VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXIV - # 85   
   DATE 10-05-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - ABDUCTION OF SCHOOLGIRLS IN NIGERIA: A HORRIBLE FORM OF VIOLENCE TO BE   
   STRONGLY CONDEMNED   
   - THE POPE TO THE UNITED NATIONS EXECUTIVE BOARD: CHALLENGE ALL FORMS OF   
   INJUSTICE   
   - TO THE PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES: EVANGELISATION MUST START WITH THE   
   LEAST AMONG US   
   - BISHOPS OF ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA: YOUR EFFORTS TO ALLEVIATE THE SUFFERING OF   
   YOUR PEOPLE BEAR WITNESS TO GOD'S LOVE   
   - CARDINAL TAURAN IN JORDAN   
   - AUDIENCES   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    ABDUCTION OF SCHOOLGIRLS IN NIGERIA: A HORRIBLE FORM OF VIOLENCE TO BE   
   STRONGLY CONDEMNED   
    Vatican City, 9 May 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday, in a statement to journalists,   
   the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J.,   
   declared that the kidnapping in Nigeria of a large number of schoolgirls by   
   Boko Haram terrorists is yet another of the "horrible forms of violence long   
   typical of this group".   
    He continued, "The denial of any respect for the lives and dignity of the   
   human person, even the most innocent, vulnerable and defenceless, calls for   
   the strongest condemnation and elicits the most heartfelt compassion for the   
   victims, as well as horror at the physical and spiritual suffering and the   
   incredible humiliation inflicted upon them. We add our voice to the many   
   appeals for their liberation and their restoration to a normal condition of   
   life. We hope and pray that Nigeria, thanks to the commitment of all those who   
   are able to help, may find a way to end a situation of conflict and hateful   
   terrorism which is a source of incalculable suffering".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    THE POPE TO THE UNITED NATIONS EXECUTIVE BOARD: CHALLENGE ALL FORMS OF   
   INJUSTICE   
    Vatican City, 9 May 2014 (VIS) - This morning Pope Francis received in   
   audience the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, and the   
   leading executive officers of the agencies, funds and programmes of the United   
   Nations and specialised organisations, gathered in Rome for the biannual   
   meeting for strategic coordination of the United Nations System Chief   
   Executives Board.   
    In his address, the Pontiff thanked the those who are primarily responsible   
   for the international system, "for the great efforts being made to ensure   
   world peace, respect for human dignity, the protection of persons, especially   
   the poorest and most vulnerable, and harmonious economic and social   
   development". He also congratulated them on the results of the Millennium   
   Development Goals, especially in terms of education and the decrease in   
   extreme poverty, adding however, that "it must be kept in mind that the   
   world's peoples deserve and expect even greater results" since "an important   
   part of humanity does not share in the benefits of progress and is in fact   
   relegated to the status of second-class citizens".   
    Therefore, future sustainable development goals must be "formulated and   
   carried out with generosity and courage, so that they can have a real impact   
   on the structural causes of poverty and hunger, attain more substantial   
   results in protecting the environment, ensure dignified and productive labour   
   for all, and provide appropriate protection for the family, which is an   
   essential element in sustainable human and social development. Specifically,   
   this involves challenging all forms of injustice and resisting the 'economy of   
   exclusion', the 'throwaway culture' and the 'culture of death' which nowadays   
   sadly risk becoming passively accepted".   
    The Holy Father explained that the spirit that should be "at the beginning   
   and end of all political and economic activity" may be found in "the encounter   
   between Jesus Christ and the rich tax collector Zacchaeus, as a result of   
   which Zacchaeus made a radical decision of sharing and justice, because his   
   conscience had been awakened by the gaze of Jesus. The gaze, often silent, of   
   that part of the human family which is cast off, left behind, ought to awaken   
   the conscience of political and economic agents and lead them to generous and   
   courageous decisions with immediate results, like the decision of Zacchaeus.   
   ... Today, in concrete terms, an awareness of the dignity of each of our   
   brothers and sisters whose life is sacred and inviolable from conception to   
   natural death must lead us to share with complete freedom the goods which   
   God's providence has placed in our hands, material goods but also intellectual   
   and spiritual ones, and to give back generously and lavishly whatever we may   
   have earlier unjustly refused to others".   
    "The account of Jesus and Zacchaeus teaches us that above and beyond economic   
   and social systems and theories, there will always be a need to promote   
   generous, effective and practical openness to the needs of others", he   
   continued. "Jesus does not ask Zacchaeus to change jobs nor does he condemn   
   his financial activity; he simply inspires him to put everything, freely yet   
   immediately and indisputably, at the service of others. Consequently, I do not   
   hesitate to state, as did my predecessors, that equitable economic and social   
   progress can only be attained by joining scientific and technical abilities   
   with an unfailing commitment to solidarity accompanied by a generous and   
   disinterested spirit of gratuitousness at every level. A contribution to this   
   equitable development will also be made both by international activity aimed   
   at the integral human development of all the world's peoples and by the   
   legitimate redistribution of economic benefits by the State, as well as   
   indispensable cooperation between the private sector and civil society".   
    "Consequently", the Holy Father concluded, "while encouraging you in your   
   continuing efforts to coordinate the activity of the international agencies,   
   which represents a service to all humanity, I urge you to work together in   
   promoting a true, worldwide ethical mobilisation which, beyond all differences   
   of religious or political convictions, will spread and put into practice a   
   shared ideal of fraternity and solidarity, especially with regard to the   
   poorest and those most excluded".   
      
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    TO THE PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES: EVANGELISATION MUST START WITH THE LEAST   
   AMONG US   
    Vatican City, 9 May 2014 (VIS) - Missionary action is the paradigm for all   
   works of the Church, said the Holy Father this morning, in his address to the   
   participants in the meeting of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which is   
   being held in Rome this week.   
    The Pope mentioned that with his apostolic exhortation "Evangelii gaudium" he   
   intended to encourage the faithful to begin a new, evangelical era.   
   "Evangelisation in this time of great social transformations, necessitates a   
   missionary, outreach Church, capable of discernment in order to measure up to   
   different cultures and visions of man. For a world in transformation, there is   
   a need for a Church that is renewed and transformed by contemplation and   
   personal contact with Christ, by the power of the Spirit. ... It is He Who   
   gives us the strength to undertake the missionary path and the joy of   
   proclamation, so that the light of Christ may illuminate those who still do   
   not know Him or have denied Him. This takes the courage to go forth to 'reach   
   all the peripheries in need of the light of the Gospel'. We cannot be held   
   back by our weaknesses or our sins, nor by the many obstacles to the witness   
   and proclamation of the Gospel".   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)