VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 072   
   DATE 16-04-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - May the Church in Kenya be an instrument of reconciliation, justice and peace   
   - The Pope to travel to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay in July   
   - Press Release on the Implementation of the C.D.F. Doctrinal Assessment and   
   Mandate of April 2012   
   - Presentation of the Annuarium Pontificium   
   - Cardinal Montenegro to take possession of his titular church   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    May the Church in Kenya be an instrument of reconciliation, justice and peace   
    Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) - This morning the prelates of the Kenya   
   Conference of Catholic Bishops were received in audience by Pope Francis at the   
   end of their "ad Limina" visit. In the written discourse he handed to them, the   
   Holy Father writes that for many of them this visit to Rome will recall the   
   time   
   spent in the Italian capital during their preparation for ordination to the   
   priesthood. "The many seminarians studying in this city, like the numerous   
   seminarians in your own country, are an eloquent sign of God's goodness to the   
   universal Church and to your dioceses".   
    "While the seeds of a priestly vocation are sown long before a man arrives at   
   the seminary, first in the heart of the family", he notes, "it pertains to   
   seminary formators to nurture the growth of these vocations. For this reason,   
   it   
   is imperative that seminarians' goodwill and earnest desires be met with a   
   formation that is humanly sound, spiritually deep, intellectually rich, and   
   pastorally diverse. I am aware of the challenges which this entails, and I   
   encourage you to strengthen your efforts, individually within your Dioceses and   
   collectively in your Episcopal Conference, so that the good work which the Lord   
   is accomplishing in your candidates for priestly Orders will be brought to   
   completion".   
    "In this Year of Consecrated Life, my heart is also close to the men and women   
   religious who have renounced the world for the sake of the kingdom thus   
   bringing   
   many blessings to the Church and society in Kenya. ... The united and selfless   
   efforts of many Catholics in Kenya are a beautiful witness and example for the   
   country. In so many ways, the Church is called to offer hope to the broader   
   culture, a hope based on her unstinting witness to the newness of life promised   
   by Christ in the Gospel. In this regard, without wishing to interfere in   
   temporal affairs, the Church must insist, especially to those who are in   
   positions of leadership and power, on those moral principles which promote the   
   common good and the building up of society as a whole. In the fulfilment of her   
   apostolic mission, the Church must take a prophetic stand in defence of the   
   poor   
   and against all corruption and abuse of power. She must do so, in the first   
   place, by example. ... In a particular way, I wish to offer a word of   
   appreciation   
   to the many humble and dedicated workers in Church-run institutions throughout   
   your country, whose daily activities bring spiritual and material benefit to   
   countless people. The Church has contributed, and continues to contribute, to   
   all of Kenya through a diverse array of schools, institutes, universities,   
   clinics, hospitals, homes for the sick and dying, orphanages and social   
   agencies".   
    Pope Francis goes on to emphasise that "the Church in Kenya must always be   
   true   
   to her mission as an instrument of reconciliation, justice and peace. In   
   fidelity to the entire patrimony of the faith and moral teaching of the Church,   
   may you strengthen your commitment to working with Christian and non-Christian   
   leaders alike, in promoting peace and justice in your country through dialogue,   
   fraternity and friendship. In this way you will be able to offer a more unified   
   and courageous denunciation of all violence, especially that committed in the   
   name of God. This will bring deeper reassurance and solace to all your fellow   
   citizens". He affirms, "With you, I pray for all those who have been killed by   
   acts of terror or ethnic or tribal hostilities in Kenya as well as other areas   
   of the continent. I think most especially of the men and women killed at   
   Garissa   
   University College on Good Friday. May their souls rest in peace and their   
   loved   
   ones be consoled, and may those who commit such brutality come to their senses   
   and seek mercy".   
    The Pope encourages the prelates in their pastoral care for the family, and   
   declares his conviction that as the Church prepares for the Ordinary Synod   
   dedicated to the pastoral challenges to the family in the context of   
   evangelisation "you will continue to assist and strengthen all those families   
   who are struggling because of broken marriages, infidelity, addiction or   
   violence", and asks them to "intensify the Church's ministry to youth, forming   
   them to be disciples capable of making permanent and life-giving commitments -   
   whether to a spouse in marriage, or to the Lord in the priesthood or religious   
   life".   
    Finally, he prays with them the the forthcoming Jubilee of Mercy may be "a   
   time   
   of great forgiveness, healing, conversion, and grace for the entire Church in   
   Kenya" and that, "touched by Christ's infinite mercy, may all the faithful be   
   signs of the reconciliation, justice and peace that God wills for your country,   
   and indeed, all of Africa".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope to travel to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay in July   
    Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) - The director of the Holy See Press Office,   
   Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., today declared that Pope Francis, accepting the   
   invitation offered by the respective Heads of State and bishops of these   
   countries, will make an apostolic trip to Ecuador, from 6 to 8 July, Bolivia   
   from 8 to 10 July, and Paraguay, from 10 to 12 of the same month. The programme   
   for the trip will be published shortly.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Press Release on the Implementation of the C.D.F. Doctrinal Assessment and   
   Mandate of April 2012   
    Vatican City, 16 April 2015 (VIS) - Officials of the Congregation for the   
   Doctrine of the Faith (C.D.F.), Archbishop Peter Sartain and officers of the   
   Leadership Conference of Women Religious (L.C.W.R.) met April 16. Archbishop   
   Sartain and L.C.W.R. officers presented a joint report (attached) on the   
   implementation of the C.D.F. Doctrinal Assessment and Mandate of April 2012.   
   The   
   joint report outlines the manner in which the implementation of the Mandate has   
   been accomplished. The Congregation accepted the joint report, marking the   
   conclusion of the Doctrinal Assessment of L.C.W.R. Present for the April 16   
   meeting were His Eminence Gerhard Cardinal Muller, Archbishop Peter Sartain,   
   Sr.   
   Carol Zinn, S.S.J., Sr. Marcia Allen, C.S.J., Sr. Joan Marie Steadman, C.S.C.,   
   and Sr. Janet Mock, C.S.J., and other officials of CDF.   
    During the meeting, Archbishop Sartain and L.C.W.R. officers outlined the   
   process undertaken by the Bishop Delegates and L.C.W.R. over the past three   
   years, noting the spirit of cooperation among participants throughout the   
   sensitive process. Cardinal Muller offered his thoughts on the Doctrinal   
   Assessment as well as the Mandate and its completion. He expressed gratitude to   
   those present for their willing participation in this important and delicate   
   work and extended thanks to others who had participated, especially Archbishop   
   Leonard P. Blair, Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, and the past officers and   
   executive   
   directors of L.C.W.R.   
    Following the meeting, Cardinal Muller said: "At the conclusion of this   
   process, the Congregation is confident that L.C.W.R. has made clear its mission   
   to support its member Institutes by fostering a vision of religious life that   
   is   
   centred on the person of Jesus Christ and is rooted in the tradition of the   
   Church. It is this vision that makes religious women and men radical witnesses   
   to the Gospel, and, therefore, is essential for the flourishing of religious   
   life in the Church".   
    Sr. Sharon Holland, IHM,President of L.C.W.R., was unable to be present for   
   the   
   meeting but commented, "We are pleased at the completion of the Mandate, which   
   involved long and challenging exchanges of our understandings of and   
   perspectives on critical matters of Religious Life and its practice. Through   
   these exchanges, conducted always in a spirit of prayer and mutual respect, we   
   were brought to deeper understandings of one another's experiences, roles,   
   responsibilities, and hopes for the Church and the people it serves. We learned   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)