Vatican City, 10 May 2015 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received in   
   private audience the president of the Republic of Cuba, Raul Castro Ruz. The   
   meeting took place in the Pope's study adjacent to Paul VI Hall.   
    Upon arrival, at 9.30 a.m., the president was received by the Prefect of the   
   Papal Household, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, accompanied by his substitute,   
   Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, and the secretary for Relations with States,   
   Bishop Paul Richard Gallagher. A personal meeting with the Pope then took place   
   in the study, which lasted more than 50 minutes and was very cordial.   
    The president, as he declared before leaving the Vatican, thanked the Holy   
   Father for his active role in improving relations between Cuba and the United   
   States. He also expressed the sentiments of the Cuban people as they await and   
   prepare for his upcoming visit to the island in September.   
    The Pope and the president then proceeded to the adjacent room for the   
   presentation of the delegation accompanying Raul Castro, composed of around a   
   dozen figures including the deputy prime minister, the minister for foreign   
   affairs and the ambassador to the Holy See.   
    The exchange of gifts was very meaningful. The president offered the Pope a   
   valuable commemorative medal of the Cathedral of Havana and a contemporary   
   painting, depicting a large cross made up of wrecked boats, with a migrant in   
   prayer in the foreground. The artist, the Cuban Kcho, was present and explained   
   to the Pope that it was inspired by his great efforts to raise awareness in the   
   world of the problems faced by migrants and refugees, beginning with his famous   
   trip to Lampedusa. The Pope gave the president a copy of his apostolic   
   exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" and a large medallion depicting St. Martin   
   covering the poor man with his cape. The Holy Father observed that he was   
   particularly keen to give this gift, as it recalled the commitment not only to   
   protecting the poor but also to promoting dignity.   
    President Raul Castro and his delegation left the Vatican shortly after 10.30   
   a.m.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Regina Coeli: love is a concrete path   
    Vatican City, 10 May 2015 (VIS) - During this Sunday's Regina Coeli, before   
   thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope commented on the   
   day's Gospel reading which "takes us back to the Cenacle, where we hear Jesus'   
   new commandment, 'that you love one another as I have loved you'". He affirmed,   
   "these words, pronounced during the Last Supper, summarise all Jesus' message;   
   or rather, they summarise all He has gone. Jesus gave His life for His friends.   
   Friends who had not understood Him, who had at the crucial moment abandoned,   
   betrayed and denied Him. This shows us that He loves us even though we do not   
   deserve His love: this is how Jesus loves us!".   
    "In this way, Jesus shows us the road to follow Him, the path of love. His   
   commandment is not a simple precept, ... something abstract and external with   
   regard to life. Christ's commandment is new because He was the first to realise   
   it, He gave flesh to it, and thus the law of love is written once and for all   
   in   
   the heart of man. ... It is a concrete path, a road that leads us out of   
   ourselves   
   to reach out to others. Jesus showed us that God's love is implemented in love   
   for our neighbour. They both go together. The pages of the Gospel are full of   
   this love: adults and children, the cultured and the simple, rich and poor, the   
   righteous and sinners all find welcome in Christ's heart".   
    "This Word of the Lord calls upon us to love each other, even if we do not   
   always understand each other, even if we do not always agree ... but it is   
   precisely there that we see Christian love. A love that is shown even if there   
   are differences of opinion and character: but love is greater than these   
   differences. And this is the love that Jesus has taught us. ... This love of   
   Christ, that the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts, works wonders every day in   
   the Church and in the world. There are many large and small gestures that obey   
   the Lord's commandment".   
    "Little everyday gestures, gestures of closeness to an elderly person, a   
   child,   
   a sick person, someone who is alone or in difficulty, homeless, jobless, an   
   immigrant, a refugee. ... Thanks to the strength of this Word of Christ, every   
   one   
   of us can be close to the brother and the sister he encounters. Gestures of   
   closeness, of proximity. In these gestures, the love that Christ has taught us   
   is made manifest".   
    Following the Regina Coeli, the Pope greeted, among others, the Italian State   
   Forestry Corps, which is organising the national day for National Reserves for   
   the rediscovery and respect for the beauty of creation; the participants in the   
   conference, promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference in support of   
   high-quality schooling open to families; a delegation of women from "Komen   
   Italia", an association engaged in the fight against breast cancer; and those   
   who have taken part in an initiative for life which took place in Rome this   
   morning.   
    "And, speaking of life", he added, "today in many countries we celebrate   
   Mother's Day: let us remember all mothers with gratitude and affection, and let   
   us applaud them, all the mothers who are here in the Square. And with this   
   applause, let us embrace all mothers, all our dear mothers: those who live with   
   us physically, but also those who remain with us spiritually. May the Lord   
   bless   
   them all, and may Our Lady, to whom this month is dedicated, protect them".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope's message to His Holiness Tawadros II: continuing friendship between the   
   Orthodox Coptic Church and the Catholic Church   
    Vatican City, 11 May 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis has sent a message to His   
   Holiness Tawadros II, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark,   
   to commemorate the second anniversary of their meeting in Rome.   
    "Today more than ever we are united by the ecumenism of blood, which further   
   encourages us on the path towards peace and reconciliation. I assure you and   
   the   
   Christian community in Egypt and throughout the Middle East of my unceasing   
   prayer, and I remember in particular the Coptic faithful recently martyred for   
   their Christian faith. May the Lord welcome them into his Kingdom".   
    He continues, "with thanksgiving to the Lord, I recall our advances along the   
   path of friendship, united as we are by one baptism. Though our communion is   
   yet   
   imperfect, what we have in common is greater than what divides us. May we   
   persevere on our journey to full communion, and grow in love and   
   understanding".   
    "It is particularly encouraging that the Joint International Commission for   
   Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox   
   Churches has recently finalised the document 'The Exercise of Communion in the   
   Life of the Early Church and its Implications for our Search for Communion   
   Today'. I am certain that Your Holiness shares my hope that this vital dialogue   
   will carry on and bear abundant fruit. I am especially grateful for the   
   willingness of the Patriarchate of the See of Saint Mark to hold the next   
   meeting of the Commission in Cairo".   
    "Christians throughout the world are facing similar challenges, which require   
   us to work together in confronting these issues. I appreciate your appointment   
   last year of a delegate to participate in the Extraordinary Synod of Bishops   
   dedicated to the family. It is my hope that our cooperation in this area may   
   continue, especially in addressing matters related to mixed marriages".   
    He concludes, "With these sentiments, and recalling what has rightly become   
   known as the day of friendship between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the   
   Catholic Church, I exchange with Your Holiness a fraternal embrace in Christ   
   the   
   Lord".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Pope's letter for the bicentenary of the coronation of Our Lady of Mercy   
    Vatican City, 11 May 2015 (VIS) - Today in the shrine of Our Lady of Mercy of   
   Savona, Italy, the coronation of the statue of the Virgin Mary by Pope Pius VII   
   on 10 May 1815 will be celebrated. Pope Francis has therefore sent as letter to   
   Bishop Vittorio Lupi of the diocese of Savona-Noli, in which he recalls that   
   Benedict XVI too was a pilgrim to the shrine, erected almost five centuries ago   
   in the place where the Virgin appeared to the peasant Antonio Botta, asking for   
   penance and conversion, and bidding him farewell with the words "Mercy, not   
   justice". "An exhortation that is more valid than ever in our age", he writes,   
   "which is, in particular, a time for mercy".   
    "In such a dramatic moment in the history of Europe", he continues, "Pope Pius   
   VII, kidnapped by Napoleon and imprisoned in Savona, was able to go to the   
   Shrine of Our Lady of Mercy and he vowed that, once freed, he would return   
   there   
   to crown her; this took place on 10 May 1815, and on 24 May he instituted the   
   feast of Mary Most Holy, Help of Christians. Indeed, the Mother of Mercy is   
   always close and helps all her children when they find themselves in danger,   
   or,   
   as is often the case in our times, they suffer discrimination and persecution.   
   I   
   hope that, as we draw closer to the Extraordinary Holy Year, all the Church may   
   deepen and spread her trust in the Mother of Mercy, who in this land gave a   
   perennial sign of her tenderness and her closeness to the pilgrm People of God   
   in this world".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the bishops of Mozambique: always live among the faithful   
    Vatican City, 9 May 2015 (VIS) - The bishops of the Episcopal Conference of   
   Mozambique were received this morning by the Pope at the end of their "ad   
   Limina" visit. In the written discourse that he handed to them during the   
   audience, he first recalls Jesus' question to the apostle Peter: "Do you love   
   me?", and before the latter's affirmative response He asked him to be the   
   shepherd to His flock. Christ, Who made Himself poor for us, requires of the   
   bishops the same love for their own flock, along with their full availability   
   and complete commitment. He calls them to set aside false presumptions in order   
   to "wash the feet of those the Lord has entrusted to us".   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)