VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 025   
   DATE 04-02-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - General audience: the importance of a father's presence in the family   
   - Appeal for an end to the fratricidal violence in Ukraine   
   - Archbishop Oscar Romero, blessed and defender of the poor and justice   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    General audience: the importance of a father's presence in the family   
    Vatican City, 4 February 2015 (VIS) - The positive and decisive aspect of the   
   father figure was the theme chosen by Pope Francis for the catechesis of   
   today's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall.   
    "Every family needs a father", he began, "and I would like to talk about this   
   role starting from several phrases we find in the Book of Proverbs, words that   
   a father addresses to his son: 'My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart   
   will be glad indeed. My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is   
   right'".   
    "One could not better express the pride and emotion of a father who   
   acknowledges that he has transmitted to his son what truly counts in life, a   
   wise heart", he affirmed, explaining that the phrase in the Book of Proverbs   
   is that of father who says, "This is what I wanted to leave to you, so that it   
   might become yours: feeling, acting, speaking and judging with wisdom and   
   rectitude. And in order for you to be able to do this, I taught you things you   
   did not know, I corrected errors you did not see. ... I myself, first of all,   
   had to test the wisdom of my heart, and monitor my excesses of sentiment and   
   resentment, to bear the weight of the inevitable misunderstandings, and to   
   find the right words to make myself understood".   
    "A father knows well how to transmit this legacy: with closeness, gentleness   
   and firmness. However, what consolation and compensation he receives, when his   
   children honour his legacy! It is a joy that repays every hardship, that   
   overcomes every misunderstanding and heals every wound".   
    To be a good father, the first requirement is "to be present in the family.   
   To be close to his wife, to share in everything, joy and pain, burdens and   
   hopes. And to be close to the children as they grow: when they play and when   
   they make efforts, when they are carefree and when they are distressed, when   
   they dare and when they are afraid, when they make missteps and when they   
   return to the right path. A father must always be present, but" - the Holy   
   Father warned - "being present is not the same as controlling. Fathers who   
   seek to control end up stifling their children; they do not let them grow".   
    "The Gospel provides us with the example of the Father in heaven - the only   
   one, Jesus says, who can truly be described as a 'good Father'. Everyone knows   
   the extraordinary parable of the prodigal son, or better of the merciful   
   father in the Gospel according to Luke. How much dignity and tenderness we   
   find in the father who stays at the door of his house awaiting the return of   
   his son! Fathers need to be patient. Sometimes you can do nothing other than   
   wait; pray and wait with patience, gentleness, magnanimity, and mercy. A good   
   father knows how to wait and how to forgive, from the bottom of his heart. He   
   certainly also knows how to correct firmly. ... A father who knows how to   
   correct without humiliating is the same as he who knows how to protect   
   unstintingly".   
    "If there is anyone who knows how to explain in depth the Lord's Prayer,   
   taught by Jesus, it is precisely he who experiences paternity in the first   
   person", continued the Pope. "Without the grace that comes from the Father in   
   heaven, fathers lose courage, and abandon the field. But children need to find   
   a father who awaits them when they return home after their failures. They will   
   do everything to avoid admitting or showing this, but they need him, and not   
   finding him opens up wounds that are difficult to heal".   
    "The Church, our mother, is committed to supporting with all her power the   
   good and generous presence of fathers in families", Pope Francis concluded,   
   "as, like St. Joseph, they are the indispensable guardians and mediators of   
   the faith for new generations, in goodness, justice and God's protection".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Appeal for an end to the fratricidal violence in Ukraine   
    Vatican City, 4 February 2015 (VIS) - At the end of today's catechesis the   
   Pope launched an appeal for an end to the violence among the "beloved   
   Ukrainian people". "Unfortunately, the situation is worsening", he said, "and   
   there is an escalation of hostilities between the parties. Let us pray firstly   
   for the victims, many of whom are civilians, and their families, and let us   
   ask the Lord for an end, as soon as possible, to this horrible fratricidal   
   violence. I renew my heartfelt appeal that every effort be made - also at an   
   international level - to resume dialogue, the only way possible to restore   
   peace and harmony to this ravaged land".   
    "Brothers and sisters", he continued, "when I hear the words 'victory' or   
   'defeat', I feel great suffering, a great sadness in my heart. These are not   
   the right words: the only right word is 'peace'. This is the only right word.   
   I think of you, Ukrainian brothers and sisters. ... Think, this is a war   
   between Christians! You have all had the same baptism! You are fighting among   
   yourselves, with other Christians. Think of this scandal. And let us all pray,   
   so that our prayer might be our protest before God in this time of war".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Archbishop Oscar Romero, blessed and defender of the poor and justice   
    Vatican City, 4 February 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press   
   Office Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the   
   Family and postulator of the cause for the beatification of Oscar Arnulfo   
   Romero, presented the figure of the Salvadoran archbishop assassinated in 1980   
   while celebrating Mass and whose martyrdom was acknowledged yesterday with the   
   signing of the necessary decree by Pope Francis. Historian Roberto Morozzo   
   della Rocca, professor of modern history at the University of Rome III and   
   author of a biography of Oscar Romero, also participated in the conference.   
   Extensive extracts of Archbishop Paglia's presentation are published below.   
    "It is an extraordinary gift for all of the Church at the beginning of this   
   millennium to see rise to the altar a pastor who gave his life for his people;   
   and this is true for all Christians. This can be seen in the attention of the   
   Anglican Church, which has placed a statue of Romero in the facade of   
   Westminster Abbey alongside those of Martin Luther King and Dietrich   
   Bonhoeffer, and for all of society that regards him as a defender of the poor   
   and of peace. Gratitude is also due to Benedict XVI, who followed the cause   
   from the very beginning and on 20 December 2012 - just over a month before his   
   resignation - decided to unblock the process to enable it to follow the   
   regular itinerary".   
    "The work of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, with Cardinal Angelo   
   Amato, S.D.B., has been careful and attentive. The unanimity of both the   
   commission of cardinals and the commission of theologians confirmed his   
   martyrdom in odium fidei. ... The martyrdom of Romero has given meaning and   
   strength to many Salvadoran families who lost relatives and friends during the   
   civil war. His memory immediately became the memory of other victims, perhaps   
   less illustrious, of the violence".   
    "Following a lengthy procedure that encountered many difficulties, on account   
   of opposition due to both the archbishop's thought and pastoral action, and   
   the situation of conflict that developed in relation to him, the itinerary   
   finally reached its conclusion. Romero becomes, as it were, the first of a   
   long line of contemporary New Martyrs. 24 March - the day of his death -   
   became, by decision of the Italian Episcopal Conference, the "Day for Prayer   
   for Missionary Martyrs". The United Nations have proclaimed that day   
   "International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights   
   Violations and for the Dignity of Victims".   
    The world has changed greatly since 1980, but that pastor from a small   
   Central American country speaks powerfully. It is not without significance   
   that his beatification will take place precisely when there is for the first   
   time in history a Latin American Pope who wants a 'poor Church, for the poor'.   
   It is a providential coincidence".   
    Romero the pastor   
    "Romero believed in his role as a bishop and primate of his country, and he   
   considered himself responsible for the population, especially the poorest.   
   Therefore, he took upon himself the bloodshed, pain and violence, denouncing   
   their causes in his charismatic Sunday preaching that was listened to on the   
   radio by the entire nation. We might say that it was a 'pastoral conversion',   
   with the assumption by Romero of a strength that was indispensable in the   
   crisis that beset the country. He transformed himself into a defensor   
   civitatis following the tradition of the ancient Fathers of the Church,   
   defending the persecuted clergy, protecting the poor, and affirming human   
   rights".   
    "The climate of persecution was palpable. However, Romero clearly became the   
   defender of the poor in the face of cruel repression. After two years as   
   archbishop of San Salvador, Romero counted thirty lost priests - killed,   
   expelled or forced to flee from death. The death squads killed scores of   
   catechists from the base communities, and many faithful disappeared from these   
   communities. The Church was the main target of accusation and therefore the   
   hardest hit. Romero resisted and accepted giving his life to defend his   
   people".   
    Assassinated at the altar during Mass   
    "He was killed at the altar. Killing him was intended to strike at the Church   
   that flowed from Vatican Council II. His death - as the detailed documentary   
   examination clearly showed - was not only politically motivated, but due also   
   to hatred for a faith that, combined with charity, would not stay silent when   
   faced with the injustices that implacably and cruelly afflicted the poor and   
   their defenders. His assassination at the altar - without doubt a more   
   uncertain death as it meant shooting from a distance of thirty metres rather   
   than an attempt from a shorter range - had a symbolic nature that resounded as   
   as terrible warning for whoever wished to follow the same route. John Paul II   
   himself - who was well aware of the other two saints killed at the altar, St.   
   Stanislaus of Krakow and St. Thomas Becket of Canterbury - noted effectively,   
   'they killed him precisely at the most sacred moment, during the highest and   
   most divine act. ... A bishop of God's Church was assassinated while he   
   exercised his sanctifying mission, offering the Eucharist'. On a number of   
   occasions he repeated forcefully, 'Romero is ours, Romero is of the Church!'".   
    Romero and the poor   
    "Romero had always loved the poor. As a very young priest in San Miguel he   
   was accused of communism because he asked the rich to give a fair salary to   
   the peasant coffee cultivators. He told them that not only did they act   
   against justice, but also that they themselves opened the doors to communism".   
    "Romero understood increasingly clearly that being a pastor to all meant   
   starting with the poor. Placing the poor at the centre of the pastoral   
   concerns of the Church and therefore of all Christians, including the rich,   
   was the new pastoral way. His preferential love for the poor not only did not   
   attenuate his love for his country, but on the contrary supported it. In this   
   sense, Romero was not partisan, although to some he appeared that way; rather,   
   he was a pastor who sought the common good of all, starting however with the   
   poor. He never ceased to seek out the way for the pacification of the country.   
    Romero, man of God and of the Church   
    Romero was a man of God, a man of prayer, of obedience and love for the   
   people. He prayed a lot ... and he was harsh on himself, a severity linked to   
   an old-fashioned spirituality made up of sacrifices. He had a 'linear'   
   spiritual life, in spite of having a character that was not always easy -   
   rigorous with himself, intransigent, tormented. But in prayer he found rest,   
   peace and strength. When he had to make complicated or difficult decisions, he   
   withdrew in prayer".   
    "He was a bishop faithful to the magisterium. From his papers there clearly   
   emerges his familiarity with the documents of Vatican Council II, Medellin,   
   Puebla, the social doctrine of the Church and other pontifical texts in   
   general. ... It has often been said that Romero was suborned by liberation   
   theology. Once, a journalist asked him, 'Do you agree with liberation   
   theology?'. He answered, 'Yes, of course. But there are two forms of   
   liberation theology. There is the one that sees liberation solely as material   
   liberation. The other is that of Paul VI. I am with Paul VI'".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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