VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 191
DATE 31-10-2014

Summary:
- The Pope to the Catholic Fraternity of the Charismatic Renewal: seek unity
without fearing diversity
- Pope Francis' prayer intentions for November
- Mission of the secretary of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" in Damascus
- The Holy See at the United Nations: climate change is not only an
environmental problem, but also a matter of justice
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
- In memoriam

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 The Pope to the Catholic Fraternity of the Charismatic Renewal: seek unity
without fearing diversity
 Vatican City, 31 October 2014 (VIS) - "Seek the unity which is the work of
the Holy Spirit and do not be afraid of diversity", said Pope Francis in his
address to a thousand members of the Catholic Fraternity of the Charismatic
Covenant Communities and Fellowship, who are about to begin their Sixteenth
International Conference on the theme "Praise and Worship for a New
Evangelisation".
 "Unity does not imply uniformity; it does not necessarily mean doing
everything together or thinking in the same way", he underlined. "Nor does it
signify a loss of identity. Unity in diversity is actually the opposite: it
involves the joyful recognition and acceptance of the various gifts which the
Holy Spirit gives to each one and the placing of these gifts at the service of
all members of the Church. It means knowing how to listen, to accept
differences, and having the freedom to think differently and express oneself
with complete respect towards the other who is my brother or sister. Do not be
afraid of differences!".
 Referring to the programme, where the names of the Communities are mentioned,
he noted that in the introduction there is the phrase, "to share the Baptism
in the Holy Spirit with the whole Church", and reiterated that the Church and
all Christians need to open their hearts to the sanctifying action of the Holy
Spirit. "The Spirit ... reveals Jesus Christ to us, and leads us to a personal
encounter with him. ... Is this your experience? Share it with others! In
order to share this experience, you must live it and bear witness to it!"
 "Praise is the 'breath' which gives us life, because it is intimacy with God,
an intimacy that grows through daily praise", continued the Holy Father,
explaining how spiritual life "works" by analogy with human respiration.
"Breathing is made up of two stages: inhaling, the intake of air, and
exhaling, the letting out of this air. The spiritual life is fed, nourished,
by prayer and is expressed outwardly through mission: inhaling and exhaling.
When we inhale, by prayer, we receive the fresh air of the Holy Spirit. When
exhaling this air, we announce Jesus Christ risen by the same Spirit. No one
can live without breathing. It is the same for the Christian: without praise
and mission there is no Christian life. And with praise, worship. We rarely
speak about worship. What do we do when we pray? We ask things of God, we give
thanks ... But worshipping and adoring God is part of breathing - praise and
worship".
 The Pope emphasised that "Charismatic Renewal has reminded the Church of the
necessity and importance of the prayer of praise", which is "the recognition
of the Lordship of God over us and over all creation expressed through dance,
music and song. ... The prayer of praise bears fruit in us. Sarah danced as
she celebrated her fertility - at the age of ninety! This fruitfulness gives
praise to God. ... Together with the prayer of praise, the prayer of
intercession is, in these days, a cry to the Father for our Christian brothers
and sisters who are persecuted and murdered, and for the cause of peace in our
turbulent world".
 "Charismatic Renewal is, by its very nature, ecumenical", he remarked, citing
the words of Blessed Paul VI : "The power of evangelisation will find itself
considerably diminished if those who proclaim the Gospel are divided among
themselves in all sorts of ways. Is this not perhaps one of the great
sicknesses of evangelisation today? The Lord's spiritual testament tells us
that unity among his followers is not only the proof that we are his but also
the proof that he is sent by the Father. It is the test of the credibility of
Christians and of Christ himself. Yes, the destiny of evangelisation is
certainly bound up with the witness of unity given by the Church'".
 Spiritual ecumenism, he concluded, is "praying and proclaiming together that
Jesus is Lord, and coming together to help the poor in all their poverty. We
must not forget that today the blood of Jesus, poured out by many Christian
martyrs in various parts of the world, calls us and compels us towards the
goal of unity. For persecutors, we are not divided: we are not Lutherans,
Orthodox, Evangelicals, Catholics. No! We are one. For persecutors, we are
Christians. It is an ecumenism of blood that we live today!".

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 Pope Francis' prayer intentions for November
 Vatican City, 31 October 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis' universal prayer
intention for November is: "That all who suffer loneliness may experience the
closeness of God and the support of others".
 His intention for evangelisation is: "That young seminarians and religious
may have wise and well-formed mentors".

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 Mission of the secretary of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" in Damascus
 Vatican City, 31 October 2014 (VIS) - From 28 to 31 October the secretary of
the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso, visited Damascus
in order to attend the meeting of the assembly of Catholic bishops in Syria.
 Msgr. Dal Toso also met with various institutions, especially Catholic, that
are currently involved in humanitarian aid activities in the country.
 In these meetings, special appreciation was expressed for the commitment of
the Holy Father and the Holy See to supporting the Christian communities and
the population as a whole, who suffer as a result of the conflict, and for
encouraging dialogue and reconciliation among the various parties.
 Emphasis was also placed on the important role of Catholic aid organisms, who
benefit all of the Syrian population. Through the generous contribution of the
international community, in the face of growing need, this assistance will
have to be intensified in the future.

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 The Holy See at the United Nations: climate change is not only an
environmental problem, but also a matter of justice
 Vatican City, 31 October 2014 (VIS) - On 16 October Archbishop Bernardito
Auza, Holy See Permanent Observer at the United Nations, addressed the Second
Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, dedicated to "Sustainable
development: protection of global climate for present and future generations".
 "While the impact of climate change is felt globally, developed and
technologically advanced countries have greater capacity to adapt and mitigate
the adverse effects, whereas developing and poor nations remain particularly
vulnerable", he said. "During the Climate Summit on September 23 and on many
other occasions, we have heard the urgent pleas of Small Island States that
climate change is an existential threat to them. This is paradoxical and
unjust, given that the primary factors of climate change, like high
consumption and high-quantity greenhouse gas emissions, characterize highly
industrialised societies. That is why the Holy See believes that climate
change is not only an environmental question; it is also a question of justice
and a moral imperative".
 "It is a matter of justice to help poor and vulnerable people suffering the
most from causes largely not of their making and beyond their control",
emphasised the archbishop. "One concrete step would be to make available to
them the best in adaptation and mitigation technology. And now all eyes are
already turned to the Twenty-first Conference of Parties to the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Eleventh Meeting of the Parties
to the Kyoto Protocol, which will take place in Paris in December 2015. There,
the poor and the rich - indeed, all of us - will be winners if we can reach
agreement on a post-2020 international regime, in which all the nations of the
world, including the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, bind themselves to
a universal agreement on climate".
 "It is along this line that my delegation sees a relevance of the term
'responsibility to protect', not only in the humanitarian and human rights
areas, but in the question of climate change as well. Everyone shares the
responsibility to protect our planet and the human family. ... Let us make the
conscientious choice of refraining from lifestyles and behaviour that could
worsen the state of our planet, and let us promote initiatives that protect
and heal it. The world has become a village; thus, we must become more and
more aware of this mutual and common responsibility. In particular, States
have the grave duty to make policy decisions and devise monitoring structures
to ensure that present and future generations live in a safe and worthy
environment", he concluded.

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 Audiences
 Vatican City, 31 October 2014 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in
audience:
 - Bruno Neve de Mevergnies, new ambassador of Belgium to the Holy See,
presenting his credential letters;
 - Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, secretary of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith;
 - Archbishop Martin Krebs, apostolic nuncio in New Zealand, Fiji, Cook
Islands, Kiribati, Palau, Samoa, Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu,
Tonga, and apostolic delegate in the Pacific Ocean;
 - Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brasilia, Brazil.

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 31 October 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:
 - Bishop Jean Mbarga of Ebolowa, Cameroon, as archbishop of Yaounde (area
23,807, population 1,594,000, Catholics 1,538,000, priests 138, religious
318), Cameroon. Bishop Mbarga was formerly apostolic administrator of the same
archdiocese.
 - The following consultors of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints: Fr.
Bernard Ardura, O. Praem., France, president of the Pontifical Committee for
Historical Sciences; Msgr. Alejandro Cifres Gimenez, Spain, archivist of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; Fr. Paolo Carlotti, S.D.B., Italy,
advisor to the Apostolic Penitentiary; Fr. Tomislav Mrkonjic, O.F.M. Conv.,
Croatia, scriptor of the Vatican Secret Archive; Fr. Paul Murray, O.P.,
Ireland, Institute of Spirituality of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas
Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome; Fr. Martin McKeever, C.S.S.R., Ireland, of the
Alphonsianum Academy, Rome; Fr. Jordi-Agusti Pique i Collado, O.S.B., Spain,
of the Liturgical Institute of the St. Anselm Pontifical Athenaeum, Rome; Fr.
Rocco Ronzani, O.S.A., Italy, of the Augustinianum Patristic Institute, Rome;
Fr. Pablo Santiago Zambruno, O.P., of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas
Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome; Fr. Raffaele Di Muro, O.F.M. Conv., Italy, of the
"San Bonaventura" Theological Faculty; Professor Gabriele Zaccagnini, Italy,
of the University of Pisa; Professor Angela Ales Bello, of the Pontifical
Academy of Theology.

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 In memoriam
 Vatican City, 31 October 2014 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent
weeks:
 - Bishop Cirilo B. Flores of San Diego, California, U.S.A., on 6 September at
the age of 66.
 - Bishop Joseph Abangite Gasi, emeritus of Tombura-Yambio, South Sudan, on 12
September at the age of 86.
 - Bishop Servilio Conti, I.M.C., prelate emeritus of Roraima, Brazil, on 14
September at the age of 97.
 - Bishop Jose Luis Serna Alzate, emeritus of Libano-Honda, Colombia, on 28
September at the age of 78.
 - Archbishop Carlo Curis, apostolic nuncio in Canada, on 29 September at the
age of 90.
 - Archbishop Angelo Mottola, apostolic nuncio in Montenegro, on 8 October at
the age of 79.
 - Bishop John Patrick Boles, ex-auxiliary of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.,
on 9 October at the age of 84.
 - Bishop Jose Hernan Sanchez Porras of the Military Ordinariate of Venezuela,
on 13 October at the age of 70.
 - Bishop Joao Corso, S.D.B., emeritus of Campos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on
15 October at the age of 86.
 - Bishop Jose Refugio Mercado Diaz, auxiliary emeritus of Tehuantepec,
Mexico, on 15 October at the age of 72.
 - Bishop Patrick Paul D'Souza, emeritus of Varanasi, India, on 16 October at
the age of 86.
 - Bishop Paul Henry Walsh, auxiliary emeritus of Rockville Centre, New York,
U.S.A., on 18 October at the age of 77.
 - Bishop Peter Baptist Tadamaro Ishigami, O.F.M. Cap., emeritus of Naha,
Japan, on 25 October at the age of 93.
 - Bishop Manuel Revollo Crespo, C.M.F., coadjutor emeritus of the Bolivia
Military Ordinariate, on 26 October at the age of 89.
 - Bishop Mansour Hobeika of Zahleh, Lebanon, on 28 October at the age of 72.

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