VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 147
DATE 02-09-2015

Summary:
- General audience: the family, conduit of faith
- May the world never experience again the horrors of World War
- The Pope presides at the liturgy of the first Day for the Care of Creation
- Activities of the Holy Father and the Holy See during the month of August

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 General audience: the family, conduit of faith
 Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) - The family as the conduit of faith was
the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis during September's first general
audience.
 Francis remarked first that Jesus, both in His words and His signs, frequently
presented family bonds as an example of our relationship with God. These bonds
"within the experience of faith and God's love, are transformed and acquire a
higher meaning, and are able to go beyond themselves, to create a broader
paternity and maternity, and to welcome as brothers and sisters those who are
at
the margins". To this purpose, the bishop of Rome cited the Gospel passage in
which Jesus responded to those who said that His mother and brothers were
seeking him outside: "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the
will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother".
 "The wisdom of affections that cannot be bought or sold is the finest quality
of the family. It is precisely in the family that we learn to grow in that
atmosphere of emotional wisdom. ... When family affections are allowed to be
converted by the witness of the Gospel, they become capable of unimaginable
things, the actions that God works in history, like those that Jesus achieves
for the men, women and children he encounters. A smile miraculously snatched
from the despair of an abandoned child, who starts to live again, explains to
us
God's work in the world better than a thousand theological treatises. One man
and one woman, capable of risking and making sacrifices for the child of others
and not only their own, tell us things about love that scientists are not able
to understand".
 "The family that responds to Jesus' call restores the rule of the world to the
alliance of man and woman with God", Francis emphasised. "Let us imagine that
the helm of history (of society, the economy, politics) is finally passed to
the
alliance between man and woman, so that they might govern with a view to the
generation to come. The themes of the earth and the home, the economy and work,
would play a very different tune!"
 "Effectively, the alliance between the family and God is called upon to oppose
to the community desertification of the modern city. But our cities have been
desertified through a lack of love, a lack of smiles. There is so much
entertainment, so many things to pass the time, to make us laugh, but there is
a
lack of love. The smile of a family is able to conquer this desertification of
our cities. And this is the victory of family love".
 "No form of economic or political engineering is able to substitute the
contribution families make", he concluded. "The project of Babel builds
lifeless
skyscrapers. The Spirit of God, instead, makes deserts bloom. We must leave the
towers and strongholds of the elites, in order to frequent once more the homes
and open spaces of the multitudes, open to the love of the family".

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 May the world never experience again the horrors of World War
 Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) - After today's catechesis the Pope
launched a new appeal for peace, on the anniversary of the end of the Second
World War.
 "During these days, also in the Middle East, we commemorate the end of the
Second World War", he said. "I renew my heartfelt prayers to the Lord of all so
that, by the intercession of Our Lady, today's world may never again experience
the horrors and the appalling suffering of similar tragedies. But it
experiences
them! This is also the enduring desire of all peoples, especially those who are
victims of the various current bloody conflicts. Persecuted minorities,
persecuted Christians, the madness of destruction, and then those who produce
and deal in arms, weapons soaked with the blood of so many innocent people. No
more war! It is the fervent cry that, from our hearts and from the hearts of
all
men and women of good will, rises up to the Prince of peace".

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 The Pope presides at the liturgy of the first Day for the Care of Creation
 Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in St. Peter's
Basilica the Holy Father presided at the liturgy for the first World Day of
Prayer for the Care of Creation, instituted by the Pope on 10 August and which
will from now on be celebrated by the Catholic Church on 1 September, as in the
Orthodox Church. Numerous pilgrims and representatives of the Roman Curia
participated in the liturgy, and many people and communities throughout the
world have responded to the Pope's appeal to renew our vocation as custodians
of
creation.
 The homily was pronounced by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Papal
Household. After citing the biblical sources, from Genesis to the Book of
Psalms, which describe the relationship between the human being and the world
created by God, Fr. Cantalamessa went on to focus on the figure of St. Francis
of Assisi and his "Canticle of the Creatures", which the Pope chose as the
basis
for his encyclical "Laudato si'",
 "The saint's words, which define the sun as beautiful, the brother fire as
beautiful, the stars as bright and beautiful, are an echo of that 'And God saw
everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good', from the account of
creation", he commented. "The fundamental sin against creation, that precedes
all others, is not listening to His voice, condemning it irretrievably, as St.
Paul would say, to vanity, to insignificance. ... Francis shows us the way to a
radical change in our relationship with creation: it consists of substituting
possession with contemplation. He describes a different way of enjoying its
fruits, which is contemplating them instead of possessing them".
 "Certainly, Francis did not have a global and worldwide vision of the
ecological problem, but rather a local, immediate view", he added. "He thought
about what he and, eventually, his brother friars, could do. Here too, however,
he teaches us. A slogan currently in vogue is 'think globally, act locally'.
What is the point in taking issue with those who pollute the atmosphere, the
oceans and the forests, if we do not hesitate in throwing onto a riverbank or
into the sea a plastic bag that will remain there for centuries if no-one
retrieves it; if I throw away what I no longer want wherever I wish, on the
streets or in the forest; or if I deface the walls of my city?".
 "The protection of creation, like peace, is 'handcrafted', as our Holy Father
would say, starting with ourselves", he concluded. "Peace begins with you, as
is
often repeated in the messages for World Day of Peace; similarly, the
protection
of creation begins with you. It was what an Orthodox representative affirmed
during the ecumenical assembly in Basel in 1989 on 'Justice, peace and the
protection of creation'. "Without a change in the human heart, environmentalism
has no hope of success".

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 Activities of the Holy Father and the Holy See during the month of August
 Vatican City, 2 September 2015 (VIS) - The following is a list of Pope
Francis'
activities during the month of August. It includes Angelus audiences, other
pontifical acts, telegrams, messages and other news. The activities are
presented in chronological order under the respective titles:
 GENERAL AUDIENCES
 6. The Pope returns to his reflections on the family and refers to the
situation of those who, following the breakdown of their marriage, establish a
new cohabitation, and the pastoral attention they require. The Church, he says,
knows that this situation contradicts the Christian sacrament, but with a
mother's heart she seeks the good and the salvation of all, without exception.
 12. The Holy Father begins a series of reflections on three aspects of family
life: rest, work and prayer, starting with the first. The divine commandment to
pause in our daily tasks reminds us that man, as the image of God, is a master
rather than a slave to work. He urges us to free ourselves of our obsession
with
economic gain, which undermines human rhythms of life and denies us the time
for
what is truly important.
 19. Francis speaks about work and the family. The management of work, he says,
requires a great social responsibility that cannot be left to the mercy of the
logic of profit or of a deified market, in which frequently the family is
regarded as a burden or an obstacle to productivity.
 26. The Pope dedicates his catechesis to prayer in the family and reiterates
that, despite the difficulties of finding time in family life, always busy and
with many things to do, prayer enables the family to find the peace to face
necessary things, and to discover the joy of the Lord's unexpected gifts, the
beauty of rest and the serenity of work.
 ANGELUS
 2. In the first Angelus of August, the Pope recalled that Jesus speaks of
going
far beyond the immediate satisfaction of material necessities and instead
invites the faithful to satisfy instead their "hunger for life", the hunger for
eternity that only the Lord is able to satiate, as He is the "bread of life".
 9. Following the multiplication of the loaves, Jesus explains to the people
the
meaning of this sign and takes as a starting point the experience of hunger and
the symbol of bread to reveal Himself to the people and invite them to believe
in Him. "In His flesh, that is, in his concrete humanity, all God's love is
present, which is the Holy Spirit. Those who allow themselves to be attracted
by
this love go towards Jesus and towards faith, and receive from Him eternal
life".
 After the Angelus prayer the Pope mentioned that sixty years ago, on 6 and 9
August 1945, the atomic bomb was dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and
Nagasaki, a tragic event that urges us to pray for peace. He also expressed his
concerns regarding the economic crisis in El Salvador, which has increased the
suffering of the population.
 15. On the Solemnity of the Assumption, Francis emphasised that that great
things the Almighty realised in Mary speak to us of our journey in life and
remind us of our destination. Following the Marian prayer, he invited the
faithful to pray for the inhabitants of the city of Tianjin in northern China,
where a series of explosions in the industrial zone claimed many victims and
caused significant damage.
 16. Francis devoted the Angelus of the third Sunday of August to the Gospel of
John the Evangelist that presents Jesus as the living bread from heaven, and
explains the purpose of Mass, emphasising that the Eucharist is a memorial, or
rather a gesture that makes real and present the event of the death and
resurrection of Jesus.
 23. The Pope concludes the reading from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of St.
John, which ends with the discourse on the bread of life, pronounced by Jesus
after the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes. The
enthusiasm of the multitude wanes as His words on His flesh and blood as food
and drink, alluding to His imminent sacrifice are judged unworthy of the
Messiah. Jesus' words, says Francis, always challenge us; in relation, for
instance, to the spirit of the world and of worldliness.
 On the eve of the national holiday in Ukraine, Peter's Successor launched a
fresh appeal for peace in the country, afflicted for some months by a conflict
that has worsened in recent weeks.
 30. Superficial adherence to the law is not enough for good Christians,
Francis
emphasised, commenting on the Gospel of St. Mark which describes the dispute

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