VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 111   
   DATE 15-06-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Audience with the president of Colombia: special attention to the   
   reconciliation process and prospects for a peace agreement   
   - Francis to the ROACO: continue your service of Christian charity, condemning   
   all that tramples human dignity   
   - Francis commemorates the reformer Jan Hus on the 600th anniversary of his   
   death   
   - The Pope inaugurates the ecclesial Congress of the diocese of Rome: we   
   parents, witnesses to the beauty of life   
   - Angelus: God entrusted his Word to the fruitfulness of "our earth"   
   - Pope Francis announces the publication of his encyclical   
   - Francis praises the goodness and wisdom of the Scouts and Guides movement   
   - The Pope to Italian magistrates: justice is not an abstract concept, it is   
   centred on the person   
   - God's tenderness: theme of the Pope's homily at the Third Worldwide Priests'   
   Retreat   
   - Former nuncio Jozef Wesolowski committed to trial   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audience with the president of Colombia: special attention to the   
   reconciliation process and prospects for a peace agreement   
    Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) - Today in the Vatican Apostolic Palace the   
   Holy Father received in audience the president of the Republic of Colombia,   
   Juan   
   Manuel Santos Calderon, who subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State   
   Pietro Parolin and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations   
   with States.   
    During the cordial discussions the good relations between the Holy See and the   
   Republic of Colombia were evoked, underlining the contribution the Catholic   
   Church has given and continues to guarantee in favour of the human, social and   
   cultural progress of the population. Among the issues considered, special   
   attention was given to the state of the reconciliation process in the country,   
   the complexity of the negotiations that this entails, and the prospects that   
   could open the way to achieving a peace agreement.   
    Finally, there was an exchange of views on the regional political and social   
   situation, with attention to the efforts made towards promoting stability in   
   the   
   countries of the area, their harmonious and equitable development, and a   
   culture   
   of legality.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis to the ROACO: continue your service of Christian charity, condemning   
   all that tramples human dignity   
    Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) - The lands of the Middle East, marred by   
   years of conflict, are also "marked by the footprints of those who seek refuge   
   and soaked with the blood of many men and women, including numerous Christians   
   persecuted for their faith", said the Holy Father as he received in audience   
   the   
   members of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO), a   
   year   
   after their pilgrimage and Francis' plea for peace in the region, when all   
   hoped   
   that "the seed of reconciliation would have borne greater fruits".   
    Recalling the recent trip to Iraq by a delegation of the ROACO, during which   
   they met with displaced persons from the Nineveh Plain and with small groups   
   from Syria, the Pope affirmed, "in those eyes that asked for help and pleaded   
   for peace and to return home there was Jesus Himself Who looked at you, asking   
   for that charity that makes us Christians. Every form of assistance, so as not   
   to fall into the trap of uncompromising efficiency or mere aid that does not   
   promote persons or peoples, must always be reborn from this blessing of the   
   Lord   
   Who reaches us when we have the courage to look at the situations and the   
   brothers before us".   
    Nevertheless, "the world seems to have become aware of the tragedy of recent   
   months, and has opened its eyes, taking account of the millennial presence of   
   Christians in the Middle East. Initiatives for raising awareness and offering   
   aid to them to to others unjustly affected by violence have flourished.   
   However,   
   further efforts must be made to eliminate what would appear to be tacit   
   agreements by which the lives of thousands and thousands of families - women,   
   men, children, elderly - in the balance of interests appear to weigh less than   
   petroleum and weapons, and while peace and justice is proclaimed, it is   
   accepted   
   that the traffickers of death act in those lands. I therefore encourage you, as   
   you carry out your service of Christian charity, to condemn all that tramples   
   human dignity".   
    The Holy Father mentioned that in these days ROACO is dedicating special   
   attention to Ethiopia, Eritrea and Armenia. "The first two, from this year,   
   canonically constitute two separate realities, inasmuch as they are   
   metropolitan   
   sui generis Churches, but they remain profoundly linked by their common   
   Alexandrian-Gheez tradition". He urged the ROACO "to help these ancient   
   Christian communities to feel that they are members in the evangelical mission   
   and to offer, especially to the young, prospects of hope and growth. Without   
   this, it will not be possible to stop the migratory flow in which so many sons   
   and daughters of the region set out to reach the Mediterranean coasts, risking   
   their lives". Armenia, "cradle of the first nation to receive baptism, also has   
   a great history rich in culture, faith and martyrdom. Support for the Church in   
   that land contributes to the path towards the visible unity of all believers in   
   Christ".   
    The Pope concluded by dedicating to the Oriental Catholic Churches some words   
   from St. Ephrem's Hymn of Resurrection: "Accept, our King, our offering, and   
   give us in return our salvation. Pacify devastated lands and rebuild the   
   burned-down churches so that, when there will be great peace, we may weave a   
   great crown from flowers from all places, so that the Lord of peace may be   
   crowned".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis commemorates the reformer Jan Hus on the 600th anniversary of his   
   death   
    Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning Pope Francis received in   
   audience the representatives of the Czech Hussite Church and the Evangelical   
   Church of Czech Brethren, in Rome to celebrate a liturgy of reconciliation on   
   the occasion of the 600 th anniversary of the reformer Jan Hus, distinguished   
   preacher and rector of the University of Prague, whose execution was lamented   
   by   
   St. John Paul II in 1999, who included him among the reformers of the Church.   
    "In the light of this consideration", said Francis, "it is necessary to   
   continue our studies of the figure and work of Jan Hus, which has long been a   
   matter of controversy between Christians, but which has today become a reason   
   for dialogue. This research, conducted without any form of ideological   
   conditioning, will be an important service to historical truth, to all   
   Christians and to society as a whole, even beyond your national borders".   
    "Today's meeting gives us the opportunity to renew and deepen the relations   
   between our communities", he added. "Many disputes of the past ask to be   
   revisited in the light of the new context in which we live, and agreements and   
   convergences will be reached if we face the traditional conflictual questions   
   with a new outlook. Above all, we cannot forget that the shared profession of   
   faith in God the Father, in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, in which we have   
   been baptised, already unites us in bonds of authentic fraternity".   
    "Vatican Council II affirmed that 'every renewal of the Church is essentially   
   grounded in an increase of fidelity to her own calling. Undoubtedly this is the   
   basis of the movement toward unity. ... Church renewal has therefore notable   
   ecumenical importance'. Nowadays, in particular, the need for a new   
   evangelisation of many men and women who seem indifferent to the joyful news of   
   the Gospel makes it urgent to renovate every ecclesial structure so as to   
   promote a positive response from all those to whom Jesus offers His friendship.   
   And visible communion between Christians will certainly make this announcement   
   more credible".   
    "Responding to the call of Christ to continual conversion, of which we are all   
   in need, we can progress together on the path of reconciliation and peace.   
   Along   
   this road let us learn, by God's grace, to recognise each other as friends and   
   to consider the motivations of others in the best light possible. In this sense   
   I hope that bonds of friendship may develop also at the level of local and   
   parish communities. With these sentiments, I join spiritually in the   
   penitential   
   liturgy you will celebrate here in Rome", concluded the Holy Father. "May God,   
   rich in mercy, grant us the grace to recognise ourselves all as sinners and to   
   know how to forgive each other".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope inaugurates the ecclesial Congress of the diocese of Rome: we   
   parents,   
   witnesses to the beauty of life   
    Vatican City, 15 June 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in St. Peter's Square   
   Pope Francis inaugurated the ecclesial Congress of the diocese of Rome, whose   
   theme this year is: "For what I received I passed on to you - we parents,   
   witnesses to the beauty of life". The meeting began with greetings from   
   Cardinal   
   Agostino Vallini, vicar of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome, and a prayer   
   invoking the Holy Spirit. The Holy Father went on to address some off-the-cuff   
   remarks to the families, catechists, priests and pastoral workers present,   
   extensive extracts of which are given below.   
    "Our city must be reborn, morally and spiritually, as it seems as if   
   everything   
   is the same, that everything is relative; that the Gospel is a beautiful story   
   about good things, pleasant to read, but which remains simply an idea. It does   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)