SUMMARY:
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The Pope to Bishops, friends of the Focolare Movement: the
globalisation of solidarity against the globalisation of indifference
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Francis receives the major superiors: charisms are not to be
conserved like bottles of distilled water, but to be put to the
service of history
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The Holy See at the United Nations: for globalisation in search of
mutual benefits
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Audiences
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Other Pontifical Acts
______________________________________
The
Pope to Bishops, friends of the Focolare Movement: the globalisation
of solidarity against the globalisation of indifference
Vatican
City, 7 November 2014 (VIS) – “The Eucharist, mystery of
communion” is the theme of the ecumenical convention of bishops,
friends of the Focolare Movement. This is an annual event uniting
bishops not only from different countries but also from different
churches and ecclesial communities, defined by Pope Francis as the
result of “what is produced by the love of the Word of God and the
will to conform existence to the Gospel; these attitudes, created and
accompanied by the grace of the Holy Spirit, help nurture many
initiatives, allowing solid friendships to thrive and producing
significant moments of brotherhood and sharing”.
The
Holy Father reiterated the value, in a troubled world, of a “clear
testimony of unity between Christians and an explicit declaration of
esteem, respect and, more precisely, fraternity between us. This
fraternity is a shining sign of our faith in the risen Christ.
Indeed, if we intend to endeavour, as Christians, to respond
incisively to the many problems and crises of our time, it is
necessary to speak and act as brothers, so that everyone can easily
recognise us as such. This too is a way – perhaps for us the first
– of responding to the globalisation of indifference with a
globalisation of solidarity and fraternity”.
Among
the issues that currently call to the conscience of Christians and
their pastors, the Pope mentioned the “lack of freedom to publicly
express one's religion and to live openly in accordance with
Christian ethics; the persecution of Christians and other minorities;
the sad phenomenon of terrorism; the refugee crisis caused by wars
and other reasons; the challenge of fundamentalism and, at the other
extreme, exasperated secularism”.
These
challenges are a call to “seek with renewed effort, with constancy
and patience, the ways that lead to unity, so that the world might
believe, and so that we first may be filled with confidence and
courage. Among these paths there is a special route, and it is the
Eucharist as the mystery of communion. … The Lord's Supper, a
central moment in the life of the community, a 'moment of truth', is
the encounter between Christ's grace and our responsibility; there,
in the Eucharist, we are clearly aware that unity is a gift, and at
the same time it is a very serious responsibility”, concluded the
Pontiff.
Francis
receives the major superiors: charisms are not to be conserved like
bottles of distilled water, but to be put to the service of history
Vatican
City, 7 November 2014 (VIS) – The participants in the national
assembly of the Italian Confederation of Major Superiors (CISM) –
around a hundred people – were received in audience by the Pope
this morning in the Clementine Hall. The Pontiff wished to share with
them a few points of reference for their path, emphasising that
religious life helps the Church to achieve the “attraction” that
enables her to grow. Faced with the witness of a brother or a sister
who truly lives a religious life, people ask themselves, “what is
there here?”, “what is it that leads this person beyond a worldly
horizon?”. This is the first issue: helping the Church to grow by
attraction. Without proselytising: attraction”.
The
second point was that radicality, in different forms, is required of
every Christian, but in the case of religious persons it assumes the
form of prophetic witness. “The testimony of an evangelical life is
what distinguishes the missionary disciple and in particular those
who follow the Lord in consecrated life. And prophetic witness
coincides with sanctity. True prophecy is never ideological, it does
not oppose the institution: it is institution. Prophecy is
institutional, it does not follow fashion, but is always a sign of
contradiction according to the Gospel, like Jesus was. Jesus, for
example, was a sign of contradiction to the religious authorities of
His time: to the heads of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the
doctors of the Law, but also to the others, such as the Essenes,
Zealots, etc”.
To
explain the third point, the Pope quoted the president of the Major
Superiors: “We do not want to fight rearguard battles in defence,
but rather to spend ourselves among the people”, certain of the
faith that God has always made germinate and grow in His Kingdom.
This is not easy, it is not to be taken for granted; it requires
conversion; it requires, first and foremost, prayer and worship; and
it means sharing with the holy people of God who live in the
peripheries of history. Removing oneself from the centre. Every
charism, to live and to be fruitful, is required to decentralise,
because at the centre there is only Jesus Christ. The charism is not
to be conserved like a bottle of distilled water, but must instead be
made to bear fruit, with courage, placed at the service of current
reality, of cultures, of history, as the great missionaries of our
institutes teach us”.
Fraternity
is another of the signs that religious life must offer in our time,
the Pope affirmed; a time in which the dominant culture is
individualistic and focused on subjective rights. “Consecrated life
can help the Church and society as a whole, offering witness of
fraternity, that it is possible to live together as brothers in
diversity, because in the community one does not put oneself first,
but rather one finds oneself with people who are different in terms
of character, age, formation, sensibility … and yet we seek to live
as brothers. Of course we do not always succeed, but one recognises
one's mistakes, asks for forgiveness and forgives others. This is
good for the Church: it causes the lymph of fraternity to circulate.
And this is also good for all of society.
But
this fraternity “presupposes God's paternity and the maternity of
the Church and of the Mother, the Virgin Mary”: a relationship
cultivated day by day “with prayer, with the Eucharist, with
worship, with the Rosary. In this way we renew each day our 'being'
with Christ and in Christ, and in this way we place ourselves in an
authentic relationship with the Father in heaven and the Mother
Church, our hierarchical Holy Mother Church, and the Mother Mary. If
our life is always located in terms of this fundamental relations,
always renewed, then we are able also to achieve an authentic
fraternity, a brotherhood of witness, that attracts”.
The
Holy See at the United Nations: for globalisation in search of mutual
benefits
Vatican
City, 7 November 2014 (VIS) – “The central challenge in the
post-2015 development agenda is to ensure that globalisation benefits
everyone. ... We need to strengthen multilateralism to help achieve
this goal and manage the different risks and interlinked challenges
associated with globalisation”, said Archbishop Bernardito Auza,
Holy See Permanent Observer at the United Nations in New York,
speaking at the 69th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
on 27 October, on the theme “Globalisation and Interdependence”.
The
prelate spoke about the great benefits globalisation can bring, as
well as the widening inequalities. “When globalisation brings
people together as equal partners, it creates mutually beneficial
results, a win-win partnership for all. If not, globalisation breeds
greater inequalities and marginalization, exploitation and injustice.
Indeed, as with most human endeavours, globalisation works for good
or ill, depending on the underlying ethic and policies driving the
process”.
The
nuncio went on to mention two related issues, culture and the
phenomenon of migration. “Culture is a prime vehicle to express and
share our common humanity”, he said. “It is critically important
if authentic human flourishing is the ultimate goal of economic
activity and development and … given all these benefits and values
of culture, we should not reduce it to the logic of market exchange.
... A community’s culture is their gift to the global common good,
for it is an expression of their humanity, and through culture we can
enter into a real dialogue because it speaks to our common humanity”.
On
migration, the archbishop emphasised that “it affects everyone, not
only because of the extent of the phenomenon, but also because of the
social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems it
raises”, adding that “the Holy See would like to highlight the
particularly troubling cases of human trafficking and contemporary
forms of slavery spawned by migration. … These modern forms of
slavery are the opposite of a globalisation driven by the culture of
encounter and the values of solidarity and justice”.
“It
is necessary always to see the human face of migration, to see the
migrant as a fellow human being, endowed with the same human dignity
and rights as ourselves. It is only then that we can respond to the
globalisation of migration with the globalisation of solidarity and
cooperation. Moreover, solidarity with migrants is not enough, if it
is not accompanied by efforts towards bringing peace in
conflict-ridden regions and a more equitable economic world order. If
globalisation has shrunk the world into a village, we may as well
become good neighbours”, he concluded.
Audiences
Vatican
City, 7 November 2014 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received in
audience:
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Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith;
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Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of His Holiness for the
diocese of Rome;
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Cardinal Claudio Hummes, prefect emeritus for the Clergy; delegate
for Amazonia at the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil.
Yesterday,
6 November, the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal Joao Braz
de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for the Institutes of
Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, with Archbishop
Jose Rodriguez Carballo, secretary of the same dicastery.
Other
Pontifical Acts
Vatican
City, 7 November 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:
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Msgr. Jean-Philippe Nault as bishop of Digne (area 6,986, population
163,500, Catholics 112,800, priests 41, permanent deacons 10,
religious 136), France. The bishop-elect was born in Paris, France in
1965 and ordained a priest in 1998. After his studies in agricultural
engineering and artificial intelligence, he obtained a licentiate in
theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has
served in a number of pastoral roles, including director of the
Shrine of Ars, parish priest of Notre-Dame de Bourg and dean of
Bourg-en-Bresse, in the diocese of Belley-Ars. He succeeds Bishop
Francois-Xavier Loizeau, whose resignation upon reaching the age
limit was accepted by the Holy Father.
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Msgr. Terence Robert Curtin and Rev. Fr. Mark Stuart Edwards, O.M.I.,
as auxiliaries of the archbiocese of Melbourne (area 27,194,
population 4,095,921, Catholics 1,111,981, priests 537, permanent
deacons 8, religious 2,218), Australia.
Msgr.
Curtin was born in Cremorne, Australia in 1945 and ordained a priest
in 1971. He holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical
Gregorian University, Rome and a bachelor's degree in education from
the University of Melbourne. He has served in a number of pastoral
and academic roles, including chaplain and director of the School of
Religion and Philosophy of the Australian Catholic University in
Oakleigh; director of the department of religion and philosophy of
the Australian Catholic University, Victoria; director of the
department of theology of the Australian Catholic University,
Victoria; and vice-president and subsequently president of the
Melbourne College of Divinity. He is currently director of the
Catholic Theological College, Melbourne, parish priest of Greythorn,
and episcopal vicar of Melbourne for the East Region. In 2012 he was
named Chaplain of His Holiness.
Rev.
Fr. Edwards was born in Balikpapan, Indonesia in 1959 and ordained a
priest in 1986. He holds a doctorate in philosophy and a bachelor's
degree in letters and education from the Monash University of
Melbourne. He has held a number of roles in the Congregation of
Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, including vice-rector of the
Iona College of Brisbane; master of novices art the St. Mary's
Seminary, Mulgrave; professor at the Catholic Theological College of
Melbourne; and head of scholastics at the St. Mary's Seminary,
Mulgrave. He is currently rector of the Iona College, Brisbane.
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