the feasibility study conducted by the same Commission.   
    Starting from the analyses and reports of McKinsey and the previous   
   commissions   
   (COSEA and the Vatican Media Commission chaired by Lord Chris Patten), the   
   current Commission presented a plan for reform to be implemented over a   
   four-year period, ensuring the protection of staff and a gradual integration of   
   institutions. These are the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the   
   Holy See Press Office, Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Centre, the   
   Osservatore Romano, the Photographic Service, the Vatican Publishing House, the   
   Vatican Typography and the Internet Office.   
    The Council of Cardinals expressed a positive judgement to the Holy Father,   
   also in relation to the expected time span. The constitution of the dicastery   
   will be drafted, and the necessary appointments made during the coming months   
   to   
   enable the process to be initiated. The Commission is currently continuing its   
   work, which has yet to be completed.   
    On Wednesday morning, the Council heard a communique from Fr. Michael Czerny   
   of   
   the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace" regarding the Holy Father's new   
   encyclical and the preparation for its publication. Fr. Czerny explained that,   
   at the Pope's behest, emails will be sent, introduced by a letter from Cardinal   
   Turkson, to inform ordinaries throughout the world of the upcoming publication   
   of the encyclical and to provide suggestions and assistance on the teaching and   
   previous interventions by the Pope on the theme of the environment. It is hoped   
   that this will allow individual bishops and episcopates to prepare for the new   
   document and to accompany it with appropriate explanations and comments, so as   
   to ensure that the publication of the encyclical is experienced as an important   
   event in the life of the universal Church and in communion with the Holy   
   Father.   
    The next meeting of the Council of Cardinals is scheduled for 14 to 16   
   September.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Holy See and the United States sign agreement against tax evasion   
    Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning Archbishop Paul Richard   
   Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States, and the U.S. Ambassador to the   
   Holy See, Kenneth F. Hackett, signed an historic agreement between the Holy See   
   (acting also in the name of and on behalf of Vatican City State) and the United   
   States of America to improve international tax compliance and the exchange of   
   tax information in view of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).   
    This agreement - which is the first formal intergovernmental agreement between   
   the Holy See and the United States - underscores the commitment of both parties   
   to promote and ensure ethical behaviour in the financial and economic fields.   
   In   
   particular, this agreement will prevent tax evasion and facilitate the   
   compliance of fiscal duties by those U.S. citizens who conduct financial   
   activities in Vatican City State.   
    Ensuring the payment of taxes and preventing tax evasion are of crucial   
   economic importance for every community since adequate tax revenues and public   
   spending are indispensable for governments to become instruments of development   
   and solidarity, to encourage employment growth, to sustain business and   
   charitable activities, and to provide systems of social insurance and   
   assistance   
   designed to protect the weakest members of society.   
    In a context of economic globalisation, it is therefore essential to   
   strengthen   
   the exchange of information with the view to prevent tax evasion. The present   
   agreement is thus based on the most up-to-date global standards to curtail   
   offshore tax evasion through the automatic exchange of tax information.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Holy See at the 39th Conference of the FAO: sustainable human development   
    Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) - Msgr. Fernando Chica Arellano, head of the   
   Holy See delegation at the 39th session of the Conference of the FAO (United   
   Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation), being held in Rome from 6 to 13   
   June, spoke this morning at the seventh plenary session dedicated to the theme   
   "Breaking the cycle of rural poverty and hunger by strengthening rural   
   resilience: social protection and sustainable agricultural development".   
   Tomorrow in the Vatican the Holy Father will receive in audience the 450   
   attendees of the Conference.   
    "The member States and various intergovernmental institutions who work in the   
   sector of development and cooperation keep a close eye on the FAO and its   
   activities, as does civil society in its different and valuable forms of   
   organisation. The work that this organisation is called upon to undertake, in   
   the present and in the near future, in the various regions of the world, must   
   be   
   focused on this reality", affirmed the prelate. "This requires extra effort: in   
   facing the problems of the rural world and the needs of those who suffer from   
   hunger and malnutrition it is also necessary to consider the condition of   
   agricultural workers and their earnings, but without forgetting that the   
   agricultural worker is not solely an economic subject. He or she is a person   
   capable of participating in decision-making regarding production, conservation   
   and distribution of the fruits of the land".   
    "Therefore, more than sustainable development, it would be far more incisive   
   and coherent to speak about sustainable human development, or rather a   
   development that places at the centre the human person, with his or her real   
   capacities, limitations, peculiarities and needs, both individually and as a   
   family. If the economic parameters do not take all this into account, the   
   resulting damage is clear and irreparable, for greater progress can never be   
   equivalent to less humanity. An ethical and human vision of development   
   requires   
   us instead to share resources, strategies and financing, but above all reminds   
   us of the urgency and importance of solidarity as well as determination to put   
   an end, once and for all, to the underdevelopment of the rural world. The   
   Organisation may then continue to be the competent 'centre' for the gathering,   
   study and dissemination of information on agriculture, production methods and   
   regulations, as its Constitution stipulates and as is justly expected of it at   
   all levels".   
    "The Holy See delegation wishes here to reaffirm the willingness of the   
   Catholic Church, in her structures and organisational forms, to contribute to   
   this effort", concluded Msgr. Chica Arellano.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in audience   
   Archbishop Piergiorgio Bertoldi, apostolic nuncio in Burkina Faso and Niger,   
   with family members.   
    This afternoon, he is scheduled to receive in audience Vladimir V. Putin,   
   president of the Russian Federation, and entourage.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has accepted:   
    - the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Amargosa, Brazil,   
   presented by Bishop Joao Nilton dos Santos Souza, in accordance with canon 401   
   para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.   
    - appointed Bishop Teodoro Mendes Tavares, C.S.Sp., auxiliary of the   
   archdiocese of Belem do Para, Brazil, as coadjutor bishop of the diocese of   
   Ponta de Pedras (area 2,082, population 2,253,045, Catholics 1,857,243, priests   
   199, permanent deacons 82, religious 545), Brazil.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)