effective and distribute the weight evenly. This is why we need to focus firmly
and unreservedly on negotiations".
 "At the same time." he added, "I have hopefully welcomed the news about the
cessation of hostilities in Syria and I invite all to pray so that this window
of opportunity can give relief to those suffering , encouraging the necessary
humanitarian aid and opening the way to dialogue and a much desired peace".
 Pope Francis also expressed his nearness to the people of Fiji, hard hit by a
devastating cyclone. "I pray for the victims and for those who are committed to
relief operations". Before leaving, the pontiff recalled that today marks "Rare
Disease Day" and directed his special prayers and encouragement to all
associations that offer help in this area.

___________________________________________________________

 Pope Francis receives president of the Argentine Republic
 Vatican City, 27 February 2016 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican Apostolic
Palace, Pope Francis received in audience Mauricio Macri, president of the
Argentine Republic, who subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State
Pietro
Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for
Relations with States.
 During the cordial discussions, which demonstrated the good bilateral
relations
between the Holy See and the Argentine Republic, themes of common interest were
considered, such as assistance for integral development, respect for human
rights, the fight against poverty and drug trafficking, justice, peace and
social reconciliation. In this context, the positive contribution of the
episcopate and Catholic institutions in Argentine society was reiterated,
especially in the fields of human promotion and the formation of the new
generations, and particularly in the current economic climate.
 Finally, reference was made to various issues of broader significance and
interest at regional and global levels.

___________________________________________________________

 Pope to businesspeople: seek a new humanism of work
 Vatican City, 27 February 2016 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall Pope
Francis received in audience seven thousand Italian members of Confindustria
(the General Confederation of Italian Industry). It was the first encounter in
the Vatican in the history of the association, and took place within the
context
of the Jubilee Year of Mercy. The Holy Father observed that with this meeting,
the men and women of Italian business confirm their commitment to contributing
to a more just society, to reflecting together on the ethics of business, and
to
strengthening their attention to values, the "spinal column" of projects that
offer a concrete alternative to the consumerist model of profit at any cost.
 The theme "working together" inspires collaboration, sharing and preparing the
way for relations regulated by a sense of joint responsibility. "In the complex
world of business, working together means investing in projects able to involve
those who are often forgotten or neglected, especially families. ... And,
alongside them, we cannot forget the weakest and most marginalised categories,
such as the elderly, who may still have the resources and energy for active
collaboration, but are too often discarded as useless and unproductive. Then
there are potential workers, especially the young who, imprisoned by
uncertainty
or long periods of unemployment, do not receive offers of work providing them
with not only an honest salary but also the dignity that they are often
deprived
of".
 Working together means "basing work not on the solitary genius of an
individual, but on the collaboration of many. It means, in other words,
building
a network to bring to the fore the gifts of all, without however neglecting the
unique qualities of each person. At the centre of every business, therefore, is
the person: not abstract, ideal or theoretical, but a real person with dreams,
needs, hopes and hardships. ... Faced with the many barriers of injustice,
solitude, distrust and suspicion that continue to be built in our times, the
world of work, in which you are on the front line, is required to take
courageous steps so that encountering each other and working together is not
merely a slogan, but rather a plan for the present and the future".
 The Holy Father reminded those present of their "noble vocation, directed to
producing wealth and improving our world", for which they are called to be
builders of the common good and promoters of a "new humanism of work".
 "You are called to safeguard professionalism, and at the same time to pay
attention to the conditions in which work is carried out", he said. "May you
always be guided by justice, which refuses the shortcuts of favouritism, and
the
dangerous deviations of dishonesty and easy compromise. May the supreme law
always be attention to the dignity of others, an absolute and indispensable
value. May this aim of altruism always distinguish your work: it will lead you
to refuse categorically the infringement of the dignity of the person in the
name of productive demands, which mask individualistic short-sightedness, sad
selfishness and thirst for profit".
 The Pope concluded by urging the members of Confindustria to represent,
instead, a business open to the "broader meaning of life", allowing them "truly
to serve the common good, by striving to increase the goods of this world and
to
make them more accessible to all", so that it is "not insensitive to the gaze
of
those in need. This is truly possible, provided that the simple proclamation of
economic freedom does not prevail over the real freedom of man and his rights,
that the market is not absolute, but rather honours the needs of justice and,
in
the final analysis, of the dignity of the person. There is no freedom without
justice and no justice without respect for the dignity of every person".

___________________________________________________________

 Friday of Mercy: Pope pays surprise visit to San Carlo drug rehabilitation
community
 Vatican City, 27 February 2016 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the Pope paid a
surprise visit to the San Carlo rehabilitation centre, near Castel Gandolfo,
which belongs to the Italian Solidarity Centre, founded by Fr. Mario Picchi to
prevent and combat exclusion, especially of those affected by drug abuse. The
visit forms part of the Holy Father's "Friday of mercy" programme, in which he
performs one of the corporal or spiritual works of mercy every Friday
throughout
the Jubilee Year of Mercy.
 The San Carlo Community houses 55 people, mostly young, following a
rehabilitation programme to free themselves from drug dependency. Francis'
visit
was unannounced and was a great surprise to all present. He spoke to the guests
and staff, listened to their stories and expressed his closeness, urging them
not to let themselves be devoured by the "metastasis" of drugs. He embraced
them
and explained that the path they have undertaken in the centre will offer them
a
real possibility of starting a new life worthy of a human being. Francis
emphasised the need always to trust in the strength of mercy that continues to
sustain our pilgrimage and, accompanying us even in our darkest hours, lets us
feel the warmth of His presence and clothes man in dignity.
 Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting
New Evangelisation, linked this "Friday of Mercy" to the Pope's recent trip to
Mexico, characterised by his strong and unequivocal condemnation of drug
trafficking. "It worries me greatly that, seduced by the empty power of the
world, they exalt chimeras and don their macabre symbols to trade in death.
... I
implore you not to underestimate the ethical and anti-civic challenge that drug
trafficking represents for young people and for society as a whole, including
the Church", said Francis during the trip.
 Just a few days after his return to Rome, added Archbishop Fisichella, the
Pope
has given a visible and concrete sign of the affirmation he made in the
Cathedral of Mexico City regarding the need for pastors of the Church not to
seek refuge in generic condemnations, but rather to reach out to the human and
existential peripheries of the cities and to involve families, schools,
institutions, the political community and the forces of order in a serious
pastoral project aiming at the prevention of a phenomenon that destroys many
lives.

___________________________________________________________

 IX World Day of Rare Diseases: Message of Pontifical Council for Health
Pastoral Care
 Vatican City, 29 February 2016 (VIS) - Today marks the IX World Day of Rare
Diseases. On the occasion, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the
Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers (for Health Pastoral Care) wrote a
message entitled "The Patient's Voice at the Centre. Join Us in Making the
Voice
of Rare Diseases Heard". It emphasises how, for years, this dicastery has
closely followed the various initiatives for those affected by such diseases,
as
well as focusing on their families, who are sometimes the only ones who give
voice to a problem that should not be ignored by the various civil, scientific,
and pastoral agencies.
 "This global initiative", the prelate explained, "which aims to give proper
emphasis to these diseases and to increase knowledge, also finds growing
interest in the Church, so that those who, although suffering from diseases
whose incidence is minimal or rare numerically, are not abandoned or isolated.
They certainly cannot leave us indifferent. Indeed, their condition, as the
theme chosen for this 9th day indicates, cannot but find echo in our hearts and
in appropriate research and care".
 "In particular", he specified, "this means making these persons more and more
the protagonists, equipped with the necessary reference points and, at the same
time, raising the awareness of the competent authorities, health professionals,
pharmaceutical industry, and anyone who has a sincere interest in rare
diseases.
All in order to break the curtain of silence or exclusivity that is likely, in
many cases, to hide a problem that, however, concerns the whole of society".
 "The Church also feels involved in this commitment, constantly spurred by Pope
Francis to grow and walk in solidarity. ... By means of this dicastery, the
Church, as the voice that can from many places have the leverage to achieve the
common good and justice in the social and health care field, intends to bring
the attention of its pastoral outreach in the area of rare and neglected
diseases - defined as diseases that particularly call for solidarity - to this
area and to the various scientific research institutions".
 "This ecclesial attention will have a specific expression at the next
international conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Health Care
Workers, which will take place at the Vatican from 10 to 12 November, 2016.
This
initiative, almost at the conclusion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy,
will
be a further occasion for highlighting the work of corporal mercy that is
assistance to the sick. It will be a sign of solidarity with persons affected
by
rare diseases as well as with the poor and vulnerable populations marked by
neglected diseases, who usually live in the most remote rural areas of the
world".

___________________________________________________________

 Audiences
 Vatican City, 29 February 2016 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father met separately
with:
 - three prelates from the Puerto Rican Episcopal Conference: Archbishop
Roberto
Octavio Gonzalez Nieves, O.F.M., of San Juan de Puerto Rico, president,
accompanied by Bishop Alvaro Corrada del Rio, S.J., of Tyler, vice president,
and by Bishop Eusebio Ramos Morales of Fajardo-Humacao, secretary general.
 - Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, archbishop emeritus of Washington, USA,
 - Bishop Paul Tighe, adjunct secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture
with members of his family, and
 - Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.
 On Saturday 27 February the Holy Father received in audience:
 - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, and
 - Bishop Carlos Jose Tissera of Quilmes, Argentina.

___________________________________________________________

 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 27 February 2016 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father appointed:
 - Cardinal Francesco Monterisi, archpriest emeritus of the Papal Basilica of
St. Paul Outside-the-Walls, as his special envoy to the concluding celebration
of the Innocentian Year, commemorating the fourth centenary of the birth of
Pope
Innocent XII, to be held in Spinazzola, Italy on 13 March.
 - Msgr. Maurizio Bravi, nunciature counsellor, as Holy See Permanent Observer
at the World Tourism Organisation.

___________________________________________________________

 Notice to VIS subscribers
 Vatican City, 29 February 2016 (VIS) - From tomorrow, Tuesday 1 March 2016,
the
Vatican Information Service newsletter will not be transmitted. Below is the
link via which the web page including a synthesis in English of the official
Holy See Press Office Bulletin may be consulted.

http://press.vatican.va/salastampa/en/bollettino.html
___________________________________________________________

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