me'. The two parishes of the Vatican will also welcome two families of refugees
in these days".
 The Pope then went on to mention that the bishops of Venezuela and Colombia
will meet shortly to examine together the painful situation that has emerged on
the border between the two countries. "I see in this meeting a clear sign of
hope. I invite all, especially the beloved Venezuelan and Colombian peoples, to
pray that, in a spirit of solidarity and fraternity, the current difficulties
may be overcome".
 He also remarked that yesterday in Gerona, Spain, the women religious Fidelia
Oller, Josefa Monrabal and Facunda Margenat, "killed for their fidelity to
Christ and to the Church", were proclaimed blessed. Despite threats and
intimidation, these women bravely stayed where they were to assist the sick,
trusting in God. May their heroic witness, unto the shedding of their blood,
give strength and hope to those who are persecuted today for their Christian
faith. And as we know, there are many of them".
 Finally, he spoke about the inauguration last Friday in Brazzaville, capital
of
the Republic of the Congo, of the eleventh African Games, in which thousand of
athletes from all over the continent will compete. "I hope that this great
festival of sport will contribute to peace, fraternity and the development of
all the countries of Africa".

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 The Holy Father receives the "Cells of evangelisation"
 Vatican City, 5 September 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall, Pope
Francis received more than 5,000 members of the "Cells of Evangelisation" from
all over the world, accompanied by the Fr. Piergiorgio Perini, parish priest of
St. Eustorgio in Milan, Italy, who founded this institution whose statutes were
formally recognised by the Catholic Church on 15 April this year. With the help
of their "cells", parish priests are able to educate their parishes in
evangelisation and to continue their ordinary pastoral ministry while also
giving it a missionary quality.
 This missionary aim requires, above all, "listening to the voice of the Holy
Spirit Who continues to speak to His Church and to drive her to take paths that
are at times little-known but decisive for the progress of evangelisation.
Remaining always willing to listen and being careful never to become exhausted
by tiredness and the difficulties of the moment, are conditions for overcoming
the various obstacles we encounter on the path of evangelisation".
 The cells, with their daily commitment and in communion with other ecclesial
entities, help the parish community to become a family "in which we find the
rich and multiform reality of the Church". "Meeting in homes to share the joys
and hopes that are present in the heart of every person, is a genuine
experience
of evangelisation that closely resembles what took place in the early years of
the Church", remarked the Pope, noting that the Cells are "able to welcome all
without judging anyone, to offer the experience of God's presence and love for
one's brothers. Welcome is fundamental to evangelisation, as it is one of the
first signs of the communion to which we are called to bear witness, for having
encountered Christ in our life".
 The Holy Father exhorted the members of the movement to make the Eucharist the
heart of their evangelising mission, "so that each Cell may be a Eucharistic
community where breaking bread is equivalent to recognising the real presence
of
Jesus Christ among us". "Your statutes were approved on Divine Mercy Sunday.
May
you always bear witness to the tenderness of God the Father and His closeness
to
everyone, especially the weakest and loneliest".

___________________________________________________________

 Cardinal Fernando Sturla, Pope's special envoy to the Fifth National
Eucharistic Congress of Bolivia
 Vatican City, 5 September 2015 (VIS) - In a letter published today, written in
Latin and dated 22 August, the Holy Father appoints Cardinal Daniel Fernando
Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay, as his special
envoy
to the Fifth National Eucharistic Congress of Bolivia, to be celebrated in
Tarija, Bolivia from 16 to 20 September.
 The mission accompanying the cardinal will be composed of Msgr. Diego Luis
Espana Gonzalez, vicar general of the diocese of Tarija, Bolivia, and Fr. Pablo
Cesar Alcoba Miranda, parish priest of the parish Nuestra Senora de Pilcomayo
in
Yacuiba and episcopal vicar of the same diocese.

___________________________________________________________

 Audiences
 Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience 40 prelates from the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, on their "ad
Limina" visit, in two separate groups. In the early morning, he received:
 - Cardinal Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente, patriarch of Lisbon, with his
auxiliaries, Bishop Joaquim Augusto da Silva Mendes, Bishop Nuno Bras da Silva
Martins, and Bishop Jose Augusto Traquina Maria;
 Bishop Antonio de Sousa Braga of Angra;
 - Bishop Antonio Jose Cavaco Carrilho of Funchal, with Bishop emeritus Teodoro
de Faria;
 - Bishop Manuel da Rocha Felicio of Guarda;
 - Bishop Antonio Augusto dos Santos Marto of Leiria-Fatima, with Bishop
emeritus Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva;
 - Bishop Antonino Eugenio Fernandes Dias of Portalegre Castelo Branco;
 - Bishop Manuel Pelino Domingues of Santarem;
 - Bishop Gilberto Delio Gongalves Canavarro dos Reis of Setubal with Bishop
emeritus Manuel da Silva Martins;
 - Archbishop Jose Francisco Sanches Alves of Evora, with Bishop emeritus
Maurilio Jorge Quintal de Gouveia;
 - Bishop Antonio Vitalino Fernandes Dantas of Beja, with coadjutor Bishop Jose
Jogo dos Santos Marcos;
 - Bishop Manuel Neto Quintas of Faro, with Bishop emeritus Manuel Madureira
Dias;
 In the late morning, he received:
 - Archbishop Jorge Ferreira da Costa Ortiga of Braga, with his auxiliary,
Bishop Francisco Jose Villas-Boas Senra de Faria Coelho;
 - Bishop Antonio Manuel Moiteiro Ramos of Aveiro;
 - Bishop Jose Manuel Garcia Cordeiro of Braganca Miranda, with Bishops
emeritus
Antonio Jose Rafael and Antonio Montes Moreira;
 - Bishop Virgilio do Nascimento Antunes of Coimbra;
 - Bishop Antonio Jose da Rocha Couto of Lamego, with Bishop emeritus Jacinto
Tomas de Carvalho;
 - Bishop Antonio Francisco dos Santos of Porto, with his auxiliaries, Bishop
Antonio Maria Bessa Taipa, Bishop Joao Evangelista Pimentel Lavrador and Bishop
Pio Goncalo Alves de Sousa, and former auxiliary Bishop Joao Miranda Teixeira;
 - Bishop Anacleto Cordeiro Gongalves de Oliveira of Viana do Castelo, with
Bishop emeritus Jose Augusto Martins Fernandes Pedreira;
 - Bishop Amandio Jose Tomas of Vila Real;
 - Bishop Ilidio Pinto Leandro of Viseu;
 - Bishop Manuel da Silva Rodrigues Linda, Military Ordinary, with Military
Ordinary emeritus Bishop Januario Torgal Mendes Ferreira.
 On Saturday, 5 September, the Holy Father received in audience:
 - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;
 - Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith;
 - Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brasilia, Brazil, president of the National
Conference of Bishops of Brazil, with Archbishop Murilo Sebastiao Ramos Krieger
of Sao Salvador da Bahia, vice president; and Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner,
auxiliary of Brasilia, secretary general.

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:
 On Saturday, 5 September, the Holy Father:
 - appointed Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect emeritus of the Congregation
for Catholic Education, as his special envoy at the concluding celebration of
the 500th anniversary of the arrival from Rome of the Sacred Image of the
Madonna of Lask in the shrine of Lask in the archdiocese of Lodz, to be held on
Sunday 8 November.
 - accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Taiohae,
Marquis Islands, France, presented by Bishop Guy Chevalier, SS.CC. upon
reaching
the age limit. He is succeeded by Bishop Pascal Chang-Soi, SS.CC., coadjutor of
the same diocese.
 - gave his assent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the
Armenian Patriarchal Church of Rev. Archpriest Kevork (Georges) Assadourian as
auxiliary of the patriarchal eparchy of Beirut of the Armenians (Catholics
12,500, priests 22, permanent deacons 3, religious 49), Lebanon. The
bishop-elect was born in Kamichlie, Syria in 1961 and was ordained a priest in
1986. He studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical University of St.
Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) and at the Pontifical Lateran University, and has
served in a number of roles in Lebanon, including vice rector of the seminary
of
Bzommar, vicar and parish priest in several parishes, and bursar. He currently
exercises his pastoral ministry in Paris in the Armenian-Catholic eparchy of
France.
 - appointed Archbishop Thomas E. Gullickson, formerly apostolic nuncio in
Ukraine, as apostolic nuncio in Switzerland and in the Principality of
Liechtenstein.

___________________________________________________________

 Press conference on Pope Francis' two new Motu proprio on the reform of
canonical procedure for marriage annulment
 Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) At midday tomorrow, Tuesday 8 September,
a
press conference will be held in the Holy See Press Office to present the two
letters issued "Motu proprio" by Pope Francis, "Mitis ludex Dominus Iesus" and
"Mitis et misericors Iesus" on the reform of canonical procedure for the
annulment of marriage in the Code of Canon Law (CIC) and the Code of Canons of
the Oriental Churches (CCEO) respectively.
 The speakers in the conference, in the order in which they will intervene,
are:
 - Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Roman Rota and president of the Special
Commission for the Study of the Reform of Matrimonial Processes in Canon Law;
 - Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for
Legislative Texts and member of the Special Commission;
 - Bishop Dimitrios Salachas, apostolic exarch of Athens for Greek Catholics of
Byzantine Rite and member of the Special Commission;
 - Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., secretary of the
Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith and member of the Special Commission;
 - Msgr. Alejandro W. Bunge, prelate auditor of the Roman Rota and secretary of
the Special Commission;
 - Fr. Nikolaus Schoch, O.F.M., substitute promoter of Justice at the Supreme
Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and secretary of the Special Commission.

___________________________________________________________

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www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va

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the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
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