SUMMARY:
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Pope Francis: sport is an educational path
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Programme of the Pope's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and
Paraguay
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Statutes of the Commission for the Protection of Minors approved
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Publication of the Chirograph by which Pope Francis instituted the
Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
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The Pope meets with a group of evangelical pastors
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Audiences
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Pope
Francis: sport is an educational path
Vatican
City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - “Sport is an educational path”, said the
Holy Father this morning as he received in audience seven thousand
members of the Italian Tennis Federation in the Vatican's Paul VI
Hall. “There are three fundamental pillars for children and young
people”, he added: “Education – in school and in the family –
sport, and work. When we have all three of these, then there exist
the conditions for developing a full and authentic life, thus
avoiding those dependencies that poison and ruin existence”.
“The
Church is interested in sport because she has man, the full man, at
heart, and recognises that sporting activity has an impact on the
formation of the person, on relationships, and on spirituality. You
athletes have a mission to accomplish: to be, for those who admire
you, valid role models. And you too, directors, trainers and sports
workers, are called upon to give good witness to human values, as
masters of a sporting practice that is always fair and clear”.
The
Pope commented that tennis is a very competitive sport, but “the
pressure to achieve significant results must never drive you to take
short cuts such as in the case of doping. How ugly and sterile a
victory is if it is obtained by cheating and deceiving others”.
“The
apostle Paul uses the example of the athlete to illustrate an
important characteristic of human existence”, said the bishop of
Rome. “'Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but
only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it'. In a
certain sense, this is your daily experience in tennis. But St. Paul
refers to the challenge of giving an ultimate meaning to life itself.
I would therefore exhort each one of you to play the game not only in
sport – as you already do, and with excellent results – but also
in life, in the search for goodness, true goodness, without fear,
with courage and enthusiasm. Play the game with others and with God,
giving the best of yourself, spending your life for what is truly
valuable and which stands the test of time. Put your talents to the
service of the encounter between people, friendship, and inclusion”.
Programme
of the Pope's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay
Vatican
City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office today published
the programme of the Holy Father's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia
and Paraguay (5 to 13 July 2015).
The
Pope will leave Rome's Fiumicino airport at 9 a.m. on Sunday 5 July
and will arrive at the Mariscal Sucre airport in Quito, the capital
of Ecuador, at 3 p.m. local time, where the welcome ceremony will be
held. On Monday 6 he will proceed to Guayaquil to celebrate Mass in
the shrine of Divine Mercy, after which he will lunch at the Colegio
Javier with the Jesuit community. Upon return to Quito, he will pay a
courtesy visit to the Ecuadorian president in the presidential palace
and will subsequently visit the Cathedral. In the morning of Tuesday
7 July he will meet with the bishops of Ecuador in the Congress
Centre of the Bicentenary park, where he will celebrate Mass. In the
afternoon he will encounter representatives of schools and
universities in the Pontifical University of Ecuador, and later,
representatives of civil society in the Church of San Francisco,
after which he will pay a private visit to the “Iglesia de la
Compania”. On Wednesday 8, he will first visit the Rest Home of the
Missionaries of Charity, and will then meet with clergy, men and
women religious and seminarians at the national Marian shrine, El
Quinche. On the same day he will depart by air for Bolivia.
Upon
arrival at the airport of El Alto in La Paz, he will give an address
and, following the welcome ceremony, will transfer to the Government
Palace to pay a courtesy visit to the president. From there, he will
go to the Cathedral of La Paz, where he will meet with the civil
authorities, after which he will travel by air to Santa Cruz de la
Sierra where he will spend the night. On Thursday 9 he will celebrate
Mass in the the square of Cristo Redentor, and will meet with men and
women religious in the Don Bosco school, after which he will
participate in the World Meeting of Popular Movements in the Expo
trade fair centre. On Friday 10 he will visit the Santa
Cruz-Palmasola re-education centre and, in the same morning, will
meet with the bishops of Bolivia in the parish church of Santa Cruz.
The Pope will leave Bolivia from the Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz
de la Sierra, destined for Paraguay; his aircraft is expected to land
at around 3 p.m. local time in the Silvio Pettirossi airport of
Asuncion.
After
arriving in Paraguay, the Pope will pay a courtesy visit to the
president in the Palacio de Lopez, where he will also meet with the
authorities and the diplomatic corps. On Saturday 11 July, he will
visit the “Ninos de Acosta Nu” general paediatric hospital and
will subsequently officiate at Mass in the square of the Marian
sanctuary of Caacupe. In the afternoon he will meet with
representatives of civil society in the Leon Condou stadium of the
San Jose school. The day will conclude with the celebration of
vespers with the bishops, priests, deacons, men and women religious,
seminarians and Catholic movements in the metropolitan cathedral of
Our Lady of Asuncion. Sunday 12 will begin with a visit to the people
of Banado Norte in the Chapel of San Juan Batista, and Mass in the Nu
Guazu field. The Holy Father will meet the bishops of Paraguay in the
Cultural Centre of the apostolic nunciature, where they will then
dine. His last engagement will be a meeting with young people at the
Costanera riverside area. At 7 p.m. local time Francis will depart by
air for Rome, where he is expected to arrive on Monday 13 July at
around 1.45 p.m.
Statutes
of the Commission for the Protection of Minors approved
Vatican
City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) – On 21 April, Cardinal Secretary of State,
Pietro Parolin, approved by mandate of the Supreme Pontiff, “ad
experimentum” for three years, the Statutes of the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors, the draft of which had been
presented by Cardinal Sean O'Malley, president of the aforementioned
Commission.
The
Statutes will be published today in the Italian original and in
English translation. The document is composed of six articles: Nature
and Competence, Composition and Members, Plenary Assembly, Personnel,
Working Groups, and General Norms.
The
first part explains that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection
of Minors is an autonomous institution linked to the Holy See with a
public legal personality and has an advisory function in the service
of the Holy Father. The protection of minors, the text continues, is
of the first importance, and therefore it is the role of the
Commission to propose initiatives to the Pontiff, following the
modalities indicated in the Statutes, to promote the responsibility
of the particular Churches in the protection of all minors and
vulnerable adults. These proposals will have to receive prior
approval by the majority of two thirds of the members of the
Commission. For the elaboration of the proposals, when the matter
falls within the competence of other ecclesial bodies, the president
of the Commission, with the assistance of the secretary, will consult
the competent entities for the protection of minors in the particular
Churches, the episcopal conferences, the conferences of the
Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life,
as well as the dicastery of the Roman Curia competent in the matter.
This consultation will take place in a transparent manner with the
members of the Commission, based in Vatican City State.
The
Commission, according to the second part, is composed of a maximum of
eighteen members appointed by the Holy Father for a three-year
period, which may be reconfirmed, and are selected from persons of
recognised competence in various areas linked to the activity
entrusted to the Commission. Both the president and the secretary are
appointed from among the members by the Holy Father for a period of
three years, a mandate that may be reconfirmed.
The
plenary assembly, as explained in the third part, will be convoked
twice yearly. Upon request by two thirds of the Members and with the
consent of the president, an extraordinary plenary assembly may be
convoked. For the plenary assembly to be considered valid, at least
two thirds of the members must be present; they may participate via
video conference.
The
members of the Commission, the personnel and the collaborators with
the working groups, according to the final part, are required to
observe the norms of professional secrecy regarding the news and
information they become aware of in the exercise of their tasks and
functions.
Publication
of the Chirograph by which Pope Francis instituted the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors
Vatican
City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) – To complete the publication of the
Statutes, the Chirograph by which the Pope instituted the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors on 22 March 2014 was also
published today.
“The
effective protection of minors and a commitment to ensure their human
and spiritual development, in keeping with the dignity of the human
person, are integral parts of the Gospel message that the Church and
all members of the faithful are called to spread throughout the
world. Many painful actions have caused a profound examination of
conscience for the entire Church, leading us to request forgiveness
from the victims and from our society for the harm that has been
caused. This response to these actions is the firm beginning for
initiatives of many different types, which are intended to repair the
damage, to attain justice, and to prevent, by all means possible, the
recurrence of similar incidents in the future.
For
these reasons, and after having received the counsel of many
cardinals and members of the college of bishops, together with other
collaborators and experts in these matters, I decided to continue the
work begun by my Predecessors by establishing a permanent Commission
attached to the Holy See. The aim of the Commission is to promote the
protection of the dignity of minors and vulnerable adults, using the
forms and methods, consonant with the nature of the Church, which
they consider most appropriate, as well as through their cooperation
with individuals and groups pursuing these same objectives.
As
I had the opportunity to highlight during an encounter with several
victims of sexual abuse, I rely on the members of this Commission for
the effective protection of minors and vulnerable adults, regardless
of religion they profess, because they are the little ones on whom
the Lord looks with love. To my collaborators in this work, I ask for
all efforts possible to assist me in responding to these needs of
these little ones.
The
Commission’s specific task is to propose to me the most opportune
initiatives for protecting minors and vulnerable adults, in order
that we may do everything possible to ensure that crimes such as
those which have occurred are no longer repeated in the Church. The
Commission is to promote local responsibility in the particular
Churches, uniting their efforts to those of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, for the protection of all children and
vulnerable adults.
It
is for all these reasons that I have instituted the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors.
All
that is established with the present Chirograph has full and stable
effect, anything to the contrary not notwithstanding, even if
deserving of special mention”.
The
Pope meets with a group of evangelical pastors
Vatican
City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father
received in private a group of around one hundred Pentecostal
evangelical pastors from various parts of the world, who had
expressed their wish to meet him. The group was led by Pastor
Giovanni Traettino, whose community the Pope visited in Caserta last
year. The meeting took place in the room adjacent to the Paul VI Hall
and was characterised by lively cordiality and a spirit of prayer for
unity. The Holy Father was accompanied by Cardinal Kurt Koch,
president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.
Audiences
Vatican
City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father received in audience:
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Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy;
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Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., emeritus secretary of State;
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Cardinal Franc Rode, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the
Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life;
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Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council
for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.
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