VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 072
DATE 16-04-2015

Summary:
- May the Church in Kenya be an instrument of reconciliation, justice and peace
- The Pope to travel to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay in July
- Press Release on the Implementation of the C.D.F. Doctrinal Assessment and
Mandate of April 2012
- Presentation of the Annuarium Pontificium
- Cardinal Montenegro to take possession of his titular church
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 May the Church in Kenya be an instrument of reconciliation, justice and peace
 Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) - This morning the prelates of the Kenya
Conference of Catholic Bishops were received in audience by Pope Francis at the
end of their "ad Limina" visit. In the written discourse he handed to them, the
Holy Father writes that for many of them this visit to Rome will recall the
time
spent in the Italian capital during their preparation for ordination to the
priesthood. "The many seminarians studying in this city, like the numerous
seminarians in your own country, are an eloquent sign of God's goodness to the
universal Church and to your dioceses".
 "While the seeds of a priestly vocation are sown long before a man arrives at
the seminary, first in the heart of the family", he notes, "it pertains to
seminary formators to nurture the growth of these vocations. For this reason,
it
is imperative that seminarians' goodwill and earnest desires be met with a
formation that is humanly sound, spiritually deep, intellectually rich, and
pastorally diverse. I am aware of the challenges which this entails, and I
encourage you to strengthen your efforts, individually within your Dioceses and
collectively in your Episcopal Conference, so that the good work which the Lord
is accomplishing in your candidates for priestly Orders will be brought to
completion".
 "In this Year of Consecrated Life, my heart is also close to the men and women
religious who have renounced the world for the sake of the kingdom thus
bringing
many blessings to the Church and society in Kenya. ... The united and selfless
efforts of many Catholics in Kenya are a beautiful witness and example for the
country. In so many ways, the Church is called to offer hope to the broader
culture, a hope based on her unstinting witness to the newness of life promised
by Christ in the Gospel. In this regard, without wishing to interfere in
temporal affairs, the Church must insist, especially to those who are in
positions of leadership and power, on those moral principles which promote the
common good and the building up of society as a whole. In the fulfilment of her
apostolic mission, the Church must take a prophetic stand in defence of the
poor
and against all corruption and abuse of power. She must do so, in the first
place, by example. ... In a particular way, I wish to offer a word of
appreciation
to the many humble and dedicated workers in Church-run institutions throughout
your country, whose daily activities bring spiritual and material benefit to
countless people. The Church has contributed, and continues to contribute, to
all of Kenya through a diverse array of schools, institutes, universities,
clinics, hospitals, homes for the sick and dying, orphanages and social
agencies".
 Pope Francis goes on to emphasise that "the Church in Kenya must always be
true
to her mission as an instrument of reconciliation, justice and peace. In
fidelity to the entire patrimony of the faith and moral teaching of the Church,
may you strengthen your commitment to working with Christian and non-Christian
leaders alike, in promoting peace and justice in your country through dialogue,
fraternity and friendship. In this way you will be able to offer a more unified
and courageous denunciation of all violence, especially that committed in the
name of God. This will bring deeper reassurance and solace to all your fellow
citizens". He affirms, "With you, I pray for all those who have been killed by
acts of terror or ethnic or tribal hostilities in Kenya as well as other areas
of the continent. I think most especially of the men and women killed at
Garissa
University College on Good Friday. May their souls rest in peace and their
loved
ones be consoled, and may those who commit such brutality come to their senses
and seek mercy".
 The Pope encourages the prelates in their pastoral care for the family, and
declares his conviction that as the Church prepares for the Ordinary Synod
dedicated to the pastoral challenges to the family in the context of
evangelisation "you will continue to assist and strengthen all those families
who are struggling because of broken marriages, infidelity, addiction or
violence", and asks them to "intensify the Church's ministry to youth, forming
them to be disciples capable of making permanent and life-giving commitments -
whether to a spouse in marriage, or to the Lord in the priesthood or religious
life".
 Finally, he prays with them the the forthcoming Jubilee of Mercy may be "a
time
of great forgiveness, healing, conversion, and grace for the entire Church in
Kenya" and that, "touched by Christ's infinite mercy, may all the faithful be
signs of the reconciliation, justice and peace that God wills for your country,
and indeed, all of Africa".

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 The Pope to travel to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay in July
 Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) - The director of the Holy See Press Office,
Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., today declared that Pope Francis, accepting the
invitation offered by the respective Heads of State and bishops of these
countries, will make an apostolic trip to Ecuador, from 6 to 8 July, Bolivia
from 8 to 10 July, and Paraguay, from 10 to 12 of the same month. The programme
for the trip will be published shortly.

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 Press Release on the Implementation of the C.D.F. Doctrinal Assessment and
Mandate of April 2012
 Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) - Officials of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith (C.D.F.), Archbishop Peter Sartain and officers of the
Leadership Conference of Women Religious (L.C.W.R.) met April 16. Archbishop
Sartain and L.C.W.R. officers presented a joint report (attached) on the
implementation of the C.D.F. Doctrinal Assessment and Mandate of April 2012.
The
joint report outlines the manner in which the implementation of the Mandate has
been accomplished. The Congregation accepted the joint report, marking the
conclusion of the Doctrinal Assessment of L.C.W.R. Present for the April 16
meeting were His Eminence Gerhard Cardinal Muller, Archbishop Peter Sartain,
Sr.
Carol Zinn, S.S.J., Sr. Marcia Allen, C.S.J., Sr. Joan Marie Steadman, C.S.C.,
and Sr. Janet Mock, C.S.J., and other officials of CDF.
 During the meeting, Archbishop Sartain and L.C.W.R. officers outlined the
process undertaken by the Bishop Delegates and L.C.W.R. over the past three
years, noting the spirit of cooperation among participants throughout the
sensitive process. Cardinal Muller offered his thoughts on the Doctrinal
Assessment as well as the Mandate and its completion. He expressed gratitude to
those present for their willing participation in this important and delicate
work and extended thanks to others who had participated, especially Archbishop
Leonard P. Blair, Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, and the past officers and
executive
directors of L.C.W.R.
 Following the meeting, Cardinal Muller said: "At the conclusion of this
process, the Congregation is confident that L.C.W.R. has made clear its mission
to support its member Institutes by fostering a vision of religious life that
is
centred on the person of Jesus Christ and is rooted in the tradition of the
Church. It is this vision that makes religious women and men radical witnesses
to the Gospel, and, therefore, is essential for the flourishing of religious
life in the Church".
 Sr. Sharon Holland, IHM,President of L.C.W.R., was unable to be present for
the
meeting but commented, "We are pleased at the completion of the Mandate, which
involved long and challenging exchanges of our understandings of and
perspectives on critical matters of Religious Life and its practice. Through
these exchanges, conducted always in a spirit of prayer and mutual respect, we
were brought to deeper understandings of one another's experiences, roles,
responsibilities, and hopes for the Church and the people it serves. We learned

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