VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 024
DATE 03-02-2015

Summary:
- Francis: consecrated persons must guide people to Jesus, and let themselves
be guided by Him
- Recognition of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the friars Michal
Tomaszek and Zbigniew Strazalkowski, and Fr. Alessandro Dordi
- 8 February: First International Day of Prayer against Human Trafficking

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 Francis: consecrated persons must guide people to Jesus, and let themselves
be guided by Him
 Vatican City, 3 February 2015 (VIS) - The Feast of the Presentation of Jesus
in the Temple, 2 February, is the Day for Consecrated Life and yesterday
afternoon, as is customary on this occasion, the Holy Father presided at Holy
Mass in the Vatican Basilica with the members of the Institutes of Consecrated
Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life. The ceremony began with the blessing
of the veils and the procession, and continued with the Eucharistic
celebration, during which the Pope gave a homily emphasising the
characteristics of consecrated life.
 "Before our eyes we can picture Mother Mary as she walks, carrying the Baby
Jesus in her arms", he began. "She brings him to the Temple; she presents him
to the people; she brings him to meet his people. The arms of Mother Mary are
like the 'ladder' on which the Son of God comes down to us, the ladder of
God's condescension. This is what we heard in the first reading, from the
Letter to the Hebrews: Christ became 'like His brothers and sisters in every
respect, so that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest'. This is the
twofold path taken by Jesus: He descended, He became like us, in order then to
ascend with us to the Father, making us like Himself. In our heart we can
contemplate this double movement by imagining the Gospel scene of Mary who
enters the Temple holding the Child in her arms. The Mother walks, yet it is
the Child who goes before her. She carries him, yet He is leading her along
the path of the God who comes to us so that we might go to Him. Jesus walked
the same path as we do, and shows us the new way, the 'new and living way'
which is He Himself. For us, consecrated men and women, this is the one way
which, concretely and without alternatives, we must continue to tread with joy
and perseverance".
 Francis continued, "Fully five times the Gospel speaks to us of Mary and
Joseph's obedience to the 'law of the Lord'. Jesus came not to do His own
will, but the will of the Father. This way - He tells us - was His 'food'. In
the same way, all those who follow Jesus must set out on the path of
obedience, imitating as it were the Lord's 'condescension' by humbling
themselves and making their own the will of the Father, even to self-emptying
and abasement. For a religious, to advance on the path of obedience means to
abase oneself in service, that is, to take the same path as Jesus, who 'did
not deem equality with God a thing to be grasped'. By emptying himself he made
himself a servant in order to serve".
 For consecrated persons, this path "takes the form of the rule, marked by the
charism of the founder. For all of us, the essential rule remains the Gospel,
yet the Holy Spirit, in His infinite creativity, also gives it expression in
the various rules of the consecrated life which are born of the sequela
Christi, and thus from this journey of abasing oneself by serving. Through
this 'law' which is the rule, consecrated persons are able to attain wisdom,
not something abstract, but a work and gift of the Holy Spirit. An evident
sign of such wisdom is joy. The evangelical happiness of a religious is the
fruit of self-abasement in union with Christ".
 In the account of Jesus' Presentation in the Temple, wisdom is represented by
two elderly persons, Simeon and Anna: "persons docile to the Holy Spirit, led
by Him, inspired by Him", emphasised the Holy Father. "The Lord granted them
wisdom as the fruit of a long journey along the path of obedience to His law,
an obedience which likewise humbles and abases, but which also lifts up and
protects hope, making them creative, for they are filled with the Holy Spirit.
... Mary, the young mother, and Simeon, the kindly old man, hold the Child in
their arms, yet it is the Child himself who guides them both".
 The Pontiff noted that, on this occasion, it is the elderly, rather than the
young, who are creative: "the young, like Mary and Joseph, follow the law of
the Lord, the path of obedience. The elderly, like Simeon and Anna, see in the
Child the fulfilment of the Law and the promises of God. And they are able to
celebrate: they are creative in joy and wisdom. And the Lord turns obedience
into wisdom by the working of His Holy Spirit". However, "at times God can
grant the gift of wisdom to a young person, but always as the fruit of
obedience and docility to the Spirit. This obedience and docility is not
something theoretical; it too is subject to the economy of the incarnation of
the Word: docility and obedience to a founder, docility and obedience to a
specific rule, docility and obedience to one's superior, docility and
obedience to the Church. It is always docility and obedience in the concrete".
 In persevering along along the path of obedience, "personal and communal
wisdom matures, and thus it also becomes possible to adapt rules to the times;
indeed, true 'renovation' is the fruit of wisdom forged in docility and
obedience. The strengthening and renewal of consecrated life are the result of
great love for the rule, and also the ability to look to and heed the elders
of one's congregation. In this way, the 'deposit', the charism of each
religious family, is preserved by obedience and by wisdom, working together.
By means of this journey, we are preserved from living our consecration
"lightly", in an disembodied manner, as if it were some sort of gnosis which
would ultimately reduce religious life to caricature, a caricature in which
there is following without renunciation, prayer without encounter, fraternal
life without communion, obedience without trust, and charity without
transcendence.
 "Today we too, like Mary and Simeon, want to take Jesus into our arms, to
bring Him to his people", the Pope concluded. "Surely we will be able to do so
if we enter into the mystery in which Jesus Himself is our guide. Let us bring
others to Jesus, but let us also allow ourselves to be led by Him. This is
what we should be: guides who themselves are guided".

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 Recognition of the martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the friars Michal
Tomaszek and Zbigniew Strazalkowski, and Fr. Alessandro Dordi
 Vatican City, 3 February 2015 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father Francis received
in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., prefect of the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the
Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
 MARTYRDOM
 - Servant of God Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdamez (El Salvador, 1917-1980),
archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador, killed in hatred of the faith on 24
March 1980.
 - Servants of God Michal Tomaszek (Poland, 1960) and Zbigniew Strazalkowski
(Poland, 1958), professed priests of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, and
Alessandro Dordi, Italian diocesan priest, killed in hatred of the faith in
Peru on 9 and 25 August 1991.
 HEROIC VIRTUES
 - Servant of God Giovanni Bacile, Italian priest (1880-1941).

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 8 February: First International Day of Prayer against Human Trafficking
 Vatican City, 3 February 2015 (VIS) - This morning a press conference was
held in the Holy See Press Office to present the first International Day of
Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking. The Day will be held on 8
February, the feast day of Sudanese slave St. Josephine Bakhita who, after
being freed, became a Canossian Sister and was canonised in 2000, and will be
entitled: "A light against human trafficking". The Day is promoted by the
Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples,
the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace" and the International Union of
Superiors General (UISG).
 The conference was attended by Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the
Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of
Apostolic Life; Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical
Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples; and Cardinal
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council "Justice and
Peace". The other speakers were Sister Carmen Sammut, MSOLA, president of the
International Union of Superiors General; Sister Gabriella Bottani, SMC,
coordinator of Talitha Kum (the International Network of Consecrated Life
against Trafficking in Persons); Sister Valeria Gandini, SMC; and Sister
Imelda Poole IBVM, coordinator of the European Talitha Kum network.
 Cardinal Turkson, speaking in English, reiterated that "millions of people
today - children, women and men of all ages - are deprived of freedom and are
forced to live in conditions akin to slavery. For those who cry out - usually
in silence - for liberation, St Josephine Bakhita is an exemplary witness of
hope. We, victims and advocates alike, could do no better than be inspired by
her life and entrust our efforts to her intercession".
 He continued, "the Holy Father invites us all to recognise that we are facing
a global phenomenon which exceeds the competence of any one community or
country. In order to eliminate it, we need a mobilisation comparable in size
to that of the phenomenon itself". The prelate explained that the
International Day against Human Trafficking constitutes "a mobilisation of
awareness and prayer on a global scale. Our awareness must expand and extend
to the very depths of this evil and its farthest reaches ... from awareness to
prayer ... from prayer to solidarity ... and from solidarity to concerted
action, until slavery and trafficking are no more".
 On the occasion of this first day of prayer and reflection, all dioceses,
parishes, associations, families and individuals are invited to reflect and
pray in order to cast light on this crime, as indicated by the theme of the
initiative. In addition, prayer vigils will be held in different countries,
culminating in the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square on 8 February.
 On the day, the faithful are invited to recite the following prayer:
 "O God, when we hear of children and adults deceived and taken to unknown
places for
 purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labour, and
 organ ‘harvesting', our hearts are saddened and
 our spirits angry that their dignity and rights are
 ignored through threats, lies, and force.
 We cry out against the evil practice of this modern
 slavery, and pray with St. Bakhita for it to end.
 Give us wisdom and courage to reach out and
 stand with those whose bodies, hearts and spirits
 have been so wounded, so that together we may
 make real your promises to fill these sisters and
 brothers with a love that is tender and good.
 Send the exploiters away empty-handed to be
 converted from this wickedness, and help us all to
 claim the freedom that is your gift to your
 children. Amen".

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