VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - N° 70   
   DATE 14-04-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - POPE FRANCIS TO SEMINARIANS: ?IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO ACT LIKE SHEPHERDS,   
   CHANGE PATH?   
   - PALM SUNDAY: ?WHO ARE WE BEFORE JESUS WHO TRIUMPHS AND BEFORE JESUS WHO   
   SUFFERS??   
   - ANGELUS: MAY THE WYD CROSS BE A SIGN OF HOPE FOR THE WORLD   
   - THE STUDY OF HISTORY, ONE OF THE PATHS TO THE TRUTH   
   - POPE FRANCIS: CARE FOR YOUR PATIENTS WITHOUT FORGETTING THEY ARE PEOPLE   
   - AUDIENCES   
   - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
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    POPE FRANCIS TO SEMINARIANS: ?IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO ACT LIKE SHEPHERDS,   
   CHANGE PATH?   
   Vatican City, 14 April 2014 (VIS) ? This morning the Holy Father met with the   
   seminarians of the community of the Pontifical College ?Leoniano de Anagni?,   
   and warned them not to fall into the trap of thinking that they are preparing   
   to exercise a profession, to become the employees of a business enterprise or   
   a bureaucratic entity. ?You are becoming 'good shepherds', in the image of   
   Jesus, to be like Him, in the midst of His flock, to graze His sheep. Before   
   this vocation, we can answer like the Virgin Mary to the Angel: 'How is this   
   possible?'?   
   ?Becoming good shepherds in the image of Jesus is something very great, and we   
   are so small?, he continued. ?Yes, it is true, it is too great; but it is not   
   our work! It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our collaboration. ? I no   
   longer live, but Christ lives inme?, said Francis, emphasising that only in   
   this way is it possible to be deacons and priests of the Church. ? If you are   
   not willing to follow this path, with these attitudes and these experiences,   
   it is better to have the courage to seek another. There are many ways, in the   
   Church, to bear Christian witness?. Before concluding, the Pope encouraged the   
   seminarians to reflect on this theme and emphasised that following in Christ's   
   ministry allows no place for mediocrity, who always leads to using the holy   
   people of God to one's own advantage.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    PALM SUNDAY: ?WHO ARE WE BEFORE JESUS WHO TRIUMPHS AND BEFORE JESUS WHO   
   SUFFERS??   
   Vatican City, 13 April 2014 (VIS) ? Today in St. Peter's Square Pope Francis   
   began the rites of Holy Week with the solemn liturgical celebration of Palm   
   Sunday and the Passion of the Lord.   
   The ceremony began with the blessing of the palms and the olive branches   
   placed beside the obelisk in the Square, carried in procession to the entrance   
   of the basilica. The young people of Rome and other diocese took part in the   
   celebration, in relation to the 29th World Youth Day, which this year takes   
   the theme, ?Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of   
   heaven?.   
   The Pope based his homily on the question, ?Who am I, before my Lord? Who am   
   I, before Jesus Who enters Jerusalem on this feast day? ? Who am I, before   
   Jesus Who suffers??   
   ?This week, we begin with a celebratory procession with olivebranches: all the   
   people welcome Jesus. Children and young people sing in praise of Jesus. ? But   
   this week proceeds in the mystery of Jesus' death and His resurrection. We   
   have listened to the Passion of the Lord. It will do us good to ask the   
   question, who am I? Who am I before my Lord? Who am I, before Jesus Who enters   
   Jerusalem on this feast day? Am I able to express my joy, to praise Him? Or do   
   I keep my distance? Who am I, before Jesus Who suffers??   
   We have heard many names: the group of leaders, some who are priests, some   
   Pharisees, some doctors of the Law, who had decided to kill Him. They waited   
   for the opportunity to take Him. Am I like one of them?   
   ?We have also heard another name: Judas. Thirty coins. Am I like Judas? We   
   have heard of other names: the disciples who understood nothing, who slept   
   while the Lord suffered. Do I spend my life asleep? Or am I like the   
   disciples, who did not understand what it was to betray Jesus?Like that other   
   disciple who wanted to resolve everything by the sword: am I like them? Am I   
   like Judas, who pretended to love and to kiss the Master in order to deliver   
   Him into the hands of His enemy, to betray Him? Am I a traitor? Am I like   
   those leaders who are quick to judge and seek false witnesses: am I like them?   
   And when I do these things, if I do them, do I believe that in so doing I save   
   the people?   
   ?Am I like Pilate, in that when I see that the situation is difficult, I wash   
   my hands of it and do not assume my responsibility and condemn people, or   
   allow them to be condemned? Am I like that crowd that does not know if it is   
   in a religious meeting, a court of judgement or a circus, and chooses Barabas?   
   For them it was all the same: it was more entertaining to humiliate Jesus.   
   ?Am I like the soldiers who strike the Lord, who spit on Him, insult Him, who   
   amuse themselves by humiliating the Lord? Am I like the Cyrenian who   
   returnedfrom work, weary, but who had the good will to help the Lord carry the   
   cross? Am I like those who passed before the Cross and made fun of Jesus: 'He   
   was so brave! If he comes down from the Cross we will believe in Him!' Making   
   fun of Jesus?.   
   ?Am I like those brave women, such as the Mother of Jesus, who were there, who   
   suffered in silence? Am I like Joseph, the secret disciple who carried the   
   copy of Jesus with love, to bury him? Am I like the two Marys, who remained   
   before His tomb crying and praying?   
   ?Am I like the leaders who, the following day went to Pilate to say, 'Look,   
   this man said that he would be resurrected. Careful that this is not another   
   trick'?, and blocked the life, blocked the tomb to defend doctrine, so that   
   life does not come out?   
   ?Where is my heart? Which of these people do I resemble? May this question   
   accompany us throughout the week?.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    ANGELUS: MAY THE WYD CROSS BE A SIGN OF HOPE FOR THE WORLD   
   Vatican City, 14 April 2014 (VIS) ? Following the solemn liturgical   
   celebration of Palm Sunday, the Pope prayed the Angelus with the seventy   
   thousand faithful present in St- Peter's Square and, before the Marian prayer,   
   he greeted the 250 delegates, bishops, priests, religious and laypeople who   
   participated during these days in the meeting for the World Youth Day   
   organised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.   
   ?In this way there begins the path of preparation for the next world meeting   
   that will take place in July 2016 in Krakow on the theme 'Blessed are the   
   merciful, for they will be shown mercy'. Before long the young Brazilians will   
   deliver to the Polish youth the Cross of the World Youth Days. It was Blessed   
   John Paul II who entrusted the Cross to the young thirty years ago: he asked   
   them to take it all over the world as a sign of Christ's love forhumanity. On   
   27 April we will have the joy of celebrating the canonization of this Pope,   
   along with John XXIII. John Paul II, who initiated the World Youth Days, will   
   become its great patron; in the communion of saints he will continue to be a   
   father and a friend for the young of the world. Let us ask the Lord that the   
   Cross, along with the icon of Mary 'Salus Populi Romani', be a sign of hope   
   for all, revealing Christ's invincible love to the world?.   
   Following these words, the World Youth Day Cross was consigned, and Pope   
   Francis added, ?I greet all Romans and all pilgrims, and I greet in particular   
   the delegations from Rio de Janeiro and Krakow, led by their archbishops,   
   Cardinals Orani Joao Tempesta and Stanislaw Dziwisz. In this context, I have   
   the joy of announcing that, God willing, on 15 August at Daejeon, in the   
   Republic of Korea, I will meet with the young of Asia in their great   
   continental meeting?.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Meridian MS=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)