VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 202   
   DATE 17-11-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - International interreligious colloquium on complementarity, foundation of   
   marriage and the family   
   - To the bishops of Zambia: evangelise cultures to inculturate the Gospel   
   - Angelus: Jesus does not ask us to conserve talents in a safe   
   - Immigrants and citizens: do not yield to the temptation of confrontation   
   - Francis receives Catholic doctors: no life is qualitatively more significant   
   than another   
   - The Holy See at the United Nations: defending the civil population from   
   remnants of war   
   - Cardinal Gracias, Pope's special envoy at the 500th anniversary of the   
   evangelisation of Myanmar   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    International interreligious colloquium on complementarity, foundation of   
   marriage and the family   
    Vatican City, 17 November 2014 (VIS) - "Complementarity is a valuable word,   
   with multiple meanings. It may refer to different situations in which one   
   element completes another or compensates for a lack. However, complementarity   
   is much more than this", said the Pope this morning to the participants in the   
   international interreligious colloquium on complementarity between man and   
   woman, organised by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in   
   collaboration with the Pontifical Councils for the Family, for Interreligious   
   Dialogue, and for Promoting Christian Unity.   
    He continued, "This complementarity is the foundation of marriage and the   
   family, which is the first school where we learn to appreciate our gifts and   
   those of others, and where we begin to learn the art of living together. For   
   most of us, the family constitutes the principal environment in which we begin   
   to 'breathe' values and ideals, as well as to realise our potential for virtue   
   and charity. At the same time, as we know, families may be the locus of   
   tensions: between selfishness and altruism, reason and passion, between   
   immediate desires and long-term aims.   
    The Pontiff spoke about the crisis that currently affects marriage and the   
   family, and recalled that in the throwaway culture in which we live,   
   increasing numbers of people reject the public commitment of marriage. "This   
   revolution in habits and morality has often flown the flag of freedom, but in   
   reality it has led to spiritual and material devastation for countless human   
   beings, especially the most vulnerable. Evidence is mounting that the decline   
   of the culture of marriage is associated with an increase in poverty and a   
   series of other social ills that disproportionately affect women, children and   
   the elderly". Similarly, he explained that the crisis in the family has given   
   rise to a crisis in human ecology, "as social environments, like natural   
   environments, need to be protected", and he emphasised the need to promote a   
   "new human ecology".   
    It is important, he added, to promote the fundamental pillars that support a   
   nation: its immaterial goods. "The family remains the foundation of   
   coexistence and the guarantee against social fracture. Children have the right   
   to grow up in a family, with a father and a mother, able to create an   
   environment suitable for their development and their emotional maturation. ...   
   The young represent the future: it is important that they are not left to be   
   swept up by this damaging mentality of the temporary, and that they are   
   revolutionary for their courage to seek a strong and lasting love".   
    The Holy Father concluded by expressing his hope that this colloquium may be   
   "a source of inspiration for all those who seek to support and strengthen the   
   union between man and woman in marriage as a unique, natural, fundamental and   
   beautiful asset for people, families, communities and society", and confirmed   
   his intention to attend the next World Meeting of Families, to be held in   
   Philadelphia, U.S.A., in September 2015.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the bishops of Zambia: evangelise cultures to inculturate the Gospel   
    Vatican City, 17 November 2014 (VIS) - The fruits of the labour of   
   missionaries, attention to the family, guidance of the young, care for AIDS   
   sufferers and the need to collaborate with political leaders for the common   
   good are the central points of the written discourse that Pope Francis handed   
   to the bishops of the Zambia Episcopal Conference whom he received in audience   
   this morning at the end of their five-yearly "ad Limina" visit.   
    The Pope recalls the "rich deposit of faith" brought to Zambia by missionary   
   religious, remarking that "despite the sometimes painful meeting of ancient   
   ways with the new hope that Christ the Lord brings to all cultures, the word   
   of faith took deep root". The "plentiful spiritual harvest is evident in the   
   many Catholic-run clinics, hospitals and schools, and parishes throughout   
   Zambia, a wide diversity of lay ministries, and substantial numbers of   
   vocations to the priesthood in a society that has been transformed by   
   Christian values.   
    The great challenges that pastors face in this moment relate in particular to   
   the family, since, as the prelates affirmed in their meeting with the Pontiff,   
   "many, especially the poor in their struggle for survival, are led astray by   
   empty promises in false teachings that seem to offer quick relief in times of   
   desperation". Therefore, Francis urges the bishops, alongside their priests,   
   to form solid Christian families through catechesis, who "will know,   
   understand and love the truths of the faith more deeply", and "affirm Catholic   
   couples in their desire for fidelity in their conjugal life and in their   
   yearning to provide a stable spiritual home for their children". He also urged   
   them to be close to the young "as they seek to establish and articulate their   
   identity in a disorienting age". He adds, "Help them to find their purpose in   
   the challenge and joy of co-creation with God that is the vocation to married   
   life ... or in the vocations to the priesthood or religious life, which the   
   Church has been given for the salvation of souls".   
    "In a special way, invite those who have grown lukewarm and feel lost to   
   return to the full practice of the faith. As pastors of the flock, do not   
   forget to seek out the weakest members of Zambian society, among whom are the   
   materially poor and those afflicted with AIDS; for the great majority of the   
   poor have a special openness to the faith; they need God and we must not fail   
   to offer them His friendship, His blessing, His word, the celebration of the   
   Sacraments and a journey of growth and maturity in the faith".   
    "Never tire of being kind and firm fathers to your priests, helping them   
   resist materialism and the standards of the world, while recognising their   
   just needs. Continue also to promote the treasure of religious life in your   
   dioceses. ... In this challenging time after the death of President Sata, I   
   invite you to continue working with your political leaders for the common   
   good, deepening your prophetic witness in defence of the poor in order to   
   uplift the lives of the weak", concludes Francis, reminding the prelates that   
   "the Church's mission to evangelise never ends: 'it is imperative to   
   evangelise cultures in order to inculturate the Gospel... Each culture and   
   social group needs purification and growth'".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Angelus: Jesus does not ask us to conserve talents in a safe   
    Vatican City, 16 November 2014 (VIS) - At midday, Pope Francis appeared at   
   the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St.   
   Peter's Square. The Holy Father commented on this Sunday's Gospel reading, the   
   parable of the talents in which a man, before departing on a trip, entrusts to   
   three servants his wealth in talents, coins of great value, asking that they   
   make the fortune fruitful. The first two servants doubled the wealth, but the   
   third, for fear of losing his portion, hid it in a hole. Upon his return, the   
   master asks for the accounts and, while he rewards the first two, punishes the   
   third.   
    Francis explains that the master in the parable is Jesus, we are the   
   servants, and the talents are the patrimony that the Lord entrusts to us. "The   
   patrimony of His Word, the Eucharist, faith in the Heavenly Father, his   
   forgiveness ... in summary, many things, his most precious goods. Not just to   
   guard them, but to make them grow. While in common usage the term 'talent'   
   refers to a marked individual quality, such as talent in music, in sport, and   
   so on, in the parable the talents represent the gifts of the Lord. ... The   
   hole that the 'wicked and lazy' servant digs in the ground indicates the fear   
   of risk that obstructs creativity and the fruitfulness of love. ... Jesus does   
   not ask us to preserve his grace in a safe ... but instead wants us to put it   
   to the good of others. All the gifts that we have received are to be given to   
   others, and in this way they grow. ... And as for us, what have we done with   
   them? Who have we 'infected' with our faith? How many people have we   
   encouraged with our hope? How much love have we shared with our neighbour? ...   
   Any environment, even the most distant and impracticable, may become a place   
   where the talents may bear fruit. There are no situations or places that are   
   precluded from Christian presence and witness. The testimony that Jesus asks   
   of us is not closed, it is open, and it depends on us".   
    The parable of the talents "urges us not to hide our faith and our belonging   
   to Christ, not to bury the Word of the Gospel, but to make it circulate in our   
   life ... as a power that disrupts and renews. The same is true of forgiveness,   
   that the Lord gives us especially in the Sacrament of Reconciliation; let us   
   not keep it closed up in ourselves, but instead let it break down the walls   
   that our selfishness has built up, and take the first step in reactivating   
   paralysed relationships, resuming dialogue where there is no longer   
   communication". Pope Francis encouraged those present to re-read the parable   
   in the Gospel of St. Matthew to reflect on how we use or hide the talents we   
   receive.   
    "Also, the Lord does not give everyone the same things, or in the same way:   
   he knows us personally and entrusts what it right for us, but there is one   
   thing that is the same in everyone: the same, immense trust. God trusts us,   
   God has hope in us. Let us not disappoint Him! Let us not be deceived by fear,   
   but rather reciprocate trust with trust".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Immigrants and citizens: do not yield to the temptation of confrontation   
    Vatican City, 16 November 2014 (VIS) - After the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis   
   spoke about the tensions that have emerged during recent days between   
   residents and immigrants in various areas of Rome.   
    "These are events that have occurred in various European cities, especially   
   in outlying areas where other hardships are experienced. I invite all   
   institutions, at all levels, to consider as a priority what now constitutes a   
   social emergency and which, if not faced as soon as possible and in an   
   appropriate manner, risks degenerating further. The Christian community makes   
   concrete efforts to ensure that encounter takes the place of confrontation.   
   Citizens and immigrants, with representatives of institutions, can meet, even   
   in a room in the parish, and speak together about the situation. The important   
   thing is not to yield to the temptation of confrontation, rejecting every form   
   of violence. It is possible to engage in dialogue, to listen, to plan together   
   and, in this way, overcome suspicion and prejudice, and to build a safer, more   
   peaceful and inclusive co-existence".   
    He also remarked that today is World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims.   
   "Let us remember in prayer those who have lost their lives in these   
   circumstances". He concluded, "I hope for constant efforts in the prevention   
   of road accidents, as well as prudence and respect for traffic laws by   
   drivers".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis receives Catholic doctors: no life is qualitatively more significant   
   than another   
    Vatican City, 15 November 2014 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall Pope   
   Francis received in audience six thousand doctors, members of the Association   
   of Italian Catholic Doctors, on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of   
   its foundation. In his address, he commented that "the conquests of science   
   and medicine can contribute to the improvement of human life, provided that   
   they do not drift away from the ethical root of such disciplines".   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)