VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 120
DATE 26-06-2015

Summary:
- The Pope to the International Catholic Conference of Guiding: the education
of
women is vital
- The Holy See and the State of Palestine sign a general Agreement
- Agreement between the State of Palestine and the Holy See: look to the future
without forgetting the past
- Metropolitan archbishops to receive the pallium
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
- Notice

___________________________________________________________

 The Pope to the International Catholic Conference of Guiding: the education of
women is vital
 Vatican City, 26 June 2015 (VIS) - "Education is the indispensable means for
enabling girls to grow into active and responsible women, proud and happy in
the
faith in Christ they live in their everyday life. In this way they will
participate in the construction of a world imbued with the Gospel", said Pope
Francis to delegates from the International Catholic Conference of Guiding
(ICCG), whom he received in audience this morning, gathered in Rome on the
fiftieth anniversary of the institution's foundation to analyse the theme:
"Living as guides the joy of the Gospel".
 The ICCG unites national associations of Catholic guides and national
interconfessional guiding organisations. Its aim is to help member associations
to transform guiding into a genuine tool for education in faith and to make its
pedagogical richness, formative activities and experience in interconfessional
collaboration more widely known.
 The Holy Father emphasised the excellence of the theme chosen for the meeting
and the programme it has given rise to: "proclaiming to others, through the
witness of our own life, that encountering Jesus frees us and heals us ...
opens
us to other and drives us to announce him, especially to the poorest and most
distant, the lonely and abandoned".
 He invited the delegates to be faithful to the principles of their movement
and
to establish a sincere dialogue with guides of different cultures and
religions,
with respect for the beliefs of each one, and serenely affirming their Catholic
faith and identity. Pope Francis then went on to speak about his recent
Encyclical "Laudato si'", in which he states that education in ecology is
essential to transform habits and ways of thinking so as to overcome the
troubling challenges that face humanity in relation to the environment. "I
think
that the guiding movement, which in its educational method accords an important
role to contact with nature, is particularly well-disposed to this", he said.
"I
hope that guides will continue to be alert to the presence and the goodness of
the Creator in the beauty of the world that surrounds them. This contemplative
attitude will lead them to live in harmony with themselves, with others and
with
God. It is a new way of life, more coherent with the Gospel, that they will be
able to transmit to others around them".
 Finally, the Pope reiterated the need to ensure that the importance of women
is
recognised, so that they take their rightful place both in the Church and in
society. "Here too, the role of educational associations such as yours, that
address young girls, is absolutely essential for the future, and your teaching
must be clear on these issues. We are in a world where we see the spread of
ideologies contrary to nature and God's design for the family and marriage. It
is therefore a question not only of educating girls in the beauty and greatness
of their vocation as women, in a just relationship recognising the difference
between man and woman, but also to take on important responsibilities in the
Church and in society. In some countries where women are still in a position of
inferiority, or even exploited and mistreated, you certainly have a significant
role to play in promotion and education. I ask you not to forget, in your
pedagogic approach, the necessary and explicit openness to the possibility of a
life consecrated to the Lord, an area in which the guiding movement has
historically been fruitful".

___________________________________________________________

 The Holy See and the State of Palestine sign a general Agreement
 Vatican City, 26 June 2015 (VIS) - Today, Friday 26 June, in the Vatican
Apostolic Palace, a Comprehensive Agreement was signed between the Holy See and
the State of Palestine. The accord follows on the Basic Agreement which was
signed between the Holy See and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) on
15 February 2000 and is the result of the negotiations undertaken by a
bilateral
working commission over the past years.
 Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States, signed on
behalf of the Holy See and Riad Al-Malki, minister of Foreign Affairs, signed
for the State of Palestine.
 The following took part in the solemn act:
 For the Holy See: Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, apostolic delegate to
Jerusalem and Palestine; Archbishop Antonio Franco, apostolic nuncio; His
Beatitude Fouad Twal, Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins; Mgr. Antoine
Camilleri, under-secretary for the Holy See's Relations with States; Fr.
Lorenzo
Lorusso, O.P., under-secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches;
Mgr. Alberto Ortega, official of the Section for Relations with States of the
Secretariat of State; Mgr. Paolo Borgia, official of the Section for General
Affairs of the Secretariat of State; and Fr. Oscar Marzo, O.F.M., member of the
Custody of the Holy Land and Official of the Congregation for the Oriental
Churches.
 For the State of Palestine: Ramzi Khoury, advisor to the president and deputy
head of the Presidential Higher Committee on Church Affairs in Palestine;
Ambassador Issa Kassissieh, representative of the State of Palestine to the
Holy
See; Ambassador Rawan Sulaiman, assistant foreign minister for Multilateral
Affairs; Vera Baboun, mayor of Bethlehem; Moussa Abu Hadeed, mayor of Ramallah;
Ammar Hijazi, deputy assistant foreign minister for Multilateral Affairs; Azem
Bishara, legal advisor of the PLO; Ammar Nisnas, counsellor of the diplomatic
representation of the State of Palestine to the Holy See.
 The Agreement is comprised of a preamble and 32 articles distributed in 8
chapters. It deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the
Catholic Church in the State of Palestine, while reaffirming support for a
negotiated and peaceful resolution of the situation in the region. It will come
into effect when both Parties have notified each other in writing that the
relevant constitutional or internal requirements have been met.

___________________________________________________________

 Agreement between the State of Palestine and the Holy See: look to the future
without forgetting the past
 Vatican City, 26 June 2015 (VIS) - The following is a summary of the content
of
the Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Palestine, based on the
text
provided by L'Osservatore Romano.
 The Agreement has a specific nature that takes into account the legal and
political situations that surround the conflict, and the rules that have
gradually built up over the centuries. The Preamble, which refers to current
international law, frames a series of key points: the self-determination of the
Palestinian people; the objective of the two-state solution; the meaning, not
only symbolic, of Jerusalem, in terms of its holy character for Jews,
Christians
and Muslims and its universal religious and cultural value as heritage for all
humanity; and the Holy See's interests in the Holy Land. The two Parties,
considering their mutual daily relations, indicate in the negotiated agreement
a
way of working, together and separately, not only in defining the condition of
the Catholic Church in Palestine but also for the good of people and
institutions. The Agreement is therefore an instrument for use in the process
of
attaining that "just and lasting" peace that may be the result only of an
agreement between the Palestinian and Israeli authorities. The idea that the
future of the Holy Land rests in the hands of the actors present there is
supported by the Holy See's wish to exercise her "educational, spiritual and
moral mission", but - with reference to and amplifying the formula of Article
24
of the Lateran Pact, the Holy See "shall take no part in any temporal rivalries
between other States, nor in any international congresses called to settle such
matters, save and except in the event of such parties making a mutual appeal to
the pacific mission of the Holy See".
 Chapter 2 of the Agreement relates to the theme of freedom of worship and

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