would be to think of our parishes, communities, chapels, wherever there are   
   Christians, as true centres of encounter between ourselves and God.   
    "The Church is a mother, like Mary. In her, we have a model. We too must   
   provide a home, like Mary, who did not lord it over the word of God, but rather   
   welcomed that word, bore it in her womb and gave it to others. We too must   
   provide a home, like the earth, which does not choke the seed, but receives it,   
   nourishes it and makes it grow.   
    "That is how we want to be Christians, that is how we want to live the faith   
   on   
   this Paraguayan soil, like Mary, accepting and welcoming God's life in our   
   brothers and sisters, in confidence and with the certainty that 'the Lord will   
   shower down blessings, and our land will yield its increase'. May it be so",   
   concluded the Holy Father.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Angelus: with Mary's help, may the Church become a home for all   
    Vatican City, 13 July 2015 (VIS) - At the end of the Holy Mass, Archbishop   
   Edmundo Ponziano Valenzuela Mellid and the Orthodox archbishop of South   
   America,   
   Tarasios, greeted the Holy Father, who expressed his gratitude and, before   
   praying the Angelus, invited all those present to look upon the Virgin Mary,   
   Mother of God and our Mother.   
    "She is the gift that Jesus gives to his people. He gave her to us as our   
   Mother at the hour of the cross and of His suffering. She is the fruit of   
   Christ's sacrifice for us. And from that moment, Mary has always been, and will   
   always be, with her children, especially the poor and those most in need. She   
   has become part of the tapestry of human history, of ours lands and peoples. As   
   in so many other countries of Latin America, the faith of the Paraguayan people   
   is imbued with love for Our Lady. They approach their Mother with confidence,   
   they open their hearts and entrust to her their joys and sorrows, their   
   aspirations and sufferings. Our Lady consoles them and, with tender love, fills   
   them with hope. They never cease to turn with trust to Mary, Mother of mercy   
   for   
   each and every one of her children, without exception".   
    "I ask Our Lady, who persevered in prayer with the Apostles as they awaited   
   the   
   Holy Spirit, to watch over the Church and strengthen her members in fraternal   
   love. With Mary's help, may the Church be a home for all, a welcoming home, a   
   mother for all peoples".   
    Dear brothers: I ask you, please, do not forget to pray for me. I know how   
   beloved the Pope is in Paraguay. I keep you in my heart and I pray for you and   
   for your country", concluded the Holy Father who, following the Marian prayer,   
   blessed the one and a half million people who had attended the celebration.   
    He then travelled by car to the apostolic nunciature where he lunched with the   
   22 bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Paraguay. He then left the nunciature   
   for the waterfront promenade of Costanera where he met with the young people of   
   the nation.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope greets the young before leaving Paraguay   
    Vatican City, 13 July 2015 (VIS) - The Pope bade farewell to Paraguay with a   
   meeting with 200 thousand young people at the waterfront promenade of   
   Costanera,   
   where instead of reading the discourse he had prepared for the event, he   
   responded to the testimonies presented by three young people, Orlando, Liz and   
   Manuel. An extensive summary is presented below:   
    "After reading the Gospel, Orlando came to greet me and said, 'I ask you to   
   pray for the freedom of each one of us, of us all'. It is the blessing that we   
   will now all ask for together: freedom. Because freedom is a gift God gives us,   
   but we must know how to receive it, we must know how to have a free heart, for   
   we all know that in the world there are many bonds that bind our heart and do   
   not let it be free. Exploitation, the lack of means for survival, drug   
   addiction, sadness ... all these things take away our freedom. And so, all   
   together, let us thank Orlando who asked for this blessing, that of keeping our   
   heart free, a heart that can say what it thinks and what it feels, that can do   
   what it thinks and feels. This is a free heart!"   
    He continued, "we have heard two other accounts, from Liz and from Manuel. ...   
   Liz could easily have put her mother in a rest home, her grandmother in another   
   rest home, living as a young person, enjoying herself and studying whatever she   
   wanted. And Liz said, 'no'. She has spent her life so far, up to the age of 25,   
   serving her mother and her grandmother. Alone? No. Liz was not alone. She spoke   
   to us about an aunt who was like an angel, and she spoke about her meetings   
   with   
   friends at the weekend, with a young evangelising community, with the youth   
   group that has nurtured her faith. And those two angels - the aunt who helped   
   and the youth group - gave her the strength to keep going. And this is   
   solidarity".   
    "First: freedom and a free heart. Second: solidarity, to accompany others.   
   Solidarity. This is what this testimony teaches us. And Manuel has not had an   
   easy life. He has said some tough words to us: 'I was exploited, mistreated,   
   and   
   I risked falling prey to drug abuse ... I was alone'. Exploitation,   
   mistreatment,   
   loneliness. And instead of doing negative things, instead of stealing, he set   
   to   
   work. Instead of taking revenge for his hardship, he looked ahead! ... Hope,   
   work,   
   fighting for life, forging ahead - this is what Manuel tells us about. As you   
   can see, for many young people life is not easy. And I want you to understand   
   this. ... 'While for me life has been relatively easy, there are other young   
   people for whom if has not been relatively easy'. Indeed, there are some whom   
   desperation drives to delinquency, crime, and corruption. To these boys and   
   girls, we must say that we are near to them, that we want to lend them a hand,   
   we want to help them with solidarity, love and hope".   
    "There are two beautiful phrases that Liz and Manuel said to us. Listen. Liz   
   told us that as she got to know Jesus, this opened the door to hope. And Manuel   
   said, 'I met God, my strength'. That is, getting to know God, drawing closer to   
   Jesus, means hope and strength. And this is what we need to find in the young   
   today: young people with hope and young people with strength. ... Why? Because   
   they know Jesus, they know God. Free heart, solidarity, work, hope, effort.   
   This   
   is the path. But this requires sacrifice and means swimming against the   
   current.   
   The Beatitudes that we have just read are Jesus' plan for us. And it is a   
   project that goes against the grain. Jesus tells us, 'Blessed are the poor in   
   spirit'. He does not say, 'Blessed are the rich, who accumulate wealth'. No.   
   Those who are poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who are   
   able   
   to draw close to and understand those who are poor. Jesus did not say, 'Blessed   
   are those who get by well', but rather, blessed are those who are able to share   
   in the suffering of others. ... The other day, a priest said to me, jokingly,   
   'Go   
   ahead, keep on telling the young to make noise; but then we have to deal with   
   the hubbub they make! Make a noise, but organise it well! A noise that gives us   
   a free heart, that gives us solidarity, that gives us hope, that is born of   
   meeting Jesus and knowing that God, Who knows us, is our strength. This is the   
   noise I want you to make".   
    Following his meeting with the young, the Pope travelled to the airport of   
   Asuncion, pausing to bless the Ycua Bolanos supermarket and commercial complex   
   rebuilt after the worst public accident in the country's history, a fire that   
   caused the death of 400 people and injured 500. The papal aeroplane left   
   Paraguayan soil at 7 p.m. local time, and landed in Rome shortly before 2 p.m.   
   (Rome time).   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Telegram for the death of Cardinal Biffi   
    Vatican City, 11 July 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent a telegram of   
   condolences to Cardinal Carlo Caffarra, archbishop of Bologna, Italy, for the   
   death of Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, archbishop emeritus of the same see, at the   
   age   
   of 87 following a long illness.   
    The Pope expressed to the relatives of the deceased his profound participation   
   in their suffering and recalls with affection the cardinal who served the   
   Gospel   
   with joy and wisdom, and who loved the Church tenaciously. He remembers with   
   gratitude the late cardinal's intense work as auxiliary bishop of Milan and   
   later as archbishop of Bologna, as well as his tireless service in the human   
   and   
   Christian formation of entire generations through his teaching and the   
   publication of numerous works. The Holy Father praises his direct language in   
   the service of the Word of God, as well as his valued preaching of the   
   Spiritual   
   Exercises, in particular to the Roman Curia.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Strong condemnation of the attack on the Italian consulate in Cairo   
    Vatican City, 11 July 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin   
   has sent a telegram of condolences to the president of the Arab Republic of   
   Egypt, Abdel Fatteh Al Sisi, in response to the attack on the Italian consulate   
   in Cairo in which one person was killed and another ten injured.   
    "His Holiness Pope Francis has learned with great concern of the attack in   
   Cairo against the Italian consulate following a wave of attacks that have   
   risked   
   the lives of many people. Pope Francis firmly condemns this type of act and   
   launches an appeal to political and religious leaders at all levels to work   
   together to combat, with ever greater determination, the scourge of terrorism   
   and to promote harmony and solidarity. The Pope expresses his profound   
   solidarity with the families affected and with all those struck by this blind   
   violence, assuring them of his prayers, and as a pledge of consolation,   
   implores   
   an abundance of divine blessings for all the Egyptian people".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 11 July 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - the following consultors of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints: Msgr.   
   Ennio Apeciti of the clergy of Milan, Italy and rector of the Pontifical   
   Lombard   
   Seminary of Sts. Ambrose and Charles in Rome; Fr. Francesco Massagrande of the   
   clergy of Verona, Italy, member of the Pious Society of Don Nicola Mazza.   
    - the following members of the executive board of Caritas Internationalis:   
   Bishop Lucas Van Looy of Gent, Belgium, president of Caritas Europe; Archbishop   
   Youssef Antoine Soueif of Cyprus of the Maronites and president of Caritas   
   Cyprus; and Msgr. Gerard Patrick Burns, president of Caritas Oceania.   
    - Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, archbishop of Manila, Philippines and   
   president of Caritas Internationalis, as member of the Pontifical Council "Cor   
   Unum".   
    - Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago de   
   Chile, as his special envoy to the Sixth National Eucharistic Congress of   
   Mexico, to be celebrated in Monterrey from 9 to 13 September 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.   
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