the duty of a good teacher, and far more so for a good Christian, is to love   
   with greater intensity the most difficult, weakest, most disadvantaged   
   students".   
    Francis mentioned that if a professional association of Christian teachers   
   wishes to bear witness to its inspiration, it is required to engage with the   
   peripheries of school, "that cannot be abandoned to marginalisation, ignorance,   
   and the underworld", and he encouraged them to follow the example of many great   
   teachers who exist in the Christian community to encourage from within the   
   school that, independently of whether or not it is administered by the state,   
   is   
   in need of credible teachers and witnesses of mature and complete humanity.   
   "Teaching is not just a job", he concluded. "It is a relationship in which each   
   teacher must feel that he is fully involved as as person, to give meaning to   
   the   
   task of educating his pupils. ... I encourage you to renew your passion for   
   mankind in the process of formation, and to be witnesses of life and hope".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    "Follow Me" Association: engage with earthly reality to serve the good of man   
    Vatican City, 14 March 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall of the   
   Vatican Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis received in audience members of the   
   "Seguimi" ("Follow Me") lay community, on the 50th anniversary of its   
   foundation. "The gesture, symbolic and intensely spiritual, of the first   
   members   
   to depart from the Catacombs of St. Callixtus, demonstrate this wish, that you   
   have expressed in the statutory form of your programme of life: 'Jesus Christ   
   lives at the centre of Seguimi'. This is beautiful. ... I encourage you to live   
   according to this programme every day, with commitment; that is, to be   
   decentred   
   from yourselves and to place your vital centre in the living Person of Jesus.   
   Yours is a form of evangelical life that is practised in a context of laicism   
   and liberty. A programme of Christian life for laypeople, with clear and   
   demanding objectives, an original way of incarnating the Gospel, an effective   
   way of walking the world".   
    Francis encouraged them to "conserve and develop this fraternal communion and   
   exchange of gifts, aimed at the human and Christian growth of all, along with   
   creativity, optimism, joy and the courage to go - when appropriate - against   
   the   
   grain. Be vigilant in your spiritual path and help each other to practice   
   spiritual charity, which means defending yourselves against individualistic   
   selfishness in order to be true witnesses to the Gospel".   
    "As laypeople, you are immersed in the world and are occupied within earthly   
   situations to serve the good of man. You are required to permeate with   
   Christian   
   values the environments in which you work with your witness and word, meeting   
   people in their concrete situations, so that they have full dignity and are   
   reached by Christ's salvation". The Pope concluded by urging them to be   
   "laypeople on the front line", to "feel like an active part of the Church's   
   mission, to live your secularity dedicating yourself to the situations typical   
   of the earthly city: the family, the professions, social life in its various   
   expressions. In this way you are able, as a leaven, to bring the spirit of the   
   Gospel into the folds of history with your witness of faith, hope and charity".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To be able to confess our sins is a gift from God   
    Vatican City, 14 March 2015 (VIS) - "The Sacrament of Reconciliation enables   
   us   
   to draw near to the Father trustfully, to have the certainty of his   
   forgiveness.   
   He is truly 'rich in mercy' and he extends it abundantly to those who turn to   
   him with a sincere heart", said the Pope in his homily during the penitential   
   celebration in St. Peter's Basilica on Friday afternoon. "The transformation of   
   the heart that leads us to confess our sins is a gift from God ... it is 'His   
   work'" he continued. "As we leave the confessional, we were his strength that   
   restores life and rekindles the enthusiasm of faith. After confession we are   
   reborn".   
    "Jesus' call impels us all not to stop at the surface of things, especially   
   when facing a person. We are called to look beyond, to focus on the heart to   
   see   
   how much generosity each person is capable of. No-one must be excluded from   
   God's mercy. Everyone knows that the way to reach it, and the Church, is the   
   house that welcomes all and refuses no-one. Its doors are always wide open, so   
   that those who are touched by grace may find the certainty of forgiveness. The   
   greater the sin, the greater the love must be that the Church expresses towards   
   those who convert".   
    "Dear brothers and sisters, I have often thought of how the Church may make   
   more evident her mission as witness to mercy. It is a path that begins with a   
   spiritual conversion; and we must take this path. Therefore, I have decided to   
   convoke an extraordinary Jubilee, which will be centred upon God's mercy. It   
   will be a Holy Year of Mercy. Let us live this in the light of the Word of the   
   Lord: 'Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful'. And this is especially   
   for   
   confessors! Have mercy!".   
    "I am convinced that all the Church, which is in great need of receiving   
   mercy,   
   as we are sinners, may find in this Jubilee the joy of rediscovering and making   
   fruitful God's mercy, with which we are all called upon to give consolation to   
   every man and every woman in our time. Let us not forget that God forgives   
   everything, and God always forgives. Let us never tire of asking for   
   forgiveness. Let us hereafter entrust this Year to the Mother of Mercy, that   
   she   
   might turn her gaze upon us and keep watch over our path; our path of   
   repentance, our path with an open heart, a year long, to receive God's   
   indulgence, to receive God's mercy".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the Korean community: be a Church of martyrs   
    Vatican City, 14 March 2015 (VIS) - On the afternoon of Thursday, 12 March,   
   the   
   Pope celebrated Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica with the Korean community of   
   Rome, accompanied by prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea,   
   in   
   Rome on their "ad Limina" visit and whom Pope Francis had received in audience   
   in the morning. In his homily, the Pope spoke about the laity, who carried   
   forth   
   the Church for two centuries, encouraging them to be as courageous as the first   
   faithful; he urged all those present to be aware of this responsibility.   
    He went on to mention Korea's martyrs, and emphasised that the seedbed of the   
   Church has been watered with their blood and thus given life. "Do not give up.   
   Be on your guard against 'religious wellbeing'", he said. "If you do not go   
   ahead with the strength of faith, with the zeal and love of Jesus Christ, if   
   you   
   become soft - 'rosewater Christians', weak - your faith will diminish". The   
   Pope   
   also highlighted the importance of being sons of martyrs, adding that   
   "apostolic   
   zeal is not negotiable. ... You are a Church of martyrs, and this is a promise   
   for   
   all Asia. Keep going, and do not give up. No spiritual worldliness, nothing. No   
   easy Catholicism, without zeal. No religious wellbeing. Love for Jesus Christ,   
   love for Jesus Christ's Cross, and love for your history".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and   
   the   
   Discipline of the Sacraments;   
    - Frère Alois, prior of Taizé   
    - Delegation of the Latin American Network on the Social Doctrine of the   
   Church;   
    - Six prelates of the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on their   
   "ad Limina" visit:   
    - Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna, Sarajevo, with his auxiliary,   
   Bishop Pero Sudar;   
    - Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka, with his auxiliary, Bishop Marko   
   Senren;   
    - Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno, apostolic administrator of Trebinje and   
   Mrkan;   
    - Bishop Tomo Vuksic, military ordinary.   
    On Saturday, 14 March, the Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;   
    - Archbishop Orlando Antonini, apostolic nuncio in Serbia.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    From the Oriental Churches   
    Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) - The Synod of Bishops of the Maronite   
   Patriarchal Church, in its extraordinary session of 10 to 14 March 2015:   
    - accepted the resignation of Bishop Elias Sleiman from the pastoral care of   
   the eparchy of Lattaquie upon reaching the age limit, and elected him as   
   president of the Patriarchal Tribunal.   
    - elected Bishop Joseph Mouawad, patriarchal vicar of Ehden-Zgorta, Syria, as   
   bishop of Zahle (Catholics 50,000, priests 34, religious 42), Lebanon.   
    - elected, with pontifical assent, the Rev. Corepiscopa Antoine Chbeir as   
   bishop of Lattaquie of the Maronites (Catholics 35,000, priests 27, religious   
   50), Syria. The bishop-elect was born in Ghosta, Lebanon, and was ordained a   
   priest in 1988. He holds a doctorate in biblical theology from the Pontifical   
   Gregorian University of Rome and has served as parish priest and diocesan   
   chancellor. He is currently chancellor of the patriarchal vicariate of Jounieh,   
   Lebanon, and succeeds Bishop Elias Sleiman.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    On Saturday, 14 March, the Holy Father:   
    - appointed Rev. Fr. Alojzij Cvikl, S.J., as metropolitan archbishop of   
   Maribor   
   (area 45,520, population 1,601,000, Catholics 47,900, priests 46, permanent   
   deacons 71, religious 89), Slovenia. The bishop-elect was born in Celje,   
   Slovenia in 1955 and was ordained a priest in 1983. He studied philosophy and   
   theology at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana and at the Pontifical   
   Gregorian   
   University, Rome, and holds a licentiate in pedagogy and social sciences from   
   the "Lumen Vitae" Institute in Brussels, Belgium. He has served in a number of   
   roles, including: deputy priest and parish priest in the parish of the   
   Incarnation of Jesus Christ in Ljubljana - Dravlje, rector of the Internate at   
   the St. Stanislaw Archiepiscopal Institute in Ljubljana-Sentvid and teacher of   
   religion at the Classical Lyceum of the same Institute, provincial of the   
   Jesuits in Slovenia, president of the Conference of Major Superiors of   
   Slovenia,   
   and rector of the Pontifical Russian College (Russicum), Rome. He is currently   
   bursar of the Archdiocese of Maribor.   
    - appointed the following consultors of the general secretariat of the Synod   
   of   
   Bishops: Msgr. Lluis Clavell, ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of St.   
   Thomas Aquinas; Giuseppe Bonfrate, lecturer in the Faculty of Theology of the   
   Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; Maurizio Gronchi, ordinary professor of   
   dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome; Michele Giulio   
   Masciarelli, lecturer in dogmatic theology at the Marianum Faculty, Rome, and   
   fundamental theology at the Theological Institue of Abruzzo and Molise, Chieti;   
   Peter Paul Saldanha, lecturer in ecclesiology at the Pontifical Urbanian   
   University, Rome; Dario Vitali, lecturer in ecclesiology at the Pontifical   
   Gregorian University, Rome; Aimable Musoni, S.D.B., lecturer in systematic   
   theology, ecclesiology and ecumenism at the Pontifical Salesian University,   
   Rome; Fr. François Xavier Dumortier, S.J., Magnificent Rector of the Pontifical   
   Gregorian University, Rome; Fr. Georges Ruyssen, S.J., lecturer in canon law at   
   the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome; Fr. Sabatino Majorano, C.SS.R.,   
   lecturer in systematic moral theology at the Alphonsianum Academy, Rome; Fr.   
   Manuel Jesus Arroba Conde, C.M.F., dean of the Institutum Utriusque Iuris at   
   the   
   Pontifical Lateran University, Rome; Fr. Jose Granados, D.C.J.M., vice   
   president   
   of the John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Marriage and Family Studies,   
   lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian Institute.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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