VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 043   
   DATE 02-03-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - To the prelates of North Africa: always be men of hope   
   - Pope Francis' prayer intentions for March   
   - Angelus: let us be transformed by love   
   - Syria, Iraq and Venezuela in the Pope's prayers   
   - The Pope to cooperatives: promote the economy of honesty   
   - Presentation of the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM): Incentive and   
   relaunch of the Church in the Amazon   
   - Cardinal Murphy O'Connor, Pope's special envoy to the 4th centenary of the   
   martyrdom of St. John Ogilvie, S.J.   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the prelates of North Africa: always be men of hope   
    Vatican City, 2 March 2015 (VIS) - This morning, the prelates of the Regional   
   Episcopal Conference of North Africa (C.E.R.N.A), which encompasses the   
   dioceses of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya were received in audience by   
   the Pope at the end of their "ad Limina" visit. The Holy Father handed them a   
   written address in which he recalls that the history of the region has been   
   marked by many saintly figures from St. Cyprian and St. Augustine, a   
   "spiritual patrimony for all the Church", to Blessed Charles de Foucauld, who   
   died one hundred years ago next year.   
    "For several years your region has been experiencing significant changes,   
   which offer hope that aspirations to greater freedom and dignity may be   
   fulfilled and which favour greater freedom of conscience", continues Francis.   
   "But at times these events have led to outbursts of violence. I wish to   
   mention, in particular, the courage, loyalty and perseverance of the bishops   
   of Libya, as well as the priests, consecrated persons and laypeople who stay   
   in this country despite the many dangers. They are genuine witnesses of the   
   Gospel. I thank them with all my heart and encourage them to continue their   
   efforts in contributing to peace and reconciliation throughout the region".   
    "Your episcopal conference ... is an important forum for exchange and   
   dialogue, but it must also be a tool for communion, for deepening fraternal   
   relations and mutual trust", the Pope writes. "The pilgrimage to Rome is a   
   good opportunity to renew your joint commitment in the service of the Church's   
   mission in each of your countries. You carry out this mission with your   
   priests, your direct collaborators. They are from many countries and at times   
   it is difficult for them to adapt to new situations. Therefore, it is   
   particularly important to be close to them and to be attentive to their   
   continuing formation so that they can live their ministry fully and serenely.   
   ... Men and women religious also have a special place in the life and in the   
   mission of your Church, and I thank them for their witness of fraternal life   
   and their generous commitment to the service of their brothers and sisters".   
    "At the heart of your mission and at the origin of your hope there is, above   
   all, the personal encounter with Jesus Christ and the certainty that He is at   
   work in the world where you have been sent on His behalf. The evangelical   
   vitality of your dioceses depends, therefore, on the quality of your spiritual   
   and sacramental life", observes the Holy Father, who alongside the saints from   
   the region, mentions also "the men and women religious who have offered   
   everything to God and to their brothers, to the point of sacrificing their own   
   lives". He highlights the bishops' responsibility for developing this   
   spiritual legacy firstly among the faithful, but also opening it up to all. "I   
   am pleased to hear that in recent years, various Christian shrines have been   
   restored in Algeria. By welcoming all, kindly and without proselytising, your   
   communities show that they wish to be a Church with open doors, always   
   reaching out".   
    "Universality is a feature of these Churches, where the faithful come from   
   many countries to form living communities. ... This offers the opportunity to   
   admire God's work, which spreads among all peoples and all cultures", writes   
   the Pontiff, who goes on to greet the many students from sub-Saharan Africa,   
   whom he invites to "stay firm in the faith" so as to be able to establish   
   "bonds of friendship, trust and respect" with all persons, "thus contributing   
   to the construction of a more fraternal world".   
    Interreligious dialogue is also very important in the life of these Churches,   
   and Francis stresses that in this field "the imagination of charity can open   
   up countless ways of bringing the breath of the Gospel to the most diverse   
   cultures and social sectors. As you are aware, mutual ignorance is the source   
   of many misunderstandings and even conflicts. ... The most effective antidote   
   to any form of violence is education in the discovery and acceptance of   
   difference as richness and fertility. Therefore, it is essential that priests,   
   religious and laypeople in your dioceses are well-prepared in this area".   
    In this regard, the Pope notes his satisfaction that the Pontifical Institute   
   for Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI), born in Tunisia, will celebrate its   
   fiftieth anniversary this year. He invites the bishops to "support and make   
   use of this institution when necessary, to experience language and culture"   
   and to "deepen dialogue in truth and love between Christians and Muslims".   
   This dialogue is also experienced by bishops on a day-to-day basis with   
   Christians of other confessions, and Francis therefore expresses his desire   
   that the Al Mowafaqa Ecumenical Institute, founded in Morocco to promote   
   ecumenical and interreligious dialogue may also contribute to greater mutual   
   awareness.   
    "A Church of encounter and dialogue, you also wish to be at the service of   
   all without distinction. Often with modest means, you manifest the charity of   
   Christ and all the Church towards the poor, the sick, the elderly, women in   
   need and the imprisoned. Thank you for your work in the assistance of the many   
   immigrants from Africa who seek in your countries a place of transit or of   
   welcome. Recognising their human dignity and working to awaken consciences   
   before so many human tragedies, you show God's love for each one of them".   
    "Dear brothers in the episcopate", he concluded, "I wish to assure you of the   
   support of all the Church in your mission. You are in the 'peripheries', with   
   your special service of making manifest the presence of Christ and His Church   
   in this region. Your testimony of life in simplicity and poverty is an eminent   
   sign for all the Church. Be assured that the Successor of Peter accompanies   
   you on your rough road, and encourages you always to be men of hope".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope Francis' prayer intentions for March   
    Vatican City, 1 March 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father's universal prayer   
   intention for March is: "That those involved in scientific research may serve   
   the well-being of the whole human person".   
    His intention for evangelisation is: "That the unique contribution of women   
   to the life of the Church may be recognised always".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Angelus: let us be transformed by love   
    Vatican City, 1 March 2015 (VIS) - "On this second Sunday of Lent, the Church   
   shows us the ultimate goal of this itinerary of conversion, or rather,   
   participation in the glory of Christ", said the Pope before this Sunday's   
   Angelus prayer upon returning from the week of spiritual exercises. He also   
   recalled that last Sunday's Gospel passage presented Jesus resisting Satan's   
   temptations in the desert.   
    "Today's Gospel tells us of the event of the Transfiguration, which takes   
   place at the culmination of Jesus' public ministry. He is on the path to   
   Jerusalem, where the prophecies of the Servant of God will be fulfilled and   
   His redemptive sacrifice will be consummated". Francis remarked that neither   
   the multitude nor the apostles understood that the outcome of Jesus' mission   
   of suffering would be His glorious passion, and so He decided to show a   
   glimpse of His glory to the apostles Peter, James and John, to confirm them in   
   their faith and to encourage them to follow him on the path of trial, on the   
   way of the Cross. "From the heavens, they heard the voice of the Father: 'This   
   is my beloved Son; hear him'".   
    The Pope explained that listening to Christ involves assuming the logic of   
   his Paschal mystery, placing ourselves on the path with Him in order to make   
   of our existence a gift of love for others, in docile obedience to the will of   
   God the Father, with an attitude of detachment from worldly things and of   
   inner freedom. "It means, in other words, being ready to 'lose one's life', to   
   sacrifice it so that all men might be saved; in this way we find eternal joy.   
   There will always be a cross to bear and there will be trials along the way,   
   but in the end it will always lead us to happiness". Finally, the Pope   
   encouraged those present to let themselves be transfigured by love, which is   
   capable of transforming everyone, and to invoke the Virgin Mary to support us   
   on our way.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Syria, Iraq and Venezuela in the Pope's prayers   
    Vatican City, 1 March 2015 (VIS) - Following today's Angelus prayer the Pope   
   made an appeal regarding "the dramatic situation in Syria and Iraq, involving   
   violence, abduction and abuse of Christians and other groups. I wish to assure   
   those involved in these situations that we have not forgotten them; rather, we   
   are close to them and pray ceaselessly for a swift end to the intolerable   
   brutality they are subjected to". He also commented that, along with the   
   members of the Roman Curia, he offered the second Holy Mass of the spiritual   
   exercises to this intention, and asked all persons, as far as possible, to   
   work to alleviate the suffering of those afflicted, often merely because of   
   the faith they profess. Let us pray for these brothers and sisters who suffer   
   for the faith in Syria and Iraq".   
    The Pontiff also commented on the acute tension that Venezuela is   
   experiencing at present. "I pray for the victims and, in particular, for the   
   boy who died a few days ago in San Cristobal. I urge all involved to reject   
   violence and to respect the dignity of every person and the sacredness of   
   human life, and encourage them to undertake a joint path for the good of the   
   country, reopening space for sincere and constructive encounter and dialogue".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope to cooperatives: promote the economy of honesty   
    Vatican City, 28 February 2015 (VIS) - "The Church has always acknowledged,   
   appreciated and encouraged the cooperative experience", Pope Francis affirmed   
   this morning, greeting more than seven thousand members of the Confederation   
   of Italian Cooperatives who group together a number of different sectors, from   
   agriculture to construction, including fishing and the distribution of   
   consumer goods.   
    In this regard, Francis referred to various documents of the Magisterium,   
   such as the encyclicals "Rerum Novarum", with Leo XIII's appeal for a society   
   in which "All [are] owners, not all proletarians", and "Caritas in Veritate",   
   in which Benedict XVI underlines the importance of the economy of communion   
   and the non-profit sector, and the "extraordinary social teaching of Blessed   
   Paul VI". He went on to urge the members of the Confederation to look not only   
   to the past, but also to the future: "It is a real mission that requires   
   creative imagination to find forms, methods, attitudes and tools to combat the   
   throwaway culture cultivated by the powers that support the economic and   
   financial policies of the globalised world".   
    "Globalising solidarity, today, means thinking about the vertiginous increase   
   in unemployment, the incessant tears of the poor, the need to reinstate a   
   development that involves a genuine and full progress of the person, who is   
   certainly in need of income, but not this alone. Let us think about healthcare   
   needs, that the traditional welfare systems are no longer able to satisfy; the   
   pressing needs of solidarity, to place human dignity once more at the centre   
   of the world economy".   
    Pope Francis suggested a series of concrete suggestions to help achieve this   
   mission. The first was that cooperatives should "continue to be the motor for   
   lifting up and developing the weakest part of our local communities and of   
   civil society". This involves "giving first place to the foundation of new   
   cooperative enterprises, along with the further development of those already   
   in existence, so as to create, above all, new work opportunities that   
   currently do not exist ... especially for the young, as we know that youth   
   unemployment ... destroys their hope", but also for the "many women who need   
   and wish to enter the world of work. We must not neglect the adults who often   
   find themselves prematurely without work. Aside from new enterprises, let us   
   look also to the companies in difficulty, those that the old owners leave to   
   die, which could instead be revived through 'workers' buy out' initiatives.   
    Becoming active agents of new welfare solutions was his second suggestion,   
   addressed above all to he healthcare sector, "a delicate field where many poor   
   people no longer find their needs to be adequately met". The answer may be   
   found in applying subsidiarity, "with strength and coherence", creating an   
   effective network of assistance and solidarity between cooperatives, parishes   
   and hospitals.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)