VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 140   
   DATE 28-07-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - POPE FRANCIS' PRIVATE VISIT TO THE EVANGELICAL PASTOR GIOVANNI TRAETTINO IN   
   CASERTA   
   - TELEGRAM FOR THE DEATH OF CARDINAL MARCHISANO   
   - ANGELUS: THE NEED TO READ THE GOSPEL   
   - POPE FRANCIS' NEW APPEAL FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, IRAQ AND UKRAINE   
   - THE POPE WITH THE PRIESTS OF CASERTA   
   - THE PRIMACY OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE COURAGE TO SAY NO TO EVIL   
   - COMMUNIQUE FROM THE FAMILY OF FR. PAOLO DELL'OGLIO, A YEAR AFTER HIS   
   DISAPPEARANCE IN SYRIA   
   - CHALDEANS IN IRAQ: PREPARE, LIKE ABRAHAM, TO LEAVE FOR THE LAND GOD WILL   
   SHOW TO YOU   
   - ON THE POPE'S POSSIBLE PARTICIPATION IN THE PHILADELPHIA MEETING OF FAMILIES   
   - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    POPE FRANCIS' PRIVATE VISIT TO THE EVANGELICAL PASTOR GIOVANNI TRAETTINO IN   
   CASERTA   
    Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father returned to   
   Caserta, following his pastoral visit on Saturday, 26 July, to meet privately   
   with the evangelical pastor Giovanni Traettino, a friend from his time as   
   archbishop of Buenos Aires.   
    The Pontiff arrived in Caserta by helicopter at 10.15 a.m. and, following a   
   private and reserved meeting at pastor Traettino's house, he met the community   
   of the Pentecostal evangelical Church at the premises, currently under   
   construction, of the Pentecostal Church of the Reconciliation. The Pope dined   
   with the community and is scheduled to return to the Vatican later this   
   afternoon.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    TELEGRAM FOR THE DEATH OF CARDINAL MARCHISANO   
    Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) - The Pope has sent a telegram of   
   condolences to Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin for the death in Rome   
   yesterday of Cardinal Francesco Marchisano, archpriest emeritus of St. Peter's   
   Basilica, at the age of 85.   
    "Having heard of the death of Cardinal Francesco Marchisano, an illustrious   
   son of this land", writes the Pope, "I wish to express my deepest condolences   
   to your excellency, to the presbytery and the friends of the lamented   
   Cardinal. I think with affection of this dear pastor who for many years   
   diligently collaborated with the Apostolic See, especially in the Congregation   
   for Catholic Education, as archpriest of the Vatican Basilica, and finally as   
   president of the Labour Office of the Apostolic See. He leaves us the witness   
   of a life spent in the generous fulfilment of his vocation, as a priest and a   
   bishop attentive to the needs of the faithful and sensitive to the worlds of   
   art and culture. I raise prayers for the eternal repose of his soul, that the   
   Lord may receive him in joy and eternal peace, and I offer to those who mourn   
   his passing the comfort of my apostolic blessing".   
    The funeral, presided by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of   
   Cardinals, will be held on Wednesday, 30 July at 8 a.m. at the altar of the   
   Cathedra of St. Peter's Basilica. At the end of the ceremony, the Holy Father   
   will administer the rites of "Ultima Commendatio" and of "Valedictio".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    ANGELUS: THE NEED TO READ THE GOSPEL   
    Vatican City, 27 July 2014 (VIS) - As on every Sunday, Pope Francis appeared   
   at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in   
   St. Peter's Square. The Pontiff, as in the Mass celebrated the day before in   
   Caserta, spoke about the two parables about the kingdom of Heaven: the jewel   
   merchant who finds a pearl of infinite value and sells everything he owns to   
   buy it, and the farmer who chances upon hidden treasure and sells all his land   
   to buy the field where it lies. Neither the merchant nor the farmer have any   
   doubt about their actions as they are aware of the incomparable value of what   
   they have found.   
    "It is the same with the kingdom of God", explained the bishop of Rome. "He   
   who finds it has no doubt, he knows that he has found what he sought and   
   awaited, and which answers his most authentic aspirations. It is truly like   
   this: those who know Jesus, who encounter Him personally, are fascinated,   
   attracted by such goodness, such truth, such beauty, and all this in great   
   humility and simplicity. Seeking and finding Jesus: this is the greatest   
   treasure of all!".   
    "How many people, how many saints, reading the Gospel with an open heart,   
   have been so struck by Jesus that they have converted to Him. Let us think of   
   St. Francis of Assisi; he was already a Christian, but lukewarm, a   
   "rose-water" Christian. When he read the Gospel, in a decisive moment during   
   his youth, he encountered Jesus and discovered the Kingdom of God, and from   
   then on all his dreams of earthly glory vanished. The Gospel lets you know the   
   true Jesus, it lets you know the living Jesus; it speaks to your heart and   
   changes your life. And from then on, he left everything. You can effectively   
   change the type of life you lead, or continue to do what you did before, but   
   you are different, you are born again: you have found that which gives   
   meaning, flavour and light to everything, even to hardship, suffering and   
   death".   
    The Pope went on to repeat the importance of reading a passage from the   
   Gospel every day; of keeping it in our pockets, our bags, always at hand, as   
   "everything makes sense when you find this treasure that Jesus called 'the   
   Kingdom of God': that is, God Who reigns in your life, in our lives. God is   
   love, peace and joy in every man and in all men. ... Reading the Gospel means   
   finding Jesus and receiving this Christian joy, which is a gift from the Holy   
   Spirit".   
    "The joy of encountering the treasure of the Kingdom of God becomes clear, it   
   can be seen", concluded the Pontiff. "The Christian cannot conceal his faith,   
   as it shines through in every word and every gesture, even the simplest   
   everyday ones. The love that God has given us through Jesus shines through.   
   Let us pray, by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that His Kingdom of love,   
   justice and peace may come to us and to all the world".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    POPE FRANCIS' NEW APPEAL FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, IRAQ AND UKRAINE   
    Vatican City, 27 July 2014 (VIS) - After today's Angelus prayer, the Holy   
   Father, remarking that tomorrow marks the centenary of the beginning of the   
   First World War, launched a new appeal for peace in the Middle East, Iraq and   
   Ukraine, and called for a cessation of hostilities.   
    "Tomorrow is the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the First World   
   War, which claimed millions of lives and caused immense destruction. This   
   conflict, defined by Pope Benedict XV as a 'senseless slaughter', persisted   
   for four long years and led to a more fragile peace. Tomorrow will be a day of   
   mourning in remembrance of this tragedy. While we remember this tragic event,   
   I hope that we will not repeat the errors of the past, but will instead pay   
   heed to the lessons of history, ensuring that the reason of peace always   
   prevails by means of patient and courageous dialogue".   
    "Today, my thoughts extend to three areas of crisis, in particular: the   
   Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine. I ask you to continue to join with me in prayer   
   that the Lord may grant the populations and authorities of these areas the   
   wisdom and strength necessary to proceed with determination along the path of   
   peace, facing every diatribe with the tenacity of dialogue and negotiation,   
   and the strength of reconciliation. May the common good and respect for every   
   person be at the centre of every decision, rather than particular interests.   
   Let us remember that all is lost with war, but nothing is lost with peace".   
    "Brothers and sisters: no more war! No more war! I think especially of the   
   children, who are deprived of the hope of a worthwhile life, of a future:   
   children killed, children injured, children mutilated, children orphaned,   
   children who have as toys the remnants of war, children who do not know how to   
   smile. Stop, please! I ask you with all my heart. The time has come to stop.   
   Stop, please!"   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    THE POPE WITH THE PRIESTS OF CASERTA   
    Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) - The Pope left the Vatican by helicopter at   
   3 p.m., arriving at the heliport of the NCO (Non-Commissioned Officers) School   
   of the Air Force of the Royal Palace of Caserta, where he was greeted by   
   Bishop Giovanni D'Alise of Caserta and other local authorities. He then   
   transferred by car to the Palatine Chapel where he was awaited by the diocesan   
   priests. He set aside his prepared discourse and began a very intimate   
   conversation with the priests, answering the four questions they presented to   
   him.   
    The Holy Father spoke about the example of unity that bishops must give, that   
   Jesus asked of His Father for the Church. "This cannot be done speaking badly   
   about each other. The unity of bishops is important to the unity of the   
   Church", he said, adding that the devil revels in and profits from internal   
   conflict. "The bishops must be in agreement in unity, but not in uniformity.   
   Each one has his charism, each one has his way of thinking and his point of   
   view; this is at times the result of mistakes, but it is often the result of   
   the Spirit ... a unity in diversity, in which no-one loses his own   
   personality".   
    The Pope was then asked for suggestions for a pastoral able to relaunch the   
   primacy of the Gospel without mortifying popular piety. He answered that "true   
   popular piety was born of that Sensus Fidei described in the Encyclical Lumen   
   Gentium and which is guided by devotion to the Saints, to the Virgin, and also   
   by folkloric expressions, in the positive sense of the word". He added, "the   
   agnosticism that has entered into the Church in groups of intimist piety" are   
   not good, but are instead a form of heresy. ... Popular piety is inculturated,   
   it cannot be produced in a laboratory, aseptic ... it is always born of life".   
    Another question focused on the identity of the priest in the third   
   millennium. "How can we overcome the existential crisis born of the   
   linguistic, semantic and cultural revolution in evangelical witness?". "With   
   creativity", replied the Pope. "It is the commandment that God gave to Adam   
   and Jesus to his disciples. And creativity is found in prayer. A bishop who   
   does not pray, a priest who does not pray, has closed the door to creativity".   
   The fourth question related to the foundations of spirituality for a priest.   
   Francis described the priest's dual capacity for contemplation: towards God   
   and towards man. "He is a man who looks, who fills his eyes and heart with   
   contemplation: with the Gospel before God, and with human problems when among   
   men. The priest must be contemplative in this way. But this must not be   
   confused with monastic life, which is something else".   
    The Pope emphasised that diocesan life must be at the centre of the   
   spirituality of the diocesan priest. "Maintaining a relationship with the   
   bishop and with the rest of the priests ... simple, but at the same time not   
   easy. The greatest enemy of these relationships is gossip. The devil knows   
   that this seed bears fruit, and he sows it well ... to impede that   
   evangelical, spiritual and fruitful relationship between the bishop and the   
   presbytery". He remarked that it was better to say things clearly and openly,   
   rather than give satisfaction to the devil who in this way "attacks the centre   
   of the spirituality of the diocesan clergy". The Holy Father concluded with   
   some comments on the bitterness of some priests and the image of an angry   
   Church. "One may anger at times; it is healthy to be angry at times. But the   
   state of rage is not God's, and leads only to sadness and disunity".   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)