VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 103   
   DATE 03-06-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - General audience: the family and the downward spiral of poverty   
   - The Pope prays for victims of the Yangtze shipwreck and blesses young Polish   
   faithful in Lednica   
   - Cardinal Parolin at UNESCO: the Church has never regarded culture or   
   education   
   as mere tools of evangelisation   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
   - Notice   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    General audience: the family and the downward spiral of poverty   
    Vatican City, 3 June 2015 (VIS) - The living conditions that put the family to   
   the test and render it vulnerable, starting with poverty, will be the themes of   
   Pope Francis' catechesis starting from today, he announced to the twenty   
   thousand faithful attending this week's Wednesday general audience in St.   
   Peter's Square.   
    The Holy Father spoke about the misery and degradation that can accompany   
   poverty, in the suburbs of metropolises and in rural areas alike, a situation   
   that is often aggravated by war that has a profound impact on civilians. "In   
   truth, war is the 'mother of all poverty', a great predator of lives, souls,   
   and   
   of the dearest and most sacred affections", he said.   
    However, he added, there are many families who, although poor, seek to live   
   their daily lives with dignity, often openly trusting in God's blessing.   
   Nevertheless, this "must not justify our indifference, but rather increase our   
   shame! It is almost a miracle that, even in poverty, families continue to form,   
   and indeed preserve as best they can, the special humanity of their bonds. It   
   is   
   a fact that irritates those planners of well-being who consider sentiments,   
   procreation and family bonds as a variable secondary to the quality of life.   
   Instead, we should kneel before these families, who are a true school of   
   humanity and who save society from barbarism".   
    "What will become of us if we give in to the blackmail of violence and money,   
   and go so far as to renounce the affections of the family? A new form of civil   
   ethics will arise only when those responsible in public life recognise the   
   social bond, starting with the fight against the downward spiral of poverty in   
   the family, that leads us to the abyss". The Pope also remarked on the   
   contradiction inherent in today's economy that often appears to specialise in   
   individual well-being, but practices the widespread exploitation of family   
   relationships. "The immense labour of the family is not quoted on balance   
   sheets, naturally!" he exclaimed. "It is not merely a question of bread. We are   
   talking about work, education, healthcare. It is important to be clear about   
   this".   
    "We must endeavour to stay ever closer to families afflicted by poverty", he   
   repeated. "In effect, social misery affects the family and at times destroys   
   it.   
   The lack or loss of work, or its precariousness, have serious repercussions on   
   family life, putting relationships under stress. The living conditions in the   
   most disadvantaged areas, with problems regarding housing and transport, as   
   well   
   as the reduction of social, healthcare and educational services, cause further   
   difficulties. Added to these material factors there is also the damage caused   
   to   
   the family by false models, propagated by the mass media, based on consumerism   
   and the cult of appearances, which affect the poorest social classes and   
   increase the disintegration of family bonds".   
    "The Church is Mother, and must never forget the tragedy of her children. She   
   too must be poor, to become fruitful and to respond to so much suffering. A   
   poor   
   Church is a Church that practices a voluntary simplicity in her own life - in   
   her institutions, in the lifestyle of her members - to break down walls of   
   separation, especially those that separate us from the poor. This takes prayer   
   and action. Let us pray intensively to the Lord to awaken us, to make our   
   Christian families agents in this revolution of family closeness that is now so   
   necessary. This is what the Church has been made of since the very beginning.   
   And let us not forget", he warned, "that the judgement of the needy, the small   
   and the poor prefigures the judgement of God."   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope prays for victims of the Yangtze shipwreck and blesses young Polish   
   faithful in Lednica   
    Vatican City, 3 June 2015 (VIS) - In his greetings following today's   
   catechesis, Pope Francis mentioned that the month of June is dedicated to the   
   Sacred Heart of Jesus, and that tomorrow, Thursday, is the Feast of Corpus   
   Christi. "We learn from the Lord, who made Himself into sustenance so as to be   
   more available to others, serving all those in need, especially the poorest   
   families".   
    He then greeted the young Polish faithful attending the 19th meeting at   
   Lednica, the town by the lake where it is believed that Mieszko, the first   
   Polish monarch, was baptised in the year 966. "I share in your joy, your   
   enthusiasm and your desire for the Holy Spirit. ... Your life, like the life   
   of ...   
   Jesus' disciples, cannot be empty, mundane, without purpose. Open your heart to   
   the Holy Spirit so that it will be filled with His gifts. Ask Him to accompany   
   you every day in your work, your studies, in prayer, in your decisions, in   
   overcoming yourselves and in doing good. ... With Him, you will transform the   
   world. ... He will help you to take up the great dialogue with God, with   
   humanity   
   and with the world in this stage of history".   
    The Holy Father also expressed his closeness to the Chinese people following   
   the tragic disaster on the river Yangtze, in which a cruise ship capsized,   
   causing hundreds of deaths. He gave the assurance of his prayers for the   
   victims, their families, and all those engaged in rescue operations.   
    Finally, he dedicated some special words to Italian workers for Whirlpool,   
   threatened with redundancy. He expressed his hope that this serious employment   
   crisis may resolved swiftly and equitably with respect for all and, in   
   particularly, for families. "The entire country faces a very difficult   
   situation", he affirmed. "Strong commitment is called for to open up paths of   
   hope".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Cardinal Parolin at UNESCO: the Church has never regarded culture or education   
   as mere tools of evangelisation   
    Vatican City, 3 June 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin   
   spoke this morning at the conference "Educating today and tomorrow", organised   
   by the Mission of the Holy See permanent observer at UNESCO, with the   
   Congregation for Catholic Education, to celebrate 70 years since the founding   
   of   
   this United Nations organ, the 50th anniversary of the conciliar declaration   
   "Gravissimum educationis", a key text for Catholic education, and 25 years   
   since   
   the apostolic constitution "Ex corde Ecclesiae", a document of reference for   
   Catholic universities.   
    In his discourse the cardinal presented an overview of the history of the   
   educational service offered by the Catholic Church since its origins,   
   emphasising that the pedagogy of the Church is based on biblical anthropology   
   in   
   which the relationship of love and reciprocity between man and God appears from   
   Genesis onwards. He also underlined the importance attributed to this theme by   
   Vatican Council II, in which a full and complete education is proposed, aimed   
   at   
   laying the foundations for an inclusive and peaceful society open to dialogue,   
   and went on to mention current educational challenges and perspectives, such as   
   the extreme fragmentation of knowledge and the worrying lack of communication   
   between different disciplines. The Secretary of State affirmed the need to   
   counteract the concept of the human being as a machine for production,   
   proposing   
   instead a vision of the person, and reiterated the need for formation in   
   dialogue and the construction of fraternity.   
    "Culture and education have never been considered by the Catholic Church   
   merely   
   as tools for evangelisation, but rather as dimensions of humanity with high   
   intrinsic value. Investment in the education of the younger generations is a   
   condition for the 'progressive development of peoples ... an object of deep   
   interest and concern to the Church. This is particularly true in the case of   
   those peoples who are trying to escape the ravages of hunger, poverty, endemic   
   disease and ignorance; of those who are seeking a larger share in the benefits   
   of civilisation and a more active improvement of their human qualities', as   
   Paul   
   VI affirmed in his encyclical 'Populorum progressio'. The Church shares in the   
   efforts for greater access to literacy, to education for all and for continuing   
   formation. These pillars are made even more solid with regard to the   
   fundamental   
   commitment in favour of ethnic and religious minorities and for the female   
   gender, so important for the harmonious growth of society".   
    The Catholic Church, an "expert in humanity", has placed education at the   
   centre of her mission and continues to consider it as a priority, especially in   
   a context of "global emergency for education", caused both by processes of   
   change and by a reductionist perspective that tends to limit the scope of   
   universal education to a purely economic aspect. In fact, looking closely, the   
   recent financial crisis has been of an entropic nature: it gave rise to a loss   
   of meaning and consequent social apathy. By this refusal, there is a tendency   
   to   
   lose one's orientation towards the common good and to drift away from the   
   propulsive value of relationality in the name of a minimalist anthropology of   
   'homo oeconomicus', which stifles interpersonal relationships".   
    He continued, "We live in times in which many perceive the signs of an epochal   
   transition. As the history of humanity shows us, these periods are marked by   
   instability and disorientation. Faced with the intensification of sentiments of   
   opposition and hatred, it would appear necessary to start to 'share beauty' and   
   'praise creation', acknowledging the contribution that each person can offer   
   and   
   proposing humble and patient closeness between individuals, communities and   
   peoples. At the foundation of this shared responsibility there is, as John Paul   
   II said in his address to this same prestigious institution, "a fundamental   
   dimension, capable of rocking the foundations of the systems that structure the   
   whole of humanity and of freeing human existence, individual and collective,   
   from the threats that weigh upon it. This fundamental dimension is man, man in   
   his integrity, man who lives in both the sphere of material values and the   
   sphere of spiritual values. Respect for the inalienable rights of the human   
   person is the root of all this".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 3 June 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Rev. Fr. Christian Noel Emmanuel as bishop of Trincomalee (area 2,727,   
   population 378,182, Catholics 19,606, priests 36, religious 52), Sri Lanka. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Trincomalee, Sri Lanka in 1960 and was ordained a   
   priest in 1986. He has served as parish priest, diocesan head of catechism and   
   liturgy, and professor at the diocesan seminary, and is currently vicar and   
   bursar of the same diocese. He succeeds Bishop Joseph Kingsley Swampillai,   
   whose   
   resignation upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the holy father.   
    - Rev. Fr. Erio Castellucci as metropolitan archbishop of Modena-Nonantola   
   (area 2,089, population 510,579, Catholics 465,500, priests 227, permanent   
   deacons 73, religious 360), Italy.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Notice   
    Vatican City, 3 June 2015 (VIS) - The Vatican Information Service bulletin   
   will   
   not be transmitted tomorrow, Solemnity of Corpus Christi and a holiday in the   
   Vatican. Service will resume on Friday 5 June.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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