BY CINDY WOODEN
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
ROME (CNS) - Pope Francis, Martin Scorsese, Jane Goodall and a group of less famous "over 70s" talk to young filmmakers about love in the first episode of a four-part documen- tary available worldwide on Netflix on Christmas Day. The episode "Love," part of the series "Stories of a Generation," premiered at the Rome Film Festival Oct. 21. The documentary is based on "Sharing the Wisdom of Time," a book in which Pope Francis called for creating "an alliance between the young and old people" by sharing their stories. Published by Chicago-based Loyola Press in 2018, the book featured an introduction by Pope Francis, the stories of 30 older people and reflec- tions by a handful of younger people on "What I learned from an elder." Simona Ercolani, director and producer of the Netflix series, told re- porters Oct. 21 that she started work- ing on the project after reading the book, and then the COVID-19 pan- demic struck, hitting Italy early and devastating its elderly population. The idea to make the series "be- came urgent because every day we had a bulletin of deaths," she said. "We spoke with Netflix, which also felt the urgency of collecting the sto- ries of people, who at that moment were more fragile. They liked this idea of a dialogue between genera- tions - filmmakers under 30 and contributors over 70." "The stories are extraordinary in their normality, because everyone, including Pope Francis, put them- selves in a position of relating (to the filmmaker) not just as a grandchild, but human being to human being," she said. Giovanni Bossetti, nonfiction manager for Netflix Italy, told report- ers that the streaming service is all about sharing stories, so "besides the incredible access to the Holy Father" that Ercolani had, the series gave Netflix an opportunity "to tell stories that are completely different and that touch themes that are central" to the life of every person. Eighteen elders from five conti- nents and speaking four different languages appear in the series' four episodes: Love, Dreams, Struggle and Work. Pope Francis' commentary on the four themes and reflections from his own life appear in each episode. While the series is not "didactic" at all, Bossetti said, the elders share important, universal values.
BY DENNIS SADOWSKI
CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
President Joe Biden's upcoming audience with Pope Francis presents an opportunity for the pontiff to inspire the U.S. leader to work more diligently to ad- vance solutions on shared concerns such as climate change, COVID-19 vaccine distribution, stifling pov- erty and conflict in vulner- able countries, a Catholic Relief Services executive said. "You have the two loud- est microphones in the international commu- nity" coming together, Bill O'Keefe, executive vice president for mission, mo- bilization and advocacy at the U.S. bishops' global development and humani- tarian aid agency, said of the Oct. 29 meeting at the Vatican. "I hope that the Holy Fa- ther will speak to him as a person and as a Catholic and that the Holy Father's guidance will be very help- ful," O'Keefe told Catholic News Service Oct. 21. "The Holy Father, with his profound leadership, can help move the United States, inspire the admin- istration, to do more on those critical issues and to work together even where there are obvious differ- ences between the church
Drawing people to liturgy
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Four years after Pope Francis modified canon law to emphasize the responsibility of bishops' conferences for judging the accuracy and suitability of liturgical translations and adaptations, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacra- ments published an executive decree formalizing the new process. "At the heart of this change is the desire to draw the people of God to the liturgy and the lit- urgy to the people of God," Archbishop Arthur Roche, prefect of the congregation, told Vatican News Oct. 22. The goal, he said, is to promote the liturgical life of the Latin-rite church "in a climate of collaboration and dialogue," placing the congregation at the service of the bishops in fulfiling their responsibilities.
Church's social teaching needed to combat greed
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - With many people around the world facing exclusion and inequality, the social teaching of the Catholic Church can inspire new economic systems that are more "people-centered," Pope Francis said. Christians must not "remain indifferent" to those affected by an "economic system that continues to discard people's lives in the name of the god of money, fostering greed and destructive attitudes toward the resources of the earth and fueling various forms of injustice," the pope said Oct. 23. "Our response to injustice and exploitation must be more than mere condemnation," he said. "First and foremost, it must be the active promotion of good: condemnation of what is wrong, yet promotion of what is good." The pope addressed participants of an international conference sponsored by the Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice Foundation. The two- day conference reflected on "Solidarity, Cooperation and Responsibility: The antidotes to fight injustices, inequalities and exclusions." Established in 1993, the foundation seeks to promote the teaching of St. John Paul II's 1991 encyclical on social and economic justice.
'What is love?' Pope, other elders share stories for Netflix
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Free education aids street kids
NKWELLE EZUNAKA, Nigeria (CNS) - On a quiet, breezy morning, Sister Dorothy Okoli stood amid schoolchildren ages 6-12 in a classroom, teaching them English. It is a class she says she enjoys teaching, having studied English and guidance and counseling at the university. "I love to teach, and I see it as another ministry given to me by God," said Sister Okoli, the school's headmistress. The school serves children between the ages of 3 and 12, with an orphanage where orphaned children and those from indigent homes are sheltered, cared for, and given free education - a program Sister Okoli describes as a means of contributing to society. "We established this orphanage home with the aim of giving the children free education, due to the current economic situation in the country. We have a lot of children who are wandering the streets aimlessly ... and when you'd approach them, you'd find out that they are children who are supposed to be in school."
Pope hopes to visit abroad again
VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Pope Francis said he hopes to continue traveling next year, including making visits to countries in Oceania and Southeast Asia. "I still have to pay the overdue bill for the trip to Papua New Guinea and East Timor," the pope told Ar- gentine news agency Telam in an interview published Oct. 22. The pope was originally planning to visit to the two countries in 2020. However, all papal trips were can- celed that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an interview in July with ucanews.com, Msgr. Marco Sprizzi, an official at the apostolic nunciature in East Timor, said Pope Francis told him that he hoped to visit the country in January 2022 if the situation had improved.
Pope supports Sri Lankans
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNS) - Pope Francis has expressed his support for the Sri Lankan Catholic Church in its attempts to seek justice for the victims of the 2019 Easter bombings. "His Holiness Pope Francis has sent me a letter in his own handwriting in Italian asking what action the Sri Lankan Catholic Church requires from the pope regarding the investigation into the Easter Sunday at- tack," Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo said. The cardinal described the contents of the letter during an Oct. 24 online briefing on the investigations organized by the Australian-based Sri Lankan Justice Forum, which advocates for victims of the attack, ucanews.com reported. and the Biden administra- tion. The opportunity to work together on these critical global issues is re- ally central to progress on them," he said. Biden, the nation's sec- ond Catholic president, plans to meet Pope Francis the day before he joins the two-day summit of G-20 leaders in Rome. The two previously met at the Vati- can in 2016, when Biden was vice president and spoke at a conference on adult stem-cell research there. Their first meeting was in 2015, when the pope at- tended the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. First lady Jill Biden will accompany her husband at the Oct. 29 audience with the pope. O'Keefe acknowledged that there are differences between the pope and the president, most notably on abortion. Biden sup- ports legal abortion, while Catholic teaching opposes the taking of human life from conception to natural death. Differences, however, he said, should not prohibit the meeting from going forward. He cited the pope's 2020 encyclical, "Fratelli Tutti, on Fraternity and Social Friendship," as a reason for hope. "The message of 'Fratelli Tutti' is one of encounter and brotherhood, and so speaking truth to power requires speaking to power," O'Keefe explained. "What that means is hav- ing the courage to talk re- spectfully with people with whom you disagree with." O'Keefe expects the two leaders will have plenty to discuss. The pope in writing and public comments has increasingly addressed climate change, protecting creation, rising economic inequality and the near- constant low-level conflict that has displaced hun- dreds of thousands of peo- ple and claimed hundreds of lives in Africa and Asia. O'Keefe said the pope's messages have focused on the dire needs of the world's most vulnerable people. The pope has re- peatedly urged action to mitigate climate change and assist communities to adapt to such change. "Everywhere we work, the climate is impacting the most vulnerable," O'Keefe said. "The Holy Father is the most appro- priate person to deliver that message to Biden." The CRS official also noted that the U.S. and the Vatican share con- cerns about improved ac- cess in poor countries to COVID-19 vaccines. Rich and developed nations have had widespread distribution of vaccines, while poor nations par- ticularly in Africa, have received relatively small shipments of doses. He said that while the U.S. has agreed to a waiv- er of the patent rights for the various vaccines, the process "is not moving
CNS PHOTO SIMONE RISOLUTI, VATICAN MEDIA
Pope Francis is interviewed at the Vatican for "Stories of a Generation," a Netflix series based on the pope's book, "Sharing the Wisdom of Time." The documentary features the pope and other people over 70 sharing their life stories and experiences with filmmakers under 30. The documentary is scheduled to be available on Netflix Dec. 25.
CNS PHOTO VATICAN MEDIA
Pope Francis greets then-U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican March 19, 2013, as the new pontiff receives dignitaries following his inaugural Mass. The pope and President Biden are scheduled to meet at the Vatican Oct. 29.
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Pope- Biden meeting: a chance to share concerns
fast enough" at the World Trade Organization. That's where Pope Fran- cis can step in, he said. "It needs a major push at the WTO. I think mak- ing sure that the Biden administration, with Eu- ropean partners, makes that happen so that we can deliver on U.S. com- mitments to ensure that the most vulnerable people around the world get the vaccines they are entitled to," O'Keefe said. Regarding the conflicts that have disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people globally, O'Keefe said he expects the pope to en- courage the U.S. to more actively support face-to- face talks that can lead to peace and reconcilia- tion in trouble spots. The Catholic Church, through Caritas Interna- tionalis member agen- cies including CRS, has helped broker peace in some regions, particular- ly the Sahel, a 1.1 million square mile area south of the arid Sahara that extends from the Atlan- tic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. Home to about 84 mil- lion people, the region has suffered through conflicts rooted in tribal and religious differences for years.
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