SUMMARY:
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To the prelates of North Africa: always be men of hope
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Pope Francis' prayer intentions for March
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Angelus: let us be transformed by love
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Syria, Iraq and Venezuela in the Pope's prayers
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The Pope to cooperatives: promote the economy of honesty
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Presentation of the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM): Incentive
and relaunch of the Church in the Amazon
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Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, Pope's special envoy to the 4th centenary
of the martyrdom of St. John Ogilvie, S.J.
-
Audiences
-
Other Pontifical Acts
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To
the prelates of North Africa: always be men of hope
Vatican
City, 2 March 2015 (VIS) – This morning, the prelates of the
Regional Episcopal Conference of North Africa (C.E.R.N.A), which
encompasses the dioceses of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya were
received in audience by the Pope at the end of their “ad Limina”
visit. The Holy Father handed them a written address in which he
recalls that the history of the region has been marked by many
saintly figures from St. Cyprian and St. Augustine, a “spiritual
patrimony for all the Church”, to Blessed Charles de Foucauld, who
died one hundred years ago next year.
“For
several years your region has been experiencing significant changes,
which offer hope that aspirations to greater freedom and dignity may
be fulfilled and which favour greater freedom of conscience”,
continues Francis. “But at times these events have led to outbursts
of violence. I wish to mention, in particular, the courage, loyalty
and perseverance of the bishops of Libya, as well as the priests,
consecrated persons and laypeople who stay in this country despite
the many dangers. They are genuine witnesses of the Gospel. I thank
them with all my heart and encourage them to continue their efforts
in contributing to peace and reconciliation throughout the region”.
“Your
episcopal conference … is an important forum for exchange and
dialogue, but it must also be a tool for communion, for deepening
fraternal relations and mutual trust”, the Pope writes. “The
pilgrimage to Rome is a good opportunity to renew your joint
commitment in the service of the Church's mission in each of your
countries. You carry out this mission with your priests, your direct
collaborators. They are from many countries and at times it is
difficult for them to adapt to new situations. Therefore, it is
particularly important to be close to them and to be attentive to
their continuing formation so that they can live their ministry fully
and serenely. … Men and women religious also have a special place
in the life and in the mission of your Church, and I thank them for
their witness of fraternal life and their generous commitment to the
service of their brothers and sisters”.
“At
the heart of your mission and at the origin of your hope there is,
above all, the personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the certainty
that He is at work in the world where you have been sent on His
behalf. The evangelical vitality of your dioceses depends, therefore,
on the quality of your spiritual and sacramental life”, observes
the Holy Father, who alongside the saints from the region, mentions
also “the men and women religious who have offered everything to
God and to their brothers, to the point of sacrificing their own
lives”. He highlights the bishops' responsibility for developing
this spiritual legacy firstly among the faithful, but also opening it
up to all. “I am pleased to hear that in recent years, various
Christian shrines have been restored in Algeria. By welcoming all,
kindly and without proselytising, your communities show that they
wish to be a Church with open doors, always reaching out”.
“Universality
is a feature of these Churches, where the faithful come from many
countries to form living communities. … This offers the opportunity
to admire God's work, which spreads among all peoples and all
cultures”, writes the Pontiff, who goes on to greet the many
students from sub-Saharan Africa, whom he invites to “stay firm in
the faith” so as to be able to establish “bonds of friendship,
trust and respect” with all persons, “thus contributing to the
construction of a more fraternal world”.
Interreligious
dialogue is also very important in the life of these Churches, and
Francis stresses that in this field “the imagination of charity can
open up countless ways of bringing the breath of the Gospel to the
most diverse cultures and social sectors. As you are aware, mutual
ignorance is the source of many misunderstandings and even conflicts.
… The most effective antidote to any form of violence is education
in the discovery and acceptance of difference as richness and
fertility. Therefore, it is essential that priests, religious and
laypeople in your dioceses are well-prepared in this area”.
In
this regard, the Pope notes his satisfaction that the Pontifical
Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI), born in Tunisia,
will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary this year. He invites the
bishops to “support and make use of this institution when
necessary, to experience language and culture” and to “deepen
dialogue in truth and love between Christians and Muslims”. This
dialogue is also experienced by bishops on a day-to-day basis with
Christians of other confessions, and Francis therefore expresses his
desire that the Al Mowafaqa Ecumenical Institute, founded in Morocco
to promote ecumenical and interreligious dialogue may also contribute
to greater mutual awareness.
“A
Church of encounter and dialogue, you also wish to be at the service
of all without distinction. Often with modest means, you manifest the
charity of Christ and all the Church towards the poor, the sick, the
elderly, women in need and the imprisoned. Thank you for your work in
the assistance of the many immigrants from Africa who seek in your
countries a place of transit or of welcome. Recognising their human
dignity and working to awaken consciences before so many human
tragedies, you show God's love for each one of them”.
“Dear
brothers in the episcopate”, he concluded, “I wish to assure you
of the support of all the Church in your mission. You are in the
'peripheries', with your special service of making manifest the
presence of Christ and His Church in this region. Your testimony of
life in simplicity and poverty is an eminent sign for all the Church.
Be assured that the Successor of Peter accompanies you on your rough
road, and encourages you always to be men of hope”.
Pope
Francis' prayer intentions for March
Vatican
City, 1 March 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father's universal prayer
intention for March is: “That those involved in scientific research
may serve the well-being of the whole human person”.
His
intention for evangelisation is: “That the unique contribution of
women to the life of the Church may be recognised always”.
Angelus:
let us be transformed by love
Vatican
City, 1 March 2015 (VIS) - “On this second Sunday of Lent, the
Church shows us the ultimate goal of this itinerary of conversion, or
rather, participation in the glory of Christ”, said the Pope before
this Sunday's Angelus prayer upon returning from the week of
spiritual exercises. He also recalled that last Sunday's Gospel
passage presented Jesus resisting Satan's temptations in the desert.
“Today's
Gospel tells us of the event of the Transfiguration, which takes
place at the culmination of Jesus' public ministry. He is on the path
to Jerusalem, where the prophecies of the Servant of God will be
fulfilled and His redemptive sacrifice will be consummated”.
Francis remarked that neither the multitude nor the apostles
understood that the outcome of Jesus' mission of suffering would be
His glorious passion, and so He decided to show a glimpse of His
glory to the apostles Peter, James and John, to confirm them in their
faith and to encourage them to follow him on the path of trial, on
the way of the Cross. “From the heavens, they heard the voice of
the Father: 'This is my beloved Son; hear him'”.
The
Pope explained that listening to Christ involves assuming the logic
of his Paschal mystery, placing ourselves on the path with Him in
order to make of our existence a gift of love for others, in docile
obedience to the will of God the Father, with an attitude of
detachment from worldly things and of inner freedom. “It means, in
other words, being ready to 'lose one's life', to sacrifice it so
that all men might be saved; in this way we find eternal joy. There
will always be a cross to bear and there will be trials along the
way, but in the end it will always lead us to happiness”. Finally,
the Pope encouraged those present to let themselves be transfigured
by love, which is capable of transforming everyone, and to invoke the
Virgin Mary to support us on our way.
Syria,
Iraq and Venezuela in the Pope's prayers
Vatican
City, 1 March 2015 (VIS) – Following today's Angelus prayer the
Pope made an appeal regarding “the dramatic situation in Syria and
Iraq, involving violence, abduction and abuse of Christians and other
groups. I wish to assure those involved in these situations that we
have not forgotten them; rather, we are close to them and pray
ceaselessly for a swift end to the intolerable brutality they are
subjected to”. He also commented that, along with the members of
the Roman Curia, he offered the second Holy Mass of the spiritual
exercises to this intention, and asked all persons, as far as
possible, to work to alleviate the suffering of those afflicted,
often merely because of the faith they profess. Let us pray for these
brothers and sisters who suffer for the faith in Syria and Iraq”.
The
Pontiff also commented on the acute tension that Venezuela is
experiencing at present. “I pray for the victims and, in
particular, for the boy who died a few days ago in San Cristobal. I
urge all involved to reject violence and to respect the dignity of
every person and the sacredness of human life, and encourage them to
undertake a joint path for the good of the country, reopening space
for sincere and constructive encounter and dialogue”.
The
Pope to cooperatives: promote the economy of honesty
Vatican
City, 28 February 2015 (VIS) - “The Church has always acknowledged,
appreciated and encouraged the cooperative experience”, Pope
Francis affirmed this morning, greeting more than seven thousand
members of the Confederation of Italian Cooperatives who group
together a number of different sectors, from agriculture to
construction, including fishing and the distribution of consumer
goods.
In
this regard, Francis referred to various documents of the
Magisterium, such as the encyclicals “Rerum Novarum”, with Leo
XIII's appeal for a society in which “All [are] owners, not all
proletarians”, and “Caritas in Veritate”, in which Benedict XVI
underlines the importance of the economy of communion and the
non-profit sector, and the “extraordinary social teaching of
Blessed Paul VI”. He went on to urge the members of the
Confederation to look not only to the past, but also to the future:
“It is a real mission that requires creative imagination to find
forms, methods, attitudes and tools to combat the throwaway culture
cultivated by the powers that support the economic and financial
policies of the globalised world”.
“Globalising
solidarity, today, means thinking about the vertiginous increase in
unemployment, the incessant tears of the poor, the need to reinstate
a development that involves a genuine and full progress of the
person, who is certainly in need of income, but not this alone. Let
us think about healthcare needs, that the traditional welfare systems
are no longer able to satisfy; the pressing needs of solidarity, to
place human dignity once more at the centre of the world economy”.
Pope
Francis suggested a series of concrete suggestions to help achieve
this mission. The first was that cooperatives should “continue to
be the motor for lifting up and developing the weakest part of our
local communities and of civil society”. This involves “giving
first place to the foundation of new cooperative enterprises, along
with the further development of those already in existence, so as to
create, above all, new work opportunities that currently do not exist
… especially for the young, as we know that youth unemployment …
destroys their hope”, but also for the “many women who need and
wish to enter the world of work. We must not neglect the adults who
often find themselves prematurely without work. Aside from new
enterprises, let us look also to the companies in difficulty, those
that the old owners leave to die, which could instead be revived
through 'workers' buy out' initiatives.
Becoming
active agents of new welfare solutions was his second suggestion,
addressed above all to he healthcare sector, “a delicate field
where many poor people no longer find their needs to be adequately
met”. The answer may be found in applying subsidiarity, “with
strength and coherence”, creating an effective network of
assistance and solidarity between cooperatives, parishes and
hospitals.
The
third suggestion relates to the relationship between the economy and
social justice, dignity and the value of the person. “It is well
known that a certain liberalism believes it is necessary first and
foremost to produce wealth, and that it is not important how, before
promoting any form of redistributive policy”, explained the Pope.
“Others think that it is the same enterprise that must donate the
crumbs of accumulated wealth, thus absolving it of its so-called
'social responsibility'”. However, we know in achieving a new
quality of the economy, it is possible to enable people to grow in
all their potential. A member of a cooperative must not be merely …
a worker … but must instead always be a protagonist, and must grow,
through the cooperative, as a person, socially and professionally, in
responsibility … an enterprise managed by a cooperative must grow
in a truly cooperative way, involving all”.
“If
we look around us, we see that the economy is never renovated in an
ageing society, instead of one that grows”, he continued,
presenting his fourth suggestion: strengthening the harmonisation
between work and family within the cooperative movement. “Doing
this also means helping women to fully achieve their vocation and to
put their talents to use” through initiatives that meet the needs
of all, from nurseries to domestic care.
“The
fifth suggestion may be surprising. Doing all these things takes
money! Cooperatives are not generally founded by great capitalists. …
The Pope instead says to you: you must invest, and you must invest
well! In Italy certainly, but not only, it is difficult to obtain
public funding to compensate for the scarcity of resources. The
solution I propose to you is this: unite with determination the right
means for carrying out good works. Collaborate more with cooperative
banks and businesses, organise resources to allow families to live
with dignity and serenity, and pay fair salaries to your workers. …
Money, placed at the service of life, can be managed in the right way
by the cooperative, if however it is an authentic and true
cooperative, where capital does not rule over people, but people over
capital”.
“Therefore,
I say that you do well to oppose and combat false cooperatives, and
to continue to do so; they prostitute the name of cooperative, a very
positive thing, to deceive people in the interests of profit,
contrary to those of a true and authentic cooperative. … In the
field in which you are active, to display an honourable facade while
instead pursuing dishonourable and immoral objectives, often
associated with the exploitation of labour or the manipulation of the
market, or even a scandalous traffic in corruption, is a shameful and
serious falsehood. The cooperative economy … if it seeks to fulfil
a strong social function, if it wishes to be an agent of the future
for a nation and for each local community, must pursue clear and
transparent aims. It must promote an economy of honesty, a healing
economy in the treacherous sea of the global economy. A real economy
promoted by people who have at heart and in their minds only the
common good”.
The
final part of the Pope's address was dedicated to cooperation at the
international level. “Extend your hand to the old and new
existential peripheries, where there are disadvantaged people, where
there are people who are alone and discarded, where there are people
who do not receive respect. … It is necessary to have the courage
and imagination to build the right road to integrate development,
justice and peace throughout the world”, he concluded.
Presentation
of the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM): Incentive and relaunch
of the Church in the Amazon
Vatican
City, 2 March 2015 (VIS) – A press conference was held in the Holy
See Press Office this morning to present the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial
Network, established in 2014 in Brasilia, Brazil, during a meeting of
bishops whose territories include Amazon regions, priests,
missionaries of congregations who work in the Amazon jungle, national
representatives of Caritas and laypeople belonging to various Church
bodies. The speakers were Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson,
president of the Pontifical Council “Justice and Peace”;
Archbishop Pedro Ricardo Barreto Jimeno, S.J., of Huancayo, Peru and
president of the Department of Justice and Solidarity of the Latin
American Episcopal Council; Michel Roy, secretary general of Caritas
Internationalis; and Mauricio Lopez Oropeza, executive secretary of
REPAM. Cardinal Claudio Hummes, O.F.M., president of the Commission
for Amazonia of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, was
unable to be present but participated via an audio message.
The
Amazon territory is the largest tropical forest in the world. It
covers six million square kilometres and includes the territories of
Guyana, Suriname and French Guyana, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia,
Bolivia, Peru and Brazil. It is home to 2,779,478 indigenous people,
comprising 390 indigenous tribes and 137 isolated (uncontacted)
peoples with their valuable ancestral cultures, and 240 spoken
languages belonging to 49 linguistic families. As Archbishop Barreto
explained, it is “a territory that is devastated and threatened by
the concessions made by States to transnational corporations.
Large-scale mining projects, monoculture and climate change place its
lands and natural environment at great risk”, leading to the
destruction of cultures, undermining the self-determination of
peoples and above all affronting Christ incarnate in the people who
live there (indigenous and riparian peoples, peasant farmers,
afro-descendants and urban populations). REPAM was founded as “God's
answer to this heartfelt and urgent need to care for the life of
people so they are able to live in harmony with nature, starting from
the widespread and varied presence of members and structures of the
Church in Pan-Amazonia”.
Cardinal
Turkson illustrated the main characteristics of the network, starting
with transnationality. “The large number of countries involved is
due to the awareness that effective action to face challenges that
cross the borders of a single State requires synergy between the
living forces of all the nations involved, from the Secretariat of
the REPAM to that of the dioceses and other Church initiatives in the
various States, without forgetting that, from the beginning, the
REPAM has worked in harmony with the Holy See, CELAM and its
structures”. Another key feature is ecclesiality: “as well as
working transnationally, REPAM proposes the institution of harmonious
collaboration between the various components of the Church: religious
congregations, dioceses, Caritas, various Catholic associations and
Foundations, and lay groups”.
Commitment
to the defence of life is, for Cardinal Turkson, the third
characteristic. “REPAM was born in response to important
challenges. It is engaged in defending the life of a number of
communities who cumulatively comprise 30 million people. They are
threatened by pollution, the radical and rapid change of the
ecosystem upon which they depend, and the lack of protection for
their basic human rights”. He added that the network is presented
in Rome not only on account of the symbolic value of the See of
Peter, but also to give visibility to REPAM. “The form in which
REPAM, acting as a platform, is structured and defines its working
methods, its agenda, its allies or its methods of accreditation,
could serve as a model for other local churches in other countries
facing similar challenges. In addition, REPAM has been conceived so
as to become a took that may be applied in different basic contexts,
such as justice, legality, the promotion and protection of human
rights; cooperation between the Church and public institutions at
various levels; conflict prevention and management; research and
spread of information; inclusive and equitable economic development;
responsible and equitable use of natural resources, respecting
Creation; and the preservation of the traditional cultures and ways
of life of the different populations”.
Cardinal
Hummes, in his audio message, reiterated that the creation of the
Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network “represents a new incentive and
relaunch of the work of the Church in Amazonia, strongly desired by
the Holy Father. There, the Church wishes to be, with courage and
determination, a missionary Church, merciful, prophetic, and close to
all the people, especially the poorest, the excluded, the discarded,
the forgotten and wounded. A Church with an 'Amazonian face' and an
'native clergy', as Pope Francis proposed in his address to the
bishops of Brazil”.
Cardinal
Murphy O'Connor, Pope's special envoy to the 4th centenary of the
martyrdom of St. John Ogilvie, S.J.
Vatican
City, 28 February 2015 (VIS) – Today a letter was published,
written in Latin and dated 15 February, by which the Holy Father
appoints Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, archbishop emeritus of
Westminster, as his special envoy to the solemn celebrations in
honour of St. John Ogilvie S.J. (from 9 to 10 March in Glasgow,
Scotland).
The
pontifical mission accompanying the cardinal will be composed of his
personal secretary Rev. Roger Reader, and Msgr. Javier Herrera
Corona, adviser to the apostolic nunciature in London.
Audiences
Vatican
City, 2 March 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
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Irina Bokova, director general of UNESCO, and entourage;
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Rev. Janusz Urbanczyk, Holy See permanent observer at the
International Governing Organisations in Vienna;
-
Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Council of Ministers of the
Regional Government of Iraqi Kurdistan;
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Ten prelates of the Regional Episcopal Conference of North Africa
(C.E.R.N.A) on their “ad Limina” visit:
Bishop
Claude Rault of Laghouat, Algeria;
Archbishop
Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader of Algiers, Algeria;
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Bishop Paul Desfarges of Constantine, Algeria;
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Bishop Jean-Paul Vesco of Oran, Algeria;
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Bishop Sylvester Carmel Magro, apostolic vicar of Benghazi, Libya;
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Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, apostolic vicar of Tripoli,
Libya;
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Archbishop Vincent Landel of Rabat, Morocco;
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Archbishop Santiago Agrelo MartÃnez of Tangier, Morocco;
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Fr. Mario Leon Dorado, O.M.I., apostolic prefect of the Western
Sahara; and
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Archbishop Ilario Antoniazzi of Tunis, Tunisia.
On
Saturday, 28 February, the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal
Crescenzio Sepe, archbishop of Naples, Italy.
Other
Pontifical Acts
Vatican
City, 2 March 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Msgr.
Fidencio Lopez Plaza as bishop of San Andres Tuxtla (area 13,495,
population 1,113,000, Catholics 1,035,000, priests 100, permanent
deacons 33, religious 109), Mexico. The bishop-elect was born in
Capullin, Mexico in 1950 and was ordained a priest in 1982. He
specialised in pastoral and catechesis at the Pastoral Theological
Institute of Medellin, Colombia, and has served in a number of
pastoral roles, including coordinator of the diocesan secretariat for
evangelisation and catechesis, professor in the conciliar seminary of
Queretaro, parish priest in a number of parishes, head of the deanery
of Guanajuato and member of the presbyteral council and the college
of consultors. He is currently episcopal vicar for pastoral ministry
of the diocese of Queretaro and parish priest of the “Pentecostes”
parish.
On
Saturday, 28 February, the Holy Father appointed:
-
Rev. Fr. Francesco Savino as bishop of Cassano all'Jonio (area 1,311,
population 108,100, Catholics 104,187, priests 98, permanent deacons
3, religious 74), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Bitonto, Italy
in 1954 and was ordained a priest in 1978. He holds a licentiate in
theology from the Istituto Teological Pugliese and has served in a
number of pastoral roles in the archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto,
including parish vicar of San Silvestro-Crocifisso and parish priest
of Cristo Re Universale in Bitonto. He is currently parish
priest-rector of the parish-santuary of the Santi Medici in Bitonto,
member of the College of Consultors, the diocesan presbyteral council
and the Ministry of Health Commission on palliative care. He succeeds
Bishop Nunzio Galantino, secretary general of the Italian Episcopal
Conference, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same
diocese was accepted by the Holy Father.
-
Msgr. Marek Marczak as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Lodz (area
5,200, population 1,490,000, Catholics 1,410,000, priests 763,
religious 759), Poland. The bishop-elect was born in Piotrkow
Trybunalski, Poland in 1969 and was ordained a priest in 1994. He
holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian
University, Rome, and has served in a number of roles, including
lecturer in dogmatic theology and the major seminary of Lodz,
president of the Commission for the Lay Apostolate, visitator for
catechesis, pastoral collaborator in the parish of St. Dorothy in
Loz-Mileszki, and collaborator for the pastoral ministry of
university lecturers in the archdiocese. He is currently rector of
the major seminary and member of the presbyteral council.
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