Pope to Give Gospels to Faithful at Angelus

Gift Follows Calls to Meditate on the Words and Actions of Jesus

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This Sunday, those gathered in St. Peter’s Square to pray the midday Angelus with the Pope will receive a particular gift, according to the director of the Vatican press office, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi.

The Vatican spokesman said: “At the weekly Sunday Angelus and in various other occasions, Pope Francis has, many times, called the faithful to always have with themselves a small book of the Gospels. He calls on the faithful to keep taking it out, re-reading it and and to meditate on the words and actions of Jesus, especially those related to the daily liturgy and which the Pope has developed in his reflections.”

Father Lombardi surprised the press present, saying: “To help put this invitation into practice, leaving a clear message, next Sunday, during the weekly Angelus, the wish of the Holy Father is to have thousands of pocket-sized Gospels be distributed to the faithful present in the square.”

They will be given “freely, as a gift of the Holy Father,” announced the Vatican spokesman.

Father Lombardi compared this act to the one a month ago, when thousands of rosaries were distributed to the faithful present at the Sunday Angelus. He also said that the pocket-size Gospels would be distributed by numerous volunteers, 150 scouts, Roman seminarians, the Missionaries of Charity, other religious and lay people.

Fr. Lombardi added that the Gospels would be in Italian because the majority of those present are Italian-speaking.

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Deborah Castellano Lubov

Deborah Castellano Lubov is Senior Vatican & Rome Correspondent for ZENIT; author of 'The Other Francis' ('L'Altro Francesco') featuring interviews with those closest to the Pope and preface by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin (currently published in 5 languages); Deborah is also NBC & MSNBC Vatican Analyst. She often covers the Pope's travels abroad, often from the Papal Flight (including for historic trips such as to Abu Dhabi and Japan & Thailand), and has also asked him questions on the return-flight press conference on behalf of the English-speaking press present. Lubov has done much TV & radio commentary, including for NBC, Sky, EWTN, BBC, Vatican Radio, AP, Reuters and more. She also has contributed to various books on the Pope and has written for various Catholic publications. For 'The Other Francis': http://www.gracewing.co.uk/page219.html or https://www.amazon.com/Other-Francis-Everything-They-about/dp/0852449348/

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