VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 219
DATE 10-12-2014

Summary:
- General audience: new series of catechesis on the family
- Presentation of the Message for the 48th World Day of Peace
- Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters: the Pope's Message for World Day
of Peace
- "Love is our mission: the family, fully alive": theme of the 7th World
Meeting of Families
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 General audience: new series of catechesis on the family
 Vatican City, 10 December 2014 (VIS) - Having concluded his catechesis on the
Church, in today's general audience Pope Francis began a new series dedicated
to the family, "a new cycle in this intermediate period between two Synod
Assemblies dedicated to this important reality". Before considering the
different aspects of family life, Francis began by speaking about the Synod
held last October on the theme "Pastoral challenges to the family in the
context of new evangelisation".
 The Pontiff first praised the work of the Holy See Press Office during the
Synod, and the good work accomplished by the media responsible for covering
the assembly. He went on to mention the events and results of the assembly,
and emphasised that at no point was there any form of censorship and that the
Synod Fathers were entirely free to speak frankly. "The only think I asked of
them was that they speak with sincerity and courage, and listen with humility".
 He explained that the Instrumentum laboris always remained the basis of all
the interventions that took place, and that this document was the result of a
previous consultation involving all of the Church. He remarked that "no
intervention challenged the fundamental truths of the Sacrament of Marriage:
indissolubility, unity, fidelity and openness to life". All these
interventions, in a second phase, were gathered together and gave rise to the
Relatio post disceptationem or the post-discussion report, which was divided
into three sections: listening to the context and the challenges to the
family; looking steadily at Christ and the Gospel of the family, and
comparison with pastoral perspectives. The third phase, the group discussions,
followed this first approach at a summary. Finally, at the end of its work,
each group presented a report and all the group reports were published
immediately, "with transparency, so that what was happening was made known".
 Finally, a commission examined all the suggestions that emerged from the
groups and the a Final Report was produced, maintaining the same structure as
before - listening, looking to the Gospel and pastoral ministry - which was
then sent to all the Episcopal Conferences worldwide to enable discussion
prior to the Ordinary Assembly, scheduled for October 2015. As always, a Final
Message from the Synod was approved, more concise and informative compared to
the Report. The Holy Father remarked that the Synod Fathers "did not argue,
but there were animated discussions. This is the freedom of the Church", and
added that there are three official Synod documents: the Final Message, the
Final Report, and the Pope's concluding discourse.
 The Bishop of Rome emphasised that the Synod is not a parliament but rather a
protected space that allows the Holy Spirit to intervene, and that now the
work of prayer, reflection and fraternal discussion must continue in the
particular Churches in preparation for the upcoming Assembly. "Let us commend
it to the protection of the Virgin Mother, so that she may help us to follow
God's will in making pastoral decisions that offer greater and better help to
families", he concluded.

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 Presentation of the Message for the 48th World Day of Peace
 Vatican City, 10 December 2014 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press
Office a press conference was held to present the Holy Father's Message for
the 48th World Day of Peace, to be held on 1 January 2015 on the theme "Slaves
no more, but brothers and sisters". The speakers were Cardinal Peter Kodwo
Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace";
Bishop Mario Toso, S.D.B., secretary of the same dicastery; Vittorio V.
Alberti, official of "Justice and Peace"; and Sister Gabriella Bottani,
Combonian missionary representing the International Network of Consecrated
Life Against Human Trafficking (of the International Union of Superior
Generals) and head of Talitha Kum.
 The theme chosen by the Pope, explained Cardinal Turkson, "regards not only
the foundation of peace but also its concrete achievement in interpersonal
relations. Therefore, it must be an invitation to transform social relations
from a relationship of dependence-slavery, and the negation of the humanity of
the other, to a relationship of fraternity lived between brothers and sisters
who share the same Father. An itinerary of conversion for believers that leads
to recognition of the other not as an enemy to combat or an inferior being to
exploit, but rather a brother or sister to love and for this reason to free
from all the chains of slavery".
 "Starting from the Epistle of Paul to Philemon and other passages from the
Bible, "the Holy Father shows that God's plan for humanity does not have any
place for the enslavement of others, since God calls to all of his sons and
daughters to renew their interpersonal relationships, respecting in each
person the image and semblance of God along with the intangible dignity of
every person, confident in the Good News of Jesus Christ, who is capable of
renewing the heart of man, where sin is most abundant".
 "However, despite the great efforts of many people, modern slavery continues
to be an atrocious scourge that is present on a large scale throughout the
world, even as tourism. This 'crime of injured humanity' is masked by
apparently accepted habits, but in reality it creates victims in prostitution,
human trafficking, forced labour, slave labour, mutilation, the sale of
organs, drug abuse and child labour. They are concealed behind closed doors,
in special places, on the streets, in cars, in factories, in the country, in
fishing boats and in many other places. And this happens in both cities and
villages, in the reception centres of the richest and poorest countries in the
world. And the worst thing is that this situation unfortunately worsens every
day".
 With regard to the joint effort against human trafficking and other forms of
slavery, the Cardinal emphasised a number of points. First, there is the fact
that slavery, "fruit and sign of the rupture of fraternity and the denial of
communion, once accepted by civil law as the right to ownership of another
person, is now a 'crime of injured humanity' that, as previously mentioned,
assumes various faces in the context of globalisation, creating new needs, new
forms of poverty and slavery". In this year dedicated to the family, he
reiterated that it is unacceptable for the institution of the family, "a place
of acceptance and promotion of life", to be "transformed into the place in
which life is betrayed, treated with disdain, denied, manipulated and sold".
Finally, to defeat the wound of modern slavery, there needs to be a
mobilisation on a scale comparable to that of the phenomenon itself, both
locally - families, schools, parishes - and at the global levels of state
institutions and civil society.
 "The Church of Jesus Christ, that announces the Good News of liberation from
sin and from every form of enslavement, must continue her mission of
announcing the Word on every occasion, convenient or otherwise, denouncing
every form of slavery and violation of the dignity of the human person,
offering at the same time, also through daily gestures of welcome and
closeness, the witness of a free life, renewed and open to Transcendence".
 "Following the example of St. Josephine Bakhita, the former slave who later
became a free daughter of God, we look with hope to Jesus Christ Who has
defeated evil and Who is the maker and icon of the liberation of humanity and
the freedom of the sons and daughters of God", concluded Cardinal Turkson. "We
must work together and never tire until there no longer remains any person
reduced to slavery in this world, because no-one can be freed without regard
for others, for humanity and for the creation that, as St. Paul says in his
Letter to the Romans, 'is waiting with eagerness for the children of God to be
revealed ... with the intention that the whole creation itself might be freed
from its slavery to corruption and brought into the same glorious freedom as
the children of God'".

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 Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters: the Pope's Message for World Day of
Peace
 Vatican City, 10 December 2014 (VIS) - Below is the full text of the Holy
Father's Message for the 48th World Day of Peace, to be held on 1 January 2015
on the theme "Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters'':
 "At the beginning of this New Year, which we welcome as God's gracious gift
to all humanity, I offer heartfelt wishes of peace to every man and woman, to
all the world's peoples and nations, to heads of state and government, and to
religious leaders. In doing so, I pray for an end to wars, conflicts and the
great suffering caused by human agency, by epidemics past and present, and by
the devastation wrought by natural disasters. I pray especially that, on the
basis of our common calling to cooperate with God and all people of good will
for the advancement of harmony and peace in the world, we may resist the
temptation to act in a manner unworthy of our humanity.
 In my Message for Peace last year, I spoke of 'the desire for a full life ...
which includes a longing for fraternity which draws us to fellowship with
others and enables us to see them not as enemies or rivals, but as brothers
and sisters to be accepted and embraced'. Since we are by nature relational
beings, meant to find fulfilment through interpersonal relationships inspired
by justice and love, it is fundamental for our human development that our
dignity, freedom and autonomy be acknowledged and respected. Tragically, the
growing scourge of man's exploitation by man gravely damages the life of
communion and our calling to forge interpersonal relations marked by respect,
justice and love. This abominable phenomenon, which leads to contempt for the
fundamental rights of others and to the suppression of their freedom and
dignity, takes many forms. I would like briefly to consider these, so that, in
the light of God's word, we can consider all men and women 'no longer slaves,
but brothers and sisters'.
 Listening to God's plan for humanity
 2. The theme I have chosen for this year's message is drawn from Saint Paul's
letter to Philemon, in which the Apostle asks his co-worker to welcome
Onesimus, formerly Philemon's slave, now a Christian and, therefore, according
to Paul, worthy of being considered a brother. The Apostle of the Gentiles
writes: 'Perhaps this is why he was parted from you for a while, that you
might have him back for ever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a
beloved brother'. Onesimus became Philemon's brother when he became a
Christian. Conversion to Christ, the beginning of a life lived Christian
discipleship, thus constitutes a new birth which generates fraternity as the
fundamental bond of family life and the basis of life in society.

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