SUMMARY:
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AUDIENCE WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
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THE RULES OF RUGBY PUT INTO PRACTICE IN THE FIELD OF LIFE
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TO THE FILIPINO PEOPLE: IN TIMES OF SUFFERING, NEVER TIRE OF ASKING
GOD, “WHY?”
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MARY IS THE MOST EXPRESSIVE ICON OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
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THE CHURCH'S SOCIAL DOCTRINE: A GUIDE TO UNMASKING THE IDOL OF MONEY
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THE CATHOLIC EAST COMMITTED TO DAILY INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
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AUDIENCES
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AUDIENCE
WITH THE PRIME MINISTER OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
Vatican
City, 22 November 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican
Apostolic Palace the Holy Father Francis received in audience
Vjekoslav Bevanda, prime minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who
subsequently went on to meet with Archbishop Pietro Parolin,
secretary of State, accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti,
secretary for Relations with States.
The
colloquial discussions provided the opportunity for an exchange of
opinions on the current situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the
country’s main current objectives, on the efforts made to promote
an increasingly open society respecting the rights of all citizens,
and on the challenges that need to be faced as a result of the
current economic crisis.
Satisfaction
was expressed regarding the good existing bilateral relations, of
which the Basic Agreement of 2006 is an important expression,
promoting collaboration between Church and State for the common good
and the development of the country. During the conversation, mention
was also made of various issues linked to the application of the
aforementioned Agreement, as well as the contribution of Catholics in
society.
THE
RULES OF RUGBY PUT INTO PRACTICE IN THE FIELD OF LIFE
Vatican
City, 22 November 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Sala Clementina
of the Vatican Apostolic Palace the Holy Father received in audience
the managers and athletes of the national rugby teams of Argentina
and Italy. Pope Francis described rugby as a very likeable sport,
since “it is a tough sport, with a lot of physical contact, but it
is not violent. There is great loyalty, great respect. Playing rugby
is hard, it is not a walk in the park! And this, I think, is useful
also for tempering character and willpower”.
“In
rugby”, he continued, “one runs towards a goal. This word, which
is so beautiful and so important, makes us think about life, because
all our lives lead towards a goal. This search is tiring, and
requires commitment and struggle, but the important thing is not to
run alone. To arrive at the goal we need to run together, the ball is
passed from hand to hand, and we advance together, until we reach the
goal. And then we celebrate!”
“Perhaps
this interpretation of mine is not very technical, but it is how a
bishop sees rugby! And as a bishop I hope that you will be able to
put all of this in practice, also off-pitch, in your lives”.
TO
THE FILIPINO PEOPLE: IN TIMES OF SUFFERING, NEVER TIRE OF ASKING GOD,
“WHY?”
Vatican
City, 22 November 2013 (VIS) - “In these moments of great
suffering, do not tire of asking 'Why?' like children … and in this
way you will draw the eyes of our Father to your people; you will
attract towards you the tenderness of the Father of Heaven”. With
these words of encouragement, the Holy Father addressed the Filipino
people gathered yesterday afternoon in St. Peter's Basilica, on the
occasion of the blessing of a mosaic of St. Pedro Calungsod, the
Filipino saint canonised last year by Benedict XVI.
The
blessing was followed by a mass celebrated by Cardinal Luis Antonio
Tagle, archbishop of Manila, who during his homily spoke of the
devastating effects of Typhoon Haiyan in his country, affirming that
“we have seen how faith rises from the ruins. Catastrophes cannot
destroy hope. And we see that love is stronger than earthquakes and
typhoons”.
Pope
Francis reiterated his closeness to the Filipino people. “I have
heard that it has been a difficult ordeal, too difficult”, he said.
“But I have also heard that the people have been strong. The
Cardinal's words are true: faith rises up from the ruins. The
solidarity of all in moments of trial. Why do these things happen?
They cannot be explained. There are many things we are unable to
understand. When children begin to grow up, they do not understand
many things and start to ask their father or mother many questions. …
But if we watch carefully, we will see that the child does not expect
the answer from his father or his mother. … The child needs, in his
insecurity, that his father or mother look at him. … Just like a
child does when he asks, 'Why? Why?', in these moments of suffering,
the most useful prayer is that which asks, 'Why?'. But without
expecting explanations, simply asking our Father to look at us. I too
join with you, in this prayer to ask 'Why?'”.
MARY
IS THE MOST EXPRESSIVE ICON OF CHRISTIAN FAITH
Vatican
City, 22 November 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon the Pope visited
the Benedictine Camaldolese Monastery of Sant’Antonio Abate on the
Roman Aventine Hill, on the occasion of the World Day of
Contemplative Life and the Year of Faith, which is drawing to a
close. The Bishop of Rome was received by the abbess, Sister Michella
Porcellato, and entered the Church where the twenty-one sisters of
the community awaited him. He presided the Vespers, following the
Camaldolese rite, and following a brief eucharistic adoration, he
pronounced a homily, ample extracts of which we publish below.
“Mary
is the mother of hope, the most expressive icon of Christian hope.
Her entire life was a succession of attitudes of hope, beginning with
her 'yes' at the moment of the Annunciation. … Then, in Bethlehem,
where He Who was announced to her as the Saviour of Israel and as the
Messiah was born into poverty. Subsequently, when she presented Him
at the temple in Jerusalem, alongside the joy of Simeon and Anna
there was also the promise of the sword that would pierce her heart,
and the prophecy of a sign of contradiction”.
“Mary
is aware that the mission and the very identity of her Son overshadow
the fact of her being His mother. … Yet, before all the
difficulties and surprises of God's plan, the Virgin's hope never
falters! She is a woman of hope. This shows us that hope is nurtured
by listening, contemplation, and patience, for the Lord's time to
come. … With the beginning of His public life, Jesus becomes the
Master and the Messiah: the Virgin looks upon her Son's mission with
elation but also with apprehension, as Jesus increasingly becomes
that sign of contradiction that the elderly Simeon had prophesied. At
the foot of the Cross, she experiences suffering but at the same time
watchfully awaits a mysterious event, greater than pain, that is
about to take place. Everything truly appears to have finished; every
hope could be said to have been extinguished. She, too, in that
moment, recollecting the promises of the Annunciation, could have
said: they did not come true, I was deceived. But she did not say
this. Blessed because she believed, from this faith of hers she sees
a new future unfold, and with awaits God's new day”.
“At
times I think: do we know how to await God's new day? Or do we want
it all today? God's tomorrow is for her the dawn of Easter morning. …
The only light burning at Jesus' tomb is the hope of His mother,
which in that moment is the hope of all humanity. I ask myself, and
you: in the monasteries, is that light still burning? In monasteries,
do you await God's tomorrow?”
“In
Mary, present in every moment of the history of salvation, we see a
solid testimony of hope. She, the mother of hope, supports us in our
moments of darkness, of difficulty, of discomfort, of apparent defeat
or true human defeats”.
THE
CHURCH'S SOCIAL DOCTRINE: A GUIDE TO UNMASKING THE IDOL OF MONEY
Vatican
City, 22 November 2013 (VIS) – The Holy Father has sent a video
message to the participants in the Third Festival of the Social
Doctrine of the Church, to be celebrated in Verona from 21 to 24
November. This year the festival takes as its theme “Fewer
inequalities, more differences”, a title which, according to the
Pope, highlights the multiple richness of people as an expression of
personal talents and avoids the mortification of uniformity which
paradoxically increases inequality”.
The
Pontiff addressed the young, “the strength to carry on”, and the
elderly, “the memory of the people”. “Acknowledgement of
difference accords value to people, unlike uniformity, which bears
the risk of discarding them since it prevents their significance from
being recognised. Nowadays, the young and the elderly are considered
dispensable as they do not correspond to the productive logic of a
functionalist vision of society, they do not respond to any useful
criterion of investment. They are described as 'passive', they do not
produce but rather in the market economy they are subjects of
production. We must not forget, however, that the young and the
elderly both bring great richness: they are both the future of a
people”.
The
Pope also addressed some thoughts to the Social Doctrine of the
Church. “The social Magisterium”, he continued, “is a great
reference point which forms a guideline, the result of reflection and
virtuous practice. It is very useful to avoid disorientation. Those
who work in economics and finance are certainly attracted by profit
and, if they are not careful, they risk placing themselves in the
service of profit itself, thus becoming slaves to money. The Social
Doctrine contains a great patrimony of reflections and hope that is
able, even today, to guide people and preserve their freedom. It
takes courage, thought and the strength of faith to stay within the
market while guided by a conscience that places at the centre the
dignity of the person, not the idol of money”.
Francis
concluded his message by speaking about co-operation, and mentioned
how, as a child, he listened to his father speak about Christian
co-operation at a conference. “In that moment I was filled with
enthusiasm about this subject, and I saw that the path lay there”,
he said. “Work and the dignity of the person walk the same path
together, side by side. Solidarity applies also to guaranteeing work:
co-operation constitutes an important element for ensuring the
plurality of presences of employers on the market. Nowadays this is
the subject of some misunderstanding, also at European level, but I
maintain that not regarding as current this form of presence in the
world of production is a form of impoverishment that allows space for
the encroachment of uniformity and does not promote differences and
identity”.
THE
CATHOLIC EAST COMMITTED TO DAILY INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
Vatican
City, 22 November 2013 (VIS) – The Congregation for the Oriental
Churches today concluded its plenary session, held from 19 to 22
November, which focused on the balance of conciliar ideas regarding
the Catholic East fifty years after Vatican Council II.
The
harmonious climate in which work was carried out was unanimously
appreciated, according to a communique issued by the dicastery. The
synodal experience, profoundly rooted in the oriental tradition, was
demonstrated to be a fruitful working method. Appreciation was
expressed for the beauty of conciliar ecclesiology and the value of
diversity in unity, also underlining that the recognition of the
apostolic origin is a theological and juridical affirmation. A
further theme was the migratory phenomenon, which represents a
challenge as it poses serious problems for the situation of
Christians in the Middle East, harshly penalised by the effects of
the war in Iraq and by the current conflict in Syria, without
forgetting the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian question and Egypt's
troubled rebirth as a pluralist nation.
A
further problem is that the full dignity of the heads of the
patriarchal and the major archiepiscopal Churches, also known as
'Fathers', requires that they are considered as such wherever their
'sons' may be, nowadays well beyond the borders considered to be
their own, and with their own respective traditions and discipline.
Alongside the significant representation of the Latin archbishops who
are are also ordinaries for the Oriental faithful without their own
hierarchy, specific ecclesial administrative structures must be
considered and progressively developed. The ecumenical dimension must
always be maintained, assuming a fruitful attitude of authentic
brotherhood and patient reconciliation, without however penalising
those who by their existence bear daily witness that one may be in
communion with the Bishop of Rome, recognising his primacy, without
renouncing one's one method of governance and of living the mystery
of the liturgy.
Finally,
the plenary reiterated that the Catholic East is committed to
ensuring that interreligious dialogue is lived as a daily experience
in the countries of the Middle East.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 22 November 2013 (VIS) - This morning, the Holy Father received
in audience:
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Archbishop Henryk Jozef Nowacki, apostolic nuncio in Sweden, Iceland,
Denmark, Finland and Norway.
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Archbishop Giovanni d'Aniello, apostolic nuncio in Brazil.
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Joseph S. Blatter, president of the Federation International de
Football Association (F.I.F.A.).
This
afternoon, he is scheduled to receive:
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Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples.
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