VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 004   
   DATE 08-01-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Francis joins in the suffering of the French people   
   - The Pope strongly condemns the attack in Paris: "Homicidal violence is   
   abominable and never justifiable"   
   - The Pope receives a delegation of Yezidi   
   - The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue calls for human and   
   spiritual solidarity with the victims of the attack on "Charlie Hebdo" and   
   their families   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis joins in the suffering of the French people   
    Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) - This morning in the Sanctae Marthae   
   Chapel the Holy Father celebrated Mass for the victims of the attack in Paris   
   yesterday, in which twelve people were killed and several were seriously   
   injured. "The attack makes us think of great cruelty, human cruelty; of such   
   terrorism, both isolated terrorism and state terrorism. The cruelty of which   
   man is capable! Let us pray, in this Mass, for the victims of this cruelty. So   
   many of them! And let us also pray for those who perform these cruel acts, so   
   that the Lord might transform their hearts".   
    Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has sent a telegram on behalf of   
   the Holy Father to Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, France,   
   the full text of which is published below:   
    "Upon learning of the terrible attack in Paris on the offices of 'Charlie   
   Hebdo', which has claimed numerous victims, His Holiness Pope Francis joins in   
   prayer with the suffering of the bereaved families and the sadness of all the   
   French people. He entrusts the victims to God, full of mercy, and prays that   
   He will welcome them in His light. He expresses his deepest sympathy for the   
   injured and their families, and asks that the Lord console and comfort them in   
   their ordeal. The Holy Father reiterates his condemnation of the violence that   
   generates such suffering, and praying that God grant the gift of peace, he   
   invokes a divine blessing for the afflicted families and the French people".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope strongly condemns the attack in Paris: "Homicidal violence is   
   abominable and never justifiable"   
    Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the director of the   
   Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., issued the following   
   statement to journalists:   
    "The Holy Father expresses his strongest condemnation of the horrendous   
   attack this morning that plunged the city of Paris into mourning, claiming a   
   large number of victims, sowing death and causing consternation throughout the   
   whole of French society, and profoundly disturbing all those who favour peace,   
   well beyond the French borders.   
    Pope Francis participates in prayer in the suffering of the wounded and of   
   the families of the deceased, and urges opposition by every means to the   
   propagation of hate and every form of violence, both physical and moral, that   
   destroys human life, violates the dignity of human beings, and radically   
   undermines the foundations of peaceful co-existence between persons and   
   peoples, notwithstanding differences of nationality, religion and culture.   
    Whatever the motive may be, homicidal violence is abominable and never   
   justifiable; the life and dignity of all must be guaranteed and protected   
   decisively, every incitement to hate must be denied, and respect for others   
   must be nurtured.   
    The Pope expresses his closeness, his spiritual solidarity and his support   
   for all those who, in accordance with their various responsibilities, continue   
   to make constant efforts for peace, justice and the rule of law, to heal the   
   causes and sources of hate in this painful and dramatic moment, in France and   
   in every part of the world affected by tensions and violence".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope receives a delegation of Yezidi   
    Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received in   
   audience a delegation from the World Community of Yezidi, according to the   
   director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J. The   
   delegation was led by the Head of all the Yezidi, Mir Tahsin Said Ali Beg, and   
   their supreme spiritual Head, the "Baba Sheikh", Sheikh Khato, both resident   
   in Iraqi Kurdistan. The group also comprised three representatives of the   
   Yezidi of North Iraq, Georgia and the diaspora in Germany.   
    During the meeting, which lasted approximately half an hour and took place in   
   the private library of the Apostolic Palace, the delegation thanked the Pope -   
   indicated by one of the delegates as the "father of the poor" -for his support   
   for the Yezidi in this time of persecution and suffering. They informed the   
   Pope of the situation of around five thousand Yezidi women reduced to slavery   
   by the ISIS, and emphasised the good relations between Yezidi and Christians,   
   emphasising their mutual solidarity. Pope Francis assured the delegates of his   
   spiritual closeness and his support in these challenging times, and expressed   
   his hope that soon it will be possible to restore justice and the conditions   
   for a free and peaceful life for the Yezidi, as well as all other minority   
   groups who are the object of discrimination and violence.   
    There are around one and a half million Yezidi throughout the world, of whom   
   half a million are in Iraq; there are others in Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, and   
   in diaspora in many other countries.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue calls for human and   
   spiritual solidarity with the victims of the attack on "Charlie Hebdo" and   
   their families   
    Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) - This morning the Pontifical Council for   
   Interreligious Dialogue published the following declaration:   
    "As we reach the end of the meeting in Rome of the four Imams of France, who   
   attended yesterday's general audience along with the delegation from the   
   French Episcopal Conference, the participants, shocked by the heinous attack   
   on 7 January 2015 on the offices of the publication "Charlie Hebdo", wish once   
   more to echo the words pronounced by Pope yesterday and this morning,   
   denouncing this cruelty and blind violence. Like him, we invite believers to   
   show through friendship and prayer their human and spiritual solidarity   
   towards the victims and their families.   
    In these circumstances, it should be noted that, without freedom of speech,   
   the world is in danger: it is imperative to oppose hate and every form of   
   violence that destroys human life, violates the dignity of the person and   
   radically undermines the foundation of peaceful co-existence between persons   
   and peoples, notwithstanding differences of nationality, religion and culture.   
    Religious leaders are called upon to further promote a "culture of peace and   
   hope" able to conquer fear and to build bridges between people.   
    Considering the impact of the media, their leaders are invited to offer   
   information that is respectful of religions, their followers and their   
   practices, thus favouring a culture of encounter.   
    Interreligious dialogue remains the only path to follow together to dissipate   
   prejudice".   
    The communique is signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the   
   Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Bishop Michel Dubost of   
   Evry-Corbeil et Essonnes, president of the Council for Interreligious   
   Relations of the Bishops' Conference of France, the Imams Tareq Oubrou,   
   Azzedine Cami, Mohammed Moussaoui, Djelloul Seddiki and Fr. Roucou, director   
   of the National Service for Relations with Islam, France.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic   
   Education (for Institutes of Study);   
    - Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta;   
    - Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, France;   
    - Bishop Santiago Olivera of Cruz del Eje, Argentina;   
    - Nicola Zingaretti, president of the Latium region;   
    - His Excellency Mir Tahsin-beg (Tahseen Saeed Ali), head of the Yezidi in   
   all the World, Georgia, and entourage.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 8 January 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Joel   
   Mercier, as secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy, at the same time   
   elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in   
   Chaudesfonds-sur-Layon, France in 1945 and was ordained a priest in 1970. He   
   holds a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a licentiate in theology from the   
   Universite Catholique de l'Ouest in Angers, and a licentiate and doctorate in   
   canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has served in a   
   number of pastoral and administrative roles, including parish vicar in the   
   "Saint-Joseph" parish in Angers, chaplain of Catholic colleges and high   
   schools in Angers, and secretary to the bishop of Angers. He has also served   
   as member of the ecclesiastical tribunal in the Pays de Loire and teaches in   
   the faculty of theology, Angers. He is currently an official of the   
   Congregation for Bishops and spiritual director of the French Seminary in   
   Rome. He was named Chaplain of His Holiness in 2005.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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