SUMMARY:
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POPE FRANCIS' MOTU PROPRIO ON THE F.I.A.
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INTERNATIONAL TEAM OF ASSESSORS ON ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES
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AUDIENCE WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE BAHAMAS
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MORE CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED THAN IN THE FIRST CENTURIES
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“MISERICORDINA”: THE BEST SPIRITUAL MEDICINE
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YEAR OF FAITH ENDS: MORE THAN EIGHT MILLION PILGRIMS
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POPE'S VIDEO MESSAGE TO GUADALUPE PILGRIMS: THE CHURCH MUST NOT BE
INSULAR
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THE POPE CELEBRATES THE EPISCOPAL ORDINATION OF THE SECRETARY OF THE
GOVERNORATE OF VATICAN CITY STATE
-
CARDINAL FILONI, POPE'S SPECIAL ENVOY TO TWO MISSIONARY CONGRESSES IN
LATIN AMERICA
-
AUDIENCES
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
POPE
FRANCIS' MOTU PROPRIO ON THE F.I.A.
Vatican
City, 18 November 2013 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office has issued
the following communique regarding Pope Francis' Motu Proprio on the
new Statute of the Financial Information Authority (F.I.A.):
“The
Apostolic Letter issued Motu Proprio of 15 November 2013, by which
Pope Francis has approved the attached new Statutes of the Financial
Intelligence Authority (F.I.A.), is published today. This pontifical
document will enter into force on 21 November 2013.
“As
is known, with his Motu Proprio of 8 August 2013 and with the Law N.
XVIII of 8 October 2013 on norms on transparency, supervision and
financial intelligence, Pope Francis had strengthened further the
institutional framework of the Holy See and the Vatican City State to
prevent and combat potential illicit activities in the financial
sector and had accorded to the F.I.A., in addition to the functions
that it already had on the basis of the Motu Proprio of Benedict XVI
of 30 December 2010, the function of prudential supervision of those
entities that carry out financial activities professionally. The
present Statutes adapt F.I.A.’s internal structure to the functions
it is now called to perform.
“In
particular, the Statutes distinguish the role and functions of the
President, the Board of Directors and the Directorate, so as to
ensure that the F.I.A. may fulfil even more adequately its
institutional functions in full autonomy and independence and in a
manner consistent with the institutional and legal framework of the
Holy See and the Vatican City State. In addition, the new Statutes
establish a specific office for prudential supervision, providing it
with the necessary professional resources.”
The
full text of the Motu Proprio may be consulted in English and Italian
at:
INTERNATIONAL
TEAM OF ASSESSORS ON ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITIES
Vatican
City, 18 November 2013 (VIS) – We publish below the communique
issued this morning by the Governorate of Vatican City State:
“On
15 November the Governorate of Vatican City State, by agreement with
the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organisation of the
Economic and Administrative Structure of the Holy See, following a
selection process, has mandated an international team from Ernst &
Young to carry out the task of auditing and consultation in relation
to the economic activities and administrative management procedures
of the Entity.
“The
documentation containing the outcome of this consultation will be
available to the Commission and will be used to propose eventual
recommendations intended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of the Governorate's economic and administrative procedures”.
AUDIENCE
WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF THE BAHAMAS
Vatican
City, 18 November 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican
Apostolic Palace Pope Francis received in audience the prime minister
of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, Perry Gladstone Christie, who
subsequently went on to meet with the Secretary of State Archbishop
Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti,
Secretary for Relations with States.
During
the colloquial discussions, mention was made of the theme of
emigration and the contribution the Catholic Church may offer to the
population, especially in the sectors of welfare and education, and
the Parties expressed their hope for closer collaboration in these
fields.
MORE
CHRISTIANS PERSECUTED THAN IN THE FIRST CENTURIES
Vatican
City, 17 November 2013 (VIS) – At midday today the Holy Father
appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the
faithful gathered below in St. Peter's Square. Before the Marian
prayer, the Pope commented on Jesus' discourse in Jerusalem about the
end of time. Jesus exhorted the apostles not to be deceived by false
messiahs and not to be paralysed by fear, but rather to live this
moment of waiting in hope, as a time of witness and perseverance.
The
Holy Father emphasised the relevance of these words even to us now in
the twenty-first century. “It is a call to discernment”, he said.
“Even nowadays, in fact, there are false 'saviours' who seek to
take Jesus' place: leaders of this world, gurus, holy men, people who
want to attract hearts and minds, especially of young people. Jesus
warns us: 'do not follow them'. And the Lord also helps us not to be
afraid when faced with wars and revolutions, natural disasters and
epidemics: Jesus liberates us from fatalism and false apocalyptic
visions. … He reminds us that we are entirely in God's hands! The
adversity we encounter on account of our faith and our adhesion to
the Gospel are opportunities for witness; they should not turn us
away from the Lord but rather encourage us to abandon ourselves more
fully to Him, to the strength of His Spirit and His grace”.
“In
this moment”, he continued, unscripted, “let us think of the many
Christian brothers and sisters who suffer persecution for their
faith. There are many of them. Perhaps more than in the first
centuries. Jesus is with them. Let us also be united with them by our
prayer and our affection. Let us admire their courage and their
witness. They are our brothers and sisters, who in many parts of the
world suffer for being faithful to Jesus Christ. Let us extend our
heartfelt and affectionate greetings to them”.
Francis
highlighted Jesus' promise to us as a guarantee of victory: “'Stand
firm, and you will win life'. … This is a call to hope and
patience, to know how to await the certain fruits of salvation,
trusting in the deep meaning of life and history; the trials and
difficulties form part of a greater design, and the Lord, the master
of history, guides all to its fulfilment. Despite the disorder and
catastrophes that afflict the world, God's plan of goodness and mercy
will prevail”.
“MISERICORDINA”:
THE BEST SPIRITUAL MEDICINE
Vatican
City, 17 November 2013 (VIS) – After the Angelus prayer, the Pope
greeted the faithful and, mentioning that this Sunday was “World
Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims”, encouraged prudence
on the roads and respect for traffic regulations.
Francis
proposed to those present in the square a way of consolidating the
effects of the Year of Faith, which is now drawing to a close. “It
is a spiritual medicine called 'Misericordina'”, he explained. “It
is kept in a box which some volunteers will distribute as you leave
the square. It is a Rosary, with which you can pray the 'Chaplet of
Divine Mercy' … a spiritual help for spreading love, forgiveness
and brotherhood”.
YEAR
OF FAITH ENDS: MORE THAN EIGHT MILLION PILGRIMS
Vatican
City, 18 November 2013 (VIS) – A press conference was held in the
Holy See Press Office this morning to present the Day for
Contemplative Life, a Year of Faith initiative, which will take place
on 21 November, and the celebrations marking the end of the Year of
Faith: a meeting of catechumens with the Pope (23 November) and the
closing Holy Mass (24 November). The speakers in the conference were
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for
Promoting New Evangelisation, along with Archbishop Jose Octavio Ruiz
Arenas, and Msgr. Graham Bell, respectively secretary and
under-secretary of the same dicastery.
“We
have come to the end of a Year dedicated entirely to the renewal of
the faith in believers, but there remains the wish to keep alive the
teaching we have received during these months”, said Archbishop
Fisichella, who remarked that more than eight million pilgrims who
have visited the tomb of St. Peter to profess their faith during this
year. Likewise, he commented that to conclude the Year, “we have
thought of a series of different 'signs' intended to demonstrate the
continuity of faith and the path we are called to walk to prevent it
from becoming obvious in everyday life”.
The
first sign is given by the Pope Francis' planned visit to the
Camaldolese nuns of the monastery of Sant'Antonio Abbate
all'Aventino, Rome, where he will meet with the community. This day,
which coincides with the anniversary of the entry into the convent of
Sister Nazarena Crotta, the last recluse to live within its walls,
will be dedicated to those who have chosen a cloistered life in order
to dedicate themselves fully to a life of prayer and contemplation.
The
second event will take place on Saturday 23 November, which will be
dedicated to catechumens, with the theme “Ready to cross the
theshold of faith”. More than five hundred catechumens will be
present, accompanied by their catechists, from 47 different countries
from all five continents. The Pope will receive 35 of them at the
entrance of St. Peter's Basilica and will ask them the traditional
questions that form the rite.
Finally,
the Year of Faith will conclude with a Holy Mass on Sunday 24
November in St. Peter's Square at 10.30 a.m., and will be marked by
three signs intended to highlight the importance of the moment: the
exposition of the relics of St. Peter, the delivery by Pope Francis
of his Apostolic Exhortation “Evangelii gaudium”, and a gesture
of charity towards the Philippine population. During the Eucharist, a
collection will be carried out as a contribution by the Year of Faith
pilgrims to those affected by the catastrophic typhoon in the
Philippines.
Archbishop
Fisichella concluded by mentioning that “often, accustomed as we
are to emphasising elements of crisis, we forget to look at the many
positive signs of hope that are genuinely present in the Church. The
Year of Faith has enabled us to experience this. And it is for this
reason that, supported by such impressive, enthusiastic and convinced
witness, expressed especially in the silence of everyday life, we
look to the future with greater serenity, strengthened by the
experience of this Year, the positive effects of which we hope will
be felt for a long time to come”.
POPE'S
VIDEO MESSAGE TO GUADALUPE PILGRIMS: THE CHURCH MUST NOT BE INSULAR
Vatican
City, 16 November 2013 (VIS) – This afternoon Pope Francis sent a
video message to participants in the pilgrimage-meeting “Our Lady
of Guadalupe, star of new evangelisation in the American continent”,
convoked by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the Basilica
of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Knights of Columbus and the Higher
Institute of Guadalupan Studies, scheduled to take place at the
shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico, from 16 to 19 November 2013.
We publish below extensive extracts from the message:
“As
well as transmitting my affection, my closeness and my wish to be
with you, I would like to briefly share some reflections as a
contribution to the meeting taking place in these days.
“Aparecida
proposes placing the Church in a permanent state of mission, to carry
out not only acts of a missionary nature but also in the broader
context of a more general missionary approach: so that all the
habitual activity of the particular Churches may have a missionary
character. And this takes place in the certainty that missionary
outreach, rather than being an activity amongst others, is a
paradigm; that is, the paradigm of all pastoral action. … It is
vital that the Church does not close herself up, does not consider
herself satisfied and secure in all she has achieved. If this
happens, the Church will become ill, will become sick from an
imaginary overabundance … she becomes satiated and weak. It is
necessary to leave one's own community and to have the audacity to
arrive at the existential peripheries where God's presence needs to
be felt. He abandons no-one, and always shows His tenderness and His
boundless mercy, and therefore this is what we must bring to all
people.
“A
second point: the aim of all pastoral activity is always guided by
the missionary impulse to reach everyone, without excluding anyone,
and keeping in consideration the special circumstances of each
person. This does not mean going forth like one who imposes a new
obligation, who limits himself to reproaching or complaining about
that which he considers imperfect or insufficient. The evangelical
task requires a lot of patience … and involves presenting the
Christian message in a serene and gradual manner, with the perfume of
the Gospel, as the Lord did. It favours, first and foremost, the
essential and most necessary fact of the beauty of God's love, which
speaks to us through the dead and risen Christ.
“Third:
it is the bishop who guides the pastoral care of the particular
Church, and he does so like the shepherd who knows all his sheep by
name … effectively demonstrating the maternity of the Church and
the mercy of God. The attitude of the true shepherd is not that of a
courtier or of a mere functionary, focusing principally on
discipline, rules and organisational mechanisms. This always leads to
a pastoral that is far removed from the people, incapable of
favouring or achieving the encounter with Christ and the encounter
with brothers. The people of God entrusted to him need their bishop
to be watchful on His behalf, taking special care to keep them united
and to promote hope in their hearts. They need a bishop who is able
to discern, without stifling, the Holy Spirit that comes from where
it wills, for the good of the Church and her mission in the world.
“Fourth:
these attitudes proper to the bishop must also be shared deeply by
other agents of pastoral care, especially priests. The temptation of
clericalism, which does great damage to the Church in Latin America,
is an obstacle to the development of Christian maturity and
responsibility of a significant part of the laity. Clericalism
implies a self-referential attitude, a group attitude, which
impoverishes projection towards the encounter with the Lord, which
makes disciples, and towards men who await proclamation. Therefore, I
think it is important and urgent to form ministers capable of
closeness, of encounter, who know how to inflame hearts, walk
alongside the people, enter into dialogue with their hopes and fears.
Bishops cannot delegate this work: they must take it on as something
fundamental to the life of the Church, sparing no efforts, attention
or support.
“I
want to dedicate a few words to consecrated life. Consecrated life in
the Church is … a leaven which enables the Church to grow towards
the final manifestation of Jesus Christ. I ask consecrated persons to
be faithful to the charism they have received, so that in their
service to the hierarchical Holy Mother Church, they do not allow the
grace given by the Holy Spirit to their founders to be dispelled, but
instead transmit it fully.
“Dear
brothers and sisters, many thanks for what you have done for this
continental mission. Remember that you have received Baptism, which
has transformed you into the Lord's disciples. But every disciple is,
in turn, a missionary. Benedict XVI said that they are the two sides
of the same coin. I ask you, as a father and brother in Jesus Christ,
to take responsibility for the faith you have received in Baptism.
And, like the mother and grandmother of Timothy, transmit faith to
your children and grandchildren, and not only to them. The treasure
of faith is not given solely for personal use. It is to be given and
transmitted so that it may grow”.
THE
POPE CELEBRATES THE EPISCOPAL ORDINATION OF THE SECRETARY OF THE
GOVERNORATE OF VATICAN CITY STATE
Vatican
City, 16 November 2013 (VIS) – The episcopate is a service, not an
honour, the Holy Father reiterated yesterday during the episcopal
ordination in St. Peter's Basilica of Msgr. Fernando Vergez Alzaga,
secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State.
During
the ordination of the new bishop, who is from Salamanca, Spain, and
is a member of the Legionaries of Christ, Pope Francis pronounced the
ritual homily for the consecration of bishops from the Roman
Pontifical, adding a few phrases in which he mentioned the prelate's
tenderness and charity in his service as secretary to the late
Argentine Cardinal Eduardo Francisco Pironio. He concluded by
emphasising that the pastoral care of Vatican employees had been
entrusted to him, and urged Bishop Vergez Alzaga to be “a father
and brother to them, with true love and tenderness”.
CARDINAL
FILONI, POPE'S SPECIAL ENVOY TO TWO MISSIONARY CONGRESSES IN LATIN
AMERICA
Vatican
City, 16 November 2013 (VIS) – A letter was made public today,
written in Latin and dated 14 October, by which the Pope appoints
Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples, as his special envoy to the celebration of
the Fourth American Missionary Congress (CAM 4) and the Ninth Latin
American Missionary Congress (COMLA 9), scheduled to take place in
Maracaibo, Venezuela from 26 November to 1 December 2013.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 18 November 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
-
Guy Ryder, director general of the International Labour Organisation.
-
Archbishop Alain Paul Lebeaupin, apostolic nuncio to the European
Union.
-
Archbishop Mario Giordana, apostolic nuncio to Slovakia.
-
Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, Italy.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 18 November 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father appointed
Bishop Franz Lackner, O.F.M., auxiliary of Graz-Seckau, Austria, as
archbishop of Salzburg (area 9,715, population 713,085, Catholics
487,691, priests 297, permanent deacons 40, religious 492), Austria.
He was born in Feldbach, Austria in 1956, was ordained to the
priesthood in 1991, and received episcopal ordination in 2002.
On
Saturday, 16 November, the Holy Father:
-
appointed Msgr. Roman Pindel as bishop of Bielsko-Zywiec (area 3,000,
population 766,300, Catholics 680,700, priests 634, religious 632),
Poland. Bishop-elect Pindel was born in Oswiecim, Poland in 1958 and
was ordained a priest in 1983. He holds a licentiate and doctorate in
bible studies from the Pontifical Theological Academy of Krakow
(PAT), Poland, and has served in a number of roles, including
spiritual director and rector of the major seminary of Krakow,
director of the chair in biblical hermeneutics and Judaism at the
faculty of theology of the “John Paul II” Pontifical University,
Krakow (formerly PAT), diocesan assistant for Renewal in the Holy
Spirit, bishop's delegate for assistance to new religious movements,
and president of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Seminaries.
-
appointed Fr. Pedro Javier Torres as auxiliary bishop of Cordoba
(area 19,722, population 2,115,000, Catholics 1,856,000, priests 344,
permanent deacons 1, religious 967), Argentina. Bishop-elect Torres
was born in Cordoba, Argentina in 1960, and was ordained a priest in
1984. He has served in a number of roles, including lecturer,
formator and rector of the major seminary “N.S. De Loreto”,
parish vicar of San Juan Bosco, priest in a number of parishes within
the archdiocese of Cordoba, member of the Interreligious Committee
for Peace, member of the College of Consultors, diocesan spokesman
for the media on bioethics, ecumenism and interreligious dialogue,
executive secretary for the Episcopal Commission on Ecumenism and
Relations with Judaism, Islam and other religions, lecturer in
priestly meetings and pastoral courses, and a preacher of spiritual
rites in a number of Argentine dioceses.
-
appointed Msgr. Angelo Genoni as Office Head of the Ordinary Section
of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See. Msgr. Genoni
was previously Study Assistant in the same dicastery.
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