VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 163   
   DATE 24-09-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - Pope Francis' general audience: Albania, example of resurgence of the Church   
   - The Pope calls for prayer for African countries in Ebola epidemic   
   - Pope Francis to the bishops of Ghana: the importance of the healthcare   
   apostolate   
   - Vatican City State legal authorities order house arrest for ex-nuncio Jozef   
   Wesolowski   
   - The Holy See: committed to working against climate change   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope Francis' general audience: Albania, example of resurgence of the Church   
    Vatican City, 24 September 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis devoted today's general   
   audience to recounting last Sunday's trip to Albania. The Holy Father   
   confirmed that it was important to encourage this population on the path to   
   the peaceful co-existence of the different religious components of society.   
   "Indeed, the various religious expressions have in common a path of life and   
   the will to do good to one's neighbour, without denying or diminishing their   
   respective identities".   
    Francis recalled his meeting with priests, consecrated persons, seminarians   
   and lay movements, as well as a number of elderly people who had experienced,   
   "in their own flesh, terrible persecutions". "It is precisely from the   
   intimate union with Jesus, from the relationship of love with Him, that these   
   martyrs, like all martyrs, found the strength to face the painful events that   
   led them to martyrdom ... and it is the strength the Church finds in Christ's   
   love. A strength that supports us in moments of difficulty and inspires our   
   apostolic action today, to offer goodness and forgiveness to all, and thereby   
   bearing witness to God's mercy".   
    The Pontiff also mentioned the forty priests executed during the communist   
   dictatorship, for whom the cause for beatification is under way. "They take   
   their place among the hundreds of Christians - and Muslims - assassinated,   
   tortured, incarcerated and deported simply because they believed in God. These   
   were dark years, during which religious freedom was razed to the ground and it   
   was forbidden to believe in God; thousands of churches and mosques were   
   destroyed, transformed into warehouses and cinemas for the propagation of   
   Marxist ideology, religious books were burnt, and parents were forbidden from   
   giving their children the religious names of their ancestors. ... Their blood   
   was not shed in vain; it was the seed that will bear the fruit of peace and   
   fraternal collaboration. Today Albania offers an example not only of the   
   rebirth of the Church, but also of peaceful co-existence between religions".   
    The Pope concluded by thanking the Lord for the trip, "which enabled me to   
   meet a courageous and strong population that has not given way to suffering".   
   He encouraged the brothers and sisters of Albania to "be brave and good, to   
   build the present and the future of their country and of Europe ... and may   
   the Virgin continue to guide the path of this population of martyrs".   
      
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    The Pope calls for prayer for African countries in Ebola epidemic   
    Vatican City, 24 September 2014 (VIS) - At the end of today's general   
   audience, the Holy Father greeted the faithful in various languages, as usual.   
   Before the greetings in Italian, he launched an appeal for the countries in   
   Africa that suffer as a result of the Ebola epidemic. Pope Francis assured his   
   closeness to the many people affected by this virus and invited the faithful   
   to pray for them and for those who have tragically lost their lives. "I hope   
   that there will be no shortage of necessary help from the international   
   community to alleviate the suffering of our brothers and sisters".   
      
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    Pope Francis to the bishops of Ghana: the importance of the healthcare   
   apostolate   
    Vatican City, 24 September 2014 (VIS) - The tragedy of the Ebola outbreak and   
   the healthcare apostolate, the need for testimony of integrity in the face of   
   corruption, and ecumenical cooperation were the main themes of the written   
   discourse the Holy Father handed to the bishops of the Ghana Bishops'   
   Conference yesterday afternoon, at the end of their five-yearly "ad Limina"   
   visit.   
    In the document, the Pope comments that "The 2009 Synod on Africa noted as a   
   principal concern the need for the Church's pastors to 'inspire in Christ's   
   disciples in Africa the will to become effectively committed to living out the   
   Gospel in their daily lives and in society ... and to obery Christ who calls   
   constantly for metanoia, for conversion'".   
    In this regard, he notes that "The work of conversion and evangelisation is   
   not easy, but it bears precious fruit for the Church and the world. Out of the   
   spiritual vitality of all the faithful come the Church's numerous charitable,   
   medical and educational endeavours, and her works of justice and equality. The   
   varied services, carried out in God's name, especially for the poor and weak,   
   are the responsibility of the entire local Church, under the prayerful   
   oversight of the bishop. I think in a particular way about the importance of   
   the Church's healthcare apostolate, not only in Ghana, but throughout western   
   Africa, which is suffering at this time from the outbreak of Ebola. I pray for   
   the repose of the souls of all who have died in this epidemic, among whom are   
   priests, men and women religious and healthcare workers who contracted this   
   terrible disease while caring for those suffering. May God strengthen all   
   healthcare workers there and bring an end to this tragedy".   
    He continues, "The Church in Ghana is justly respected for the contribution   
   she makes to the integral development of individuals and the entire nation. At   
   the same time, she often finds herself lacking in the material resources   
   necessary to fulfil her mission in the world. In this regard, I would offer   
   you two thoughts. First, it is imperative that whatever temporal means the   
   Church has at her disposal continue to be administered with honesty and   
   responsibility, in order to provide good witness, especially where corruption   
   has hindered the just advancement of society. ... Second, material poverty can   
   be an occasion to draw greater attention to the spiritual needs of the human   
   person, thus leading to a deeper reliance on the Lord, from whom all good   
   things come. While your communities rightly make many efforts to alleviate   
   extremes of poverty, so too the Church is called, in imitation of Christ, to   
   work with humility and honesty, using the goods at her disposal to open minds   
   and hearts to the riches of mercy and grace flowing from the heart of Christ".   
    Finally, the Pope advises the bishops, "Be close to other Christian leaders   
   and the heads of other religious communities. Ecumenical and interreligious   
   cooperation, when carried out with respect and an open heart, contribute to   
   the social harmony of your country, and enable growth in understanding of the   
   dignity of each person and a greater experience of our common humanity.   
   Thankfully, Ghana has been spared many of the tribal, ethnic and religious   
   divisions that have afflicted too many other parts of Africa, a continent   
   whose promise, in part due to these divisions, has yet to be fulfilled. I pray   
   that you will be ever greater promoters of unity and leaders in the service of   
   dialogue. May you be firm in upholding the Church's teaching and discipline,   
   and unyielding in your charity. And may your generosity in offering Christ be   
   matched only by your humble and patient openness to others".   
      
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    Vatican City State legal authorities order house arrest for ex-nuncio Jozef   
   Wesolowski   
    Vatican City, 24 September 2014 (VIS) - The director of the Holy See Press   
   Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., gave the following declaration yesterday   
   afternoon:   
    "Today the promoter of Justice of the Vatican City State Court of First   
   Instance summoned the ex-nuncio Jozef Wesolowski, in relation to whom a   
   criminal investigation has been initiated. The former prelate - previously   
   convicted in the first instance by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the   
   Faith and reduced to lay status following a canonical penal administrative   
   trial - has been informed of the indictment of the proceedings against him for   
   serious acts of abuse against minors carried out in the Dominican Republic.   
   The seriousness of the allegations has prompted the investigating office to   
   impose restrictive measures that, in view of the state of health of the   
   accused, attested to by medical documentation, consists of house arrest with   
   its related limitations, in a location within Vatican City State.   
    "The initiative taken by the Vatican legal authorities is consistent with the   
   wish expressed by the Pope that such a serious and delicate case be addressed   
   without delay, with the just and necessary rigour, with the full assumption of   
   responsibility on the part of the institutions governed by the Holy See".   
      
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    The Holy See: committed to working against climate change   
    Vatican City, 24 September 2014 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro   
   Parolin spoke at the Climate Summit held in New York, U.S.A. yesterday   
   afternoon. Faced with the great risks and socio-economic costs of inertia in   
   relation to this problem, he remarked, "prudence must prevail, which requires   
   thoughtful deliberations based on an accurate analysis of the impact our   
   actions will have on the future. This requires a great political and economic   
   commitment on the part of the international community, to which the Holy See   
   wishes to make its own contribution, being aware that 'the gift of knowledge   
   helps us not to fall into attitudes of excess or error'".   
    The cardinal went on to emphasise the responsibility of States "to protect   
   the world climate by means of mitigation and adaptation measures, as well as   
   by sharing technologies and 'know-how'. But above all they have a shared   
   responsibility to protect our planet and the human family, ensuring present   
   and future generations have the possibility of living in a safe and worthy   
   environment". He also mentioned the efforts made by Vatican City State to   
   reduce the consumption of fossil fuels through diversification and energy   
   efficiency projects, but added that "talking about emission reductions is   
   useless if we are not ready to change our lifestyle and the current dominant   
   models of consumption and production". The Holy See, he concluded, "commits   
   itself to this end, so that in this work the international community may be   
   guided by the ethical imperative to act, inspired by the principles of   
   solidarity and the promotion of the common good, in the knowledge that 'the   
   dignity of each human person and the pursuit of the common good are concerns   
   which ought to shape all economic policies'".   
      
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    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 24 September 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, 23 September,   
   the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor,   
   archbishop emeritus of Westminster, Great Britain.   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 24 September 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Bishop Fernando Bascope Muller, S.D.B., auxiliary of the diocese of El   
   Alto, as military ordinary for Bolivia (priests 36, permanent deacons 4,   
   religious 28).   
    - Bishop Oscar Omar Aparicio Cespedes, as metropolitan archbishop of   
   Cochabamba (area 32,306, population 1,732,000, Catholics 1,593,000, priests   
   316, permanent deacons 32, religious 1,267), Bolivia, transferring him from   
   the office of military ordinary of Bolivia.   
    - Bishop Jose Ronaldo Ribeiro of Janauba, Brazil, as bishop of Formosa (area   
   47,604, population 346,760, Catholics 257,000, priests 35, religious 47),   
   Brazil.   
      
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