VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 082   
   DATE 04-05-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - To the bishops of the Congo: build fraternity rooted in forgiveness and   
   solidarity   
   - Catholics and Lutherans are brothers in faith, not adversaries   
   - The Holy Father thanks the Pontifical Swiss Guard for their hard work   
   - Pope's message for the 750th anniversary of the birth of Dante   
   - Visit to the Roman parish of Santa Maria Regina Pacis   
   - Regina Coeli: true Christians who do good for society   
   - The Pope presides at the Mass and day of reflection dedicated to Friar   
   Junipero Serra   
   - Francis to the faithful of Molise and Abruzzo: job creation cannot be   
   postponed   
   - Globalising solidarity: the Pope's message for the inauguration of the Milan   
   Universal Exposition   
   - To the Cursillos in Christianity: take your charism to the existential   
   peripheries   
   - Four cardinals to take possession of titles and diaconates   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the bishops of the Congo: build fraternity rooted in forgiveness and   
   solidarity   
    Vatican City, 4 May 2015 (VIS) - The bishops of the Episcopal Conference of   
   Congo were received in audience by Pope Francis this morning, at the end of   
   their "ad Limina" visit. The Holy Father handed them a written discourse in   
   which he emphasises the vitality of the Catholic Church in this country, which   
   has led to the creation of three new dioceses, and the work of pastors in the   
   work of evangelisation, as well as the Church's contribution in the education   
   and healthcare sectors and her role in national reconciliation following the   
   grave crisis of the 1990s.   
    Francis praises the work of the Episcopal Conference with regard to the   
   mission   
   of the laity in the Church and society, and mentioned the importance of forming   
   and accompanying laypeople to offer Christian witness in socio-political   
   sectors, which constitute a specific sector for the apostolate. "Family   
   pastoral   
   ministry is an integral part of this accompaniment. The reluctance of the   
   faithful to embark on Christian marriage reveals the need for profound   
   evangelisation, which involves not only the inculturation of faith, but also   
   the   
   evangelisation of local traditions and culture".   
    In these sectors, as in many others, priests are the bishops' first   
   collaborators and as a result, their living conditions and sanctification must   
   be central to their concerns. "The immense pastoral needs of the local Church   
   require rigorous discernment, so that the People of God are able to count on   
   zealous pastors who edify the faithful through their testimony of life,   
   especially in relation to celibacy and the spirit of evangelical poverty". The   
   Pope also remarks that in some dioceses there are great difficulties due to the   
   lack of available financial and material resources.   
    "I am aware of the magnitude of the problems and the worries related to this   
   situation in the heart of a pastor. Therefore, I encourage you to resolutely   
   engage your dioceses in embarking on the path of autonomy, a gradual takeover   
   of   
   control and solidarity between the particular Churches in your country,   
   following a tradition that dates back to the first Christian communities. In   
   this respect, you must be careful to ensure that economic aid to your   
   particular   
   Churches in support of your specific mission does not limit your freedom as   
   pastors or obstruct the freedom of the Church, which must have a free hand to   
   proclaim the Gospel in a credible way. ... With regard to mutual aid and   
   solidarity between local Churches, this must also be reflected in the promotion   
   of the missionary spirit first within Africa", affirmed Francis, quoting Paul   
   VI   
   in his 1969 discourse in Kampala: "By now, you Africans are missionaries to   
   yourselves".   
    In-depth evangelisation is another great challenge for the bishops, and one   
   which requires "special attention to the concrete conditions of life for the   
   populations; that is, ultimately, to the development of the human person. Again   
   here the commitment of the Catholic Church in the Congo is important: in the   
   fields of education, healthcare, and aid to the various categories of people in   
   need, including refugees from neighbouring countries, your diocese contribute   
   in   
   a significant way. As pastors, continue to ensure that your social ministry is   
   increasingly carried out in the spirit of the Gospel and perceived as a work of   
   evangelisation, and not as the action of a non-governmental organisation".   
    The Pope concludes by noting that in certain sectors of society, the wounds   
   caused by the grave crisis that affected the Congo at the end of the 1990s have   
   left deep scars that have not yet fully healed. "In this respect, in   
   particular,   
   the Church, strong in the Gospel of Jesus, has received the mission of building   
   new fraternity anchored in forgiveness and solidarity. You, pastors, continue   
   to   
   be models and prophets in this sense!".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Catholics and Lutherans are brothers in faith, not adversaries   
    Vatican City, 4 May 2015 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received in audience   
   the   
   Lutheran archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden, Antje Jackelen, who led a delegation to   
   the Vatican from the Evangelical-Lutheran Church. Francis greeted them   
   cordially   
   and commented that last year was the fiftieth anniversary of the Vatican   
   Council   
   II decree on ecumenism, "Unitatis Redintegratio", which continues to be the key   
   point of reference for the ecumenical efforts of the Catholic Church. "This   
   document is an invitation to all Catholics to undertake the path of unity to   
   overcome division between Christians, which is "not only openly opposed to the   
   will of Christ, but is also a scandal to the world and damages the holiest of   
   causes: the preaching of the Gospel to every creature".   
    The decree "expresses a profound respect and appreciation for those brothers   
   and sisters separated from us, to whom in daily coexistence we at times risk   
   giving little consideration. In reality, they are not perceived as adversaries   
   or as competitors, but instead acknowledged for what they are: brothers and   
   sisters in faith. Catholics and Lutherans must seek and promote unity in   
   dioceses, in parishes, in communities throughout the world", the Pope   
   emphasised, mentioning the recent document "From conflict to communion. The   
   Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation in 2017", published   
   by   
   the Lutheran-Catholic Commission for Unity. "We sincerely hope that this   
   initiative may encourage, with God's help and collaboration between Him and   
   among us, the achievement of further steps on the path of unity".   
    The call to unity also implies "a pressing exhortation to joint commitment at   
   the charitable level, in favour of all those who suffer in the world as a   
   result   
   of poverty and violence, and have a special need for our mercy; the witness of   
   our persecuted brothers and sisters in particular drives us to grow in   
   fraternal   
   communion. The question of the dignity of human life, always to be respected,   
   is   
   of urgent relevance, as are issues regarding the family, marriage and   
   sexuality,   
   that may not be set aside or ignored for fear of jeopardising the ecumenical   
   consensus already received. It would be a pity if new confessional differences   
   were to be consolidated with regard to these important questions".   
    Francis concluded his address by giving thanks first to the Swedish Lutheran   
   Church, "for the welcome given to so many South American migrants in the times   
   of the dictatorships, a fraternal welcome that has enabled families to grow",   
   and secondly, to Jackelen, "for the delicacy that you, dear sister, have had in   
   appointing my dear friend, the pastor Anders Root: I have shared with him the   
   chair in spiritual theology and he has helped me greatly in spiritual life".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Holy Father thanks the Pontifical Swiss Guard for their hard work   
    Vatican City, 4 May 2015 (VIS) - "'Greater love has no one than this, that   
   someone lay down his life for his friends'. In the history of the Church, many   
   men and women have heeded the call of this great love. The Swiss Guards who   
   fought during the Sack of Rome and who gave their lives in defence of the Pope   
   responded to this call. And answering this call with devotion means following   
   Christ", said the Holy Father as he received in audience the new recruits to   
   the   
   Pontifical Swiss Guard who will take their oath of loyalty tomorrow, 6 May.   
    "In the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola, who in his youth was a   
   soldier, spoke of the 'call of the Christ the King', who wishes to build His   
   Kingdom and choose his collaborators. The Lord wishes to build His Kingdom with   
   the collaboration of men. He needs decisive and courageous people. ... At the   
   same   
   time, Ignatius compares the world to two military camps, one with the standard   
   of Christ, the other under the flag of Satan. There are only these two camps.   
   For the Christian the choice is clear: he follows Christ's standard".   
    "Christ is the true King. He Himself goes ahead and His friends follow Him.   
   One   
   of Christ's soldiers participates in the life of His Lord. This is also the   
   call   
   that is addressed to you: to take on the concerns of Christ, to be His   
   companions. In this way you learn, day by day, to 'feel' with Christ and with   
   the Church. A Swiss Guard is a person who truly seeks to follow the Lord Jesus   
   and who loves the Church in a special way; he is a Christian with genuine   
   faith", emphasised the Pontiff. "You too, like every Christian, must live all   
   this through the Sacraments of the Church: with diligent participation in Mass   
   and frequent Confession. You can live this by reading the Gospel every day.   
   What   
   I say to all, I repeat to you: keep a pocket-sized Gospel close to hand, so you   
   can read it whenever you have a free moment. Your personal prayer, especially   
   the Rosary, will also help you, during your guards of honour. And it will help   
   you in your service to the poor, the sick, to those in need of a good word".   
    The Pope remarked that when the Swiss Guards meet people and pilgrims they   
   transmit to them, with their "kindness and competence", this "great love" that   
   comes from their friendship with Christ. Indeed", he exclaimed, "you are a   
   banner for the Holy See! I thank you and encourage you in your work".   
    "I know that your service is demanding. When there is extra work to be done,   
   we   
   are always able to count on the Swiss Guard. I thank you with affection and   
   express my great appreciation for all that you do for the Church and for me, as   
   the Successor of Peter", he concluded.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope's message for the 750th anniversary of the birth of Dante   
    Vatican City, 4 May 2015 (VIS) - This morning, with the commemoration in the   
   Senate, there began the events with which all Italy will celebrate the birth of   
   Dante Alighieri (Florence 1265 - Ravenna 1321), the author of "The Divine   
   Comedy". The Pope participated with a message to Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi,   
   president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, also present at the ceremony   
   presided over by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, and attended   
   by the minister for Culture Dario Franceschini and the actor Roberto Benigni,   
   who read Canto XXXIII of Paradise.   
    "With this message, I wish to join the chorus of those who consider Dante   
   Alighieri to be an artist of the highest universal value, who still has much to   
   say and to offer, through his immortal works, to those who wish to follow the   
   route of true knowledge, of the authentic discovery of the self, of the world,   
   of the profound and transcendent meaning of existence", writes the Pope.   
    He notes that many of his predecessors celebrated the anniversaries of Dante   
   with documents of great importance, in which the figure of Dante Alighieri is   
   presented precisely for his continuing relevance and his greatness, not only   
   artistic but also theological and cultural. He cites, among these, Benedict XV   
   who dedicated his encyclical "In praeclara summorum" (1921) to Dante on the   
   sixth centenary of his death, affirming and highlighting "the intimate union of   
   Dante with the See of Peter". Blessed Paul VI dedicated the Apostolic Letter   
   "Altissimi cantus", at the closure of Vatican Council II, to Dante, affirming   
   that "Dante is ours! Ours, as in of Catholic faith". St. John Paul II and   
   Benedict XVI also often referred to the works of the great poet and mentioned   
   him on numerous occasions. Pope Francis added that in his first encyclical,   
   "Lumen Fidei", he drew upon the "immense patrimony of images, symbols and   
   values   
   that constitute Dante's work".   
    On the eve of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, the Holy Father expresses   
   his   
   hope that during this year the figure of Dante and his work will also accompany   
   us on this personal and community path. "Indeed", he remarks, "the Comedy may   
   be   
   read as a great itinerary, or rather as a true pilgrimage, both personal and   
   interior, and communal, ecclesial, social and historical. It represents the   
   paradigm of every authentic journey in which humanity is called upon to leave   
   what Dante defines as 'the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious' to   
   attain   
   a new condition, marked by harmony, peace and happiness. And this is the   
   horizon   
   of every true humanism".   
    "Dante is, therefore, a prophet of hope, herald of the possibility of   
   redemption, of liberation, of the profound transformation of every man and   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)