VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 155
DATE 15-09-2014

Summary:
- The Pope to render homage to martyrs of faith in Albania
- Sixth meeting of the Council of Cardinals
- Francis marries twenty couples from the diocese of Rome
- Angelus: the Cross restores hope
- Humanity still has not learnt that war is madness
- Cardinal Aguilar to take possession of his titular church
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 The Pope to render homage to martyrs of faith in Albania
 Vatican City, 15 September 2014 (VIS) - Homage to martyrs of faith, victims
of the communist regime, the importance of dialogue with Islam in a country
with a Muslim majority but with a notable Christian presence, both Catholic
and Orthodox, and the memory of blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, born in
Albania, will be the fundamental themes that Pope Francis will address in his
upcoming trip to the capital Tirana next Sunday, 21 September, said Fr.
Federico Lombardi S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, in a press
conference held this morning.
 The apostolic trip to Albania is Pope Francis' first in a European country
outside Italy and the fourth of his pontificate.

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 Sixth meeting of the Council of Cardinals
 Vatican City, 15 September 2014 (VIS) - The sixth meeting of the Council of
Cardinals with the Holy Father began this morning, and will continue during
the days of 16 and 17 September. The Council of Cardinals was instituted by
Pope Francis to assist in the governance of the universal Church and to draw
up a plan for the revision of the apostolic constitution "Pastor bonus" on the
Roman Curia.

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 Francis marries twenty couples from the diocese of Rome
 Vatican City, 14 September 2014 (VIS) - This morning, Pope Francis celebrated
the marriage of twenty couples from Rome, the diocese of which he is bishop,
during a Holy Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica. The cardinal vicar of
Rome, Agostino Vallini, and Archbishop Filippo Iannone, vice-regent and
director of the diocesan Centre for Family Pastoral, concelebrated with the
Pontiff.
 The couples married by the Pope, according to a press release from the
Vicariate of Rome, are like many others, engaged for different lengths of
time; some already live together, others have children, and others met within
the parish. The youngest couple were born in 1986 and 1989 respectively,
whereas the eldest were born in 1958 and 1965.
 In his homily, the Holy Father, commenting on the Bible passage that speaks
of the long and wearisome journey of the people of Israel through the desert,
spoke of marriage as a path with areas of light and shadows, during which the
mercy and grace of Christ can regenerate and channel married and family life.
 "Today's first reading speaks to us of the people's journey through the
desert", he began. "We can imagine them as they walked, led by Moses; they
were families: fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, grandparents, men and
women of all ages, accompanied by many children and the elderly who struggled
to make the journey. This people reminds us of the Church as she makes her way
across the desert of the contemporary world, reminds us of the People of God
composed, for the most part, of families.
 "This makes us think of families, our families, walking along the paths of
life with all their day to day experiences. It is impossible to quantify the
strength and depth of humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational
support, relationships developing as family members mature, the sharing of
joys and difficulties. Families are the first place in which we are formed as
persons and, at the same time, the 'bricks' for the building up of society.
 "Let us return to the biblical story. At a certain point, 'the people became
impatient on the way'. They are tired, water supplies are low and all they
have for food is manna, which, although plentiful and sent by God, seems far
too meagre in a time of crisis. And so they complain and protest against God
and against Moses: 'Why did you make us leave?'. They are tempted to turn back
and abandon the journey.
 "Here our thoughts turn to married couples who 'become impatient on the way',
the way of conjugal and family life. The hardship of the journey causes them
to experience interior weariness; they lose the flavour of matrimony and they
cease to draw water from the well of the Sacrament. Daily life becomes
burdensome, and often, even 'nauseating'. During such moments of
disorientation - the Bible says - poisonous serpents come and bite the people,
and many die. This causes the people to repent and to turn to Moses for
forgiveness, asking him to beseech the Lord so that he will cast out the
snakes. Moses prays to the Lord, and the Lord offers a remedy: a bronze
serpent set on a pole; whoever looks at it will be saved from the deadly
poison of the vipers.
 "What is the meaning of this symbol? God does not destroy the serpents, but
rather offers an 'antidote': by means of the bronze serpent fashioned by
Moses, God transmits his healing strength, namely his mercy, which is more
potent than the Tempter's poison.
 "As we have heard in the Gospel, Jesus identifies Himself with this symbol:
out of love the Father 'has given' His only begotten Son so that men and women
might have eternal life. Such immense love of the Father spurs the Son to
become man, to become a servant and to die for us upon a cross. Out of such
love, the Father raises up his Son, giving Him dominion over the entire
universe. This is expressed by Saint Paul in his hymn in the Letter to the
Philippians. Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus crucified receives the mercy of
God and finds healing from the deadly poison of sin.
 "The cure which God offers the people applies also, in a particular way, to
spouses who 'have become impatient on the way' and who succumb to the
dangerous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment. To
them too, God the Father gives His Son Jesus, not to condemn them, but to save
them: if they entrust themselves to Him, He will bring them healing by the
merciful love which pours forth from the Cross, with the strength of His grace
that renews and sets married couples and families once again on the right path.

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