VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 169
DATE 02-10-2014

Summary:
- The Pope to the Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East:
there is no religious, political or economic justification for the condition
of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria
- To the prelates of Chad: the behaviour of the Church is a model for all
society
- To Justice and Peace: rising inequality and poverty endanger democracy
- Pope Francis receives in audience the survivors of the Lampedusa shipwreck
that claimed 368 lives
- Papal representatives in the Middle East gather in the Vatican to discuss
the situation of Christians in the region
- Audiences

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 The Pope to the Catholicos Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East:
there is no religious, political or economic justification for the condition
of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and Syria
 Vatican City, 2014 (VIS) - "Our meeting is marked by the suffering we share
on account of the wars that beset various regions of the Middle East and in
particular for the violence suffered by Christians and members of other
religious minorities, especially in Iraq and Syria", said Pope Francis this
morning, as he received in audience His Holiness Mar Dinka IV, Catholicos
Patriarch of the Assyrian Church of the East. "When we think of their
suffering, it is natural to overcome the distinctions of rite or confession;
in them there is the body of Christ that, still today, is injured, beaten and
humiliated. There are no religious, political or economic factors that can
justify what is happening to hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and
children. We are deeply united in our prayers for intercession and in charity
towards these suffering members of the body of Christ".
 "Your visit is another step along the path of an increasing closeness and
spiritual communion between us, after the bitter misunderstandings of previous
centuries", continued the bishop of Rome. Twenty years ago, the joint
Christological declaration you signed along with my predecessor, the Pope St.
John Paul II, was a milestone in our path to full communion. In this
declaration we acknowledged that we confess the sole faith of the apostles,
faith in the divinity and humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, united in a
single person, without confusion or alteration, without division or separation.
 Finally, the Pope referred to the work of the Joint Commission for
Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of
the East, which he accompanies with prayer "so that the blessed day may come
in which we are able to celebrate at the same altar the sacrifice of praise,
that will make us one in Christ. ... What unites us is far greater than what
divides, and for this reason we feel urged by the Spirit to share from now the
spiritual treasures of our ecclesial traditions, to live, like true brothers,
sharing the gifts that the Lord does not cease to give to our Churches, as a
sign of His goodness and mercy".

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 To the prelates of Chad: the behaviour of the Church is a model for all
society
 Vatican City, 2014 (VIS) - The implementation of catechetical methods for
inculturation, the defence of the family and the role of women, and the need
for dialogue with other religions in a country where Catholics are a minority
are the main themes of the discourse Pope Francis handed to the bishops of
Chad this morning, at the end of their "ad Limina" visit. The Holy Father
writes that the Catholic communities in this country "are growing, not only
numerically, but also in terms of quality and the strength of their efforts",
and expressed his satisfaction for the work carried out in the spheres of
education, health and development. "The civil authorities are very grateful to
the Catholic Church for her contribution to society as a whole in Chad. I
encourage you to persevere along this path, as there is a strong bond between
evangelisation and human development, a bond that must be expressed and
developed in all the work of evangelisation. Service to the poor and the most
disadvantaged constitutes a true testimony of Christ, Who made Himself poor in
order to be close to us and to save us. Both the religious congregations and
lay associations who work with them play an important role in this respect,
and they are to be thanked for this".
 "However", he observes, "it is certain that this commitment to social service
does not constitute the entirety of evangelizing activity; the deepening and
strengthening of faith in the hearts of the faithful, that translates into an
authentic spiritual and sacramental life, are essential to enable them to
withstand the many trials of contemporary life, and to ensure that the
behaviour of the faithful is more coherent with the requirements of the
Gospel. ... This is especially necessary in a country where certain cultural
traditions bear considerable weight, where less morally demanding religious
possibilities are present everywhere, and where secularism begins to make
headway".
 Therefore, "it is necessary for the faithful to receive a solid doctrinal and
spiritual formation. And the first locus of formation is certainly catechesis.
I invite you, with a renewed missionary spirit, to implement the catechetical
methods used in your dioceses. First, the good aspects of their traditions
must be considered and accorded their due value - because Christ did not come
to destroy cultures, but rather to lead them to fulfilment - while that which
is not Christian must be clearly denounced. At the same time, it is essential
to ensure the accuracy and integrity of doctrinal content".
 The Pope goes on to refer to families, who are "the vital cell of society and
the Church, and who are currently very vulnerable. ... And within the family,
it is important that the role and the dignity of the woman are recognised, to
bear eloquent witness to the Gospel. Therefore, in this respect, "behaviour
within the Church must be a model for the whole of society".
 After reiterating the need for the permanent formation of the clergy and the
closeness of bishops and priests, Pope Francis observes that the Church in
Chad, "despite her vitality and development, is a minority in a population in
which there is a Muslim majority and which is still partly bound to its
traditional religions", and encouraged the prelates to ensure "that the
Church, which is respected and listened to, occupies the space justly accorded
to her in society in Chad, in which a significant element has converted, even
though this remains a minority". He continues, "in this context, I must urge
you to foster interreligious dialogue, which was fortunately initiated by the
late Archbishop of N'Djamena, Mathias M'Garteri Mayadi, who did much to
promote the co-existence of different religious communities. I believe that it
is necessary to continue with this type of initiative to prevent the violence
to which Christians have fallen victim in neighbouring countries".
 The Holy Father concluded by reiterating the importance of maintaining the
good relations established with the civil authorities, and highlighted the
recent signing of a Framework Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic
of Chad that, once ratified, will greatly help the mission of the Church.

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 To Justice and Peace: rising inequality and poverty endanger democracy
 Vatican City, 2014 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received in audience
the participants in the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Council "Justice
and Peace": a meeting that coincides with the fifth anniversary of the
publication of Benedict VI's encyclical "Caritas in veritate". Pope Francis
described it as "a fundamental document for the evangelisation of the social
sphere, which offers valuable guidance for the presence of Catholics in
society, in the institutions, in the economy, in finance and in politics",
which "has drawn attention to both the benefits and the dangers of
globalisation, when the latter is not guided towards the good of the people.
While globalisation has increased aggregate wealth and that of a number of
individual States, it has also caused division between various social groups,
creating inequality and new forms of poverty in within those same countries
that are considered to be among the richest".
 The Pope remarked that one of the aspects of the current economic system is
the exploitation of international imbalances in the costs of labour, which
affects millions of people who live on less than two dollars a day. This
imbalance not only fails to respect the dignity of those who provide low cost
labour, but also removes sources of work from those areas where it is most
protected. "This poses the problem of creating mechanisms for protecting
working rights, as well as the environment, in the presence of an increasingly
consumerist ideology, that does not demonstrate responsibility with regard to
cities and to creation. Rising inequality and poverty put participatory and
inclusive democracy at risk; the latter always presupposes an economy and a
market that are fair and do not exclude. This therefore means that the
structural causes of inequality and poverty must be dealt with". Frances
remarked that in his apostolic exhortation "Evangelii gaudium" he indicated
three basic instruments for the social inclusion of the those most in need:
education, access to healthcare, and work for all.

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