VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 084   
   DATE 06-05-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - General audience: the beauty of Christian marriage   
   - On the anniversary of the end of World War II: may humanity learn from past   
   mistakes   
   - Greetings to the families of the Swiss Guard and Polish faithful   
   - Private visit of President Castro of Cuba   
   - Decrees for the Causes of Saints   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    General audience: the beauty of Christian marriage   
    Vatican City, 6 May 2015 (VIS) - The beauty of Christian marriage, which is   
   not   
   "simply the beauty of the ceremony that takes place in church, but rather the   
   Sacrament made by the Church, giving rise to a new family community", was the   
   theme chosen by Pope Francis in the catechesis of this Wednesday's general   
   audience.   
    "It is what the apostle Paul summarises in his famous expression: 'This   
   mystery   
   is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church'. Inspired   
   by the Holy Spirit, Paul affirms that the love between spouses is the image of   
   the love between Christ and the Church. An unimaginable dignity! But in reality   
   it is inscribed in God's plan of creation, and with Christ's grace countless   
   Christian couples, even with their limits, their sins, have achieved this".   
    St. Paul, speaking of new life in Christ, says that "all Christians are called   
   to love each other as Christ has loved them, that is 'submitting to one   
   another', meaning at each other's service. Here he introduces the analogy   
   between the husband-wife couple and that of Christ and the Church. It is clear   
   that this is an imperfect analogy, but we must grasp the spiritual meaning,   
   elevated and revolutionary but at the same time very simple, within the reach   
   of   
   every man and woman who trust in God's grace".   
    "'Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies', says Paul; 'as Christ   
   loved the church and gave himself up for her'. The effect of this radicalism of   
   the devotion required of man, for the love and the dignity of the woman, based   
   on the example of Christ, must have been enormous within the Christian   
   community   
   itself. This seed of evangelical newness, that re-establishes the original   
   reciprocity of devotion and respect, has ripened slowly throughout history, but   
   in the end it has prevailed".   
    The sacrament of marriage "is a great act of faith and of love: it bears   
   witness to the courage of believing in the God's creating act and of living   
   that   
   love that drives us always to go onwards, beyond ourselves and even beyond the   
   family itself. The Christian vocation to love without reserve and without   
   measure is such that, with Christ's grace, it is at the base of the free   
   consensus that constitutes marriage". Furthermore, the Church herself "is fully   
   involved in the history of each Christian marriage: she is built on its   
   successes and suffers in its failures. However we must ask ourselves seriously:   
   do we accept fully, ourselves, as believers and pastors, this indissoluble bond   
   of the history of Christ and the Church with the history of marriage and the   
   human family? Are we willing to take on this responsibility seriously?".   
    The decision to 'marry in the Lord' also contains a missionary dimension,   
   which   
   means having at heart the willingness to become conduits of God's blessing and   
   the Lord's grace for all. Indeed, Christian couples participate in the mission   
   of the Church inasmuch as they are couples. ... And thus the life of the   
   Church is   
   enriched every time by the beauty of this matrimonial alliance, just as it is   
   impoverished every time it is defaced. The Church, to offer the gift of faith,   
   love and hope to all, is in need of the courageous faithfulness of married   
   couples in the grace of their sacrament. The people of God needs their daily   
   progress in faith, love and hope, with all the joys and the hardships that this   
   path involves in a marriage and in a family".   
    "Yes: St. Paul was right, it is a great mystery", concluded the Pope. "Men and   
   women, courageous enough to place this treasure in the clay vessels of our   
   humanity, are an essential resource for the Church, and also for all the world.   
   May God bless you a thousand times for this!".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    On the anniversary of the end of World War II: may humanity learn from past   
   mistakes   
    Vatican City, 6 May 2015 (VIS) - "In the next few days various capital cities   
   will commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in   
   Europe", remarked the Pope following the catechesis of today's general   
   audience.   
   "On this occasion I entrust to the Lord, by the intercession of Mary Queen of   
   Peace, my hope that society may learn from the mistakes of the past and that,   
   faced with the current conflicts that are tearing asunder various regions of   
   the   
   world, all civil leaders may persevere in their search for the common good and   
   in the promotion of a culture of peace".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Greetings to the families of the Swiss Guard and Polish faithful Vatican City,   
   6 May 2015 (VIS) - At the end of today's catechesis the Pope greeted   
   German-speaking pilgrims, especially the relatives and friends of the   
   Pontifical   
   Swiss Guard in Rome to attend the oath-taking ceremony for the new recruits,   
   and   
   musicians from the Swiss Canton of Valais, who accompanied the general   
   audience.   
   He also addressed the Polish faithful, especially all those who during the   
   month   
   of May maintain the tradition of gathering in churches or before images of Mary   
   in the streets to pray in her honour.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Private visit of President Castro of Cuba   
    Vatican City, 6 May 2015 (VIS) - On Sunday 10 May, the Holy Father will   
   receive   
   in a strictly private audience the president of the Republic of Cuba, Raul   
   Castro Ruz, in the Pope's Study at the Paul VI Hall. President Castro has   
   publicly thanked the Pope for his role in the thaw of relations between Cuba   
   and   
   the United States of America, and the Pope will visit Havana in September prior   
   to his trip to the United States.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Decrees for the Causes of Saints   
    Vatican City, 6 May 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father Francis   
   received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., prefect of the   
   Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the   
   Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:   
    MIRACLES   
    - attributed to the intercession of Blessed Vincenzo Grossi, Italian diocesan   
   priest and founder of the Institute of the Daughters of the Oratory   
   (1845-1917);   
    - attributed to the intercession of Blessed Maria of the Immaculate Conception   
   (nee Maria Isabel Salvat Romero), Spanish superior general of the Sisters of   
   the   
   Company of the Cross (1926-1998);   
    - attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God Giacomo Abbondo,   
   Italian diocesan priest (1720-1788);   
    MARTYRDOM   
    - Servants of God Mario Borzaga, Italian professed priest of the Congregation   
   of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and Paul Thoj Xyooj, lay catechist,   
   killed in hatred of the faith in Laos in April 1960;   
    HEROIC VIRTUES   
    - Servant of God Jacinto Vera, bishop of Montevideo, Uruguay (1813-1881);   
    - Servant of God Antonio Antic, Croatian professed priest of the Order of   
   Friars Minor (1893-1965);   
    - Servant of God Juliette Colbert de Falletti di Barolo, French laywoman,   
   widow   
   and founder of the Daughters of Jesus the Good Shepherd (1786-1864);   
    - Servant of God Maria Brigida Postorino, Italian founder of the Daughters of   
   Mary Immaculate (1865-1960);   
    - Servant of God Maria Rafaela Jesus Hostia, Spanish professed nun of the   
   Order   
   of Capuchin Poor Clares (1915-1991);   
    - Servant of God Sergio Bernardini, Italian layman and father (1882-1966);   
    - Servant of God Domenica Bedonni in Bernardini, Italian laywoman and mother   
   (1889-1971).   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 6 May 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:   
    - accepted the resignation of Bishop Jacyr Francisco Braido, C.S., from the   
   pastoral care of the diocese of Santos, Brazil, upon reaching the age limit. He   
   is succeeded by Bishop Tarcisio Scaramussa, S.D.B., coadjutor of the same   
   diocese.   
    - appointed Rev. Fr. Emery Kibal Mansong'loo, C.P., as bishop of the diocese   
   of   
   Kole (area 66,000, population 487,000, Catholics 158,000, priests 66, religious   
   80), Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bishop-elect was born in Kimputu,   
   Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1969, gave his perpetual vows in 1998 and   
   was ordained a priest in the same year. He has served in a number of pastoral   
   roles, including parish vicar in the diocese of Tshumbe; parish priest of the   
   Catholic Mission of Lumbi in the diocese of Kikwit; provincial superior of the   
   Passionists for two consecutive mandates; lecturer in liturgy in various   
   structures; and member of the managing board of the Catholic University of the   
   Congo.   
    - appointed Bishop Manuel Sanchez Monge of Mondonedo-Ferrol, Spain, as bishop   
   of Santander (area 5,527, population 595,449, Catholics 559,000, priests 411,   
   permanent deacons 5, religious 925), Spain.   
    - appointed Bishop Edson De Castro Homem, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Sao   
   Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as bishop of Iguatu, (area 21,904,   
   population 562,108, Catholics 549,000, priests 39, religious 60), Brazil.   
    - appointed Bishop Agenor Girardi, M.S.C., auxiliary of the archdiocese of   
   Porto Alegre, Brazil, as bishop of Uniao da Vitoria, (area 10,000, population   
   225,600, Catholics 192,600, priests 35, permanent deacons 10, religious 53),   
   Brazil.   
    - appointed Rev. Valentin Cabbigat Dimoc as apostolic vicar of   
   Bontoc-Lagawe,(area 4,615, population 360,526, Catholics 215,286, priests 30,   
   religious 12), Philippines. The bishop-elect was born in Lagawe, Philippines in   
   1969 and was ordained a priest in 1998. Following his studies in philosophy and   
   theology, he obtained a Master of Arts in development management from the Asian   
   Institute of Management in Makati City, He has served as rector of the Holy   
   Rosary Mission, Kayan; the Holy Family Mission, Hapao; the St. Mary Magdalene   
   Mission, Lagawe; and the Good Shepherd Mission, Hapid; and as director of the   
   Kataguan Centre, Lagawe. He is currently director of the Centre for Social   
   Action and Development of the apostolic vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe.   
    - appointed Archbishop Roland Minnerath of Dijon, France and Archbishop   
   Anthony   
   Colin Fisher of Sydney, Australia, as members of the Congregation for the   
   Doctrine of the Faith.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)