Following the Eucharistic celebration, the Pope transferred to Tel Aviv's Ben
Gurion airport for his return flight to Rome, departing at 7.15 p.m. and
arriving at Rome's Ciampino airport at 11 p.m.

___________________________________________________________

 FRANCIS: TERRORISM IS BAD IN ITS ORIGINS AND ITS RESULTS
 Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) - "I want to say, with great humility, that
terrorism is bad! It is bad in its origins and it is bad in its results. It is
bad because it is born of hate, and it is bad in its results because it does
not construct, it destroys! May all people understand that the path of
terrorism does not help. The way of terrorism is fundamentally criminal. I
pray for all these victims and for all victims of terrorism in the world.
Please, no more terrorism! It is a dead-end street".
 These were the words spoken by Pope Francis yesterday, before the tomb
commemorating the victims of terrorism in Israel.

___________________________________________________________

 THE POPE RETURNS TO THE VATICAN AND SPEAKS TO JOURNALISTS ON THE FLIGHT
 Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) - At the end of his trip, during the flight
from Tel Aviv to Rome, Pope Francis spoke for over 40 minutes with the
journalists who accompanied him on the flight, answering their questions on
various issues linked not only to his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, but also in
relation to the abuse of minors, remarried divorcees, his upcoming trips,
priestly celibacy, and so on. Below is a summary of some of the Pope's answers.
 The Holy Land and the prayer meeting in the Vatican with Shimon Peres and
Mahmoud Abbas.
 The most authentic gestures are those that we don't think about, those that
come to us, aren't they? I thought about suggesting it during the trip, but
there were many logistical problems, because each one has to consider the
territory, and it's not easy. So I thought about a meeting, and at the end, I
came up with this invitation. It will be an encounter to pray, not for the
purposes of mediation. We will pray with the two presidents; prayer is
important, it helps. Afterwards, each person will return home. There would be
a rabbi, a Muslim, and myself.
 Abuse of minors
 At the moment there are three bishops under investigations: one has already
been found guilty and we are now considering the penalty to be imposed. There
are no privileges. ... A priest who does this betrays the Body of the Lord,
because this priest must lead this child, this boy, this girl, to sanctity,
and this boy or girl trusts in him; and instead of leading them to sanctity he
abuses them. This is very serious. It is like, by way of comparison, holding a
black Mass. You are supposed to lead them to sanctity and instead you lead
them to a problem that will last their entire lives. In a few days' time there
will be a Mass at the Domus Sanctae Marthae with some survivors of abuse, and
then a meeting with them. ... But we must move forward on this issue, with
zero tolerance!
 Contradiction between the poor and austere Church and the financial scandals
within
 The Gospel tells us that Lord Jesus once said to His disciples that it is
inevitable that there will be scandals, because we are human and we are
sinners. And there will be scandals. The key is trying to avoid that there are
more of them! Economic administration calls for honesty and transparency. The
two Commissions, the one which has studied the IOR and the Commission that has
studied the Vatican as whole, have reached their conclusions, and now the
ministry, the Secretariat for the economy directed by Cardinal Pell, will
carry out the reforms that the two Commissions have advised. ... For instance,
in the IOR I think that around 1,600 accounts have been closed, belonging to
people who were not entitled to hold an account at the IOR. The IOR exists to
help the Church, and accounts can be held by bishops, Vatican employees, and
their widows or widowers, to draw their pensions. ... But other private
individuals are not entitled to accounts. It is not open to all.
 European elections
 There is a key word: unemployment. This is a serious matter. It is serious
because I look at it this way, simplifying somewhat. We are in a global
economic system which places money at its centre, not the human person. A true
economic system should revolve around men and women, the human person. This
economic system we have today places money at the centre and to maintain its
equilibrium, it has to carry out various "waste" measures. Children are
discarded, as the low birth rates in Europe show, and the elderly are
abandoned.
 Stable and lasting peace in Jerusalem
 The Catholic Church has established its position from a religious point of
view: it will be the city of peace for the three religions. The concrete
measures for peace must come from negotiations. I agree that from the
negotiations perhaps it will emerge that it will be the capital of one State
or another, it would be madness on my part. But these are hypotheses, and I do
not consider myself competent to say that we should do one thing or another. I
believe that it is necessary to negotiate with honesty, fraternity and great
trust in the path of negotiation. It takes courage to do this, and I pray that
these two leaders, these two governments will have the courage to take this
path. It is the only route to peace.
 Priestly celibacy
 The Catholic Church has married priests - Greek Catholics, Coptic Catholics,
those of oriental rites. Celibacy is not a question of dogma, but rather a
rule of life that I greatly appreciate, as I believe it is a gift for the
Church. But, since it is not a dogma of faith, the door is always open.
 Relations with the Orthodox Churches
 Patriarch Bartholomew and I spoke about the unity we create as we walk
together. Unity cannot be created in a congress on theology. He confirmed that
Athenagoras said to Paul VI: "We go ahead together, calmly, and put all the
theologians together on an island where they can discuss among themselves, and
we walk ahead in life!". There are many things we can do to help each other.
For instance, with the Churches. In Rome, as in many cities, many Orthodox go
to Catholic churches. Another thing we mentioned, that may be considered in
the pan-orthodox Council, is the date of Easter, because it is somewhat
ridiculous to say, "When is your Christ resurrected? Mine was resurrected last
week". Yes, the date of Easter is a sign of unity. ... We also spoke a lot on
the problems of ecology, and the need to work together on this issue.
 Forthcoming trips and the problems faced by Christians in Asia
 With regard to Asia, two trips are planned: the one to South Korea, for the
meeting of young Asians, and then, next January, a two-day trip to Sri Lanka
and then on to the Philippines, to the area affected by the typhoon. The
problem of the lack of freedom of worship affects not only certain Asian
countries, but also other countries in the world. Religious freedom is
something that not all countries have. Some have a certain level of control
... others adopt measures that lead to a real persecution of believers. There
are martyrs! There are martyrs in our times, Christian martyrs, both Catholic
and non-Catholic. There are places where it is forbidden to wear a crucifix or
to possess a Bible; where it is forbidden to teach the catechism to children.
 Abdication from the pontificate in the case of failing strength and the issue
of Popes emeritus
 I will do what the Lord tells me to do: pray, and seek God's will. But I
think that Benedict XVI is not a unique case. It happened because he no longer
had the strength and in an honest way - he is a man of faith, and humble - he
took this decision. Seventy years ago bishops emeritus barely existed, whereas
now there are many. What will happen to Popes emeritus? I think that we must
look to him as an institution. He has opened a door, the door of Popes
emeritus. Will there be others? Only God knows. But this door is open, and I
think that a bishop of Rome, a Pope who feels that his strength is declining -
because we live much longer now - must ask himself the same questions that
Pope Benedict faced.
 Beatification of Pius XII
 The cause for Pius XII is open. However, there has been no miracle, and if
there are no miracles it is not yet possible to go ahead.
 Synod on the family and remarried divorcees
 The Synod in October will be on the family and the problems it faces; its
riches and its current situation. I do not like the fact that many people,
even within the Church, have said that it will be the Synod about remarried
divorcees, as if it could simply be reduced to a case study: can they receive
communion or not? The issue is much broader. Today, as we all know, the family
is in crisis, and it is a global crisis. Young people no longer want to get
married, or prefer simply to live together; marriage is in crisis, and
therefore the family is too. The problem of family pastoral care is very
broad. Pope Benedict said something about the family three times: it is
necessary to study the faith with which a person approaches marriage and
clarify that divorcees are not excommunicated, and very often they are treated
as if they are.
 Reform of the Roman Curia
 The council of eight cardinals is studying the constitution "Pastor bonus"
and the Roman Curia. It has consulted many people and with the Curia and is
still studying certain issues, such as bringing together various dicasteries
to streamline organisation. One of the key points is the economy, and it is
therefore necessary to work in collaboration with the secretary of State. ...
The obstacles are those one encounters in any process of this type. Planning
the approach, the work of persuasion is very important. There are some people
who do not see this clearly, but any reform involves these things. But I am
content, in truth.

___________________________________________________________

 HOLY FATHER'S CALENDAR FOR JUNE TO AUGUST 2014
 Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of
the Supreme Pontiff has published the following calendar of liturgical
celebrations over which the Holy Father will preside from September to
November:
 JUNE
 Sunday, 8: Pentecost. At 10 a.m., Holy Mass in the Papal Chapel of the
Vatican Basilica.
 Thursday, 12: At 10 a.m. in the Consistory Hall, Consistory for various
causes of canonisation.
 Thursday, 19: Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. At 7 p.m.,
St. John Lateran, Holy Mass in the Papal Chapel. Procession to St. Mary Major
and Eucharistic blessing.
 Saturday 21: Pastoral visit to Cassano all'Jonio.
 Sunday 29: Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. At 9.30 a.m., in the Papal
Chapel: Holy Mass and imposition of the pallium on the new metropolitan
archbishops.
 JULY
 Saturday, 5: Pastoral visit to Campobasso and Isernia.
 AUGUST
 Wednesday, 13. Apostolic trip to the Republic of Korea for the Sixth Asian
Youth Day.

___________________________________________________________

 OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
 Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
 - accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of
Lodz, Poland, presented by Bishop Adam Lepa, upon reaching the age limit.
 - accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of
Washington, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, S.F., upon
reaching the age limit.
 - gave his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the
Greek-Catholic Ukrainian Church of Fr. Yosafat Moshchych as auxiliary of the
archieparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk of the Ukrainians, Ukraine. The bishop-elect
was born in Stariy Rozdil, Ukraine in 1976 and was ordained a priest in 1999.
He holds a licentiate in moral theology from the Alphonsianum Academy, Rome,
and has served as Superior General of the missionary congregation of St.
Andrew the Apostle. He is currently "sincellus" for laical aggregations in the
archieparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk of the Ukrainians, Ukraine.

___________________________________________________________

For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:
www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va

Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican
Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting
the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)