The final stage of his historical trip through South America in July of 2015 took place in Paraguay. The country welcomed the pope with rain... and music.<\/p>\n
A children's choir... wouldn't let him leave.<\/p>\n
In the presidential palace, then-president Horacio Cortes greeted him on behalf of the entire country.<\/p>\n
HORACIO CARTES<\/strong> Pope Francis praised the courage of Paraguayan women, who rebuilt this land without resentment, after the war with Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, which left many men dead.<\/p>\n POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> One of the most moving moments was his visit to this children's hospital.<\/p>\n POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> He also visited the shrine of Caacup\u00e9, the country's most important sanctuary. There, he celebrated Mass and prayed the Our Father in Guarani.<\/p>\n The pope visited the capital's most impoverished neighborhood, Ba\u00f1ado Norte, where thousands of people were waiting for him.<\/p>\n He went inside some of the houses to greet residents, and he explained that faith without solidarity is dead.<\/p>\n POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> The most widely attended Mass was this one in \u00d1u Guaz\u00fa, under an impressive altarpiece made out of corn and vegetables.<\/p>\n POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> He saved his final large meeting for the youth. He spent the evening with them, on the bank of the Paraguay River. He told them to live without fear and to not be afraid to dream.<\/p>\n POPE FRANCIS<\/strong> In the same way the people welcomed the pope with music, they said goodbye with singing and dancing.<\/p>\n That was the grand finale of eight intense days throughout which the pope enjoyed the company and warmth of millions of people.<\/p>\n Javier Mart\u00ednez-Brocal August 16, 2020. \u201cWe don't want young people who tire quickly and live tired, with bored faces. We want strong youth, young people with hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":16683,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"acf":{"video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/2o735OUcUbg","video_descarga":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bpapaparaguayeng.mp4","international_url":"http:\/\/attuale.romereports.com\/news\/bpapaparaguayint.mp4","type":"bn","newsletter":"si"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.romereports.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\u201cPeople come first. The fight against poverty and marginalization. We try to serve God, feeling a personal responsibility to serve our fellow brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAs mothers, wives and widows, they shouldered the heaviest burdens; they found a way to move their families and their country forward, instilling in new generations the hope of a better tomorrow.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nA blessing for all of you to heal, and I'm also going to give a rosary to each one of you.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nA faith which does not draw us into solidarity is a faith which is dead or a lie. 'I am very Catholic. I am very Catholic. I go to Church every Sunday.' But tell me, mister, madame, what happens in Ba\u00f1ado Norte? 'Oh, I don't know. I know that there are people there, but I don't know.' More than going to Mass on Sundays, if you do not have a heart of solidarity, if you don't know what happens to your people, then your faith is weak, or it is sick, or it is dead. It's a faith without Christ. Faith without solidarity is a faith without Christ, a faith without God, a faith without fraternity.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nToday the Lord says to us quite clearly: In the Gospel, you do not convince people with arguments, strategies or tactics. You convince them by learning how to welcome them.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nWe don't want young weaklings, young people who are neither here nor there. We do not want young people who get tired quickly and live tired, with a face of boredom. We need young people who are strong, with hope and strength. Why? Because they know Jesus and know God. Because they have a free heart.<\/em><\/p>\n
\nTranslation: CT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"