VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 086   
   DATE 08-05-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Pope Francis: sport is an educational path   
   - Programme of the Pope's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay   
   - Statutes of the Commission for the Protection of Minors approved   
   - Publication of the Chirograph by which Pope Francis instituted the Pontifical   
   Commission for the Protection of Minors   
   - The Pope meets with a group of evangelical pastors   
   - Audiences   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope Francis: sport is an educational path   
    Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - "Sport is an educational path", said the Holy   
   Father this morning as he received in audience seven thousand members of the   
   Italian Tennis Federation in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall. "There are three   
   fundamental pillars for children and young people", he added: "Education - in   
   school and in the family - sport, and work. When we have all three of these,   
   then there exist the conditions for developing a full and authentic life, thus   
   avoiding those dependencies that poison and ruin existence".   
    "The Church is interested in sport because she has man, the full man, at   
   heart,   
   and recognises that sporting activity has an impact on the formation of the   
   person, on relationships, and on spirituality. You athletes have a mission to   
   accomplish: to be, for those who admire you, valid role models. And you too,   
   directors, trainers and sports workers, are called upon to give good witness to   
   human values, as masters of a sporting practice that is always fair and clear".   
    The Pope commented that tennis is a very competitive sport, but "the pressure   
   to achieve significant results must never drive you to take short cuts such as   
   in the case of doping. How ugly and sterile a victory is if it is obtained by   
   cheating and deceiving others".   
    "The apostle Paul uses the example of the athlete to illustrate an important   
   characteristic of human existence", said the bishop of Rome. "'Do you not know   
   that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run   
   that   
   you may obtain it'. In a certain sense, this is your daily experience in   
   tennis.   
   But St. Paul refers to the challenge of giving an ultimate meaning to life   
   itself. I would therefore exhort each one of you to play the game not only in   
   sport - as you already do, and with excellent results - but also in life, in   
   the   
   search for goodness, true goodness, without fear, with courage and enthusiasm.   
   Play the game with others and with God, giving the best of yourself, spending   
   your life for what is truly valuable and which stands the test of time. Put   
   your   
   talents to the service of the encounter between people, friendship, and   
   inclusion".   
      
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    Programme of the Pope's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay   
    Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today published the   
   programme of the Holy Father's apostolic trip to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay   
   (5 to 13 July 2015).   
    The Pope will leave Rome's Fiumicino airport at 9 a.m. on Sunday 5 July and   
   will arrive at the Mariscal Sucre airport in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, at   
   3   
   p.m. local time, where the welcome ceremony will be held. On Monday 6 he will   
   proceed to Guayaquil to celebrate Mass in the shrine of Divine Mercy, after   
   which he will lunch at the Colegio Javier with the Jesuit community. Upon   
   return   
   to Quito, he will pay a courtesy visit to the Ecuadorian president in the   
   presidential palace and will subsequently visit the Cathedral. In the morning   
   of   
   Tuesday 7 July he will meet with the bishops of Ecuador in the Congress Centre   
   of the Bicentenary park, where he will celebrate Mass. In the afternoon he will   
   encounter representatives of schools and universities in the Pontifical   
   University of Ecuador, and later, representatives of civil society in the   
   Church   
   of San Francisco, after which he will pay a private visit to the "Iglesia de la   
   Compania". On Wednesday 8, he will first visit the Rest Home of the   
   Missionaries   
   of Charity, and will then meet with clergy, men and women religious and   
   seminarians at the national Marian shrine, El Quinche. On the same day he will   
   depart by air for Bolivia.   
    Upon arrival at the airport of El Alto in La Paz, he will give an address and,   
   following the welcome ceremony, will transfer to the Government Palace to pay a   
   courtesy visit to the president. From there, he will go to the Cathedral of La   
   Paz, where he will meet with the civil authorities, after which he will travel   
   by air to Santa Cruz de la Sierra where he will spend the night. On Thursday 9   
   he will celebrate Mass in the the square of Cristo Redentor, and will meet with   
   men and women religious in the Don Bosco school, after which he will   
   participate   
   in the World Meeting of Popular Movements in the Expo trade fair centre. On   
   Friday 10 he will visit the Santa Cruz-Palmasola re-education centre and, in   
   the   
   same morning, will meet with the bishops of Bolivia in the parish church of   
   Santa Cruz. The Pope will leave Bolivia from the Viru Viru airport in Santa   
   Cruz   
   de la Sierra, destined for Paraguay; his aircraft is expected to land at around   
   3 p.m. local time in the Silvio Pettirossi airport of Asuncion.   
    After arriving in Paraguay, the Pope will pay a courtesy visit to the   
   president   
   in the Palacio de Lopez, where he will also meet with the authorities and the   
   diplomatic corps. On Saturday 11 July, he will visit the "Ninos de Acosta Nu"   
   general paediatric hospital and will subsequently officiate at Mass in the   
   square of the Marian sanctuary of Caacupe. In the afternoon he will meet with   
   representatives of civil society in the Leon Condou stadium of the San Jose   
   school. The day will conclude with the celebration of vespers with the bishops,   
   priests, deacons, men and women religious, seminarians and Catholic movements   
   in   
   the metropolitan cathedral of Our Lady of Asuncion. Sunday 12 will begin with a   
   visit to the people of Banado Norte in the Chapel of San Juan Batista, and Mass   
   in the Nu Guazu field. The Holy Father will meet the bishops of Paraguay in the   
   Cultural Centre of the apostolic nunciature, where they will then dine. His   
   last   
   engagement will be a meeting with young people at the Costanera riverside area.   
   At 7 p.m. local time Francis will depart by air for Rome, where he is expected   
   to arrive on Monday 13 July at around 1.45 p.m.   
      
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    Statutes of the Commission for the Protection of Minors approved   
    Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - On 21 April, Cardinal Secretary of State,   
   Pietro Parolin, approved by mandate of the Supreme Pontiff, "ad experimentum"   
   for three years, the Statutes of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection   
   of   
   Minors, the draft of which had been presented by Cardinal Sean O'Malley,   
   president of the aforementioned Commission.   
    The Statutes will be published today in the Italian original and in English   
   translation. The document is composed of six articles: Nature and Competence,   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)