SUMMARY:
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FIRST CONTRIBUTION OF 150,000 DOLLARS FOR AID TO THE PHILIPPINES
-
POPE FRANCIS' CONDOLENCES FOR THE DEATH OF CARDINAL BARTOLUCCI
-
ANGELUS: GOD'S FIDELITY IS ETERNAL
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THE POPE PRAYS FOR THE PHILIPPINES AND RENEWS SOLIDARITY WITH THE
JEWISH PEOPLE ON KRISTALLNACHT
-
TELEGRAM TO PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES, DEVASTATED BY TYPHOON
HAIYAN
-
THE POPE TO THE SICK: BE A SPIRITUAL RESOURCE AND ASSET TO THE CHURCH
-
AUDIENCES
-
AUDIENCES
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
FIRST
CONTRIBUTION OF 150,000 DOLLARS FOR AID TO THE PHILIPPINES
Vatican
City, 11 November 2013 (VIS) – Pope Francis, through the Pontifical
Council “Cor Unum” has decided to send an aid contribution of
150,000 dollars to assist the population of the Philippines,
devastated by the passage of the typhoon Haiyan which violently
struck the country this weekend, in particular affecting the islands
of Leyte and Samar and causing, according to unconfirmed estimates,
more than ten thousand deaths.
This
sum, which will be distributed by the local Church in the regions
most affected by the disaster, will be used to support aid work for
the assistance of displaced persons from the flooded areas, and it is
intended as a first and concrete expression of spiritual nearness and
paternal encouragement on the part of the Supreme Pontiff in relation
to the people and territories devastated by the floods.
POPE
FRANCIS' CONDOLENCES FOR THE DEATH OF CARDINAL BARTOLUCCI
Vatican
City, 11 November 2013 (VIS) - Pope Francis has sent the following
telegram of condolence to the family of Cardinal Domenico Bartolucci,
who died today at 96 years of age.
“Upon
receiving the news of the death of the venerated Cardinal Domenico
Bartolucci, I wish to express to the foundation that bears his name,
to his family and his Florentine diocesan community my most heartfelt
condolences. I recall affectionately this dear and highly esteemed
priest, an illustrious composer and musician, who exercised his long
and intense ministry, especially through religious music, born of and
expressing faith. I also remember with great gratitude his fruitful
work as director of the Sistine Chapel Choir and his wise … of the
precious gift of polyphony, intended to elevate the heart in praise
of God. I raise fervent prayers to the Lord that, through the
intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, He may welcome his generous
servant and distinguished man of the Church in spiritual joy and
eternal peace, and impart the comfort of an apostolic blessing to
those who mourn his loss”.
Cardinal
Bartolucci's funeral will be celebrated on 13 November at 3.30 p.m.
at the altar of the Chair of St. Peter in the Vatican Basilica, by
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, along with
the cardinals, archbishops and bishops. At the end of the Eucharistic
Celebration, the Holy Father will administer the rites of “Ultima
Commendatio” and “Valedictio”.
ANGELUS:
GOD'S FIDELITY IS ETERNAL
Vatican
City, 10 November 2013 (VIS) - “With Jesus, our pilgrimage goes
beyond death towards life”, said Pope Francis this morning, as he
appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the
thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square. The Holy
Father, as is customary, commented on today's gospel which narrates
Jesus' encounter with the Sadduccees, a sect who denied resurrection
and, in order to ridicule this belief, asked Jesus which of a woman's
seven husbands she would be wife to in the hereafter.
“Jesus,
always docile and patient, first answered that life after death did
not have the same parameters as earthly life”, explained the
Pontiff. “Eternal life is another life, in another dimension in
which, besides, there will no longer be marriage, which is linked to
our existence in this world. The resurrected, Jesus explained, will
be like angels, and will live in different state, which we cannot now
experience or imagine. But he then goes on to counter-attack, so to
speak, quoting the Sacred Scriptures, with a simplicity and
originality that leave us full of admiration for our Master … and
finds the proof of resurrection in the episode of Moses and the
burning bush, where God reveals himself to be the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob”.
“The
name of God is united with those of the men and women who join with
Him, and this bond is stronger than death. And we can say: He is our
God! … As if He bore our name. It pleases Him to say is, and this
is the covenant. This is why Jesus affirmed, 'He is not the God of
the dead, but of the living, for to Him all are alive'. And this is
the decisive bond, the fundamental covenant, the covenant with Jesus:
He Himself is the Covenant, He Himself is Life and Resurrection, as
it is His love on the Cross that vanquishes death. In Jesus, God
gives us eternal life, He gives it to everyone, and thanks to Him,
everyone has the hope of a life truer than this one”.
The
life God prepares for us “is not a simple embellishment to our
current lives: it exceeds our imagination, because God continually
astonishes us with His love and with His mercy”. Therefore, “It
is not this life that is a reference to eternity, to that which
awaits us, but rather it is eternity that illuminates and gives hope
to the earthly life of each one of us! From a solely human point of
view, we are inclined to say that the path of humanity leads from
life to death. … But this is only when seen from a human eye. Jesus
turns this perspective around and affirms that our pilgrimage is from
death to life: full life!”
Therefore,
“death lies behind us, not ahead of us. Before us there is the God
of the living, the God of the Covenant, the God Who bears my name,
our name. … It is the definitive defeat of sin and death, the
beginning of a new time of joy and of endless light. But already on
this earth, in prayer, in the Sacraments, in brotherliness, we
encounter Jesus and His love, and in this way we have a foretaste of
life after resurrection. The experience we have of His love and His
faithfulness ignite like a flame in our heart and nurture our faith
in resurrection. Indeed, God is faithful and loves, not just for a
limited time, but for ever! Faith is eternal, it cannot change. God's
love is eternal, it cannot change! And it goes forward! He is
faithful forever, and awaits us, each one of us; He accompanies every
one of us with this eternal fidelity”.
THE
POPE PRAYS FOR THE PHILIPPINES AND RENEWS SOLIDARITY WITH THE JEWISH
PEOPLE ON KRISTALLNACHT
Vatican
City, 10 November 2013 (VIS) – Following today's Angelus prayer,
Pope Francis greeted those present in St. Peter's Square. He spoke of
the typhoon in the Philippines which has claimed many victims and
caused enormous damage to the country during recent days, and assured
his nearness and prayer for the population. He asked for a minute's
silence and prayed a Hail Mary in unison with the faithful. He also
mentioned Maria Theresia Bonzel, foundress of the Sisters St. Francis
of Perpetual Adoration, who was proclaimed blessed this afternoon in
Paderborn, Germany.
“Today
marks seventy-five years since the so-called 'Kristallnacht', the
pogrom during the night between 9 and 10 November 1938 against Jews,
synagogues, homes and businesses, which represented a sad step
towards the tragedy of the Shoah. We renew our closeness and
solidarity with the Jewish people, our elder brothers. And we pray to
God that the memory of the past, the memory of past sins, may help us
always to be vigilant against any form of hate or intolerance”.
Pope
Francis concluded by mentioning the Day of Thanksgiving celebrated
today in Italy: “I join with the Bishops in expressing my closeness
to the world of farming, and especially to the young people who have
chosen to work on the land. I encourage all those in the sector to
continue in their efforts to ensure that no-one lacks healthy and
adequate sustenance”.
TELEGRAM
TO PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES, DEVASTATED BY TYPHOON HAIYAN
Vatican
City, 11 November 2013 (VIS) – Archbishop Pietro Parolin, secretary
of State, sent a telegram on behalf of the Holy Father to Benigno
Aquino III, president of the Philippines, with regard to the typhoon
Haiyan which has devastated various regions, claiming hundreds of
victims and causing widespread destruction of dwellings and crops.
“Deeply
saddened by the destruction and loss of life caused by the super
typhoon, His Holiness Pope Francis expresses his heartfelt solidarity
with all those affected by this storm and its aftermath. He is
especially mindful of those who mourn the loss of their loved ones
and of those who have lost their homes. In praying for all the people
of the Philippines, the Holy Father likewise offers encouragement to
the civil authorities and emergency personnel as they assist the
victims of this storm. He invokes divine blessings of strength and
consolation for the nation”.
THE
POPE TO THE SICK: BE A SPIRITUAL RESOURCE AND ASSET TO THE CHURCH
Vatican
City, 9 November 2013 (VIS) – This morning, in the Vatican's Paul
VI Hall, the Pope received in audience seven thousand members of the
Italian National Union for the Transport of the Sick to Lourdes and
International Shrines (UNITALSI), an association which has for 110
years been dedicated to the sick or those in frail conditions in an
“evangelical” fashion, as the Holy Father said in his address, in
which he emphasised that their work “is not a form of welfare or
philanthropy, but rather the proclamation of the Gospel of charity
and the ministry of consolation”.
The
members of UNITALSI are “men and women … who, moved by the love
of Christ and following the example of the Good Samaritan, do not
turn away when faced with suffering”. The Pope continued, “The
poor, even those who are poor in terms of health, are a wealth for
the Church, and you, in UNITALSI, along with other ecclesiastical
bodies, have received the gift and the commitment of gathering this
richness, of helping to recognise its value, and not only for the
Church herself but for society as a whole”.
“Today's
cultural and social context tends to hide physical frailty, to
consider it as merely a problem, which requires resignation and pity,
or at times the rejection of people. UNITALSI is called to be a
prophetic sign and to go against this worldly logic, helping the
suffering to be protagonists in society, in the Church and also in
the association itself. … This means fully valuing the presence and
the witness of frail and suffering people, not only as the focus of
the work of evangelisation, but as active subjects themselves of this
apostolic action.
Francis
encouraged the sick persons present not to think of themselves
“solely as the object of solidarity and charity”, but instead as
“fully integrated in the life and the mission of the Church. You
have your place, a specific role in … all ecclesial environments.
Your presence … your prayer, the daily offering of your sufferings
in union with those of Jesus crucified for the salvation of the world
… are a spiritual resource, an asset to every Christian community.
Do not be ashamed of being a precious treasure to the Church”.
The
most important moment during the year for UNITALSI is the pilgrimage
to the marian sanctuaries, especially to Lourdes, and both the
apostolic style and the spirituality of the organisation are of a
strongly marian nature. Therefore, the Pope invited them to “discover
the deepest reasons” for this and to “imitate the maternity of
Mary, the maternal care that she has for each one of us”. He
recalled the miracle of the marriage at Cana, when Mary begged Jesus
to intervene when the couple were left without wine.
“Mary's
intervention shows the care of a mother towards humanity. It is a
care attentive to our truest needs: Mary knows what we need. She
cares for us, intercedes before Jesus for us and asks for each one of
us the gift of “new wine”, love, the grace that salves us”.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 11 November 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
-
Archbishop Andre Dupuy, apostolic nuncio to the Netherlands.
-
Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, apostolic nuncio to the Dominican
Republic.
-
Archbishop Joseph Marino, apostolic nuncio to Malaysia and East
Timor, and apostolic delegate to Brunei.
-
Archbishop Jean-Claude Perisset, apostolic nuncio.
-
Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, Federal Republic of Germany.
On
Saturday, 9 November 2013, the Holy Father received in audience:
-
Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith.
-
Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, apostolic nuncio to the Federal Republic
of Germany.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 11 November 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father:
-
accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the apostolic
vicariate of Nekemte, Ethiopia, presented by Bishop Theodorus van
Ruijven, upon having reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Bishop
Varghese Thottamkara, coadjutor of the same apostolic vicariate.
On
Saturday, 9 November the Holy Father:
-
appointed Msgr. Mark O'Toole as bishop of Plymouth (area 12,831,
population 3,494,000, Catholics 68,685, priests 103, permanent
deacons 31, religious 133), England. The bishop-elect was born in
London, England in 1963 and was ordained a priest for the archdiocese
of in 1990. He holds degrees from the University of Leicester,
Heythrop College Faculty of Theology, Campion Hall Oxford, and the
Pontifical University of Louvain. He has served in a number of roles,
such as deputy priest of Willesden Green, dean of studies and
subsequently rector of the Allen Hall seminary, Westminster, and
personal secretary of Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor. He is a member
of the ethical committee of the St. John and St. Elizabeth Hospital
in London, and of the Heythrop College Faculty of Theology.
-
appointed Professors Shinya Yamanaka, lecturer in cellular biology of
the University of Kyoto, Japan, and Juan Martin Maldacena, lecturer
in theoretical physics at the Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton, U.S.A., as ordinary members of the Pontifical Academy of
Sciences.
-
appointed Professor Stefano Zamagni, lecturer in economics at the
University of Bologna, as ordinary members of the Pontifical Academy
of Social Sciences.
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