VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 204   
   DATE 19-11-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - General Audience: We are all called to be holy   
   - New appeal for the Holy Land: building peace is difficult, but life without   
   peace is a torment   
   - Cooperation and development in the pastoral care of migration must focus on   
   positive aspects   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    General Audience: We are all called to be holy   
    Vatican City, 19 November 2014 (VIS) - As is usual on Wednesday morning, the   
   Pope toured St. Peter's Square to greet the faithful and pilgrims awaiting him   
   before the beginning of the General Audience. He dedicated today's catechesis   
   to the universal vocation to sanctity, to provide an answer to the question,   
   "In what does this universal vocation consist? And how can we fulfil it?"   
    "Firstly, we must take into account that sanctity is not something that we   
   procure, that we obtain ourselves through our qualities and capacities.   
   Sanctity is a gift, it is the gift that the Lord Jesus gives to us, when He   
   takes us with Him and clothes us in Himself, making us like Him", he said.   
   "Sanctity is the most beautiful face of the Church: it is rediscovering   
   oneself in communion with God, in the fullness of His life and His love. ...   
   It is not the prerogative of the few: sanctity is a gift that is offered to   
   all, without exclusion, and which therefore constitutes the distinctive   
   characteristic of every Christian".   
    "To be holy", he continued, "it is not necessary to be bishops, priests or   
   religious. ... We are all called to be holy! ... It is by living with live and   
   offering one's own Christian witness in our everyday occupations that we are   
   called to become holy; and each person in the condition and in the state of   
   life in which he finds himself": consecrated persons, married couples,   
   unmarried baptised persons, parents, grandparents, catechists, educators and   
   volunteers. "Every state of life leads to sanctity, if lived in communion with   
   the Lord and in the service of one's brethren".   
    Pope Francis urged those present to examine their consciences, asking how   
   they could respond to the Lord's call to sanctity. He emphasised that when the   
   Lord calls us to be holy, he does not ask us to do something weighty or sad,   
   but rather offers us an invitation to share in his joy. "If we understand it   
   in this way, everything changes and acquires a new meaning, beautiful,   
   starting from the little things of everyday life. ... And each step towards   
   sanctity will make us better people, free of selfishness and self-centredness,   
   and open to our brothers and their needs". He added, "we do not walk the path   
   of sanctity alone, each for himself, but rather together, in that single body   
   that is the Church, loved and sanctified by the Lord Jesus Christ", and   
   concluded by encouraging those present to continue on this path.   
      
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    New appeal for the Holy Land: building peace is difficult, but life without   
   peace is a torment   
    Vatican City, 19 November 2014 (VIS) - "I follow with great concern the   
   alarming increase in tension in Jerusalem and other areas of the Holy Land,   
   with unacceptable episodes of violence that do not even spare places of   
   worship", said the Pope following today's catechesis. "I assure a special   
   prayer for all the victims of this dramatic situation and for those who suffer   
   its consequences. From the depths of my heart, I appeal to those parties   
   involved to put an end to this spiral of hate and violence and to take   
   courageous decisions for reconciliation and peace. Building peace is   
   difficult, but living without peace is a torment!"   
    He went on to remark that on Friday 21 November, the liturgical memory of the   
   Presentation of Mary Most Holy at the Temple, Pro Orantibus Day will be   
   celebrated, dedicated to cloistered religious communities. "It offers a good   
   opportunity to thank the Lord for the gift of so many people who, in   
   monasteries and hermitages, devote themselves to God in prayer and   
   constructive silence, acknowledging the primacy due solely to Him. Let us   
   thank the Lord for the witness of cloistered life and ensure that they do not   
   lack our spiritual and material support in order to fulfil their important   
   mission".   
    In his greetings in various languages, the Pope addressed the Polish pilgrims   
   who yesterday celebrate the memory of Blessed Karolina Koszka, virgin and   
   martyr, on the centenary of her death. "This young girl fulfilled her vocation   
   to sanctity, dedicating herself to the service of those close to her through   
   her purity of heart and fidelity to Christ unto death. May her example   
   encourage all, especially the young, to seek ways to sanctity, even if this   
   involves going against contemporary tendencies to seek an easy life,   
   concentrating on selfish pleasure. I entrust the members of the "Pure Hearts   
   Movement" to the protection of their Blessed patroness".   
    Finally, the Holy Father greeted in Italian the young professionals,   
   businesspeople and social entrepreneurs who are participating in the congress   
   organised by the World Economic Forum, in collaboration with the Pontifical   
   Universities of Rome, to promote approaches and attitudes to overcome social   
   and economic exclusion. "I hope that this initiative may contribute to   
   favouring a new mentality in which money is not considered an idol to be   
   served, but rather a means for pursuing the common good", he concluded.   
      
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    Cooperation and development in the pastoral care of migration must focus on   
   positive aspects   
    Vatican City, 19 November 2014 (VIS) - ""Cooperation and Development in the   
   Pastoral Care of Migrations" is the theme of the 7th World Congress on the   
   Pastoral Care of Migrants, organised by the Pontifical Council for the   
   Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and taking place from 17 to 21   
   November. The meeting will be attended by more than three hundred people from   
   93 countries of all five continents, and will be structured in relation to   
   three themes: the diaspora, migrants as partners, and the dignity of the   
   migrant. In addition, during the conference eleven episcopal conferences will   
   present their pastoral work with migrants and at the end of the meeting a   
   final document will be drawn up, to serve as a guide for the next five years.   
    The Congress is so designed that each day is dedicated to a different topic   
   within the wider context of the theme of this Event: "Cooperation and   
   Development in the Pastoral Care of Migrations". Our plan of action is   
   structured in such a way so as to culminate, through the different conferences   
   and further debates that elaborate on the key note addresses, in the personal   
   exchange and the expression of concrete ideas and thoughts in the Working   
   Groups of the afternoon. My dear friends, we are here not only to share our   
   experiences and ideas, but to work together to elaborate recommendations and   
   ideas that will be of assistance to each one of us in our pastoral care for   
   the next few years.   
    The speakers in the inaugural session will be Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio,   
   president of the Pontifical Council, the Italian minister of the Interior,   
   Angelino Alfano, and the director general of the International Organisation   
   for Migration (OMI), William Lacy Swing. A text sent by Msgr. Antonio   
   Camilleri, under secretary for Relations with States, will also be read.   
    Cardinal Veglio spoke on the challenges of the migratory phenomenon and the   
   situations of emergency that require the attention of the international   
   community, emphasising the risk that the destination countries receive   
   migrants with hostility, distrust and prejudice. As a response to this problem   
   he proposed two major lines of action: cooperation and development which, in   
   the specific context of pastoral care, must accentuate the positive aspect of   
   migratory phenomena.   
    The minister of the Interior, Angelino Alfano, acknowledged that migration   
   constitutes a political and institutional priority, and affirmed that   
   receiving and helping immigrants is a responsible decision that Europe must   
   take "to demonstrate in practice that the protection of every human life is   
   the first duty of a State that wishes to define itself as civilised and   
   democratic". The director of the International Organisation for Migration   
   underlined the absolute priority of welcoming all immigrants and saving every   
   human life, citing the example of the Italian "Mare Nostrum" project, and   
   reiterated the need for more functional cooperation between the states of the   
   European Union to better face salvage operations.   
    Finally, Msgr. Camilleri, in his discourse, referred to the Church's ongoing   
   commitment to accompanying countries and peoples on their path, often troubled   
   and full of the unpredictable aspects linked to dislocation, and underlined   
   the urgency of combating phenomena such as criminality and violence linked to   
   migration.   
    In his presentation of the Conference Archbishop Joseph Kalathiparambil,   
   secretary of the Pontifical Council, recalled that in the diaspora - "when   
   migrants often leave behind their families and relatives in the hope of   
   sending back remittances to better their economic and social status, and one   
   day finding a way to help them migrate abroad as well" - there clearly emerges   
   the theme of the family, whose care "requires not only cooperation between the   
   country of origin and the country of destination, but also a strong   
   cooperation between the Church of origin, and the Church which welcomes the   
   migrant family".   
    With reference to migrants as partners, he remarked that they contribute and   
   cooperate substantially to the well-being and to the development not only of   
   their country of origin, but of their country of adoption, and emphasised the   
   need of improving public perception of migrants and immigration. He also spoke   
   on the role of women migrants, whose movement in the past was closely linked   
   to family reunification, whereas now they are "protagonists and leading   
   players along with their male counterparts in the role that they undertake in   
   today's society".   
    With regard to the final theme, the dignity of the migrant, the archbishop   
   commented that it is a concept that derives from the acknowledgement that all   
   persons are created in God's own image and likeness and that religious,   
   ethnic, social and cultural variables, citizenship or lack thereof, do not   
   change this fact that gives any individual an inherent and immeasurable worth   
   and dignity. The prelate concluded his presentation by noting the potential of   
   young migrants in building social, economic, cultural and religious bridges of   
   cooperation and understanding across societies and Church communities.   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 19 November 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:   
    - appointed Rev. Fr. Hilario Gonzalez Garcia as bishop of Linares (area   
   33,453, population 407,000, Catholics 360,000, priests 42, religious 58),   
   Mexico. The bishop-elect was born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1965 and was   
   ordained a priest in 1995. He holds a licentiate from the Pontifical   
   University of Mexico and has served in a number of pastoral roles in the   
   archdiocese of Monterrey, including spiritual director, prefect of studies in   
   philosophy and vice rector of the major seminary; chaplain in various female   
   religious communities; and executive secretary of the Commission for Ecumenism   
   and Dialogue of the Mexican Episcopal Conference. He is currently rector of   
   the major seminary of Monterrey. He succeeds Bishop Ramon Calderon Batres,   
   whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the   
   age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - appointed Rene Bruelhart, director of the Financial Information Authority   
   (AIF), as president of the same Authority.   
      
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