VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 200
DATE 12-11-2015

Summary:
- To Slovak bishops: the Church is called to proclaim and bear witness to the
welcome of migrants
- Francis greets the members of the Don Guanella family: the worst famine is
the
lack of charity
- Pope's video message to the National Eucharistic Congress of India
- Message to Cardinal Rylko: the conciliar basis of the vocation and mission of
the laity
- Declaration by Fr. Federico Lombardi on current investigations in the Vatican
- Communique from the Holy See Press Office on the activity of APSA
- Communique by the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples on ownership
of real estate
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 To Slovak bishops: the Church is called to proclaim and bear witness to the
welcome of migrants
 Vatican City, 12 November 2015 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received the
bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Slovakia at the end of their five-yearly
"ad Limina" visit. In the discourse he handed to them at the end of the
audience
he encouraged them to consider the phenomenon of migration as an opportunity
for
encounter, also recalling that the Church is called upon to proclaim and bear
witness to the welcome of migrants in the context of observance of the law.
 Francis begins his discourse by referring to the pastoral work of bishops and
a
situation characterised by rapid changes in many sectors of human life,
affected
also by the phenomenon of globalisation. A situation, he writes, in which "at
times we perceive threats to less populous nations, but at the same time
elements that can offer new opportunities. One opportunity, which has become a
sign of the times, is the phenomenon of migration, which demands to be
understood and confronted with sensitivity and a sense of justice. The Church
is
required to proclaim and bear witness to the welcome of the migrant in a spirit
of charity and respect for the dignity of the human person, in the context of
the necessary observance of the law".
 "Faced with the prospect of an increasingly extensive multicultural
environment, it is necessary to assume attitudes of mutual respect to promote
encounter. It is to be hoped that the Slovak people will maintain their
cultural
identity and heritage of ethical and spiritual values, strongly linked to the
Catholic tradition. In this way they will be able to open up without fear to
exchange on the broadest continental and global horizon, contributing to a
sincere and fruitful dialogue, also on themes of vital importance such as the
dignity of human life and the essential function of the family. Today, more
than
ever, it is necessary to enlighten the path of peoples with Christian
principles, seizing the opportunities that the current situation offers to
develop an evangelisation that, using a new language, makes Christ's message
easier to understand. For this reason it important for the Church to give hope,
so that all the present changes may be transformed into a renewed encounter
with
Christ, that guides the people towards authentic progress".
 The Pope expresses his appreciation for the prelates' work with families,
which
face many difficulties, and reiterates the importance of integral family
pastoral ministry at diocesan and national levels, including "adequate
accompaniment for all families, including those where members are not present,
especially if there are children". In this regard it is essential to pay
special
attention to the young, "the hope of the Church and of society".
 The paternal care of bishops for the priests, their main collaborators in
pastoral ministry, is another of the themes considered by Francis, who insists
on the need for "well-structured programmes of continuing formation in the
fields of theology, spirituality, pastoral ministry and social doctrine of the
Church, enabling them to become competent evangelisers". He adds, "Indeed, for
the majority of the People of God, they are the principal channel through which
the Gospel passes, and also offer the most immediate image through which the
mystery of the Church is encountered".
 The Church, "sign and tool of the unity of men with God and with each other,
is
called upon to be the house and school of communion, in which one learns to
appreciate and welcome positive qualities in others", remarks the Holy Father
at
the end of his discourse, emphasising that this attitude is also very useful
with reference to the good contact it is necessary to re-establish in Slovakia
between pastors and consecrated persons, better appreciating the valid
contribution of all men and women religious to pastoral ministry. "At the same
time", he noted, "the Church in your country must carry forth the pastoral care
of the Rom, through extensive evangelisation that seeks to reach all these
people who, unfortunately, continue to live in some ways separated from the
rest
of society".

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 Francis greets the members of the Don Guanella family: the worst famine is the
lack of charity
 Vatican City, 12 November 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican's Paul VI
Hall the Pope greeted five hundred members of the Family of St. Luigi Guanella,
known simply as Don Guanella (1842-1915), the Italian priest who founded the
Congregation of the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence and the Order of the
Servants of Charity. He was beatified in 1964 and canonised in 2011.
 The Don Guanella Family's pilgrimage to Rome coincides with the first
centenary
of the saint's death and, in his address to the pilgrims, the Holy Father
imagined what Don Guanella might have said to his followers to confirm them in
faith, hope and charity, using three verbs: to trust, to look, and to make
haste.
 The first verb is to trust. "The life of Don Guanella had as its centre the
certainty that God is the merciful and provident Father. This was for him the
heart of faith: knowing himself to be an always beloved son, for whom the
Father
cared, and therefore a brother to all, called upon to inspire trust. ... I
think
that it displeases the heavenly Father greatly to see that His children do not
fully trust in Him; they perhaps believe in a distant God, rather than in a
merciful Father. In many people there arises the doubt that God, while being
Father, may also be a master. ... But this is a great deception; the ancient
deception of the enemy of God and man, which conceals reality and disguises
good
as evil. It is the first temptation: to distance oneself from God, intimidated
by the suspicion that His paternity is not truly provident and good. God is
instead love alone, pure provident love. He loves us more than we love
ourselves, and knows what is truly good for us. He therefore hopes that in the
course of life we become what we are at the moment of our Baptism: beloved
children, able to vanquish fear and not ceding to lamentation, because the
Father takes care of us".
 The second verb is to look. "The Father, the Creator, also inspires creativity
in those who live like His children. They then learn to look at the world
through new eyes, made more luminous by love and hope. They are eyes that
enable
us to look within with truth, and to see far in charity. ... In the world
there is
never any lack of problems, and in our time there are unfortunately new forms
of
poverty and many injustices. But the greatest famine of all is that of charity:
we need, most of all, people with eyes renewed by love and a gaze that inspires
hope".
 "At times, our spiritual point of view is short-sighted, as we are not able to
see beyond our own ego. At other times we are long-sighted: we like to help
those who are far away but are not able to stoop to those who live next to us.
Sometimes, indeed, we prefer to close our eyes, as we are tired and overcome by
pessimism. Don Guanella, who recommended that we look at Jesus starting from
His
heart, invites us to have the same gaze as the Lord: a gaze that inspires hope
and joy, able at the same time to feel a 'profound sentiment of compassion'
towards those who suffer".
 Finally, to make haste: "The poor are the favoured sons" of the Father, St.
Luigi said, and he liked to repeat that 'those who give to the poor, lend to
God'. Just as the Father is delicate and concrete with regard to his smallest
and weakest children, so we too cannot expect our brothers and sisters in
difficulty to wait as, again in the words of Don Guanella, 'misery cannot wait.
And we cannot stop as long as there are poor people to tend to'".

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 Pope's video message to the National Eucharistic Congress of India
 Vatican City, 12 November 2015 (VIS) - "Nourished by the Eucharist to nourish
others" is the theme of the National Eucharistic Congress of India, inaugurated
today in Mumbai and attended by 700 delegates from all over the country. The
Congress will also provide the opportunity to commemorate the presence for the
same event fifty years ago of Blessed Paul VI, during his trip to India in
1964.
The opening of the Congress, which will conclude on 15 November, included a
screening of the Pope's video message to the participants in which he expresses
his hope that it will be a "herald of joy and happiness" for the whole Indian
population. The following are extensive extracts from his message, transmitted
in English:
 "The Eucharistic Congress is God's gift not just for the Christians of the
India but for the entire population of a country culturally so diverse yet
spiritually so rich. Over thousands of years India has been permeated by the
desire for truth, the search for the divine, the effort at goodness and

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