VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 064
DATE 31-03-2015

Summary:
- Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee of Mercy: 11 April in St. Peter's Basilica
- Pope Francis' prayer intentions for April
- Declaration of the Vice Director of the Holy See Press Office
- The Holy See on the Sustainable Development Goals
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee of Mercy: 11 April in St. Peter's Basilica
 Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - Following the first announcement of the
next extraordinary Holy Year by Pope Francis on 13 March, the Holy Father will
proceed with the official indiction of the Jubilee of Mercy with the
publication
of the Bull of Indiction on Saturday 11 April, at 5.30 pm in St. Peter's
Basilica.
 The rite of publication will involve the reading of various passages of the
Bull before the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica. Pope Francis will
subsequently preside at the celebration of First Vespers of Divine Mercy
Sunday,
thus underlining in a particular way the fundamental theme of the extraordinary
Holy Year: God's Mercy.
 The term bull (from the Latin bulla = bubble or, more generally, a rounded
object) originally indicated the metal capsule used to protect the wax seal
attached with a cord to a document of particular importance, to attest to its
authenticity and, as a consequence, its authority. Over time, the term began to
be used first to indicate the seal, then the document itself, so that nowadays
it is used for all papal documents of special importance that bear, or at least
traditionally would have borne, the Pontiff's seal.
 The bull for the indiction of a jubilee, for instance in the case of an
extraordinary Holy Year, aside from indicating its time, with the opening and
closing dates and the main ways in which it will be implemented, constitutes
the
fundamental document for recognising the spirit in which it is announced, and
the intentions and the outcomes hoped for by the Pontiff, who invokes it for
the
Church.
 In the case of the last two extraordinary Holy Years, 1933 and 1983, the Bull
of Indiction was published on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of
the Lord. For the next extraordinary Holy Year, the choice of the occasion on
which the publication of the Bull will take place clearly demonstrates the Holy
Father's particular attention to the theme of Mercy.

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 Pope Francis' prayer intentions for April
 Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father's universal prayer
intention for April is: "That people may learn to respect creation and care for
it as a gift of God".
 His intention for evangelisation is: "That persecuted Christians may feel the
consoling presence of the Risen Lord and the solidarity of all the Church".

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 Declaration of the Vice Director of the Holy See Press Office
 Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - The Vice Director of the Holy See Press
Office, Fr. Ciro Benedettini, C.P., today issued the following declaration:
 "Prior to the recent appointment of His Excellency Msgr. Juan de la Cruz
Barros
Madrid as bishop of Osorno, Chile, the Congregation for Bishops carefully
examined the prelate's candidature and did not find objective reasons
precluding
the appointment".

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 The Holy See on the Sustainable Development Goals
 Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Holy See
Permanent Observer at the United Nations in New York, spoke at the session
dedicated to intergovernmental negotiations on the Post-2015 Development
Agenda,
held on 24 March.
 The prelate expressed his appreciation for the "ambitious and compelling
nature" of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), and his conviction of the
need for a "transformative and action-oriented post-2015 agenda". "Moreover",
he
continued, "we SDGs must integrate in a balanced manner the three pillars of
sustainable development - economic, social and environmental development - with
an overarching focus on the eradication of poverty and the achievement of a
life
of dignity for all. It is imperative that the SDGs focus more on the needs of
the most vulnerable countries, notably the Least Developed Countries (LDCs),
Land-Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States
(SIDS), with particular attention to the sectors of the populations where
poverty is most pervasive, to those regions where armed conflicts continue to
block even the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - and
indeed cause further regression towards underdevelopment - and to those areas
most affected by natural disasters.
 The Holy See delegation, affirmed the Archbishop, "is fully aware that SDGs
are
a carefully and purposefully crafted package to respond to the desires of the
stakeholders", and therefore does not support "the technical proofing of the
goals and targets, as it may lead to the re-opening and re-negotiating of what
is already a politically balanced agreement acceptable to the great majority of
the stakeholders". Furthermore, results and progress if the SDGs are
implemented
"would have to be assessed and verified against indicators agreed by the
stakeholders themselves".
 "Therefore", he continued, "my delegation takes note of the work of the UN
Statistical Commission in providing a preliminary list of indicators for the
SDGs and targets. We further emphasise that the development of evidence-based
indicators should continue to be carried out in an open and transparent manner
and guided by Member States. These indicators should not upset the political
balance of the SDGs, nor should they serve to impose ideas or ideologies that
do
not find consensus under the outcome of the Open Working Groups (OWGs)".
 Archbishop Auza concluded by indicating that certain goals and targets "are
understood differently in different cultural and religious contexts and will
translate differently into their national policies and legislation. We believe
the indicators must take these differences into consideration and be drafted in
a way that allows countries to assess their results in a way that both reflects
and respects their national values, as well as is consistent with their
national
policies and legislation. ... My delegation strongly believes that the
indicators
should be global, while taking into consideration the national and regional
specificities, especially different capacities. Indicators cannot be
unrealistic
figures that only, or not even, developed countries can achieve".

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:
 - Fr. Christophe Amade, M. Afr., as bishop of Kalemie-Kirungu (area 71,577,
population 5,950,013, Catholics 3,663,230, priests 100, religious 125),
Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bishop-elect was born in Mune, Democratic
Republic of the Congo in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He studied
theology at the London Missionary Institute, England, and holds a doctorate in
philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has exercised his
pastoral ministry in Funsi in the diocese of Wa, Ghana, and has served as
lecturer and subsequently rector of the Consortium of Philosophy in Jinja,
Uganda, and lecturer in philosophy at the Consortium of Philosophy in Kumasi,
Ghana and at the St. Augustin University, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the
Congo. He is currently provincial superior of the Society of the Missionaries
of
Africa ("White Fathers") for Central Africa.
 - Fr. Donatien Bafuidinsoni, S.J., and Msgr. Jean-Pierre Kwambamba Masi as
auxiliaries of the archdiocese of Kinshasa (area 8,500, population 10,516,000,
Catholics 5,830,000, priests 1166, religious 3,643), Democratic Republic of the
Congo. Bishop-elect Bafuidinsoni is currently judicial vicar of the same
archdiocese; Bishop-elect Kwambamba Masi, currently of the clergy of Kenge, is
an official of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments.
 - Rev. Fr. Giorgio Demetrio Gallaro as bishop of Piana degli Albanese di
Sicilia (area 420, population 30,500, Catholics 29,000, priests 28, permanent
deacons 4, religious 159), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Pozzallo, Italy
in 1948 and was ordained a priest in 1972. He holds a doctorate in oriental
canon law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, and a licentiate in
ecumenical theology from the Pontifical Institute of St. Thomas Aquinas
(Angelicum), Rome. In the U.S.A. he has served in pastoral and academic roles
in
the Melkite eparchy of Newton, Massachusetts, the Ukrainian eparchy of
Stamford,
Connecticut, and the Ruthenian archieparchy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is
currently syncellus for canonical affairs and judicial vicar in the
archieparchy
of Pittsburgh, lecturer in canon law and ecumenical theology at the Byzantine
Catholic Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh, and judge of
appeal
for the archieparchy of Philadelphia of the Ukrainians.
 - Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, president of the Prefecture for the Economic
Affairs of the Holy See, as prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education.
 - Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, archbishop of Koln, Germany, as member of the
Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.

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