"If we believe in the principle of the unity of the human family, based on
the common paternity of God the Creator, and in the fraternity of human
beings, no form of political or economic pressure that exploits the
availability of foodstuffs can be considered acceptable. Political and
economic pressure: here I think of our sister and mother, Earth, our planet,
and of whether we are free of political and economic pressure and able to care
for her, to avoid her destruction. We have two conferences ahead of us, in
Perù and France, which pose the challenge to us of caring for our planet. I
remember a phrase that I heard from an elderly man many years ago: God always
forgives ... our misdemeanours, our abuse, God always forgives; men forgive at
times; but the Earth never forgives. We must care for our sister the Earth,
our Mother Earth, so that she does not respond with destruction. But, above
all, no system of discrimination, de facto or de jure, linked to the capacity
of access to the market of foodstuffs, must be taken as a model for
international efforts that aim to eliminate hunger.
 "By sharing these reflections with you, I ask that the Almighty, God rich in
mercy, bless all those who, with different responsibilities, place themselves
at the service of those who experience hunger and who assist them with
concrete gestures of closeness. I also pray that the international community
might hear the call of this Conference and consider it an expression of the
common conscience of humanity: feed the hungry, save life on the planet. Thank
you".

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 Intense work by the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops
 Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) - The Ordinary Council of the Synod of
Bishops will meet on 18 and 19 November to reflect on the results of the Third
Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held during October,
and to prepare for the 14 th General Ordinary Assembly on the theme "The
vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary
world", to be held from 4 to 25 October 2015.
 The Holy Father will chair the Council on Tuesday 18 and his presence will
underline the importance he accords to the Synod as an expression of episcopal
collegiality and to the family, the theme of the two Assemblies: the
extraordinary Assembly held this year and the Ordinary one, in the preparatory
stages.
 Alongside the secretary general, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, and the
under-secretary, Archbishop Fabio Fabene, the meeting was attended by
Cardinals Christoph Schonborn, Wilfried F. Napier, Peter K.A. Turkson, George
Pell, Donald W. Wuerl, and Luis A. Tagle, and by Archbishops Bruno Forte and
Salvatore Fisichella. Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical
Council for the Family, also participated by invitation.
 In his introduction to the work of the Synod, the secretary general
emphasised the climate of freedom and sincerity and the spirit of fraternal
communion that characterised the Assembly, in which everyone was encouraged to
contribute. Also, the final document, the Relatio Synodi, faithfully reflects
the multi-faceted results of the Synod and offers a good summary of the
process that took place during the Assembly.
 In the meeting, it was agreed that the current period between the two
Assemblies, which is unprecedented in the history of the Synod as an
institution, is of great importance. It is necessary to take the path followed
so far as a starting point and to make the most of this special opportunity to
deepen knowledge of the themes and to promote discussion at the level of the
episcopal conferences, finding the means and the tools necessary to further
involve various ecclesial bodies in the synodal reflection on the family.
Various ideas on communication were also considered, which may be useful in
view of the preparation for the upcoming Ordinary Assembly.
 The majority of the work was devoted to the preparation of the Lineamenta for
the next Ordinary Assembly. The guidelines will be made up, as previously
indicated, of the Relatio Synodi, accompanied by a series of points to help in
its reception and elaboration.
 The Lineamenta are expected to be sent to the Episcopal Conferences at the
beginning of December, so that the answers can be received in good time to
allow them to be developed in the Instrumentum Laboris before the summer of
2015.

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 The joy of the Gospel is a missionary joy
 Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) - The Third World Congress of Ecclesial
Movements and New Communities began in Rome today. Organised by the Pontifical
Council for the Laity, the meeting is a response to the appeal for missionary
conversion launched by Pope Francis to all Christians in his apostolic
exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.
 The congress - the third of this type following those held during the
pontificates of St. John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2006 - will be
attended by more than 300 members of lay associations from 40 countries,
gathered to explore the theme "The joy of the Gospel: a missionary joy".
 The congress was inaugurated by Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the
Pontifical Council for the Laity, who recalled the rich teaching of the last
three pontiffs on what St. John Paul II defined as "the new season of
associations of the faithful". The cardinal emphasised that St. John Paul II
closely followed and guided the rapid development of ecclesial movements and
new communities, accompanying them with his clear and enlightening words ...
and indicated a new phase in the life of new charisms, which would necessarily
have to follow their initial flourish - the phase of ecclesial maturity".
 For Pope Benedict XVI, he continued, "the multiple forms and the unity of
charisms and ministries are inseparable in the life of the Church. The Holy
Spirit desires the multiplicity of movements in the service of the single Body
that is the Church".
 Pope Francis well knows the reality of ecclesial movements, insists that the
new charisms "are not a closed patrimony, consigned to a specific group to
guard it; they are rather gifts from the Spirit integrated into the ecclesial
body, attracted towards the centre that is Christ, from where they are
channeled into an evangelical impulse".

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop
Peter Andrew Comensoli as bishop of Broken Bay (area 2,763, population
930,000, Catholics 395,000, priests 109, permanent deacons 6, religious 155),
Australia. Bishop Comensoli is currently auxiliary of the archdiocese of
Sydney, Australia.

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