SUMMARY:
-
THE POPE TO THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES: TAKE THE PATH TO FULL
COMMUNION WITHOUT FEAR
-
THE POPE AND THE ROMAN CURIA BEGIN THEIR SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
-
GOOD FRIDAY: COLLECTION FOR THE HOLY LAND
-
AUDIENCES
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
THE
POPE TO THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES: TAKE THE PATH TO FULL
COMMUNION WITHOUT FEAR
Vatican
City, 7 March 2014 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father met with
Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit, secretary general of the World Council for
Churches, accompanied by a delegation. The Pope remarked that this
encounter “marks an important chapter in the long and fruitful
relationship between the Catholic Church and the World Council of
Churches”, and acknowledged “the service it performs in the cause
of unity between believers in Christ”.
“Since
its creation, the World Council of Churches has offered a great
contribution to forming the sensibility of all Christians with regard
to the fact that our divisions represent a major obstacle to our
witness to the Gospel in the world. These divisions must not be
accepted with resignation, as if they were simply an inevitable
component of the historic experience of the Church. If Christians
ignore the Lord's call to unity, they risk ignoring the Lord Himself
and the salvation He offers through His Body, the Church: 'there is
salvation in no one else, for there is no other name … by which we
must be saved.'”
“The
way to full and visible communion is a path which still proves today
to be arduous and uphill. The Spirit, however, urges us not to be
afraid, to go ahead with trust, and not to content ourselves with the
progress that we have been able to experience in these decades.
Prayer is fundamental on this path. Only in a spirit of humble and
persistent prayer can we attain the necessary farsightedness,
discernment and motivations for offering our service to the human
family, in all its weakness and with all its needs, both spiritual
and material”.
THE
POPE AND THE ROMAN CURIA BEGIN THEIR SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
Vatican
City, 7 March 2014 (VIS) – On 9 March, the first Sunday of Lent,
the Pope and the Roman Curia will begin their spiritual exercises.
The meditations will be led by Fr. Angelo De Donatis, parish of San
Marco Evangelista in Campidoglio.
This
year's spiritual exercises will be based on the theme “the
purification of the heart” and will take place in the Pauline
residence, “Casa del Divin Maestro” in Ariccia, a few kilometres
outside Rome.
The
retreat will continue until 14 March and during this period all
pontifical audiences will be suspended, including the general
audience of Wednesday 12 March.
GOOD
FRIDAY: COLLECTION FOR THE HOLY LAND
Vatican
City, 7 March 2014 (VIS) – Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches, has addressed a letter to all
bishops worldwide in view of the collection for the Holy Land, which
traditionally takes place on Good Friday. The letter is also signed
by Archbishop Cyril Vasil, S.J., secretary of the same dicastery.
“Every
day, Christians in various regions of the Middle East ask themselves
whether to stay there or to emigrate: they live in conditions of
insecurity or suffer violence, at times for the mere fact of
professing their, and our, faith”, he says. “Every day there are
brothers and sisters who resist, choosing to remain there where God
fulfilled in Christ His plan for universal reconciliation. From that
land there departed those who, upon Christ's Word, brought the Gospel
to the four corners of the world. It is there that the Church always
rediscovers, with her roots, the 'great hope' that bears Jesus' name,
but the current situation is truly delicate: it is enough to think of
the conflict between Israel and Palestine, the evolution that Egypt
is undergoing, and the tragedy in Syria”.
Cardinal
Sandri continues, “On Good Friday we wish to raise to the Crucified
the cry for peace for Jerusalem so that the world, starting from the
land of Jesus, might become the City of Peace”.
A
document prepared by the Custodian of the Holy Land details the works
carried out as a result of the 2012-2013 collection.
In
addition to providing scholarships to students from different
dioceses, the collection has enabled restoration work to be carried
out in various places, including the Mensa Christi Church, the
Cafarnao archaeological site and the Shrine of Nain. Funds have also
been distributed to support parishes, families, schools, universities
and cultural works, through the Custodian of the Holy Land, such as
the Faculty of Biblical Sciences and Archaeology of the Studium
Biblicum Francescanum in Jerusalem, and the Franciscan Media Centre.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 7 March 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
-
Archbishop Andres Carrascosa Coso, apostolic nuncio in Panama.
-
Archbishop Jean-Abdo Arbach B.C. of Homs of the Greek Melkites,
Syria.
-
Twelve prelates of the Spanish Episcopal Conference on their “ad
limina” visit:
-
Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach, archbishop of Barcelona, with his
auxiliary, Bishop Sebastia Taltavull Anglada;
-
Bishop Agustin Cortes Soriano of Sant Feliu de Llobregat;
-
Bishop Josep Angel Saiz Meneses of Terrassa, with his auxiliary,
Bishop Salvador Christian Coll;
-
Archbishop Jaume Pujol Balcells of Tarragona;
-
Bishop Francesc Pardo Artigas of Gerona;
-
Bishop Joan Piris Frigola of Lleida;
-
Bishop Xavier Novell Goma of Solsona;
-
Bishop Enrique Benavent Vidal of Tortosa;
-
Archbishop Joan Enric Vives Sicilia, bishop of Urgell;
-
Bishop Roman Casanova Casanova of Vic.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 7 March 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Bishop
Cristian Contreras Villarroel, auxiliary of the diocese of Santiago
de Chile, Chile, as bishop of Melipilla (area 6,217, population
523,700, Catholics 418,700, priests 66, permanent deacons 65,
religious 138), Chile. He succeeds Bishop Enrique Troncoso Troncoso,
whose resignation upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the
Holy Father.
You
can find more information at: www.visnews.org
The
news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used,
in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:
V.I.S.
-Vatican Information Service.
Copyright
© Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City
No comments:
Post a Comment