Vatican City, 15 May 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the Royal Institute for
Inter-Faith Studies (Amman, Jordan) and the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue concluded their Third Colloquium in the Jordanian
capital. Held under the joint patronage of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan
bin Talal and His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the
Vatican dicastery, the theme chosen this year was "Meeting current challenges
through education".
 At the end of the meeting which, as mentioned by the participants, took place
on the eve of Pope Francis' visit to the Holy Land, considered a source of
hope for all the populations in this region - a communique was issued,
beginning with a strong condemnation of "all forms of violence, and most
recently the kidnapping of the Nigerian school girls", calling for "their
immediate release, so that they can return to their families and their
schools". They also advocated peaceful resolutions to all ongoing conflicts.
 The participants stated that the discussion, which took place in an
atmosphere of cordiality and friendship, allowed them to agree on the
following points:
 - the fundamental institutions for the education of children and youth are
the family and the school;
 - the importance of proper religious education, in particular for the
transmission of religious and moral values;
 - the necessary consideration of the dignity of the human person, especially
in educational institutions;
 - there is widespread disregard for the international provisions aimed at
guaranteeing the effective respect of fundamental human rights, in particular
religious freedom;
 - the most urgent challenges to meet include the peaceful resolution of
current conflicts, the eradication of poverty and the promotion of the
spiritual and moral dimension of life;
 - the conviction that religion is not the cause of conflicts, but rather
inhumanity and ignorance; consequently integral education is essential;
 - many recalled that religions, properly understood and practised, are not
causes of division and conflicts but rather a necessary factor for
reconciliation and peace.
 As believers, we hope that human wisdom would always meet the wisdom of God.
 Finally, as the future of humanity is in the hands of the young generations,
we propose the following Cultural Decalogue for everyone involved in education:
 1) Never renounce intellectual curiosity;
 2) Have intellectual courage instead of intellectual cowardice;
 3) Be humble and not intellectually arrogant;
 4) Practice intellectual empathy instead of closed mindedness;
 5) Observe intellectual integrity;
 6) Keep your intellectual autonomy;
 7) Persevere in the face of surrounding superficiality;
 8) Trust reason;
 9) Be fair-minded and not intellectually unfair;
 10) Consider pluralism as richness, not a threat.
 Finally, they declared their intention to will continue our fruitful dialogue
through future colloquia and other initiatives.

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 FIFTY YEARS OF PROMOTING INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE
 Vatican City, 15 May 2014 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council for Interreligious
Dialogue celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation on Monday 19
May. The dicastery was instituted with the name "Secretariat for
non-Christians" on 19 May 1964 by Pope Paul VI, with the Apostolic Letter
"Progrediente Concilio", with the aim of paying attention to those who were
without the Christian religion and to whom the words of the Lord would seem to
refer: "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them
also".
 The Pontifical Council will hold a conference in the afternoon on the theme
"50 years of service in interreligious dialogue"; the speakers will be
Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the dicastery, Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso
Guixot, M.C.C.J., secretary, and Fr. Damian Howard, S.J., of Heythrop College,
London. The document "Dialogue in Truth and Charity: Pastoral Orientations for
Interreligious Dialogue", which will be published and distributed to those
present, offers guidelines for pastors and faithful, based on the concrete
indications and experiences of the local churches, to continue along the path
of interreligious dialogue.

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 AUDIENCES
 Vatican City, 15 May 2014 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in audience:
 - Eighteen prelates of the Mexican Episcopal Conference on their "ad limina"
visit:
 Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, archbishop of Mexico, with his auxiliaries,
Bishop Carlos Briseno Arch, O.A.R., Bishop Florencio Armando Colin Cruz,
Bishop Jesus Antonio Lerma Nolasco, Bishop Andres Vargas Pena, Bishop Adolfo
Miguel Castano Fonseca, Bishop Crispin Ojeda Marquez, and Bishop Jorge Estrada
Solorzano;
 Bishop Juan Odilon Martinez Garcia of Atlacomulco;
 Bishop Francisco Javier Chavolla Ramos of Toluca;
 Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera Lopez of Monterrey, with his auxiliary, Bishop
Jorge Alberto Cavazos Arizpe;
 Bishop Antonio Gonzalez Sanchez of Ciudad Victoria;
 Bishop Ramon Calderon Batres of Linares;
 Bishop Ruy Rendon Leal of Matamoros;
 Bishop Gustavo Rodriguez Vega of Nuevo Laredo;
 Bishop Alondo Gerardo Garza Trevino of Piedras Negras;
 Bishop Jose Raul Vera Lopez of Saltillo, O.P.

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 OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
 Vatican City, 15 May 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
 - appointed Fr. Gabriel Angel Villa Vahos as bishop of Ocana (area 18,000,
population 627,000, Catholics 427,000, priests 72, permanent deacons 4,
religious 66), Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in Sopetran, Colombia in
1962 and was ordained a priest in 1989. He holds a licentiate in dogmatic
theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has served in a
number of pastoral roles, including: priest of the parish of "Nuestra Senora
de la Merced" in Yarumal, rector of the "Santo Tomas de Aquino" diocesan major
seminary, director of the department for ministers of the Episcopal Conference
of Colombia, vice rector of the "Fundacion Universitaria Catolica del Norte",
and diocesan administrator of Santa Rosa de Osos. He is currently director of
the the department for vocations and ministers of the Latin American Episcopal
Conference (CELAM). He succeeds Bishop Jorge Enrique Lozano Zafra, whose
resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon reaching the age
limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.
 - appointed Bishop Enrique Diaz Diaz as coadjutor bishop of San Cristobal de
Las Casas (area 36,821, population 1,734,000, Catholics 1,325,000, priests
105, permanent deacons 320, religious 252), Mexico. Bishop Diaz Diaz was
previously auxiliary of the same diocese.

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