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 VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXIII - N° 88
DATE 15-04-2013

Summary:
 - POPE RECEIVES SPANISH PRIME MINISTER: NEED FOR DIALOGUE AMONG ALL AREAS OF
SOCIETY
 - MEETING OF CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH WITH LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS
 - INCONSISTENCY OF PASTORS AND FAITHFUL UNDERMINES CHURCH’S CREDIBILITY
 - POPE REMEMBERS PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS AT THE REGINA COELI
 - AUDIENCES
 - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

___________________________________________________________


POPE RECEIVES SPANISH PRIME MINISTER: NEED FOR DIALOGUE AMONG ALL AREAS OF
SOCIETY
Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican
Apostolic Palace, His Holiness Francis received His Excellency Mr. Mariano
Rajoy Brey, prime minister of Spain. Prime Minister Rajoy then met with the
Secretary of State Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti,
secretary for Relations with States.
“In a cordial atmosphere, the talks allowed an exchange of views on the
difficult economic-financial situation in the world that Spain, like other
European countries is facing. This situation has provoked a serious labour
crisis, involving many
families and particularly the young. In such a context, the Church’s
nearness was expressed and the noteworthy work for those most in need that
Caritas and other ecclesial charitable associations carries out was noted.
Reference was also made to
the country's current political-institutional structure, noting the need for
dialogue in society and among all its components, dialogue that is based on
mutual respect and keeping in mind values such as justice and solidarity, in
seeking the common
good.”
“Moreover, good bilateral relations between the Holy See and Spain were
noted, which, in the spirit of the Agreements of 1979, have been strengthened
more and more, just as were noted topics of current issues and of interest for
the Church in that
country. In particular, the institution of marriage and the family and the
importance of religious education were discussed. Mention of the international
situation, with particular attention on Latin America, was not o
erlooked.”

___________________________________________________________


MEETING OF CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH WITH LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS
Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – “Today, the Superiors of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met with the Presidency of the
Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) of the United States of
America. Archbishop James
Peter Sartain, archbishop of Seattle, Washington, USA, and the Holy
See’s Delegate for the Doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR, also
participated in the meeting,” informs a communique from the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“As this was his first opportunity to meet with the Presidency of the
LCWR, the Prefect of the Congregation, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller,
expressed his gratitude for the great contribution of women Religious to the
Church in the United States
as seen particularly in the many schools, hospitals, and institutions of
support for the poor which have been founded and staffed by Religious over the
years.”
“The Prefect then highlighted the teaching of the Second Vatican Council
regarding the important mission of Religious to promote a vision of ecclesial
communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the Church as
faithfully taught
through the ages under the guidance of the Magisterium. He also emphasized
that a Conference of Major Superiors, such as the LCWR, exists in order to
promote common efforts among its member Institutes as well as cooperation with
the local Conference of
Bishops and with individual Bishops. For this reason, such Conferences are
constituted by and remain under the direction of the Holy See.”
“Finally, Archbishop Muller informed the Presidency that he had recently
discussed the Doctrinal Assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed the
findings of the Assessment and the program of reform for this Conference of
Major Superiors.”
“It is the sincere desire of the Holy See,” the note concludes,
“that this meeting may help to promote the integral witness of women
Religious, based on a firm foundation of faith and Christian love, so as to
preserve and strengthen it
for the enrichment of the Church and society for generations to come.”

___________________________________________________________


INCONSISTENCY OF PASTORS AND FAITHFUL UNDERMINES CHURCH’S CREDIBILITY
Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon, Pope Francis
presided over Mass at Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls on his first visit to that
basilica as Bishop of Rome. Concelebrating with the Holy Father were Cardinal
James Michael Harvey,
archpriest of the basilica, and Abbot Edmund Power, O.S.B., of the St. Paul
Outside-the-Walls Abbey.
In his homily, the Holy Father recalled that the basilica is built above the
tomb of St. Paul, “a great yet humble Apostle of the Lord, who
proclaimed him by word, bore witness to him by martyrdom and worshipped him
with all his heart.” He
added that these were the three words—proclamation, witness,
worship—that he wanted to reflect upon in light of the Word of God in
the liturgy's readings.
Commenting on the first reading, in which the Apostles are imprisoned for
preaching of the Risen Christ, the Pope observed that Peter and the Twelve
“proclaim courageously, fearlessly, what they have received: the Gospel
of Jesus. And we? Are we
capable of bringing the word of God into the environment in which we live? Do
we know how to speak of Christ, of what He represents for us, in our families,
among the people who form part of our daily lives? Faith is born from
listening, and is
strengthened by proclamation.”
“The proclamation made by Peter and the Apostles,” he emphasized,
“does not merely consist of words: fidelity to Christ affects their
whole lives, which are changed, given a new direction, and it is through their
lives that they bear
witness to the faith and to the proclamation of Christ. In today’s
Gospel, Jesus asks Peter three times to feed his flock, to feed it with his
love, and He prophesies to him: 'When you are old, you will stretch out your
hands, and another will
gird you and carry you where you do not wish to go'. These words are addressed
first and foremost to those of us who are pastors: we cannot feed God’s
flock unless we let ourselves be carried by God’s will even where we
would rather not go,
unless we are prepared to bear witness to Christ with the gift of ourselves,
unreservedly, not in a calculating way, sometimes even at the cost of our
lives.”
“But this also applies to everyone: we all have to proclaim and bear
witness to the Gospel. … In God’s great plan, every detail is
important, even yours, even my humble little witness, even the hidden witness
of those who live their
faith with simplicity in everyday family relationships, work relationships,
friendships. There are the saints of every day, the 'hidden' saints, a sort of
'middle class of holiness', as a French author said, that 'middle class of
holiness' to which we
can all belong.”
“But in different parts of the world, there are also those who suffer
... on account of the Gospel; there are those who give their lives in order to
remain faithful to Christ ... Let us all remember this: one cannot proclaim
the Gospel of Jesus
without the tangible witness of one’s life. I am thinking now of some
advice that Saint Francis of Assisi gave his brothers: 'Preach the Gospel and,
if necessary, use words'. Preaching with your life, with your witness.
Inconsistency on the part
of pastors and the faithful between what they say and what they do, between
word and manner of life, is undermining the Church’s credibility.”
“All this is possible only if we recognize Jesus Christ, because it is
He who has called us, He who has invited us to travel his path, He who has
chosen us. Proclamation and witness are only possible if we are close to him,
just as Peter, John and
the other disciples in today’s Gospel passage were gathered around the
Risen Jesus. … And this is important for us: living an intense
relationship with Jesus, an intimacy of dialogue and of life, in such a way as
to recognize him as 'the
Lord'. Worshipping him!”
“I would like all of us to ask ourselves this question: [ask yourself,
ask myself] Do we worship the Lord? Do we turn to God only to ask him for
things, to thank him, or do we also turn to him to worship him? What does it
mean, then, to worship
God? … All of us, in our own lives, consciously and perhaps sometimes
unconsciously, have a very clear order of priority concerning the things we
consider important. Worshipping the Lord means giving him the place that He
must have; worshipping
the Lord means stating, believing—not only by our words—that He
alone truly guides our lives; worshipping the Lord means that we are convinced
before him that He is the only God, the God of our lives, the God of our
history.”
“This has a consequence in our lives,” the pontiff noted.
“We have to empty ourselves of the many small or great idols that we
have and in which we take refuge and upon which we often seek to base our
security. They are idols that we
sometimes keep well hidden; they can be ambition, careerism, a taste for
success, placing ourselves at the centre, the tendency to dominate others, the
claim to be the sole masters of our lives, some sins to which we are bound,
and many others. This
evening I would like a question to resound in each of your hearts, and I would
like you to answer it honestly: Have I considered which idol lies hidden in my
life that prevents me from worshipping the Lord? Worshipping is stripping
ourselves of our
idols, even the most hidden ones, and choosing the Lord as the centre, as the
privileged path of our lives.”
“The Lord,” concluded the Bishop of Rome, “calls us each day
to follow him with courage and fidelity. He has made us the great gift of
choosing us as his disciples. He invites us to proclaim him with joy as the
Risen one, but He asks
us to do so by word and by the witness of our lives, in daily life. The Lord
is the only God of our lives, and He invites us to strip ourselves of our many
idols and to worship him alone. To proclaim, to witness, to worship.”

___________________________________________________________


POPE REMEMBERS PERSECUTED CHRISTIANS AT THE REGINA COELI
Vatican City, 14 April 2013 (VIS) – The episode narrated in the Acts of
the Apostles that tells of the time Jesus first preached in Jerusalem and the
attempts of the high priests and city leaders to stop the growth of the
community of believers in
Christ was the central theme of the Regina Coeli this third Sunday of Easter.
The Pope explained to the thousands of persons gathered in St. Peter's Square
that the Twelve, who had been jailed with the order to not teach any more in
Christ's name, responded to their persecutors: “We must obey God rather
than men. The God of
our ancestors raised Jesus … God exalted him at his right hand as
leader and saviour … We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy
Spirit.” “They then had the Apostles flogged and ordered them
again not to speak any more
in Jesus' name. And [the Twelve] went, as it says in Scripture, 'rejoicing
that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonour for the sake of the name'
[of Jesus].”
“I ask myself,” the Bishop of Rome said, “ where did the
first disciples find the strength for their witness? Not just that: Where did
their joy and courage to proclaim, in spite of the obstacles and violence,
come from? Let's not
forget that the Apostles were simple people. They weren't scribes, doctors of
the law, or members of the priestly class. How could they, with their limits
and the opposition made to them by the authorities, 'have filled Jerusalem
with your teaching'? It
is clear that only the Risen Lord's presence to them and the Holy Spirit's
action can explain this fact. … Their faith was based on such a strong
and personal experience of Christ, died and risen, that they had no fear of
anything or anyone. In
fact, they saw persecution as a badge of honour that allowed them to follow in
Jesus' footsteps and to be like him, witnessing with their lives.”
“This story of the first Christian community tells us something very
important, which holds for the Church in every age, even for us: when a person
truly knows Jesus Christ and believes in him, they experience his presence in
their life and the
strength of his Resurrection, and they cannot help but to communicate this
experience. If this person encounters misunderstanding or adversity, they act
as Jesus did at his Passion: they respond with love and with the strength of
truth.”
“Praying the Regina Coeli together,” the Pope concluded, “we
ask Mary Most Holy's assistance so that the Church throughout the world might
proclaim, with sincerity and courage, the Lord's Resurrection, and might give
effective witness
to it with signs of fraternal love. Fraternal love is the closest witness that
we can give that Jesus is alive with us, that Jesus is risen. Let us pray in a
special way for the Christians who are suffering persecution. In these days
there are many
Christians who are suffering persecution, so very many in many countries. Let
us pray wholeheartedly for them with love. May they feel the living and
comforting presence of the Risen Lord.”
After the Regina Coeli, the Holy Father noted that yesterday, in Venice,
Italy, Don Luca Passi, 19th century founder of the Pious Society of St.
Dorothy for the Laity and the Institute of the Teaching Sisters of St Dorothy,
was beatified. He also spoke
of the Day of the Sacred Heart University, which is celebrated today in Italy,
the theme of which is “New Generations: Beyond the Crisis” this
year.
“This university,” he said, “born of the mind and heart of
Fr. Agostino Gemelli, with great popular support, has trained thousands upon
thousands of young people to be competent and responsible citizens, builders
of the common good. I
invite you to always support this University so that it might continue to
offer an excellent education to new generations, so that they can face the
challenges of our present time.”

___________________________________________________________


AUDIENCES
Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father
received:
- His Beatitude Fouad Twal, patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, and his
entourage, and
seven prelates of the Triveneto region of the Italian Episcopal Conference on
their "ad limina" visit:
- Patriarch Francesco Moraglia of Venice,
- Archbishop Antonio Mattiazzo, bishop of Padua,
- Bishop Giuseppe Zenti of Verona,
- Bishop Lucio Soravito de Franceschi of Adria-Rovigo,
- Bishop Giuseppe Andrich of Belluno-Feltre,
- Bishop Beniamino Pizziol of Vicenza, and
- Bishop Adriano Tessarollo of Chioggia.

___________________________________________________________


OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father accepted the
resignation from the pastoral care of the Apostolic Vicariate of Alep of the
Latin Rite, Syria, presented by Bishop Giuseppe Nazzaro O.F.M., upon having
reached the age limit.
At the same time, the Holy Father has appointed Fr. Georges Abou-Khazen,
O.F.M., as apostolic administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of
the same vicariate.
The Holy Father Francis has named Cardinal Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president
of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, as his special envoy to
the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary in
Budslau,
Belarus, which is scheduled to take place from 5 to 6 July 2013 at the
National Shrine in the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev.

___________________________________________________________

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 VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE 
YEAR XXIII - N° 88
DATE 15-04-2013

Summary:
 - POPE RECEIVES SPANISH PRIME
MINISTER: NEED FOR DIALOGUE AMONG
ALL AREAS OF SOCIETY
 - MEETING OF CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE
FAITH WITH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS
 - INCONSISTENCY OF
PASTORS AND FAITHFUL UNDERMINES CHURCH’S CREDIBILITY
 - POPE
REMEMBERS PERSECUTED
CHRISTIANS AT THE REGINA COELI
 - AUDIENCES
 - OTHER PONTIFICAL
ACTS

___________________________________________________________



POPE RECEIVES SPANISH PRIME MINISTER: NEED FOR DIALOGUE AMONG ALL AREAS OF
SOCIETY
Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican
Apostolic Palace, His Holiness Francis received His Excellency Mr. Mariano
Rajoy Brey, prime minister of Spain. Prime Minister Rajoy then met with the
Secretary of State Cardinal
Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti,
secretary for Relations with States.
“In a cordial atmosphere, the talks allowed an exchange of views on
the difficult economic-financial situation in the world that Spain, like other
European countries is facing. This situation has provoked a serious labour
crisis, involving many
families and particularly the young. In such a context, the Church’s
nearness was expressed and the noteworthy work for those most in need that
Caritas and other ecclesial charitable associations carries out was noted.
Reference was also made to
the country's current political-institutional structure, noting the need for
dialogue in society and among all its components, dialogue that is based on
mutual respect and keeping in mind values such as justice and solidarity, in
seeking the common
good.”
“Moreover, good bilateral relations between the Holy See and Spain
were noted, which, in the spirit of the Agreements of 1979, have been
strengthened more and more, just as were noted topics of current issues and of
interest for the Church in
that country. In particular, the institution of marriage and the family and
the importance of religious education were discussed. Mention of the
international situation, with particular attention on Latin America, was not
overlooked.”

___________________________________________________________ 


MEETING OF CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH WITH LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS
Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – “Today, the Superiors of
the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met with the Presidency of the
Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) of the United States of
America. Archbishop James
Peter Sartain, archbishop of Seattle, Washington, USA, and the Holy
See’s Delegate for the Doctrinal Assessment of the LCWR, also
participated in the meeting,” informs a communique from the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith.
“As this was his first opportunity to meet with the Presidency of the
LCWR, the Prefect of the Congregation, Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller,
expressed his gratitude for the great contribution of women Religious to the
Church in the United
States as seen particularly in the many schools, hospitals, and institutions
of support for the poor which have been founded and staffed by Religious over
the years.”
“The Prefect then highlighted the teaching of the Second Vatican
Council regarding the important mission of Religious to promote a vision of
ecclesial communion founded on faith in Jesus Christ and the teachings of the
Church as faithfully
taught through the ages under the guidance of the Magisterium. He also
emphasized that a Conference of Major Superiors, such as the LCWR, exists in
order to promote common efforts among its member Institutes as well as
cooperation with the local
Conference of Bishops and with individual Bishops. For this reason, such
Conferences are constituted by and remain under the direction of the Holy
See.”
“Finally, Archbishop Muller informed the Presidency that he had
recently discussed the Doctrinal Assessment with Pope Francis, who reaffirmed
the findings of the Assessment and the program of reform for this Conference
of Major
Superiors.”
“It is the sincere desire of the Holy See,” the note concludes,
“that this meeting may help to promote the integral witness of women
Religious, based on a firm foundation of faith and Christian love, so as to
preserve and strengthen
it for the enrichment of the Church and society for generations to
come.”

___________________________________________________________ 


INCONSISTENCY OF PASTORS AND FAITHFUL UNDERMINES CHURCH’S
CREDIBILITY
Vatican City, 15 April 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon, Pope Francis
presided over Mass at Saint Paul Outside-the-Walls on his first visit to that
basilica as Bishop of Rome. Concelebrating with the Holy Father were Cardinal
James Michael
Harvey, archpriest of the basilica, and Abbot Edmund Power, O.S.B., of the St.
Paul Outside-the-Walls Abbey. 
In his homily, the Holy Father recalled that the basilica is built above
the tomb of St. Paul, “a great yet humble Apostle of the Lord, who
proclaimed him by word, bore witness to him by martyrdom and worshipped him
with all his heart.”
He added that these were the three words—proclamation, witness,
worship—that he wanted to reflect upon in light of the Word of God in
the liturgy's readings.
Commenting on the first reading, in which the Apostles are imprisoned for
preaching of the Risen Christ, the Pope observed that Peter and the Twelve
“proclaim courageously, fearlessly, what they have received: the Gospel
of Jesus. And we? Are
we capable of bringing the word of God into the environment in which we live?
Do we know how to speak of Christ, of what He represents for us, in our
families, among the people who form part of our daily lives? Faith is born
from listening, and is
strengthened by proclamation.”
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