VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 154
DATE 11-09-2015

Summary:
- Audience with the president of Serbia: promote a joint solution for Syrian
and
Iraqi refugees
- The Pope thanks the Claretians for their missionary work and invites them to
express the maternity of the Church, merciful mother
- The climate issue is a matter of justice
- Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Pope's special envoy to Creteil
- Audiences

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 Audience with the president of Serbia: promote a joint solution for Syrian and
Iraqi refugees
 Vatican City, 11 September 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican Apostolic
Palace the Holy Father received in audience Tomislav Nikolic, president of the
Republic of Serbia, who subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State
Pietro
Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for
Relations with States.
 In the cordial discussions, the good existing relations between the Holy See
and the Republic of Serbia were demonstrated, and the parties considered issues
of mutual interest regarding the relationship between the ecclesial and civil
communities, with particular reference to ecumenical dialogue and the
contribution of the Catholic Church to the common good of Serbian society.
 Attention then turned to Serbia's progress towards full integration in the
European Union, as well as various situations of a regional and international
nature, including the condition of Syrian and Iraqi refugees and displaced
persons, and the importance of promoting a shared solution to the current
crisis.

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 The Pope thanks the Claretians for their missionary work and invites them to
express the maternity of the Church, merciful mother
 Vatican City, 11 September 2015 (VIS) - "Called to evangelise: witnesses and
messengers of the joy of the Gospel", was the theme of the General Chapter of
the Congregation of Missionaries, Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed
Virgin Mary (Claretians) whom Pope Francis received this morning in audience in
the Consistory Hall. The following are extensive extracts from the written
discourse the Pope handed to the attendees of the Chapter, to whom he also
addressed some unscripted remarks.
 "'Witnesses' because joy cannot be communicated if it is not present and
deeply
rooted both in one's own life and in that of the community", writes the Holy
Father. "'Messengers' because good must be shared and, in sharing, joy is
purified and multiplied, becoming truly 'evangelical'".
 "How did the Congregation meet in this Chapter analysis? In this exercise of
discernment, how did the voice of the Spirit challenge you?", asks Francis,
adding that a sure path for discerning His call is found in "listening in the
different peripheries of the world. In them, His voice resonates with greater
clarity. This is even more important for a missionary Congregation like yours".
 He goes on to recall that to mark the occasion of the current Year of
Consecrated Life he had sent a letter to all consecrated persons inviting them
to look to the past with gratitude, to live the present with passion and to
embrace the future with hope, and he explains to the Claretians how to respond
to this invitation.
 "'Looking to the past with gratitude' means thanking God for the witness of
many of your brethren who, supported by their faith, live their vocation with
profound joy - in some cases unto martyrdom. It also means recognising the
mysterious hand of the Lord who, despite our weakness and our inconstancy,
continues to work miracles through His Church. 'Living the present with
passion'
is basing your missionary programme on the spirit of St. Antonio Maria Claret
whose motto, on his episcopal coat of arms, is 'Caritas Christi urget nos'.
Loving as Jesus loved must infuse all of our choices in life and in pastoral
ministry. 'Embracing the future with hope' means not allowing ourselves to be
held back by disillusionment. Do not be afraid. It is the Lord who sends you.
Always keep your eyes on those who await the announcement, those who need His
witness to feel the merciful presence of God in their lives".
 Francis thanks the members of the Congregation for their missionary life and
work, also asking them to greet all their brethren on his behalf, "especially
those who, due to illness or advanced age, collaborate through prayer and
witness to the mission of the congregation".
 "St. Antonio Maria Claret, your founder, gave your congregation a beautiful
name: Sons of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary", concludes the
Pope. "Let all the dimensions of your lives be profoundly marked by this
'intimacy', that inspired in Mary the beautiful hymn of the Magnificat; and
express the maternity of the Church, merciful mother, who never ceases to hope,
to accompany and to forgive".

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 The climate issue is a matter of justice
 Vatican City, 11 September 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall
the
Holy Father met with the three hundred participants in the meeting promoted by
the Foundation for Sustainable Development, "Environmental justice and climate
change", attended by major representatives of religion, politics, economic
activity and scientific research in various sectors, international
organisations
and those involved in the fight against poverty.
 "We must not forget the grave social consequences of climate change", affirmed
the Pope in his address. "It is the poorest who suffer the worst consequences.
Therefore ... the issue of climate change is a a matter of justice; it is also
a
question of solidarity, that must never be separated from justice. ... Science
and
technology place an unprecedented power in our hands: it is our duty to
humanity
as a whole, and in particular the poorest and future generations, to use it for
the common good".
 "Will our generation be remembered for having generously shouldered its grave
responsibilities?" he asked. "Amid the many contradictions of our time, we have
good enough reason to nurture the hope of being able to do so. And we should
let
ourselves be guided by this hope. In fulfilling this commitment, I hope that
each one of you may experience the satisfaction of participating in actions
that
transmit life. The joy of the Gospel also resides here".
 We are all called upon directly to be responsible and fraternal, and to defend
our dignity as people and citizens of the world "by virtue of the role that we
occupy in the family, in the world of work, the economy and research, in civil
society and in institutions". This does not involve producing "improbable
recipes", as no-one has them, but rather bringing what we have understood to
the
dialogue. "Everyone is required to contribute with a view to attaining a result
that can only be the fruit of a joint effort. The great enemy, in this aspect,
is hypocrisy", emphasised the Pope.
 To this end, this dialogue needs to be inspired by "a vision as transparent as
it is broad-ranging" and must proceed "according to an integral and above all
participatory approach, including all interested parties, including those who
more easily remain at the margins of institutional processes". Francis urged
those present to spare no effort, "so that at the tables in which a solution is
sought to the unique and complex socio-environmental crisis the voice of the
poorest may be heard", since "this too is a duty of environmental justice.
Faced
with the emergency of climate change and looking ahead to the crucial
appointments scheduled for the coming months - the approval of the Sustainable
Development Goals by the United Nations at the end of this month and above all
the COP 21 in Paris at the beginning of December - I wish to propose that this
dialogue become an authentic alliance leading to truly significant and
effective
global environmental agreements".
 "Along the way you can count on my personal support and that of the Church,
starting with the indispensable contribution of prayer. From now on I offer to
the Lord our joint effort, asking His blessing so that humanity may finally
know
how to listen to the cry of the land - today our mother earth is among the many
excluded who ask for help from Heaven - our mother and our sister, and of the
poorest among us who inhabit the earth and care for her. In this way creation
will increasingly resemble the common home that the sole Father imagined for us
a a gift to the universal family of His creatures", concluded the Holy Father.

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 Cardinal Vingt-Trois, Pope's special envoy to Creteil
 Vatican City, 11 September 2015 (VIS) - In a letter published today, written
in
Latin and dated 11 August, the Holy Father appoints Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois,
archbishop of Paris, France, as his special envoy to the mass with the rite for
the dedication of the new cathedral of the diocese of Creteil, France, to be
held on 20 September.

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 Audiences
 Vatican City, 11 September 2015 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in
audience Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for
Bishops.

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