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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - N° 26
DATE 07-02-2014
Summary:
- POPE FRANCIS TO POLISH BISHOPS: THE CHURCH IN POLAND MUST REACH OUT TO THE
PERIPHERIES
- SATISFACTORY PROGRESS IN THE PREPARATION OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HOLY
SEE AND PALESTINE
- AUDIENCES
___________________________________________________________
POPE FRANCIS TO POLISH BISHOPS: THE CHURCH IN POLAND MUST REACH OUT TO THE
PERIPHERIES
Vatican City, 7 February 2014 (VIS) – As the canonisation of Blessed
John Paul II approaches, Pope Francis today received in audience the bishops
of the Polish Episcopal Conference at the end of their five-yearly “ad
limina” visit. He
referred to the future saint as “a great Pastor who … guides us
from Heaven, and reminds us of the importance of spiritual and pastoral
communion between bishops”, and invited the former Pope's compatriots to
ensure that nothing and
no-one may bring divisions between them, as they are “called to build
communion and peace, rooted in fraternal love, and to offer an encouraging
example to all”, bringing “the strength of hope” to the
Polish people.
The conversations that the Bishop of Rome has held in these days with the
Polish prelates have confirmed that the Church in Poland “has great
potential for faith, prayer, charity and Christian practice”, and that
this “favours the
Christian formation of the people, motivated and convinced practice, and the
availability of laypeople and religious to collaborate actively in ecclesial
and social structures”. However, there has been a certain decline in
various aspects of
Christian life, and this requires “discernment, and a search for
underlying reasons and methods for facing new challenges, such as, for
example, the idea of freedom without limits, hostile tolerance or indeed
distrust of the truth, or resistance
to the Church's legitimate opposition to dominant relativism”.
The family, “the place where one learns to live in difference and to
belong to others, and where parents transmit faith to their children”,
should occupy a central position in the ordinary pastoral care of bishops,
also because
“nowadays marriage tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional
satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will.
Unfortunately this vision also influences the mentality of Christians,
promoting a tendency towards divorce or
separation. Pastors are called upon to ask themselves how they can help those
who experience this situation, so that they are not excluded from God's mercy,
from the fraternal love of other Christians and the care of the Church for
their salvation; on
how to help them not to abandon their faith and to enable them to raise their
children in the fullness of Christian experience”. In this respect, he
commented on the need for bishops to consider how to improve the preparation
of young peopl
e for
marriage, so that they are able to “discover the beauty of this union,
based on love and responsibility”, and how to “help families to
live and appreciate not only moments of joy, but also those of pain and
weakness”.
In view of the next World Youth Day, which will be held in Krakow in 2016, the
Pope turned his thoughts to the young “who, along with the elderly, are
the hope of the Church” and to whom today's technological world
“offers new
possibilities for communication, but at the same time reduces interpersonal
relationships based on direct contact, on the exchange of values and shared
experiences. However, in the hearts of the young there is the yearning for
something deeper, which
allows their personalities to bloom fully. We must work towards meeting this
wish”. A good opportunity, is offered by catechesis, which reaches the
majority of Polish schoolchildren, who reach a good level of understanding of
the truth of faith.
“The Christian religion, however, is not an abstract science, but rather
the essential knowledge of Christ, a personal relationship with God Who is
love”.
The third theme of the Pope's address was the vocation to the priesthood and
to consecrated life. After commenting that there are many Polish priests who
exercise their ministry in the local Churches and also abroad and in missions,
he praised the
universities and faculties of theology throughout the country which
“provide good intellectual and pastoral preparation” which must
always be accompanied by “human and spiritual formation”.
In priestly ministry, “the light of witness can be obscured or hidden
under a bushel if there is a lack of missionary spirit, of the wish to go out
to the peripheries, with an ever-renewed missionary conversion to seek or
encounter those who await
Christ's Good News. This apostolic style also demands a spirit of poverty, of
abandonment, to allow freedom of proclamation and sincere witness to
charity”. With regard to vocations to consecrated life, especially in
woman, “it is worrying
to see a decline in numbers of those joining religious congregations, even in
Poland: a complex phenomenon, with multiple causes. I hope that female
religious Institutes may continue to be, in a way suited to our times,
privileged spaces for the
affirmation and human and spiritual growth of women. May religious women be
ready to face tasks and missions, even those which are difficult and
demanding, which bring to the fore their intellectual, emotional and spiritual
capacities, th
eir
personal talents and charisms”.
The Pope concluded by encouraging care for the poor as, “in Poland too,
despite current economic development in the country, there are many who are in
need, unemployed, homeless, sick, and marginalised, and also many families
– especially
larger family units – who do not have sufficient means to live and to
educate their children. Be close to them! I know how much the Church does in
Poland in this field, demonstrating great generosity not only at a national
level but also in other
countries throughout the world. I thank you and your communities for your
work. Continue to encourage your priests, religious and all faithful to have
the 'imagination of charity', and to practice it at all times. And do not
forget those who for various
reasons leave the country in search of a better life elsewhere. Their growing
numbers and their needs perhaps require greater attention on the part of the
Episcopal Conference. Accompany them with the suitable pastoral care, so that
they
may conserve the faith and religious traditions of the Polish people”.
___________________________________________________________
SATISFACTORY PROGRESS IN THE PREPARATION OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE
AND PALESTINE
Vatican City, 7 February 2014 (VIS) – On 6 February 2014, the Bilateral
Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine, which is responsible
for finalising the text of a Global Agreement following on the Basic
Agreement, signed on 15
February 2000, held a Plenary Session in Ramallah at the PLO Headquarters to
review and approve the work done at the level of the joint technical group
following the last Plenary Meeting held in the Vatican on 26 September 2013.
The talks were chaired by Hanna Amireh, member of Executive Committee of the
PLO and head of the Presidential Higher Committee for Church Affairs of the
State of Palestine, and by Archbishop Antoine Camilleri, under-secretary for
Relations with States
of the Holy See.
The discussions took place in a cordial and constructive atmosphere. Taking up
the issues already examined at the technical level, the Commission noted with
great satisfaction the progress achieved in drawing up the final draft of the
text of the
Agreement, which deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the
Catholic Church in Palestine. Both sides agreed to continue in the efforts to
complete the constitutional and internal procedures in view of the signature
of the Agreement.
The Palestinian side expressed its warm welcome to Pope Francis in view of his
upcoming visit to the Holy Land.
___________________________________________________________
AUDIENCES
Vatican City, 7 February 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
- Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, S.D.B., of Santiago de Chile, Chile,
president of the Permanent Committee for the Episcopal Conference of Chile,
accompanied by Bishop Alejandro Goic Karmelic of Rancagua, vice president;
Archbishop Cristian Caro
Cordero of Puerto Montt, member; Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib of
Concepcion, member; and Bishop Ignacio Francisco Ducasse Medina of Valdivia,
secretary general.
- Gjoko Gjorgjevski, ambassador of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
to the Holy See, on his farewell visit.
- Fifteen prelates from the Polish Episcopal Conference on their “ad
limina” visit:
- Archbishop Jozef Piotr Kupny of Wroclaw, Breslavia, with his auxiliary,
Bishop Andrzej Siemieniewski;
- Bishop Stefan Cichy of Legnica, with his auxiliary, Bishop Marek Mendyk;
- Bishop Ignacy Dec of Swidnica, with his auxiliary Bishop Adam Balabuch;
- Archbishop Wiktor Pawel Skworc of Katowice;
- Bishop Jan Kopiec of Gliwice, with his auxiliary, Bishop Gerard Alfons Kusz;
- Bishop Andrzej Czaja of Opole, with his auxiliary, Bishop Pawel Stobrawa;
- Archbishop Waclaw Depo of Czestochowa;
- Bishop Henryk Marian Tomasik of Radom, with his auxiliary Bishop Adam
Odzimek;
- Bishop Grzegorz Kaszak of Sosnowiec.
___________________________________________________________
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va
Il servizio del VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta
elettronica che ne hanno fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo
non si desidera continuare a riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina
dinizio:
http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/vis/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
--Boundary_(ID_OmUih+GricfknklzKHllow)
Content-type: text/html; CHARSET=US-ASCII
Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
VISnews140207
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE YEAR XXII - N° 26DATE 07-02-2014
Summary: - POPE FRANCIS TO POLISH BISHOPS:
THE CHURCH IN POLAND MUST
REACH OUT TO THE PERIPHERIES - SATISFACTORY PROGRESS IN THE PREPARATION
OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE AND PALESTINE - AUDIENCES ___________________________________________________________
POPE FRANCIS TO POLISH BISHOPS: THE CHURCH IN POLAND MUST REACH OUT TO THE
PERIPHERIES
Vatican City, 7 February 2014 (VIS) – As the canonisation of Blessed
John Paul II approaches, Pope Francis today received in audience the bishops
of the Polish Episcopal Conference at the end of their five-yearly “ad
limina” visit.
He referred to the future saint as “a great Pastor who … guides
us from Heaven, and reminds us of the importance of spiritual and pastoral
communion between bishops”, and invited the former Pope's compatriots to
ensure that nothing
and no-one may bring divisions between them, as they are “called to
build communion and peace, rooted in fraternal love, and to offer an
encouraging example to all”, bringing “the strength of hope”
to the Polish people.
The conversations that the Bishop of Rome has held in these days with the
Polish prelates have confirmed that the Church in Poland “has great
potential for faith, prayer, charity and Christian practice”, and that
this “favours the
Christian formation of the people, motivated and convinced practice, and the
availability of laypeople and religious to collaborate actively in ecclesial
and social structures”. However, there has been a certain decline in
various aspects of
Christian life, and this requires “discernment, and a search for
underlying reasons and methods for facing new challenges, such as, for
example, the idea of freedom without limits, hostile tolerance or indeed
distrust of the truth, or resistance
to the Church's legitimate opposition to dominant relativism”.
The family, “the place where one learns to live in difference and to
belong to others, and where parents transmit faith to their children”,
should occupy a central position in the ordinary pastoral care of bishops,
also because
“nowadays marriage tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional
satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will.
Unfortunately this vision also influences the mentality of Christians,
promoting a tendency towards divorce or
separation. Pastors are called upon to ask themselves how they can help those
who experience this situation, so that they are not excluded from God's mercy,
from the fraternal love of other Christians and the care of the Church for
their salvation; on
how to help them not to abandon their faith and to enable them to raise their
children in the fullness of Christian experience”. In this respect, he
commented on the need for bishops to consider how to improve the preparation of
young people for marriage, so that they are able to “discover the beauty
of this union, based on love and responsibility”, and how to “help
families to live and appreciate not only moments of joy, but also those of
pain and
weakness”.
In view of the next World Youth Day, which will be held in Krakow in 2016,
the Pope turned his thoughts to the young “who, along with the elderly,
are the hope of the Church” and to whom today's technological world
“offers new
possibilities for communication, but at the same time reduces interpersonal
relationships based on direct contact, on the exchange of values and shared
experiences. However, in the hearts of the young there is the yearning for
something deeper, which
allows their personalities to bloom fully. We must work towards meeting this
wish”. A good opportunity, is offered by catechesis, which reaches the
majority of Polish schoolchildren, who reach a good level of understanding of
the truth of faith.
“The Christian religion, however, is not an abstract science, but rather
the essential knowledge of Christ, a personal relationship with God Who is
love”.
The third theme of the Pope's address was the vocation to the priesthood
and to consecrated life. After commenting that there are many Polish priests
who exercise their ministry in the local Churches and also abroad and in
missions, he praised the
universities and faculties of theology throughout the country which
“provide good intellectual and pastoral preparation” which must
always be accompanied by “human and spiritual formation”.
In priestly ministry, “the light of witness can be obscured or hidden
under a bushel if there is a lack of missionary spirit, of the wish to go out
to the peripheries, with an ever-renewed missionary conversion to seek or
encounter those who
await Christ's Good News. This apostolic style also demands a spirit of
poverty, of abandonment, to allow freedom of proclamation and sincere witness
to charity”. With regard to vocations to consecrated life, especially in
woman, “it is
worrying to see a decline in numbers of those joining religious congregations,
even in Poland: a complex phenomenon, with multiple causes. I hope that female
religious Institutes may continue to be, in a way suited to our times,
privileged spaces for
the affirmation and human and spiritual growth of women. May religious women
be ready to face tasks and missions, even those which are difficult and
demanding, which bring to the fore their intellectual, emotional and spiritual
capacities, their personal talents and charisms”.
The Pope concluded by encouraging care for the poor as, “in Poland
too, despite current economic development in the country, there are many who
are in need, unemployed, homeless, sick, and marginalised, and also many
families – especially
larger family units – who do not have sufficient means to live and to
educate their children. Be close to them! I know how much the Church does in
Poland in this field, demonstrating great generosity not only at a national
level but also in other
countries throughout the world. I thank you and your communities for your
work. Continue to encourage your priests, religious and all faithful to have
the 'imagination of charity', and to practice it at all times. And do not
forget those who for various
reasons leave the country in search of a better life elsewhere. Their growing
numbers and their needs perhaps require greater attention on the part of the
Episcopal Conference. Accompany them with the suitable pastoral
care, so that they may conserve the faith and religious traditions of the
Polish people”.
SATISFACTORY PROGRESS IN THE PREPARATION OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE HOLY
SEE AND PALESTINE
Vatican City, 7 February 2014 (VIS) – On 6 February 2014, the
Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine, which is
responsible for finalising the text of a Global Agreement following on the
Basic Agreement, signed on 15
February 2000, held a Plenary Session in Ramallah at the PLO Headquarters to
review and approve the work done at the level of the joint technical group
following the last Plenary Meeting held in the Vatican on 26 September 2013.
The talks were chaired by Hanna Amireh, member of Executive Committee of
the PLO and head of the Presidential Higher Committee for Church Affairs of
the State of Palestine, and by Archbishop Antoine Camilleri, under-secretary
for Relations with
States of the Holy See.
The discussions took place in a cordial and constructive atmosphere. Taking
up the issues already examined at the technical level, the Commission noted
with great satisfaction the progress achieved in drawing up the final draft of
the text of the
Agreement, which deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the
Catholic Church in Palestine. Both sides agreed to continue in the efforts to
complete the constitutional and internal procedures in view of the signature
of the Agreement.
The Palestinian side expressed its warm welcome to Pope Francis in view of
his upcoming visit to the Holy Land.
Vatican City, 7 February 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received
in audience:
- Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, S.D.B., of Santiago de Chile, Chile,
president of the Permanent Committee for the Episcopal Conference of Chile,
accompanied by Bishop Alejandro Goic Karmelic of Rancagua, vice president;
Archbishop Cristian Caro
Cordero of Puerto Montt, member; Archbishop Fernando Natalio Chomali Garib of
Concepcion, member; and Bishop Ignacio Francisco Ducasse Medina of Valdivia,
secretary general.
- Gjoko Gjorgjevski, ambassador of the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia to the Holy See, on his farewell visit.
- Fifteen prelates from the Polish Episcopal Conference on their “ad
limina” visit:
- Archbishop Jozef Piotr Kupny of Wroclaw, Breslavia, with his auxiliary,
Bishop Andrzej Siemieniewski;
- Bishop Stefan Cichy of Legnica, with his auxiliary, Bishop Marek
Mendyk;
- Bishop Ignacy Dec of Swidnica, with his auxiliary Bishop Adam
Balabuch;
- Archbishop Wiktor Pawel Skworc of Katowice;
- Bishop Jan Kopiec of Gliwice, with his auxiliary, Bishop Gerard Alfons
Kusz;
- Bishop Andrzej Czaja of Opole, with his auxiliary, Bishop Pawel
Stobrawa;
- Archbishop Waclaw Depo of Czestochowa;
- Bishop Henryk Marian Tomasik of Radom, with his auxiliary Bishop Adam
Odzimek;
Per ulteriori informazioni e per la ricerca di documenti consultare il
sito: www.wisnews.org e www.vatican.va Il servizio
del VIS viene inviato soltanto agli indirizzi di posta elettronica che
ne hanno
fatto richiesta. Se per qualunque motivo non si desidera continuare a
riceverlo, si prega di visitare nostra pagina dinizio: http://212.77.1.245/news_services/press/v
s/italinde.php
Copyright (VIS): Le notizie contenute nei servizi del Vatican
Information Service possono essere riprodotte parzialmente o totalmente
citando la fonte: V.I.S. - Vatican Information Service.
