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The Holy See has asked the governor of Missouri to cancel the scheduled execution of Ernest Johnson. Johnson was sentenced to death for murdering three people in the 90s. The papal nuncio to the United States emphasized Johnson’s humanity, and the sacredness of all human life. He said all of society benefits when violence is restrained, including the violence of a legal execution. Johnson is scheduled to be executed tomorrow.
A 78-year old Cardinal has been hospitalized with COVID-19, after traveling to the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest last month. The cardinal had been fully vaccinated last May. He is being treated at a hospital in northern Italy, where he served as an archbishop until his retirement last year.
Pope Francis has asked countries around the world to work quickly toward net zero carbon emissions. The environmental plea was a joint statement with dozens of international religious leaders. The pope presented the statement to the head of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
Greatness is found in placing one’s hope entirely in the Lord. That was the message of Pope Francis on Sunday, during his Angelus address in Rome. The pope said the secret to greatness is not self-sufficiency, but smallness, and trust in God. He encouraged Catholics to ask the Blessed Virgin Mary for the grace of humility, and trust in God.
Today is the feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. The Italian deacon is remembered for selling everything to devote his life to God. He received the stigmata - or the wounds of Christ. He was canonized in 1228, two years after his death.