VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 215   
   DATE 03-12-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - General audience: Francis' trip to Turkey   
   - Declaration by the Director of the Holy See Press Office   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
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    General audience: Francis' trip to Turkey   
    Vatican City, 3 December 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis dedicated the catechesis   
   of this Wednesday's general audience to his recent visit to Turkey, a land   
   dear to many Christians for being the birthplace of the apostle Paul, hosting   
   the first seven councils, and for the presence, near Ephesus, of the "House of   
   Mary". In the same way as he asked the faithful, before his journey, to   
   accompany him in prayer, today he asked them to give thanks to the Lord for   
   the success of the trip and to pray that it might bear the fruit of dialogue   
   in our relationship with our Orthodox and Muslim brothers, and in the path   
   towards peace among peoples.   
    Francis spoke first of his meeting with the authorities on Friday 29,   
   thanking them for the care and respect with which they greeted him. In a   
   constitutionally secular country with a Muslim majority, the Pope noted that   
   it is oblivion to God and not His glorification that engenders violence, and   
   insisted before the leaders of the nation on the importance of concerted   
   efforts between Christians and Muslims for solidarity, peace and justice,   
   reaffirming the need for States to guarantee real freedom of worship to   
   citizens and religious communities.   
    On the second day, the Pope visited the Museum of Hagia Sophia, the Blue   
   Mosque and the Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, highly symbolic places   
   for the different religions that co-exist in Turkey. "I did so, feeling within   
   my heart the wish to invoke the Lord, God of Heaven and Earth, merciful Father   
   of all humanity". The central event of the day was the Mass held in the   
   Cathedral, attended by pastors and faithful of the various Catholic rites in   
   Turkey, along with representatives of other confessions, to invoke together   
   the Holy Spirit, "who builds the unity of the Church: unity in faith, unity in   
   charity, unity in internal cohesion", so that the People of God, "in the   
   richness of their traditions", may grow in openness and obedience to His   
   divine action".   
    The feast of St. Andrew the Apostle, patron of the Church of Constantinople,   
   on 30 November, offered the ideal context for consolidating the fraternal   
   relations between the Bishop of Rome and the Ecumenical Patriarch   
   Bartholomaios I, who renewed their joint commitment to the path of   
   re-establishing full communion between Catholics and Orthodox, and signed a   
   Joint Declaration which represents a significant step along the way. Francis   
   expressed his joy at having participated in the Divine Liturgy and for the   
   dual blessing imparted by the Pope and the Patriarch at the end. "Prayer is   
   the foundation of any fruitful ecumenical dialogue under the guidance of the   
   Holy Spirit".   
    The Holy Father's final meeting, of which he spoke with emotion, was with a   
   group of young refugees from the war zones of the Middle East, under the care   
   of the Salesians. "It was very important for me to meet them", he said, "both   
   to express my closeness and that of the Church, and to highlight the   
   importance of hospitality; a value to which Turkey is committed". The Pope   
   again thanked the country for its work in this field, praised the Salesians   
   for their work with the young refugees, and concluded by again asking all   
   those present to pray for refugees and internally displaced people, and for   
   the removal of the causes of this "painful scourge".   
      
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    Declaration by the Director of the Holy See Press Office   
    Vatican City, 3 December 2014 (VIS) - The Director of the Holy See Press   
   Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., answered questions posed by journalists   
   late yesterday afternoon on the situation regarding the ex-nuncio Msgr.   
   Wesolowski.   
    "This morning, the Promoter of Justice of the Tribunal of Vatican City State,   
   Professor Gian Piero Milano, met with the Attorney General of the Dominican   
   Republic, Francisco Dominguez Brito, upon request by this latter, during a   
   trip in Europe to make contacts in Poland and the Vatican. The meeting took   
   place within a broader context of international level cooperation amongst the   
   investigative bodies engaged in the proceedings against Msgr. Wesolowski and   
   the related investigations in progress, and it was useful for both parties   
   given the complexity of the enquiry and the possibility of a letter rogatory   
   from the Vatican to request further elements.   
    Meanwhile, regarding the situation of Msgr. Wesolowski, I am able to state   
   that the Magistrature of Vatican City State, continuing its investigations,   
   has already questioned the defendant, and future rounds of questioning will   
   take place. As the custody time limit has lapsed, and in view of his state of   
   health, Msgr. Wesolowski has been permitted a certain freedom of movement, but   
   is obliged to remain within the State and is subject to appropriate   
   restrictions on external communications".   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 3 December 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:   
    - appointed Rev. Ivan Pereira as bishop of Jammu-Srinagar (area 222,236,   
   population 13,849,892, Catholics 18,161, priests 61, religious 214), India.   
   The bishop-elect was born in Vasai, India in 1964 and was ordained a priest in   
   1993. He holds a B.A. in education and a Master's degree in English, and has   
   served in a number of pastoral and administrative roles, including parish   
   vicar in Jammu; parish priest in various parishes, including the Cathedral and   
   "Our Lady of Fatima", Srinagar; rector of St. Paul's minor seminary, Akalpur,   
   Jammu; secretary of the Regional Catholic Council of North India; and   
   president of the Regional Conference of Diocesan Priests, North India. He is   
   currently director of the Diocesan Education Board of the diocese of   
   Jammu-Srinagar and principal of the Burn Hall Higher Secondary School,   
   Srinagar. He succeeds Bishop Peter Celestine Elampassery, whose resignation   
   from the pastoral care of the same diocese was accepted by the Holy Father,   
   upon having reached the age limit.   
    - appointed Bishop Odelir Jose Magri, M.C.C.J., of Sobral, Brazil, as bishop   
   of Chapeco (area 15,663, population 772,000, Catholics 635,000, priests 85,   
   religious 223), Brazil.   
    - appointed Bishop Zanoni Demettino Castro of Sao Mateus as coadjutor   
   archbishop of Feira de Santana (area 6,730, population 963,000, Catholics   
   895,000, priests 73, permanent deacons 9, religious 157), Brazil.   
    - appointed Bishop Waldemar Passini Dalbello, auxiliary of Goiania, Brazil,   
   as coadjutor bishop of Luziania (area 16,424, population 776,000, Catholics   
   624,000, priests 55, permanent deacons 4, religious 100), Brazil.   
      
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   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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