VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 006
DATE 12-01-2015

Summary:
- The Pope addresses the Diplomatic Corps: peace must guide the destiny of
peoples
- The Pope baptises thirty-three infants in the Sistine Chapel
- Angelus: deafness to the voice of the Holy Spirit leads to muteness in
evangelisation
- Rebuilding the country means rebuilding the person: the Pope at the
conference on Haiti
- Meeting of the presidents of the European Episcopal Conferences
- Note on security in the Vatican
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
- In Memoriam

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 The Pope addresses the Diplomatic Corps: peace must guide the destiny of
peoples
 Vatican City, 12 January 2014 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall the
Holy Father addressed members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy
See for the exchange of greetings that traditionally takes place at the
beginning of the new year. Francis thanked the dean of the ambassadors,
Jean-Claude Michel of Monaco, for the efforts made by the Corps in fostering,
in a spirit of mutual collaboration, the relations between the states and
international organisations they represent and the Holy See, and added that
during the past year "these relations were consolidated by an increase in the
presence of ambassadors resident in Rome and by the signing of new bilateral
Accords, both general, like the one concluded last January with Cameroon, and
specific, like those signed with Malta and Serbia".
 During his address to the diplomats, Pope Francis examined the international
situation from the dual perspective of hope and peace and the aspect of
rejection, both personal and social, "leading to the breakdown of society and
spawning violence and death". The Pope mentioned a number of dramatic events,
such as the massacre of over one hundred children in Pakistan, the
confrontation in Ukraine, the continuing tension in the Middle East, the
recent attacks in Paris, the violence against the population in Nigeria, and
the civil conflicts in Libya, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, and
the Democratic Republic of the Congo; he also emphasised the fact that wars
often involve the widespread incidence of the horrendous crime of rape of
women and girls. He also made reference to those afflicted by the Ebola virus,
the problems faced by immigrants and refugees, and the lack of assistance for
families. The Holy Father remarked that the overview should not however be
dominated by pessimism, and he cited positive elements such as the resurgence
of Albania, the results of ecumenical dialogue in Turkey, the expectations for
Jordan and Lebanon, the decision of the U.S.A. and Cuba to break their mutual
silence, the transformations in Burkina Faso, the efforts towards achieving
stable peace in Colombia and Venezuela and the decision of the U.S.A. to close
the Guantanamo Bay detention centre. He concluded by expressing his hope for
the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals and the drafting of a new
Climate Change Agreement over the coming year.
 "I thank you for your presence at this traditional meeting, which allows me
at the beginning of each new year to offer to you, your families, and the
peoples you represent, my cordial greetings and best wishes. I am especially
grateful to your Dean, Ambassador Jean-Claude Michel, for the kind words which
he addressed to me in the name of all, and I thank each of you for your
constant dedication and efforts to foster, in a spirit of mutual cooperation,
relations between the countries and international organisations which you
represent and the Holy See. In the course of the past year too, these
relations were consolidated by an increase in the presence of ambassadors
resident in Rome and by the signing of new bilateral Accords, both general,
like that concluded last January with Cameroon, and specific, like those
signed with Malta and Serbia.
 "Today I wish to repeat a word quite dear to us: peace! It comes to us from
the angelic hosts who proclaimed it on Christmas night as a precious gift of
God, while at the same time as a personal and social responsibility which
calls for our commitment and concern. But together with peace, the image of
the Christmas creche speaks to us another tragic reality: that of rejection.
In some iconographic representations, both in the West and in the East - I
think for example of the splendid Nativity icon of Andrej Rublev - the Child
Jesus is shown not lying in a manger, but in a tomb. The image, which is meant
to connect the two principal Christian feasts of Christmas and Easter, shows
that the joyful acceptance of this new birth is inseparable from the entire
drama of Jesus' life, his humiliation and rejection, even to death on the
cross.
 "The Christmas stories themselves show us the hardened heart of a humanity
which finds it difficult to accept the Child. From the very start, he is cast
aside, left out in the cold, forced to be born in a stable since there was no
room in the inn. If this is how the Son of God was treated, how much more so
is it the case with so many of our brothers and sisters! Rejection is an
attitude we all share; it makes us see our neighbour not as a brother or
sister to be accepted, but as unworthy of our attention, a rival, or someone
to be bent to our will. This is the mindset which fosters that 'throwaway
culture' which spares nothing and no one: nature, human beings, even God
himself. It gives rise to a humanity filled with pain and constantly torn by
tensions and conflicts of every sort.
 "Emblematic of this, in the Gospel infancy narratives, is King Herod. Feeling
his authority threatened by the Child Jesus, he orders all the children of
Bethlehem to be killed. We think immediately of Pakistan, where a month ago,
more than a hundred children were slaughtered with unspeakable brutality. To
their families I wish to renew my personal condolences and the assurance of my
continued prayers for the many innocents who lost their lives.
 "The personal dimension of rejection is inevitably accompanied by a social
dimension, a culture of rejection which severs the deepest and most authentic
human bonds, leading to the breakdown of society and spawning violence and
death. We see painful evidence of this in the events reported daily in the
news, not least the tragic slayings which took place in Paris a few days ago.
Other people 'are no longer regarded as beings of equal dignity, as brothers
or sisters sharing a common humanity, but rather as objects'. Losing their
freedom, people become enslaved, whether to the latest fads, or to power,
money, or even deviant forms of religion. These are dangers which I pointed
out in my recent Message for the World Day of Peace, which dealt with the
issue of today's multiple forms of enslavement. All of them are born of a
corrupt heart, a heart incapable of recognising and doing good, of pursuing
peace.
 "It saddens us to see the tragic consequences of this mentality of rejection
and this 'culture of enslavement' in the never-ending spread of conflicts.
Like a true world war fought piecemeal, they affect, albeit in different forms
and degrees of intensity, a number of areas in our world, beginning with
nearby Ukraine, which has become a dramatic theatre of combat. It is my hope
that through dialogue the efforts presently being made to end the hostilities
will be consolidated, and that the parties involved will embark as quickly as
possible, in a renewed spirit of respect for international law, upon the path
of mutual trust and fraternal reconciliation, with the aim of bringing an end
to the present crisis.
 "My thoughts turn above all to the Middle East, beginning with the beloved
land of Jesus which I had the joy of visiting last May, and for whose peace we
constantly pray. We did this with extraordinary intensity, together with the
then president of Israel, Shimon Peres, and the president of Palestine,
Mahmoud Abbas, inspired by a confident hope that negotiations between the two
parties will once more resume, for the sake of ending violence and reaching a
solution which can enable Palestinians and Israelis alike to live at last in
peace within clearly established and internationally recognised borders, thus
implementing the 'two state solution'.
 "The Middle East is tragically embroiled in other conflicts which have lasted
far too long, with chilling repercussions, due also to the spread of
fundamentalist terrorism in Syria and in Iraq. This phenomenon is a
consequence of the throwaway culture being applied to God. Religious
fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating
horrendous killings, eliminates God himself, turning him into a mere
ideological pretext. In the face of such unjust aggression, which also strikes
Christians and other ethnic and religious groups in the region - the Yezidis
for example - a unanimous response is needed, one which, within the framework
of international law, can end the spread of acts of violence, restore harmony
and heal the deep wounds which the ongoing conflicts have caused. Here, in
your presence, I appeal to the entire international community, as I do to the
respective governments involved, to take concrete steps to bring about peace
and to protect all those who are victims of war and persecution, driven from
their homes and their homeland. In a letter written shortly before Christmas,
I sought to express my personal closeness and the promise of my prayers to all
the Christian communities of the Middle East. Theirs is a precious testimony
of faith and courage, for they play a fundamental role as artisans of peace,
reconciliation and development in the civil societies of which they are a
part. A Middle East without Christians would be a marred and mutilated Middle
East! In urging the international community not to remain indifferent in the
face of this situation, I express my hope that religious, political and
intellectual leaders, especially those of the Muslim community, will condemn
all fundamentalist and extremist interpretations of religion which attempt to
justify such acts of violence.
 "Sadly, comparable acts of brutality, which not infrequently reap victims
from among the poor and the most vulnerable, are found in other parts of the
world as well. I think in particular of Nigeria where acts of violence
continue to strike indiscriminately and there is a constant increase in the
tragic phenomenon of kidnappings, often of young girls carried off to be made
objects of trafficking. This is an abominable trade which must not continue!
It is a scourge which needs to be eradicated, since it strikes all of us, from
individual families to the entire international community.
 "I also look with concern to the many civil conflicts taking place in other
parts of Africa, beginning with Libya, ravaged by a drawn-out internecine war
which has caused unspeakable suffering among its people, with grave
repercussions for the delicate balances in the region. I think of the dramatic
situation in the Central African Republic, in which, sad to say, the good will
inspiring the efforts of those seeking to build a future of peace, security
and prosperity, has encountered resistance and selfish partisan interests.
These risk frustrating the hopes of a people which has endured so much and
which now longs to shape its future in freedom. Of particular concern, too, is
the situation in South Sudan and in some areas of Sudan, the Horn of Africa
and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where civilian casualties are on the
rise and thousands of persons, including many women and children, are being
forced to flee and to endure conditions of extreme distress. I voice my hope
for a common commitment on the part of individual governments and the
international community to end every form of fighting, hatred and violence,
and to pursue reconciliation, peace and the defence of the transcendent
dignity of the person.

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