1986. He holds a licentiate in education from the Universidad Simon Rodriguez
in
Caracas and in pastoral theology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca,
Spain. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including parish vicar,
bursar, parish priest, provincial counsellor and local superior. He is
currently
director of the Don Bosco agricultural center in Molinete, in the archdiocese
of
Maracaibo.

___________________________________________________________

 To the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples: the Church lives and
grows
 Vatican City, 3 December 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis received in audience this
morning the participants in the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples, which considered the "missio ad gentes" in the light
of the Conciliar decree "Ad gentes" and St. John Paul II's encyclical
"Redemptoris missio". In his address to the 160 attendees in the Clementine
Hall, the Holy Father referred to his recent apostolic trip to Africa,
highlighting the spiritual and pastoral dynamism of the continent's many young
Churches, as well as the grave difficulties experienced by a large part of the
population.
 "I saw that where there is the need, the Church is almost always present to
heal the wounds of those most in need, in whom She recognises the afflicted and
crucified body of the Lord Jesus. How many works of charity, of human
promotion!
How many anonymous good Samaritans work every day in the missions!
 He emphasised that the Church, by nature evangelising, always starts by
auto-evangelisation. "As the Lord Jesus' disciple, she listens to His Word and
from this she draws the reasons for that hope that never disappoints, as it is
based on the grace of the Holy Spirit. Only in this way is she able to conserve
her freshness and apostolic zeal". As affirmed in the Conciliar decree "Ad
gentes", "it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit
that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father".
The
Pope reiterated, "It is the Church that is at the service of the mission. ...
It
is not the Church who makes the mission, but the mission that makes the Church.
Therefore, the mission is not a tool, but rather a starting point and aim".
 In recent months, the Congregation has carried out a survey on the vitality of
the young Churches to understand how to make the work of the missio ad gentes
more effective, also in view of the ambiguity to which the experience of faith
is sometimes exposed today. "The secularised world, indeed, even when it is
welcoming towards the Gospel values of love, justice, peace and sobriety, does
not show similar openness to the figure of Jesus; it considers Him neither the
Messiah nor the Son of God. At most, it considers Him an enlightened man. It
therefore separates the message from the Messenger, the gift from the Giver. In
this situation of separation, the missio ad gentes serves as a motor and
horizon
for faith. ... The mission, in fact, is a force capable of transforming the
Church
from within, before transforming the life of peoples and cultures. Each parish
thus makes the style of the missio ad gentes its own. In this way, the Holy
Spirit will transform those whose faith is based on habit alone into disciples,
disaffected disciples into missionaries, bringing them out of their fears and
isolation and projecting them in every direction, to the very limits of the
world. May the kerygmatic approach to faith, so familiar in the young Churches,
have space also for those of a more ancient tradition".
 The Pope recalled that neither Paul nor Barnabas had a missionary dicastery to
support them, yet they announced the Word, bringing to life various communities
and shedding their blood for the Gospel. "Over time complexities grew and the
need arose for a special relationship between the more recently founded
Churches
and the universal Church. For this reason, four centuries ago, Pope Gregory XV
instituted the Congregation 'De Propaganda Fide', which in 1967 changed its
name
to the 'Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples'. It is clear that in
this phase of history, 'mere administration can no longer be enough. Throughout
the world, let us be permanently in a state of mission'. ... Going forth is
innate
in our Baptism, and its boundaries are those of the world. Therefore, continue
to work so that the spirit of the missio ad gentes may inspire the journey of
the Church, so that she may always know how to listen to the cry of the poor
and
the distant, to meet all and to announce the joy of the Gospel".
 Francis thanked the Congregation for its work in missionary inspiration and
cooperation, remarking that "all Churches, if constricted to their own
horizons,
run the risk of atrophy. The Church lives and grows when outbound, taking the
initiative" and going out to the people. "In many paths of the missio ad
gentes,
the dawn of a new day is already visible, as is shown by the fact that the
young
Churches know how to give, not only to receive. The first fruits are their
willingness to grant their priests to sister Churches of the same nation, the
same continent, or to serve Churches in need in other regions of the world.
Cooperation is not only along the north-south axis. There is also a movement in
the other direction, of giving back the good received from the first
missionaries. These too are signs of maturity".
 The Pope concluded by asking all present to pray and work so that the Church
may always follow the model of the Acts of the Apostles. "Let us be inspired by
the strength of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit; let us come out of our narrow
enclosures and emigrate from the territories where we are are at times tempted
to close ourselves away".

___________________________________________________________

 "Evangeliario di Misericordia" presented to the Pope
 Vatican City, 3 December 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Hall of Popes, the
Evangeliario di Misericordia" was presented to the Holy Father. An initiative
by
the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), it is a publication of the four Gospels
illustrated with mosaics by the Slovenian artist and Jesuit Maro Ivan Rupnik,
who produced the mosaics for the Redemptoris Mater chapel in the Vatican and
for
the Basilica of Fatima. Intended to commemorate the beginning of the Jubilee of
Mercy, the publication also includes a series of introductory texts by the Fr.
Alessandro Amapani. The prologue is by Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of
the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation.

___________________________________________________________

 Audiences
 Vatican City, 3 December 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
 - Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine
of the Faith;
 - Bishop David Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., of Hamilton, Canada, president of the
Episcopal Conference of Catholic Bishops of Canada, accompanied by Bishop
Lionel
Gendron, P.S.S., of Saint-Jean-Longueuil, deputy president, and Msgr. Frank
Leo,
C.S.S., general secretary.

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 3 December 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
 - accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Down
and Connor, Ireland, presented by Bishop Anthony J. Farquhar, upon reaching the
age limit.
 - erected the new diocese of Guasdualito (area 35,184, population 200,000,
priests 13, religious 9) in Venezuela, with territory taken from the dioceses
of
San Fernando de Apure and Barinas, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan
metropolis of Merida.
 - appointed Fr. Modesto Gonzalez Perez, S.B.D., as the first bishop of the new
diocese of Guasdualito. The bishop-elect was born in 1959 in San Antonio de los
Alpes, Venezuela, gave his religious vows in 1983 and was ordained a priest in
1986. He holds a licentiate in education from the Universidad Simon Rodriguez
in
Caracas and in pastoral theology from the Pontifical University of Salamanca,
Spain. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including parish vicar,
bursar, parish priest, provincial counsellor and local superior. He is
currently
director of the Don Bosco agricultural centre in Molinete, in the archdiocese
of
Maracaibo.

___________________________________________________________

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