VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 162   
   DATE 23-09-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - Pope Francis' message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees: "A Church   
   without frontiers, mother to all"   
   - The challenge of migration: indifference must not prevail   
   - Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Cardinal Muller meets the   
   superior general of the Society of St. Pius X   
   - International Theological Commission at the end of its eighth term:   
   appointments and new website   
   - The Holy See at the 58th Conference of the IAEA: nuclear disarmament is a   
   realistic objective   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope Francis' message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees: "A Church   
   without frontiers, mother to all"   
    Vatican City, 23 September 2014 (VIS) - The full text of the Holy Father's   
   Message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2015 is published below:   
    "Dear brothers and sisters,   
    Jesus is 'the evangeliser par excellence and the Gospel in person'. His   
   solicitude, particularly for the most vulnerable and marginalised, invites all   
   of us to care for the frailest and to recognise his suffering countenance,   
   especially in the victims of new forms of poverty and slavery. The Lord says:   
   'I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was   
   a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and   
   you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me'. The mission of the   
   Church, herself a pilgrim in the world and the Mother of all, is thus to love   
   Jesus Christ, to adore and love him, particularly in the poorest and most   
   abandoned; among these are certainly migrants and refugees, who are trying to   
   escape difficult living conditions and dangers of every kind. For this reason,   
   the theme for this year's World Day of Migrants and Refugees is: Church   
   without frontiers, Mother to all.   
    "The Church opens her arms to welcome all people, without distinction or   
   limits, in order to proclaim that 'God is love'. After his death and   
   resurrection, Jesus entrusted to the disciples the mission of being his   
   witnesses and proclaiming the Gospel of joy and mercy. On the day of   
   Pentecost, the disciples left the Upper Room with courage and enthusiasm; the   
   strength of the Holy Spirit overcame their doubts and uncertainties and   
   enabled all to understand the disciples' preaching in their own language. From   
   the beginning, the Church has been a mother with a heart open to the whole   
   world, and has been without borders. This mission has continued for two   
   thousand years. But even in the first centuries, the missionary proclamation   
   spoke of the universal motherhood of the Church, which was then developed in   
   the writings of the Fathers and taken up by the Second Vatican Council. The   
   Council Fathers spoke of Ecclesia Mater to explain the Church's nature. She   
   begets sons and daughters and 'takes them in and embraces them with her love   
   and in her heart'.   
    "The Church without frontiers, Mother to all, spreads throughout the world a   
   culture of acceptance and solidarity, in which no one is seen as useless, out   
   of place or disposable. When living out this motherhood effectively, the   
   Christian community nourishes, guides and indicates the way, accompanying all   
   with patience, and drawing close to them through prayer and works of mercy.   
    "Today this takes on a particular significance. In fact, in an age of such   
   vast movements of migration, large numbers of people are leaving their   
   homelands, with a suitcase full of fears and desires, to undertake a hopeful   
   and dangerous trip in search of more humane living conditions. Often, however,   
   such migration gives rise to suspicion and hostility, even in ecclesial   
   communities,prior to any knowledge of the migrants' lives or their stories of   
   persecution and destitution. In such cases, suspicion and prejudice conflict   
   with the biblical commandment of welcoming with respect and solidarity the   
   stranger in need.   
    On the other hand, we sense in our conscience the call to touch human misery,   
   and to put into practice the commandment of love that Jesus left us when he   
   identified himself with the stranger, with the one who suffers, with all the   
   innocent victims of violence and exploitation. Because of the weakness of our   
   nature, however, 'we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the   
   Lord's wounds at arm's length'.   
    "The courage born of faith, hope and love enables us to reduce the distances   
   that separate us from human misery. Jesus Christ is always waiting to be   
   recognised in migrants and refugees, in displaced persons and in exiles, and   
   through them he calls us to share our resources, and occasionally to give up   
   something of our acquired riches. Pope Paul VI spoke of this when he said that   
   'the more fortunate should renounce some of their rights so as to place their   
   goods more generously at the service of others'.   
    "The multicultural character of society today, for that matter, encourages   
   the Church to take on new commitments of solidarity, communion and   
   evangelisation. Migration movements, in fact, call us to deepen and strengthen   
   the values needed to guarantee peaceful coexistence between persons and   
   cultures. Achieving mere tolerance that respects diversity and ways of sharing   
   between different backgrounds and cultures is not sufficient. This is   
   precisely where the Church contributes to overcoming frontiers and encouraging   
   the 'moving away from attitudes of defensiveness and fear, indifference and   
   marginalisation ... towards attitudes based on a culture of encounter, the   
   only culture capable of building a better, more just and fraternal world'.   
    "Migration movements, however,are on such a scale that only a systematic and   
   active cooperation between States and international organisations can be   
   capable of regulating and managing such movements effectively. For migration   
   affects everyone, not only because of the extent of the phenomenon, but also   
   because of 'the social, economic, political, cultural and religious problems   
   it raises, and the dramatic challenges it poses to nations and the   
   international community'.   
    "At the international level, frequent debates take place regarding the   
   appropriateness, methods and required norms to deal with the phenomenon of   
   migration. There are agencies and organizations on the international, national   
   and local level which work strenuously to serve those seeking a better life   
   through migration. Notwithstanding their generous and laudable efforts, a more   
   decisive and constructive action is required, one which relies on a universal   
   network of cooperation, based on safeguarding the dignity and centrality of   
   every human person. This will lead to greater effectiveness in the fight   
   against the shameful and criminal trafficking of human beings, the violation   
   of fundamental rights, and all forms of violence, oppression and enslavement.   
   Working together, however, requires reciprocity,joint-action, openness and   
   trust, in the knowledge that 'no country can singlehandedly face the   
   difficulties associated with this phenomenon, which is now so widespread that   
   it affects every continent in the twofold movement of immigration and   
   emigration'.   
    "It is necessary to respond to the globalisation of migration with the   
   globalisation of charity and cooperation, in such a way as to make the   
   conditions of migrants more humane. At the same time, greater efforts are   
   needed to guarantee the easing of conditions, often brought about by war or   
   famine,which compel whole peoples to leave their native countries.   
    "Solidarity with migrants and refugees must be accompanied by the courage and   
   creativity necessary to develop, on a world-wide level, a more just and   
   equitable financial and economic order, as well as an increasing commitment to   
   peace, the indispensable condition for all authentic progress.   
    "Dear migrants and refugees! You have a special place in the heart of the   
   Church, and you help her to enlarge her heart and to manifest her motherhood   
   towards the entire human family. Do not lose your faith and hope! Let us think   
   of the Holy Family during the flight in Egypt: Just as the maternal heart of   
   the Blessed Virgin and the kind heart of Saint Joseph kept alive the   
   confidence that God would never abandon them, so in you may the same hope in   
   the Lord never be wanting. I entrust you to their protection and I cordially   
   impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The challenge of migration: indifference must not prevail   
    Vatican City, 23 September 2014 (VIS) - A press conference was held in the   
   Holy See Press Office this morning, in which Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio,   
   president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and   
   Itinerant Peoples, along with Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil, secretary of   
   the same dicastery, presented the Holy Father's message for World Day of   
   Migrants and Refugees, which will be held on Sunday 18 January 2015 on the   
   theme, "A Church without frontiers, Mother to all".   
    Cardinal Veglio explained that the Message is dated 3 September, the date of   
   the centenary of the election of Pope Benedict XV, and highlighted the   
   importance Pope Francis has attached to establishing an annual day for   
   increasing awareness of the phenomenon of migration. He also emphasised that   
   the Church has faced ever new and challenging situations during her millennial   
   history, and that migration poses fresh challenges not only on account of its   
   magnitude but also for the various social, economic, political, cultural and   
   religious problems it gives rise to.   
    "The biblical commandment to love one's neighbour, to open the door to him as   
   though welcoming God, may come into conflict with certain problematic   
   situations, for instance when immigrants are linked to irregular or delinquent   
   behaviour". Cardinal Veglio posed the question, "How should the Church   
   respond?", when faced with such a complex situation, and went on to outline   
   the three recommendations offered by the Pope. These are: the renouncement of   
   oneself, collaboration between the different entities and institutions that   
   work for immigrants, and the humanisation of conditions for immigrants,   
   intensifying efforts to promote a gradual reduction in the root causes of   
   immigration, that cause entire peoples to abandon their homelands.   
    Archbishop Kalathiparambil went on to consider the theme of multiculturalism   
   in contemporary society, which is in constant evolution. He raised key issues   
   related to forced immigration, explaining that this takes the form of fleeing   
   for salvation, often involving dangerous or life-threatening journeys which   
   may nonetheless offer the only option for reaching a country where protection   
   and the possibility of a dignified life can be found. The prelate highlighted   
   that since many people in these conditions cannot meet the stringent   
   requirements for international travel as they often do not possess, and have   
   no means of obtaining valid documents, they become "vulnerable and   
   defenceless, in search of protection, and easy prey to smugglers and   
   traffickers".   
    He remarked that "to respond effectively to the recognition of the need for   
   protection, to restore human dignity to refugees and treat the causes of   
   forced mobility", States are required to cooperate in a spirit of   
   international solidarity, and added that the Church must make efforts to   
   ensure that "the dignity and the centrality of the human person is protected,   
   promoting solidarity and dialogue between peoples". He concluded by   
   emphasising that today's challenge is to resist becoming "used to the human   
   tragedy experienced by forcibly displaced persons, and not to allow   
   indifference, 'the weakness of our human nature', to prevail or to give rise   
   to the temptation to be Christians who keep a safe distance from the wounds of   
   the Lord".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Cardinal Muller meets the   
   superior general of the Society of St. Pius X   
    Vatican City, 23 September 2014 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office has issued   
   a statement to confirm that this morning from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a cordial   
   meeting took place at the premises of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the   
   Faith between Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for   
   the Doctrine of the Faith, and Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the   
   Society of St. Pius X. The meeting was also attended by Archbishop Luis   
   Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., secretary of the same Congregation, Archbishop Joseph   
   Augustine Di Noia, O.P., adjunct secretary and Archbishop Guido Pozzo,   
   secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, along with two assistants   
   from the Society of St. Pius X, Rev. Niklaus Pfluger and Rev. Alain-Marc Nély.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)