VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 116   
   DATE 23-06-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - ANGELUS: THE LOVE OF GOD IS WITHOUT MEASURE   
   - CHRISTIANS AGAINST TORTURE   
   - THE POPE BEGINS HIS PASTORAL TRIP IN CALABRIA WITH DETAINEES IN   
   CASTROVILLARI PRISON   
   - TO THE PRIESTS: CHOOSE BROTHERHOOD   
   - MASS IN SIBARI: THOSE WHO TAKE THE PATH OF EVIL ARE EXCOMMUNICATED   
   - THE ROACO HOLDS ITS 87TH PLENARY ASSEMBLY   
   - CARDINAL TOMKO, POPE'S SPECIAL ENVOY IN UKRAINE   
   - THE ORIENTAL CHURCHES   
   - AUDIENCES   
   - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    ANGELUS: THE LOVE OF GOD IS WITHOUT MEASURE   
    Vatican City, 23 June 2014 (VIS) - At midday Pope Francis appeared at the   
   window of his study to pray the traditional Sunday Angelus with the faithful   
   gathered in St. Peter's Square. The Holy Father commented that today Italy and   
   many other countries celebrate the feast day of the Body and Blood of Christ,   
   "Corpus Domini" or "Corpus Christi", in which the ecclesial community gathers   
   around the Eucharist to adore the most precious gift that Jesus left to her.   
    In the Gospel of St. John we find the narrative on the "bread of life",   
   spoken by Jesus in the synagogue of Capernaum, in which He states: "I am the   
   living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he   
   will live forever and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of   
   the world". Pope Francis explained, "Jesus says that he has not come into this   
   world to give something, but to give himself, his life, as nourishment for   
   those who have faith in him. Our communion with the Lord commits us, his   
   disciples, to imitate him, making of our lives, with our attitudes, a bread   
   broken for others, just as the Master broke the bread that is truly His flesh".   
    "Whenever we participate in Holy Mass and are nourished by the body of   
   Christ, the presence of Jesus and the Holy Spirit works within us; it shapes   
   our hearts, it communicates inner attitudes that transform within us into   
   modes of behaviour in accordance with the Gospel. Firstly, docility to the   
   Word of God, then fraternity among Christians, the courage of Christian   
   witness, the creativity of charity, the ability to give hope to the   
   disheartened, and to welcome the excluded. In this way the Eucharist helps the   
   Christian lifestyle to mature in us. Christ's charity, received with an open   
   heart ... changes us, transforms us, makes us capable of loving not according   
   to a human measure, which is always limited, but according to God's measure,   
   and God's measure is without measure".   
    "And then we become able to love even those who do not love us", continued   
   the Pontiff, "and it is not easy. If we know that a person does not love us we   
   tend not to like that person. But no! We must love those who do not love us!   
   We must oppose evil with good, we must forgive, share, welcome others. Thanks   
   to Jesus and his Spirit, even our life becomes 'bread broken' for our   
   brothers. And, living in this way, we discover true joy! The joy of making   
   oneself a gift, to reciprocate the great gift that we have first received,   
   without any merit on our part.   
    Francis concluded his brief reflection by urging the faithful to recall two   
   things: first, that "the measure of God's love is to love without measure",   
   and that our life, "with Jesus' love, receiving the Eucharist, transforms our   
   life into a gift".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    CHRISTIANS AGAINST TORTURE   
    Vatican City, 23 June 2014 (VIS) - This coming June 26 will be the United   
   Nations' Day for Victims of Torture. Pope Francis took the opportunity to   
   reiterate his "strong condemnation of all forms of torture" and encouraged   
   Christians to make every effort to collaborate in its abolition and to support   
   the victims and their families. "Torturing people is a mortal sin, a very   
   grave sin".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    THE POPE BEGINS HIS PASTORAL TRIP IN CALABRIA WITH DETAINEES IN CASTROVILLARI   
   PRISON   
    Vatican City, 21 June 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis began his pastoral visit to   
   Cassano all'Jonio by meeting the detainees at the Castrovillari penitentiary.   
   He expressed the closeness of the Church to every man and woman in jail all   
   over the world, and reminded them of Jesus' words: "I was in prison and you   
   came to me".   
    The Pope arrived by Vatican helicopter at Castrovillari at 9 a.m., and walked   
   the short distance to the prison where he was received by the director, Fedele   
   Rizzo, and after listening to a short address one of the detainees on the   
   forecourt outside the prison, he gave the following discourse:   
    "When we talk about prisoners, we often underline the theme of respect for   
   the fundamental rights of man and the need for the conditions in which the   
   sentence is served to correspond. This aspect of prison policy is certainly   
   essential and a high level of attention must be maintained in this respect.   
   But this approach is not sufficient, if it is not accompanied and completed by   
   concrete commitment by institutions with a view to the effective reinsertion   
   within society. When this objective is neglected, the fulfilment of the   
   sentence is reduced to a mere instrument of punishment and social retaliation,   
   damaging to both the individual and to society. And God does not do this, with   
   us. God, when He forgives, accompanies us and helps us along the road. Always,   
   and even in small things. When we go to confess, the Lord says to us, 'I   
   forgive you. But now, come with me'. And He helps us to return to the path. He   
   never condemns. He never forgives alone; He forgives and accompanies. And   
   then, we are fragile and have to return to confession again, all of us. But He   
   never tires. He always takes us by the hand again. This is God's love, and we   
   must imitate Him! Society must imitate Him, and take this path".   
    "On the other hand, the true and full rehabilitation of the person does not   
   occur as the end point of a merely human progression. In this path there is   
   also the encounter with God, the capacity to allow ourselves to be looked upon   
   by God, Who loves us. It is more difficult to place ourselves before God's   
   gaze than to look at God. It is more difficult to let ourselves be met by God   
   than it is to meet God, because there is always resistance within us. And He   
   waits for us, He watches us, He always seeks us. This God, Who loves us, Who   
   is able to understand us, able to forgive our mistakes. The Lord is a master   
   of rehabilitation: He takes us by the hand and restores us to the social   
   community. The Lord always forgives, He always accompanies, He always   
   understands; we must let ourselves be understood, forgiven, and accompanied".   
    "I hope that for every one of you here, this time will not be wasted, but   
   that it can instead become valuable time during which you may ask for and   
   obtain this grace from God. In this way, first of all you will contribute to   
   improving yourselves, but at the same time also the community, as, for better   
   and worse, our actions influence others and the whole of the human family".   
    "I convey my affectionate greetings to your families; may the Lord grant you   
   the possibility to embrace them again in serenity and peace. Finally, I wish   
   to offer encouragement to all those who work in this house: the directors, the   
   police guards, and all other staff. I impart a heartfelt blessing to you all,   
   and entrust you to the protection of Our Lady, our Mother. And please, I ask   
   you to pray for me, because I to make my errors and must do penance. Thank   
   you".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    TO THE PRIESTS: CHOOSE BROTHERHOOD   
    Vatican City, 21 June 2014 (VIS) - After his encounter with the detainees at   
   Castrovillari, the Holy Father transferred by helicopter to Cassano all'Jonio   
   where he landed at around 11 a.m., and was welcomed by the local authorities   
   in the "Pietro Toscano" sports field. From there, he went on to the nearby   
   "San Giuseppe Moscati" centre for the elderly, where he spoke with residents.   
   Finally, in the cathedral, he met with the priests of the diocese and   
   delivered the text of his address based on two themes: the joy of the   
   priesthood and the beauty of brotherhood.   
    "I wish to share with you the ever-new surprise of having been called ... by   
   the Lord Jesus", he writes. "Called to follow Him, to stay with Him, to bring   
   Him to others. ... When we are before the Tabernacle ... Jesus' gaze renews   
   us. Effectively, it is not easy to stay there, before the Lord, as we are   
   always busy with so many things, with so many people ... but at times it is   
   not easy also because Jesus' gaze unsettles us ... and challenges us. But this   
   is good for us! In the silence of prayer, Jesus enables us to see whether we   
   are like good workers, or if we have become rather like 'functionaries'; if we   
   are open and generous channels through which His love and His grace flow, or   
   if instead we place ourselves at the centre, and in the place of channels we   
   become 'screens' which do not help in the encounter with the Lord, with the   
   light and strength of the Gospel".   
    The beauty of fraternity is that of "following the Lord ... not one by one,   
   but together, with our great variety of gifts and personalities; indeed, it is   
   precisely this that enriches the priesthood: this variety in terms of   
   provenance, age, and talents. ... It is all lived in communion, in   
   fraternity". He adds, "and this too is not easy, it is not immediate or to be   
   taken for granted. Firstly because we priests, too, are immersed in today's   
   subjectivist culture, this culture that exalts the 'I' to the point of   
   idolatry. And then also due to a certain pastoral individualism that is   
   unfortunately widespread in our dioceses. We must therefore react to this with   
   the choice of fraternity. I refer intentionally to 'choice'. It cannot simply   
   be something that is left to chance; ... no, it is a choice, that corresponds   
   ... to the gift that we have received but which must always be welcomed and   
   cultivated: communion in Christ I in the priesthood, around the bishop. This   
   communion needs to be experienced by seeking concrete forms suitable to the   
   times and the specific situation of the territory, but always with an   
   apostolic view, with a missionary style, with fraternity and simplicity of   
   life".   
    Pope Francis adds a third theme: that of staying with families and working   
   for them. "It is a task that the Lord asks of us especially in this time that   
   is difficult both for the family as an institution and for families affected   
   by the crisis. But it is precisely in difficult times that God makes us aware   
   of His vicinity, His grace and the prophetic strength of His Word. And we are   
   called upon to be witnesses and mediators of this vicinity to families and   
   this prophetic strength for the family", he concludes.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)