VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - N° 70
DATE 14-04-2014

Summary:
- POPE FRANCIS TO SEMINARIANS: ?IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO ACT LIKE SHEPHERDS,
CHANGE PATH?
- PALM SUNDAY: ?WHO ARE WE BEFORE JESUS WHO TRIUMPHS AND BEFORE JESUS WHO
SUFFERS??
- ANGELUS: MAY THE WYD CROSS BE A SIGN OF HOPE FOR THE WORLD
- THE STUDY OF HISTORY, ONE OF THE PATHS TO THE TRUTH
- POPE FRANCIS: CARE FOR YOUR PATIENTS WITHOUT FORGETTING THEY ARE PEOPLE
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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 POPE FRANCIS TO SEMINARIANS: ?IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO ACT LIKE SHEPHERDS,
CHANGE PATH?
Vatican City, 14 April 2014 (VIS) ? This morning the Holy Father met with the
seminarians of the community of the Pontifical College ?Leoniano de Anagni?,
and warned them not to fall into the trap of thinking that they are preparing
to exercise a profession, to become the employees of a business enterprise or
a bureaucratic entity. ?You are becoming 'good shepherds', in the image of
Jesus, to be like Him, in the midst of His flock, to graze His sheep. Before
this vocation, we can answer like the Virgin Mary to the Angel: 'How is this
possible?'?
?Becoming good shepherds in the image of Jesus is something very great, and we
are so small?, he continued. ?Yes, it is true, it is too great; but it is not
our work! It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our collaboration. ? I no
longer live, but Christ lives inme?, said Francis, emphasising that only in
this way is it possible to be deacons and priests of the Church. ? If you are
not willing to follow this path, with these attitudes and these experiences,
it is better to have the courage to seek another. There are many ways, in the
Church, to bear Christian witness?. Before concluding, the Pope encouraged the
seminarians to reflect on this theme and emphasised that following in Christ's
ministry allows no place for mediocrity, who always leads to using the holy
people of God to one's own advantage.

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 PALM SUNDAY: ?WHO ARE WE BEFORE JESUS WHO TRIUMPHS AND BEFORE JESUS WHO
SUFFERS??
Vatican City, 13 April 2014 (VIS) ? Today in St. Peter's Square Pope Francis
began the rites of Holy Week with the solemn liturgical celebration of Palm
Sunday and the Passion of the Lord.
The ceremony began with the blessing of the palms and the olive branches
placed beside the obelisk in the Square, carried in procession to the entrance
of the basilica. The young people of Rome and other diocese took part in the
celebration, in relation to the 29th World Youth Day, which this year takes
the theme, ?Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of
heaven?.
The Pope based his homily on the question, ?Who am I, before my Lord? Who am
I, before Jesus Who enters Jerusalem on this feast day? ? Who am I, before
Jesus Who suffers??
?This week, we begin with a celebratory procession with olivebranches: all the
people welcome Jesus. Children and young people sing in praise of Jesus. ? But
this week proceeds in the mystery of Jesus' death and His resurrection. We
have listened to the Passion of the Lord. It will do us good to ask the
question, who am I? Who am I before my Lord? Who am I, before Jesus Who enters
Jerusalem on this feast day? Am I able to express my joy, to praise Him? Or do
I keep my distance? Who am I, before Jesus Who suffers??
We have heard many names: the group of leaders, some who are priests, some
Pharisees, some doctors of the Law, who had decided to kill Him. They waited
for the opportunity to take Him. Am I like one of them?
?We have also heard another name: Judas. Thirty coins. Am I like Judas? We
have heard of other names: the disciples who understood nothing, who slept
while the Lord suffered. Do I spend my life asleep? Or am I like the
disciples, who did not understand what it was to betray Jesus?Like that other
disciple who wanted to resolve everything by the sword: am I like them? Am I
like Judas, who pretended to love and to kiss the Master in order to deliver
Him into the hands of His enemy, to betray Him? Am I a traitor? Am I like
those leaders who are quick to judge and seek false witnesses: am I like them?
And when I do these things, if I do them, do I believe that in so doing I save
the people?
?Am I like Pilate, in that when I see that the situation is difficult, I wash
my hands of it and do not assume my responsibility and condemn people, or
allow them to be condemned? Am I like that crowd that does not know if it is
in a religious meeting, a court of judgement or a circus, and chooses Barabas?
For them it was all the same: it was more entertaining to humiliate Jesus.
?Am I like the soldiers who strike the Lord, who spit on Him, insult Him, who
amuse themselves by humiliating the Lord? Am I like the Cyrenian who
returnedfrom work, weary, but who had the good will to help the Lord carry the
cross? Am I like those who passed before the Cross and made fun of Jesus: 'He
was so brave! If he comes down from the Cross we will believe in Him!' Making
fun of Jesus?.
?Am I like those brave women, such as the Mother of Jesus, who were there, who
suffered in silence? Am I like Joseph, the secret disciple who carried the
copy of Jesus with love, to bury him? Am I like the two Marys, who remained
before His tomb crying and praying?
?Am I like the leaders who, the following day went to Pilate to say, 'Look,
this man said that he would be resurrected. Careful that this is not another
trick'?, and blocked the life, blocked the tomb to defend doctrine, so that
life does not come out?
?Where is my heart? Which of these people do I resemble? May this question
accompany us throughout the week?.

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 ANGELUS: MAY THE WYD CROSS BE A SIGN OF HOPE FOR THE WORLD
Vatican City, 14 April 2014 (VIS) ? Following the solemn liturgical
celebration of Palm Sunday, the Pope prayed the Angelus with the seventy
thousand faithful present in St- Peter's Square and, before the Marian prayer,
he greeted the 250 delegates, bishops, priests, religious and laypeople who
participated during these days in the meeting for the World Youth Day
organised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
?In this way there begins the path of preparation for the next world meeting
that will take place in July 2016 in Krakow on the theme 'Blessed are the
merciful, for they will be shown mercy'. Before long the young Brazilians will
deliver to the Polish youth the Cross of the World Youth Days. It was Blessed
John Paul II who entrusted the Cross to the young thirty years ago: he asked
them to take it all over the world as a sign of Christ's love forhumanity. On
27 April we will have the joy of celebrating the canonization of this Pope,
along with John XXIII. John Paul II, who initiated the World Youth Days, will
become its great patron; in the communion of saints he will continue to be a
father and a friend for the young of the world. Let us ask the Lord that the
Cross, along with the icon of Mary 'Salus Populi Romani', be a sign of hope
for all, revealing Christ's invincible love to the world?.
Following these words, the World Youth Day Cross was consigned, and Pope
Francis added, ?I greet all Romans and all pilgrims, and I greet in particular
the delegations from Rio de Janeiro and Krakow, led by their archbishops,
Cardinals Orani Joao Tempesta and Stanislaw Dziwisz. In this context, I have
the joy of announcing that, God willing, on 15 August at Daejeon, in the
Republic of Korea, I will meet with the young of Asia in their great
continental meeting?.

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 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Meridian MS=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)