VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 053
DATE 16-03-2015

Summary:
- Fruitful collaboration between the Holy See and the Republic of San Marino
- To the bishops of Bosnia and Herzegovina: social pastoral ministry to involve
the people in reconstruction and growth
- Angelus: God loves us - the summary of all theology
- Appeal for an end to the persecution of Christians
- To the UCIIM: go to the peripheries of schools as witnesses of life and hope
- "Follow Me" Association: engage with earthly reality to serve the good of man
- To be able to confess our sins is a gift from God
- To the Korean community: be a Church of martyrs
- Audiences
- From the Oriental Churches
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 Fruitful collaboration between the Holy See and the Republic of San Marino
 Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father Francis received in
audience the Captains Regent of the Most Serene Republic of San Marino,
Gianfranco Terenzi and Guerrino Zanotti, who subsequently met with Cardinal
Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard
Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.
 During the cordial discussions, deep satisfaction was expressed regarding the
good relations between the Holy See and the Republic of San Marino, and the
active collaboration in the social field between public institutions and the
Church was underlined.
 Finally, mention was made of the fruitful collaboration between the Holy See
and the Republic of San Marino at a bilateral level and in the context of the
international community.

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 To the bishops of Bosnia and Herzegovina: social pastoral ministry to involve
the people in reconstruction and growth
 Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) - The prelates of the Bishops' Conference of
Bosnia and Herzegovina were received in audience this morning by the Pope, at
the end of their "ad Limina" visit. In the written discourse he handed to them
at the end of the visit the Holy Father, who will shortly visit Sarajevo,
emphasised "the charity, the care and the closeness of the Church of Rome" with
"the heirs of many martyrs and confessors, who during the troubled
centuries-long history of the country have kept the faith alive".
 "Migration is justly one of the social issues close to your heart", he writes.
"It evokes the difficulty of return for many of your co-citizens, the scarcity
of sources of work, the instability of families, the emotional and social
laceration of entire communities, the practical precariousness of many
parishes,
and the still fresh memories of conflict, both at a personal and community
level, in which wounded hearts are still painful. I am well aware that, in your
hearts as Pastors, this gives rise to bitterness and concern. The Pope and the
Church are with you in prayer and in active support for your programmes to
assist those who live in your territories, without any form of discrimination.
I
therefore encourage you to spare no energies in supporting the weak, helping -
in all ways possible - those who have a legitimate and honest desire to remain
in the land of their birth, bring succour to the spiritual hunger of those who
believe in the indelible values, born of the Gospel, that throughout the
centuries have nurtured the life of your communities".
 "The society in which you live has a multicultural and multi-ethnic dimension.
And you have been entrusted the task of being fathers to all, in spite of
material limits and the crisis within which you work. May your heart always be
large enough to accommodate all, just as the heart of Christ is able to receive
in itself - with divine love - every human being. Every Christian community
knows that it is called upon to open itself up and to irradiate the light of
the
Gospel; it cannot stay closed within its traditions, noble though they may be.
It must come out of its 'enclosure', firm in faith, supported by prayer and
encouraged by pastors, to live and announce the new life of which it is a
depository, that of Christ, Saviour of all men. From this perspective, I
encourage the initiatives that can extend the presence of the Church beyond
liturgical parameters, assuming with imagination every other action that may
affect society, bringing with it the fresh spirit of the Gospel. ... Seek to
promote a solid social pastoral ministry in relation to the faithful,
especially
the young, to ensure that consciences are formed, willing to remain in their
own
territories as agents and key actors in the reconstruction and the growth of
your country, from which they cannot expect only to receive. In this
educational
and pastoral work, the social doctrine of the Church is of valid assistance. It
is also a way of overcoming the residue of old materialism that still persists
in the mentality and behaviour of some sectors of the society in which you
live".
 The Pope remarks that the ministry of the prelates of Bosnia and Herzegovina
assumes various dimensions - pastoral, ecumenical and interreligious - and
underlines the intense work that they carry out in these sectors, an expression
of their paternity towards the people entrusted to them. "I encourage you and
remind you that, while with respect for all, this does not absolve you of the
need to give open and frank testimony of your belonging to Christ. The priests,
men and women religious and lay faithful, who live in close contact with
citizens of different religious traditions, are able to offer you valid advice
regarding your mixed communities. I consider an approach of this type to be
wise
as it may bear the seeds and fruits of pacification, understanding and
collaboration".
 With reference to the relationship between clergy and men and women religious,
Francis comments, "I know through direct experience the complexity of these
relations, as well as the difficulties in harmonising their respective
charisms.
But the most important fact is that in both dimensions ... a single mission is
pursued: to serve the Kingdom of Christ. ... In this year dedicated to
Consecrated
Life, we must show that all charisms and ministries are destined to the glory
of
God and the salvation of all men, taking care to ensure that these are
effectively orientated towards the edification of the Kingdom of God and not
contaminated by partial aims; that they are carried out in a regime of human
and
fraternal communion, bearing each other's burdens with a spirit of service".
 The Pontiff concludes with "a personal word between bishops, as is appropriate
in full charity". "I am aware that historical events make Bosnia and
Herzegovina
different in many areas. And yet you are a single body: you are Catholic
bishops
in communion with the Successor of Peter, in a frontier location. One word
alone
emerges spontaneously from my heart: you are in communion. Although at times
imperfect, such communion is to be pursued vigorously at all levels, setting
individual peculiarities aside. It is necessary to act on the basis of your
belonging to the same Apostolic College; other considerations are of secondary
importance and are to be analysed in the light of the catholicity of your faith
and your ministry".

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 Angelus: God loves us - the summary of all theology
 Vatican City, 15 March 2015 (VIS) At midday the Holy Father appeared at the
window of his study to recite the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St.
Peter's Square and, as usual, commented on day's Gospel reading, which this
Sunday was Jesus' words to Nicodemus: "For God so loved the world, that he gave
his only begotten Son". "God loves us!" exclaimed the Pope. "He loves us truly,
and he loves us so much! This is the simplest expression that summarises the
whole of the Gospel, all faith, all theology: God loves, us, with freely given
and boundless love".
 "At the origin of the world there is only the Father's free and gratuitous
love", affirmed Pope Francis, cited the words of St. Irenaeus who, in his work
"Adversus haereses", wrote: "In the beginning God formed Adam, not because He
was in need of humans, but so He might have someone to receive His benefits".
And after the fall, He did not abandon man to the power of death, but instead
rescued him with His mercy. "As in creation", explained Francis, "also the
subsequent stages in the history of salvation emphasise the gratuity of God's
love: the Lord chooses His people not because they were deserving, but because
it was the smallest among all the peoples. And, in the fullness of time,
although men have broken the covenant many times, instead of abandoning them
God
makes a new bond with them, in the blood of Jesus - the bond of the new and
everlasting covenant - a bond that nothing can ever break".
 The Cross of Christ is "the supreme proof of God's love for us: Jesus has
loved
us 'unto the end', meaning not up to the final moment of his earthly life, but
until the extreme limit of love. If in creation the Father has given us the
proof of his great love by giving us life, in the passion of His Son He has
given us the proof of all proofs: He has come to suffer and die for us. And
this
love that is so great is God's mercy, because He loves us, He forgives us. With
his mercy, God forgives all and God always forgives".
 "May Mary, Mother of Mercy, place in our hearts the certainty that we are
loved
by God. May She be close to us in the moments of difficulty and give us the
sentiments of Her Son, so that our Lenten itinerary may be an experience of
forgiveness, of welcome and of charity".

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 Appeal for an end to the persecution of Christians
 Vatican City, 15 March 2015 (VIS) - "It is with great sorrow that I have
learned of the terrorist attacks on two churches in the city of Lahore,
Pakistan
today, which have caused many deaths and casualties. They are Christian
churches. Christians are persecuted. Our brothers shed blood solely because
they
are Christians. While I assure my prayers for the victims and for their
families, I ask the Lord, I implore the Lord, the source of all good, to grant
the gift of peace and harmony to the country. May this persecution of
Christians, that the world seeks to conceal, come to an end, and may there be
peace", said the Holy Father following today's Angelus prayer.
 Pope Francis also expressed his closeness to the population of Vanuatu, in the
Pacific Ocean, devastated by a cyclone. "I pray for the deceased, for the
injured, and for those who have lost their homes", he said, "and I give thanks
to those who have taken rapid action to bring aid and assistance.

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 To the UCIIM: go to the peripheries of schools as witnesses of life and hope
 Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) - "Teaching is a beautiful job, as it allows
you to see the growth day by day of the people entrusted to your care. It is a
little like being parents, at least spiritually. It is a great responsibility",
said the Pope this morning to the members of the Catholic Union of Teachers
(UCIIM), whom he received in audience in the Paul VI Hall. He added, "Teaching
is a serious commitment, that only a mature and balanced person can undertake.
A
commitment of this type may inculcate apprehension, but remember that no
teacher
is ever alone; his or her work is shared with other colleagues and with all the
educational community to which they belong".
 "As Jesus taught us, all the Law and the Prophets can be summarised in two
commandments: love the Lord God and love your neighbour. We can ask ourselves:
who is a teacher's neighbour? The neighbours are your students! It is with them
that a teacher passes the day. They seek guidance, orientation, an answer - and
first of all, good questions!", he continued. "Among the tasks of the UCIIM is
that of enlightening and promoting the correct idea of school, often obscured
by
discussions and reductive positions. The school is certainly make up of valid
and qualified instruction, but also of human relations, that from our side are
relationships of welcome and benevolence, due to all indiscriminately. Indeed,

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