{UAH} St Januarius's coagulated blood liquefies in presence of Pope Francis

Last Saturday (21/03/2015) Pope Francis was in Naples, South Italy, to visit especially the poor district
of Scampia where thousands of the city's unemployed youths live in squalid

conditions. He flew by helicopter and was received there to much of a hero's welcome.

Hudreds of thousands of people from all over the region cheered him wherever he passed

and his Mass where he made a number of very important pronouncements was attended

by a vast crowd estimated at over 800,000 faithful.

Before the service the Pope listened to four petitions read to him by an immigrant, an unemployed,

a homeless person who all deplored the precarity in their midst, and a magistrate who hit on corruption,.

The Pope reassured the petitioners of god's love to them all and the need to have hope all the time. Evil will

never triumph over hope. And as for the immigrants, it was very important to know that we are all children of God

and our destiny was heaven, therefore we are all immigrants on earth. Speaking on unemployment which now affects

over 40% of the youth in Naples, the Pope threw this to the economic system which now turns to the oppression and

exploitation of the youth by denying them proper employment with a formal contract and without also affording them any

specific terms of retirement. He qualified all this as corruption and emphasized that corruption wasn't at a Christian principle.

He assured the Napolitans that they could do away with those evils if they opted moving forward with hope to look for the correct

sources that can supply work, and if they resolved to move forward on a correct and clean path. The Pope was ululated throughout

his intervention and he is said to have touched on the real issues without fear.

From this venue pope Francis was driven to Central Naples Square where over 800,000 had already assembled for Mass,and many

had even climbed trees and buildings to get a of the Pope. He arrived on time in spite of the heavy crowds that had lined up the streets 

to cheer him. In his sermon thje Pope told the vast assemblyh that he had come to Naples to join them in saying, "Jesus is the Lord!"

he emphasized on this by stating that Christ's word was a power and a force which had the capacity to change the world. He gave the 

example of the many saints in Naples who did very many great things thanks to pegging their activity to Christ's word. 

He appealed to the crowds to deal very firmly with those organizations which exploit the youth, and to stand very firmly against corruption.

And he finally appealed to the corrupt chaps and criminals to repent and embrace God's teaching. He received mighty deafening cheers

when he ended his sermon. After Mass the Archbishop of Naples thanked the Pope for visiting them. Thjere was the traditional exchange

of gifts, and then the Pope gave the final blessing to end Mass. 

From there the Pope, passing through packed streets full of cheering people,  was driven to Paggioreale Prison where he had lunch with

the inmates who were all moved by his gesture to them. At table his exchange with the 20 prisoners who sat with him was just very cordial

and brotherly! he then moved on to the Basilica where the special tubes containing the coagulated blood of St Januarius are kept,. This saint 

was a 3rd century bishop who was beheaded by a Roman Emperor, and a number of faithful collected his blood and had it kept in tubes in

a church. This coagulated blood liquefies on many occasions when the tubes are exposed (three times a year). And on those occasions when

it hasn't liquesfied, there have been trouble in the region : plagues, floods, earthquake, etc...  This time the tubes were specially brought out to

be presented to the attention of the Pope. And, for the first time in the presence of a Pope the blood suddenly took to a liquid state and was exposed to

all to see, even before world TV's that had gone to Naples to cover the Pope's visit! And rumours quickly circulated to the effect that St Januarius, the

patron saint of Naples, had indeed appreciated the courage with which the Pope came in the defence of the city's marginalized populace!!!

It was indeed a Papal victory and the press has largely commented on it. And at the Angelus prayer yesterday Sunday 22/03/2015 the Pope thanked

the very many pligrims who turned up for the prayer in spite of the bad weather ( over 100,000 people were present in St Peter's Square!)

The very intrepid visionary Pope must also have time to jubilate. At the Angelus he told the crowds that Latin America's martyred Archbishop Oscar

Romero would be beatified soon. News which excited the crowds who also heard him giving his advice on the steps to take to protect water, a resource

necessary to all humans. Pope Francis has again succeeded to draw great crowds for his weekly audiences in spite of the itches of a stiff winter.

Now all the assemblies are returning to St Peter's Square as weather begins to slightly warm up. And the Easter Week ceremonies will create a

mobilizing effect that will culminate in Palm Sunday's 200,000-strong crowd and then a week later in Easter Day's 300,000 expected turn up for the

Papal Mass and Easter Blessing. And, just like all serious-minded persons, Papal entourage must feel happy with the enthusiasm the new film

" Shades of Truth" aimed at rehabilitating wartime heroic Pope Pius XII, is creating worldwide. The film is a special documentary collecting evidence

from 100,000 newly found manuscripts that help to prove how Pope Pius XII struggled to defend the Jews and save  900,000 of them from being

trucked to Nazi camps for extermination. These manuscripts, many of them provided by the Jews themselves, are now widely referred to as another

miracle by the saintly Pope Pius XII who also did much to protect and promote Africa! The film will visit all nations of the globe and it won't fail to pull

crowds in Africa where Pope Pius is a very respected figure.

Dr G.H. Kkolokolo ( Paris / France )