a loved one, as a victim of mafia violence. Thank you for your witness,
because you are not closed, you are open, you have come forward to tell your
story of pain and hope. This is so important, especially for the young. I
would like to pray with you, and I do so from the heart, for all victims of
the mafia. Even just a few days ago, near Taranto, a crime was committed in
which even a child was not spared. But at the same time let us pray together,
to ask for the strength to go on, not to be discouraged, but instead to
continue to fight against corruption.

Subject: VISnews140324
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt 

Pope Francis continued, speaking off the cuff, "I feel that I cannot
finish without saying a word to those who are absent today, to the absent
protagonists: to the men and women of the mafia. Please, change your lives,
convert, stop what you are doing, stop doing harm. And we pray for you.
Convert, I ask you this on my knees; it is for your own good. This life you
are living now will not bring you pleasure, it will not bring you joy, it will
not bring you happiness. Power, the money you have now from your many dirty
dealings, from your many mafia crimes, is blood money, it is power that is
stained with blood, and you will not be able to take it with you to the next
life. Repent, there is still time, so as not to end up in hell. This is what
awaits you if you continue on this path. You have a father and a mother: think
of them. Cry a little, and repent".

___________________________________________________________


AUDIENCES
Vatican City, 24 March 2014 (VIS) -; Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
- Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation
of Peoples.
- Three prelates of the Episcopal Conference of Guinea, on their "ad
limina" visit:
- Archbishop Vincent Coulibaly of Conakry;
- Bishop Emmanuel Felemou of Kankan;
- Bishop Raphael Balla Guilavogui of N'Zerekore.
On Saturday, 22 March, the Holy Father received in audience:
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
- Nguyen Sinh Hung, president of the parliament of Vietnam.

___________________________________________________________


OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 22 March 2014 (VIS) -; The Holy Father has:
- accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Ho Chi
Minh City , Vietnam, presented by Cardinal Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man, upon
reaching the age limit. He is succeeded by Bishop Paul Bui Van Doc, coadjutor
of the same archdiocese.
- appointed Rev. Juan Armando Perez Talamantes and Rev. Alfonso Gerardo
Miranda Guardiola as auxiliaries of the archdiocese of Monterrey (area 17,886,
population 7,387,000, Catholics 5,910,000, priests 595, permanent deacons 44,
religious 1228), Mexico.
Bishop-elect Perez Talamantes was born in Nuevo Leon, Mexico in 1970, and was
ordained a priest in 1997. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from the
Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has served in the following
pastoral roles: vicar, spiritual director, coordinator of discipline and
prefect of studies in the major seminary of Monterrey, and priest of the
parishes of "Sagrada Familia" and "San Francisco de
Asis" in Apocada. He is currently episcopal vicar for the Zone X and
director of the Benedict XVI Institute for the formation of laypersons in
ordinary pastoral care.
Bishop-elect Miranda Guardiola was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1966 and was
ordained a priest in 1998. He holds a licentiate in moral theology from the
Pontifical University of Mexico. He has held the following pastoral roles:
prefect of discipline and studies in the minor seminary, lecturer in the major
seminary, deputy priest in the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, assessor for
groups of divorced persons and rector of the temple of "St. Maximilian
Maria Kolbe". He is currently secretary chancellor of the Curia and
director of the ecclesiastical archive and department of history of the
archdiocese of Monterrey. He is the author of nine books.
- appointed Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, apostolic nuncio in Lituania, as
apostolic nuncio in Estonia and Latvia.
- appointed Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Tot as apostolic nuncio in Sri Lanka.
Archbishop Nguyen Van Tot was previously apostolic nuncio in Costa Rica.

___________________________________________________________

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