Vatican City, 15 May 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the Royal Institute for   
   Inter-Faith Studies (Amman, Jordan) and the Pontifical Council for   
   Interreligious Dialogue concluded their Third Colloquium in the Jordanian   
   capital. Held under the joint patronage of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan   
   bin Talal and His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the   
   Vatican dicastery, the theme chosen this year was "Meeting current challenges   
   through education".   
    At the end of the meeting which, as mentioned by the participants, took place   
   on the eve of Pope Francis' visit to the Holy Land, considered a source of   
   hope for all the populations in this region - a communique was issued,   
   beginning with a strong condemnation of "all forms of violence, and most   
   recently the kidnapping of the Nigerian school girls", calling for "their   
   immediate release, so that they can return to their families and their   
   schools". They also advocated peaceful resolutions to all ongoing conflicts.   
    The participants stated that the discussion, which took place in an   
   atmosphere of cordiality and friendship, allowed them to agree on the   
   following points:   
    - the fundamental institutions for the education of children and youth are   
   the family and the school;   
    - the importance of proper religious education, in particular for the   
   transmission of religious and moral values;   
    - the necessary consideration of the dignity of the human person, especially   
   in educational institutions;   
    - there is widespread disregard for the international provisions aimed at   
   guaranteeing the effective respect of fundamental human rights, in particular   
   religious freedom;   
    - the most urgent challenges to meet include the peaceful resolution of   
   current conflicts, the eradication of poverty and the promotion of the   
   spiritual and moral dimension of life;   
    - the conviction that religion is not the cause of conflicts, but rather   
   inhumanity and ignorance; consequently integral education is essential;   
    - many recalled that religions, properly understood and practised, are not   
   causes of division and conflicts but rather a necessary factor for   
   reconciliation and peace.   
    As believers, we hope that human wisdom would always meet the wisdom of God.   
    Finally, as the future of humanity is in the hands of the young generations,   
   we propose the following Cultural Decalogue for everyone involved in education:   
    1) Never renounce intellectual curiosity;   
    2) Have intellectual courage instead of intellectual cowardice;   
    3) Be humble and not intellectually arrogant;   
    4) Practice intellectual empathy instead of closed mindedness;   
    5) Observe intellectual integrity;   
    6) Keep your intellectual autonomy;   
    7) Persevere in the face of surrounding superficiality;   
    8) Trust reason;   
    9) Be fair-minded and not intellectually unfair;   
    10) Consider pluralism as richness, not a threat.   
    Finally, they declared their intention to will continue our fruitful dialogue   
   through future colloquia and other initiatives.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    FIFTY YEARS OF PROMOTING INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE   
    Vatican City, 15 May 2014 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council for Interreligious   
   Dialogue celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation on Monday 19   
   May. The dicastery was instituted with the name "Secretariat for   
   non-Christians" on 19 May 1964 by Pope Paul VI, with the Apostolic Letter   
   "Progrediente Concilio", with the aim of paying attention to those who were   
   without the Christian religion and to whom the words of the Lord would seem to   
   refer: "And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them   
   also".   
    The Pontifical Council will hold a conference in the afternoon on the theme   
   "50 years of service in interreligious dialogue"; the speakers will be   
   Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the dicastery, Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso   
   Guixot, M.C.C.J., secretary, and Fr. Damian Howard, S.J., of Heythrop College,   
   London. The document "Dialogue in Truth and Charity: Pastoral Orientations for   
   Interreligious Dialogue", which will be published and distributed to those   
   present, offers guidelines for pastors and faithful, based on the concrete   
   indications and experiences of the local churches, to continue along the path   
   of interreligious dialogue.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    AUDIENCES   
    Vatican City, 15 May 2014 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Eighteen prelates of the Mexican Episcopal Conference on their "ad limina"   
   visit:   
    Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, archbishop of Mexico, with his auxiliaries,   
   Bishop Carlos Briseno Arch, O.A.R., Bishop Florencio Armando Colin Cruz,   
   Bishop Jesus Antonio Lerma Nolasco, Bishop Andres Vargas Pena, Bishop Adolfo   
   Miguel Castano Fonseca, Bishop Crispin Ojeda Marquez, and Bishop Jorge Estrada   
   Solorzano;   
    Bishop Juan Odilon Martinez Garcia of Atlacomulco;   
    Bishop Francisco Javier Chavolla Ramos of Toluca;   
    Archbishop Rogelio Cabrera Lopez of Monterrey, with his auxiliary, Bishop   
   Jorge Alberto Cavazos Arizpe;   
    Bishop Antonio Gonzalez Sanchez of Ciudad Victoria;   
    Bishop Ramon Calderon Batres of Linares;   
    Bishop Ruy Rendon Leal of Matamoros;   
    Bishop Gustavo Rodriguez Vega of Nuevo Laredo;   
    Bishop Alondo Gerardo Garza Trevino of Piedras Negras;   
    Bishop Jose Raul Vera Lopez of Saltillo, O.P.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
    Vatican City, 15 May 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:   
    - appointed Fr. Gabriel Angel Villa Vahos as bishop of Ocana (area 18,000,   
   population 627,000, Catholics 427,000, priests 72, permanent deacons 4,   
   religious 66), Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in Sopetran, Colombia in   
   1962 and was ordained a priest in 1989. He holds a licentiate in dogmatic   
   theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has served in a   
   number of pastoral roles, including: priest of the parish of "Nuestra Senora   
   de la Merced" in Yarumal, rector of the "Santo Tomas de Aquino" diocesan major   
   seminary, director of the department for ministers of the Episcopal Conference   
   of Colombia, vice rector of the "Fundacion Universitaria Catolica del Norte",   
   and diocesan administrator of Santa Rosa de Osos. He is currently director of   
   the the department for vocations and ministers of the Latin American Episcopal   
   Conference (CELAM). He succeeds Bishop Jorge Enrique Lozano Zafra, whose   
   resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon reaching the age   
   limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - appointed Bishop Enrique Diaz Diaz as coadjutor bishop of San Cristobal de   
   Las Casas (area 36,821, population 1,734,000, Catholics 1,325,000, priests   
   105, permanent deacons 320, religious 252), Mexico. Bishop Diaz Diaz was   
   previously auxiliary of the same diocese.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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