VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 163
DATE 24-09-2015

Summary:
- The Pope at the White House: as the son of migrants, happy to be a guest in a
country largely built by such families
- Meeting with United States bishops: never repeat the crimes of the past
- The canonisation of Blessed Junipero Serra: Jesus has no 'shortlist' of
people
worthy of His message
- Other Pontifical Acts

___________________________________________________________

 The Pope at the White House: as the son of migrants, happy to be a guest in a
country largely built by such families
 Vatican City, 24 September 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday more than two hundred
thousand people awaited Pope Francis outside the White House, where shortly
after 9 a.m. local time (3 p.m. in Rome) he was welcomed by President Barack
Obama and the First Lady, Michelle Obama. They accompanied him to the podium
erected in the grounds of the presidential residence, where before two thousand
people the Holy Father gave his first address in the United States.
 In his discourse he affirmed that, "as the son of an immigrant family, I am
happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families",
and highlighted the commitment of American Catholics, along with their fellow
citizens, to constructing a tolerant and inclusive society and to rejecting
every form of unjust discrimination. The Pope also mentioned the importance of
the right to religious freedom and the duty of defending it from anything that
might threaten or compromise it.
 Francis praised Barack Obama's initiative for reducing air pollution.
"Accepting the urgency, it seems clear to me also that climate change is a
problem which can no longer be left to a future generation", he said. "When it
comes to the care of our 'common home', we are living at a critical moment of
history. We still have time to make the changes needed to bring about 'a
sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change'. Such
change demands on our part a serious and responsible recognition not only of
the
kind of world we may be leaving to our children, but also to the millions of
people living under a system which has overlooked them. Our common home has
been
part of this group of the excluded which cries out to heaven and which today
powerfully strikes our homes, our cities and our societies. To use a telling
phrase of the Reverend Martin Luther King, we can say that we have defaulted on
a promissory note and now is the time to honour it. ... Humanity still has the
ability to work together in building our common home. As Christians inspired by
this certainty, we wish to commit ourselves to the conscious and responsible
care of our common home".
 The Holy Father also mentioned recent efforts "to mend broken relationships
and
to open new doors to cooperation within our human family" which "represent
positive steps along the path of reconciliation, justice and freedom. I would
like all men and women of good will in this great nation to support the efforts
of the international community to protect the vulnerable in our world and to
stimulate integral and inclusive models of development, so that our brothers
and
sisters everywhere may know the blessings of peace and prosperity which God
wills for all his children".
 "Mr. President", he concluded, "once again I thank you for your welcome, and I
look forward to these days in your country. God bless America!".
 At the end of the welcome ceremony, the Pope and the president retired to the
Oval Office where an exchange of gifts and a private discussion took place,
attended by members of President Obama's family. The Pope's gift was a bronze
medallion commemorating the Eighth World Meeting of Families, to be celebrated
on 27 September in Philadelphia.

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 Meeting with United States bishops: never repeat the crimes of the past
 Vatican City, 24 September 2015 (VIS) - The challenges of a nation whose vast
resources require not insignificant moral responsibility in a world seeking new
equilibria of peace, prosperity and integration, the importance of never again
repeating past "crimes" against victims of abuse, the need for dialogue instead
of hard and bellicose language, and the defence of the excluded, migrants and
the environment were some of the themes that Pope Francis considered yesterday
in the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington D.C., during his
meeting with the episcopate of the United States. The following are extensive
extracts from his address.
 "My first word to you is one of thanksgiving to God for the power of the
Gospel
which has brought about remarkable growth of Christ's Church in these lands and
enabled its generous contribution, past and present, to American society and to
the world. ... I appreciate the unfailing commitment of the Church in America
to
the cause of life and that of the family, which is the primary reason for my
present visit. I am well aware of the immense efforts you have made to welcome
and integrate those immigrants who continue to look to America, like so many
others before them, in the hope of enjoying its blessings of freedom and
prosperity. I also appreciate the efforts which you are making to fulfil the
Church's mission of education in schools at every level and in the charitable
services offered by your numerous institutions. These works are often carried
out without appreciation or support, often with heroic sacrifice, out of
obedience to a divine mandate which we may not disobey. I am also conscious of
the courage with which you have faced difficult moments in the recent history
of
the Church in this country without fear of self-criticism and at the cost of
mortification and great sacrifice. Nor have you been afraid to divest whatever
is unessential in order to regain the authority and trust which is demanded of
ministers of Christ and rightly expected by the faithful. I realise how much
the
pain of recent years has weighed upon you and I have supported your generous
commitment to bring healing to victims - in the knowledge that in healing we
too
are healed - and to work to ensure that such crimes will never be repeated.
 "I speak to you as the Bishop of Rome, called by God in old age, and from a
land which is also American, to watch over the unity of the universal Church
and
to encourage in charity the journey of all the particular Churches toward ever
greater knowledge, faith and love of Christ. ... I too know how hard it is to
sow
the Gospel among people from different worlds, with hearts often hardened by
the
trials of a lengthy journey. Nor am I unaware of the efforts made over the
years
to build up the Church amid the prairies, mountains, cities and suburbs of a
frequently inhospitable land, where frontiers are always provisional and easy
answers do not always work. What does work is the combination of the epic
struggle of the pioneers and the homely wisdom and endurance of the settlers".
 "It is not my intention to offer a plan or to devise a strategy. ... I have no
wish to tell you what to do, because we all know what it is that the Lord asks
of us. Instead, I would turn once again to the demanding task - ancient yet
never new - of seeking out the paths we need to take and the spirit with which
we need to work. ... We are bishops of the Church, shepherds appointed by God
to
feed his flock. Our greatest joy is to be shepherds, and only shepherds,
pastors
with undivided hearts and selfless devotion. ... The heart of our identity is
to
be sought in constant prayer, in preaching and in shepherding the flock
entrusted to our care".
 "Ours must not be just any kind of prayer, but familiar union with Christ, in
which we daily encounter His gaze and sense that He is asking us the question:
'Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?'. One in which we can calmly reply:
'Lord, here is Your mother, here are Your brothers! I hand them over to You;
they are the ones whom You entrusted to me'".
 "Such trusting union with Christ is what nourishes the life of a pastor. It is
not about preaching complicated doctrines, but joyfully proclaiming Christ Who
died and rose for our sake. The 'style' of our mission should make our hearers
feel that the message we preach is meant 'for us'. ... May the closeness of the
shepherd make them them long once again for the Father's embrace. Be vigilant
that the flock may always encounter in the heart of their pastor that 'taste of
eternity' which they seek in vain in the things of this world".
 "Shepherds who do not pasture themselves but are able to step back, away from
the centre, to 'decrease', in order to feed God's family with Christ. Who keep
constant watch, standing on the heights to look out with God's eyes on the
flock
which is His alone. ... Shepherds who do not lower our gaze, concerned only
with
our concerns, but raise it constantly toward the horizons which God opens
before
us and which surpass all that we ourselves can foresee or plan. Who also watch
over ourselves, so as to flee the temptation of narcissism, which blinds the
eyes of the shepherd, makes his voice unrecognisable and his actions
fruitless".
 "Certainly it is helpful for a bishop to have the farsightedness of a leader
and the shrewdness of an administrator, but we fall into hopeless decline
whenever we confuse the power of strength with the strength of that
powerlessness with which God has redeemed us. Bishops need to be lucidly aware
of the battle between light and darkness being fought in this world. Woe to us,
however, if we make of the cross a banner of worldly struggles and fail to
realise that the price of lasting victory is allowing ourselves to be wounded
and consumed. ... I know that you face many challenges, and that the field in
which you sow is unyielding and that there is always the temptation to give in
to fear, to lick one's wounds, to think back on bygone times and to devise
harsh
responses to fierce opposition. And yet we are promoters of the culture of
encounter. We are living sacraments of the embrace between God's riches and our
poverty. We are witnesses of the abasement and the condescension of God Who
anticipates in love our every response".
 "Dialogue is our method, not as a shrewd strategy but out of fidelity to the
One Who never wearies of visiting the marketplace. ... I cannot ever tire of
encouraging you to dialogue fearlessly. ... Do not be afraid to set out on that
'exodus' which is necessary for all authentic dialogue. Otherwise, we fail to
understand the thinking of others, or to realise deep down that the brother or
sister we wish to reach and redeem, with the power and the closeness of love,
counts more than their positions, distant as they may be from what we hold as
true and certain. Harsh and divisive language does not befit the tongue of a
pastor, it has no place in his heart; although it may momentarily seem to win
the day, only the enduring allure of goodness and love remains truly
convincing.
... We need to ... remember that Jesus' Church is kept whole not by 'consuming
fire
from heaven', but by the secret warmth of the Spirit, Who 'heals what is
wounded, bends what is rigid, straightens what is crooked'".
 "The great mission which the Lord gives us is one which we carry out in
communion, collegially. The world is already so torn and divided, brokenness is
now everywhere. Consequently, the Church, 'the seamless garment of the Lord'
cannot allow herself to be rent, broken or fought over. ... It is imperative,
therefore, to watch over that unity, to safeguard it, to promote it and to bear
witness to it as a sign and instrument which, beyond every barrier, unites
nations, races, classes and generations. ... This service to unity is
particularly
important for this nation, whose vast material and spiritual, cultural and
political, historical and human, scientific and technological resources impose
significant moral responsibilities in a world which is seeking, confusedly and
laboriously, new balances of peace, prosperity and integration. ... I encourage
you, then, my brothers, to confront the challenging issues of our time. Ever
present within each of them is life as gift and responsibility. The future
freedom and dignity of our societies depends on how we face these challenges".
 "The innocent victims of abortion, children who die of hunger or from
bombings,
immigrants who drown in the search for a better tomorrow, the elderly or the
sick who are considered a burden, the victims of terrorism, wars, violence and
drug trafficking, the environment devastated by man's predatory relationship
with nature - at stake in all of this is the gift of God, of which we are noble

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