VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 089   
   DATE 13-05-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The three key words of the family: please, thank you, sorry   
   - The Pope greets the organisers of the Concert for the Poor: "It will be a   
   concert of joy"   
   - Caritas reveals the strength of Christian love   
   - Joint Statement of the Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of   
   Palestine at the end of the Plenary Meeting   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
   - Notice   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The three key words of the family: please, thank you, sorry   
    Vatican City, 13 May 2015 (VIS) - "Please, thank you and sorry" are the three   
   words that Pope Francis "would write on the door of every family home" as they   
   are the key to living well and in peace both inside and outside the home. They   
   are simple words, much easier to say than to put into practice, but "they   
   contain great strength: the strength of protecting the home, even through a   
   thousand difficulties and trials; instead, when they are lacking, cracks   
   gradually open up that can even lead it to collapse".   
    The Pope dedicated the catechesis of today's general audience to these three   
   words, normally considered as the words of politeness. "A great bishop, St.   
   Francis of Sales, said that kindness is halfway to holiness. However, beware",   
   he warned, "as in history we have also known a formalism of good manners that   
   can become a mask to conceal an arid heart and lack of interest in others. ...   
   Not   
   even religion is immune to this risk, in which formal observance may slip into   
   spiritual worldliness. The devil who tempts Jesus shows off his good manners   
   and   
   cites the Sacred Scriptures. His style appears correct, but his intention is to   
   deviate from the truth of God's love".   
    The first word is "please. "To enter into the life of another person, even   
   when   
   that person forms part of our life, requires the delicacy of a non-intrusive   
   attitude, that renews trust and respect. Confidence, then, does not authorise   
   us   
   to take everything for granted. Love, the more intimate and profound it is, the   
   more it demands respect for freedom and the capacity to wait for the other to   
   open the door of his or her heart".   
    The second phrase is "thank you". "At times", observed the Holy Father, "it   
   seems that we are becoming a civilisation of poor manners and unpleasant words.   
   ... Politeness and the capacity to thank are seen as a sign of weakness, and at   
   times even arouse distrust. This tendency should be opposed within the family   
   itself. We must become intransigent in the education of gratitude and   
   recognition: the dignity of the person and social justice both come from this.   
   If this approach is neglected in family life, it will also be lost in social   
   life".   
    The third word is "sorry", as "when it is lacking, small cracks become larger   
   ...   
   to the point of becoming deep trenches. It is not by chance that in the prayer   
   taught by Jesus, the Lord's prayer that summarises all the essential questions   
   for our life, we find the expression 'forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive   
   those who trespass against us'. Acknowledging our errors and being willing to   
   restore what has been removed - respect, sincerity, love - makes one worthy of   
   forgiveness. ... If we are not capable of apologising, it means we are not   
   capable   
   of forgiveness either. ... Many hurt feelings, many lesions in the family begin   
   with the loss of those precious words: 'I am sorry'. In married life there are   
   many arguments ... but I advise you never to let the day end without making   
   peace.   
   And for this, a small gesture is enough".   
    "These three key words for the family are simple words, and perhaps at first   
   they make us smile. But ... perhaps our education neglects them too much. May   
   the   
   Lord help us to restore them to their rightful place in our heart, in our home,   
   and also in our civil co-existence".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope greets the organisers of the Concert for the Poor: "It will be a   
   concert of joy"   
    Vatican City, 13 May 2015 (VIS) - Before today's general audience, in the room   
   adjacent to the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father met with the organisers and   
   sponsors of the "Concert for the Poor", to take place tomorrow at 6 p.m. in the   
   Paul VI Hall in support of the Pope's charitable works. The event will be   
   sponsored by the Apostolic Almoner, the Pontifical Councils for Culture and   
   Promoting New Evangelisation, and the St. Matthew Foundation in memory of   
   Cardinal Van Thuan.   
    "I thank all of you for everything you have done, that you do, and will do for   
   this concert, which brings us together", said the Pontiff. "Music has the   
   capacity to unite souls and to unite us with the Lord. It is horizontal and   
   vertical, it lifts us up and it liberates us from our troubles. Even sad music,   
   I think of mournful adagios, can help us in difficult moments".   
    "Many thanks, as it does good to all of us to find spirit amid the materialism   
   that always surrounds us and brings us down, taking away our joy. And as   
   believers we have the joy of a Father Who loves us all, and the joy of   
   fraternity with all. This is the joy that you now sow in this concert. It will   
   be a concert to sow joy, not the type of joy that entertains for a moment, no:   
   the seed will remain there in the souls of us all, and will bring good to all.   
   I   
   thank you from the heart for the good you do".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Caritas reveals the strength of Christian love   
    Vatican City, 13 May 2015 (VIS) - "Whoever lives the mission of Caritas is not   
   simple charitable worker, but is a true witness of Christ. He is a person who   
   seeks Christ and allows Christ to seek him; people who love with the spirit of   
   Christ, a spirit of gratuitousness. ... All of our strategies and plans remain   
   empty unless we carry this love in us", said Pope Francis in the homily he   
   pronounced yesterday in St. Peter's Basilica on the occasion of the beginning   
   of   
   the 20th General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis.   
    The Pope commented on the reading from the Acts of the Apostles in which the   
   jailer of the prison at Philippi, where Paul and Silas were imprisoned,   
   following the miracle of the earthquake that opened the doors of the prison,   
   pleaded for salvation. The story tells us that the man immediately "took the   
   necessary steps on the path towards faith and salvation: together with his   
   household, he listened to the Word of the Lord; washed the wounds of Paul and   
   Silas; received Baptism with his entire family; and finally, full of joy, he   
   welcomed Paul and Silas into his home, setting the table and offering them   
   something to eat".   
    "We can see in this gesture the entire vocation of Caritas. Caritas is now a   
   great Confederation, widely recognised throughout the world for its work and   
   accomplishments. Caritas is a reality of the Church in many parts of the world   
   and must still seek a greater expansion in the different parishes and   
   communities, to renew what took place in the early days of the Church. In fact,   
   the source of all your service lies in the simple and docile welcome of God and   
   neighbour. This welcome is first personally experienced by you, so that you may   
   then go out into the world, and there, to serve others in the name of Christ,   
   whom you have met and whom you will continue to meet in every brother and   
   sister   
   that you will approach as your neighbour. Thanks to this, you will actually   
   avoid the risk of being reduced to a mere humanitarian organisation. And the   
   Caritas of each particular Church, even the smallest, is the same: there is no   
   large Caritas and small Caritas, they are all equal. Let us ask the Lord for   
   the   
   grace to understand the true dimension of Caritas; the grace of not being   
   deceived into thinking that a well-organised centralism is the road to take;   
   the   
   grace of understanding that Caritas is always in the periphery, in each   
   particular Church; and the grace of believing that central Caritas is merely a   
   help, service and experience of communion but not the overall head".   
    "In this way, we can serve everyone and set the table for all. This is also a   
   beautiful image that the Word of God offers us today: setting the table. Even   
   now, God sets the table of the Eucharist. Caritas sets many tables for the   
   hungry. In recent months you launched the great campaign 'One human family,   
   food   
   for all'. There are still so many people today who do not have enough to eat.   
   The planet has enough food for all, but it seems that there is a lack of   
   willingness to share it with everyone. We ought to set the table for all, and   
   ask that there be a table for all. We must do what we can so that everyone has   
   something to eat, but we must also remind the powerful of the Earth that God   
   will call them to judgement one day and there it will be revealed if they   
   really   
   tried to provide food for Him in every person (cf. Matt.25: 35) and if they did   
   what they could to preserve the environment so that it could produce this   
   food".   
    "And thinking about the table of the Eucharist, we cannot forget our Christian   
   brothers and sisters who have been violently deprived of the food for the body   
   and for the soul: they have been driven from their homes and their churches -   
   at   
   times destroyed. I renew the appeal not to forget these people and these   
   intolerable injustices. Together with many other charitable organisations of   
   the   
   Church, Caritas therefore reveals the power of Christian love and the desire of   
   the Church to reach out to Jesus in every person, especially the poor and   
   suffering. This is the path that lies ahead of us and it is with this   
   perspective that I hope that you will carry out your work during these days".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Joint Statement of the Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of   
   Palestine at the end of the Plenary Meeting   
    Vatican City, 13 May 2015 (VIS) - The Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and   
   the State of Palestine, which is working on a Comprehensive Agreement following   
   on the Basic Agreement, signed on 15 February 2000, has held a Plenary Session   
   in the Vatican to acknowledge the work done at an informal level by the joint   
   technical group following the last official meeting held in Ramallah at the   
   Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine on 6 February 2014.   
    The talks were chaired by Mgr Antoine Camilleri, Under-Secretary for the Holy   
   See's Relations with States, and by Ambassador Rawan Sulaiman, Assistant   
   Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Affairs of the State of Palestine.   
    The discussions took place in a cordial and constructive atmosphere. Taking up   
   the issues already examined at an informal level, the Commission noted with   
   great satisfaction the progress achieved in formulating the text of the   
   Agreement, which deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the   
   Catholic Church in Palestine.   
    Both Parties agreed that the work of the Commission on the text of the   
   Agreement has been concluded, and that the agreement will be submitted to the   
   respective authorities for approval ahead of setting a date in the near future   
   for the signing.   
    The members of the Delegation of the Holy See were Msgr. Antoine Camilleri,   
   under-secretary for Relations with States; Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto,   
   apostolic delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine; Archbishop Antonio Franco,   
   apostolic nuncio; Fr. Luciano Lorusso, under-secretary of the Congregation for   
   the Oriental Churches; Msgr. Alberto Ortega, official of the Section for   
   Relations with States of the Secretariat of State; and Fr. Emil Salayta,   
   judicial vicar of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.   
    The members of the Palestinian Delegation were Ambassador Rawan Sulaiman,   
   assistant minister of foreign affairs for multilateral affairs; Ambassador Issa   
   Kassissieh, representative of the State of Palestine to the Holy See; Ammar   
   Hijazi, and deputy assistant minister of foreign affairs for multilateral   
   affairs; and Azem Bishara, legal adviser of the PLO.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 13 May 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Rev. Fr.   
   Ambrose Rebello as bishop of Aurangabad (area 64,525, population 10,119 485,   
   Catholics 15,750, priests 45, religious 218), India. The bishop-elect was born   
   in Nirmal, India in 1949 and ordained a priest in 1979. He has served in a   
   number of pastoral roles in the diocese of Aurangabad, including parish vicar   
   and parish priest in a number of parishes. He is currently parish priest of the   
   Karuna Matha Mandir Parish, Vaijapoor, vicar general of Aurangabad, director of   
   the diocesan pastoral centre, and chancellor and vice director of the Education   
   Society of the diocese. He succeeds Bishop Edwin Colaco, whose resignation from   
   the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted   
   by the Holy Father.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Notice   
    Vatican City, 13 May 2015 (VIS) - We inform our readers that no VIS bulletin   
   will be transmitted tomorrow, Thursday 14 May, the Solemnity of the Lord's   
   Ascension and a holiday in the Vatican. Service will resume on Friday, 15 May.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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