Church.
Titled “The Spirit and the Bride: The Holy Spirit Guides God’s People Toward Jesus Our Hope,” the new cycle will unfold across three main themes.
Pointing to the Sermon on the Mount and repeating twice “love your enemy,” the pope noted that this teaching “embraces what is not lovable; it offers forgiveness.”
“Christians have hope not through their own merit. If they believe in the future, it is because Christ died and rose again and gave us his Spirit,” the pope said.
The Holy Father bolstered his analysis by looking to the legacy of St. John Paul II.
“A Christian without courage, who does not turn his own strength to good, who does not bother anyone, is a useless Christian,” the pope declared.
The Holy Father called attention to two men present at his general audience in the Paul VI Hall on Wednesday, one Palestinian, one Israeli.
“War is always a defeat. You can’t go on in war. We must make all efforts to negotiate, to negotiate, to end the war. Let’s pray for this,” the pope said Wednesday.
“Those who give in to this vice are far from God, and the correction of this evil requires time and effort, more than any other battle to which the Christian is called.”
The pope did not walk to his chair in the Paul VI Audience Hall on Wednesday as he normally does.
During his Feb. 14 Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis reflected on the human dimension of the vice of acedia, more commonly known as sloth.
The Holy Father warned that sorrow is “a constant affliction that prevents man from feeling joy at his own existence.”
Pope Francis dedicated his Jan. 31 general audience to the subject of wrath, characterizing it as a vice that is “pervasive” and “particularly dark.”
In his Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis said the preoccupation with the accumulation of material goods reflects a greater “pathological accumulation.”
In a continuation of his catechetical series on vice and virtue, Pope Francis on Wednesday dedicated his general audience to the difference between love and lust.
In the third installment of his catechetical series on vice and virtue, Pope Francis on Wednesday focused on the sin of gluttony.