stewards but not masters. It is wrong, then, to look the other way or to remain
silent. No less important is the Gospel of the Family, which in the World
Meeting of Families in Philadelphia I will emphatically proclaim together with
you and the entire Church".
 "These essential aspects of the Church's mission belong to the core of what we
have received from the Lord. It is our duty to preserve and communicate them,
even when the tenor of the times becomes resistant and even hostile to that
message. I urge you to offer this witness, with the means and creativity born
of
love, and with the humility of truth. It needs to be preached and proclaimed to
those without, but also to find room in people's hearts and in the conscience
of
society. To this end, it is important that the Church in the United States also
be a humble home, a family fire which attracts men and women through the
attractive light and warmth of love. ... Only a Church which can gather around
the
family fire remains able to attract others. And not any fire, but the one which
blazed forth on Easter morn".
 "Before concluding, allow me to offer two recommendations which are close to
my
heart. The first refers to your fatherhood as bishops. Be pastors close to
people, pastors who are neighbours and servants. Let this closeness be
expressed
in a special way towards your priests. ... Find ways to encourage their
spiritual
growth, lest they yield to the temptation to become notaries and bureaucrats,
but instead reflect the motherhood of the Church, which gives birth to and
raises her sons and daughters".
 "My second recommendation has to do with immigrants. I ask you to excuse me if
in some way I am pleading my own case. The Church in the United States knows
like few others the hopes present in the hearts of these 'pilgrims'. From the
beginning you have learned their languages, promoted their cause, made their
contributions your own, defended their rights, helped them to prosper, and kept
alive the flame of their faith. Even today, no American institution does more
for immigrants than your Christian communities. Now you are facing this stream
of Latin immigration which affects many of your dioceses. Not only as the
Bishop
of Rome, but also as a pastor from the South, I feel the need to thank and
encourage you. Perhaps it will not be easy for you to look into their soul;
perhaps you will be challenged by their diversity. But know that they also
possess resources meant to be shared. So do not be afraid to welcome them.
Offer
them the warmth of the love of Christ and you will unlock the mystery of their
heart. I am certain that, as so often in the past, these people will enrich
America and its Church".

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 The canonisation of Blessed Junipero Serra: Jesus has no 'shortlist' of people
worthy of His message
 Vatican City, 24 September 2015 (VIS) - Blessed Junipero Serra (1713-1784),
known as the "Apostle of California", was canonised yesterday by Pope Francis
during a solemn Mass celebrated in the National Shrine of the Immaculate
Conception, the title under which, since 1847, the Virgin Mary is the patroness
of the United States.
 The new saint, born in Mallorca, Spain, was a missionary first in Mexico,
where
he learned the Pame language in order to teach the indigenous peoples the
catechism and ordinary prayers, which he translated for them. He was also
master
of novices in the apostolic College of San Fernando. In 1767, the Jesuits were
expelled from the missions of Baja California, which were entrusted to the
Franciscans. Fr. Junipero was appointed Superior and arrived with 14 companions
in the territory in 1760, where he founded the first mission of San Diego. He
went on to found missions in Alta California: San Carlos de Monterrey, San
Anselmo, San Gabriel and San Luis Obispo. In California alone he travelled
9,900
kilometres and 5,400 nautical miles to found new missions from which there
derive the Franciscan names of Californian cities such as San Francisco, San
Diego and Los Angeles. Serra was beatified by John Paul II in 1988.
 In his homily the Pope cites St. Paul's words to the Philippians: "Rejoice in
the Lord always! I say it again, rejoice!". "Paul tells us to rejoice; he
practically orders us to rejoice. This command resonates with the desire we all
have for a fulfilling life, a meaningful life, a joyful life. ... Something
deep
within us invites us to rejoice and tells us not to settle for placebos which
simply keep us comfortable. At the same time, though, we all know the struggles
of everyday life. So much seems to stand in the way of this invitation to
rejoice. Our daily routine can often lead us to a kind of glum apathy which
gradually becomes a habit, with a fatal consequence: our hearts grow numb".
 "We don't want apathy to guide our lives ... or do we?", he continued. "We
don't
want the force of habit to rule our life ... or do we? So we ought to ask
ourselves: What can we do to keep our heart from growing numb, becoming
anaesthetised? How do we make the joy of the Gospel increase and take deeper
root in our lives? Jesus gives the answer. He said to his disciples then and he
says it to us now: Go forth! Proclaim! The joy of the Gospel is something to be
experienced, something to be known and lived only through giving it away,
through giving ourselves away".
 The spirit of the world "tells us to be like everyone else, to settle for what
comes easy. Faced with this human way of thinking, 'we must regain the
conviction that we need one another, that we have a shared responsibility for
others and for the world'. It is the responsibility to proclaim the message of
Jesus. For the source of our joy is 'an endless desire to show mercy, the fruit
of our own experience of the power of the Father's infinite mercy'. Go out to
all, proclaim by anointing and anoint by proclaiming. This is what the Lord
tells us today. He tells us that a Christian finds joy in mission: Go out to
people of every nation! A Christian experiences joy in following a command: Go
forth and proclaim the good news! A Christian finds ever new joy in answering a
call: Go forth and anoint!".
 "Jesus sends His disciples out to all nations. To every people. We too were
part of all those people of two thousand years ago. Jesus did not provide a
short list of who is, or is not, worthy of receiving His message, His presence.
Instead, He always embraced life as He saw it. In faces of pain, hunger,
sickness and sin. In faces of the wounded, in thirst, weariness, doubt and
pity.
Far from expecting a beautiful life, smartly-dressed and neatly groomed, He
embraced life as He found it. It made no difference whether it was dirty,
unkempt, broken. Jesus said: Go out and tell the good news to everyone. Go out
and in my name embrace life as it is, and not as you think it should be. Go out
to the highways and byways, go out to tell the good news fearlessly, without
prejudice, without superiority, without condescension, to all those who have
lost the joy of living. Go out to proclaim the merciful embrace of the Father.
Go out to those who are burdened by pain and failure, who feel that their lives
are empty, and proclaim the 'folly' of a loving Father Who wants to anoint them
with the oil of hope, the oil of salvation. Go out to proclaim the good news
that error, deceitful illusions and falsehoods do not have the last word in a
person's life. Go out with the balm which soothes wounds and heals hearts".
 Mission is "never the fruit of a perfectly planned program or a well-organised
manual. Mission is always the fruit of a life which knows what it is to be
found
and healed, encountered and forgiven. Mission is born of a constant experience
of God's merciful anointing. The Church, the holy People of God, treads the
dust-laden paths of history, so often traversed by conflict, injustice and
violence, in order to encounter her children, our brothers and sisters. The
holy
and faithful People of God are not afraid of losing their way; they are afraid
of becoming self-enclosed, frozen into elites, clinging to their own security.
They know that self-enclosure, in all the many forms it takes, is the cause of
so much apathy. So let us go out, let us go forth to offer everyone the life of
Jesus Christ. The People of God can embrace everyone because we are the
disciples of the One who knelt before his own to wash their feet.
 "The reason we are here today is that many other people wanted to respond to
that call. They believed that 'life grows by being given away, and it weakens
in
isolation and comfort'. We are heirs to the bold missionary spirit of so many
men and women who preferred not to be 'shut up within structures which give us
a
false sense of security ... within habits which make us feel safe, while at our
door people are starving'. We are indebted to a tradition, a chain of witnesses
who have made it possible for the good news of the Gospel to be, in every
generation, both 'good' and 'new'".
 "Today we remember one of those witnesses who testified to the joy of the
Gospel in these lands, Fr. Junipero Serra. He was the embodiment of 'a Church
which goes forth', a Church which sets out to bring everywhere the reconciling
tenderness of God. Junipero Serra left his native land and its way of life. He
was excited about blazing trails, going forth to meet many people, learning and
valuing their particular customs and ways of life. He learned how to bring to
birth and nurture God's life in the faces of everyone he met; he made them his
brothers and sisters. Junipero sought to defend the dignity of the native
community, to protect it from those who had mistreated and abused it.
Mistreatment and wrongs which today still trouble us, especially because of the
hurt which they cause in the lives of many people".
 Father Serra "had a motto which inspired his life and work, a saying he lived
his life by: siempre adelante! Keep moving forward! For him, this was the way
to
continue experiencing the joy of the Gospel, to keep his heart from growing
numb, from being anaesthetised. He kept moving forward, because the Lord was
waiting. He kept going, because his brothers and sisters were waiting. He kept
going forward to the end of his life. Today, like him, may we be able to say:
Forward! Let's keep moving forward!".
 After the Mass for canonisation the Holy Father proceeded to the new St. John
Paul II archdiocesan seminary, inaugurated in 2011, inhabited by 47 seminarians
who awaited Francis at the entrance to the institution. The Pope unveiled a
plaque commemorating his visit and returned to the nunciature in Washington
D.C., where he spent the night.
 Today, 24 September, at 10 a.m. local time (4 p.m. in Rome), the Holy Father
will address the United States Congress assembled in joint session, an
extraordinary gathering of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. He
will subsequently meet with homeless people in the St. Patrick parish. After
leaving the At 5 p.m. local time (11 p.m. in Rome) he will depart by air for
New
York, where he will conclude the day with Vespers in St. Patrick's Cathedral.

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 24 September 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
 - accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the metropolitan
archdiocese of Messina-Lipari-Santa Lucia del Mela, Italy, presented by
Archbishop Calogero La Piana, S.D.B., in accordance with canon 402 para. 2 of
the Code of Canon Laws.
 - accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Alba,
Italy, presented by Bishop Giacomo Lanzetti, in accordance with canon 402 para.
2 of the Code of Canon Laws.
 - accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Goya,
Argentina, presented by Bishop Ricardo Oscar Faifer, upon reaching the age
limit. He is succeeded by Bishop Adolfo Ramon Canecin, coadjutor of the same
diocese.
 - appointed Archbishop Luis Gerardo Cabrera Herrera, O.F.M., of Cuenca,
Ecuador
as archbishop of Guayaquil (area 14,637, population 3,275,192, Catholics
2,783,913, priests 202, permanent deacons 21, religious 607), Ecuador. He
succeeds Archbishop Antonio Arregui Yarza, whose resignation from the pastoral
care of the same archdiocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the
Holy Father.

___________________________________________________________

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