Francis also mentioned that today is World Leprosy Day, and expressed his   
   closeness to "all those who suffer from this disease, as well as those who   
   care for them and those who fight to eradicate the causes of contagion, that   
   is, living conditions that are not worthy of mankind. Let us renew our   
   commitment to solidarity with these brothers and sisters".   
    Finally, he addressed the Filipino community of Rome. "The Filipino people   
   are wonderful for their strong and joyful faith. May the Lord also support   
   those of you who live far from your homeland. Many thanks for your witness,   
   and thank you for all the good you do for us, as you sow faith among us and   
   offer a beautiful witness of faith".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The most effective antidote to violence is accepting difference as richness   
    Vatican City, 24 January 2015 (VIS) - "In recent years, despite various   
   misunderstandings and difficulties, strides ahead have been made in   
   interreligious dialogue, even with followers of Islam. Listening is essential   
   for this. It is not only a necessary condition in a process of mutual   
   comprehension and peaceful co-existence, but it is also a pedagogic duty in   
   order to 'acknowledge the values of others, appreciate the concerns underlying   
   their demands and shed light on shared beliefs'", said Pope Francis this   
   morning, as he received in audience the participants in a meeting organised by   
   the Pontifical Institute for Arabic and lslamic Studies (PISAI), commemorating   
   the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. The meeting was held at the   
   Pontifical Urbanian University from 22 to 24 January on the theme: "Studying   
   and Understanding the Religion of the Other. Towards Mutual Recognition   
   between Religions and Cultures in Today's World".   
    Francis emphasised the need for adequate education, "so that, secure in our   
   own identity, we can grow in mutual knowledge. We must take care not to fall   
   prey to a syncretism that is conciliatory but ultimately empty and a harbinger   
   of a totalitarianism without values. A comfortable and accommodating approach,   
   'which says "yes" to everything in order to avoid problems', ends up being 'a   
   way of deceiving others and denying them the good which we have been given to   
   share generously with others'. This invites us, first of all, to return to the   
   basics".   
    "At the beginning of dialogue there is encounter", he continued. "This   
   generates the first knowledge of the other. If, indeed, we start from the   
   presumption of our common human nature, it is possible to overcome prejudice   
   and falsehood, and to begin to understand the other from a new perspective".   
   Francis remarked that now there is a need, like never before, for an   
   institution dedicated expressly to research and the formation of dialogue with   
   Muslims, since "the most effective antidote to any form of violence is   
   education in the discovery and acceptance of difference as richness and   
   fruitfulness". This task, affirmed the Pope, is not easy, but "is born of and   
   matures from a strong sense of responsibility".   
    He continued, "Islamic-Christian dialogue, in a special way, requires   
   patience and humility accompanied by detailed study, as approximation and   
   improvisation can be counterproductive and or even the cause of unease and   
   embarrassment. There is a need for lasting and continuous commitment in order   
   to ensure we do not find ourselves unprepared in various situations and in   
   different contexts. For this reason it demands a specific preparation, that is   
   not limited to sociological analysis but rather has the characteristics of a   
   journey shared by people belonging to religions that, although in different   
   ways, refer to the spiritual fatherhood of Abraham. Culture and education are   
   not secondary to a true process of moving towards each other that respects in   
   every person "his life, his physical integrity, his dignity and the rights   
   deriving from that dignity, his reputation, his property, his ethnic and   
   cultural identity, his ideas and his political choices".   
    The Pope expressed his wish that this "valuable" Institute, may increasingly   
   become "a point of reference for the formation of Christians who work in the   
   field of interreligious dialogue" and that it may establish a fruitful   
   collaboration with other Pontifical universities and research centres, both   
   Christian and Muslim, throughout the world. He concluded by encouraging the   
   community of the PISAI "never to betray the primary task of listening and   
   dialogue, based on clear identities and the keen, patient and rigorous search   
   for truth and beauty, which are placed in the hearts of every man and woman   
   and truly visible in every authentic religious expression".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis: "Unity is achieved by walking together"   
    Vatican City, 24 January 2015 (VIS) - At midday in the Consistory Hall of the   
   Vatican Apostolic Palace the Holy Father met with the participants in the   
   ecumenical colloquium of men and women religious organised by the Congregation   
   for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, on   
   the occasion of the Year for Consecrated Life. He highlighted that it is   
   particularly meaningful that the meeting took place during the Week of Prayer   
   for Christian Unity: "Each year this [week] reminds us that spiritual   
   ecumenism is the soul of the ecumenical movement". He went on to share with   
   those present some thoughts regarding the importance of consecrated life to   
   Christian unity.   
    "The wish to re-establish unity among all Christians is present naturally in   
   all Churches, and regards both clergy and laypeople", he began. "But religious   
   life, which is rooted in Christ's will and the common tradition of the   
   undivided Church, has without doubt a particular vocation in the promotion of   
   this unity. ... The search for union with God and unity within the fraternal   
   community is proper to religious life, which thus realises in an exemplary   
   fashion the prayer to the Lord that 'that they all may be one'". Religious   
   life, he continued, "shows us precisely that this unity is not the fruit of   
   our efforts, but is a gift of the Holy Spirit, Who realises unity in   
   diversity. It also shows us that this unity can be achieved only by journeying   
   together, if we take the path of fraternity in love, in service, and in mutual   
   acceptance".   
    The Pontiff emphasised that there is no unity without conversion, prayer, or   
   holiness of life. He remarked that religious life reminds us that "at the   
   heart of every search for unity, and therefore every ecumenical effort, there   
   is above all the conversion of the heart, that leads to asking for and the   
   granting of forgiveness", and that the commitment to ecumenism responds, first   
   and foremost, to the prayer of the Lord Jesus and it is based essentially on   
   prayer". He added that "religious life helps us to become aware of the call   
   addressed to baptised persons: the call to holiness of life, that is the one   
   true path towards unity". He concluded by expressing his gratitude for the   
   witness to the Gospel given by men and women religious, and for their service   
   in the cause of Christian unity.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Ten years after "Dignitas connubii": in search of swift solutions   
    Vatican City, 24 January 2015 (VIS) - This morning Pope Francis received in   
   audience the participants in the international congress commemorating the   
   tenth anniversary of the publication of the Instruction "Dignitas connubii".   
   The symposium was organised by the faculty of canon law of the Pontifical   
   Gregorian University, Rome, and with the patronage of the Pontifical Council   
   for Legislative Texts and the "Consociatio internationalis studio iuris   
   canonici promovendo".   
    The Pope declared that the extensive participation in this meeting indicates   
   the importance of the Instruction "Dignitas connubii", "which is not directed   
   principally to jurists but rather to those who work in local tribunals, and   
   noted that "experience teaches us that he who knows the path to follow travels   
   more rapidly. The knowledge of and familiarity with this Instruction may in   
   the future also help ministers of the courts to streamline proceedings, often   
   perceived by married couples as long and tiresome. The resources that this   
   Instruction makes available for rapid proceedings, free of any formalism, have   
   not yet been fully explored; similarly, the possibility of future legislation   
   intended for the same purpose cannot be excluded".   
    Finally, he commented on the importance of the contribution of the defender   
   of the bond in cases of marriage annulment, specifying that "his presence and   
   the faithful fulfilment of his task does not condition the judge, but rather   
   allows and promotes the impartiality of his judgement by setting before him   
   the arguments for and against annulment".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 26 January 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Cardinal Luis Sistach, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain;   
    - Bishop Gastone Simoni, emeritus of Prato, Italy;   
    - Bishop Francesco Micciche, emeritus of Trapani, Italy;   
    - Rev. Fr. Alejandro Moral Anton, prior general of the Order of St. Augustine   
   (Augustinians).   
    On Saturday 24 January, the Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;   
    - Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, Italy, president of the   
   Italian Episcopal Conference;   
    - Maria De Los Angeles Marechal, co-president of the Fundacion Leopoldo   
   Marechal, Argentina.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 26 January 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:   
    - appointed Msgr. Stefan Hesse as archbishop of Hamburg (area 32,493,   
   population 5,797,975, Catholics 397,331, priests 248, permanent deacons 60,   
   religious 221), Germany. The bishop-elect was born in Cologne, Germany in 1966   
   and was ordained a priest in 1993. He studied theology in Bonn and Regensburg,   
   and holds a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the High School of the   
   Pallottine Fathers in Vallendar. He has served as parish priest in a number of   
   parishes in the archdiocese of Cologne, and is currently canon of the   
   Metropolitan Chapter of Cologne and vicar general. He served as diocesan   
   administrator from March to September 2014.   
    - restored the title of metropolitan archdiocese to Cashel and Emly, Ireland.   
   Archbishop Kieran O'Reilly, currently metropolitan archbishop of Cashel and   
   apostolic administrator of Emly, was appointed as metropolitan archbishop of   
   the new ecclesiastical circumscription.   
    On Saturday, 24 January the Holy Father appointed Fr. Ivica Petanjak, O.F.M.   
   Cap., as bishop of Krk (area 1,119, population 40,447, Catholics 35,499,   
   priests 79, religious 110), Croatia. The bishop-elect was born in Drenje,   
   Croatia in 1963, gave his perpetual vows in 1988 and was ordained a priest in   
   1990. He holds a bachelor's degree in theology from the faculty of theology in   
   Zagreb, Croatia, and a doctorate in church history from the Pontifical   
   Gregorian University, Rome. He has served in a number of pastoral roles,   
   including deputy master of seminarians, parish vicar and hospital chaplain in   
   Split, master of clerics, provincial minister, parish priest of the "Our Lady   
   of Lourdes" parish in Rijeka and master of postulants. He is currently   
   guardian of the Capuchin monastery of Osijek and provincial definitor. He   
   succeeds Bishop Valter Zupan, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the   
   same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)