VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 107
DATE 09-06-2014

Summary:
- POPE FRANCIS AND THE PRESIDENTS OF ISRAEL AND PALESTINE INVOKE PEACE
- THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE LIVING MEMORY OF THE CHURCH
- REGINA COELI: A CHURCH CAPABLE OF SURPRISING
- THE POPE TELEPHONES PILGRIMS FROM MACERATA TO LORETO
- SPORT IS A FORM OF EDUCATION
- THE POPE RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF MEXICO
- THE CHURCH PROPOSES A SYSTEM OF JUSTICE THAT AIMS TO FULL REHABILITATE
WRONGDOERS
- STUDY DAY DEDICATED TO ST. PIUS X
- THE AIF FURTHER STRENGTHENS INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION
- CARDINAL FILONI SPECIAL ENVOY TO FUNCHAL
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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 POPE FRANCIS AND THE PRESIDENTS OF ISRAEL AND PALESTINE INVOKE PEACE
 Vatican City, 9 June 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the Vatican Gardens
hosted the Invocation for Peace, the initiative Pope Francis proposed to
presidents Shimon Peres and Mahmoud Abbas during his recent pilgrimage to the
Holy Land, to pray for the gift of peace for the Israeli and Palestinian
peoples. Peres and Abbas arrived in the Vatican at 6.15 and 6.30 p.m.
respectively, and were received by the Holy Father at the entrance of the
Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he spoke briefly first with the Israel president,
and then with the Palestinian.
 Shortly after, they entered the Santa Marta Hall where they were joined by
the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomaios I, and then transferred by car to the
Vatican Gardens where they were awaited by their respective delegations. The
meeting began with the following words: "May the Lord grant us peace! We are
gathered here, Israelis and Palestinians, Jews, Christians and Muslims, to
offer our prayer for peace for the Holy Land and for all its inhabitants".
 As previously explained, the meeting took place in three phases, followed by
a conclusion. Following the chronological order of the three religions, it
began with the Jewish community, followed by Christians, and finally Muslims.
The first phase, for the three communities, consisted of praise to God for the
gift of creation and for having made us members of one human family. The
second was a plea to God for forgiveness for not having acted like brothers
and sisters, and for our sins against God and neighbour. The third invokes
from God the gift of peace in the Holy Land and the capacity to be converted
into builders of peace. Each of these phases was accompanied by a brief
musical interlude. A longer musical meditation concluded each of the three
principal parts. At the end, before exchanging handshakes and planting an
olive tree as a symbol of the common desire for peace between the Palestinian
and Israeli peoples, the Holy Father, President Shimon Peres and President
Mahmoud Abbas all gave brief discourses.
 "Distinguished Presidents", began Pope Francis, "I greet you with immense joy
and I wish to offer you, and the eminent delegations accompanying you, the
same warm welcome which you gave to me during my recent pilgrimage to the Holy
Land. I am profoundly grateful to you for accepting my invitation to come here
and to join in imploring from God the gift of peace. It is my hope that this
meeting will be a path to seeking the things that unite, so as to overcome the
things that divide. I also thank Your Holiness, my venerable Brother
Bartholomaios, for joining me in welcoming these illustrious guests. Your
presence here is a great gift, a much-appreciated sign of support, and a
testimony to the pilgrimage which we Christians are making towards full unity".
 "Your presence, dear Presidents, is a great sign of brotherhood which you
offer as children of Abraham. It is also a concrete expression of trust in
God, the Lord of history, Who today looks upon all of us as brothers and Who
desires to guide us in His ways. This meeting of prayer for peace in the Holy
Land, in the Middle East and in the entire world is accompanied by the prayers
of countless people of different cultures, nations, languages and religions:
they have prayed for this meeting and even now they are united with us in the
same supplication. It is a meeting which responds to the fervent desire of all
who long for peace and dream of a world in which men and women can live as
brothers and sisters and no longer as adversaries and enemies".
 "Dear Presidents, our world is a legacy bequeathed to us from past
generations, but it is also on loan to us from our children: our children who
are weary, worn out by conflicts and yearning for the dawn of peace, our
children who plead with us to tear down the walls of enmity and to set out on
the path of dialogue and peace, so that love and friendship will prevail.
Many, all too many, of those children have been innocent victims of war and
violence, saplings cut down at the height of their promise. It is our duty to
ensure that their sacrifice is not in vain. The memory of these children
instils in us the courage of peace, the strength to persevere undaunted in
dialogue, the patience to weave, day by day, an ever more robust fabric of
respectful and peaceful coexistence, for the glory of God and the good of all.
Peacemaking calls for courage, much more so than warfare. It calls for the
courage to say yes to encounter and no to conflict: yes to dialogue and no to
violence; yes to negotiations and no to hostilities; yes to respect for
agreements and no to acts of provocation; yes to sincerity and no to
duplicity. All of this takes courage, it takes strength and tenacity".
 "History teaches that our own powers do not suffice. More than once we have
been on the verge of peace, but the evil one, employing a variety of means,
has succeeded in blocking it. That is why we are here, because we know and we
believe that we need the help of God. We do not renounce our responsibilities,
but we do call upon God in an act of supreme responsibility before our
consciences and before our peoples. We have heard a summons, and we must
respond. It is the summons to break the spiral of hatred and violence, and to
break it by one word alone: the word 'brother'. But to be able to utter this
word we have to lift our eyes to heaven and acknowledge one another as
children of one Father".
 "To him, the Father, in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, I now turn, begging the
intercession of the Virgin Mary, a daughter of the Holy Land and our Mother.
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer! We have tried so many times and over so
many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our
arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much
blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have
been buried... But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid!
Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our
eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: 'Never again war!'; 'With
war everything is lost'. Instil in our hearts the courage to take concrete
steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of
Love, You created us and You call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us
the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who
crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of
our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of
peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarrelling into
forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and
perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace
triumph at last, and may the words 'division', 'hatred' and 'war' be banished
from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our
tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds, so that the word which
always brings us together will be 'brother', and our way of life will always
be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen".
 President Shimon Peres then addressed those present: "I have come from the
Holy City of Jerusalem to thank you for your exceptional invitation", he said.
"The Holy City of Jerusalem is the beating heart of the Jewish people. In
Hebrew, our ancient language, the word Jerusalem and the word for peace share
the same root. And indeed peace is the vision of Jerusalem. As it is said in
the Book of Psalms: Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May those who love you be
secure. May there be peace within your walls and security within your
citadels. For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, 'Peace be within
you'. For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your
prosperity".
 "During your historic visit to the Holy Land, you moved us with the warmth of
your heart, the sincerity of your intentions, your modesty, and your kind
ways. You touched the people's hearts - regardless of their faith or nation.
You emerged as a bridge-builder of brotherhood and peace. We are all in need
of the inspiration which accompanies your character and your way. Thank you".
 "Two peoples - Israelis and Palestinians - still are aching for peace. The
tears of mothers over their children are still etched in our hearts. We must
put an end to the cries, to the violence, to the conflict. We all need peace.
Peace between equals. Your invitation to us to join you in this momentous
ceremony to call for peace, here in the Vatican garden, in the presence of
Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Druze leaders,graciously reflects your vision
of the aspiration we all share: Peace. On this moving occasion, brimming with
hope and full of faith, let us all raise with you, Your Holiness, a call for
peace between religions, between nations, between communities, and between
fellow men and women. Let true peace become our legacy soon and swiftly".
 "Our Book of Books commands upon us the way of peace, demands of us to toil
for its realization. It is said in the book of Proverbs: 'Her ways are ways of
grace, and all her paths are peace'. So too must our ways be. Ways of grace
and peace. It is not by chance that Rabbi Akiva captured the essence of our
Torah in one sentence: 'Love your neighbour like thyself'. We are all equal
before the Lord. We are all part of the human family. For without peace, we
are not complete, and we have yet to achieve the mission of humanity. Peace
does not come easy. We must toil with all our strengths to reach it. To reach
it soon. Even if it requires sacrifice or compromise. The Book of Psalms tells
us: 'Whoever loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue
from evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn from evil and do good, seek
peace and pursue it'".
 "This is to say, we are commanded to pursue after peace. All year. Every day.
We greet each other with this blessing. Shalom. Salam. We must be worthy of
the deep and demanding meaning of this blessing. Even when peace seems
distant, we must pursue it to bring it closer. And if we pursue peace with
perseverance, with faith, we will reach it. And it will endure through us,
through all of us, of all faiths, of all nations, as it is written: 'They will
beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation
will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war any more'.
The soul is elated upon the reading of these verses of eternal vision. And we
can - together and now, Israelis and Palestinians - convert our noble vision
to a reality of welfare and prosperity. It is within our power to bring peace
to our children. This is our duty, the holy mission of parents. Let me end
with a prayer: He who makes peace in the heavens shall make peace upon us and
upon all of Israel, and upon the entire world, and let us say Amen".
 Finally, the president of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, said: "It is indeed a
great honour for us to meet again with His Holiness Pope Francis in fulfilment
of his kind invitation to relish his spiritual and noble presence, and listen
to his opinion and crystal wisdom, which emanate from a sound heart, vibrant
conscience, as well as an elevated ethical and religious sense. I thank your
Holiness from the bottom of my heart for initiating this important gathering
here in the Vatican. Simultaneously, we highly appreciate your visit to the
Holy Land Palestine, and in particular to our Holy city Jerusalem and to
Bethlehem, the city of love and peace, and the cradle of Jesus Christ. The
visit is a sincere expression of your belief in peace and a truthful attempt
to achieve peace between Palestinians and Israelis".
 "Oh God, we ever praise You for making Jerusalem our gate to heaven. As said
in the Holy Quran, '?Glory to Him who made His servant travel by night from
the sacred place of worship to the furthest place of worship, whose
surroundings we have blessed'.? You made pilgrimage and prayer in it as the
best acts the faithful can make in your praise, and made your truthful promise
in your say:? '?Let them enter the Masjid as they did for the first time'. ?
God Almighty has spoken the truth".

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