SUMMARY:
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Solemnity of the conversion of St. Paul: “We are all at the service
of the one Gospel”
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Angelus: God too thirsts for us
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New appeal for a cease to the violence in Ukraine
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The most effective antidote to violence is accepting difference as
richness
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Francis: “Unity is achieved by walking together”
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Ten years after “Dignitas connubii”: in search of swift solutions
-
Audiences
-
Other Pontifical Acts
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Solemnity
of the conversion of St. Paul: “We are all at the service of the
one Gospel”
Vatican
City, 25 January 2015 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon the Pope presided
at the second Vespers on the solemnity of the conversion of St. Paul,
bringing to a close the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the theme
of which this year was “Give me to drink” (John, 4.7).
Representatives
from other Churches and communities in Rome were present, and the
celebration concluded with an apostolic blessing. In his homily, the
full text of which is published below, Pope Francis emphasised that
Jesus' thirst – which is described in the Gospel passage of the
Samaritan woman – goes well beyond physical thirst. “It is also
the thirst for an encounter, the wish to establish a dialogue with
the woman, thus offering her the possibility of a path of inner
conversion”.
“On
his way from Judea to Galilee, Jesus passes through Samaria”, began
the Pope. “He has no problem dealing with Samaritans, who were
considered by the Jews to be heretics, schismatics, separate. His
attitude tells us that encounter with those who are different from
ourselves can make us grow.
“Weary
from his journey, Jesus does not hesitate to ask the Samaritan woman
for something to drink. His thirst, however, is much more than
physical: it is also a thirst for encounter, a desire to enter into
dialogue with that woman and to invite her to make a journey of
interior conversion. Jesus is patient, respectful of the person
before him, and gradually reveals himself to her. His example
encourages us to seek a serene encounter with others. To understand
one another, and to grow in charity and truth, we need to pause, to
accept and listen to one another. In this way, we already begin to
experience unity. Unity grows along the way; it never stands still.
Unity happens when we walk together.
“The
woman of Sychar asks Jesus about the place where God is truly
worshipped. Jesus does not side with the mountain or the temple, but
goes to the heart of the matter, breaking down every wall of
division. He speaks instead of the meaning of true worship: 'God is
spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth'.
So many past controversies between Christians can be overcome when we
put aside all polemical or apologetic approaches, and seek instead to
grasp more fully what unites us, namely, our call to share in the
mystery of the Father’s love revealed to us by the Son through the
Holy Spirit. Christian unity, we are convinced, will not be the fruit
of subtle theoretical discussions in which each party tries to
convince the other of the soundness of their opinions. When the Son
of Man comes, he will find us still discussing! We need to realise
that, to plumb the depths of the mystery of God, we need one another,
we need to encounter one another and to challenge one another under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who harmonises diversities and
overcomes conflicts, reconciles differences”.
Gradually,
continued the Pope, “the Samaritan woman comes to realise that the
one who has asked her for a drink is able to slake her own thirst.
Jesus in effect tells her that he is the source of living water which
can satisfy her thirst for ever. Our human existence is marked by
boundless aspirations: we seek truth, we thirst for love, justice and
freedom. These desires can only be partially satisfied, for from the
depths of our being we are prompted to seek 'something more',
something capable of fully quenching our thirst. The response to
these aspirations is given by God in Jesus Christ, in his paschal
mystery. From the pierced side of Jesus there flowed blood and water.
He is the brimming fount of the water of the Holy Spirit, 'the love
of God poured into our hearts on the day of our baptism. By the
working of the Holy Spirit, we have become one in Christ, sons in the
Son, true worshippers of the Father. This mystery of love is the
deepest ground of the unity which binds all Christians and is much
greater than their historical divisions. To the extent that we humbly
advance towards the Lord, then, we also draw nearer to one another”.
Her
encounter with Jesus “made the Samaritan women a missionary. Having
received a greater and more important gift than mere water from a
well, she leaves her jar behind and runs back to tell her townspeople
that she has met the Christ. Her encounter with Jesus restored
meaning and joy to her life, and she felt the desire to share this
with others. Today there are so many men and women around us who are
weary and thirsting, and who ask us Christians to give them something
to drink. It is a request which we cannot evade. In the call to be
evangelisers, all the Churches and Ecclesial Communities discover a
privileged setting for closer cooperation. For this to be effective,
we need to stop being self-enclosed, exclusive, and bent on imposing
a uniformity based on merely human calculations. Our shared
commitment to proclaiming the Gospel enables us to overcome
proselytism and competition in all their forms. All of us are at the
service of the one Gospel”.
“In
this moment of prayer for unity, I would also like to remember our
martyrs, the martyrs of today. They are witnesses to Jesus Christ,
and they are persecuted and killed because they are Christians. Those
who persecute them make no distinction between the religious
communities to which they belong. They are Christians and for that
they are persecuted. This, brothers and sisters, is the ecumenism of
blood”, emphasised Francis.
He
continued, “Mindful of this testimony given by our martyrs today,
and with this joyful certainty, I offer a cordial and fraternal
greeting to His Eminence Metropolitan Gennadios, the representative
of the Ecumenical Patriarch, His Grace David Moxon, the personal
representative in Rome of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and “all
the representatives of the various Churches and Ecclesial Communions
gathered here to celebrate the Feast of the Conversion of Saint
Paul”. He added, “I am also pleased to greet the members of the
Joint Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church
and the Orthodox Churches, and I offer them my best wishes for the
fruitfulness of the plenary session to be held in these coming days.
I also greet the students from the Ecumenical Institute at Bossey,
and the young recipients of study grants from by the Committee for
Cultural Collaboration with the Orthodox Churches, centred in the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity”.
Also
present, he said, “are men and women religious from various
Churches and Ecclesial Communities who have taken part in an
ecumenical meeting organised by the Congregation for Institutes of
Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life, in conjunction
with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, to mark
the Year for Consecrated Life. Religious life, as prophetic sign of
the world to come, is called to offer in our time a witness to that
communion in Christ which transcends all differences and finds
expression in concrete gestures of acceptance and dialogue. The
pursuit of Christian unity cannot be the sole prerogative of
individuals or religious communities particularly concerned with this
issue. A shared knowledge of the different traditions of consecrated
life, and a fruitful exchange of experiences, can prove beneficial
for the vitality of all forms of religious life in the different
Churches and Ecclesial Communities”.
“Dear
brothers and sisters”, he concluded, “today all of us who thirst
for peace and fraternity trustingly implore from our heavenly Father,
through Jesus Christ the one priest and mediator, and through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Apostle Paul and all the
saints, the gift of full communion between all Christians, so that
'the sacred mystery of the unity of the Church' may shine forth as
the sign and instrument of reconciliation for the whole world”.
Angelus:
God too thirsts for us
Vatican
City, 25 January 2015 (VIS) – At midday today the Pope appeared at
the window of his study to pray the Sunday Angelus with the faithful
gathered in St. Peter's Square and commented on today's Gospel
reading, which relates the beginning of Jesus' preaching immediately
after the arrest of St. John the Baptist.
“Jesus'
announcement is similar to that of John, with the significant
difference that Jesus does not indicate that another is to come:
Jesus Himself is the fulfilment of the promise; He is the 'good news'
to believe in, to receive and to communicate to men and women of all
time, so that they too entrust their existence to Him. Jesus Christ
Himself is the living Word and He is active in history: he who
listens to and follows Him will enter the Kingdom of God”.
“Jesus
is the fulfilment of the divine promise because it is He who gives
mankind the Holy Spirit, the 'living water' that quenches the thirst
of our restless heart for life, love, freedom, peace: our thirst for
God”, explained Francis. Jesus' words to the Samaritan woman, 'Give
me to drink', were the theme of this year's annual Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity, which concludes this afternoon with the second
Vespers in the Roman Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls “to
pray fervently to the Lord, so that He might strengthen our
commitment to the full unity of all Christians”. He added, “it is
an ugly thing, that Christians are divided. But Jesus wants us to be
united: one body. Our sins and our history have divided us and we
must therefore pray for the Spirit to unite us once more”.
“God,
who made Himself man, had our thirst, not only for water, but above
all the thirst for a full life, free from the slavery of evil and
death. At the same time, with His incarnation God placed His thirst,
because God also thirsts, in the heart of a man: Jesus of Nazareth.
God thirsts for us, our hearts, our love, and placed this thirst in
Jesus' heart. Therefore, in the heart of Christ, human and divine
thirst meets. And the desire for the unity of his disciples belongs
to this thirst”.
“May
Jesus' thirst increasingly become our own”, he concluded. “Let us
therefore continue to pray and strive for the full unity of the
Disciples of Christ, in the certainty that He Himself is at our side
and sustains us with the strength of His Spirit so that this goal can
be reached”.
New
appeal for a cease to the violence in Ukraine
Vatican
City, 26 January 2015 (VIS) – At the end of today's Angelus prayer,
a boy and a girl joined the Pope at the window of his study to read a
message of peace on behalf of Catholic Action of the diocese of Rome,
which concludes its traditional journey of the “Caravan of Peace”
during these days. The young people of Catholic Action present in the
square released a balloon containing messages of peace.
Beforehand,
the Pope recalled “with deep concern the escalation of the clashes
in east Ukraine, which continue to claim many victims among the
civilian population. While I assure my prayers to those who suffer, I
renew my heartfelt appeal for the resumption of attempts at dialogue
in order to bring an end to the hostilities”.
Francis
also mentioned that today is World Leprosy Day, and expressed his
closeness to “all those who suffer from this disease, as well as
those who care for them and those who fight to eradicate the causes
of contagion, that is, living conditions that are not worthy of
mankind. Let us renew our commitment to solidarity with these
brothers and sisters”.
Finally,
he addressed the Filipino community of Rome. “The Filipino people
are wonderful for their strong and joyful faith. May the Lord also
support those of you who live far from your homeland. Many thanks for
your witness, and thank you for all the good you do for us, as you
sow faith among us and offer a beautiful witness of faith”.
The
most effective antidote to violence is accepting difference as
richness
Vatican
City, 24 January 2015 (VIS) – “In recent years, despite various
misunderstandings and difficulties, strides ahead have been made in
interreligious dialogue, even with followers of Islam. Listening is
essential for this. It is not only a necessary condition in a process
of mutual comprehension and peaceful co-existence, but it is also a
pedagogic duty in order to 'acknowledge the values of others,
appreciate the concerns underlying their demands and shed light on
shared beliefs'”, said Pope Francis this morning, as he received in
audience the participants in a meeting organised by the Pontifical
Institute for Arabic and lslamic Studies (PISAI), commemorating the
fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. The meeting was held at the
Pontifical Urbanian University from 22 to 24 January on the theme:
“Studying and Understanding the Religion of the Other. Towards
Mutual Recognition between Religions and Cultures in Today’s
World”.
Francis
emphasised the need for adequate education, “so that, secure in our
own identity, we can grow in mutual knowledge. We must take care not
to fall prey to a syncretism that is conciliatory but ultimately
empty and a harbinger of a totalitarianism without values. A
comfortable and accommodating approach, 'which says “yes” to
everything in order to avoid problems', ends up being 'a way of
deceiving others and denying them the good which we have been given
to share generously with others'. This invites us, first of all, to
return to the basics”.
“At
the beginning of dialogue there is encounter”, he continued. “This
generates the first knowledge of the other. If, indeed, we start from
the presumption of our common human nature, it is possible to
overcome prejudice and falsehood, and to begin to understand the
other from a new perspective”. Francis remarked that now there is a
need, like never before, for an institution dedicated expressly to
research and the formation of dialogue with Muslims, since “the
most effective antidote to any form of violence is education in the
discovery and acceptance of difference as richness and fruitfulness”.
This task, affirmed the Pope, is not easy, but “is born of and
matures from a strong sense of responsibility”.
He
continued, “Islamic-Christian dialogue, in a special way, requires
patience and humility accompanied by detailed study, as approximation
and improvisation can be counterproductive and or even the cause of
unease and embarrassment. There is a need for lasting and continuous
commitment in order to ensure we do not find ourselves unprepared in
various situations and in different contexts. For this reason it
demands a specific preparation, that is not limited to sociological
analysis but rather has the characteristics of a journey shared by
people belonging to religions that, although in different ways, refer
to the spiritual fatherhood of Abraham. Culture and education are not
secondary to a true process of moving towards each other that
respects in every person “his life, his physical integrity, his
dignity and the rights deriving from that dignity, his reputation,
his property, his ethnic and cultural identity, his ideas and his
political choices”.
The
Pope expressed his wish that this “valuable” Institute, may
increasingly become “a point of reference for the formation of
Christians who work in the field of interreligious dialogue” and
that it may establish a fruitful collaboration with other Pontifical
universities and research centres, both Christian and Muslim,
throughout the world. He concluded by encouraging the community of
the PISAI “never to betray the primary task of listening and
dialogue, based on clear identities and the keen, patient and
rigorous search for truth and beauty, which are placed in the hearts
of every man and woman and truly visible in every authentic religious
expression”.
Francis:
“Unity is achieved by walking together”
Vatican
City, 24 January 2015 (VIS) – At midday in the Consistory Hall of
the Vatican Apostolic Palace the Holy Father met with the
participants in the ecumenical colloquium of men and women religious
organised by the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life
and the Societies of Apostolic Life, on the occasion of the Year for
Consecrated Life. He highlighted that it is particularly meaningful
that the meeting took place during the Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity: “Each year this [week] reminds us that spiritual ecumenism
is the soul of the ecumenical movement”. He went on to share with
those present some thoughts regarding the importance of consecrated
life to Christian unity.
“The
wish to re-establish unity among all Christians is present naturally
in all Churches, and regards both clergy and laypeople”, he began.
“But religious life, which is rooted in Christ's will and the
common tradition of the undivided Church, has without doubt a
particular vocation in the promotion of this unity. … The search
for union with God and unity within the fraternal community is proper
to religious life, which thus realises in an exemplary fashion the
prayer to the Lord that 'that they all may be one'”. Religious
life, he continued, “shows us precisely that this unity is not the
fruit of our efforts, but is a gift of the Holy Spirit, Who realises
unity in diversity. It also shows us that this unity can be achieved
only by journeying together, if we take the path of fraternity in
love, in service, and in mutual acceptance”.
The
Pontiff emphasised that there is no unity without conversion, prayer,
or holiness of life. He remarked that religious life reminds us that
“at the heart of every search for unity, and therefore every
ecumenical effort, there is above all the conversion of the heart,
that leads to asking for and the granting of forgiveness”, and that
the commitment to ecumenism responds, first and foremost, to the
prayer of the Lord Jesus and it is based essentially on prayer”. He
added that “religious life helps us to become aware of the call
addressed to baptised persons: the call to holiness of life, that is
the one true path towards unity”. He concluded by expressing his
gratitude for the witness to the Gospel given by men and women
religious, and for their service in the cause of Christian unity.
Ten
years after “Dignitas connubii”: in search of swift solutions
Vatican
City, 24 January 2015 (VIS) – This morning Pope Francis received in
audience the participants in the international congress commemorating
the tenth anniversary of the publication of the Instruction “Dignitas
connubii”. The symposium was organised by the faculty of canon law
of the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and with the patronage
of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts and the “Consociatio
internationalis studio iuris canonici promovendo”.
The
Pope declared that the extensive participation in this meeting
indicates the importance of the Instruction “Dignitas connubii”,
“which is not directed principally to jurists but rather to those
who work in local tribunals, and noted that “experience teaches us
that he who knows the path to follow travels more rapidly. The
knowledge of and familiarity with this Instruction may in the future
also help ministers of the courts to streamline proceedings, often
perceived by married couples as long and tiresome. The resources that
this Instruction makes available for rapid proceedings, free of any
formalism, have not yet been fully explored; similarly, the
possibility of future legislation intended for the same purpose
cannot be excluded”.
Finally,
he commented on the importance of the contribution of the defender of
the bond in cases of marriage annulment, specifying that “his
presence and the faithful fulfilment of his task does not condition
the judge, but rather allows and promotes the impartiality of his
judgement by setting before him the arguments for and against
annulment”.
Audiences
Vatican
City, 26 January 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
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Cardinal Luis Sistach, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain;
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Bishop Gastone Simoni, emeritus of Prato, Italy;
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Bishop Francesco Micciche, emeritus of Trapani, Italy;
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Rev. Fr. Alejandro Moral Anton, prior general of the Order of St.
Augustine (Augustinians).
On
Saturday 24 January, the Holy Father received in audience:
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Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops;
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Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, Italy, president of
the Italian Episcopal Conference;
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Maria De Los Angeles Marechal, co-president of the Fundacion Leopoldo
Marechal, Argentina.
Other
Pontifical Acts
Vatican
City, 26 January 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:
-
appointed Msgr. Stefan Hesse as archbishop of Hamburg (area 32,493,
population 5,797,975, Catholics 397,331, priests 248, permanent
deacons 60, religious 221), Germany. The bishop-elect was born in
Cologne, Germany in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1993. He
studied theology in Bonn and Regensburg, and holds a doctorate in
dogmatic theology from the High School of the Pallottine Fathers in
Vallendar. He has served as parish priest in a number of parishes in
the archdiocese of Cologne, and is currently canon of the
Metropolitan Chapter of Cologne and vicar general. He served as
diocesan administrator from March to September 2014.
-
restored the title of metropolitan archdiocese to Cashel and Emly,
Ireland. Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, currently metropolitan
archbishop of Cashel and apostolic administrator of Emly, was
appointed as metropolitan archbishop of the new ecclesiastical
circumscription.
On
Saturday, 24 January the Holy Father appointed Fr. Ivica Petanjak,
O.F.M. Cap., as bishop of Krk (area 1,119, population 40,447,
Catholics 35,499, priests 79, religious 110), Croatia. The
bishop-elect was born in Drenje, Croatia in 1963, gave his perpetual
vows in 1988 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He holds a bachelor's
degree in theology from the faculty of theology in Zagreb, Croatia,
and a doctorate in church history from the Pontifical Gregorian
University, Rome. He has served in a number of pastoral roles,
including deputy master of seminarians, parish vicar and hospital
chaplain in Split, master of clerics, provincial minister, parish
priest of the “Our Lady of Lourdes” parish in Rijeka and master
of postulants. He is currently guardian of the Capuchin monastery of
Osijek and provincial definitor. He succeeds Bishop Valter Zupan,
whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon
reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.
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