"If we believe in the principle of the unity of the human family, based on   
   the common paternity of God the Creator, and in the fraternity of human   
   beings, no form of political or economic pressure that exploits the   
   availability of foodstuffs can be considered acceptable. Political and   
   economic pressure: here I think of our sister and mother, Earth, our planet,   
   and of whether we are free of political and economic pressure and able to care   
   for her, to avoid her destruction. We have two conferences ahead of us, in   
   Perù and France, which pose the challenge to us of caring for our planet. I   
   remember a phrase that I heard from an elderly man many years ago: God always   
   forgives ... our misdemeanours, our abuse, God always forgives; men forgive at   
   times; but the Earth never forgives. We must care for our sister the Earth,   
   our Mother Earth, so that she does not respond with destruction. But, above   
   all, no system of discrimination, de facto or de jure, linked to the capacity   
   of access to the market of foodstuffs, must be taken as a model for   
   international efforts that aim to eliminate hunger.   
    "By sharing these reflections with you, I ask that the Almighty, God rich in   
   mercy, bless all those who, with different responsibilities, place themselves   
   at the service of those who experience hunger and who assist them with   
   concrete gestures of closeness. I also pray that the international community   
   might hear the call of this Conference and consider it an expression of the   
   common conscience of humanity: feed the hungry, save life on the planet. Thank   
   you".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Intense work by the Ordinary Council of the Synod of Bishops   
    Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) - The Ordinary Council of the Synod of   
   Bishops will meet on 18 and 19 November to reflect on the results of the Third   
   Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, held during October,   
   and to prepare for the 14 th General Ordinary Assembly on the theme "The   
   vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary   
   world", to be held from 4 to 25 October 2015.   
    The Holy Father will chair the Council on Tuesday 18 and his presence will   
   underline the importance he accords to the Synod as an expression of episcopal   
   collegiality and to the family, the theme of the two Assemblies: the   
   extraordinary Assembly held this year and the Ordinary one, in the preparatory   
   stages.   
    Alongside the secretary general, Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, and the   
   under-secretary, Archbishop Fabio Fabene, the meeting was attended by   
   Cardinals Christoph Schonborn, Wilfried F. Napier, Peter K.A. Turkson, George   
   Pell, Donald W. Wuerl, and Luis A. Tagle, and by Archbishops Bruno Forte and   
   Salvatore Fisichella. Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical   
   Council for the Family, also participated by invitation.   
    In his introduction to the work of the Synod, the secretary general   
   emphasised the climate of freedom and sincerity and the spirit of fraternal   
   communion that characterised the Assembly, in which everyone was encouraged to   
   contribute. Also, the final document, the Relatio Synodi, faithfully reflects   
   the multi-faceted results of the Synod and offers a good summary of the   
   process that took place during the Assembly.   
    In the meeting, it was agreed that the current period between the two   
   Assemblies, which is unprecedented in the history of the Synod as an   
   institution, is of great importance. It is necessary to take the path followed   
   so far as a starting point and to make the most of this special opportunity to   
   deepen knowledge of the themes and to promote discussion at the level of the   
   episcopal conferences, finding the means and the tools necessary to further   
   involve various ecclesial bodies in the synodal reflection on the family.   
   Various ideas on communication were also considered, which may be useful in   
   view of the preparation for the upcoming Ordinary Assembly.   
    The majority of the work was devoted to the preparation of the Lineamenta for   
   the next Ordinary Assembly. The guidelines will be made up, as previously   
   indicated, of the Relatio Synodi, accompanied by a series of points to help in   
   its reception and elaboration.   
    The Lineamenta are expected to be sent to the Episcopal Conferences at the   
   beginning of December, so that the answers can be received in good time to   
   allow them to be developed in the Instrumentum Laboris before the summer of   
   2015.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The joy of the Gospel is a missionary joy   
    Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) - The Third World Congress of Ecclesial   
   Movements and New Communities began in Rome today. Organised by the Pontifical   
   Council for the Laity, the meeting is a response to the appeal for missionary   
   conversion launched by Pope Francis to all Christians in his apostolic   
   exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium.   
    The congress - the third of this type following those held during the   
   pontificates of St. John Paul II in 1998 and Benedict XVI in 2006 - will be   
   attended by more than 300 members of lay associations from 40 countries,   
   gathered to explore the theme "The joy of the Gospel: a missionary joy".   
    The congress was inaugurated by Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the   
   Pontifical Council for the Laity, who recalled the rich teaching of the last   
   three pontiffs on what St. John Paul II defined as "the new season of   
   associations of the faithful". The cardinal emphasised that St. John Paul II   
   closely followed and guided the rapid development of ecclesial movements and   
   new communities, accompanying them with his clear and enlightening words ...   
   and indicated a new phase in the life of new charisms, which would necessarily   
   have to follow their initial flourish - the phase of ecclesial maturity".   
    For Pope Benedict XVI, he continued, "the multiple forms and the unity of   
   charisms and ministries are inseparable in the life of the Church. The Holy   
   Spirit desires the multiplicity of movements in the service of the single Body   
   that is the Church".   
    Pope Francis well knows the reality of ecclesial movements, insists that the   
   new charisms "are not a closed patrimony, consigned to a specific group to   
   guard it; they are rather gifts from the Spirit integrated into the ecclesial   
   body, attracted towards the centre that is Christ, from where they are   
   channeled into an evangelical impulse".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 20 November 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop   
   Peter Andrew Comensoli as bishop of Broken Bay (area 2,763, population   
   930,000, Catholics 395,000, priests 109, permanent deacons 6, religious 155),   
   Australia. Bishop Comensoli is currently auxiliary of the archdiocese of   
   Sydney, Australia.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)