Subject: VISnews140303
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt 


 VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 42
DATE 03-03-2014

Summary:
 - THE POPE TO SPANISH BISHOPS: FAITH IS NOT A MERE CULTURAL INHERITANCE
 - SPIRITUAL EXERCISES: INVITATION TO AN EXPERIENCE OF GOD
 - POPE FRANCIS: ONLY BY SEARCHING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD CAN WE ALL LIVE WITH
DIGNITY
 - APPEAL FOR HARMONY IN UKRAINE
 - POPE FRANCIS RECEIVES THE PRIME MINISTER OF ROMANIA
 - THE POPE TO THE COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA: ENCOURAGE THE GROWTH OF A
YOUTHFUL UTOPIA
 - AGREEMENT RATIFIED BETWEEN HOLY SEE AND REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI
 - AUDIENCES
 - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

___________________________________________________________


THE POPE TO SPANISH BISHOPS: FAITH IS NOT A MERE CULTURAL INHERITANCE
Vatican City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) -; This morning the Holy Father received
in audience the prelates of the Spanish Episcopal Conference at the end of
their "ad limina" visit, and delivered an address in which, among
other things, he praised their intention to "faithfully serve the People
of God in pilgrimage in Spain, where the Word of God is well rooted, and which
has brought fruits of harmony, culture and holiness", a fact that is
particularly emphasised by the celebration of the upcoming fifth centenary of
the birth of St. Teresa of Jesus, first doctor of the Church".
"Now that you are suffering the ordeal of the indifference of many
baptised persons and must face today's worldly culture, which closes God into
the sphere of private life and excludes Him from the public sphere, you must
not forget your history. ... Let us always entrust ourselves to Him and
seek to sow the seed in the hearts of those entrusted to our pastoral
care", writes the Holy Father.
"The bishops have been entrusted with the task of making these seeds
germinate with the courageous and true proclamation of the Gospel, taking
great care of their growth by example, education and closeness, to harmonise
the 'vineyard of the Lord' from which no-one is excluded", he continues.
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, do not spare any effort in opening new
ways to the Gospel, to reach the hearts of all people so that they may
discover what already resides therein: Christ as a friend and brother.
... It will not be difficult to find these paths if we follow the
footsteps of the Lord, who 'came not to be served but to serve', who knew how
to respect God's time with humility, to patiently await the process of
maturation of each person, without fear of taking the first step towards
encounter. He teaches us to listen to all, heart to heart, with tenderness and
mercy, and to seek what truly unites and serves in mutual edification".
In this search, it is important for the bishop not to feel alone, or to think
he is alone; that he is aware that the flock entrusted to him 'has a nose' for
matters of God. ... Likewise in the present moment, in which the
mediations of faith are increasingly scarce and there is no lack of
difficulties in its transmission, it is necessary to place your Churches in a
true state of permanent mission, to call to those who have drifted and to
strengthen faith, especially in children. ... Faith is not a mere
cultural inheritance, but rather a gift, a gift born of the personal encounter
with Jesus and the free and joyful acceptance of the new life He offers us.
... Awaken and arouse sincere faith, promote preparation for marriage and
the accompanying of families, whose vocation is to be the native place for
coexistence in love, the original cell of society, transmitter of life and
domestic church where faith is forged and lived out. An evangelised family is
a valuable
  agent
of evangelisation".
Pope Francis also refers to the publication last year of the document
"Priestly vocations for the 21st century", as a sign of the
particular Churches' interest in the pastoral of vocations. "It is an
aspect that a bishop should keep in his heart as an absolute priority, in
prayer, in the selection of candidates and the preparation of teams of good
formators and competent teachers", he states.
"Love and service to the poor is a sign of the Kingdom of God that Jesus
came to bring", he emphasises. "I know that in recent years, your
Caritas and other charitable works of the Church have earned great
recognition, among believers and unbelievers. This brings me much pleasure,
and I pray that this may be a way of approaching the source of charity -;
Christ, who 'went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed', and
His Church, who is a mother and can never forget the most disadvantaged among
her children".
The Pope concludes by encouraging the bishops to place themselves "at
the forefront of the spiritual and missionary renewal of your particular
Churches, as brethren and pastors of the faithful, and also of those who are
not, or who have forgotten. To this end, frank and fraternal collaboration
within the Episcopal Conference will be of great help, as will mutual support
and care in the search for the most suitable approaches to take".

___________________________________________________________


SPIRITUAL EXERCISES: INVITATION TO AN EXPERIENCE OF GOD
Vatican City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) -; The Italian Federation of Spiritual
Exercises (FIES) celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation and to
commemorate the occasion the Pope received in audience two hundred of its
members.
The theme chosen by the FIES for the assembly is "Enamoured by spiritual
beauty to spread the fragrance of Christ", a theme which, according to
Pope Francis, "expresses the conviction that proposing the spiritual
exercises means an invitation to an experience of God, of His love and beauty.
He who lives the Exercises in an authentic way experiences the attraction and
the appeal of God, and returns renewed, transformed in ordinary life, in
ministry, in daily relationships, bringing with him the fragrance of
Christ".
"Men and women need to meet God, to know him 'not by hearsay'.
"Your service is entirely orientated towards this, and you accomplish
this by providing space and time for listening intensely to the Word in
silence and prayer. Special places for this spiritual experience are offered
by the Houses of Spirituality which, for this reason, are supported by
appropriate staff. I encourage the Pastors of the various communities to
ensure that there is no lack of Houses for Spiritual Exercises, where well
trained workers and prepared preachers, endowed with doctrinal and spiritual
qualities, are true masters of the spirit".
"However, we must never forget that the true agent of spiritual life is
the Holy Spirit, Who supports our initiatives for good and our prayers.
... A good course of Spiritual Exercises contributes to renewing, in
those who participate, an unconditional adhesion to Christ and a help in
understanding that prayer is the irreplaceable means of union with Christ
crucified", concluded the Holy Father.

___________________________________________________________


POPE FRANCIS: ONLY BY SEARCHING FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD CAN WE ALL LIVE WITH
DIGNITY
Vatican City, 2 March 2014 (VIS) -; At midday Pope Francis appeared at
the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St.
Peter's Square. Before the Marian prayer, he spoke about "divine
Providence" and how it is presented by the prophet Isaiah, with the
image of maternal love, full of tenderness. "God does not forget about
us, any of us! ... He forgets no-one, He remembers every name and
surname", he continued. "He loves us, and does not forget about
us. What a beautiful thought is this invitation to trust in God".
"Thinking of all those who live in precarious conditions, or even in
poverty that is an affront to their dignity, these words of Jesus' may seem
abstract, if not illusory. But in fact they are more relevant than ever! They
remind us that we cannot serve two masters: God and wealth. For as long as
each person seeks to accumulate wealth for himself, there will be no justice.
We must understand this well! If, instead, trusting in God's providence, we
seek his Kingdom together, then no-one will lack the means to live with
dignity".
"A heart occupied with the desire to possess is a heart full of this
desire, but without God. ... In a heart possessed by wealth, there is not
much space for faith. ... If, however, we leave for God the space that is
due to Him -; the first place -; then His love will lead us also to
share our wealth, to put it at the service of projects for solidarity and
development, as we may see in many examples, some of them recent, in the
history of the Church. And in this way God's Providence passes through our
service to others, our sharing with others".
"The path that Jesus shows to us may seem unrealistic compared to the
prevalent mentality and in view of the problems caused by the economic crisis.
... To ensure that no-one lacks bread, water, clothing, shelter, work,
and health, it is necessary for all of us to recognise that we are children of
the Father in Heaven and that we are therefore all brothers, and to behave
accordingly". The Pope concluded by inviting those present to invoke the
intercession of Our Lady "so that we may all make efforts to live in a
simple and sober way, keeping watch over the needs of our most disadvantaged
brothers".

___________________________________________________________


APPEAL FOR HARMONY IN UKRAINE
Vatican City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) -; Following the Angelus prayer, Pope
Francis launched an appeal for harmony in Ukraine, asking the faithful to pray
for the delicate situation in the country is currently experiencing.
"While I hope that all the parties within the country will make efforts
to overcome misunderstandings and to build the future of the nation together,
I also make a heartfelt appeal to the international community to support every
initiative in support of dialogue and harmony".
The Pope mentioned that this week sees the beginning of Lent, "the path
of the People of God towards Easter: a path of conversion, and of struggle
against evil through prayer, fasting, and mercy". He added that
"humanity needs justice, reconciliation, peace, and we can obtain these
only by returning with all our hearts to God, their source. We are all in need
of God's forgiveness. Let us enter Lent with a spirit of adoration for God and
of fraternal solidarity with those who, in these times, suffer as a result of
poverty and violent conflicts".

___________________________________________________________


POPE FRANCIS RECEIVES THE PRIME MINISTER OF ROMANIA
Vatican City, 1 March 2014 (VIS) -; This morning, the Holy Father Francis
received in audience Victor Ponta, prime minister of Romania, who subsequently
went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Parolin, accompanied by
Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.
 
The prime minister greeted the Holy Father on behalf of the Orthodox Patriarch
Daniel. The cordial discussions focused on the themes of the family,
education, religious freedom and the protection of common values, in a context
of fruitful cooperation between the Holy See and Romania at a bilateral level
and within the international community. In considering the potential of the
Catholic Church for contributing to the common good of society as a whole,
other open questions were discussed regarding the Catholic community in
Romania. Finally, there was an exchange of opinions on the current
international situation, emphasising the hope that the path of dialogue and
negotiation may be followed to bring an end to the various conflicts
afflicting the world.

___________________________________________________________


THE POPE TO THE COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA: ENCOURAGE THE GROWTH OF A
YOUTHFUL UTOPIA
Vatican City, 1 March 2014 (VIS) -; During his audience with the
participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for Latin
America, which took place yesterday, 28 February, Pope Francis gave an off the
cuff address to those present, a summary of which is given below.
"The transmission of faith, and educational emergency. ... If there
is an educational emergency in relation to the transmission of faith, it is
how to approach the theme of catechesis for the young from the perspective of
fundamental theology. That is, the issue of the anthropological assumptions
that affect the transmission of faith nowadays, and that create this
educational emergency for the young people of Latin America".
"The first issue regarding education is that to educate involves three
dimensions: the transmission of knowledge, habits and a sense of values
-; these three aspects together. To transmit faith, it is necessary to
create the habit of a certain type of conduct. ... If we want to transmit
only the content of faith, then it will be something superficial or
ideological, without roots. ... It is important to transmit to the young
... the good management of utopia. In Latin America, we have had
experience of a not entirely balanced management of utopian ideals which in
some places, although not all, and at certain moments, has overwhelmed us. At
least in the case of Argentina, we can say that many young people in Catholic
Action, as a result of a poor education in managing the concept of utopia,
ended up participating in guerilla conflicts in the 1970s. ... To know
how to guide and help the growth of youthful utopia is a wealth. A youth
without utopia
  ages
prematurely, is old before his time. How can we ensure that this desire
typical of youth, this desire for utopia, leads to an encounter with Jesus
Christ? It is a path we need to take".
"Youthful utopia grows well when it is accompanied by memory and
discernment. Utopia looks to the future, memory looks to the past, and the
present is discerned. Young people need to receive memory and plant or root
their utopia in this memory. ... This brings us to my insistence ...
on the encounter between the elderly and the young. ... Some bishops from
various countries in crisis, where there are high levels of unemployment among
the young, have told me that part of the solution for the young rests in the
fact that they now keep their grandparents company. They have started to meet
with their grandparents again, their grandparents are pensioners and so they
come out of their rest homes and return to their families, bringing with them
their memory; this encounter. ... This phenomenon of the encounter
between children and young people and their grandparents has preserved faith
in the countries of the East, during the entire Communist era, because t
 heir
parents could not go to Church. ...The encounter between children and young
people and their grandparents is crucial for receiving the memory of a people
and discernment of the present: to be teachers of discernment, spiritual
advisers. And here we see the importance, for the transmission of faith to the
young, of the "face to face" apostolate. Discernment of the
present cannot be done without a good confessor, a good spiritual guide who
has the patience to spend hours and hours listening to the young".
"As a educational emergency, in this transmission of faith and also of
culture, the problem is our throwaway culture. Nowadays, on account of the
economic system that has taken root in the world, which has at its centre the
god of money and not the human person, everything is ordered according to this
logic, and anything that does not fit within this order is discarded. Children
are discarded, when their existence is troublesome or unwanted. The Spanish
bishops recently spoke to me about the number of abortions, and I was left
speechless. ... In some Latin American countries there is hidden
euthanasia ... because the social authorities will pay only up to a
certain point, after which the elderly have to get by as best they can".
"Nowadays, how inconvenient it is to this worldwide system to consider
the number of young people to whom it is necessary to provide work ...
there is a high percentage of unemployed among the young. We are creating a
generation of young people who do not have the experience of dignity. The
problem is not that they have nothing to eat -; their grandparents
provide for them, or their parishes, or the welfare state. ... They have
bread to eat, but they do not have the dignity of earning bread and bringing
it home to the table".
"Within this throwaway culture, we see young people who need us more
than ever -; not only for that utopia they have, because a young person
without work has an anaesthetised sense of utopia, or is at the point of
losing it -; not only for this, but also for the urgency of transmitting
faith to a youth that has itself now too become waste material. And drugs
enter into this waste material. It is not a question of vice, there are many
forms of addiction. As in all periods of change, there are strange phenomena
including the proliferation of addictions; ludomania, or compulsive gambling,
for instance, has reached extremely high levels. But drugs are an instrument
of death among the young".
"We are discarding our young. What does the future hold? An obligation:
the 'traditio fe' is also 'traditio spei', and we must achieve this. The final
question I wish to put to you is this: when utopia falls to disenchantment,
what can we do? The utopia of today's enthusiastic youth is slipping away
towards disenchantment. Disenchanted youth, to whom we must give faith and
hope".

___________________________________________________________


AGREEMENT RATIFIED BETWEEN HOLY SEE AND REPUBLIC OF BURUNDI
Vatican City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) -; On Friday 28 February 2014, at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of
Burundi, Laurent Kavakure, minister of Foreign Affairs and International
Cooperation and Archbishop Franco Coppola, apostolic nuncio, exchanged the
instruments of ratification of the Agreement between the Holy See and the
Republic of Burundi on matters of common interest, signed in Bujumbura on 6
November 2012.
The solemn act was attended by:
On behalf of the Holy See, Bishop Gervais Banshimiyubusa of Ngozi, president
of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi (CECAB); Archbishop Evariste
Ngoyagoye of Bujumbura, deputy president of the CECAB; Bishop Joaquim
Ntahondereye of Muyinga; Bishop Bonaventure Nahimana of Rutana; Bishop-elect
Georges Bizimana, coadjutor of Bubanza; Rev. Jose Nahum Jairo Salas Castaneda
of the apostolic nunciature in Burundi, and Rev. A. Lambert Niciteretse,
secretary general of the CECAB;
On behalf of the Republic of Burundi, Emile Butoyi, chief of protocol at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Ambassador Egyde
Ndikuriyo, director general for Europe, America and non-governmental
organisations; Ambassador Antoine Ntahobwa, director for America; Ambassador
Ernest Ndabashintze, advisor to the minister of Foreign Affairs; and Emerence
Nahonkuriye, assistant to the minister of Foreign Affairs.
The framework agreement, acknowledging the good relations that have developed
between the Holy See and Burundi over the last fifty years, defines and
guarantees the legal status of the Catholic Church and regulates various
areas, such as canonical marriage, places of worship, Catholic institutions of
education and instruction, the welfare and charitable activities of the
Church, pastoral care of the armed forces and of penitential and hospital
environments, and the property and tax laws.
The framework agreement, which consists of a Preamble of 22 Articles with an
Appendix, entered into effect with the exchange of the instruments of
ratification, in accordance with Article 22, paragraph 1.

___________________________________________________________


AUDIENCES
Vatican City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) -; Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
- Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation
of Peoples.
- Ten prelates of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, on their "ad
limina" visit:
- Archbishop Jesus Sanz Montes of Oviedo, with his auxiliary, Bishop Juan
Antonio Menendez Fernandez;
- Bishop Camilo Lorenzo Iglesias of Astorga
- Bishop Julian Lopez Martin of Leon;
- Bishop Vicente Jimenez Zamora of Santander;
- Archbishop Julian Barrio Barrio of Santiago de Compostela;
- Bishop Alfonso Carrasco Rouco of Lugo;
- Bishop Manuel Sanchez Monge of Mondonedo-Ferrol;
- Bishop Jose Leonardo Lemos Montanet of Orense; and
- Bishop Luis Quintero Fiuza of Tui-Vigo.
On Saturday, 1 March, the Holy Father received in audience:
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
- Fernando Zegers Santa Cruz, ambassador of Chile to the Holy See, on his
farewell visit.
- Ten prelates of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, on their "ad
limina" visit:
- Archbishop Santiago Garcia Aracil of Merida-Badajoz;
- Bishop Francisco Cerro Chaves of Coria-Caceres;
- Bishop Amadeo Rodriguez Magro of Plasencia;
- Archbishop Braulio Rodriguez Plaza of Toledo, with his auxiliary, Bishop
Angel Fernandez Collado;
- Bishop Ciriaco Benavente Mateos of Albacete;
- Bishop Antonio Angel Algora Hernando of Ciudad Real;
- Bishop Jose Maria Yanguas Sanz of Cuenca;
- Bishop Atilano Rodriguez Martinez of Siguenza-Guadalajara; and
- Bishop Juan del Rio Martin, military ordinary for Spain.
- Professor George Weigel.

___________________________________________________________


OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 3 March 2014 (VIS) -; The Holy Father has appointed Msgr.
Alfred Xuereb, official of the Secretariat of State, as prelate secretary
general for the economy.
On Saturday, 1 March, the Holy Father accepted the resignation from the
pastoral care of the diocese of Cese Budejovice, Czech Republic, presented by
Bishop Jiri Pad'our, O.F.M. Cap., upon having reached the age limit.

___________________________________________________________

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