VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 002   
   DATE 05-01-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Angelus: Peace, a gift from the Lord every day   
   - The Pope appoints 20 new cardinals   
   - Note on the creation of new cardinals   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Angelus: Peace, a gift from the Lord every day   
    Vatican City, 4 December 2014 (VIS) - "Men speak much of light, but often   
   they prefer the deceptive tranquillity of the dark. We talk a lot about peace,   
   but often resort to war or choose complicit silence, or do nothing to build   
   peace", said Pope Francis upon appearing at the window of his study to pray   
   the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square on the first   
   Sunday of the year. "The heart of man can refuse light and prefer the shadows,   
   because the light lays bare his wicked works. He who does evil hates the   
   light; he who does evil, hates peace".   
    "A few days ago we began the new year in the name of the Mother of God,   
   celebrating World Day of Peace with the theme: "No longer slaves, but brothers   
   and sisters". My hope is that the exploitation of man by man may be overcome.   
   This exploitation is a social evil that extinguishes social relationships and   
   impedes a life of communion characterised by respect, justice and charity.   
   Each person and every people hungers and thirsts for peace; therefore it is   
   necessary and urgent to build peace".   
    Francis continued, "Peace is not just the absence of war, but a general   
   condition in which the human person is in harmony with himself, with nature   
   and with others. ... Nevertheless, silencing arms and stopping outbreaks of   
   war remain the unavoidable conditions for embarking on a journey towards the   
   attainment of peace in its different forms. I think of the conflicts that   
   still cause bloodshed in too many regions of the planet, of tensions in   
   families and communities - in how many families, communities, and even parish   
   communities, there is war! - as well as the sharp divisions in our cities and   
   towns between groups of different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds.   
   We must convince ourselves that, despite all appearances to the contrary,   
   harmony is always possible, at every level and in every situation. There is no   
   future without proposals and projects for peace! There is no future without   
   peace!".   
    The Pope commented that peace is proclaimed as a special gift from God, in   
   the birth of the Redeemer: "Peace on earth to those on whom His favour rests".   
   He added, "This gift must be incessantly sought in prayer and nurtured each   
   day with commitment, in the situations in which we find ourselves. At the dawn   
   of this new year, we are all called to rekindle in our hearts an impulse of   
   hope, that should result in concrete works of peace ... at home, in your   
   community, at work ... works of peace, reconciliation and fraternity. Each one   
   of us must carry out these acts of fraternity towards others, especially those   
   who are suffering as a result of family tensions or disputes of various kinds.   
   These small gestures have great value: they can be the seeds that give rise to   
   hope, that can open up roads to and the prospect of peace".   
    He concluded by encouraging those present to invoke Mary, Queen of Peace,   
   "who, during her earthly life, encountered no lack of difficulties in the   
   daily burdens of existence. But she never lost her peace of heart, the fruit   
   of her trusting abandonment to God's mercy. We ask that Mary, our tender   
   Mother, show the entire world the sure path of love and peace".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope appoints 20 new cardinals   
    Vatican City, 4 December 2014 (VIS) - Pope Francis announced, at the end of   
   today's Angelus, that on 14 February 2015, feast of St. Valentine, a   
   consistory will be held for the creation of twenty new cardinals - fifteen   
   electors and five non-electors - originating from fourteen countries from all   
   over the world, demonstrating "an indissoluble bond between the Church of Rome   
   and the particular Churches present throughout the world".   
    The day after the consistory, the Holy Father will preside at a   
   concelebration with the new cardinals, while on 12 and 13 February a   
   consistory will take place with all the cardinals to reflect on the   
   orientations and proposals for reform of the Roman Curia.   
    The new cardinal electors are:   
    - Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, titular of Sagona, prefect of the Supreme   
   Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura;   
    - Patriarch Manuel Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon, Portugal;   
    - Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, C.M., of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia;   
    - Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington, New Zealand;   
    - Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo, Italy;   
    - Archbishop Pierre Nguyen Van Nhon of Ha Noi, Vietnam;   
    - Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia, Mexico;   
    - Archbishop Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., of Yangon, Myanmar;   
    - Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok, Thailand;   
    - Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento, Italy;   
    - Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., of Montevideo, Uruguay;   
    - Archbishop Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Valladolid, Spain;   
    - Bishop Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan, O.A.R., of David, Panama;   
    - Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado of Santiago de Cabo Verde, Cape Verde;   
    - Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi of Tonga, Tonga.   
    The five non-electors are:   
    - Archbishop Jose de Jesus Pimiento Rodriguez, emeritus of Manizales,   
   Colombia;   
    - Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, pro-major penitentiary emeritus, Italy;   
    - Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber, apostolic nuncio, Germany;   
    - Archbishop Luis Hector Villalba, emeritus of Tucuman, Argentina;   
    - Bishop Julio Duarte Langa, emeritus of Xai-Xai, Mozambique.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Note on the creation of new cardinals   
    Vatican City, 5 December 2014 (VIS) - The following is the full text of a   
   note from the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi,   
   S.J., on the creation of new cardinals in the upcoming consistory, to be held   
   on 14 February.   
    "Considering the usual number of 120 electors, there were 12 places   
   'available' in the College of Cardinals. Although the Pope has slightly   
   exceeded this number, he has remained very close to it, so it has   
   substantially been respected.   
    The most evident criterion is that of universality. Among the new electors,   
   14 different countries are represented, of which six did not previously have a   
   cardinal, and some have never had one. If the non-electors are also counted,   
   then 18 countries are represented. Among the electors, there are 5 from   
   Europe, 3 from Asia, 3 from Latin America (including Mexico), 2 from Africa   
   and 2 from Oceania. There are no new cardinals for North America (U.S.A. and   
   Canada), since there number is already significant and has remained stable   
   since last year. (There is a new Mexican cardinal).   
    There is a significant presence of countries that have not had a cardinal   
   (Cape Verde, Tonga, Myanmar), and of small or minority ecclesial communities.   
   (The Bishop of Tonga is president of the Episcopal Conference of the Pacific;   
   the diocese of Santiago of Cape Verde is one of the oldest African diocese;   
   the diocese of Morelia in Mexico is in a region stricken by violence). It is   
   notable that there is only one new cardinal from the Roman Curia, while   
   currently the "Roman" cardinals constitute around a quarter of the electors.   
   Evidently the Pope wishes to consider the Prefects of the Congregations and a   
   few other very important institutions of the Curia, such as the Tribunal of   
   the Signatura. It is confirmed that the Pope does not consider himself bound   
   by the tradition of 'cardinal sees', that for historical reasons in various   
   Countries were considered almost 'automatically' linked to the cardinalate.   
   Instead we see various appointments of archbishops and bishops from sees that   
   have not had a cardinal in the past. This is true of Italy, Spain and Mexico.   
    With regard to the non-electors, the Pope's brief introduction is noteworthy:   
   "they represent many bishops who, with the same care of shepherds", have   
   served as the pastors of dioceses, but also in the Curia and the diplomatic   
   service. Appointment as a cardinal may therefore be a form of recognition   
   given symbolically to some, but acknowledging the merits of all.   
    The youngest of the new cardinals is the archbishop of Tonga, Msgr. Mafi   
   (1961), who will become the youngest member of the College of Cardinals. The   
   eldest is the emeritus of Manizales, Msgr. Pimiento Rodriguez (1919)".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   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)