the duty of a good teacher, and far more so for a good Christian, is to love
with greater intensity the most difficult, weakest, most disadvantaged
students".
 Francis mentioned that if a professional association of Christian teachers
wishes to bear witness to its inspiration, it is required to engage with the
peripheries of school, "that cannot be abandoned to marginalisation, ignorance,
and the underworld", and he encouraged them to follow the example of many great
teachers who exist in the Christian community to encourage from within the
school that, independently of whether or not it is administered by the state,
is
in need of credible teachers and witnesses of mature and complete humanity.
"Teaching is not just a job", he concluded. "It is a relationship in which each
teacher must feel that he is fully involved as as person, to give meaning to
the
task of educating his pupils. ... I encourage you to renew your passion for
mankind in the process of formation, and to be witnesses of life and hope".

___________________________________________________________

 "Follow Me" Association: engage with earthly reality to serve the good of man
 Vatican City, 14 March 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall of the
Vatican Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis received in audience members of the
"Seguimi" ("Follow Me") lay community, on the 50th anniversary of its
foundation. "The gesture, symbolic and intensely spiritual, of the first
members
to depart from the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, demonstrate this wish, that you
have expressed in the statutory form of your programme of life: 'Jesus Christ
lives at the centre of Seguimi'. This is beautiful. ... I encourage you to live
according to this programme every day, with commitment; that is, to be
decentred
from yourselves and to place your vital centre in the living Person of Jesus.
Yours is a form of evangelical life that is practised in a context of laicism
and liberty. A programme of Christian life for laypeople, with clear and
demanding objectives, an original way of incarnating the Gospel, an effective
way of walking the world".
 Francis encouraged them to "conserve and develop this fraternal communion and
exchange of gifts, aimed at the human and Christian growth of all, along with
creativity, optimism, joy and the courage to go - when appropriate - against
the
grain. Be vigilant in your spiritual path and help each other to practice
spiritual charity, which means defending yourselves against individualistic
selfishness in order to be true witnesses to the Gospel".
 "As laypeople, you are immersed in the world and are occupied within earthly
situations to serve the good of man. You are required to permeate with
Christian
values the environments in which you work with your witness and word, meeting
people in their concrete situations, so that they have full dignity and are
reached by Christ's salvation". The Pope concluded by urging them to be
"laypeople on the front line", to "feel like an active part of the Church's
mission, to live your secularity dedicating yourself to the situations typical
of the earthly city: the family, the professions, social life in its various
expressions. In this way you are able, as a leaven, to bring the spirit of the
Gospel into the folds of history with your witness of faith, hope and charity".

___________________________________________________________

 To be able to confess our sins is a gift from God
 Vatican City, 14 March 2015 (VIS) - "The Sacrament of Reconciliation enables
us
to draw near to the Father trustfully, to have the certainty of his
forgiveness.
He is truly 'rich in mercy' and he extends it abundantly to those who turn to
him with a sincere heart", said the Pope in his homily during the penitential
celebration in St. Peter's Basilica on Friday afternoon. "The transformation of
the heart that leads us to confess our sins is a gift from God ... it is 'His
work'" he continued. "As we leave the confessional, we were his strength that
restores life and rekindles the enthusiasm of faith. After confession we are
reborn".
 "Jesus' call impels us all not to stop at the surface of things, especially
when facing a person. We are called to look beyond, to focus on the heart to
see
how much generosity each person is capable of. No-one must be excluded from
God's mercy. Everyone knows that the way to reach it, and the Church, is the
house that welcomes all and refuses no-one. Its doors are always wide open, so
that those who are touched by grace may find the certainty of forgiveness. The
greater the sin, the greater the love must be that the Church expresses towards
those who convert".
 "Dear brothers and sisters, I have often thought of how the Church may make
more evident her mission as witness to mercy. It is a path that begins with a
spiritual conversion; and we must take this path. Therefore, I have decided to
convoke an extraordinary Jubilee, which will be centred upon God's mercy. It
will be a Holy Year of Mercy. Let us live this in the light of the Word of the
Lord: 'Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful'. And this is especially
for
confessors! Have mercy!".
 "I am convinced that all the Church, which is in great need of receiving
mercy,
as we are sinners, may find in this Jubilee the joy of rediscovering and making
fruitful God's mercy, with which we are all called upon to give consolation to
every man and every woman in our time. Let us not forget that God forgives
everything, and God always forgives. Let us never tire of asking for
forgiveness. Let us hereafter entrust this Year to the Mother of Mercy, that
she
might turn her gaze upon us and keep watch over our path; our path of
repentance, our path with an open heart, a year long, to receive God's
indulgence, to receive God's mercy".

___________________________________________________________

 To the Korean community: be a Church of martyrs
 Vatican City, 14 March 2015 (VIS) - On the afternoon of Thursday, 12 March,
the
Pope celebrated Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica with the Korean community of
Rome, accompanied by prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea,
in
Rome on their "ad Limina" visit and whom Pope Francis had received in audience
in the morning. In his homily, the Pope spoke about the laity, who carried
forth
the Church for two centuries, encouraging them to be as courageous as the first
faithful; he urged all those present to be aware of this responsibility.
 He went on to mention Korea's martyrs, and emphasised that the seedbed of the
Church has been watered with their blood and thus given life. "Do not give up.
Be on your guard against 'religious wellbeing'", he said. "If you do not go
ahead with the strength of faith, with the zeal and love of Jesus Christ, if
you
become soft - 'rosewater Christians', weak - your faith will diminish". The
Pope
also highlighted the importance of being sons of martyrs, adding that
"apostolic
zeal is not negotiable. ... You are a Church of martyrs, and this is a promise
for
all Asia. Keep going, and do not give up. No spiritual worldliness, nothing. No
easy Catholicism, without zeal. No religious wellbeing. Love for Jesus Christ,
love for Jesus Christ's Cross, and love for your history".

___________________________________________________________

 Audiences
 Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
 - Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and
the
Discipline of the Sacraments;
 - Frère Alois, prior of Taizé
 - Delegation of the Latin American Network on the Social Doctrine of the
Church;
 - Six prelates of the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on their
"ad Limina" visit:
 - Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna, Sarajevo, with his auxiliary,
Bishop Pero Sudar;
 - Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka, with his auxiliary, Bishop Marko
Senren;
 - Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno, apostolic administrator of Trebinje and
Mrkan;
 - Bishop Tomo Vuksic, military ordinary.
 On Saturday, 14 March, the Holy Father received in audience:
 - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;
 - Archbishop Orlando Antonini, apostolic nuncio in Serbia.

___________________________________________________________

 From the Oriental Churches
 Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) - The Synod of Bishops of the Maronite
Patriarchal Church, in its extraordinary session of 10 to 14 March 2015:
 - accepted the resignation of Bishop Elias Sleiman from the pastoral care of
the eparchy of Lattaquie upon reaching the age limit, and elected him as
president of the Patriarchal Tribunal.
 - elected Bishop Joseph Mouawad, patriarchal vicar of Ehden-Zgorta, Syria, as
bishop of Zahle (Catholics 50,000, priests 34, religious 42), Lebanon.
 - elected, with pontifical assent, the Rev. Corepiscopa Antoine Chbeir as
bishop of Lattaquie of the Maronites (Catholics 35,000, priests 27, religious
50), Syria. The bishop-elect was born in Ghosta, Lebanon, and was ordained a
priest in 1988. He holds a doctorate in biblical theology from the Pontifical
Gregorian University of Rome and has served as parish priest and diocesan
chancellor. He is currently chancellor of the patriarchal vicariate of Jounieh,
Lebanon, and succeeds Bishop Elias Sleiman.

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 On Saturday, 14 March, the Holy Father:
 - appointed Rev. Fr. Alojzij Cvikl, S.J., as metropolitan archbishop of
Maribor
(area 45,520, population 1,601,000, Catholics 47,900, priests 46, permanent
deacons 71, religious 89), Slovenia. The bishop-elect was born in Celje,
Slovenia in 1955 and was ordained a priest in 1983. He studied philosophy and
theology at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana and at the Pontifical
Gregorian
University, Rome, and holds a licentiate in pedagogy and social sciences from
the "Lumen Vitae" Institute in Brussels, Belgium. He has served in a number of
roles, including: deputy priest and parish priest in the parish of the
Incarnation of Jesus Christ in Ljubljana - Dravlje, rector of the Internate at
the St. Stanislaw Archiepiscopal Institute in Ljubljana-Sentvid and teacher of
religion at the Classical Lyceum of the same Institute, provincial of the
Jesuits in Slovenia, president of the Conference of Major Superiors of
Slovenia,
and rector of the Pontifical Russian College (Russicum), Rome. He is currently
bursar of the Archdiocese of Maribor.
 - appointed the following consultors of the general secretariat of the Synod
of
Bishops: Msgr. Lluis Clavell, ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of St.
Thomas Aquinas; Giuseppe Bonfrate, lecturer in the Faculty of Theology of the
Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; Maurizio Gronchi, ordinary professor of
dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome; Michele Giulio
Masciarelli, lecturer in dogmatic theology at the Marianum Faculty, Rome, and
fundamental theology at the Theological Institue of Abruzzo and Molise, Chieti;
Peter Paul Saldanha, lecturer in ecclesiology at the Pontifical Urbanian
University, Rome; Dario Vitali, lecturer in ecclesiology at the Pontifical
Gregorian University, Rome; Aimable Musoni, S.D.B., lecturer in systematic
theology, ecclesiology and ecumenism at the Pontifical Salesian University,
Rome; Fr. François Xavier Dumortier, S.J., Magnificent Rector of the Pontifical
Gregorian University, Rome; Fr. Georges Ruyssen, S.J., lecturer in canon law at
the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome; Fr. Sabatino Majorano, C.SS.R.,
lecturer in systematic moral theology at the Alphonsianum Academy, Rome; Fr.
Manuel Jesus Arroba Conde, C.M.F., dean of the Institutum Utriusque Iuris at
the
Pontifical Lateran University, Rome; Fr. Jose Granados, D.C.J.M., vice
president
of the John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Marriage and Family Studies,
lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian Institute.

___________________________________________________________

For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:
www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va

Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican
Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting
the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)