"dreamers" (those who follow the American dream), adult or unaccompanied minors
migrating from Latin America (69 per cent), refugees from Africa or the Middle
East, and also African Americans (22 per cent). The school forms part of a
network of six Catholics schools in the Harlem and South Bronx neighbourhoods,
financed and managed by the Catholic charitable initiative Partnership,
coordinated by the archdiocese of New York, to whom the premises belong. The
foundation was formally instituted in 2010, and aims to break the vicious
circle
of poverty.
 The Pope arrived at the School of Our Lady Queen of Angels yesterday shortly
after 4 p.m. (10 p.m. in Rome) to meet with the pupils, their families and the
teachers who awaited him in the gymnasium. It was an informal meeting in which
the Pope asked forgiveness from the teachers for taking some minutes away from
the lesson and commented that one of the most beautiful characteristics of the
school was the fact that some of the pupils come from other places and many
from
other countries. "That is nice", he added. "Even though I know it is not easy
to
have to move and find a new home, new neighbours and new friends. At the
beginning it can be hard. Often you have to learn a new language, adjust to a
new culture, even a new climate. There is so much to learn! And not just at
school; so many other things".
 "The good thing is that we also make new friends", he continued. "And this is
very important. ... We meet people who open doors for us, who are kind to us.
They
offer us friendship and understanding, and they try to help us not to feel like
strangers. ... Although at times we dream of our homelands, we meet good people
who help us to feel at home. How nice it is to feel that school is a second
home. This is not only important for you, but also for your families. School
then ends up being one big family where ... we learn to help one another, to
give
the best of ourselves, to work as a team, which is so important, and to pursue
our dreams".
 "Very near here is a very important street named after a man who did a lot for
other people. I want to talk a little bit about him. He was the Reverend Martin
Luther King. One day he said, 'I have a dream'. His dream was that many
children, many people could have equal opportunities. His dream was that many
children like you could get an education. He dreamed that many men and women,
like you, could hold their heads high, with the dignity of one who earns a
living. It is beautiful to have dreams and to be able to fight for them. Do not
forget".
 "Today we want to keep dreaming. We celebrate all the opportunities which
enable you, and us adults, not to lose the hope of a better world with greater
possibilities. ... I know that one of the dreams of your parents and teachers
is
that you can grow up and be happy. ... It is not always easy. In every home
there
are problems, difficult situations, illness, but never stop dreaming that you
can live with joy. Dear children, you have a right to dream and I am very happy
that here in this school, in your friends and your teachers, you can find the
support you need. Wherever there are dreams, there is joy, Jesus is always
present".
 Before leaving, the Pope asked the children if he could give them some
homework. "It is just a little request, but a very important one", he said.
"Please don't forget to pray for me, so that I can share with many people the
joy of Jesus. And let us also pray so that many other people can share the joy
like yours, when you feel supported, helped and advised, even when there are
problems".

___________________________________________________________

 Mass in Madison Square Garden: God is living in our cities
 Vatican City,26 September 2015 (VIS) - The Pope concluded his day in New York
with a Holy Mass for peace and justice in Madison Square Garden, a place
synonymous with the city, as Francis recalled: "The site of important athletic,
artistic and musical events" representing "both the variety and the common
interests of so many different people". It isa place where "The people who
walked in darkness have seen a great light", as yesterday's reading from the
prophet Isaiah tells. The Holy Father dedicated his homily to this light.
 "The people who walked - caught up in their activities and routines, amid
their
successes and failures, their worries and expectations - have seen a great
light", affirmed the Pontiff, remarking that the People of God is invited in
every historical age to contemplate this light, since one of the special
qualities of the faithful is the capacity to see, amid the shadows, the light
that Christ comes to bring. "With the prophet today we can say: the people that
walks, breathes, lives amid the smog, has seen a great light, has experienced
the air of life".
 "Living in a big city is not always easy", commented the Pope. "A
multicultural
context presents many complex challenges. Yet big cities are a reminder of the
hidden riches present in our world: in the diversity of its cultures,
traditions
and historical experiences. ... Big cities bring together all the different
ways
which we human beings have discovered to express the meaning of life, wherever
we may be. But big cities also conceal the faces of all those people who don't
appear to belong, or are second-class citizens. In big cities, beneath the roar
of traffic, beneath 'the rapid pace of change', so many faces pass by unnoticed
because they have no 'right' to be there, no right to be part of the city. They
are the foreigners, the children who go without schooling, those deprived of
medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly. These people stand at
the edges of our great avenues, in our streets, in deafening anonymity. They
become part of an urban landscape which is more and more taken for granted, in
our eyes, and especially in our hearts".
 However, "knowing that Jesus still walks our streets, that he is part of the
lives of his people, that he is involved with us in one vast history of
salvation, fills us with ... hope which liberates us from the forces pushing
us to
isolation and lack of concern for the lives of others, for the life of our
city.
... A hope which makes us see, even in the midst of smog, the presence of God
as
he continues to walk the streets of our city".
 "The prophet Isaiah can guide us in this process of 'learning to see'",
continued Francis. "He presents Jesus to us as 'Wonderful Counsellor, the
Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace'". The Pope went on to explain
each of these appellations.
 "Wonderful Counsellor. The Gospels tell us how many people came up to Jesus to
ask: 'Master, what must we do?' The first thing that Jesus does in response is
to propose, to encourage, to motivate. He keeps telling his disciples to go, to
go out. He urges them to go out and meet others where they really are, not
where
we think they should be. ... The Mighty God: In Jesus, God himself became
Emmanuel, God-with-us, the God who walks alongside us. ... The Everlasting
Father: Go out and proclaim, go out and show that God is in your midst as a
merciful Father who himself goes out, morning and evening, to see if his son
has
returned home and, as soon as he sees him coming, runs out to embrace him. ...
Prince of Peace: Go out to others and share the good news that God, our Father,
walks at our side. He frees us from anonymity, from a life of emptiness and
selfishness, and brings us to the school of encounter. He removes us from the
fray of competition and self-absorption, and he opens before us the path of
peace. That peace which is born of accepting others, that peace which fills our
hearts whenever we look upon those in need as our brothers and sisters".
 "God is living in our cities. The Church is living in our cities, and she
wants
to be like leaven in the dough", concluded Pope Francis. "She wants to relate
to
everyone, to stand at everyone's side, as she proclaims the marvels of the
Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace.
'The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light'. And we ourselves
are witnesses of that light".
 Today, 26 September, the Holy Father travels to Philadelphia where he will
celebrate Mass with the clergy and religious of Pennsylvania in the Basilica of
St. Peter and St. Paul, attend a meeting with the Hispanic community and other
immigrants in Independence National Historical Park, and will pronounce a
discourse in Benjamin Franklin Parkway on the eve of the World Meeting of
Families.

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 26 September 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:
 - Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri, apostolic nuncio in Madagascar, as
apostolic nuncio in the Seychelles.
 - Bishop Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., as bishop of Chiclayo (area 15,647,
population 1,275,215, Catholics 1,132,202, priests 113, religious 171), Peru.
Bishop Prevost is currently apostolic administrator of the same diocese.
 - appointed Fr. Zbigniew Zielinski as auxiliary of Gdansk, (area 2,500,
population 965,077, Catholics 900,608, priests 748, religious 689), Poland. The
bishop-elect was born in Gdansk, Poland in 1965 and was ordained a priest in
1991. He holds a doctorate in pastoral theology from the Cardinal Stefan
Wyszynski University of Warsaw and has served in a number of pastoral and
academic roles, pastor of the St. Michael parish and of the Cathedral of
Gdansk-Oliwa and lecturer in sociology of religion at the state University of
Gdansk. He is currently pastor of the con-Cathedral, lecturer in pastoral
theology in the major seminary, and member of the Commission for canonical
visits in the parishes, the presbyteral council, and the college of consultors.
In 2007 he was named Chaplain of His Holiness.
 - appointed Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, metropolitan archbishop of Bologna, and
Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, as
members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

___________________________________________________________

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