SUMMARY:
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The Pope encourages the bishops of Korea and the Catholic community
of Mongolia, a “pledge of the fullness of God's Kingdom”
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Every penitent who approaches the confessional is sacred ground to be
cultivated with care and attention
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Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran to visit Cote d'Ivoire
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The Holy See reaffirms its opposition to the death penalty
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Audiences
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Other Pontifical Acts
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Notice
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The
Pope encourages the bishops of Korea and the Catholic community of
Mongolia, a “pledge of the fullness of God's Kingdom”
Vatican
City, 12 March 2015 (VIS) – The Pope received the bishops of the
Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea this morning, at the end of
their “ad Limina” visit. In the written discourse he prepared for
the prelates, extensive extracts of which are published below, the
Holy Father refers to his visit to the country last year during which
he experienced first hand the goodness of the Korean people who
shared their joys and sorrows with him, and affirmed that the trip
remains “a lasting encouragement” to him in his ministry to the
Universal Church.
“In
the course of my visit, we had the opportunity to reflect on the life
of the Church in Korea and, in particular, on our episcopal ministry
in the service of the People of God and of society”, he writes. “I
wish to continue that reflection with you today,by highlighting three
aspects of my visit: memory, youth and the mission of confirming our
brothers and sisters in the faith. I would like also to share these
thoughts with the Churchin Mongolia. Though a small community in a
vast territory, it is like the mustard seed which is the pledge of
the fullness of God’s Kingdom. May these reflections encourage the
continuing growth of that seed, and nourish the rich soil of the
Mongolian people’s faith”.
“For
me, one of the most beautiful moments of my visit to Korea was the
beatification ofthe martyrs Paul Yun Ji-chung and companions. …
Even before their faith found full expression in the sacramental life
of the Church, these first Korean Christians not only fostered their
personal relationship with Jesus, but brought him to others,
regardless of class or social standing, and dwelt in a community of
faith and charity like the first disciples of the Lord. … Their
love of God and neighbour was fulfilled in the ultimate act of freely
laying down their lives, thereby watering with their own blood the
seedbed of the Church. That first community has left you and all of
the Church a beautiful witness of Christian living: 'their integrity
in the search for truth, their fidelity to the highest principles of
the religion which they chose to embrace, and their testimony of
charity and solidarity with all'. Their example is a school which can
form us into evermore faithful Christian witnesses by calling us to
encounter, to charity and to sacrifice. The lessons which they taught
are particularly applicable in our times when, despite the many
advancements being made in technology and communication, individuals
are increasingly becoming isolated and communities weakened. How
important it is, then, that you work together with the priests,
religious men and women, and lay leaders of your dioceses, to ensure
that parishes, schools and centres of the apostolate are authentic
places of encounter: encounter with the Lord who teaches us how to
love and who opens our eyes to the dignity of every person, and
encounter with one another, especially the poor, the elderly, the
forgotten in our midst”.
“My
thoughts now turn to your young people who greatly desire to carry
forward the legacy of your ancestors. … Just as the witness of the
first Christians calls us to care for one another, so our youth
challenge us to hear one another. … When we speak with young
people, they challenge us to share the truth of Jesus Christ clearly
and in a way that they can understand. They also test the
authenticity of our own faith and fidelity. Though it is Christ we
preach and not ourselves, we are called to be an example to the
People of God in order to draw people to him. … As you reflect on
the life of your dioceses, as you formulate and revise your pastoral
plans, I urge you to keep before you the young whom you serve. See
them as partners in 'building a holier, more missionary and humble
Church, a Church which loves and worships God by seeking to serve the
poor, the lonely, the infirm and the marginalised'. Be close to them.
… This closeness will not only strengthen the institutions and
communities of the Church, but will also help you to understand the
difficulties they and their families are experiencing in their daily
lives in society. In this way, the Gospel will penetrate ever more
deeply the life of the Catholic community as well as that of society
as a whole”.
“As
you prepare to return to your local Churches, as well as encouraging
you in your ministry and confirming you in your mission, I ask you,
above all, to be servants, just as Christ came to serve, and not to
be served. Ours is a life of service, freely given, for each soul
entrusted to our care, without exception. … In this spirit of
service, may you be solicitous for one another. By your collaboration
and fraternal support, you will strengthen the Church in Korea and
Mongolia and become ever more effective in proclaiming Christ.
Every
penitent who approaches the confessional is sacred ground to be
cultivated with care and attention
Vatican
City, 12 March 2015 (VIS) – “The Sacraments, as we know, are
God's demonstration of closeness and tenderness towards humanity;
they are the concrete way God created to move be closer to us, to
embrace us, without shame for our limits”, said Pope Francis this
morning as he received in audience in the Paul VI Hall the
participants in the annual Course on the Inner Forum organised by the
Apostolic Penitentiary. “Without doubt”, he continued, “among
the Sacraments, it is that of Reconciliation that best shows the
merciful face of God. We must never forget, either as penitents or as
confessors: there is no sin that God cannot forgive! None! Only what
is hidden from divine mercy cannot be forgiven, like those that hide
themselves from the sun cannot be illuminated or warmed.
Following
the theme of reconciliation, Francis emphasised three demands. The
first is to live the Sacrament as a way of educating in mercy. The
Pope described Confession “not as a form of torture but rather as a
liberating encounter, full of humanity, through which we can educate
in a mercy that does not exclude, but rather includes the just
commitment to make amends, as far as possible, for the sin
committed”. The second is that of “allowing oneself to be
educated in what we are celebrating, in the Sacrament of
Reconciliation”, as “it is possible to learn much from conversion
and the repentance of our brothers. They lead us to examine our own
consciences”. He then outlined the third requirement, that of
keeping one's gaze towards heaven and the supernatural. He urged
those present to remember that they are all ministers of
reconciliation “purely by the grace of God, gratuitously and out of
love, or rather, out of mercy. We are ministers of mercy thanks to
God's mercy, and we must never lose this view to the supernatural
that makes us truly humble, weloming and merciful towards every
brother and sister who wishes to confess. … Every faithful penitent
who approaches the confessional is 'sacred ground' to be cultivated
with dedication, care and pastoral attention”.
The
Pope concluded by encouraging those present to “make the most of
this Lenten period for personal conversion and to dedicate yourselves
generously to confessions, so that the People of God can be purified
as they reach Easter, which represents the final victory of Divine
Mercy over all the evil in the world”.
Cardinal
Jean-Louis Tauran to visit Cote d'Ivoire
Vatican
City, 12 March 2015 (VIS) – The Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue today announced that Cardinal Jean-Louis
Tauran, president of the dicastery, will visit Cote d'Ivoire from 13
to 17 March 2015, accompanied by Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot,
secretary and Msgr. Lucio Sembrano, official.
The
aim of the visit is primarily to participate in the celebrations to
commemorate the 110th anniversary of the evangelisation of the Great
North in the diocese of Korhogo.
The
delegation of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue will
meet with the academic community of the Catholic University of
Western Africa (UCAO) in Abidjan Cocody.
In
Yamoussoukro, Cardinal Tauran will meet with members of the Episcopal
Conference of Cote d'Ivoire and will preside at Mass concelebrated in
the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace.
The
visit will offer the opportunity to promote and encourage
interreligious dialogue in Cote d'Ivoire, in a context of respect and
friendship, in accordance with the teaching of Pope Francis. With
this objective, various meetings are scheduled with leaders of other
religious traditions, especially of Islam and traditional African
religions, first in Korhogo, and subsequently in Yamoussoukro and
Abidjan.
On
17 March, Cardinal Tauran will pay a private visit to the president
of the Republic, Alessane Ouattara.
The
Holy See reaffirms its opposition to the death penalty
Vatican
City, 12 March 2015 (VIS) – Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Holy See
Permanent Observer at the United Nations and other international
organisations in Geneva gave an address at the 28th Session of the
Human Rights Council on 4 March, regarding the issue of the death
penalty.
Speaking
in English, the nuncio said, “The Delegation of the Holy See …
joins an increasing number of States in supporting the fifth U.N.
General Assembly resolution calling for a global moratorium on the
use of the death penalty. Public opinion in support of the various
provisions aimed at abolishing the death penalty, or suspending its
application, is growing. This provides a strong momentum which this
delegation hopes will encourage States still applying the death
penalty to move in the direction of its abolition”.
The
archbishop explained that twenty years ago, during the papacy of St.
John Paul II, the position of the Holy See was “framed within the
proper ethical context of defending the inviolable dignity of the
human person and the role of the legitimate authority to defend in a
just manner the common good of society”. He continued, “Considering
the practical circumstances found in most States, as a result of
steady improvements in the organisation of the penal system, it
appears evident nowadays that means other than the death penalty are
sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect
public order and the safety of persons. For that reason, public
authority must limit itself to such means, because they better
correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more
in conformity with the dignity of the human person”.
Benedict
XVI affirmed in 2011 that “the political and legislative
initiatives promoted in a growing number of countries to eliminate
the death penalty and to continue the substantive progress made in
conforming penal law both to the human dignity of prisoners and the
effective maintenance of public order are moving in the right
direction. Pope Francis has further emphasised that the legislative
and judicial practice of the State authority must always be guided by
the primacy of human life and the dignity of the human person”,
noting also “the possibility of judicial error and the use made by
totalitarian and dictatorial regimes … as a means of suppressing
political dissidence or of persecuting religious and cultural
minorities”.
“Respect
for the dignity of every human person and the common good are the two
pillars on which the position of the Holy See has developed. These
principles converge with a similar development in international human
rights law and jurisprudence. Moreover, we should take into account
that no clear positive effect of deterrence results from the
application of the death penalty and that the irreversibility of this
punishment does not allow for eventual corrections in the case of
wrongful convictions”.
Therefore,
the Holy See “contends that bloodless means of defending the common
good and upholding justice are possible, and calls on States to adapt
their penal system to demonstrate their adhesion to a more humane
form of punishment. As for those countries that claim it is not yet
feasible to relinquish this practice, my delegation encourages them
to strive to become capable of doing so”.
In
conclusion, the Holy See delegation “fully supports the efforts to
abolish the use of the death penalty. In order to arrive at this
desired goal, these steps need to be taken: sustaining the social
reforms that would enable society to implement the abolition of the
death penalty and improving prison conditions, to ensure respect for
the human dignity of people deprived of their freedom”.
Audiences
Vatican
City, 12 March 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
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Archbishop Girolamo Prigione, apostolic nuncio;
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Archbishop Andres Carrascosa Coso, apostolic nuncio in Panama;
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Fourteen prelates of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, on
their “ad Limina” visit:
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Bishop Matthias Ri Iong-hoon of Suwon, with his auxiliary, Bishop
Linus Lee Seong-hyo;
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Bishop Peter Lee Ki-heon of Uijeongbu, with Bishop emeritus Joseph
Lee Han-taek;
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Bishop Jacobus Kim Ji-Seok of Wonju;
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Archbishop Thaddeus Cho Hwan-kil of Daegu;
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Bishop John Chrisostom Kwon Hyeok-ju of Andong;
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Bishop Paul Hwang Chul-soo of Busan, with his auxiliary, Bishop
Joseph Son Sam-seok;
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Bishop Gabriel Chang Bong-hun of Cheongnju;
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Bishop Francis Xavier Ahn Myong-ok of Masan, with Bishop emeritus
Michael Pak Jeon-il;
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Bishop Francis Xavier Yu Soo-il, military ordinary; and
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Bishop Wenceslao S. Padilla, apostolic prefect of Ulaanbaatar,
Mongolia.
Other
Pontifical Acts
Vatican
City, 12 March 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:
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appointed Rev. Fr. John Stowe, O.F.M. Conv., as bishop of Lexington
(area 42,520, population 1,601,000, Catholics 47,900, priests 64,
permanent deacons 71, religious 89), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born
in Amherst, Ohio, U.S.A. in 1966, gave his solemn vows in 1992, and
was ordained a priest in 1995. He has served in a number of pastoral
roles, including deputy priest, administrator and parish priest of
the “Our Lady of Mount Carmel” parish in El Paso, Texas; vicar
general of the diocese of El Paso; administrator of the “Our Lady
of the Valley” parish; and chancellor of the diocese of El Paso. He
is currently provincial vicar of the “Our Lady of Consolation”
Franciscan Conventual Province and rector of the Basilica and
national shrine of “Our Lady of Consolation”, Carey, Ohio.
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appointed Bishop Thomas Anthony Daly, auxiliary of San Jose in
California, U.S.A., as bishop of Spokane (area 63,325, population
325,161, Catholics 107,271, priests 146, permanent deacons 43,
religious 230), U.S.A.
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given his assent to the canonical election by the Synod of the
Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church of Rev. Fr. Teodor (Taras) Martynyuk,
M.S.U., as auxiliary of the archieparchy of Ternopil'-Zboriv (area
8,346, population 636,000, Catholics 385,000, priests 320, permanent
deacons 1, religious 128), Ukraine. The bishop-elect was born in
Yaremche, Ukraine in 1974, gave his solemn vows in 1997 and was
ordained a priest in 2000. He holds a doctorate in Oriental canon law
from the Pontifical Oriental Institute. During his pastoral ministry
he has served in various roles in the Lavra of Univ and the monastery
of St. Michael in Lviv, and as a lecturer in Oriental canon law at
the Pontifical Oriental Institute of Rome. He is currently Igumen of
the Lavra of the Dormition in Univ, Ukraine.
Notice
Vatican
City, 12 March 2015 (VIS) – We wish to inform our readers that
tomorrow, 13 March, the second anniversary of the election to the
papacy of the Holy Father Francis, the Vatican Information Service
bulletin will not be transmitted. The service will resume on Monday,
16 March.
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