VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 104   
   DATE 05-06-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope receives the president of Chile: further intensify existing good   
   relations   
   - To the Dehonians: be present in the new areopagus of evangelisation   
   - Pontifical Missionary Societies: opening up to geographic and human   
   boundaries   
   - Condolences for victims of explosion in a service station in Accra, Ghana   
   - Solemnity of Corpus Christi: the Eucharist is not a reward for the good   
   - Pope Francis' new encyclical to be published on 18 June   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
   - Notice   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope receives the president of Chile: further intensify existing good   
   relations   
    Vatican City, 5 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican Apostolic Palace   
   Pope Francis received in audience the president of the Republic of Chile,   
   Michelle Bachelet Jeria, who subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State   
   Pietro Parolin, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for   
   Relations with States.   
    During the cordial discussions, mention was made of the existing good   
   bilateral   
   relations between the Parties, in the hope that they may be further   
   strengthened   
   within the framework of the provisions of international law. Issues of common   
   interest such as the protection of human life, education and social peace were   
   then addressed. In this context, emphasis was placed on the role and the   
   positive contribution of Catholic institutions in Chilean society, especially   
   in   
   relation to human promotion, education and assistance to those most in need.   
    This was followed by an overview of the situation in Latin America, with   
   particular reference to various challenges affecting the continent.   
      
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    To the Dehonians: be present in the new areopagus of evangelisation   
    Vatican City, 5 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Consistory Hall the Pope   
   received in audience 120 participants in the General Chapter of the Priests of   
   the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Dehonians), based on the theme "Merciful, in   
   community, with the poor". Francis took the opportunity to express his best   
   wishes to the new Superior General, Fr. Heiner Wilmer, and to greet all the   
   Dehonians who work "often in difficult conditions in various parts of the   
   world".   
    "Religious life is indicated as a fully evangelical life, in which the   
   beatitudes are fully realised", remarked the Pope. "Therefore, as consecrated   
   persons, you are required to be merciful. This means, first and foremost,   
   living   
   in profound communion with God in prayer, in meditation on the Sacred   
   Scripture,   
   in the celebration of the Eucharist, so that all our life may be a path of   
   growth in God's mercy. To the extent to which we make ourselves aware of the   
   freely-given love of the Lord and welcome it in ourselves, our tenderness,   
   understanding and goodness towards the people around us will also grow".   
    Religious life is also "the cohabitation of believers who feel they are loved   
   by God and who seek to love Him. ... In the experience of God's mercy and His   
   love   
   you will also find the point of the harmonisation of your communities. This   
   necessitates the commitment to increasingly savour the mercy that your brethren   
   show to you and to offer them the wealth of your mercy", said the bishop of   
   Rome   
   to the Dehonians, recalling in this regard the example of their founder, Fr.   
   Leon Dehon (1843-1925).   
    "Mercy is the word that summarises the Gospel; we might say that it is the   
   'face' of Christ, that face that He showed when he went towards everyone, when   
   he healed the sick, when he shared a table with the sinners, and especially   
   when, nailed to the cross, he forgave: there we find the face of divine mercy.   
   And the Lord calls upon us to be 'channels' of this love firstly towards the   
   least among us, the poorest, who are privileged in His eyes. Let yourselves be   
   continually challenged by the situations of fragility and poverty with which   
   you   
   come into contact, and endeavour to offer in the appropriate ways the witness   
   of   
   charity that the Spirit infuses in your hearts". The Holy Father concluded,   
   "Mercy will allow you to open up promptly to current needs and to be   
   industriously present in the new areopagus of evangelisation, prioritising -   
   even if this may involve sacrifices - openness towards those situations of   
   extreme need, symptomatic of the maladies of today's society".   
      
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    Pontifical Missionary Societies: opening up to geographic and human boundaries   
    Vatican City, 5 June 2015 (VIS) - Missionary activity is the paradigm of all   
   the work of the Church, said Pope Francis to the participants in the general   
   assembly of the Pontifical Missionary Societies (PMS), and reiterated that the   
   announcement of the Gospel is "the first and constant concern of the Church,   
   her   
   essential task, her greatest challenge, and the source of her renewal. ...   
   Without   
   the restlessness and anxiety of evangelisation it is not possible to develop a   
   credible and effective pastoral ministry uniting proclamation and human   
   promotion".   
    Therefore, the members of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples   
   and the national directors of the PMS have the difficult task of opening up to   
   "the broad and universal horizons of humanity, its geographical and above all   
   human boundaries", accompanying the life of the young Churches throughout the   
   world and encouraging the People of God to fully live the universal mission.   
   "You know the wonders that the Holy Spirit works for humanity through these   
   Churches, often with scarce resources and even through the difficulties and   
   persecutions they suffer for their faith and their witness to the Word of God   
   and in defence of humanity. In those human peripheries the Church is required   
   to   
   go into the streets, towards the many brothers and sisters of ours who live   
   without the strength, light and consolation of Jesus Christ, without a   
   community   
   of faith to welcome them, without horizons of meaning and of life".   
    The Pope emphasised that the PMS, on account of their characteristic charism,   
   are attentive and sensitive to the needs of mission territories and, in   
   particular, the poorest human groups. "They are instruments of communion   
   between   
   Churches, promoting and implementing the sharing of people and economic   
   resources. They are committed to supporting seminarians, presbyters and women   
   religious of the young Churches in mission territories in the Pontifical   
   Colleges. Faced with such a beautiful and important task, faith and love of   
   Christ have the capacity to lead us everywhere to announce the Gospel of love,   
   fraternity and justice. This is achieved through prayer, evangelical courage   
   and   
   the witness of the beatitudes".   
    However, he warned, "be careful not to give in to the temptation to become a   
   non-governmental organisation, an office for the distribution of ordinary and   
   extraordinary aid. Money helps but can also become the ruin of the Mission.   
   Functionalism, when it is placed in the centre or occupies a major space, as if   
   it were the most important issue, will lead you to ruin, as the first way to   
   die   
   is to take the 'sources' for granted - that is, He Who inspires the Mission.   
   Please, with all your plans and programmes, do not cut Jesus Christ out of   
   missionary work, which is His work. A Church that is reduced to pursuing   
   efficiency of the party apparatus at all costs is already dead, even though the   
   structures and programmes in favour of the clergy and 'self-employed' laity   
   could last for centuries".   
    "True evangelisation is not possible without the sanctifying energy of the   
   Holy   
   Spirit, the only one able to renew, revive and give impetus to the Church in   
   her   
   bold outreach to evangelise all peoples", concluded the Pope.   
      
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    Condolences for victims of explosion in a service station in Accra, Ghana   
    Vatican City, 5 June 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)