VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 111   
   DATE 17-06-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - THE CHURCH IS REJUVENATED BY MOTHERHOOD   
   - THE POPE TO MAGISTRATES: BE AN EXAMPLE OF MORAL INTEGRITY FOR SOCIETY   
   - ANNE-MARIE PELLETIER FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE RATZINGER PRIZE   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    THE CHURCH IS REJUVENATED BY MOTHERHOOD   
    Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) - At 7 p.m. yesterday in the Paul VI Hall   
   the Holy Father met with the representatives of the diocese of Rome, gathered   
   to participate in the Diocesan Pastoral Congress on the theme "A people who   
   raise children. Community and family in the major stages of Christian   
   initiation". During his address, Pope Francis spoke on the issue of the   
   "society of orphans": of parents who do not spend enough time playing with   
   their children because of their long working hours, and because of their   
   fatigue when they arrive home that leads the young to be deprived of time   
   spent freely with their parents. He emphasised that nowadays we need this   
   sense of gratuity within the family, in parishes, in society as a whole, and   
   that the Lord is revealed to us in gratuity, or rather as Grace: "But if we do   
   not have a sense of gratuity within the family, at school, in the parish, it   
   will be very difficult to understand what the grace of God is: that grace that   
   cannot be bought or sold, that is a gift from God, and is indeed God Himself".   
   He also commented on other social aspects that contribute to the "orphanhood"   
   of the young: "a technological society that multiplies to infinity the   
   opportunities for pleasure, distraction and curiosity, but is not able to lead   
   man to true joy", and added that only by encountering Jesus can be encounter   
   true joy and understand that we do not lead our lives in vain, as a task has   
   been conferred to each one of us".   
    The Holy Father went on to describe the Church as a mother who knows how to   
   raise her children. "The great challenge faced by the Church is that of being   
   a mother", he said, "not a well-organised NGO full of pastoral plans. ... The   
   Church needs to rediscover her maternity. She must be a mother; maternity is   
   the grace that we must now ask of the Holy Spirit in order to go ahead in our   
   pastoral and missionary conversion. However, the Church grows not by   
   proselytism but by maternal attraction, through tenderness, through the   
   testimony of her many children". The Pope remarked that the Mother Church has   
   aged somewhat, to the risk of becoming "Grandmother Church", and that she must   
   therefore be rejuvenated, "but not by taking her to a cosmetic surgeon, no!   
   The Church becomes younger when she is able to generate more sons; the more   
   children she has, the younger she becomes". The Pontiff added that this means   
   recovering the memory of the Church. In a world in which there exists little   
   sense of history and fear of time, a world in which the present reigns   
   supreme, in which language is increasingly abbreviated and everything becomes   
   rapid, making us slaves to our situation, we must recover the memory of God's   
   patience. "God is not hasty during our history of salvation, and has   
   accompanied us throughout history". The Pope therefore urged the priests and   
   clergy present not to close the doors of their churches, but rather to welcome   
   all with an open heart, as a family, asking the Lord to make them able to   
   participate in their difficulties and in the problems that children and the   
   young frequently encounter in their lives.   
    "People hope to find Jesus' gaze in us, often without realising it; they seek   
   a serene and joyful gaze that enters the heart. But the whole parish must   
   transform into a welcoming place, not only the priests and catechists". The   
   Pope encouraged those present to ask themselves whether their parishes were   
   truly welcoming, whether their celebrations were scheduled to favour the   
   participation of the young, if they spoke the language of youth and if their   
   communities kept their doors open.   
    Before concluding, the Pope acknowledged that the work carried out by priests   
   is not easy. "It is easier to be a bishop", he affirmed, "because we can   
   always maintain a distance and hide ourselves behind the title of 'Your   
   excellency', and defend ourselves in this way. But being a priest, when the   
   parishioners knock on the door, when they talk to you about their problems ...   
   it is not easy". He commented that the Church in Italy is strong because of   
   her priests, and urged them not to forget the memory of evangelisation and   
   always to stay close to the faithful. "We want a Church of faith, who believes   
   that the Lord is able to make her a mother, to give her many children; our   
   Holy Mother Church".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    THE POPE TO MAGISTRATES: BE AN EXAMPLE OF MORAL INTEGRITY FOR SOCIETY   
    Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) - This morning Pope Francis received in   
   audience the members of the High Council for the Italian Magistrature, to whom   
   he expressed his esteem for their work which "aims at the good functioning of   
   a sector that is vital for social coexistence". He also apologised for not   
   having received them yesterday as scheduled, explaining that "in the   
   mid-morning I felt unwell and had a fever, so I had to cancel all my   
   appointments. I am sorry for this".   
    The ethical aspect of the work of magistrates was the first point in his   
   brief address, and highlighted that as in all countries, there are legal norms   
   intended to protect their freedom and independence to carry out their   
   important and delicate task with all the necessary guarantees ... responding   
   adequately to the role that society has conferred upon them and maintaining an   
   irrefutable impartiality".   
    The independence of the magistrate and his aim, justice, "require a careful   
   and punctual application of the law", he continued. "The certainty of the law   
   and the balance of the various powers in a democratic society are summarised   
   in the principle of legality, over which the magistrate presides. The judge is   
   responsible for decisions that affect not only the rights and property of   
   citizens, but which have consequences for their very existence".   
    The Pope listed some of the intellectual, psychological and moral qualities   
   that all representatives of the magistrature must possess, and which offer a   
   guarantee of reliability, giving special emphasis to prudence, which "is not a   
   virtue because it means staying put: 'I'm careful, I don't move', no! It is a   
   virtue of governance, a virtue for moving ahead", a virtue that enables one   
   "to weigh with serenity the reason of law and fact that must be at the base of   
   any judgement. One is more prudent when one has a heightened inner   
   equilibrium, and is able to control the impulses of one's own character, one's   
   own personal views, one's own ideological standpoints".   
    "Italian society expects much of the magistrature", he remarked, "especially   
   in the current context characterised by the progressive erosion of our   
   heritage of values and the evolution of democratic structures". He urged the   
   magistrates not to let down the legitimate expectations of the people, and   
   always to make efforts to be "an example of moral integrity for all of   
   society".   
    Finally, he recalled some illustrious magistrates, such as Vittorio Bachelet,   
   who led the High Council of the Magistrature through times of great   
   difficulty, and who fell victim to terrorism during the "years of lead", the   
   period of social and political unrest in Italy between the 1960s and 1980s,   
   and Rosario Livatino, killed by the Mafia, whose cause for beatification has   
   been opened. "They offered exemplary witness to the style typical of the   
   faithful lay Christian: loyal to institutions, open to dialogue, and firm and   
   courageous in their defence of justice and the dignity of the human person".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    ANNE-MARIE PELLETIER FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE RATZINGER PRIZE   
    Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) - This morning a press conference was held   
   in the Holy See Press Office to present two events organised by the "Vatican   
   Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI": the 2014 Ratzinger Prize, which   
   will be awarded on 22 November, and the congress to be held in the Pontifical   
   Bolivarian University of Medellin in Colombia (23-24 October 2014).   
    The speakers at the conference were Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of the   
   Scientific Committee of the "Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict   
   XVI", Msgr. Giuseppe Scotti, president of the Foundation, and German Cardona   
   Gutierrez, Colombia's ambassador to the Holy See. Cardinal Ruini announced the   
   names of the prizewinners: the French Professor Anne-Marie Pelletier and   
   Professor Waldemar Chrostowski. Professor Pelletier is the first woman ever to   
   win the Prize, and is a scholar of hermeneutics and biblical exegesis who has   
   also focused on the issue of women in Christianity; Professor Chrostowski, the   
   first ever Polish prizewinner, is a priest, biblicist and expert on   
   Catholic-Jewish dialogue.   
    Anne-Marie Pelletier, born in 1946, taught general linguistics and   
   comparative literature at the University of Paris X, then Marne-la-Vallee, as   
   well as theology of marriage at the Catholic Institute of Paris. She has for   
   some years taught sacred scriptures and biblical hermeneutics at the Notre   
   Dame faculty of the seminary of Paris. Since 2013 she has held the role of   
   professor of biblical teaching at the European Institute of Science of   
   Religions (IESR). Her research extends to Judaism and Christianity at the   
   College des Bernardins, and the monastic world. She has published widely:   
   notable works in the field of hermeneutics and biblical exegesis are "Lectures   
   du Cantique des Cantiques. De l'enigme du sens aux figures du lecteur",   
   "Lectures bibliques. Aux sources de la culture occidentale", "D'age en age les   
   Ecritures. La Bible et l'hermeneutique contemporaine", and "Le livre d'Isaie,   
   l'histoire au prisme de la prophetie". With regard to the question of women in   
   Christianity, she has written two books: "Le christianisme et les femmes.   
   Vingt siecles d'histoire", and "Le signe de la femme".   
    "Pelletier is therefore a most distinguished figure in contemporary French   
   Catholicism", commented Cardinal Ruini, "who unites deserved scientific   
   prestige and a great and versatile cultural liveliness with an authentic   
   dedication to causes of the highest importance for Christian witness in   
   society".   
    Msgr. Waldemar Chrostowski was born in 1951 in Chrostowo, Poland. He holds a   
   doctorate in theology and in 2013 received the title of university professor   
   from the President of Poland. He is the general editor of the journal   
   "Collectanea Theologica" and is the president of the Association of Polish   
   Biblicists. His scientific and didactic production is extensive and includes   
   his dissertation "Prophets before history. The interpretation of the story of   
   Israel in Ezekiel 16, 20 and 23 and their reinterpretation in the Bible of the   
   Seventies", the two volumes of "The Garden of Eden - known testimony of the   
   Assyrian diaspora" and "Assyrian diaspora of the Israelites", "God, Bible,   
   Messiah", and "The Church, Jews, Poland". He teaches in the faculty of   
   theology of the Warsaw Academy, now Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, and   
   in various other universities and seminaries.   
    "Msgr. Chrostowski is engaged in Catholic-Jewish and Polish-Jewish dialogue   
   and has for some time been a member of the commission of the Polish episcopate   
   for dialogue with Judaism. He unites scientific rigour with passion for the   
   Word of God, service to the Church and engagement in interreligious dialogue",   
   concluded Cardinal Ruini.   
    Msgr. Giuseppe Antonio Scotti went on to present the convention "Respect for   
   life, path for peace", which will take place from 23 to 24 October in the   
   Bolivarian University of Medellin, Colombia. The congress is the fourth since   
   the institution in 2010 of the "Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger -   
   Benedict XVI" and, like the previous ones, will count on the participation of   
   the universities in the host country, along with the local Church and   
   representatives of civil society and politics. Since the first encounter,   
   organinsed in Bygdoszcz, Poland, 275 universities have taken part, involving   
   1600 teachers and students who have carried out projects of reflection and   
   research related to the theme.   
    "The appointment in Medellin this October ... once more emphasises that   
   universities - the young people and people who study, think and seek there -   
   can and wish to take an active and committed role in the construction of a   
   fully human future, aware that our times, marked by globalisation, with its   
   positive and negative aspects, as well as bloody conflicts and threats of war,   
   necessitate renewed and concerted commitment to seeking the common good, and   
   the development of the whole of humanity and the whole human person".   
      
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