Lord may spread rapidly and be honoured', until the day of Jesus Christ".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    May no-one feel excluded from sport, says the Pope to the athletes of the   
   Special Olympics   
    Vatican City, 19 June 2015 (VIS) - "The world of sport looks to the Church   
   with   
   trust and attention, as it is aware that together it is possible to work to   
   restore to sporting practice its true meaning: an educational, playful and   
   recreational meaning, and also its cultural and social dignity. You are well   
   aware of this, having chosen sport as an experience of development and growth,   
   in the presence of a condition of fragility and limitation", said the Pope as   
   he   
   received in audience 150 athletes participating in the Italian "Special   
   Olympics", and who will participate in the finals of the World Games in Los   
   Angeles this July. The "Special Olympics" is an international sporting   
   association founded in 1968 in the United States by Eunice Kennedy Shriver to   
   help those with different mental capabilities to develop confidence in   
   themselves and in their social capacities through training and competitive   
   sport. "It is beautiful and meaningful that young people and adults find in   
   sport and participation in competitions, including at an international level,   
   an   
   incentive to live their life fully. It is a challenge", emphasised Francis,   
   "and   
   you have accepted it and 'taken the field'. I encourage you to continue in your   
   efforts to help each other to discover your potential and to love life, to   
   appreciate it in all its limits and above all, its beautiful sides. Sport is a   
   path that is well-suited to this discovery, to opening oneself up, to coming   
   out   
   of oneself and getting involved. In this way one learns to participate, to   
   outdo   
   oneself, to strive together. All this helps you to become active members of   
   society and also of the Church; and it helps society itself and the Church to   
   overcome all forms of discrimination and exclusion".   
    "Please", he continued, "be faithful to this ideal of sport. Do not let   
   yourself be contaminated by a false sporting culture, that of economic success,   
   victory at any cost, and individualism. Rather, it is necessary to rediscover   
   amateur sport, the sport of gratuity, sport for sport's sake. We must protect   
   and defend sport as an experience of human values: competition yes, but in   
   loyalty and solidarity. Dignity for every person: always! No-one must feel   
   excluded from sport. And the generous action and harmony between the various   
   institutional and social bodies is necessary to attain this objective".   
    He concluded by wishing them a joyful and serene experience at the upcoming   
   World Championship, expressing his hope that they would enjoy themselves and   
   form friendships with brothers and sisters throughout the world and reminding   
   them to pray for him.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Christians and Muslims, together to counter violence perpetrated in the name   
   of   
   religion   
    Vatican City, 19 June 2015 (VIS) - "Christians and Muslims: Together to   
   counter   
   violence perpetrated in the name of religion" is the title of the Message from   
   the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue for Ramadan, which began   
   this   
   year on 18 June, and 'Id al-Fitr. The document, signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis   
   Tauran and Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.I., respectively president and   
   secretary of the dicastery, is dated 12 June.   
    "For some of you and also for others from other religious communities, the joy   
   of the feast is shadowed by the memory of the dear ones who lost their life or   
   goods, or suffered physically, mentally and even spiritually because of   
   violence. Ethnic and religious communities in a number of countries of the   
   world   
   went through various and enormous unjust sufferings: killing of some of their   
   members, destruction of their religious and cultural heritages, forced   
   emigration from their homes and cities, molestation and rape of their women,   
   enslavement of some of their members, trafficking of persons, commerce of   
   organs, and even selling of cadavers!   
    "We are all aware of the gravity of these crimes in themselves. However, what   
   makes them even more heinous is the tentative of justifying them in the name of   
   religion. It is a clear manifestation of instrumentalising religion for gaining   
   power and richness.   
    "Needless to say that those who have the responsibility of security and public   
   order have also the duty to protect their people and their properties from the   
   blind violence of the terrorists. Besides, there is also the responsibility of   
   those who have the task of education: families, schools, curricula, religious   
   leaders, religious discourse, media. Violence and terrorism are first conceived   
   in the mind of the deviated persons, thereafter perpetrated on the ground.   
    "All those are involved in the education of the youth and in the various   
   educational spaces should teach the sacred character of life and the derived   
   dignity of every person, regardless of his or her ethnicity, religion, culture,   
   social position and political choice. There is no life that is more precious   
   than another one because it belongs to a specific race or religion. Therefore,   
   no one can kill. No one can kill in the name of God; this would be a double   
   crime: against God and the very person.   
    "There cannot be any ambiguity in education. The future of a person, community   
   and of the whole humanity cannot be built on such ambiguity or apparent truth.   
   Christians and Muslims, according to their respective religious tradition, look   
   at God and relate with Him as being the Truth. Our life and behaviour as   
   believers should reflect such conviction.   
    "According to St. John Paul II, Christians and Muslims have 'the privilege of   
   prayer' (Address to Muslim Religious Leaders, Kaduna, Nigeria, 14 February   
   1982). Our prayer is much needed: for justice, for peace and security in the   
   world; for those who have deviated from the true path of life and commit   
   violence in the name of religion, so as to return to God and change life; for   
   the poor and the sick.   
    "Our feasts, among others, nourish in us hope for the present and the future.   
   It is with hope that we look at the future of humanity, especially when we do   
   our best to make our legitimate dreams become a reality.   
    "With Pope Francis, we wish that the fruits of Ramadan and the joy of ‘Id   
   al-Fitr may bring about peace and prosperity, enhancing your human and   
   spiritual   
   growth".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 19 June 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in audience   
   Archbishop Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio in the Syrian Arab Republic.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 19 June 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Cardinal   
   Joachim Meisner, archbishop emeritus of Cologne, Germany, as his special envoy   
   to the inauguration of the recently-restored "conventual complex" of the Shrine   
   of Maria-Radna at Timisoara, Romania, to be held on 2 August 2015.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   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   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)