SUMMARY:
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POPE FRANCIS AND THE PRESIDENTS OF ISRAEL AND PALESTINE INVOKE PEACE
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THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE LIVING MEMORY OF THE CHURCH
-
REGINA COELI: A CHURCH CAPABLE OF SURPRISING
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THE POPE TELEPHONES PILGRIMS FROM MACERATA TO LORETO
-
SPORT IS A FORM OF EDUCATION
-
THE POPE RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
-
THE CHURCH PROPOSES A SYSTEM OF JUSTICE THAT AIMS TO FULL
REHABILITATE WRONGDOERS
-
STUDY DAY DEDICATED TO ST. PIUS X
-
THE AIF FURTHER STRENGTHENS INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
-
CARDINAL FILONI SPECIAL ENVOY TO FUNCHAL
-
AUDIENCES
-
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
POPE
FRANCIS AND THE PRESIDENTS OF ISRAEL AND PALESTINE INVOKE PEACE
 |
| Franco Origlia/Getty Images |
Vatican
City, 9 June 2014 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon the Vatican Gardens
hosted the Invocation for Peace, the initiative Pope Francis proposed
to presidents Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas during his recent
pilgrimage to the Holy Land, to pray for the gift of peace for the
Israeli and Palestinian peoples. Peres and Abbas arrived in the
Vatican at 6.15 and 6.30 p.m. respectively, and were received by the
Holy Father at the entrance of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he
spoke briefly first with the Israel president, and then with the
Palestinian.
Shortly
after, they entered the Santa Marta Hall where they were joined by
the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I, and then transferred by car
to the Vatican Gardens where they were awaited by their respective
delegations. The meeting began with the following words: “May the
Lord grant us peace! We are gathered here, Israelis and Palestinians,
Jews, Christians and Muslims, to offer our prayer for peace for the
Holy Land and for all its inhabitants”.
As
previously explained, the meeting took place in three phases,
followed by a conclusion. Following the chronological order of the
three religions, it began with the Jewish community, followed by
Christians, and finally Muslims. The first phase, for the three
communities, consisted of praise to God for the gift of creation and
for having made us members of one human family. The second was a plea
to God for forgiveness for not having acted like brothers and
sisters, and for our sins against God and neighbour. The third
invokes from God the gift of peace in the Holy Land and the capacity
to be converted into builders of peace. Each of these phases was
accompanied by a brief musical interlude. A longer musical meditation
concluded each of the three principal parts. At the end, before
exchanging handshakes and planting an olive tree as a symbol of the
common desire for peace between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples,
the Holy Father, President Shimon Peres and President Mahmoud Abbas
all gave brief discourses.
“Distinguished
Presidents”, began Pope Francis, “I greet you with immense joy
and I wish to offer you, and the eminent delegations accompanying
you, the same warm welcome which you gave to me during my recent
pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I am profoundly grateful to you for
accepting my invitation to come here and to join in imploring from
God the gift of peace. It is my hope that this meeting will be a path
to seeking the things that unite, so as to overcome the things that
divide. I also thank Your Holiness, my venerable Brother
Bartholomaios, for joining me in welcoming these illustrious guests.
Your presence here is a great gift, a much-appreciated sign of
support, and a testimony to the pilgrimage which we Christians are
making towards full unity”.
“Your
presence, dear Presidents, is a great sign of brotherhood which you
offer as children of Abraham. It is also a concrete expression of
trust in God, the Lord of history, Who today looks upon all of us as
brothers and Who desires to guide us in His ways. This meeting of
prayer for peace in the Holy Land, in the Middle East and in the
entire world is accompanied by the prayers of countless people of
different cultures, nations, languages and religions: they have
prayed for this meeting and even now they are united with us in the
same supplication. It is a meeting which responds to the fervent
desire of all who long for peace and dream of a world in which men
and women can live as brothers and sisters and no longer as
adversaries and enemies”.
“Dear
Presidents, our world is a legacy bequeathed to us from past
generations, but it is also on loan to us from our children: our
children who are weary, worn out by conflicts and yearning for the
dawn of peace, our children who plead with us to tear down the walls
of enmity and to set out on the path of dialogue and peace, so that
love and friendship will prevail. Many, all too many, of those
children have been innocent victims of war and violence, saplings cut
down at the height of their promise. It is our duty to ensure that
their sacrifice is not in vain. The memory of these children instils
in us the courage of peace, the strength to persevere undaunted in
dialogue, the patience to weave, day by day, an ever more robust
fabric of respectful and peaceful coexistence, for the glory of God
and the good of all. Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than
warfare. It calls for the courage to say yes to encounter and no to
conflict: yes to dialogue and no to violence; yes to negotiations and
no to hostilities; yes to respect for agreements and no to acts of
provocation; yes to sincerity and no to duplicity. All of this takes
courage, it takes strength and tenacity”.
“History
teaches that our own powers do not suffice. More than once we have
been on the verge of peace, but the evil one, employing a variety of
means, has succeeded in blocking it. That is why we are here, because
we know and we believe that we need the help of God. We do not
renounce our responsibilities, but we do call upon God in an act of
supreme responsibility before our consciences and before our peoples.
We have heard a summons, and we must respond. It is the summons to
break the spiral of hatred and violence, and to break it by one word
alone: the word 'brother'. But to be able to utter this word we have
to lift our eyes to heaven and acknowledge one another as children of
one Father”.
“To
him, the Father, in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, I now turn, begging
the intercession of the Virgin Mary, a daughter of the Holy Land and
our Mother. Lord God of peace, hear our prayer! We have tried so many
times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own
powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility
and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how
many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried…
But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant
us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open
our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: 'Never again
war!'; 'With war everything is lost'. Instil in our hearts the
courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of
Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, You created us and You
call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily
to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our
path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our
citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of
peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarrelling into
forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with
patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation.
In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words 'division',
'hatred' and 'war' be banished from the heart of every man and woman.
Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our
hearts and minds, so that the word which always brings us together
will be 'brother', and our way of life will always be that of:
Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen”.
President
Shimon Peres then addressed those present: “I have come from the
Holy City of Jerusalem to thank you for your exceptional invitation”,
he said. “The Holy City of Jerusalem is the beating heart of the
Jewish people. In Hebrew, our ancient language, the word Jerusalem
and the word for peace share the same root. And indeed peace is the
vision of Jerusalem. As it is said in the Book of Psalms: Pray for
the peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you be secure. May there
be peace within your walls and security within your citadels. For the
sake of my family and friends, I will say, 'Peace be within you'. For
the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your
prosperity”.
“During
your historic visit to the Holy Land, you moved us with the warmth of
your heart, the sincerity of your intentions, your modesty, and your
kind ways. You touched the people’s hearts – regardless of their
faith or nation. You emerged as a bridge-builder of brotherhood and
peace. We are all in need of the inspiration which accompanies your
character and your way. Thank you”.
“Two
peoples – Israelis and Palestinians – still are aching for peace.
The tears of mothers over their children are still etched in our
hearts. We must put an end to the cries, to the violence, to the
conflict. We all need peace. Peace between equals. Your invitation to
us to join you in this momentous ceremony to call for peace, here in
the Vatican garden, in the presence of Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and
Druze leaders,graciously reflects your vision of the aspiration we
all share: Peace. On this moving occasion, brimming with hope and
full of faith, let us all raise with you, Your Holiness, a call for
peace between religions, between nations, between communities, and
between fellow men and women. Let true peace become our legacy soon
and swiftly”.
“Our
Book of Books commands upon us the way of peace, demands of us to
toil for its realization. It is said in the book of Proverbs: 'Her
ways are ways of grace, and all her paths are peace'. So too must our
ways be. Ways of grace and peace. It is not by chance that Rabbi
Akiva captured the essence of our Torah in one sentence: 'Love your
neighbour like thyself'. We are all equal before the Lord. We are all
part of the human family. For without peace, we are not complete, and
we have yet to achieve the mission of humanity. Peace does not come
easy. We must toil with all our strengths to reach it. To reach it
soon. Even if it requires sacrifice or compromise. The Book of Psalms
tells us: 'Whoever loves life and desires to see many good days, keep
your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil
and do good, seek peace and pursue it'”.
“This
is to say, we are commanded to pursue after peace. All year. Every
day. We greet each other with this blessing. Shalom. Salam. We must
be worthy of the deep and demanding meaning of this blessing. Even
when peace seems distant, we must pursue it to bring it closer. And
if we pursue peace with perseverance, with faith, we will reach it.
And it will endure through us, through all of us, of all faiths, of
all nations, as it is written: 'They will beat their swords into
plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take
up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more'. The
soul is elated upon the reading of these verses of eternal vision.
And we can – together and now, Israelis and Palestinians –
convert our noble vision to a reality of welfare and prosperity. It
is within our power to bring peace to our children. This is our duty,
the holy mission of parents. Let me end with a prayer: He who makes
peace in the heavens shall make peace upon us and upon all of Israel,
and upon the entire world, and let us say Amen”.
Finally,
the president of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, said: “It is indeed a
great honour for us to meet again with His Holiness Pope Francis in
fulfilment of his kind invitation to relish his spiritual and noble
presence, and listen to his opinion and crystal wisdom, which emanate
from a sound heart, vibrant conscience, as well as an elevated
ethical and religious sense. I thank your Holiness from the bottom of
my heart for initiating this important gathering here in the Vatican.
Simultaneously, we highly appreciate your visit to the Holy Land
Palestine, and in particular to our Holy city Jerusalem and to
Bethlehem, the city of love and peace, and the cradle of Jesus
Christ. The visit is a sincere expression of your belief in peace and
a truthful attempt to achieve peace between Palestinians and
Israelis”.
“Oh
God, we ever praise You for making Jerusalem our gate to heaven. As
said in the Holy Quran, '?Glory to Him who made His servant travel by
night from the sacred place of worship to the furthest place of
worship, whose surroundings we have blessed'.? You made pilgrimage
and prayer in it as the best acts the faithful can make in your
praise, and made your truthful promise in your say:? '?Let them enter
the Masjid as they did for the first time'. ? God Almighty has spoken
the truth”.
“O,
Lord of Heaven and Earth, accept my prayer for the realisation of
truth, peace and justice in my country Palestine, the region, and the
globe as a whole. I beseech You, O Lord, on behalf of my people, the
people of Palestine ?-? Muslims, Christians and Samaritans – who
are craving for a just peace, dignified living, and liberty, I
beseech you, O Lord, to make prosperous and promising the future of
our people, and freedom in our sovereign and independent state;
Grant, Oh Lord, our region and its people security, safety and
stability. Save our blessed city Jerusalem; the first Kiblah, the
second Holy Mosque, the third of the two Holy Mosques, and the city
of blessings and peace with all that surround it.
“Reconciliation
and peace, O Lord, are our goal. God in His Holy Book has addressed
the faithful: 'Make peace among you'. Here we are, O God, inclined to
peace. Make firm our steps and crown our efforts and endeavours with
success. You are the promoter of virtue and preventer of vice, evil
and aggression. You say and you are the most truthful, 'And if they
incline to peace, incline thou also to it, and trust in Allah. Lo! He
is the Hearer, the Knower'. In the saying of Prophet Muhammad,
'?Spread the peace among you'.?
“Today,
we reiterate after Jesus Christ addressing Jerusalem?:? 'If only you
had known the path of peace this day?'. Also let us remember the
words of Saint John Paul II when he said?:? ?'If peace is achieved in
Jerusalem, peace will be witnessed in the whole world?"?
Simultaneously, in our prayer today, we repeatedly call after those
who advocate peace:? ? ?'?Blessed are the peace? ?makers',? and
'?Call for the peace of Jerusalem?', as came in the Holy Scriptures”.
“Accordingly,
we ask You, O Lord, for peace in the Holy Land, Palestine, and
Jerusalem together with its people. We call on you to make Palestine
and Jerusalem in particular a secure land for all the believers, and
a place for prayer and worship for the followers of the three
monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and for all
those wishing to visit it as it is stated in the Holy Quran”.
“O
Lord, You are the peace and peace emanates from You. O God of Glory
and Majesty grant us security and safety, and alleviate the suffering
of my people in home town and diaspora. O Lord, bring comprehensive
and just peace to our country and region so that our people and the
peoples of the Middle East and the whole world would enjoy the fruit
of peace, stability and coexistence. We want peace for us and for our
neighbours. We seek prosperity and peace of mind for ourselves and
for others alike. O Lord, answer our prayers and make successful our
endeavours for you are most just, most merciful, Lord of the Worlds.
Amen!”
THE
HOLY SPIRIT IS THE LIVING MEMORY OF THE CHURCH
Vatican
City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) – On the Solemnity of Pentecost, Pope
Francis presided at a Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica,
concelebrated with the cardinals, archbishops and bishops present in
the city of Rome.
“Speaking
to the Apostles at the Last Supper, Jesus said that, after leaving
this world, he would have sent them the gift from the Father, that is
the Holy Spirit. This promise was powerfully fulfilled on the day of
Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended onto the disciples gathered
in the Cenacle”, said the Pope in his homily.
The
Holy Spirit “teaches us: it is the inner Master. It guides us along
the right path, through the situations of life. … More than a
master of doctrine”, he observed, “the Spirit is a master of
life. And knowledge is part of life, but within the wider, harmonic
horizon of Christian existence”.
The
Holy Spirit “reminds us, reminds us of all that Jesus said. It is
the living memory of the Church. And while it makes us remember, it
enables us to understand the words of the Lord. … The Spirit of
truth and charity that recalls to us what Christ said, allows us to
enter more fully into the meaning of His words. … In substance, the
Spirit reminds us of the commandment to love, and calls us to fulfil
this”.
“A
Christian without memory is not a true Christian: he is halfway along
the road, he is a man or a woman imprisoned in the moment, who does
not know how to value his or he r history, who does not know how to
read it or live it as a history of salvation. Instead, with the help
of the Holy Spirit, we are able to interpret the inner inspirations
and events of life in the light of Jesus' words. And thus our
knowledge of memory, the knowledge of the heart, that is a gift from
the Spirit, grows in us”.
The
Holy Spirit “makes us speak, with God and with men. There are no
mute Christians, those who are mute in the soul; no, there is no
place for this. It enables us to speak with God in prayer. … It
allows us to speak in the act of faith. It helps us to speak with men
in fraternal dialogue. It helps us to speak with others recognising
them as brothers and sisters”.
“But
there is more: the Holy Spirit also makes us speak to men in
prophecy, making us humble and docile 'channels' of the Word of God.
Prophecy is made with frankness, to show openly contradictions and
injustice, but always with meekness and constructive intent.
Penetrated by the Spirit of love, we can be signs and instruments of
God Who loves, serves and gives life”.
“The
day of Pentecost,when the disciples were 'filled with the Holy
Spirit', was the baptism of the Church, who was born 'reaching out',
'going out' to proclaim the Good News to all. The Mother Church, who
goes out to serve and, who recalls our other Mother, who went out
promptly, to serve. The Mother Church and the Mother Mary: both
virgin, both mothers, and both women”.
REGINA
COELI: A CHURCH CAPABLE OF SURPRISING
Vatican
City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) – The event of Pentecost, which
commemorates the birth of the Church and its public manifestation,
was the theme of the Pope's meditation before praying the Regina
Coeli today with thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's
Square.
In
this event, Pope Francis observed, two characteristics draw our
attention: “a Church which surprises and a Church which
disconcerts”, since “a fundamental element of Pentecost is
surprise”. Our God is the God of surprises, we know. No-one
expected anything more from the disciples: after the death of Jesus
they were an insignificant group, the defeated orphans of their
Master. Instead, an unexpected event occurred, that inspired wonder:
the people were unsettled as each heard the disciples speaking in his
own language, recounting God's great works. The Church that was born
on Pentecost is a community that inspires wonder as, with the
strength that comes from God, she proclaims a new message – the
Resurrection of Christ – with a new language, the universal
language of love. … The disciples are invested with power from
above and speak with courage; a few minutes earlier they were all
cowardly, whereas now they speak with courage and frankness, with the
freedom of the Holy Spirit”.
“The
Church is called always to be like this: able to surprise by
proclaiming to all that Jesus Christ has defeated death, that God's
arms are always open, that His patience is always there and awaits us
to heal and forgive us. Precisely for this mission, the resurrected
Jesus gave His spirit to the Church. But, be careful”, the Pope
warned. “If the Church is alive, she must always surprise. To
surprise is typical of the living Church. A Church that no longer has
the capacity to surprise is a weak, sick and dying church, that must
be brought into the emergency room and resuscitated as soon as
possible!”
“Some,
in Jerusalem, would have preferred it if Jesus' disciples, paralysed
by fear, had stayed closed away at home, so as not to create a
disturbance. Even nowadays, many would rather Christians were this
way. Instead, the Risen Lord sends them into the world: 'As the
Father has sent me, so I send you'. The Church of Pentecost is a
Church who does not resign herself to being innocuous, too 'diluted'.
No, she does not resign herself to this! She does not wish to be a
decorative element. And a Church who does not hesitate to reach out
and to encounter people, to proclaim the message entrusted to her,
even if this message disturbs or upsets consciences, even if this
message perhaps brings problems, and even if, at times, it leads us
to martyrdom”.
The
Church was born “one and universal, with a precise identity, but
open, a Church who embraces the world but does not capture it; who
leaves it free but embraces it like the colonnade of this Square: two
arms that open to welcome, but do not close to stifle. We Christians
are free, and the Church wants us to be free!”
THE
POPE TELEPHONES PILGRIMS FROM MACERATA TO LORETO
Vatican
City, 8 June 2014 (VIS) – Yesterday the participants in the 36th
pilgrimage on foot between the Italian towns of Macerata and Loreto
received a telephone call from Pope Francis, before celebrating the
Eucharist, presided at by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin,
in the Helvia Recina stadium of Macerata.
The
Holy Father urged the pilgrims to pray for the intercession of the
Madonna of Loreto for a good outcome to the prayer encounter for
peace in the Holy Land and Middle East convoked in the Vatican, and
added that they should not be afraid of a dreaming of a more just
world; of asking, seeking and deepening. Faith, he said, “is not an
inheritance that we receive from others, faith is not a product that
we purchase, but rather an answer of love that we give freely and
build daily with patience, through successes and failures. Do not be
afraid to throw yourselves into God's arms. God will ask you nothing,
if not to bless it and give it back to you a hundred times over! Do
not allow yourself to be discouraged by losers or the fearful who
would take your dream away, who want to imprison you in their dark
mentalities instead of letting you fly in the light of hope! Please,
do not fall into mediocrity, that mediocrity that diminishes and
makes everything grey. Life is not grey, life is for putting at stake
for great ideas and great things!”
SPORT
IS A FORM OF EDUCATION
Vatican
City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) – “Sport is a form of education” said
Pope Francis to the thousands of people who participated in the
celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the Centro Sportivo
Italiana in St. Peter's Square this afternoon.
“I
see three roads for the young, for children. The road of education,
the road of sport, and the road of work: that is, that there are jobs
for them at the beginning of their young lives. If there are these
three paths, I can assure you that there will be no dependencies: no
drugs, no alcohol. Why? Because school takes you ahead, sport takes
you ahead, work takes you ahead. Do not forget this. To you,
sportspeople, managers, men and women of politics: education, sport
and jobs!”
Francis
went on to emphasise that sport must remain a game, as only in this
way is it good for the body and spirit. He added, “I urge you not
only to play, as you already do; put yourselves in play in life as
you do in sport. Put yourself in play in search of good, in the
Church and in society, without fear, with courage and enthusiasm.
Enter into the game with others and with God; do not be satisfied
with a mediocre 'draw', but instead give the best of yourself, spend
your life for what it is really worth and for what will last for
ever. Do not be satisfied with merely drawing even: no, no! Go ahead,
always seek victory!”
“In
sports clubs, one learns to welcome. Every athlete who wishes to join
is welcome, they welcome each other. I urge all managers and trainers
to be, first and foremost, welcoming people, able to keep the door
open to give every person, especially the least fortunate, an
opportunity to express himself. … I also hope you may experience
the pleasure, the beauty of playing as a team, which is very
important in life. No to individualism! … Belonging to a sports
club means rejecting every form of selfishness and isolation, and it
is an opportunity to meet and be with others, to help each other, and
to compete with mutual esteem and to grow in fraternity”.
The
bishop of Rome also commented that many educators, priests and nuns
have also taken sport as a starting point to develop their vocation
and that there are many clubs which originate “in the shadow of the
Church steeple”. He added, “If there is no sports group in the
parish, something is missing. … Sport in the community can be an
excellent missionary tool, where the Church draws close to each
person, helping him or her to improve and to encounter Jesus Christ”.
“I
ask that all may participate, not only the best: everyone, with the
advantages and limits that each person has, indeed helping the
disadvantaged, like Jesus did. And I encourage you to continue your
commitment to children in the outskirts of the city, through sport:
with a ball to play with, you may also offer reasons for hope and
trust”.
THE
POPE RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
Vatican
City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father Francis
received in audience the president of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, who
subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin,
accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations
with States.
During
the cordial discussions, the Parties focused on various aspects of
the life of the country including numerous recent reforms, in
particular the constitutional amendments regarding religious freedom.
Attention then turned to other matters of common interest, such as
migration, the struggle against poverty and unemployment, and
initiatives for combating violence and drug trafficking.
Finally,
there was an exchange of opinions on themes relating to current
regional and international affairs.
THE
CHURCH PROPOSES A SYSTEM OF JUSTICE THAT AIMS TO FULL REHABILITATE
WRONGDOERS
Vatican
City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) – On 30 May Pope Francis sent a message to
the participants in the 19th Congress of the International Criminal
Law Association and the 3rd Congress of the Latin American
Association for Penal Law and Criminology, held last week in Buenos
Aires, in which he shares with them some ideas which “form part of
the Scriptures and the millennial experience of the People of God”
and, in which “in spite of historical changes, three elements have
been constant: the satisfaction or reparation of damage caused;
confession, by which a man expresses his inner conversion; and
contrition, to lead to the encounter with God's merciful and healing
love”.
With
reference to the first, satisfaction, Francis observes that “the
Lord has gradually taught his people that there is a necessary
asymmetry between crime and punishment, that an eye or a broken tooth
cannot be restored by taking or breaking another. It is a matter of
bringing justice to the victim, not punishing the aggressor”, and
“in our societies we tend to think that crimes are solved when we
capture and sentence the criminal, largely avoiding the damage caused
or without paying sufficient attention to the situation in which the
victims find themselves. However, it would be a mistake to identify
reparation solely with punishment, to confuse justice and vengeance,
which can only contribute to increasing violence, even if this latter
is institutionalised. Experience teaches us that the increase and
hardening of penalties often neither solves social problems, nor
reduces crime rates. And, furthermore, this may give rise to serious
social problems, such as overcrowding of prisons or prisoners
detained without trial”.
“In
this regard”, he continues, “means of communication … play a
very important role and hold great responsibility: we depend on them
to give accurate information and not to contribute to creating alarm
or social panic when they provide news of criminal activities. The
life and dignity of people is at stake, and these must be turned into
media events, subject to attention often of an unhealthy nature,
condemning the suspects to social disparagement before being judged
or forcing victims, for sensationalist purposes, to publicly relive
their suffering”.
The
second aspect, confession, is “the attitude of those who recognise
and admit their guilt. If the criminal is not sufficiently helped, he
or she is not offered the chance to be able to convert, and ends up
as a victim of the system. … It is necessary to move forward and to
do everything possible to correct, improve and educate the person so
that he is able to mature in respects, so he is not discouraged and
faces the damage caused, rethinking his life without being crushed by
the weight of his miseries. ... And we must ask ourselves why some
fall and others do not, in spite of being in the same condition. Not
infrequently criminality is rooted in economic and social inequality,
in networks of corruption and organised crime, that seek accomplices
among the poorest and victims among the most vulnerable. To prevent
this scourge, it is not enough to have just laws: it is necessary to
construct responsible people able to put them into practice. A
society that is governed solely by market laws and creates false
expectations and superfluous necessities, discards those who are not
at the top and prevents the slow, the weak or the less gifted from
taking an open road in life”.
Finally,
contrition is “the gateway to repentance, the privileged path to
the heart of God, Who welcomes us and always offers us another chance
if we open ourselves up to the truth of penance and allow ourselves
to be transformed by His mercy. ... The attitude of God, Who goes
before the sinner to offer him His forgiveness, is shown in this way
to be a higher justice, both equanimous and compassionate, with no
contradiction between these two aspects. Forgiveness, in effect,
neither eliminates nor diminishes the need for rectification required
by justice, nor does it ignore the need for personal conversion, but
instead goes beyond this, seeking to restore relationships and to
reintegrate people into society”.
“I
think that here is the great challenge that we must all face”,
concludes the Pope, “so that the measures taken against evil are
not limited to suppressing, discouraging and isolating those who
cause it, but instead help them to rehabilitate, to re-embark upon
the path of good, to be authentic people who move on from their
miseries to become merciful themselves. Therefore, the Church
proposes a form of justice that is humanising, genuinely
reconciliatory, a justice that leads the wrongdoer, through an
educative path of encouraged penance, to rehabilitation and total
reinsertion in the community. How important and good it would be to
take on this challenge, so as not to let it fall into oblivion. How
good it would be to take the necessary steps to ensure that
forgiveness does nto remain exclusively in the private sphere, but
instead attains a real political and institutional dimension to
create harmonious relations of coexistence.
STUDY
DAY DEDICATED TO ST. PIUS X
Vatican
City, 9 June 2014 (VIS) – The Pontifical Committee for Historical
Sciences has organised a study day dedicated to St. Pius X
(1914-2014) to be held on 12 June , the centenary of his death. The
theme of the day is “St. Pius X, a reforming pope facing the
challenges of the new century”, and it was presented this morning
in the Holy See Press Office by Fr. Bernard Ardura O. Praem.,
president of the aforementioned Committee and by Professor Alejandro
Mario Dieguez of the Vatican Secret Archive.
“During
this day”, said Fr. Ardura, “we intend to highlight the
principles and pastoral directions of St. Pius X who, throughout all
his ministry, was essentially a pastor of souls. … All his efforts
in the ecclesial and social fields were dictated by a pastoral
realism, oriented towards the renewal of the Christian life of people
and communities”.
Diguez
commented that the event “will offer an overview of new historical
information on this intense and crucial pontificate. … This has
been possible thanks to the publication of archive sources (with four
volumes edited by the Vatican Archive), of profound and systematic
research (not only on modernism but also on apostolic visits,
codification and the reform of the curia), and study conferences (six
over the last twenty-five years). It has therefore been possible to
recover the historical Pius X and not that of myth, the Pius X of
ecclesiastical governance and reform, and not that of popular piety,
recomposing the complex and fascinating personality of this pontiff”.
THE
AIF FURTHER STRENGTHENS INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
Vatican
City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) – The Autorità Informazione Finanziaria
(AIF), the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Holy See and Vatican
City State, has formalised its bilateral cooperation with the U.K.,
France and four other countries with Memoranda of Understanding
signed during the plenary meeting of the Egmont Group held in Peru.
The
Memoranda were signed with the Financial Intelligence Units of the
U.K., France, Malta, Romania, Poland and Peru by the Director of the
AIF, Rene Bruelhart.
A
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is standard practice and formalises
the cooperation and exchange of financial information to fight money
laundering and combat terrorist financing across borders between the
competent authorities of both countries. It is based on the model
Memorandum of Understanding prepared by the Egmont Group, the global
organisation of national Financial Intelligence Units, and contains
clauses on reciprocity, permitted uses of information and
confidentiality.
“Becoming
a member of the Egmont Group last year was a major step toward
strengthening the international cooperation of the Holy See and
supporting the global efforts to fight Money Laundering and the
Financing of Terrorism”, said Bruelhart. “The signing of these
latest MOUs shows that we are continuously expanding our network of
cooperation, and will further facilitate our joint efforts”.
AIF
became a member of the Egmont Group in July of 2013, and has already
signed MOUs with the Financial Intelligence Units of Australia,
Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and
the United States.
AIF
is the competent authority of the Holy See/Vatican City State to
fight money laundering and the financing of terrorism. It was
established in 2010.
CARDINAL
FILONI SPECIAL ENVOY TO FUNCHAL
Vatican
City, 7 June 2014 (VIS) – Today a letter was published, written in
Latin and dated 28 May, by which the Holy Father appoints Cardinal
Ferdinand Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation
of Peoples, as his special envoy to the celebrations for the 500th
anniversary of the foundation of the diocese of Funchal (Madeira,
Portugal), which will take place from 13 to 16 June. The pontifical
mission accompanying the cardinal will be composed of Msgr. Jose Fiel
de Sousa, vicar general, and the Rev. Canon Joao Duarte Pita de
Andrade, president of the cathedral chapter.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 9 June 2014 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received in
audience:
-
Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.
-
Francis Gurry, director general of the World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO).
-Br.
Enzo Bianchi, prior of the Monastery of Bose.
-
Reinhard Schweppe, ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, on
his farewell visit.
-
Alicia Castro, ambassador of the Republic of Argentina to the United
Kingdom.
On
Saturday, 7 June, the Holy Father received in audience:
-
Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
-
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops.
-
Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of His Holiness for the
diocese of Rome.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 9 June 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:
-
erected the new diocese of Izcalli (area 533, population 966,836,
Catholics 821,351, priests 64, religious 64), Mexico, with territory
taken from the diocese of Cuautitlan, making it a suffragan of the
metropolitan church of Tlalnepantla. He appointed Msgr. Francisco
Gonzalez Ramos as first bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect
was born in Pueblo Nuevo, Mexico in 1958 and was ordained a priest in
1982. He holds a degree in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian
University, Rome, and has held a number of pastoral and educative
roles, including prefect of discipline in the minor seminary of Leon,
and professor in the major seminary of Leon, and priest of the parish
of “Espiritu Santo”.
-
appointed the following members of the Congregation for the Clergy:
Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, archbishop of Florence, Italy; Cardinal
Rainer Maria Woelki, archbishop of Berlin, Germany; and Archbishop
Gintaras Grusas of Vilnius, Lithuania.
-
confirmed the following as members of the Congregation for the
Clergy: Cardinal Jaime Lucas Ortega y Alamino, Cardinal Norberto
Rivera Carrera, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Cardinal Andres Rodriguez
Maradiaga, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Cardinal Jorge Liberato Urosa
Savino, Cardinal Angelo Scola, Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley,
Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, Cardinal
John Njue, Cardinal Donald William Wuerl, Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz,
Cardinal Willem Jacobus Eijk, Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, Archbishop
Tomash Bernard Peta, Bishop Fernando Antonio Figueiredo O.F.M.,
Bishop Klaus Kung, and Bishop Heinrich Mussinghoff.
On
Saturday, 7 June, the Holy Father:
-
appointed Archbishop Hubertus Matheus Maria van Megen, apostolic
nuncio in Sudan, as apostolic nuncio in Eritrea.
-
appointed Cardinal Jozef Tomko, prefect emeritus of the Congregation
for the Evangelisation of Peoples, as special envoy to the
celebration of the 25th anniversary of the restoration of the freedom
of the Greek Catholic eparchy of Mukachevo, to take place at the
major seminary of Uzhhorod, Ukraine on 28 June 2014.
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can find more information at: www.visnews.org
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