VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXIV - # 74   
   DATE 25-04-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - SOUTHERN AFRICAN BISHOPS: CONSISTENT WITNESS TO THE MORAL TEACHING OF THE   
   GOSPEL   
   - POPE FRANCIS CONGRATULATES THE COMPATRIOTS OF THE TWO POPE SAINTS   
   - THE POPE RECALLS THE INFECTIOUS JOY OF ST. JOSE DE ANCHIETA   
   - AUDIENCES   
   - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
   - NOTICE   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    SOUTHERN AFRICAN BISHOPS: CONSISTENT WITNESS TO THE MORAL TEACHING OF THE   
   GOSPEL   
    Vatican City, 25 April 2014 (VIS) - The bishops of the Southern African   
   Catholic Bishops' Conference, from South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland, were   
   received in audience by Pope Francis this morning, at the end of their "ad   
   limina" visit. Francis handed them his prepared address, in which he recalls   
   the arduous labours of the missionaries and the men and women of these   
   countries in sowing the seed of faith and reaching out to the people in the   
   villages, towns and cities, and especially in the ever-expanding urban   
   townships. He emphasised the "flourishing parishes, thriving often against   
   very great odds: far distances between communities and a dearth of material   
   resources". He praised the efforts made for the preparation of permanent   
   deacons and the formation of lay catechists to assist the clergy where there   
   are few priests.   
    "Priests and religious brothers and sisters are of one mind and heart in   
   their service of God's most vulnerable sons and daughters: widows, single   
   mothers, the divorced, children at risk and especially the several million   
   AIDS orphans, many of whom head households in rural areas. Truly the richness   
   and joy of the Gospel is being lived and shared by Catholics with others   
   around them". The Pope remarks that, despite the difficulties faced by   
   Catholic minority communities in countries where many religions are present,   
   "the richness and joy of the Gospel is being living and shared by Catholics   
   with others around them", and he prays that they "will continue to persevere   
   in building up the Lord's Kingdom with their lives that testify to the truth,   
   and with the work of their hands that ease the sufferings of so many".   
    He notes the serious pastoral challenges communities face, according to the   
   bishops, such as the declining birth rate which affects the number of   
   vocations, the tendency of some Catholics to drift away from the Church in   
   favour of other groups who seem to promise something better, and abortion,   
   which "compounds the grief of many women who now carry within them deep   
   physical and spiritual wounds after succumbing to the pressure of a secular   
   culture which devalues God's gift of sexuality and the right to life of the   
   unborn". He adds, "the rate of separation and divorce is high, even in many   
   Christian families, and children frequently do not grow up in a stable home   
   environment. We also observe with great concern, and can only deplore, an   
   increase in violence against women and children. All these realities threaten   
   the sanctity of marriage, the stability of life in the home and consequently   
   the life of society as a whole. In this sea of difficulties, we bishops and   
   priests must give a consistent witness to the moral teaching of the Gospel".   
    The Holy Father expresses his appreciation for the unity of the bishops with   
   their people and their solidarity with the vast number of unemployed in their   
   countries. "Most of your people can identify at once with Jesus Who was poor   
   and marginalised, Who had no place to lay His head". He asks the prelates to   
   offer, alongside the material support they provide, "the greater support of   
   spiritual assistance and sound moral guidance". He also comments on the   
   reduced number of priests and seminarians, and urges "the authentic promotion   
   of vocations in every territory, a prudent selection of candidates for   
   seminary studies, fatherly encouragement of those men in formation, and   
   attentive accompaniment in the years after ordination".   
    Likewise, he encourages the rediscovery of the sacrament of reconciliation,   
   "as a fundamental dimension of the life of grace", and emphasises that   
   "Christian matrimony is a lifelong covenant of love between one man and one   
   woman; it entails real sacrifices in order to turn away from illusory notions   
   of sexual freedom and in order to foster conjugal fidelity", and approves the   
   bishops' programmes of preparation for the sacrament of marriage, which are   
   "inspiring young people with new hope for themselves and for their future as   
   husbands and wives, fathers and mothers".   
    Finally, he refers to the bishops' concerns regarding the "breakdown of   
   Christian morals, including a growing temptation to collude with dishonesty",   
   an issue the bishops addressed in their pastoral statement on corruption, in   
   which they note that "corruption is theft from the poor ... hurts the most   
   vulnerable ... harms the whole community ... destroys our trust". "The   
   Christian community is called be be consistent in its witness to the virtues   
   of honesty and integrity, so that we may stand before the Lord, and our   
   neighbours, with clean hands and a pure heart, as a leaven of the Gospel in   
   the life of society". He concludes, "With this moral imperative in mind, I   
   know that you will continue to address this and other grave social concerns,   
   such as the plight of refugees and migrants. May these men and women always be   
   welcomed by our Catholic communities, finding in them open hearts and homes as   
   they seek to begin a new life".   
      
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    POPE FRANCIS CONGRATULATES THE COMPATRIOTS OF THE TWO POPE SAINTS   
    Vatican City, 25 April 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent a video message   
   to the Polish faithful, compatriots of Pope John Paul II, and a written   
   message to the citizens of Bergamo, the province in which the village of   
   "Sotto il Monte", birthplace of Pope John XXIII, is located.   
    In his video message, rebroadcast by Polish Television (TVP) and by Polish   
   Radio, the Pope remarks that he is happy to be able to proclaim John Paul II a   
   saint, and expresses his gratitude to the Polish Pope for his "tireless   
   service, is spiritual guidance, for bringing the Church into the third   
   millennium of faith, and for his extraordinary witness of holiness". Francis   
   recalls the words Pope Benedict XVI used to describe Pope Wojtyla in the   
   homily of his beatification in May 2011: "society, culture, political and   
   economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a   
   titan - a strength which came to him from God - a tide which appeared   
   irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied   
   by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers   
   throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the   
   Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth,   
   because truth is the guarantee of liberty".   
    In his message to the citizens of Bergamo, published in the daily newspaper   
   "L'Eco di Bergamo" with which Pope Roncalli collaborated during the years of   
   his priesthood, he invites them to "give thanks to God for his holiness, a   
   great gift to the universal Church", and he encourages them to "conserve the   
   memory of the land in which it germinated: a land of profound faith lived in   
   daily life, in families that are poor but united by the love of the Lord, of   
   communities capable of sharing in simplicity".   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Meridian MS=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)