VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 050   
   DATE 11-03-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - A Church that defies throwaway culture with the embrace of the young and the   
   elderly   
   - The relic of St. Teresa's "pilgrim staff" arrives in the Vatican   
   - The Pope to visit the Roman Rebibbia prison on Holy Thursday   
   - Cardinal Parolin explains the diplomatic activity of the Holy See in the   
   service of peace   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    A Church that defies throwaway culture with the embrace of the young and the   
   elderly   
    Vatican City, 11 March 2015 (VIS) - The value and importance of grandparents   
   in   
   the family was the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis during this Wednesday's   
   general audience in St. Peter's Square.   
    Firstly, Francis affirmed that he was able to identify with grandparents as he   
   is of the same age. "When I was in the Philippines, the people called me 'Lolo   
   Kiko', or rather, 'Grandpa Francis'", he said, emphasising that although   
   society   
   tends to reject the elderly, the Lord does not: on the contrary, He calls us to   
   follow Him in all stages of life as old age too "contains a grace and a   
   mission,   
   a true vocation".   
    "However, it is not yet the time to 'set down our oars'", he said. "This   
   period   
   of life is different to those that preceded it, without doubt; we must also   
   reinvent it a little since our societies are not yet ready spiritually or   
   morally to accord it its full value. Previously, in fact, it was not normal to   
   have so much free time; today far more so. And even Christian spirituality has   
   been taken a little by surprise, and has had to delineate a spirituality for   
   the   
   elderly. But thanks to God there is no lack of testimonies from elderly   
   saints!".   
    The Pope gave the example of the elderly Simeon and Anna, who awaited the   
   arrival of Jesus in the temple for many years, and who were resigned to dying   
   before seeing Him, even though that long wait had occupied all their lives and   
   had been their most important commitment. However, when Mary and Joseph arrived   
   in the Temple in compliance with the Law, the burdens of age and their long   
   wait   
   disappeared in an instant. "They recognised the Child, and discovered a new   
   strength, for a new task: to give thanks and to bear witness to this Sign of   
   God. Simeon improvised a beautiful hymn of jubilation and Anna became Jesus'   
   first preacher, as Luke tells us in his Gospel: she began 'to speak of him to   
   all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem'". "Dear grandparents,   
   dearly elderly", exclaimed the Pope, "let us follow in the wake of these   
   extraordinary old people! Let us too become poets of prayer: let us acquire the   
   taste for seeking new words, reappropriating those that the Word of God teaches   
   us. The prayer of grandparents and the elderly is a great gift for the Church.   
   It is a great injection of wisdom for all society, especially for those who are   
   too busy, too encumbered, too distracted. Someone has to sing the signs of God   
   for these people too, to proclaim the signs of God. Let us look at Benedict   
   XVI,   
   who has chosen to spend the final part of his life in prayer and in listening   
   to   
   God. Olivier Clement, a great believer from the last century, of Orthodox   
   tradition, said, "A civilisation where one does not pray is a civilisation in   
   which old age no longer has any meaning. And this is terrifying: more than   
   anything we need the elderly who pray, because old age was given to us for   
   this". "We are able to thank the Lord for the favours received, and fill the   
   emptiness of ingratitude that surrounds us. We can intercede for the   
   expectations of the new generations and give dignity to the memory and   
   sacrifices of those past. We can remind the ambitious young that a life without   
   love is arid. We can say to the fearful young that anguish about the future can   
   be defeated. We can teach the young who are too wrapped up in themselves that   
   there is more joy in giving than in receiving. Grandparents form the permanent   
   'choir' of a great spiritual shrine, where prayer of supplication and hymns of   
   praise support the community that works and struggles in the field of life".   
    Likewise, "prayer incessantly purifies the heart. Praise and supplication to   
   God prevent the hardening of the heart in resentment and selfishness. How sad   
   it   
   is to see the cynicism of an elderly person who has lost the sense of his or   
   her   
   own testimony, who is disdainful towards the young and does not communicate the   
   wisdom of a lifetime! Instead, it is beautiful to see the encouragement that an   
   elderly person is able to transmit to the young in search of the meaning of   
   faith and life. It is truly the mission of grandparents, the vocation of the   
   elderly. The words of the elderly hold something special for the young. And   
   they   
   know this. The words my grandmother wrote to me on the day of my priestly   
   ordination I still carry with me now, in my breviary; I often read them and   
   this   
   does me good".   
    "How I would like to see a Church that challenges the throwaway culture with   
   the superabundant joy of a new embrace between the young and the elderly! And   
   this is what I ask of the Lord today: this embrace", concluded the Holy Father.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The relic of St. Teresa's "pilgrim staff" arrives in the Vatican   
    Vatican City, 11 March 2015 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience,   
   during his greetings in various languages, the Pope mentioned that this month   
   will mark the fifth centenary of the birth of St. Teresa of Jesus in Avila,   
   Spain. "May her spiritual vigour stimulate you, dear young people, to bear   
   joyful witness to faith in your life; may her trust in Christ the Saviour   
   sustain you, dear sick people, in the moments of greatest discouragement; and   
   may her tireless apostolate invite you, dear newly-weds, to place Christ at the   
   centre of your marital home".   
    Later on Pope Francis received in the Vatican the relic of St. Teresa's famous   
   "pilgrim staff", as part of on a worldwide tour organised by the Order of   
   Carmelites, to commemorate the anniversary of the Spanish mystic and doctor of   
   the Church. The global pilgrimage, entitled "Way of Light", began in Avila on   
   15   
   October 2014 with the aim of visiting the family of Mount Carmel in 30   
   countries   
   across five continents, a journey of 117 thousand kilometres and lasting more   
   than 160 days. It will return to Avila on 28 March, in time for the 500th   
   anniversary of the saint's birth.   
    On the same day, the Teresian jubilee year will be inaugurated with a prayer   
   for world peace. Throughout the year a series of celebrations will be held,   
   including the European Youth Meeting, which is expected to be attended by more   
   than 9,000 young people from across the continent, several pilgrimages and many   
   conferences and exhibitions.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope to visit the Roman Rebibbia prison on Holy Thursday   
    Vatican City, 11 March 2015 (VIS) - The Prefecture of the Papal Household has   
   announced today that on 2 April, Holy Thursday, Pope Francis will visit the   
   Rebibbia New Complex Prison to meet with detainees.   
    At 5.30 p.m. in the "Padre Nostro" Chapel he will celebrate Mass "in coena   
   Domini", during which he will wash the feet of some inmates, and of some   
   detainees from the nearby women's penitentiary.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Cardinal Parolin explains the diplomatic activity of the Holy See in the   
   service of peace   
    Vatican City, 11 March 2015 (VIS) - This morning Cardinal Secretary of State   
   Pietro Parolin gave a Lectio Magistralis at the Pontifical Gregorian University   
   of Rome, during the "Dies Academicus", the annual study day dedicated to a   
   theme   
   that the different departments of the university analyse from the perspectives   
   of various fields of study (theology, philosophy, history, culture, canon law,   
   social sciences, missiology, psychology, spirituality, etc). This year's theme   
   was "Peace: gift of God, human responsibility, Christian commitment". The title   
   of the Secretary of State's Lectio Magistralis was "The diplomatic activity of   
   the Holy See in the service of peace".   
    "The diplomatic activity of the Holy See is not content to observe events or   
   evaluate their importance; nor can it remain merely a critical voice", affirmed   
   Cardinal Parolin. "It acts to facilitate the coexistence and cohabitation of   
   various nations, to promote fraternity between peoples, where the term   
   fraternity is a synonym for effective collaboration, true cooperation,   
   harmonious and orderly, of a solidarity structured in favour of the common good   
   and that of individuals. And the common good, as we know, has more than a link   
   with peace. The Holy See works substantially on the international scene not to   
   guarantee a generic security - made more difficult in this period of lasting   
   instability - but to sustain an idea of peace as the fruit of just relations,   
   of   
   respect for international law, of the protection of fundamental human rights   
   beginning with those of the least among us, the most vulnerable".   
    "The diplomacy of the Holy See has a clear ecclesial function", he added: "if   
   it is the tool of communion that unites the Roman Pontiff with the Bishops at   
   the head of the local Churches, or that guarantees the life of the local   
   Churches in relation to the civil authorities, I dare say that it is also the   
   vehicle of the Successor of Peter for reaching the peripheries, both   
   ecclesiastically and in terms of the human family. ... In the field of civil   
   society, which forms of ethical guidance would be lacking were the Holy See not   
   present in different intergovernmental contexts, in the areas of cooperation,   
   disarmament, the struggle against poverty, the eradication of hunger, care for   
   the sick, and promoting literacy?".   
    Cardinal Parolin went on to explain that "papal diplomacy is entrusted the   
   task   
   of working in favour of peace following the methods and rules that are   
   applicable to subjects of international law, therefore formulating practical   
   answers in legal terms to prevent, resolve or regulate conflicts and to avoid   
   their possible degeneration into the irrationality of armed force. But", he   
   concluded, "it is above all an activity that demonstrates how the aim pursued   
   is   
   primarily religious and as such is about being true 'workers for peace', and   
   not   
   'workers for war or at least agents of misunderstanding', as Pope Francis   
   reminds us".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)