VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 086
DATE 08-05-2015

Summary:
- Pope Francis: sport is an educational path
- Programme of the Pope's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay
- Statutes of the Commission for the Protection of Minors approved
- Publication of the Chirograph by which Pope Francis instituted the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors
- The Pope meets with a group of evangelical pastors
- Audiences

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 Pope Francis: sport is an educational path
 Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - "Sport is an educational path", said the Holy
Father this morning as he received in audience seven thousand members of the
Italian Tennis Federation in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall. "There are three
fundamental pillars for children and young people", he added: "Education - in
school and in the family - sport, and work. When we have all three of these,
then there exist the conditions for developing a full and authentic life, thus
avoiding those dependencies that poison and ruin existence".
 "The Church is interested in sport because she has man, the full man, at
heart,
and recognises that sporting activity has an impact on the formation of the
person, on relationships, and on spirituality. You athletes have a mission to
accomplish: to be, for those who admire you, valid role models. And you too,
directors, trainers and sports workers, are called upon to give good witness to
human values, as masters of a sporting practice that is always fair and clear".
 The Pope commented that tennis is a very competitive sport, but "the pressure
to achieve significant results must never drive you to take short cuts such as
in the case of doping. How ugly and sterile a victory is if it is obtained by
cheating and deceiving others".
 "The apostle Paul uses the example of the athlete to illustrate an important
characteristic of human existence", said the bishop of Rome. "'Do you not know
that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run
that
you may obtain it'. In a certain sense, this is your daily experience in
tennis.
But St. Paul refers to the challenge of giving an ultimate meaning to life
itself. I would therefore exhort each one of you to play the game not only in
sport - as you already do, and with excellent results - but also in life, in
the
search for goodness, true goodness, without fear, with courage and enthusiasm.
Play the game with others and with God, giving the best of yourself, spending
your life for what is truly valuable and which stands the test of time. Put
your
talents to the service of the encounter between people, friendship, and
inclusion".

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 Programme of the Pope's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay
 Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today published the
programme of the Holy Father's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay
(5 to 13 July 2015).
 The Pope will leave Rome's Fiumicino airport at 9 a.m. on Sunday 5 July and
will arrive at the Mariscal Sucre airport in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, at
3
p.m. local time, where the welcome ceremony will be held. On Monday 6 he will
proceed to Guayaquil to celebrate Mass in the shrine of Divine Mercy, after
which he will lunch at the Colegio Javier with the Jesuit community. Upon
return
to Quito, he will pay a courtesy visit to the Ecuadorian president in the
presidential palace and will subsequently visit the Cathedral. In the morning
of
Tuesday 7 July he will meet with the bishops of Ecuador in the Congress Centre
of the Bicentenary park, where he will celebrate Mass. In the afternoon he will
encounter representatives of schools and universities in the Pontifical
University of Ecuador, and later, representatives of civil society in the
Church
of San Francisco, after which he will pay a private visit to the "Iglesia de la
Compania". On Wednesday 8, he will first visit the Rest Home of the
Missionaries
of Charity, and will then meet with clergy, men and women religious and
seminarians at the national Marian shrine, El Quinche. On the same day he will
depart by air for Bolivia.
 Upon arrival at the airport of El Alto in La Paz, he will give an address and,
following the welcome ceremony, will transfer to the Government Palace to pay a
courtesy visit to the president. From there, he will go to the Cathedral of La
Paz, where he will meet with the civil authorities, after which he will travel
by air to Santa Cruz de la Sierra where he will spend the night. On Thursday 9
he will celebrate Mass in the the square of Cristo Redentor, and will meet with
men and women religious in the Don Bosco school, after which he will
participate
in the World Meeting of Popular Movements in the Expo trade fair centre. On
Friday 10 he will visit the Santa Cruz-Palmasola re-education centre and, in
the
same morning, will meet with the bishops of Bolivia in the parish church of
Santa Cruz. The Pope will leave Bolivia from the Viru Viru airport in Santa
Cruz
de la Sierra, destined for Paraguay; his aircraft is expected to land at around
3 p.m. local time in the Silvio Pettirossi airport of Asuncion.
 After arriving in Paraguay, the Pope will pay a courtesy visit to the
president
in the Palacio de Lopez, where he will also meet with the authorities and the
diplomatic corps. On Saturday 11 July, he will visit the "Ninos de Acosta Nu"
general paediatric hospital and will subsequently officiate at Mass in the
square of the Marian sanctuary of Caacupe. In the afternoon he will meet with
representatives of civil society in the Leon Condou stadium of the San Jose
school. The day will conclude with the celebration of vespers with the bishops,
priests, deacons, men and women religious, seminarians and Catholic movements
in
the metropolitan cathedral of Our Lady of Asuncion. Sunday 12 will begin with a
visit to the people of Banado Norte in the Chapel of San Juan Batista, and Mass
in the Nu Guazu field. The Holy Father will meet the bishops of Paraguay in the
Cultural Centre of the apostolic nunciature, where they will then dine. His
last
engagement will be a meeting with young people at the Costanera riverside area.
At 7 p.m. local time Francis will depart by air for Rome, where he is expected
to arrive on Monday 13 July at around 1.45 p.m.

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 Statutes of the Commission for the Protection of Minors approved
 Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - On 21 April, Cardinal Secretary of State,
Pietro Parolin, approved by mandate of the Supreme Pontiff, "ad experimentum"
for three years, the Statutes of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection
of
Minors, the draft of which had been presented by Cardinal Sean O'Malley,
president of the aforementioned Commission.
 The Statutes will be published today in the Italian original and in English
translation. The document is composed of six articles: Nature and Competence,

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