in which the rail service contributes to keeping the country united, not only
in
a geographical sense, but also at a social level". Another important initiative
is the Termini Station hostel, dedicated to Don Luigi Di Liegro, founder of
Caritas Roma, renovated by the Ferrovie dello Stato in collaboration with
Caritas. A structure that welcomes hundreds of visitors on a daily basis, and
which is preparing a day service to receive people seeking shelter.
 "May the Holy Year, which began just a few days ago, teach us this, above all,
and impress it in our mind and our heart that mercy is the first and truest
medicine for humanity, that every one of us urgently needs. It flows
continuously and in superabundance from God, but we must become able to give it
in turn, so that each person can live fully his or her humanity. This is what
is
communicated to us by the Holy Doors, which are opened in all the dioceses of
the world in these days. That of the Termini Station Hostel has become the Holy
Door of Charity: those who pass through with love will find forgiveness and
consolation, and will be driven to give and give themselves with greater
generosity, for their salvation and that of their brothers. Let us allow
ourselves to be renewed by passing through this spiritual door, so that it
marks
our inner life. Let us get involved in the Jubilee of Mercy, so as to renew the
fabric of all our society, to make it fairer and more fraternal.
 At the end of the audience the Bishop of Rome referred to the last monograph
in
the series "L'Italia del Treno", a collection of photographs depicting the
Pontiffs' journeys by train, and expressed his hope that "the esteem that links
us, of which this day is a sign, may be strengthened during this Holy Year, so
that Italy and all the countries of the world may become places of fraternal,
more truly human networks, increasingly capable of rejoicing in God's love and
mutual communion".

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 The Pope opens the Holy Door of Charity and repeats that Heaven cannot be
bought with money or honours
 Vatican City, 19 December 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon Pope Francis
another
Holy Door, that was not however located in a church or cathedral. It was the
entrance to the Caritas hostel at Termini Station, Rome, where the frailest
members of society receive welcome and assistance. This door, in the hostel
named after its founder Don Luigi Di Liegro, is now called the Door of Charity
and, passing through it, the Pope entered the refectory dedicated to St. John
Paul II, where he was awaited by two hundred men and women, accompanied by the
volunteers from the Centre. He celebrated Holy Mass and pronounced a homily in
which he reaffirmed that power is not the path of salvation and the Heaven
cannot be bought with money.
 "God comes to save us, and He finds no better way to do so than to walk with
us, to make our life His", said Francis."And the moment of choosing the path,
He
did not choose a great city of a great empire; He did not choose as a mother a
princess, a countess, an important person; He did not choose a luxurious
mansion. It seems that all of this was done intentionally almost in secret.
Mary
was a girl aged just sixteen or seventeen, in a remote village in the outskirts
of the Roman Empire, that nobody knew of. Joseph was boy who loved her and who
wished to marry her, a carpenter who worked for a living. In total simplicity
...
And when he repudiated her - because they were engaged, and in such a small
village, you know how gossip circulates. All in secret, in spite of slander and
gossip. And Joseph realised that she was pregnant, but he was righteous. All
hidden, despite the slander and gossip. And the Angel explains the mystery to
Joseph: "'This Son that your fiancee carries in her womb is the work of God,
the
work of the Holy Spirit. When Joseph awoke from his dream, he did what the
Angel
of the Lord had ordered him to do: he went to Mary and took her as his wife.
But
all in secret, all humbly. The great cities of the world knew nothing of this.
In this way God came in our midst. If you want to find God, seek in in
humility,
in poverty, look for Him where He is hidden: in those most in need, in the
sick,
the hungry, the imprisoned".
 "When Jesus speaks about life, He also tells us know we will be judged. He
will
not say, come to me because you ... are a benefactor of the Church. ... No.
You do
not pay your way to Heaven. He will not say, you are very important, you have
studied a lot and have many honours, come to Heaven. No. Honours do not open
the
door to Heaven. What will Jesus say to open to us the door to Heaven? 'For I
was
hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a
stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and
you
visited me, I was in prison and you came to me'. Jesus is in humility".
 "Jesus' love is great", the Pope exclaimed. "Therefore today as I open this
door, I would like the Holy Spirit to open the heart of all Romans, and let
them
see the way to salvation! It is not luxury, it is not the way of great riches,
it is not the route of power. It is the road of humility. The poorest, the
sick,
the imprisoned - Jesus says even more - the greatest sinners, if they repent,
will precede us in Heaven. They have the key. He who acts in charity is the one
who allows himself to be embraced by God's mercy".
 "Today we open this Door and we ask for two things. First, that the Lord open
the door of our heart. We are all in need of this as we are all sinners; we all
need to hear the Word of the Lord. ... Second, may the Lord help us understand
that the path of presumptuousness, the road of wealth, the road of vanity, the
road of pride, are not roads to salvation. May the Lord let us understand that
in His caress as a Father, there is His mercy, His forgiveness, and when we
draw
close to those who suffer, those who are discarded by society: there we find
Jesus. This Door, that is the Door of Charity, the Door where may people are
helped, many who are discarded, shows us that it would be good if all of us,
all
Romans, to know what it means to be discarded, and to feel the need for God's
help. Today let us pray for Rome, for all the inhabitants of Rome, starting
with
me, that the Lord may give us the grace to feel discarded, that we have no
worth; only He can give us mercy and grace. To approach that grace we must draw
closer to the rejected, the poor, those who are most in need, because it is on
this closeness that we will be judged".
 May the Lord today, opening this door, give this grace to all of Rome, to
every
inhabitant of Rome, so as to move forward in that embrace of mercy, in which
the
father takes his wounded son, but the wounded one is the father: God is wounded
by love, and for this reason He is able to save all of us. May the Lord grant
us
this grace".
 After the Mass, the Pope greeted the participants and commented that Christmas
is drawing hear and the Lord is now close. "But when he was born, in that
manger, no-one realised that He was God. This Christmas, I would like the Lord
to be born in the heart of every one of us ... hidden, as if nobody knew it,
but
He was there. This is what I would like, this close of the Lord. Pray for me,
and I will pray for you".

___________________________________________________________

 Audiences
 Vatican City, 21 December 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience Bishop Vincenzo Pisanello of Oria, Italy.
 On Saturday 19 December the Holy Father received in audience:
 - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;
 - Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, apostolic nuncio in India and Nepal;
 - Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, apostolic nuncio in the Federal Republic of
Germany.

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 21 December 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:
 - Stefano D'Agostini, Italy, technical head of the Vatican Television (CTV),
as
director of the CTV. - Gregory Burke, communications adviser at the Secretariat
of State, as deputy director of the Holy See Press Office.
 On Sunday 20 December, the Holy Father accepted the resignation from the
office
of auxiliary of the diocese of Orange, United States of America, presented by
Bishop Dominic Mai Luong upon reaching the age limit.
 On Saturday 19 December the Holy Father appointed:
 - Fr. Joseph Raja Rao Thelegathoti, S.M.M., as bishop of Vijayawada (area
8,374, population 5,898,011, Catholics 283,062, priests 229, 1,132 religious),
India. The bishop-elect was born in Peddautapally, India in 1952, gave his
religious vows in 1980 and was ordained a priest in the same year. He holds a
licentiate in biblical theology from the Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram in Bangalore,
India and a doctorate in spiritual theology from the Pontifical Gregorian
University, Rome. He has served in a number of roles, including rector of the
minor seminary and of the Montfort Theologate in Bangalore, provincial
counsellor, provincial superior, deputy president of the Conference of
Religious
of India, director of the Anugraha Institute for Poor Girls, director of the
Montfort Marian Centre, Bangalore, and procurator general and postulator of the
Congregation of Montfort Fathers in Rome. He is currently provincial of his
congregation in Rome.
 - Msgr. Leszek Leszkiewicz as auxiliary of Tarnow (area 7,566, population
1,097,479, Catholics 1.091,829, priests 1,455, religious 1.145), Poland. The
bishop-elect was born in Gorlice, Poland in 1970 and was ordained a priest in
1996. He holds a licentiate in missiology from the Pontifical Urbanian
University in Rome, and has served in a number of roles including parish vicar,
missionary in Ecuador, deputy director of the department for missions of the
diocese of Tarnow, and prefect of discipline in the major seminary of Tarnow.
He
is currently vicar forane and pastor of the parish of St. Nicholas, and
custodian of the shrine to the Blessed Virgin in Bochnia.
 - Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as
his
special envoy to the celebrations to be held on 3 February 2016 to commemorate
the 17th centenary of the martyrdom of St. Blaise, patron of the diocese of
Dubrovnik, Croatia, and the 600th anniversary of the abolition of slavery by
the
Republic of Ragusa.
 - Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the Pontifical Council for Health
Care Workers (for Health Pastoral Care) as his special envoy to the celebration
of the 24th World Day of the Sick, to be held in Nazareth on 11 February 2016.
 - Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications, as adjunct secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture,
elevating him to the dignity of bishop.

___________________________________________________________

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