VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 224   
   DATE 17-12-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - General Audience: Jesus chose to come to the world as part of a family   
   - Pope Francis asks for prayers for the victims of terrorist attacks   
   - Completion of the Commission for the Protection of Minors   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    General Audience: Jesus chose to come to the world as part of a family   
    Vatican City, 17 December 2014 (VIS) - The family is the "great gift that the   
   Lord has given to the world ever since the beginning, when he entrusted to   
   Adam and Eve the mission of multiplying and filling the earth; the gift that   
   Jesus confirmed and sealed in His Gospel", said the Holy Father during this   
   Wednesday's general audience, in the first of the new cycle of catechesis   
   dedicated to the family, which will continue throughout the coming year.   
    The proximity to Christmas illuminates the mystery of the incarnation of the   
   Son of God, which opens a new chapter in the universal history of man and   
   woman. "And this new beginning occurs within a family, in Nazareth. He could   
   have come spectacularly, or as a warrior, an emperor... No - he came as the   
   son of a family, in a family", he emphasised.   
    God chose to be born "in a human family, that He Himself had formed. He   
   created this family in a remote village in the outer reaches of the Roman   
   Empire. Not in Rome, the capital of the Empire, not in a great city, but in an   
   almost invisible and somewhat notorious periphery. This is even noted in the   
   Gospel, almost as if it were a turn of phrase: 'Can anything good come out of   
   Nazareth?'. Perhaps, in many parts of the world, we too still speak in this   
   way when we hear the name of certain peripheral areas of large cities. And   
   yet, it was precisely there, in the outskirts of the great Empire, that there   
   began the most holy and good story of Jesus among mankind".   
    "Jesus chose to remain in the periphery for thirty years, during which there   
   is no mention of miracles or healing, of preaching, of crowds who run after   
   him. In Nazareth, everything seems to happen 'normally', according to the   
   habits of a pious and hard-working family of Israelites. ... The Gospels, in   
   their sobriety, say nothing of Jesus' adolescence and leave this task to our   
   affectionate imaginings. Art, literature and music have followed the path of   
   the imagination. Certainly, it is not difficult to imagine how much mothers   
   could learn from Mary's tender care for her Son! And how much fathers could   
   benefit from the example of Joseph, a righteous man, who dedicated his life to   
   supporting and defending his wife and child - is family - through difficult   
   times. To say nothing of how much the young could be encouraged by the   
   adolescent Jesus in understanding the necessity and beauty of cultivating   
   their deepest vocation, and of having great dreams", he added.   
    "Every Christian family - as Mary and Joseph did - must first welcome Jesus,   
   listen to Him, speak with Him, shelter Him, protect Him, grow with Him; and in   
   this way, make the world better. Let us make space in our heart and in our   
   days for the Lord. This is what Mary and Joseph did, and it was not easy: how   
   many difficulties they had to overcome! It was not a false or unreal family.   
   The family of Nazareth calls to us to rediscover the vocation and the mission   
   of the family, of every family. And so what happened in those thirty years in   
   Nazareth can also happen to us: making love, not hate, normal; mutual help   
   common, instead of indifference and hostility. It is not by chance that   
   Nazareth means 'she who preserves', like Mary who, as the Gospel tells us,   
   'treasured all these things in her heart'. From then on, whenever there is a   
   family that preserves this mystery, even if it should be at the outer reaches   
   of the world, the mystery of the Son of God is at work. And He comes to save   
   the world".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope Francis asks for prayers for the victims of terrorist attacks   
    Vatican City, 17 December 2014 (VIS) - The Pope, at the end of today's   
   general audience, asked for prayers for the victims of the inhuman terrorist   
   acts that have occurred in recent days in Yemen, Australia and Pakistan. "May   
   the Lord receive the souls of the departed in His peace, console their   
   families and convert the hearts of the perpetrators, whose violence does not   
   cease even before children".   
    At the end of the audience, 2,500 people danced the milonga to the sound of   
   the bandoneon in St. Peter's Square to celebrate Pope Francis' 78th birthday.   
   The initiative, "A tango for Francis", emerged on the social networks and, as   
   was shown today, thousands of people joined in.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Completion of the Commission for the Protection of Minors   
    Vatican City, 17 December 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has nominated new   
   members of the Commission for the Protection of Minors, chosen from various   
   parts of the world, so as to allow a broad representation of different   
   situations and cultures. The Commission therefore composed as follows:   
    Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap., president   
    Mons. Robert Oliver (United States), secretary   
    Rev. Luis Manuel Ali Herrera (Colombia)   
    Dr. Catherine Bonnet (France)   
    Marie Collins (Ireland)   
    Dr. Gabriel Dy-Liacco (Philippines)   
    Prof. Sheila the Baroness Hollins (England)   
    Bill Kilgallon (New Zealand)   
    Sr. Kayula Gertrude Lesa, RSC (Zambia)   
    Sr. Hermenegild Makoro, CPS (South Africa)   
    Kathleen McCormack (Australia)   
    Dr. Claudio Papale (Italy)   
    Peter Saunders (England)   
    Hon. Hanna Suchocka (Poland)   
    Dr. Krysten Winter-Green (United States)   
    Rev. Dr. Humberto Miguel Yanez, SJ (Argentina)   
    Rev. Dr. Hans Zollner, SJ (Germany)   
    The next plenary session of the Commission will take place, as previously   
   stated, in the Vatican on from 6-8 February 2015.   
    Brief information on members of the Commission is given below.   
    Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap. (United States), archbishop of Boston,   
   serves as the president of the Commission and is a member of the Council of   
   Cardinals which advises Pope Francis.   
    Msgr. Robert Oliver (United States) serves as the Secretary of the   
   Commission, following many years in child protection work for the Archdiocese   
   of Boston, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and the Congregation for   
   the Doctrine of the Faith as the Promoter of Justice.   
    Rev. Luis Manuel Ali Herrera (Colombia) is the Director of the Department of   
   Psychology, professor of pastoral psychology in the Conciliar Seminary of the   
   Archdiocese of Bogota, and as a parish priest.   
    Dr. Catherine Bonnet (France) is a child psychiatrist, psychotherapist,   
   researcher, and author on child sexual abuse and perinatal violence and   
   neglect.   
    Marie Collins (Ireland) is a survivor of child sexual abuse. A founder   
   Trustee of the Marie Collins Foundation she served on the committee which   
   drafted the Catholic Church's all-Ireland child protection policy, "Our   
   Children Our Church."   
    Dr. Gabriel Dy-Liacco (Philippines) is an adult and adolescent    
   sychotherapist and pastoral counsellor for various mental health concerns   
   including of individuals, couples, families and groups, including victims and   
   perpetrators of abuse.   
    Prof. Sheila the Baroness Hollins (England) has worked as a psychiatrist and   
   psychotherapist with children and adults with intellectual disabilities   
   including those who have been sexually abused, and is a life peer in the House   
   of Lords.   
    Bill Kilgallon (New Zealand) is Director of the National Office for   
   Professional Standards of the Catholic Church in New Zealand where he has   
   lived for the last four years. Prior to that he had a long career in social   
   work and health services in the UK.   
    Sr. Kayula Gertrude Lesa, RSC (Zambia) is a development professional, trainer   
   and author on child protection, human trafficking, refugee rights and the   
   right to information. She served as a member of the African Forum for Church   
   Social Teaching (AFCAST).   
    Sr. Hermenegild Makoro, CPS (South Africa) is a member of the Missionary   
   Sisters of the Precious Blood in the Diocese of Mathatha in South Africa. She   
   works as a high school teacher and for several years in the diocese as a   
   trainer in pastoral work. After serving as an Associate Secretary General of   
   the Southern African Catholic Bishops Conference for six years, Sr.   
   Hermenegild was appointed as the Secretary General of the SACBC in 2012.   
    Kathleen McCormack (Australia) is a social welfare worker who served as   
   Director of Welfare of Catholic Care in the Diocese of Wollongong for 29 years   
   and held leadership roles in Family Services, Child Protection, Out Of Home   
   Care and Ageing and Disability Services.   
    Dr. Claudio Papale (Italy) is a canon lawyer and a civil lawyer, professor of   
   canon law at the Pontifical Urban University, and an official of the   
   Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.   
    Peter Saunders (England) was abused throughout his childhood in Wimbledon,   
   South West London. Later in life, after earning a Business Studies degree,   
   Peter discovered that he was one of millions who had suffered such abuse and   
   who could not find any appropriate support. So he set up NAPAC, the National   
   Association for People Abused in Childhood, for supporting all survivors and   
   for developing greater resources for responding to child abuse.   
    Hon. Hanna Suchocka (Poland) is a professor of constitutional law and   
   specialist in human rights at the University of Poznan, and was formerly Prime   
   Minister of the Republic of Poland and Ambassador of Poland to the Holy See.   
    Dr. Krysten Winter-Green (United States) is a New Zealander with   
   post-graduate degrees in Theology, Human Development, Social Work, Religion   
   and Pastoral Psychology. She has served in dioceses around the world with   
   homeless persons and those living with AIDS. Krysten's concentration in the   
   areas of child abuse include forensics, assessment and treatment of   
   priest/clergy offenders.   
    Rev. Dr. Humberto Miguel Yanez, SJ (Argentina) is Director of the Department   
   of Moral Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, professor of moral   
   theology at the Gregorian and the Pontifical Urban University, and former   
   Director of the Centre of Research and Social Action in Argentina.   
    Rev. Dr. Hans Zollner, SJ (Germany) is President of the Centre for Child   
   Protection of the Pontifical Gregorian University and Director and Professor   
   of the Institute of Psychology. He was Chair of the organising committee for   
   the Symposium "Towards Healing and Renewal" on sexual abuse of minors   
   (February 2012).   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 17 December 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Msgr. Adelar Baruffi as bishop of Cruz Alta (area 16,790, population   
   401,000, Catholics 321,000, priests 32, religious 50), Brazil. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Garibaldi, Brazil in 1969 and was ordained a priest   
   in 1995. He studied philosophy at the University of Caxias do Sul and theology   
   at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, and holds a   
   licentiate in theological anthropology and spiritual theology from the   
   "Teresianum" Pontifical Theological Faculty, Rome. He has served in a number   
   of pastoral roles, including spiritual assistant, coordinator of formators and   
   rector of the minor seminary and the preparatory course, rector of the major   
   seminary, coordinator of diocesan presbyteral pastoral ministry, parish vicar   
   and member of the council of presbyters and the College of Consultors. He is   
   currently parish vicar of the "Santo Antonio" parish in Bento Goncalves.   
    - Fr. Onecimo Alberton as bishop of Rio do Sul (area 8,909, population   
   321,000, Catholics 263,000, priests 64, religious 212), Brazil. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Orleans, Brazil in 1965 and was ordained a priest in   
   1992. He studied philosophy at the Universidade do Sul, Tubarao, and theology   
   at the Theological Institute of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, and has served   
   in a number of roles, including: parish priest of the "Nossa Senhora da   
   Natividade" parish, Cocal do Sul Criciuma; formator in the minor and major   
   seminaries of Criciuma; rector of the "Bom Pastor" seminary, Florianopolis. He   
   is currently parish priest of the "Sao Paulo Apostolo" parish in Criciuma. He   
   succeeds Bishop Augustinho Petry, whose resignation from the pastoral care of   
   the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - Msgr. Jean-Marc Eychenne as bishop of Pamiers (area 4,903, population   
   154,546, Catholics 107,400, priests 46, permanent deacons 13, religious 80),   
   France. The bishop-elect was born in Pamiers, France in 1956 and was ordained   
   a priest in 1982. He holds a baccalaureate from the Faculty of Theology of   
   Milan, and has served in a number of roles, including: master of novices of   
   the Communaute Saint-Martin, teacher at the Higher Institute of Religious   
   Sciences and formator of seminarians at the Communaute Saint-Martin in Genoa;   
   parish vicar of Madeleine in Orleans-Checy, parish priest in the "Saint-Yves   
   de la Source" parish and episcopal vicar for the pastoral area of Val-de-Loire   
   et Sologne. He is currently vicar general of Orleans, France.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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