SUMMARY:
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THE POPE RECEIVES PRESIDENT OBAMA: RESPECT FOR HUMANITARIAN AND
INTERNATIONAL LAW IN AREAS OF CONFLICT
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FRANCIS: IT IS HARD FOR THE CORRUPT TO TURN BACK
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PROGRAMME FOR THE POPE'S PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND
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THE VOICE OF POPES: DIGITISING THE VATICAN RADIO ARCHIVE
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AUDIENCES
______________________________________
THE
POPE RECEIVES PRESIDENT OBAMA: RESPECT FOR HUMANITARIAN AND
INTERNATIONAL LAW IN AREAS OF CONFLICT
Vatican
City, 27 March 2014 (VIS) – This morning Barack H. Obama, president
of the United States of America, was received in audience by Pope
Francis, after which he met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro
Parolin and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations
with States.
During
the cordial meeting, views were exchanged on some current
international themes and hope was expressed that, in areas of
conflict, there would be respect for humanitarian and international
law and a negotiated solution between the parties involved.
In
the context of bilateral relations and cooperation between Church and
State, the Parties discussed questions of particular relevance for
the Church, such as the exercise of the rights to religious freedom,
life and conscientious objection, as well as the issue of immigration
reform. Finally, the Parties stated their common commitment to the
eradication of human trafficking throughout the world.
FRANCIS:
IT IS HARD FOR THE CORRUPT TO TURN BACK
Vatican
City, 27 March 2014 (VIS) – The dialogue between God's lament and
man's justifications was the theme selected by the Holy Father in the
homily he pronounced at this morning's Mass in St. Peter's Basilica,
attended by Italian ministers and members of parliament. Pope Francis
spoke about the infidelity of the People of God, a generation that
does not accept His messages, and in their place, seek justifications
for their sins. “It was a very great task to drive idolatry from
the hearts of his people, to make them docile to His Word. But they
followed this route for a little while, before turning back”.
“From
being sinners, they went on to become corrupt”, he continued. “It
is very hard for a corrupt person to turn back. The sinner, yes,
because the Lord is merciful and awaits us all. But the corrupt are
fixed on their affairs, and these people were corrupt. They therefore
sought to justify themselves, because Jesus, with his simplicity, but
with his strength in God, made trouble for them. And, step by step,
they ended up convincing themselves that they had to kill Jesus, and
one of them said, 'It is better for a man to die for the people'”.
“These
people had taken the wrong path. They resisted the salvation of the
Lord's love, and drifted from faith, from a theology of faith to a
theology of duty: 'You must do this, this and this …'”.
Describing them as hypocrites, Jesus said, “'They tie up heavy,
cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they
themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them'. They
rejected the Lord's love and this rejection set them on a path that
was not the dialectic of freedom offered by the Lord, but that of the
logic of necessity, where there is no room for the Lord. … They
have become 'behavioural': men of good manners, but with bad habits.
Jesus called them 'whitewashed sepulchres'. This is the Lord's pain,
God's pain, God's lament”.
Pope
Francis mentioned that during Lent “we would do well to think about
the invitation from the Lord to love, and to ask ourselves, all of
us: am I on this path? Or do I risk justifying myself and taking
another path? A road with many junctions that does not, however, lead
to any promise. … And we pray that the Lord gives us the grace to
always follow the path of salvation, to open ourselves to the
salvation that comes only from God, through faith, not that which is
proposed to us by these 'professionals of duty' who had lost the
faith and who led their people with this pastoral theology of duty”.
PROGRAMME
FOR THE POPE'S PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND
Vatican
City, 27 March 2014 (VIS) – Today the programme of the Holy
Father's pilgrimage to the Holy Land was published. The trip, which
will take place from 24 to 26 May, will commemorate the 50th
anniversary of the meeting between Pope Paul VI and the Patriarch
Athenagoras in Jerusalem.
The
Pope will depart from Rome's Fiumicino airport at 8.15 a.m. and is
schedule to arrive in Amman, Jordan at 1.15 p.m. Following the
welcome ceremony at Queen Alia International Airport, he will proceed
to the al-Husseini Royal Palace in Amman, where he will be received
by King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, and will speak before the
authorities of the kingdom of Jordan. At 4.00 p.m. Mass will be
celebrated at the International Stadium in Amman, and later in the
same afternoon he will meet with refugees and young disabled people
in the Latin Church.
On
Sunday, 25 May, the Pope will leave Jordan by helicopter at 8.15
a.m., destined for Bethlehem. In the presidential palace, after a
courtesy visit to the president of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud
Abbas, he will address the Palestinian authorities. At 11 a.m. he
will celebrate Mass and pray the Angelus in Manger Square in
Bethlehem. The Holy Father will lunch with a number of Palestinian
families in the Franciscan convent of Casa Nova and at 3 p.m. he will
make a private visit to the Grotto of the Nativity. He will then
greet the children in the refugee camps of Deheisheh, Aida and Beit
Jibrin and, at 3.45 p.m., will leave the State of Palestine to travel
by helicopter to the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv,
Israel, where his arrival is scheduled for 4.30 p.m. Following the
welcome ceremony he will proceed, again by helicopter, to Jerusalem,
where at 6.15 p.m. he will meet privately with the Ecumenical
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople at the apostolic delegation
in Jerusalem, for the signing of a joint declaration. At 7 p.m. in
the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre an ecumenical meeting will take
place, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the meeting in
Jerusalem between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras, after which
Pope Francis will dine with the patriarchs, bishops and the papal
suite at the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
On
Monday, 26 May at 8.15 a.m. the Holy Father will visit the Grand
Mufti of Jerusalem in the building of the Great Council on the
Esplanade of the Mosques, and will give an address. He will
subsequently visit the Western Wall, after which he will lay a wreath
at Mount Herzl. At 10 a.m. he will visit the Yad Vashem Memorial in
Jerusalem, where he will speak, and at 10.45., he will make a
courtesy visit to the two Chief Rabbis at the Heichal Shlomo Centre,
next to the Great Synagogue of Jerusalem. At 11.45 he will proceed to
the presidential palace where he will be received by the president of
the State of Israel, Simon Peres. At 1 p.m., in the Notre Dame
Centre, he will hold a private audience with the prime minister of
Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. At 3.30 p.m. he will meet privately with
the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew 1, near the
Viri Galileai Orthodox Church on the Mount of Olives. At 4 p.m., in
the Church of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives, he will
address priests, men and women religious and seminarians. At 5.20
p.m. he will celebrate Mass with the Ordinaries of the Holy Land and
the Papal suite in the room of the Cenacle in Jerusalem. At 7.30 p.m.
he will transfer by helicopter from the Mount Scopus heliport to Ben
Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, where he will bid farewell
to the State of Israel. The papal aeroplane will depart at 8.15 p.m.
for Rome's Ciampino airport, where it is scheduled to land at
approximately 11 p.m.
THE
VOICE OF POPES: DIGITISING THE VATICAN RADIO ARCHIVE
Vatican
City, 27 March 2014 (VIS) – On Tuesday, 1 April, in Vatican Radio's
Sala Marconi, there will be a presentation of “The Voice of the
Popes”, Vatican Radio's digital archive which brings together the
voices of the popes who have succeeded to the see of St. Peter since
1931, the year in which the pontifical broadcasting entity was
founded, from Pius XI to Francis. The institutional tasks of Vatican
Radio are to consult, preserve and manage the papal audio archive
ensuring that, in the case of use by third parties, the pastoral
character of the material is conserved and intellectual property
rights are protected.
The
digitisation of the archive, which will take place in conjunction
with the canonisation of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II on 27
April, will guarantee the conservation of the audio material, whose
integrity may be endangered by wear and tear of archive supports, and
will allow the archiving of audio material and text (metadata) in a
far more efficient and rational way. The new digital support will
also ensure easier use of content by information workers and
scholars.
“The
Vatican Radio technical directorate has completed the digitisation of
the pontifical audio archive, reproducing the content of the 8000
tapes and original supports documenting the activities of popes, from
Pius XI up to Francis, including Popes John XXIII and John Paul II,
who will soon be canonised”.
Speakers
at the press conference for the presentation of “The Voices of the
Popes”, moderated by Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director general
of Vatican Radio, were: Cardinal Giovan Battista Re, prefect emeritus
of the Congregation for Bishops and president emeritus of the
Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Vatican specialist Gian
Franco Svidercoschi, and Guido Gusso, Pope John XXIII's valet and
Dean of the Hall of the Papal Antechamber under Pope John Paul II.
The digitisation of the archive was undertaken with the contribution
of the Banca Intesa Russia and with the support of Confartigianato
Persone.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 27 March 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
-
Eleven prelates of the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar, on their
“ad limina” visit:
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Archbishop Odon Marie Arsene Razanakolona of Antananarivo, with his
auxiliary, Bishop Jean de Dieu Raoelison;
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Bishop Philippe Ranaivomanana of Antsirabe;
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Bishop Jean Claude Randrianarisoa of Miarinarivo;
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Bishop Gustavo Bombin Espino O.SS.T. of Tsiroanomandidy;
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Bishop Rosario Saro Vella S.D.B. of Ambanja;
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Bishop Roger Victor Solo Rakotondrajao of Mahajanga;
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Bishop Georges Varkey Puthiyakulangara M.E.P., coadjutor of
Port-Berge;
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Archbishop Fulgence Rabemahafaly of Fianarantsoa;
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Bishop Fidelis Rakotonarivo S.J. of Ambositra;
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Bishop Benjamin Marc Balthason Ramaroson C.M. of Farafangana.
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Bishop Nunzio Galantino of Cassano dell'Jonio, secretary general of
the Italian Episcopal Conference.
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