Charity and other associations present in the diocese of Rome. The event will   
   also be attended by detainees from the Rebibbia prison and various inhabitants   
   of camps for nomadic peoples. Elderly people, families and young people from   
   the   
   Roman parishes have also been invited, especially those from the quarters   
   afflicted by material and spiritual difficulties.   
    An invitation is required to attend the concert. These are entirely free and   
   may be obtained online before 8 May by compiling the form on the website of the   
   Choir of the Diocese of Rome, at   
   http://www.corodiocesidiroma.com/concerto-aula-paolo-vi.html. During the press   
   conference, Msgr. Diego Ravelli, head of the office of the Apostolic Almoner,   
   explained that this will be a concert not only "with" the poor but rather "for"   
   the poor, as the donations made by the sponsors and all those who wish to offer   
   an economic contribution will be destined for Pope Francis' charitable works.   
   This task is entrusted to the Apostolic Almoner, whose mission is explained   
   below, and which receives every day a great number of letters from needy people   
   and families, a number that has increased along with the economic crisis,   
   rising   
   unemployment and the phenomenon of immigration. All these letters are   
   authenticated by parish priests and other ecclesiastical authorities, to whom   
   as   
   guarantors the economic assistance will be given, to be devolved to the people   
   concerned, "as it is important for the Pope's concrete gesture to be integrated   
   with the solidarity of the local Church and Christian parish community".   
    "Aid will be modest as it is hoped it will reach the largest possible number   
   of   
   people", he continued. "The Almoner's Office also supports associations devoted   
   to alleviating the suffering of different groups of people in difficulties,   
   such   
   as the homeless, political refugees, prisoners, overseas university students,   
   hospital inpatients, the elderly, single mothers and orphaned or abandoned   
   children. Similarly, again with modest subsidies, it also intervenes outside   
   Italy, especially in the poorest countries, to support initiatives of a   
   charitable nature promoted by bishops and diocesan or religious priests.   
   Particular attention is also given to cloistered women religious, who often   
   lack   
   sufficient economic resources for everyday needs or to face extraordinary or   
   unexpected maintenance work on community buildings".   
    "In total, the sum that the Apostolic Almoner distributed in 2014 exceeded one   
   and a half million Euros", said Msgr. Rivelli, who went on to remark that when   
   Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Konrad Krajewski in 2013 he instructed him to   
   reach out to the poor, not to wait for them to ask for help, and to "leave his   
   desk to go in search of them beyond the office walls".   
    "All this is possible thanks to the charity fund available to the Almoner,   
   made   
   up of donations from private individuals and groups or bodies, or collections   
   organised for the purpose, and offers directly from the hands of the Holy   
   Father, who receives contributions for his charity during the general audiences   
   and from meetings with pilgrims. The majority of the funds, however, come from   
   the faculty, delegated to the Almoner by Pope Leo XIII, to grant apostolic   
   blessings in the form of documents on parchment to the faithful who request   
   them   
   for certain occasions".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    New commission for Vatican communications   
    Vatican City, 30 April 2015 (VIS) - During the last meeting of the Council of   
   Cardinals to assist the Holy Father in the governance of the universal Church   
   and to draw up a plan for the revision of the apostolic constitution "Pastor   
   bonus" on the Roman Curia (13-15 April 2015), the final report of the committee   
   charged with proposing reform of Vatican communications, the so-called Vatican   
   Media Committee (VMC), was examined.   
    The Council of Cardinals subsequently proposed to His Holiness the institution   
   of a commission to study this final report and to suggest feasible approaches   
   to   
   its implementation. The proposal was favourably accepted by the Holy Father,   
   who   
   on 23 April decided to institute the commission and to appoint its members.   
    The new commission will be chaired by Msgr. Dario Edoardo Vigano, director of   
   the Vatican Television Centre, and its members will be: Paolo Nusiner, director   
   general of the daily newspaper "Avvenire", Nuova Editoriale Italiana, Milan;   
   Msgr. Lucio Adrian Ruiz, head of the Vatican Internet Service, directorate of   
   Telecommunications of the Governorate of Vatican City State; Fr. Antonio   
   Spadaro, S.J., director of "La Civilt  Cattolica"; and Msgr. Paul Tighe,   
   secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The international community must not resign itself to the tragedy of   
   Christians   
   in the Middle East   
    Vatican City, 30 April 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the   
   Congregation for the Oriental Churches, spoke yesterday at the opening of the   
   Symposium "Christians in the Middle East: what future?", organised by the   
   Sant'Egidio Community and the archdiocese of Bari-Bitonto, Italy.   
    In his address, the cardinal remarked that many Christians in the East,   
   hearing   
   just a few days ago the story of Pilate's famous gesture of washing his hands,   
   "may have thought of the indifference and inaction to which the international   
   community appears to have resigned itself before the tragedies that have for   
   some years now been wearing away at Syria and Iraq". He added, "it is also   
   saddening to see the incapacity of leaders in Lebanon, even those who are   
   Christians, to arrive at consensus on the new president on the basis of a line   
   of conduct due less to conscience than to the weighty influences of the forces   
   that compete for supremacy in the area".   
    "We trust, however, that in the heart of all people, both in the West and in   
   the East, the governor Pilate's poignant question remains alive: 'Quid est   
   veritas?', 'What is truth?', followed by his search and service to it. The   
   truth   
   is first and foremost an act of removing every veil and covering from reality.   
   It cannot be denied that if a solution has not yet been found it is certainly   
   because the problems are many and complex, and also touch upon the internal   
   relations between the different groups of Muslim faithful and between them and   
   other religions present in the region, including Christians. But it is also   
   legitimate to think that there are interests and balances of power and wealth   
   that go before - seemingly without conceding a step - the mere survival, rather   
   than the well-being, of the populations. And this is a scandal: let us remember   
   what the Lord says, still today, to all the Cains on earth: 'What have you   
   done?   
   The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground'.   
    Cardinal Sandri went on to mention that every year he launches an appeal, on   
   behalf of the Holy Father, for support and aid to Christians in the Holy Land,   
   a   
   term that designates not only those who live within the borders of the State of   
   Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but also all the places linked to   
   salvation history, the area of Mesopotamia and Persia, where the apostles   
   preached, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt, where the Holy Family sought   
   refuge.   
    "But mentioning a presence thus configured must be an indication of a method   
   also for discussion at other levels", he added. "It is not possible to speak of   
   stability in the Middle East without reference to the age-old question of   
   Israel   
   and Palestine, accepting that Christians are permitted to live relatively   
   peacefully in both territories. On the other hand, there must be no doubt   
   regarding the need for all States, including Israel, to exist and be protected,   
   not threatened. It is the task of Christian pastors throughout the Middle East   
   to help their faithful to grow in this knowledge, pouring abundant oil of   
   consolation, forgiveness and mercy on the wounds of the recent past. If we do   
   not move in this direction, there is no doubt that power-crazed groups such as   
   ISIS will multiply, especially as they are supported with arms and resources by   
   various interested parties".   
    "The West appears to have lost, over the centuries, the capacity for   
   conceiving   
   of itself within a healthy religious framework of reference, and increasingly   
   favours an exasperated secular model, if not indeed a true 'eclipse of God'.   
   The   
   destruction and horrors of the Middle East - which some wish to attribute   
   exclusively to the religious factors - must not become an excuse to confirm   
   this   
   partial and mistaken vision, but rather a stimulus for rethinking the   
   coexistence of and collaboration between different sectors of society for the   
   full development of humanity", concluded the prefect.   
    The participants in the symposium subsequently attended the Basilica of St.   
   Nicholas, patron of Bari, where they prayed for the saint's intercession to   
   bring an end to the suffering of Christians in the Middle East and to accompany   
   the work of the Pan-Orthodox Council, to be held in Turkey in 2016.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 30 April 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience   
   Bishop Robert Francis Provost, apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, Peru.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Notice   
    Vatican City, 30 April 2015 (VIS) - We inform our readers that tomorrow,   
   Friday   
   1 May, feast of St. Joseph the Worker and a holiday in the Vatican, the Vatican   
   Information Service bulletin will not be transmitted. Service will resume on   
   Monday, 4 May.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   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)