Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis has called for people to resist the trappings of a secular culture in his last general audience before a weeklong Lenten retreat.

“This journey of spiritual renewal in the footsteps of Christ… calls us to acknowledge and respond to the growing spiritual and material poverty in our midst,” the Holy Father said this morning. “Specifically, it means consciously resisting the pressure of a culture which thinks it can do without God, where parents no longer teach their children to pray, where violence, poverty and social decay are taken for granted.”

Breaking with tradition, the Vatican announced in October that Pope Francis would not have his Lenten retreat in the Vatican, but would go to the Pauline Fathers’ retreat and conference centre in Ariccia, a town on the outskirts of Rome.

The retreat will take place from March 9-14, during which time the Pope will suspend all private and public audiences.

Pope Francis spoke of Ash Wednesday as the beginning of ‘our Lenten journey of penance, prayer and conversion in preparation for the Church’s annual celebration of the saving mysteries of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection.’

“May this Lent, then, be a time when, as individuals and communities, we heed the words of the Gospel, reflect on the mysteries of our faith, practice acts of penance and charity, and open our hearts ever more fully to God’s grace and to the needs of our brothers and sisters,” the Pope said.

Pic: Pope Francis accepts a kiss from an elderly woman in a wheelchair as he leads his last general audience in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican before going on retreat

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