VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 042   
   DATE 27-02-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope and the Curia conclude their Spiritual Exercises   
   - A congress to commemorate the first mass in Italian celebrated by Blessed   
   Paul VI   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
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    The Pope and the Curia conclude their Spiritual Exercises   
    Vatican City, 27 February 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the House of the   
   Divine Master in Ariccia the Holy Father and the Roman Curia completed the   
   spiritual exercises they began last Sunday afternoon.   
    Following today's sermon, the Pope thanked Fr. Bruno Secondin, O. Carm.,   
   author of this week's meditations, which explored the theme "Servants and   
   prophets of the living God", based on a pastoral reading of the prophet Elijah.   
    "On behalf of all of us, myself included", said Francis, "I would like to   
   thank Fr. Secondin for his work with us. It is not easy to give Exercises to   
   priests! We are all somewhat complicated, but you have managed to sow seeds.   
   Many the Lord allow the seeds you have given us to grow. And I hope that we   
   will all be able to leave here with a piece of Elijah's mantle in our hands   
   and in our hearts. Thank you, Father!".   
      
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    A congress to commemorate the first mass in Italian celebrated by Blessed   
   Paul VI   
    Vatican City, 27 February 2015 (VIS) - On 7 March 1965, Blessed Paul VI, on   
   the 25th anniversary of the death of St. Luigi Orione, celebrated the first   
   mass in Italian in history in the parish of Ognissanti (All Saints), Rome.   
   "Today we inaugurate the new form of Liturgy in all the parishes and churches   
   of the world, for all the Masses followed by the people. It is a great event,   
   that shall be remembered as the beginning of a flourishing spiritual life, as   
   a new effort to participate in the great dialogue between God and man".   
    Fifty years on, to commemorate this historic date, Pope Francis will preside   
   at a Eucharistic celebration next Saturday, 7 March at 6 p.m. in the same   
   parish (Via Appia Nuova, 244). The occasion will also be celebrated by a   
   Congress on Pastoral Liturgy organised by the Vicariate of Rome, the Opera Don   
   Orione and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Rome, to open today at the   
   Teatro Orione, adjacent to the All Saints parish.   
    The theme of the Congress is "United in giving thanks". The works will be   
   presented by Rev. Flavio Peloso, superior general of the Sons of Divine   
   Providence (Don Orione), who comments that the event "will facilitate an   
   understanding of the reasons behind yesterday's liturgical reforms and today's   
   commitment to liturgical fidelity". Following greetings from the auxiliary   
   bishop Giuseppe Marciante, Archbishop Francesco Pio Tamburrano, metropolitan   
   emeritus of Foggia-Bovino, Italy, will speak about "Tradition and renewal in   
   paragraph 23 of the liturgical Constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium. Archbishop   
   Piero Marini, president of the Pontifical Committee for International   
   Eucharistic Congresses, will then consider the theme "The spoken language,   
   tool of communion in the dialogue of the liturgical assembly", and finally   
   Rev. Francesco Mazzitelli, parish priest of Ognissanti, will examine "The   
   liturgical formation of the laity".   
    The work of the Congress will be concluded by the Benedictine Fr. Jordi   
   Pique, president of the Pontifical Liturgical Institute. The moderator, Fr.   
   Giuseppe Midili, director of the diocesan liturgical office, affirmed that   
   "the congress offers various points for reflection on the reasons that led the   
   conciliar bishops to introduce the spoken language into the liturgy. Indeed,   
   one of the main aims of liturgical reform was full, active and conscious   
   participation in the liturgy, so that the faithful moved on from their role as   
   mute, extraneous spectators. In this sense, the change was historical and   
   signified a turnaround. Indeed, when the liturgy was celebrated in a language   
   they did not understand, the faithful sought more accessible forms of private   
   worship and prayer to recite during the Mass. With the introduction of the   
   spoken language, these individualistic forms slowly disappeared from the   
   celebratory context in favour of the centrality of the community celebration".   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 27 February 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop   
   Charles Jude Scicluna, as metropolitan archbishop of Malta (area 246,   
   population 413,000, Catholics 380,000, priests 621, religious 1,321), Malta.   
   Msgr. Scicluna is currently apostolic administrator of the same archdiocese.   
      
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