VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 033   
   DATE 16-02-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Audience with the King of Tonga: satisfaction at the nomination of the first   
   cardinal from the archipelago   
   - The Pope receives the representatives of the Church of Scotland (Reformed)   
   - To the Pro Petri Sede Association: there is much to learn from the poor   
   - Francis at the Mass with new cardinals: the way of the Church is that of   
   mercy and inclusion   
   - Angelus: good is contagious   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audience with the King of Tonga: satisfaction at the nomination of the first   
   cardinal from the archipelago   
    Vatican City, 16 February 2015 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican Apostolic Palace   
   the Holy Father Francis received in audience Their Majesties the King Tupou VI   
   of Tonga and the Queen Nanasipau'u Tuku'aho, who went on to meet with Cardinal   
   Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Gallagher,   
   secretary for Relations with States.   
    His Majesty first expressed his satisfaction at the election of the first   
   Cardinal from the archipelago, Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi, underlining   
   the enthusiasm of the population and the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and   
   numerous Tongans at the Ordinary Public Consistory held on 14 February. During   
   the cordial discussions, attention was paid to the recent political   
   developments in the country and on a number of aspects of social and economic   
   life, as well as the positive contribution of the Catholic Church in various   
   areas of society.   
    There was subsequently an exchange of opinions on the international   
   situation, with particular reference to the island States of the Pacific and   
   the environmental problems that some of them are compelled to face.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope receives the representatives of the Church of Scotland (Reformed)   
    Vatican City, 16 February 2015 (VIS) - The Right Rev. John P. Chalmers,   
   moderator of the Church of Scotland, accompanied by a group of representatives   
   of the same Church, were received this in audience this morning by the Holy   
   Father who, in his greeting, expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to   
   meet and share with them a common commitment to the service of the Gospel and   
   the cause for Christian unity.   
    "Scotland's rich cultural and historical traditions have been shaped by   
   outstanding saintly witnesses to Christ from various confessions", he   
   observed. "The present state of ecumenical relations in Scotland clearly shows   
   that what we, as Christians, hold in common is greater than all that divides   
   us. On this basis the Lord is calling us to seek ever more effective ways to   
   overcome old prejudices and to find new forms of understanding and   
   cooperation".   
    The Pope remarked that he was heartened to see that "the good relations   
   between the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church have borne fruit in   
   shared reflection on the challenges posed by contemporary society, and that in   
   many cases we are able to speak with one voice on issues which deeply affect   
   the lives of all Christians. In our globalised and often confused world, a   
   common Christian witness is a necessary requisite for the effectiveness of our   
   efforts to evangelise.   
    "We are pilgrims and we journey alongside one another. We need to learn to   
   have 'sincere trust in our fellow pilgrims, putting aside all suspicion or   
   mistrust, and turn our gaze to what we are all seeking: the radiant peace of   
   God's face', he continued, citing his Apostolic Exhortation "Evangelii   
   gaudium". He went on to reiterate that faith and Christian witness current   
   face such great challenges that "only by working together will we be able   
   effectively to serve the human family and enable the light of Christ to reach   
   every dark corner of our hearts and of our world".   
    "May the journey of reconciliation and peace between our communities continue   
   to draw us closer, so that, prompted by the Holy Spirit, we may bring life to   
   all, and bring it in abundance. Let us pray for one another, and continue to   
   advance in the way of wisdom, good will, strength and peace". Pope Francis   
   then added, in his native Spanish, "allow me to use my mother tongue to   
   express a profound and sad sentiment. Today I have read about the execution of   
   those twenty-one or twenty-two Coptic Christians. They said only: 'Jesus, help   
   me'. They were assassinated for the mere fact of being Christians. You,   
   Brother, in your discourse, referred to what is happening in Jesus' land. The   
   blood of our Christian brothers is a testimony that calls to us. Regardless of   
   whether they are Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Lutherans - this does not matter,   
   they are Christians. And blood is the same. Their blood confesses Christ. In   
   remembrance of these brothers of ours who have died for the mere fact of   
   confessing Christ, I ask that we encourage each other to go ahead with this   
   ecumenism, that is giving us strength, this ecumenism of blood. The martyrs   
   are all Christians. Let us all pray for each other".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the Pro Petri Sede Association: there is much to learn from the poor   
    Vatican City, 16 February 2015 (VIS) - "I am grateful for your commitment to   
   serving the poor. The growing number of marginalised people living in   
   situations of extreme precariousness is a fact that calls to us and demands   
   zealous solidarity to offer them the material and spiritual support they   
   need", said the Pope this morning, as he received in audience the members of   
   the Pro Petri Sede Association, on their pilgrimage to the tombs of the   
   Apostles in these days. "At the same time, we have much to receive from the   
   poor whom we encounter and assist", he added. "In the throes of difficulty,   
   they are often witnesses to the essential, to family values; they are able to   
   share with those who are poorer than them, and to rejoice in it. ...   
   Indifference and self-centredness are always on the increase. Care for the   
   poor enriches us by setting us on a path of humility and truth".   
    Francis encouraged them to pray to the Lord, especially during the Lenten   
   time that is about to begin, to ask Him to give them a merciful and poor   
   heart, that knows its own poverty and offers itself to others. He mentioned   
   their valuable work in assisting the neediest populations throughout the   
   world, offering them spiritual consolation so that they do not feel forgotten   
   in their difficulties and retain hope. He also invited them to pray fervently   
   for peace, "so that political leaders may find ways of dialogue and   
   reconciliation", and concluded by expressing his hope that their pilgrimage   
   might increase in every one of them "the sense of belonging to the Church,   
   which is a great family, and the joy of announcing the Gospel to all. May   
   fraternity be strengthened among you, so you may carry out your mission in the   
   service of the poor and the least, for whom Jesus has a special predilection".   
    Before concluding, the Pope added some impromptu words regarding the Benelux   
   countries, which "have filled the world with missionaries. Today they face a   
   vocational crisis. I would like to ask you to knock on the door of Jesus'   
   heart and ask Him not to forget the generosity that these two countries had in   
   other times. May He send vocations to Benelux, so that the life of faith may   
   grow further. You work with the poor and love the poor, but think also of   
   those who are poor in faith, who have no faith because there is no-one to   
   preach it to them. May the Lord send priests to announce the faith. And   
   please, pray for vocations in your countries".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis at the Mass with new cardinals: the way of the Church is that of   
   mercy and inclusion   
    Vatican City, 15 February 2015 (VIS) - At 10 a.m. today Pope Francis presided   
   at a Eucharistic celebration in the Vatican Basilica with the cardinals   
   created in yesterday's consistory, and with all the cardinals in Rome for the   
   occasion.   
    In the homily he pronounced before the members of the College of Cardinals,   
   in which he commented on the passage from the Gospel narrating the healing of   
   the leper - marginalised, despised and abandoned for being "impure" - Francis   
   insisted that the cardinals follow Jesus' merciful logic and reminded them   
   that the way of the Church is "not only to welcome and reinstate with   
   evangelical courage all those who knock at our door, but to go out and seek,   
   fearlessly and without prejudice, those who are distant, freely sharing what   
   we ourselves freely received".   
    'Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean...': Jesus, moved with   
   compassion, stretched out his hand and touched him, and said: 'I do choose. Be   
   made clean!'. The compassion of Jesus! That com-passion which made him draw   
   near to every person in pain! Jesus does not hold back; instead, he gets   
   involved in people's pain and their need for the simple reason that he knows   
   and wants to show com-passion, because he has a heart unashamed to have   
   'compassion'.   
    "'Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed in the country; and   
   people came to him from every quarter'. This means that Jesus not only healed   
   the leper but also took upon himself the marginalisation enjoined by the law   
   of Moses. Jesus is unafraid to risk sharing in the suffering of others; he   
   pays the price of it in full.   
    "Compassion leads Jesus to concrete action: he reinstates the marginalised!   
   These are the three key concepts that the Church proposes in today's liturgy   
   of the word: the compassion of Jesus in the face of marginalisation and his   
   desire to reinstate.   
    "Marginalisation: Moses, in his legislation regarding lepers, says that they   
   are to be kept alone and apart from the community for the duration of their   
   illness. He declares them: 'unclean!'.   
    "Imagine how much suffering and shame lepers must have felt: physically,   
   socially, psychologically and spiritually! They are not only victims of   
   disease, but they feel guilty about it, punished for their sins! Theirs is a   
   living death; they are like someone whose father has spat in his face.   
    "In addition, lepers inspire fear, contempt and loathing, and so they are   
   abandoned by their families, shunned by other persons, cast out by society.   
   Indeed, society rejects them and forces them to live apart from the healthy.   
   It excludes them. So much so that if a healthy person approached a leper, he   
   would be punished severely, and often be treated as a leper himself.   
    "True, the purpose of this rule was 'to safeguard the healthy', 'to protect   
   the righteous', and, in order to guard them from any risk, to eliminate the   
   'peril' by treating the diseased person harshly. As the high priest Caiaphas   
   exclaimed: 'It is better to have one man die for the people than to have the   
   whole nation destroyed'.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)