VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 115   
   DATE 19-06-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope to the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch: "Yours is a Church of   
   martyrs"   
   - To the Catholic Biblical Federation: pastoral effort to ensure the centrality   
   of the Word of God in the life of the Church   
   - May no-one feel excluded from sport, says the Pope to the athletes of the   
   Special Olympics   
   - Christians and Muslims, together to counter violence perpetrated in the name   
   of religion   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope to the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch: "Yours is a Church of   
   martyrs"   
    Vatican City, 19 June 2015 (VIS) - Following a tradition established in 1971   
   by   
   the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, His Holiness   
   Ignatius   
   Jacob III and Blessed Paul VI, this morning Pope Francis received in the   
   Vatican   
   His Beatitude Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, accompanied by a Syriac-Orthodox   
   delegation, recalling that the historic first meeting was the beginning of a   
   "holy pilgrimage" towards full communion between the two Churches.   
    Francis also mentioned the Joint Declaration on the common profession of faith   
   in the mystery of the Incarnate Word, the true God and the true man, signed in   
   that year by the Patriarch and the Pope, which laid the foundations for a path   
   to unity among disciples. Subsequent meetings between Patriarch Ignatius Zakka   
   Iwas and St. John Paul II, first in Rome and then in Damascus, represented   
   important steps toward the concrete pastoral collaboration for the good of the   
   faithful.   
    "How much has changed since those first meetings!" exclaimed the bishop of   
   Rome. "Yours, Beatitude, has been a Church of martyrs since the very beginning,   
   and continues to be so to this day in the Middle East, where, along with other   
   Christian communities and other minorities, it suffers greatly as a result of   
   war, violence and persecution. How much pain! How many innocent victims! Faced   
   with all this, it seems that those in power seem unable to find solutions".   
    "Let us pray together for the victims of this brutal violence and for all the   
   situations of war throughout the world. In particular, let us remember the   
   Metropolitan Gregorios Ibrahim and the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church   
   Griega Paul Yazigi, abducted at the same time two years ago. Let us also   
   remember the priests and the many other people, of different groups, deprived   
   of   
   their freedom. And let us ask of the Lord the grace always to be willing to   
   forgive and to be builders of reconciliation and peace. This is what inspires   
   the witness of the martyrs. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the unity   
   of   
   the Church and the tool for the edification of the kingdom of God, which is the   
   kingdom of peace and justice".   
    "Beatitude, dear brother, in this moment of tension and pain", concluded the   
   Pope, "let us increasingly strengthen the bonds of friendship and fraternity   
   between the Catholic Church and the Syriac-Orthodox Church. Let us hasten our   
   steps on the common path, looking towards the day in which we will be able to   
   celebrate our common belonging to Christ's single Church around the same altar   
   of the Sacrifice and of worship. Let us exchange the treasures of our   
   traditions   
   as spiritual gifts, as what unites us is far greater than what divides us".   
    The Holy Father and the Patriarch then prayed together in the Redemptoris   
   Mater   
   chapel.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the Catholic Biblical Federation: pastoral effort to ensure the centrality   
   of the Word of God in the life of the Church Vatican City, 19 June 2015 (VIS) -   
   This morning in the Consistory Hall Pope Francis received the members of the   
   Catholic Biblical Federation (CBF), which has recently elected Cardinal Luis   
   Antonio Tagle, metropolitan archbishop of Manila, Philippines, as its new   
   president. The Federation is currently holding its tenth plenary assembly   
   dedicated to the theme "That which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to   
   you", drawn from the First Epistle of St. John; reflecting on the Sacred   
   Scripture as the source of evangelisation, it commemorates the fiftieth   
   anniversary of the promulgation of the dogmatic Constitution on the Divine   
   Revelation Dei Verbum.   
    "To be able to proclaim the word of truth, we ourselves must have had the   
   experience of the Word: we must have listened, contemplated, almost touched it   
   with our own hands", writes the Holy Father in the discourse he handed to those   
   present. "Christians, who are the People of God, 'that you may proclaim the   
   excellencies of him', must, as the dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation   
   Dei Verbum suggests, first of all venerate, read, listen, proclaim, preach,   
   study and spread the Word of God. The Church, who proclaims the Word every day,   
   receiving nourishment and inspiration from it, makes herself the beneficiary   
   and   
   excellent witness of the efficiency and strength inherent in that same Word of   
   God. Neither we, nor our efforts, but rather the Holy Spirit works through   
   those   
   who dedicate themselves to pastoral ministry, and He does the same for the   
   listeners, preparing them to listen to the Word and to receive its message of   
   life".   
    Referring to the anniversary of Dei Verbum and the timeliness of dedicating   
   the   
   plenary assembly to the relationship between the Scriptures and evangelisation,   
   Francis mentions that in 1986 St. John Paul II had invited the CBF to undertake   
   a careful rereading of the dogmatic Constitution, applying its principles and   
   implementing its recommendations. The Synod of Bishops on the Word of God in   
   the   
   life and mission of the Church in 2008 offered another important opportunity   
   for   
   reflecting on its application. He adds, "Likewise today I would like to invite   
   you to go ahead with this work, always taking into consideration the value of   
   the treasure of the Conciliar Constitution, as well as the subsequent   
   Magisterium, while you communicate the joy of the Gospel to the furthest   
   confines of the world, obeying the missionary mandate".   
    "However, there are places where the Word of God has not yet been proclaimed   
   or, although proclaimed, has not been received as the Word of salvation", the   
   Pope remarks. "There are places where the Word of God is emptied of its   
   authority. The lack of the support or vigour of the Word leads to a weakening   
   of   
   the Christian communities of ancient tradition and curbs the spiritual growth   
   and missionary fervour of the young Churches. We are all responsible if 'the   
   message will run the risk of losing its freshness and will cease to have the   
   freshness of the Gospel'. However, it remains valid to encourage a special   
   pastoral effort to emphasise the central position of the Word of God in   
   ecclesial life, promoting the Biblical inspiration of all pastoral ministry. We   
   must ensure that the habitual activities of all Christian communities, in the   
   parishes, associations and movements, truly have at heart the personal   
   encounter   
   with Christ communicated to us in His Word since, as St. Jerome teaches,   
   'ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ'".   
    "The mission of the servants of the Word - bishops, priests, men and women   
   religious and laypeople - is that of promoting and favouring this encounter,   
   which inspires faith and transforms life; therefore I pray, in the name of all   
   the Church, that you may fulfil your mandate: ensuring 'that the message of the   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)