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 VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXIII - N° 94
DATE 24-04-2013

Summary:
 - GENERAL AUDIENCE: KEY AT FINAL JUDGEMENT WILL BE LOVE
 - POPE RECALLS ORTHODOX BISHOPS KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA
 - ARCHBISHOP FISICHELLA PRESENTS TWO NEW EVENTS FOR YEAR OF FAITH
 - POPE CELEBRATES HIS SAINT'S DAY WITH CARDINALS AND NOTES THAT THE CHURCH
ADVANCES BETWEEN CROSS AND RESURRECTION
 - AUDIENCE
 - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

___________________________________________________________


GENERAL AUDIENCE: KEY AT FINAL JUDGEMENT WILL BE LOVE
Vatican City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – Pope Francis dedicated the
catechesis of his Wednesday general audience to three Gospel texts that help
us to enter into the mystery of one of the truths professed in the Creed: that
Jesus “will come again
in glory to judge the living and the dead”. The three texts are: the
parable of the ten virgins; the parable of the talents; and the final
judgement. They all form part of Jesus' teaching on the end of time in the
Gospel of St. Matthew.
Before the more than 75,000 persons filling St. Peter's Square, the Holy
Father spoke of the “'immediate time' between Jesus' first and final
comings, which is precisely the time in which we are living. The parable of
the ten virgins is located
within this context.” They are awaiting the Bridegroom but fall asleep
because he is late in arriving. Five of them, who are wise, keep oil aside and
can light their lamps when the Bridegroom arrives unexpectedly. The other,
foolish ones, do not
have it and, while they look for it, the nuptial celebrations have already
begun and the door to enter into the banquet is closed to them.
“The Bridegroom is the Lord and the time of awaiting his arrival is the
time that He gives us, with mercy and patience, before his final coming. It is
a time of vigilance, a time in which we must keep the lamps of faith, hope,
and love lit. [It is
a time] to keep our hearts open to the good, to beauty, and to truth; a time
to live according to God because we do not know either the day or the hour of
Christ's return. What is asked of us is to be prepared for the encounter,
which means knowing how
to read the signs of his presence, to keep our faith alive with prayer and the
Sacraments, and to be vigilant so as not to fall asleep, not to forget God.
The life of Christians who are sleeping is a sad life, not a happy life.
Christians must be happy,
[feeling] the joy of Jesus.”
The second parable, of the talents, “makes us reflect on the
relationship between how we use the gifts we have received from God and his
return when he will ask us how we have used them. … This tells us that
our awaiting the Lord's return
is a time of action … time to make the most of God's gifts, nor for
ourselves, but for him, for the Church, for others. [It is] the time in which
to always seek to make good grow in the world. Particularly in this time of
crisis, today, it is
important not to be locked up in ourselves, removing our talents, our
spiritual and material riches, everything that the Lord has given us, but to
open ourselves, to be compassionate, to be attentive to others.”
“In the square today there are many young persons. Is this true? Are
there many youth? Where are they? To you, who are at the beginning of life's
path, I ask: have you thought of the talents that God has given you? Have you
thought of how to put
them at the service of others? Don't take your talents away! Bet on great
ideals, those ideals that enlarge our hearts, those ideals of service that
make your talents fruitful. We were not given life so that we might hold it
back, jealously, for
ourselves, but it was given to us so that we might offer it. Dear young
persons, you have great souls! Don't be afraid to dream of great things!”
The Holy Father then spoke of the story of the final judgement that tells of
the second coming of the Lord when He will judge all human beings, living and
dead. At his right hand will be those who have acted in accordance with God's
will, helping the
hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the ill, the imprisoned—I
said 'foreigner'. I am thinking of all the foreigners who are here in the
Diocese of Rome. What are we doing for them?“ the Pope asked.
In the story, at the Lord's left hand are those who did not assist their
neighbour. “This tells us that we will be judged by God on charity, on
how we have love our brothers and sisters, especially the weakest and most
needy of them. Of course, we
always have to keep in mind that we are judged, we are saved by grace, by an
act of God's gratuitous love that always precedes us. Alone we can do nothing.
Faith is foremost a gift that we have received. But, to bear fruit, God's
grace always requires
our openness to him, our free and concrete response. Christ comes to bring us
the mercy of the God who saves. We have been asked to entrust ourselves to
him, to make our good lives—made of deeds inspired by faith and
love—match the gift of
his love.”
“Looking to the final judgement must never frighten us,” the
pontiff concluded. “Rather, it urges us to live the present better. With
mercy and patience, God offers us this time so that we might learn every day
to recognize him in the
poor and the small, might strive for the good, and might be vigilant in prayer
and love. The Lord, at the end of our existence and of history, may then
recognize us as good and faithful servants.”

___________________________________________________________


POPE RECALLS ORTHODOX BISHOPS KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA
Vatican City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – At the end of his catechesis, Pope
Francis spoke of the two Metropolitan bishops of Aleppo, Syria—Mar
Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and Paul
Yazigi of the Greek
Orthodox Church of Antioch—who were kidnapped by a group of armed men
who killed their driver, a deacon, while they were on a humanitarian mission.
“The kidnapping of the Greek Orthodox and the Syriac Orthodox
Metropolitan bishops, regarding whose liberation there has been conflicting
news, is a further sign of the tragic situation that the beloved Syrian nation
has been undergoing, where
violence and weapons continue to sow death and suffering. While I recall in my
prayers both bishops, that they might return soon to their communities, I ask
God to enlighten hearts and I renew the urgent appeal that I made on Easter,
that the bloodshed
cease. May the necessary humanitarian assistance be given to the people and
may a political solution to the crisis be found as soon as possible.”
Yesterday, 23 April, as well, the Press Office of the Holy See issued a
communique saying that the Pope, informed of the kidnapping, “is
following the events with deep participation and is ... praying that, with the
commitment of all, the Syrian
people may finally see tangible responses to the humanitarian drama and that
real hopes of peace and reconciliation may rise on the horizon.”

___________________________________________________________


ARCHBISHOP FISICHELLA PRESENTS TWO NEW EVENTS FOR YEAR OF FAITH
Vatican City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – A press conference was held this
morning in the Holy See Press Office to presentat the next two events
scheduled for the Year of Faith: the Day of Confirmands (27-28 April) and the
Day of Confraternities and
Popular Piety (3-5 April). Participating in the press conference were
Archbishop Rino Fisichella and Bishop Jose Octavio Ruiz Arena, respectively
president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New
Evangelisation.
Archbishop Fisichella explained that the common denominator of the events,
which will take place in Rome with the Holy Father, will be “of
highlighting pilgrimage to the tomb of Peter. That is why, the day before, the
participants will take part
in a symbolic procession from the obelisk in St. Peter's Square to the tomb of
the Apostle where they will pray the Creed. Along the way there will be a
brief catechesis to recall the significance of the places that we find
ourselves at and their
historic meaning for the faith.”
The first event will take place this 27-28 April and will be dedicated to all
those who have or who will receive receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this
year. “Already more than 70,000 youth, accompanied by their catechists
and priests, have
signed up. This presence shows the enthusiasm with which they have joined in
the initiative and the great turn-out that we should expect.”
For the first time, Pope Francis will confer the Sacrament of Confirmation on
44 youth from around the world, symbolically representing the entire Church.
“They are youth,” the archbishop said, “ who show the face
of the Church there
where people are living and suffering, to give all hope and certainty for the
future.” But there will not just be youth in attendance since there is
no uniformity on the age at which to receive the Sacrament and the ages of the
confirmands who are
coming stretches from 11 to 55.
The second important event, which over 50,000 persons have already signed up
for, will take place from 3 to 5 May and will be dedicated to popular piety.
The Confraternities, particularly from the countries where the tradition is
strongest, will give
witness to the different local traditions that have resulted from a
religiosity that has been expressed through the centuries with initiatives and
works of art that have lasted to this day. The event's culminating moment will
be Mass celebrated by the
Pope on Sunday at 10:00am in St. Peter's Square.
It will be “a moment of faith,” the prelate concluded, “that
finds, in the simplicity of the expressions of popular piety, its most
deep-rooted core in our people who live these signs uninterruptedly as a
reminder of the faith of
previous generations and as a tradition that should be witnessed to with
courage and enthusiasm.”

___________________________________________________________


POPE CELEBRATES HIS SAINT'S DAY WITH CARDINALS AND NOTES THAT THE CHURCH
ADVANCES BETWEEN CROSS AND RESURRECTION
Vatican City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – In the Pauline Chapel of the Vatican
yesterday, the feast of St. George, the Holy Father presided at Mass with the
cardinals resident in Rome, thanking them for their presence: “Thank
you,” he said,
“because I feel very well welcomed. I feel good with you and that
pleases me.”
In the homily, Francis commented on the first reading of the day's liturgy
that narrates the story of the first Christians who escaped persecution in
Jerusalem, travelling to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, where they began to
spread the Good News,
among the Greeks as well. “At that moment when persecution breaks
out,” the Pope said, “the Church's missionary activity breaks
out.”
But in Jerusalem, they didn't understand how it was possible to preach to
non-Jews. “A little nervous, they sent an Apostolic Visit, they sent
Barnabas. Perhaps, a bit humorously,” Pope Francis explained, “we
can say that this was the
theological beginning of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, this
Apostolic Visit by Barnabas. He observed and he saw that things were going
well. The Church thus is more a Mother: a Mother of more children, of many
children. She becomes
… more and more a Mother: a Mother who gives us faith, a Mother who
gives us our identity. But our Christian identity is not an ID card. Christian
identity is a belonging to the Church because all of these belonged to the
Church, the Mother
Church, because finding Jesus outside of the Church is not possible. The great
Paul VI said: it is an absurd dichotomy to want to live with Jesus but outside
of the Church. And that Mother church who gives us Jesus gives us an identity
tha
 t is
not merely a seal; it is a belonging. Identity means belonging.”
The Pope then spoke of the three ideas that the story brought to his mind: the
first was of the beginning of the mission, the second the Church as Mother,
and the third the joy of the evangelizer that Barnabas feels when he see the
immense crowd
listening to the preaching. “Thus the Church advances … among the
world's persecutions and the Lord's consolation. … If we want to travel
the path or worldliness, negotiating with the world … we will never
have the Lord's
consolation. And, if we only seek his consolation, it will be a superficial
one, … a human consolation. The Church always goes between the Cross
and the Resurrection … This is the path. Whoever travels by this path
will not be
mistaken.”
“Let us think today of the Church's missionary activity: in those
disciples … who have the courage to proclaim Jesus to the Greeks,
something almost scandalous at that time. Let us think of the Mother church
who grows, grows with new
children to whom she fives the identity of faith because one cannot believe in
Jesus without the Church. … and let us think of the consolation that
Barnabas had, 'the sweet and consoling joy of evangelizing'. And let us ask
the Lord … for
this apostolic fervour, that urges us to go forward, as brothers and sisters,
all of us: forward!. Let us go forward bearing Jesus' name at the heart of the
Holy Mother Church.”
After the Eucharistic celebration, the Swiss Guard Musical Band offered the
Pope a short concert in the Saint Damasus Courtyard, to wish him a happy
saint's day.

___________________________________________________________


AUDIENCE
Vatican City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue.

___________________________________________________________


OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father appointed:
- Bishop Liro Vendelino Meurer as bishop of Santo Angelo (area 19,293,
population 554,000, Catholics 404,000, priests 80, permanent deacons 1,
religious 265), Brazil. Bishop Meurer was previously auxiliary of Passo Fundo,
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and
titular of Thucca in Numidia. He succeeds Bishop Jose Clemente Weber, whose
resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father
accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Bishop Moacir Silva as metropolitan archbishop of Ribeirao Preto (area
8,782, population 1,097,000, Catholics 769,000, priests 149, permanent deacons
14, religious 224), Brazil. Archbishop-elect Silva, previously bishop of Sao
Jose dos Campos, Sao
Paulo, Brazil, was born in 1954 in Sao Jose dos Campos, was ordained to the
priesthood in 1986, and received episcopal ordination in 2004. He currently
serves as a member of the National Bishops' Commission for Ecclesiastic
Tribunals of second instance
and as vice president of the Regional Bishops' Conference of the state of Sao
Paulo.
Yesterday, 23 April, the Holy Father extended the jurisdiction of Bishop John
Michael Botean, of the Eparchy of Saint George's in Canton of the Romanians,
over the Greek-Catholic Romanians present in the entire territory of Canada.

___________________________________________________________

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 VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE 
YEAR XXIII - N° 94
DATE 24-04-2013

Summary:
 - GENERAL AUDIENCE: KEY AT FINAL
JUDGEMENT WILL BE LOVE
 -
POPE RECALLS ORTHODOX BISHOPS KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA
 - ARCHBISHOP FISICHELLA
PRESENTS TWO NEW EVENTS FOR YEAR OF FAITH
 - POPE CELEBRATES HIS SAINT'S
DAY WITH CARDINALS AND NOTES THAT THE CHURCH ADVANCES BETWEEN CROSS AND
RESURRECTION
 -
AUDIENCE
 - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

______________
____________________________________________ 


GENERAL AUDIENCE: KEY AT FINAL JUDGEMENT WILL BE LOVE
Vatican City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – Pope Francis dedicated the
catechesis of his Wednesday general audience to three Gospel texts that help
us to enter into the mystery of one of the truths professed in the Creed: that
Jesus “will come
again in glory to judge the living and the dead”. The three texts are:
the parable of the ten virgins; the parable of the talents; and the final
judgement. They all form part of Jesus' teaching on the end of time in the
Gospel of St. Matthew. 
Before the more than 75,000 persons filling St. Peter's Square, the Holy
Father spoke of the “'immediate time' between Jesus' first and final
comings, which is precisely the time in which we are living. The parable of
the ten virgins is located
within this context.” They are awaiting the Bridegroom but fall asleep
because he is late in arriving. Five of them, who are wise, keep oil aside and
can light their lamps when the Bridegroom arrives unexpectedly. The other,
foolish ones, do not
have it and, while they look for it, the nuptial celebrations have already
begun and the door to enter into the banquet is closed to them. 
“The Bridegroom is the Lord and the time of awaiting his arrival is
the time that He gives us, with mercy and patience, before his final coming.
It is a time of vigilance, a time in which we must keep the lamps of faith,
hope, and love lit. [It
is a time] to keep our hearts open to the good, to beauty, and to truth; a
time to live according to God because we do not know either the day or the
hour of Christ's return. What is asked of us is to be prepared for the
encounter, which means knowing
how to read the signs of his presence, to keep our faith alive with prayer and
the Sacraments, and to be vigilant so as not to fall asleep, not to forget
God. The life of Christians who are sleeping is a sad life, not a happy life.
Christians must be
happy, [feeling] the joy of Jesus.”
The second parable, of the talents, “makes us reflect on the
relationship between how we use the gifts we have received from God and his
return when he will ask us how we have used them. … This tells us that
our awaiting the Lord's
return is a time of action … time to make the most of God's gifts, nor
for ourselves, but for him, for the Church, for others. [It is] the time in
which to always seek to make good grow in the world. Particularly in this time
of crisis, today, it
is important not to be locked up in ourselves, removing our talents, our
spiritual and material riches, everything that the Lord has given us, but to
open ourselves, to be compassionate, to be attentive to others.”
“In the square today there are many young persons. Is this true? Are
there many youth? Where are they? To you, who are at the beginning of life's
path, I ask: have you thought of the talents that God has given you? Have you
thought of how to
put them at the service of others? Don't take your talents away! Bet on great
ideals, those ideals that enlarge our hearts, those ideals of service that
make your talents fruitful. We were not given life so that we might hold it
back, jealously, for
ourselves, but it was given to us so that we might offer it. Dear young
persons, you have great souls! Don't be afraid to dream of great
things!”
The Holy Father then spoke of the story of the final judgement that tells
of the second coming of the Lord when He will judge all human beings, living
and dead. At his right hand will be those who have acted in accordance with
God's will, helping the
hungry, the thirsty, the foreigner, the naked, the ill, the imprisoned—I
said 'foreigner'. I am thinking of all the foreigners who are here in the
Diocese of Rome. What are we doing for them?“ the Pope asked.
In the story, at the Lord's left hand are those who did not assist their
neighbour. “This tells us that we will be judged by God on charity, on
how we have love our brothers and sisters, especially the weakest and most
needy of them. Of course,
we always have to keep in mind that we are judged, we are saved by grace, by
an act of God's gratuitous love that always precedes us. Alone we can do
nothing. Faith is foremost a gift that we have received. But, to bear fruit,
God's grace always
requires our openness to him, our free and concrete response. Christ comes to
bring us the mercy of the God who saves. We have been asked to entrust
ourselves to him, to make our good lives—made of deeds inspired by faith
and love—match the
gift of his love.”
“Looking to the final judgement must never frighten us,” the
pontiff concluded. “Rather, it urges us to live the present better. With
mercy and patience, God offers us this time so that we might learn every day
to recognize him in
the poor and the small, might strive for the good, and might be vigilant in
prayer and love. The Lord, at the end of our existence and of history, may
then recognize us as good and faithful servants.”

___________________________________________________________ 


POPE RECALLS ORTHODOX BISHOPS KIDNAPPED IN SYRIA
Vatican City, 24 April 2013 (VIS) – At the end of his catechesis,
Pope Francis spoke of the two Metropolitan bishops of Aleppo, Syria—Mar
Gregorios Yohanna Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and Paul
Yazigi of the Greek
Orthodox Church of Antioch—who were kidnapped by a group of armed men
who killed their driver, a deacon, while they were on a humanitarian
mission.
“The kidnapping of the Greek Orthodox and the Syriac Orthodox
Metropolitan bishops, regarding whose liberation there has been conflicting
news, is a further sign of the tragic situation that the beloved Syrian nation
has been undergoing, where
violence and weapons continue to sow death and suffering. While I recall in my
prayers both bishops, that they might return soon to their communities, I ask
God to enlighten hearts and I renew the urgent appeal that I made on Easter,
that the bloodshed
cease. May the necessary humanitarian assistance be given to the people and
may a political solution to the crisis be found as soon as possible.”
Yesterday, 23 April, as well, the Press Office of the Holy See issued a
communique saying that the Pope, informed of the kidnapping, “is
following the events with deep participation and is ... praying that, with the
commitment of all, the
Syrian people may finally see tangible responses to the humanitarian drama and
that real hopes of peace and reconciliation may rise on the horizon.”
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