VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 209   
   DATE 26-11-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope addresses press on the return flight from Strasbourg: "I never give   
   up a cause for lost"   
   - General Audience: the Church on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven   
   - Francis asks for prayers for his trip to Turkey   
   - Pope Francis' message to the International Pastoral Congress on the World's   
   Big Cities   
   - First International Prayer Day and reflection on human trafficking   
   - In brief   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope addresses press on the return flight from Strasbourg: "I never give   
   up a cause for lost"   
    Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) - During his return journey from   
   Strasbourg, where he addressed both the European Parliament and the Council of   
   Europe, Pope Francis answered questions posed by the journalists who   
   accompanied him on the flight. The questions and the Holy Father's answers are   
   published below.   
    Q: "Your Holiness addressed the European Parliament with pastoral works that   
   may also be regarded as political words, and which may be linked, in my   
   opinion, to a social-democratic stance - for example, when you say that we   
   must ensure that the true expressive force of populations is not removed by   
   multinational powers. Could we say that you are a social-democrat Pope?"   
    Pope Francis: "This would be reductive. It makes me feel as if I am part of a   
   collection of insects: 'This is a social-democratic insect ...'. No, I would   
   say not. I don't know if I am a social-democrat Pope or not. I would not dare   
   to define myself as belonging to one side or another. I dare say that this   
   comes from the Gospel: this is the message of the Gospel, taken up by the   
   social doctrine of the Church. In reality, in this and in other things -   
   social and political - that I have said, I have not detached myself from the   
   social Doctrine of the Church. The social Doctrine of the Church comes from   
   the Gospel and from Christian tradition. What I said - the identity of the   
   people - is a Gospel value, is it not? In this sense, I say it. But you have   
   made me laugh, thank you!"   
    Q: "There is almost no-one on the streets of Strasbourg this morning. The   
   people say they are disappointed. Do you regret not visiting the Cathedral of   
   Strasbourg, that celebrates is millennium this year? And when will you make   
   your first trip to France, and where? Lisieux, perhaps?"   
    Pope Francis: "No, it is not yet planned, but one should certainly go to   
   Paris. Then, there is a proposal to go to Lourdes. I have asked to visit a   
   city where no Pope has yet been, to greet the citizens. But the plan has not   
   yet been made. No, for Strasbourg, a visit to the cathedral was considered but   
   it would have mean already making a visit to France, and this was the problem".   
    Q: During your address to the Council of Europe I was struck by the concept   
   of transversality, especially with reference to your meetings with young   
   politicians in various countries, and indeed you spoke of the need for a sort   
   of pact between generations, an intergenerational agreement at the margins of   
   this transversality. Also, if I may ask, is it true that you are devoted to   
   St. Joseph, and have a statue of him in your room?"   
    Pope Francis: "Yes, it is true. Whenever I have asked something of St.   
   Joseph, he has granted it to me. The fact of 'transversality' is important. I   
   have seen in dialogue with young politicians in the Vatican, from different   
   parties and nations, that they speak with a differetn music, that tends   
   towards transversality, and this is valuable. They are not afraid of coming   
   out of their own territory, without denying it, but coming out in order to   
   engage in dialogue. They are courageous! I believe that we must imitate this,   
   along with intergenerational dialogue. This tendency to come out to find   
   people of other origins and to engage in dialogue: Europe needs this today".   
    Q: "In your second discourse, to the Council of Europe, you spoke about the   
   sins of the sons of the Church. I would like to know if you have received the   
   news on the events in Granada [alleged sexual abuse of minors by priests in   
   the archdiocese, Ed.], that in a certain sense you brought to light..."   
    Pope Francis: "I received the news - it was sent to me, I read it, I called   
   the person and I said, 'Tomorrow you must go to the bishop', and I wrote to   
   the bishop asking him to begin work, to start the investigation and go ahead.   
   How did I receive the news? With great pain, with very great sadness. But the   
   truth is the truth, and we cannot hide it".   
    Q: "In your addresses in Strasbourg, you spoke frequently of both the threat   
   of terrorism and the threat of slavery: these are attitudes that are also   
   typical of the Islamic State, which threatens much of the Mediterranean, which   
   threatens Rome and also threatens you personally. Do you think it is possible   
   to engage in dialogue with these extremists, or do you think this is a lost   
   cause?"   
    Pope Francis: "I never give something up as a lost cause: never. Perhaps   
   dialogue is not possible, but never close the door. It is difficult, one might   
   say almost impossible, but the door is always open. You have used the word   
   'threaten' twice: it is true, terrorism is a threat. ... But slavery is a real   
   situation embedded in the today's social fabric, and has been for some time.   
   Slave labour, human trafficking, the trade in children ... it is a crisis! We   
   must not close our eyes to this. Slavery, today, is a reality, the   
   exploitation of people ... And then there is the threat of these terrorists.   
   But there is another threat, and it is State terrorism. When the situation   
   becomes critical, and each State believes it has the right to massacre the   
   terrorists, many who are innocent fall prey alongside the terrorists. This is   
   a form of high-level anarchy that is very dangerous. It is necessary to fight   
   terrorism, but I repeat what I said during my previous trip: when it is   
   necessary to stop an unjust aggressor, it must be done with international   
   consensus".   
    Q: "In your heart, when you travel to Strasbourg, do you travel as Peter's   
   Successor, as the bishop of Rome, or as the archbishop of Buenos Aires?"   
    Pope Francis: "As all three, I think. My memory is that of the archbishop of   
   Buenos Aires, but I am no longer in that role. Now I am the bishop of Rome and   
   Peter's Successor, and I think that I travel with this memory but with these   
   realities; I travel with all these things. Europe worries me at the moment; it   
   is good for me to go ahead in order to help, as the bishop of Rome and Peter's   
   Successor; in this respect I am Roman".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    General Audience: the Church on the path to the Kingdom of Heaven   
    Vatican City, 26 November 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father dedicated the   
   catechesis of this morning's general audience to "a fundamental truth that   
   Vatican Council II kept clearly in mind, and which must never be forgotten:   
   the Church is not a static reality, still, an end in itself, but is instead   
   continually in progress through history, towards the final, marvellous   
   destination that is the Kingdom of Heaven, of which the earthly Church is the   
   seed and the beginning". He continued, "When we face this horizon, we realise   
   that our imagination stops and discovers that it is only just able to intuit   
   the splendour of the mystery that overcomes our senses. And certain questions   
   arise spontaneously in us: when will this final passage take place? What will   
   the new dimension in which the Church enters be like? What will become of   
   humanity? And of the Creation that surrounds us? But these questions are not   
   new; they had already been posed by Jesus' disciples in those times".   
    Francis explained that, faced with these questions, the Council Constitution   
   "Gaudium et spes" affirms that "we are unaware of when the earth and humanity   
   will come to an end, and we do not know how the universe will be transformed.   
   Certainly, the appearance of this world, deformed by sin, will pass away.   
   However, we know from Revelation that God prepares a new home and a new land,   
   in which justice will abide, and whose joy will superabundantly satiate all   
   the desires for peace that arise from the heart of man. ... We will finally be   
   clothed in joy, peace and God's love, completely and without any limit, face   
   to face with Him".   
    In this way, the Pontiff emphasised that it is good to perceive that there is   
   a basic continuity and communion between the Church in Heaven and the Church   
   in her earthly path, without forgetting that we are always invited to offer   
   good works, prayers and the Eucharist to alleviate the suffering of souls that   
   still await endless beatitude. "From a Christian perspective the distinction   
   is no longer between those who are already dead and those who are not, but   
   between those who are with Christ and those who are not. This is the decisive   
   element for our salvation and for our happiness".   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)