VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 064   
   DATE 31-03-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee of Mercy: 11 April in St. Peter's Basilica   
   - Pope Francis' prayer intentions for April   
   - Declaration of the Vice Director of the Holy See Press Office   
   - The Holy See on the Sustainable Development Goals   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee of Mercy: 11 April in St. Peter's Basilica   
    Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - Following the first announcement of the   
   next extraordinary Holy Year by Pope Francis on 13 March, the Holy Father will   
   proceed with the official indiction of the Jubilee of Mercy with the   
   publication   
   of the Bull of Indiction on Saturday 11 April, at 5.30 pm in St. Peter's   
   Basilica.   
    The rite of publication will involve the reading of various passages of the   
   Bull before the Holy Door of the Vatican Basilica. Pope Francis will   
   subsequently preside at the celebration of First Vespers of Divine Mercy   
   Sunday,   
   thus underlining in a particular way the fundamental theme of the extraordinary   
   Holy Year: God's Mercy.   
    The term bull (from the Latin bulla = bubble or, more generally, a rounded   
   object) originally indicated the metal capsule used to protect the wax seal   
   attached with a cord to a document of particular importance, to attest to its   
   authenticity and, as a consequence, its authority. Over time, the term began to   
   be used first to indicate the seal, then the document itself, so that nowadays   
   it is used for all papal documents of special importance that bear, or at least   
   traditionally would have borne, the Pontiff's seal.   
    The bull for the indiction of a jubilee, for instance in the case of an   
   extraordinary Holy Year, aside from indicating its time, with the opening and   
   closing dates and the main ways in which it will be implemented, constitutes   
   the   
   fundamental document for recognising the spirit in which it is announced, and   
   the intentions and the outcomes hoped for by the Pontiff, who invokes it for   
   the   
   Church.   
    In the case of the last two extraordinary Holy Years, 1933 and 1983, the Bull   
   of Indiction was published on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Epiphany of   
   the Lord. For the next extraordinary Holy Year, the choice of the occasion on   
   which the publication of the Bull will take place clearly demonstrates the Holy   
   Father's particular attention to the theme of Mercy.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope Francis' prayer intentions for April   
    Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father's universal prayer   
   intention for April is: "That people may learn to respect creation and care for   
   it as a gift of God".   
    His intention for evangelisation is: "That persecuted Christians may feel the   
   consoling presence of the Risen Lord and the solidarity of all the Church".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Declaration of the Vice Director of the Holy See Press Office   
    Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - The Vice Director of the Holy See Press   
   Office, Fr. Ciro Benedettini, C.P., today issued the following declaration:   
    "Prior to the recent appointment of His Excellency Msgr. Juan de la Cruz   
   Barros   
   Madrid as bishop of Osorno, Chile, the Congregation for Bishops carefully   
   examined the prelate's candidature and did not find objective reasons   
   precluding   
   the appointment".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Holy See on the Sustainable Development Goals   
    Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Holy See   
   Permanent Observer at the United Nations in New York, spoke at the session   
   dedicated to intergovernmental negotiations on the Post-2015 Development   
   Agenda,   
   held on 24 March.   
    The prelate expressed his appreciation for the "ambitious and compelling   
   nature" of the sustainable development goals (SDGs), and his conviction of the   
   need for a "transformative and action-oriented post-2015 agenda". "Moreover",   
   he   
   continued, "we SDGs must integrate in a balanced manner the three pillars of   
   sustainable development - economic, social and environmental development - with   
   an overarching focus on the eradication of poverty and the achievement of a   
   life   
   of dignity for all. It is imperative that the SDGs focus more on the needs of   
   the most vulnerable countries, notably the Least Developed Countries (LDCs),   
   Land-Locked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States   
   (SIDS), with particular attention to the sectors of the populations where   
   poverty is most pervasive, to those regions where armed conflicts continue to   
   block even the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - and   
   indeed cause further regression towards underdevelopment - and to those areas   
   most affected by natural disasters.   
    The Holy See delegation, affirmed the Archbishop, "is fully aware that SDGs   
   are   
   a carefully and purposefully crafted package to respond to the desires of the   
   stakeholders", and therefore does not support "the technical proofing of the   
   goals and targets, as it may lead to the re-opening and re-negotiating of what   
   is already a politically balanced agreement acceptable to the great majority of   
   the stakeholders". Furthermore, results and progress if the SDGs are   
   implemented   
   "would have to be assessed and verified against indicators agreed by the   
   stakeholders themselves".   
    "Therefore", he continued, "my delegation takes note of the work of the UN   
   Statistical Commission in providing a preliminary list of indicators for the   
   SDGs and targets. We further emphasise that the development of evidence-based   
   indicators should continue to be carried out in an open and transparent manner   
   and guided by Member States. These indicators should not upset the political   
   balance of the SDGs, nor should they serve to impose ideas or ideologies that   
   do   
   not find consensus under the outcome of the Open Working Groups (OWGs)".   
    Archbishop Auza concluded by indicating that certain goals and targets "are   
   understood differently in different cultural and religious contexts and will   
   translate differently into their national policies and legislation. We believe   
   the indicators must take these differences into consideration and be drafted in   
   a way that allows countries to assess their results in a way that both reflects   
   and respects their national values, as well as is consistent with their   
   national   
   policies and legislation. ... My delegation strongly believes that the   
   indicators   
   should be global, while taking into consideration the national and regional   
   specificities, especially different capacities. Indicators cannot be   
   unrealistic   
   figures that only, or not even, developed countries can achieve".   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 31 March 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Fr. Christophe Amade, M. Afr., as bishop of Kalemie-Kirungu (area 71,577,   
   population 5,950,013, Catholics 3,663,230, priests 100, religious 125),   
   Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bishop-elect was born in Mune, Democratic   
   Republic of the Congo in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He studied   
   theology at the London Missionary Institute, England, and holds a doctorate in   
   philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has exercised his   
   pastoral ministry in Funsi in the diocese of Wa, Ghana, and has served as   
   lecturer and subsequently rector of the Consortium of Philosophy in Jinja,   
   Uganda, and lecturer in philosophy at the Consortium of Philosophy in Kumasi,   
   Ghana and at the St. Augustin University, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the   
   Congo. He is currently provincial superior of the Society of the Missionaries   
   of   
   Africa ("White Fathers") for Central Africa.   
    - Fr. Donatien Bafuidinsoni, S.J., and Msgr. Jean-Pierre Kwambamba Masi as   
   auxiliaries of the archdiocese of Kinshasa (area 8,500, population 10,516,000,   
   Catholics 5,830,000, priests 1166, religious 3,643), Democratic Republic of the   
   Congo. Bishop-elect Bafuidinsoni is currently judicial vicar of the same   
   archdiocese; Bishop-elect Kwambamba Masi, currently of the clergy of Kenge, is   
   an official of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the   
   Sacraments.   
    - Rev. Fr. Giorgio Demetrio Gallaro as bishop of Piana degli Albanese di   
   Sicilia (area 420, population 30,500, Catholics 29,000, priests 28, permanent   
   deacons 4, religious 159), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Pozzallo, Italy   
   in 1948 and was ordained a priest in 1972. He holds a doctorate in oriental   
   canon law from the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome, and a licentiate in   
   ecumenical theology from the Pontifical Institute of St. Thomas Aquinas   
   (Angelicum), Rome. In the U.S.A. he has served in pastoral and academic roles   
   in   
   the Melkite eparchy of Newton, Massachusetts, the Ukrainian eparchy of   
   Stamford,   
   Connecticut, and the Ruthenian archieparchy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is   
   currently syncellus for canonical affairs and judicial vicar in the   
   archieparchy   
   of Pittsburgh, lecturer in canon law and ecumenical theology at the Byzantine   
   Catholic Seminary of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Pittsburgh, and judge of   
   appeal   
   for the archieparchy of Philadelphia of the Ukrainians.   
    - Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi, president of the Prefecture for the Economic   
   Affairs of the Holy See, as prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education.   
    - Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, archbishop of Koln, Germany, as member of the   
   Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)