Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis last Sunday entrusted the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to Her Maternal care, before the image of Our Lady of Fatima, asking the world to say ‘yes’ to Mary.

“Our Lady of Fatima, with renewed gratitude for your Maternal presence, we join our voice to that of all the generations that have called you blessed,” Pope Francis said at the close of Mass at St Peter’s Square (above). “We celebrate in you the great work of God, who never tires of bending down with mercy to mankind, afflicted by evil and wounded by sin, to heal and to save it.”

The original statue of Our Lady of Fatima was moved from its home shrine in Portugal to St Peter’s Square especially for the entrustment. The act marked the culmination of a weekend of Marian prayer and devotion. About 150,000 people attended the Sunday Mass.

The Pope asked the Virgin Mary to welcome the entrustment ‘with the benevolence of a mother.’

“We are certain that each of us is valuable in your eyes,” he said. “Guard our lives in your arms: bless and strengthen every desire for goodness, revive and grow faith, sustain and illuminate hope, arouse and enliven charity, guide all of us on the path of holiness.”

He asked the Virgin Mary to teach mankind Her ‘special love’ for children and the poor, for the excluded and suffering, and for sinners.

“Gather everyone under your protection and deliver everyone to your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus,” the Pope said.

The ceremony at the Vatican was echoed by Catholics around the world, including in Scotland, where Mass was celebrated at the parish of Blessed John Dun Scotus in Glasgow.

During his Sunday homily, Pope Francis had reflected on the importance of Mary’s Faithfulness even in moments of difficulty. He said She shows the Christian response to God.

“Mary said Her ‘yes’ to God: a ‘yes’ which threw Her simple life in Nazareth into turmoil, and not only once,” he said. “Any number of times She had to utter a heartfelt ‘yes’ at moments of joy and sorrow, culminating in the ‘yes’ She spoke at the foot of the Cross.”

The Pope encouraged the crowd to think on the ‘full extent’ of Mary’s faithfulness despite ‘seeing Her only Son hanging on the Cross.’

“The faithful woman, still standing, utterly heartbroken, yet faithful and strong,” he said.

At the conclusion of the Mass, Pope Francis led the crowd in the traditional Angelus prayer. He then greeted the various groups present, which included delegations from many international Marian organisations.

The role of women in the Church was also on Pope Francis’ mind last Saturday, when he said their role in the Catholic Church should be one of ‘service’ and not ‘servitude.’

Pope Francis said he ‘suffered’ when he saw ‘in the Church, or in certain Church organisations… that the woman’s service role slips into one of servitude.’

He also singled out two dangers facing Catholic women, beginning with ‘motherhood being reduced to a social role.’

On the other hand, he said that the ‘sort of emancipation’ that allows women to enter traditionally male domains may rob them of ‘the very femininity that characterises them.’

The 76-year-old Argentine Holy Father, elected in March, also said he likes ‘to think of the Church as feminine.’

“The Church is a Woman, a Mother, that is what is beautiful,” he told some 150 people attending the conference marking the 25th anniversary of the publication of the Papal text on the woman’s vocation.