VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 85
DATE 12-05-2014

Summary:
- NEVER TIRE OF BEING MERCIFUL, THE POPE TELLS NEW PRIESTS
- REGINA COELI: TROUBLE YOUR PASTORS FOR THE MILK OF DOCTRINE
- A CELEBRATION OF SCHOOL
- INSTITUTES OF SECULAR LIFE: A SIGN OF THE CHURCH IN DIALOGUE
- THE POPE RECEIVES THE CENTESIMUS ANNUS: THE CRISIS HAS WORSENED THE
"ALLERGY" TO SOLIDARITY
- DAY OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN COPTS AND CATHOLICS
- DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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 NEVER TIRE OF BEING MERCIFUL, THE POPE TELLS NEW PRIESTS
 Vatican City, 11 May 2014 (VIS) - Today is World Day of Prayer for Vocations,
and Pope Francis presided this morning at a Mass for the ordination of
thirteen new priests: six Italians, four from various countries in Latin
America, one from Pakistan, one from South Korea and one from Vietnam.
 The Bishop of Rome, who added various personal reflections to the Rite of
Ordination, urged the new priests never to tire of being merciful, adding
however that they are not the owners of the doctrine since this belongs to
Christ.
 "You, who are about to enter the priesthood, must consider that in exercising
the ministry of the sacred doctrine, you will be participants in the mission
of Christ, the sole master. Make use of all this, the Word that you yourselves
have received with joy, from your mothers, from your catechists. Read and
meditate on the word of the Lord assiduously, to believe what your have read,
to teach what you have learnt in faith, to live what you have taught. May your
doctrine, therefore, be nourishment to the people of God; yet it is not your
doctrine, you are not its masters! It is the doctrine of the Lord, and you
must be faithful to the doctrine of the Lord ... since, by word and example
you edify the house of God, the Church".
 "By Baptism you will add new faithful to the people of God; with the
sacrament of penance you will forgive sins in the name of Christ and the
Church. And here I want to pause to ask you, for the love of Jesus Christ,
never tire of being merciful! Please! Have that capacity for forgiveness that
the Lord had; He Who came not to condemn but to forgive! Have mercy, great
mercy! And if you are worried about being too forgiving, think of that holy
priest of whom I have spoken, who stopped before the tabernacle and said,
'Lord, forgive me if I have forgiven too much. But you have set me a bad
example!'. And I say to you, truly, it pains me when I encounter people who no
longer go to confession because they have been reproached and scolded. They
felt as though the doors of the Churches had been closed in their faces.
Please, do not do this: mercy, mercy! The good shepherd enters by the door,
and the wounds of the Lord are the door of mercy: if you do not enter into
your ministry through the Lord's wounds, you will not be good priests".
 The Pope concluded by quoting St. Augustine, when he spoke of the pastors
"who sought their own pleasure, who used the Lord's sheep to feed and clothe
themselves, to assume the majesty of a ministry that may or may not have been
God's. Finally, participating in Christ's mission, as a leader and pastor, in
filial communion with your bishop, commit yourselves to uniting the faithful
in a single family, to lead them to God the Father through Christ in the Holy
Spirit. Keep before your eyes the example of the Good Shepherd, who came not
to be served but to serve, and to seek and save what was lost".

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 REGINA COELI: TROUBLE YOUR PASTORS FOR THE MILK OF DOCTRINE
 Vatican City, 11 May 2014 (VIS) - At midday today, after celebrating Mass for
the ordination of thirteen new priests, the Holy Father appeared at the window
of his study to pray the Regina Coeli with the faithful gathered in St.
Peter's Square. He commented on today's Gospel reading, the parable of the
Good Shepherd, which exemplifies "the type of relationship Jesus had with His
disciples: a relationship based on tenderness, love, mutual understanding and
the promise of an incomparable gift. 'I came that they may have life and have
it abundantly'".
 This bond, Francis said, "is the model for relations between Christians and
for all human relations", and although "today, too, many propose themselves as
pastors for our existence ... only the Risen Christ is the true Pastor, able
to give us life in abundance".
 He invited all present to pray for the pastors of the Church, for all the
bishops, "including the bishop of Rome, and for all priests. For all of them!
In particular, let us pray for the new priests of the diocese of Rome, whom I
ordained this morning in St. Peter's Basilica. A greeting to these thirteen
priests! May the Lord help us, as pastors, always to be faithful to the Master
and to be wise and enlightened guides for the people of God entrusted to us. I
ask you too to help us: help us to be good pastors".
 In this regard, the Pope explained that once he read a text by St. Caesarius
of Arles, a priest of the first centuries of the Church, who explained how the
people of God can help their pastor, with the following example: "When a calf
is hungry he goes to the cow, his mother, for milk. However, the cow does not
give it to him immediately; it almost seems as if she keeps it for herself.
And so what does the calf do? He nudges the cow's udder with his nose, and in
this way the milk comes. It is a beautiful image. And this, says the saint, is
what you must do with your pastors: always knock at their door, at their
heart, so that they give you the milk of doctrine, the milk of grace and the
milk of guidance. I ask you, please, to trouble your pastors, to disturb them,
all of us, so that we can give you the milk of grace, doctrine and guidance.
Bother us! Think of that beautiful image of the calf who nudges his mother to
feed him".
 "This Sunday we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Vocations", he
continued. "This year's message tells us that 'every vocation always requires
an exodus from oneself in order to centre one's life on Christ and on His
Gospel'. Therefore, the call to follow Jesus is exciting and challenging at
the same time. ...Let us pray that, even in these times, many young people may
hear the voice of the Lord, that always risks being suffocated by so many
other voices".
 Following the Marian prayer, the bishop of Rome greeted, amongst others, the
neocatechumenal communities that "on these Sundays during Easter time proclaim
the Risen Jesus in one hundred squares in Rome and in many cities throughout
the world. May the Lord give you the joy of the Gospel! And carry on your good
work!". He also offered a special blessing to the children who in these months
have received or will receive their First Communion, and finally he encouraged
all present to dedicate "a good memory or a prayer to all mothers. ...
Entrusting them to the mother of Jesus, we pray to the Virgin for our mothers
and for all mothers. ... A warm greeting to all mothers".

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 A CELEBRATION OF SCHOOL
 Vatican City, 10 May 2014 (VIS) - This afternoon, in St. Peter's Square, the
Holy Father met with teachers, parents, educators, pupils and other workers
within the context of Italian schools. The event was organised by the Italian
Episcopal Conference with the project, "The Church for the School". At 4.15
p.m. the Holy Father toured St. Peter's Square and Via della Conciliazione by
jeep, greeting those present. At 5 p.m. the meeting began with a greeting from
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, and
Professor Stefania Giannini, the Italian minister for education. Various
participants shared testimonies, along with moments of music and other
entertainments.
 Finally, Pope Francis addressed those present. "We can see that this is a
demonstration 'for', not 'against'!", he said. It is not a complaint, it is a
celebration! A celebration for the school. We are well aware that there are
problems and things that do not function well. But you are here, we are here
because we love school". He commented that he too, for various reasons, loved
school: "because it is the synonym for openness to reality. Going to school
means opening the mind and the heart to reality, to its wealth of aspects and
dimensions. This is valuable. In the first years we take a 360 degree approach
to learning, and then gradually we focus in one direction, and finally we
specialise. But if one has learnt how to learn, this remains for ever, and one
remains open to reality! And teachers are always the first who must remain
open to reality, with the mind always open to learning. A teacher who is not
open to learning is not a good teacher, and is not interesting. The pupils
understand and snub him or her. They are attracted to teachers with open and
'incomplete' thought, who look for something more, and they transmit this
attitude to their students".
 A second reason is that "the school is a place of encounter", and the Pope
added that "This is fundamental in the age of growth, as a complement to the
family. ... The school is the first society to integrate with the family. The
school and the family are not in opposition to one another. They are
complementary, and therefore it is important that they collaborate between
themselves with mutual respect. ... This reminds me of an African proverb: 'It
takes a village to raise a child'". Finally, the Pontiff declared that he
loved school "because it educates us in truth, in what is good and beautiful.
Education cannot be neutral. It is either positive or negative; either it
enriches or it impoverishes; either it enables a person to grow or it lessens,
even corrupts him. The mission of schools is to develop a sense of truth, of
what is good and beautiful. And this occurs through a rich path made up of
many ingredients. This is why there are so many subjects - because development
is the result of different elements that act together and stimulate
intelligence, knowledge, the emotions, the body, and so on".
 "If something is true, it is good and beautiful; if it is beautiful, it is
good and true; if it is good, it is true and it is beautiful. And together,
these elements enable us to grow and help us to love life, even when we are
not well, even in the midst of many problems. True education enables us to
love life and opens us to the fullness of life".

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 INSTITUTES OF SECULAR LIFE: A SIGN OF THE CHURCH IN DIALOGUE
 Vatican City, 10 May 2014 (VIS) - "In the heart of human history: the
challenges of a complex society" is the theme of the assembly of the
Institutes of Secular Life, a form of consecrated life that has more adherents
in Italy than in any other country in the world, and which was established
"with a revolutionary gesture in the Church" by Pope Pius XII with the
apostolic constitution "Provida Mater Ecclesia" in 1947.
 This morning the Holy Father, receiving in audience the participants in the
assembly, set aside his official address and spoke to them off-the-cuff,
underlining that the secular Institutes are "effectively an act of bravery on
the part of the Church in that moment, giving structure and institutional
character" to them.
 "From that moment up to the present you have done great good for the Church,
with bravery, as it takes bravery to live in the world. Many of you come and
go, alone, in your apartment; others are in small communities. Every day, you
live the life of someone who lives in the world, and at the same time protect
the dimension of contemplation, in relation to the Lord and to the world;
contemplating reality, contemplating the beauty of the world, and also the
great sins of society, deviations, all these things, and always in spiritual
tension. ... For this reason, your vocation is fascinating, as it is a
vocation that is located right there, where the salvation of not only people
but also institutions is at play".
 "I hope that you will always maintain this attitude of going beyond, not only
beyond, but even further, where everything is at play: politics, the economy,
education, the family. It is perhaps possible that at times you are tempted to
think, 'But what can I do?'", the Pope added. "When this temptation rears,
remember that the Lord has spoken to us about the grain of wheat. And your
life is like the grain of wheat. It is like leaven. Do everything possible so
that the Kingdom might come, grow and be great, and that it may protect many
people, like the mustard tree. Think about this. A small life, a small
gesture; a normal life, but it is leaven, it is a seed, it allows growth. And
this brings consolation. The results in the balance of the Kingdom of God
cannot be seen, but only the Lord enables us to perceive something. ... We
will see the results there, above".

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