SUMMARY:
-
THE POPE TO SPANISH BISHOPS: FAITH IS NOT A MERE CULTURAL INHERITANCE
-
SPIRITUAL EXERCISES: INVITATION TO AN EXPERIENCE OF GOD
-
POPE FRANCIS: ONLY BY SEARCHING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD CAN WE ALL
LIVE WITH DIGNITY
-
APPEAL FOR HARMONY IN UKRAINE
-
POPE FRANCIS RECEIVES THE PRIME MINISTER OF ROMANIA
-
THE POPE TO THE COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA: ENCOURAGE THE GROWTH OF
A YOUTHFUL UTOPIA
-
AGREEMENT RATIFIED BETWEEN HOLY SEE AND REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI
-
AUDIENCES
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
THE
POPE TO SPANISH BISHOPS: FAITH IS NOT A MERE CULTURAL INHERITANCE
Vatican
City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father received in
audience the prelates of the Spanish Episcopal Conference at the end
of their “ad limina” visit, and delivered an address in which,
among other things, he praised their intention to “faithfully serve
the People of God in pilgrimage in Spain, where the Word of God is
well rooted, and which has brought fruits of harmony, culture and
holiness”, a fact that is particularly emphasised by the
celebration of the upcoming fifth centenary of the birth of St.
Teresa of Jesus, first doctor of the Church”.
“Now
that you are suffering the ordeal of the indifference of many
baptised persons and must face today's worldly culture, which closes
God into the sphere of private life and excludes Him from the public
sphere, you must not forget your history. … Let us always entrust
ourselves to Him and seek to sow the seed in the hearts of those
entrusted to our pastoral care”, writes the Holy Father.
“The
bishops have been entrusted with the task of making these seeds
germinate with the courageous and true proclamation of the Gospel,
taking great care of their growth by example, education and
closeness, to harmonise the 'vineyard of the Lord' from which no-one
is excluded”, he continues. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, do
not spare any effort in opening new ways to the Gospel, to reach the
hearts of all people so that they may discover what already resides
therein: Christ as a friend and brother. … It will not be difficult
to find these paths if we follow the footsteps of the Lord, who 'came
not to be served but to serve', who knew how to respect God's time
with humility, to patiently await the process of maturation of each
person, without fear of taking the first step towards encounter. He
teaches us to listen to all, heart to heart, with tenderness and
mercy, and to seek what truly unites and serves in mutual
edification”.
In
this search, it is important for the bishop not to feel alone, or to
think he is alone; that he is aware that the flock entrusted to him
'has a nose' for matters of God. … Likewise in the present moment,
in which the mediations of faith are increasingly scarce and there is
no lack of difficulties in its transmission, it is necessary to place
your Churches in a true state of permanent mission, to call to those
who have drifted and to strengthen faith, especially in children. …
Faith is not a mere cultural inheritance, but rather a gift, a gift
born of the personal encounter with Jesus and the free and joyful
acceptance of the new life He offers us. … Awaken and arouse
sincere faith, promote preparation for marriage and the accompanying
of families, whose vocation is to be the native place for coexistence
in love, the original cell of society, transmitter of life and
domestic church where faith is forged and lived out. An evangelised
family is a valuable agent of evangelisation”.
Pope
Francis also refers to the publication last year of the document
“Priestly vocations for the 21st century”, as a sign of the
particular Churches' interest in the pastoral of vocations. “It is
an aspect that a bishop should keep in his heart as an absolute
priority, in prayer, in the selection of candidates and the
preparation of teams of good formators and competent teachers”, he
states.
“Love
and service to the poor is a sign of the Kingdom of God that Jesus
came to bring”, he emphasises. “I know that in recent years, your
Caritas and other charitable works of the Church have earned great
recognition, among believers and unbelievers. This brings me much
pleasure, and I pray that this may be a way of approaching the source
of charity – Christ, who 'went about doing good and healing all who
were oppressed', and His Church, who is a mother and can never forget
the most disadvantaged among her children”.
The
Pope concludes by encouraging the bishops to place themselves “at
the forefront of the spiritual and missionary renewal of your
particular Churches, as brethren and pastors of the faithful, and
also of those who are not, or who have forgotten. To this end, frank
and fraternal collaboration within the Episcopal Conference will be
of great help, as will mutual support and care in the search for the
most suitable approaches to take”.
SPIRITUAL
EXERCISES: INVITATION TO AN EXPERIENCE OF GOD
Vatican
City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) – The Italian Federation of Spiritual
Exercises (FIES) celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its
foundation and to commemorate the occasion the Pope received in
audience two hundred of its members.
The
theme chosen by the FIES for the assembly is “Enamoured by
spiritual beauty to spread the fragrance of Christ”, a theme which,
according to Pope Francis, “expresses the conviction that proposing
the spiritual exercises means an invitation to an experience of God,
of His love and beauty. He who lives the Exercises in an authentic
way experiences the attraction and the appeal of God, and returns
renewed, transformed in ordinary life, in ministry, in daily
relationships, bringing with him the fragrance of Christ”.
“Men
and women need to meet God, to know him 'not by hearsay'. “Your
service is entirely orientated towards this, and you accomplish this
by providing space and time for listening intensely to the Word in
silence and prayer. Special places for this spiritual experience are
offered by the Houses of Spirituality which, for this reason, are
supported by appropriate staff. I encourage the Pastors of the
various communities to ensure that there is no lack of Houses for
Spiritual Exercises, where well trained workers and prepared
preachers, endowed with doctrinal and spiritual qualities, are true
masters of the spirit”.
“However,
we must never forget that the true agent of spiritual life is the
Holy Spirit, Who supports our initiatives for good and our prayers. …
A good course of Spiritual Exercises contributes to renewing, in
those who participate, an unconditional adhesion to Christ and a help
in understanding that prayer is the irreplaceable means of union with
Christ crucified”, concluded the Holy Father.
POPE
FRANCIS: ONLY BY SEARCHING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD CAN WE ALL LIVE
WITH DIGNITY
Vatican
City, 2 March 2014 (VIS) – At midday Pope Francis appeared at the
window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in
St. Peter's Square. Before the Marian prayer, he spoke about “divine
Providence” and how it is presented by the prophet Isaiah, with the
image of maternal love, full of tenderness. “God does not forget
about us, any of us! … He forgets no-one, He remembers every name
and surname”, he continued. “He loves us, and does not forget
about us. What a beautiful thought is this invitation to trust in
God”.
“Thinking
of all those who live in precarious conditions, or even in poverty
that is an affront to their dignity, these words of Jesus' may seem
abstract, if not illusory. But in fact they are more relevant than
ever! They remind us that we cannot serve two masters: God and
wealth. For as long as each person seeks to accumulate wealth for
himself, there will be no justice. We must understand this well! If,
instead, trusting in God's providence, we seek his Kingdom together,
then no-one will lack the means to live with dignity”.
“A
heart occupied with the desire to possess is a heart full of this
desire, but without God. … In a heart possessed by wealth, there is
not much space for faith. … If, however, we leave for God the space
that is due to Him – the first place – then His love will lead us
also to share our wealth, to put it at the service of projects for
solidarity and development, as we may see in many examples, some of
them recent, in the history of the Church. And in this way God's
Providence passes through our service to others, our sharing with
others”.
“The
path that Jesus shows to us may seem unrealistic compared to the
prevalent mentality and in view of the problems caused by the
economic crisis. … To ensure that no-one lacks bread, water,
clothing, shelter, work, and health, it is necessary for all of us to
recognise that we are children of the Father in Heaven and that we
are therefore all brothers, and to behave accordingly”. The Pope
concluded by inviting those present to invoke the intercession of Our
Lady “so that we may all make efforts to live in a simple and sober
way, keeping watch over the needs of our most disadvantaged
brothers”.
APPEAL
FOR HARMONY IN UKRAINE
Vatican
City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) – Following the Angelus prayer, Pope
Francis launched an appeal for harmony in Ukraine, asking the
faithful to pray for the delicate situation in the country is
currently experiencing. “While I hope that all the parties within
the country will make efforts to overcome misunderstandings and to
build the future of the nation together, I also make a heartfelt
appeal to the international community to support every initiative in
support of dialogue and harmony”.
The
Pope mentioned that this week sees the beginning of Lent, “the path
of the People of God towards Easter: a path of conversion, and of
struggle against evil through prayer, fasting, and mercy”. He added
that “humanity needs justice, reconciliation, peace, and we can
obtain these only by returning with all our hearts to God, their
source. We are all in need of God's forgiveness. Let us enter Lent
with a spirit of adoration for God and of fraternal solidarity with
those who, in these times, suffer as a result of poverty and violent
conflicts”.
POPE
FRANCIS RECEIVES THE PRIME MINISTER OF ROMANIA
Vatican
City, 1 March 2014 (VIS) – This morning, the Holy Father Francis
received in audience Victor Ponta, prime minister of Romania, who
subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State
Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for
Relations with States.
The
prime minister greeted the Holy Father on behalf of the Orthodox
Patriarch Daniel. The cordial discussions focused on the themes of
the family, education, religious freedom and the protection of common
values, in a context of fruitful cooperation between the Holy See and
Romania at a bilateral level and within the international community.
In considering the potential of the Catholic Church for contributing
to the common good of society as a whole, other open questions were
discussed regarding the Catholic community in Romania. Finally, there
was an exchange of opinions on the current international situation,
emphasising the hope that the path of dialogue and negotiation may be
followed to bring an end to the various conflicts afflicting the
world.
THE
POPE TO THE COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA: ENCOURAGE THE GROWTH OF A
YOUTHFUL UTOPIA
Vatican
City, 1 March 2014 (VIS) – During his audience with the
participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for
Latin America, which took place yesterday, 28 February, Pope Francis
gave an off the cuff address to those present, a summary of which is
given below.
“The
transmission of faith, and educational emergency. … If there is an
educational emergency in relation to the transmission of faith, it is
how to approach the theme of catechesis for the young from the
perspective of fundamental theology. That is, the issue of the
anthropological assumptions that affect the transmission of faith
nowadays, and that create this educational emergency for the young
people of Latin America”.
“The
first issue regarding education is that to educate involves three
dimensions: the transmission of knowledge, habits and a sense of
values – these three aspects together. To transmit faith, it is
necessary to create the habit of a certain type of conduct. … If we
want to transmit only the content of faith, then it will be something
superficial or ideological, without roots. … It is important to
transmit to the young … the good management of utopia. In Latin
America, we have had experience of a not entirely balanced management
of utopian ideals which in some places, although not all, and at
certain moments, has overwhelmed us. At least in the case of
Argentina, we can say that many young people in Catholic Action, as a
result of a poor education in managing the concept of utopia, ended
up participating in guerilla conflicts in the 1970s. … To know how
to guide and help the growth of youthful utopia is a wealth. A youth
without utopia ages prematurely, is old before his time. How can we
ensure that this desire typical of youth, this desire for utopia,
leads to an encounter with Jesus Christ? It is a path we need to
take”.
“Youthful
utopia grows well when it is accompanied by memory and discernment.
Utopia looks to the future, memory looks to the past, and the present
is discerned. Young people need to receive memory and plant or root
their utopia in this memory. … This brings us to my insistence …
on the encounter between the elderly and the young. … Some bishops
from various countries in crisis, where there are high levels of
unemployment among the young, have told me that part of the solution
for the young rests in the fact that they now keep their grandparents
company. They have started to meet with their grandparents again,
their grandparents are pensioners and so they come out of their rest
homes and return to their families, bringing with them their memory;
this encounter. … This phenomenon of the encounter between children
and young people and their grandparents has preserved faith in the
countries of the East, during the entire Communist era, because their
parents could not go to Church. ...The encounter between children and
young people and their grandparents is crucial for receiving the
memory of a people and discernment of the present: to be teachers of
discernment, spiritual advisers. And here we see the importance, for
the transmission of faith to the young, of the “face to face”
apostolate. Discernment of the present cannot be done without a good
confessor, a good spiritual guide who has the patience to spend hours
and hours listening to the young”.
“As
a educational emergency, in this transmission of faith and also of
culture, the problem is our throwaway culture. Nowadays, on account
of the economic system that has taken root in the world, which has at
its centre the god of money and not the human person, everything is
ordered according to this logic, and anything that does not fit
within this order is discarded. Children are discarded, when their
existence is troublesome or unwanted. The Spanish bishops recently
spoke to me about the number of abortions, and I was left speechless.
… In some Latin American countries there is hidden euthanasia …
because the social authorities will pay only up to a certain point,
after which the elderly have to get by as best they can”.
“Nowadays,
how inconvenient it is to this worldwide system to consider the
number of young people to whom it is necessary to provide work …
there is a high percentage of unemployed among the young. We are
creating a generation of young people who do not have the experience
of dignity. The problem is not that they have nothing to eat –
their grandparents provide for them, or their parishes, or the
welfare state. … They have bread to eat, but they do not have the
dignity of earning bread and bringing it home to the table”.
“Within
this throwaway culture, we see young people who need us more than
ever – not only for that utopia they have, because a young person
without work has an anaesthetised sense of utopia, or is at the point
of losing it – not only for this, but also for the urgency of
transmitting faith to a youth that has itself now too become waste
material. And drugs enter into this waste material. It is not a
question of vice, there are many forms of addiction. As in all
periods of change, there are strange phenomena including the
proliferation of addictions; ludomania, or compulsive gambling, for
instance, has reached extremely high levels. But drugs are an
instrument of death among the young”.
“We
are discarding our young. What does the future hold? An obligation:
the 'traditio fe' is also 'traditio spei', and we must achieve this.
The final question I wish to put to you is this: when utopia falls to
disenchantment, what can we do? The utopia of today's enthusiastic
youth is slipping away towards disenchantment. Disenchanted youth, to
whom we must give faith and hope”.
AGREEMENT
RATIFIED BETWEEN HOLY SEE AND REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI
Vatican
City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) – On Friday 28 February 2014, at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the
Republic of Burundi, Laurent Kavakure, minister of Foreign Affairs
and International Cooperation and Archbishop Franco Coppola,
apostolic nuncio, exchanged the instruments of ratification of the
Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Burundi on matters
of common interest, signed in Bujumbura on 6 November 2012.
The
solemn act was attended by:
On
behalf of the Holy See, Bishop Gervais Banshimiyubusa of Ngozi,
president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi (CECAB);
Archbishop Evariste Ngoyagoye of Bujumbura, deputy president of the
CECAB; Bishop Joaquim Ntahondereye of Muyinga; Bishop Bonaventure
Nahimana of Rutana; Bishop-elect Georges Bizimana, coadjutor of
Bubanza; Rev. Jose Nahum Jairo Salas Castaneda of the apostolic
nunciature in Burundi, and Rev. A. Lambert Niciteretse, secretary
general of the CECAB;
On
behalf of the Republic of Burundi, Emile Butoyi, chief of protocol at
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation;
Ambassador Egyde Ndikuriyo, director general for Europe, America and
non-governmental organisations; Ambassador Antoine Ntahobwa, director
for America; Ambassador Ernest Ndabashintze, advisor to the minister
of Foreign Affairs; and Emerence Nahonkuriye, assistant to the
minister of Foreign Affairs.
The
framework agreement, acknowledging the good relations that have
developed between the Holy See and Burundi over the last fifty years,
defines and guarantees the legal status of the Catholic Church and
regulates various areas, such as canonical marriage, places of
worship, Catholic institutions of education and instruction, the
welfare and charitable activities of the Church, pastoral care of the
armed forces and of penitential and hospital environments, and the
property and tax laws.
The
framework agreement, which consists of a Preamble of 22 Articles with
an Appendix, entered into effect with the exchange of the instruments
of ratification, in accordance with Article 22, paragraph 1.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
-
Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples.
-
Ten prelates of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, on their “ad
limina” visit:
-
Archbishop Jesus Sanz Montes of Oviedo, with his auxiliary, Bishop
Juan Antonio Menendez Fernandez;
-
Bishop Camilo Lorenzo Iglesias of Astorga
-
Bishop Julian Lopez Martin of Leon;
-
Bishop Vicente Jimenez Zamora of Santander;
-
Archbishop Julian Barrio Barrio of Santiago de Compostela;
-
Bishop Alfonso Carrasco Rouco of Lugo;
-
Bishop Manuel Sanchez Monge of Mondonedo-Ferrol;
-
Bishop Jose Leonardo Lemos Montanet of Orense; and
-
Bishop Luis Quintero Fiuza of Tui-Vigo.
On
Saturday, 1 March, the Holy Father received in audience:
-
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops.
-
Fernando Zegers Santa Cruz, ambassador of Chile to the Holy See, on
his farewell visit.
-
Ten prelates of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, on their “ad
limina” visit:
-
Archbishop Santiago Garcia Aracil of Merida-Badajoz;
-
Bishop Francisco Cerro Chaves of Coria-Caceres;
-
Bishop Amadeo Rodriguez Magro of Plasencia;
-
Archbishop Braulio Rodriguez Plaza of Toledo, with his auxiliary,
Bishop Angel Fernandez Collado;
-
Bishop Ciriaco Benavente Mateos of Albacete;
-
Bishop Antonio Angel Algora Hernando of Ciudad Real;
-
Bishop Jose Maria Yanguas Sanz of Cuenca;
-
Bishop Atilano Rodriguez Martinez of Siguenza-Guadalajara; and
-
Bishop Juan del Rio Martin, military ordinary for Spain.
-
Professor George Weigel.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Msgr.
Alfred Xuereb, official of the Secretariat of State, as prelate
secretary general for the economy.
On
Saturday, 1 March, the Holy Father accepted the resignation from the
pastoral care of the diocese of Cese Budejovice, Czech Republic,
presented by Bishop Jiri Pad'our, O.F.M. Cap., upon having reached
the age limit.
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