who,in transmitting the life of faith, support Christian communities and, in   
   particular, our parishes in a decisive way. On June 12, we will have a large   
   gathering for the sick and disabled, as well as for those who care for them   
   with   
   such love and dedication. On November 6, we will celebrate the Jubilee for   
   those   
   in prison. This will be held not only in prisons but we have been studying the   
   possibility of giving many of those in prison the opportunity to celebrate   
   their   
   own Holy Year with Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica.   
    "Secondly, there will significant efforts to enact Pope Francis vision and   
   witness of reaching out to those on the existential 'peripheries' of society,   
   in   
   order to give a direct testimony to the Church's affinity and care for the   
   poor,   
   the suffering, the marginalised, and all those who need a sign of tenderness.   
   These moments will have a symbolic meaning, but we will also ask bishops and   
   priests to perform in their own dioceses similar symbolic gestures of communion   
   with Pope Francis so that everyone may receive a concrete sign of the Church's   
   ministry of mercy and closeness. As a concrete sign of the Pope's charitable   
   love, which is an essential component of this Jubilee, effective measures will   
   be taken to meet real needs in the world that will express mercy through   
   tangible assistance.   
    "Thirdly, we must meet the needs of the many pilgrims who will come alone to   
   Rome apart from any organised tour or tour group. For these individuals, there   
   will be a number of churches in the historic centre of Rome where they will   
   feel   
   welcome, where they can have moments of reflective prayer and prepare   
   themselves   
   thoroughly to walk through the Holy Door in an atmosphere of genuine spiritual   
   devotion. All the pilgrims who will come to Rome, however, will have a   
   privileged route through which to walk through the Holy Door. This is necessary   
   in order to ensure that the event is lived in a religious way, safe from any   
   climate of abuse that can easily confront millions of people making a   
   pilgrimage   
   to Christian holy sites.   
    "The official website for the Jubilee has already been launched:   
   www.iubilaeummisericordiae.va, and can be accessed also at www.im.va. The site   
   is available in seven languages: Italian, English, Spanish, Portuguese, French,   
   German, and Polish. On the site you will find official information regarding   
   the   
   calendar of the major public events, information for participating in the   
   events   
   with the Holy Father, and all of the official communications regarding the   
   Jubilee. Also, through the site,dioceses will be able to receive information   
   and   
   pastoral suggestions, register pilgrimage groups, andrelay to us their local   
   diocesan projects. The website uses a number of social networks (Facebook,   
   Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus and Flickr) through which we will be able to   
   provide updates on the Holy Father's initiative and follow in real time the   
   major events as they take place. We have also been studying the possibility of   
   an app with which to better integrate all this information".   
    Archbishop Fisichella concluded, "We are convinced that the path of mercy on   
   which Pope Francis has placed the Church in this journey of the Jubilee will be   
   a moment of true grace for all Christians and a reawakening to the path of the   
   new evangelisation and the pastoral conversion the Pope has indicated. As Pope   
   Francis wrote: 'In this Jubilee Year, may the Church echo the word of God that   
   resounds strong and clear as a message and a sign of pardon, strength, aid, and   
   love. May she never tire of extending mercy, and be ever patient in offering   
   compassion and comfort. May the Church become the voice of every man and woman,   
   and repeat confidently without end: Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and your   
   steadfast love, for they have been from of old'".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Cardinal Leonardo Sandri: signs of light in the churches of Iraq   
    Vatican City, 5 May 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the   
   Congregation for the Oriental Churches, concluded his visit to Iraq with a   
   meeting with the bishops of the country with the entities that form the Roaco   
   (Riunione Opere Aiuto Chiese Orientali", "Reunion of Aid Agencies for the   
   Oriental Churches") in Erbil.   
    The cardinal, in his second trip to Iraq, brought Pope Francis' blessing to   
   Iraqi Christians the acknowledgement and encouragement of the Authorities for   
   their work in the difficult current context of Iraq in favour of Christians,   
   other minorities and those who suffer as a result of the violence. From 1 to 3   
   May Cardinal Sandri visited Baghdad where he celebrated the Divine Liturgy in   
   the Chaldean Cathedral of St. Joseph and lunched with refugees assisted by   
   various ecclesial institutions. In Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, he   
   met   
   with the Roaco delegation which is planning aid projects in various areas of   
   pastoral life and in the assistance of refugees.   
    In his final address to the bishops in Erbil, the cardinal referred to the   
   "signs of light" he had seen in the Churches of Iraq during his visit: "The   
   liturgy, the hymns, the trust in Mary, but above all the splendour of charity,   
   through ordinary works and those linked to the various forms of welcome and   
   pastoral assistance to displaced and persecuted people. I have encountered   
   first   
   hand the heroic dedication of the many priests who are truly good pastors, who   
   do not flee, who stay beside their flock; I have been moved by the profound   
   communion that goes before any theological discussion, although the latter is   
   necessary, and any other form of ecumenical agreement, when priests of   
   different   
   Christian churches wish well to each other and, along with the laypeople,   
   organise aid activities for displaced persons, or guide educational paths in   
   schools and parishes. It is also good to see the collaboration that the various   
   agencies of the Roaco have offered in the planning and implementation phases   
   for   
   the good of all of you".   
    "You are all members of the Synods of the respective patriarchal Churches", he   
   affirmed, addressing the bishops. "Along with the patriarchs and in communion   
   with them, seek to ensure that the ecclesial body grows with collaboration at   
   every juncture. And I add: especially in this time of difficulty that Iraq is   
   experiencing requires ever deeper communion between the Churches. I hope that   
   this may occur between the Chaldean and Syro-Catholic Churches, which represent   
   the majority, and between these two and the smaller Churches. Let us reject any   
   form of isolation or self-referentiality, and I invite you to recognise and   
   enhance the value of the assembly of Catholic bishops of Iraq and the assembly   
   in which you gather with your brethren in the Oriental Orthodox Churches.   
   Indeed, ensure that the logic of majority and minority that is causing so much   
   harm to the country does not have implications within the confines of the   
   Church, although I am sure that this danger is far removed from reality".   
    Cardinal Sandri concluded his address by invoking the protection of Our Lady   
   and of St. Peter for Pope Francis, "always so close to the Christians of the   
   Middle East and to all those who are persecuted", and for their Beatitudes the   
   Patriarchs Louis Raphael I Sako of the Chaldean Catholic Church, and Ignatius   
   Joseph III Younan of the Syro-Catholic Church.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 5 May 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, Monday 4 May, the Holy   
   Father received in audience Bishop Nunzio Galantino, secretary of the Italian   
   Episcopal Conference.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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