VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 037   
   DATE 20-02-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - To the bishops of Ukraine: indicate the values that bind Ukrainian society   
   - Communique from the Managing Board and the College of Auditors of the   
   Vatican Pensions Fund   
   - The Holy See at the United Nations: social development policies must address   
   the spiritual and ethical dimension of the human person   
   - Audiences   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the bishops of Ukraine: indicate the values that bind Ukrainian society   
    Vatican City, 20 February 2015 (VIS) - "I welcome you to this house, which is   
   also yours. And you are well aware of this, as the Successor of Peter has   
   always welcomed his brothers from Ukraine with fraternal friendship", begins   
   the Pope's written discourse to the bishops of the Ukrainian Episcopal   
   Conference, at the end of their "ad Limina" visit. The encounter takes place   
   in the context of a serious and prolonged conflict within the country, which   
   "continues to claim many innocent victims and to cause great suffering to the   
   entire population".   
    The Pope met with the bishops of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, the   
   bishop of Mukachevo of Byzantine rite, and the bishops of the Conference of   
   Roman Catholic Bishops in separate audiences in the Sala Clementina of the   
   Apostolic Palace. The signed discourse was handed to the representatives of   
   each the three Ukrainian ecclesiastical jurisdictions.   
    "In this period", continues Francis, "I am particularly close to you in my   
   prayers for the deceased and for all those who have been afflicted by   
   violence, with my plea that the Lord might grant peace soon, and with my   
   appeal to all interested parties to implement joint agreements and to respect   
   the principle of international law, and especially to observe the recently   
   signed armistice and all other commitments that are conditions for avoiding a   
   resumption of hostilities".   
    "I know the historical events that have scarred your land and which are still   
   present in your collective memory. These are issues that in part have a   
   political basis, to which you are not required to respond directly; but there   
   are also socio-cultural realities and human tragedies that await your direct   
   and positive contribution. In such circumstances, it is important to listen   
   attentively to the voices that come from the land, from the people entrusted   
   to your pastoral care. Listening to your people, you are able to solicit those   
   values that characterise them: encounter, collaboration, the capacity to   
   resolve disagreements. In short: the search for a possible peace. You are able   
   to nurture this ethical heritage with charity, the divine love that stems from   
   the heart of Christ".   
    The Holy Father acknowledges that, "at local level, there are specific and   
   practical agreements between you, heirs to two legitimate spiritual traditions   
   - Oriental and Latin - as well as the other Christians among you. This, as   
   well as a duty, is also an honour that must be recognised". He also reiterates   
   that the bishops, at national level, are full citizens of their country and   
   therefore have the right to express their thought, also jointly, regarding its   
   destiny, "not in the sense of promoting concrete political action, but in the   
   indication and reaffirmation of the values that constitute the binding element   
   of Ukrainian society, persevering in the tireless search for harmony and the   
   common good, even when faced with serious and complex difficulties". He   
   emphasises, "The Holy See is by your side, also in international forums, to   
   ensure that your rights, concerns and the right Gospel values that inspire you   
   are understood, and seeks also to help meet the pastoral needs of those   
   ecclesiastical structures that also find themselves having to face new legal   
   questions".   
    The crisis unfolding in Ukraine has undoubtedly had "serious repercussions on   
   family life. United with this is a misunderstood sense of economic freedom   
   that has enabled a small group of people to become enormously rich at the   
   expense of the great majority of citizens. The presence of this phenomenon has   
   also contaminated public institutions, to varying degrees. It has generated an   
   inequitable poverty in a generous and rich land". Therefore, the Pope exhorts   
   the bishops to tirelessly remind their fellow citizens of "the considerations   
   that faith and pastoral responsibility suggest to you. The meaning of justice   
   and truth is first moral rather than political, and this is incumbent upon you   
   as pastors. How much freer you will be as ministers of Christ's Church, as, in   
   spite of your poverty, you become defenders of families, of the poor, of the   
   unemployed, of the weak, the sick, the elderly, invalids and displaced   
   persons".   
    After encouraging the Ukrainian bishops to renew their zeal for the constant   
   announcement of the Gospel and to pray attention to vocations to the   
   priesthood and to consecrated life, the Ponfiff then goes on to consider the   
   rapport between bishops, while aware of the "complex historical factors that   
   weigh upon your mutual relations, as well as aspects of personal character".   
    "The fact that both episcopates are Catholic and Ukrainian remains   
   indisputable, in spite of differences of rites and traditions. I am personally   
   saddened to hear that there are incomprehensions and that harm has been done.   
   There is a need for a doctor, and this doctor is Jesus Christ, whom you both   
   serve with generosity and with all your hearts. You are a single body and, as   
   both St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI have done in the past, I exhort you to   
   find between you a way to accept each other and to support each other   
   generously in your apostolic labours. The unity of the episcopate, aside from   
   giving a good example to the People of God, represents an inestimable service   
   to the nation at a cultural, social, and above all spiritual level". You are   
   united in fundamental values and have the most valuable treasure in common:   
   faith and the People of God. Therefore, I regard joint meetings of the bishops   
   of all the "sui iuris" Churches present in Ukraine to be of the highest   
   importance".   
    "Whether Greek-Catholics or Latins, you are sons of the Catholic Church,   
   which has been subject to martyrdom in your land too", remarks Francis. "May   
   the blood of your witnesses, who intercede from Heaven on your behalf, be a   
   further inspiration to a true communion of hearts. Unite your strength and   
   support each other, transforming historical events into a reason for sharing   
   and unity. Well-rooted in the Catholic community, you can also apply   
   yourselves with faith and patience to ecumenism, so that all Christians may   
   grow in unity and cooperation. I am sure that your decisions, in accordance   
   with the Successor of Peter, will be able to take on board the expectations of   
   all your People. I invite you all to govern the Communities entrusted to you   
   ensuring as far as possible your presence and closeness to the priests and   
   faithful. I hope that you may maintain respectful and fruitful relations with   
   the public authorities".   
    Finally, the Holy Father exhorts them to pay great attention to the poor.   
   "They are your wealth", he emphasises. "You are the pastors of a flock   
   entrusted to you by Christ; always be clearly aware of this, even within your   
   internal organs of self-governance, which must always be understood as   
   instruments of communion and prophecy. In this sense, I hope that your   
   intentions and your actions will always be oriented towards the overall good   
   of the Churches entrusted to you. ... I impart with affection a special   
   apostolic blessing to you, your communities and the dear population of   
   Ukraine".   
      
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)