VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 148   
   DATE 03-09-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Audience with the president of Israel: responsibility of religious leaders in   
   promoting reconciliation and peace   
   - The Pope to Schoenstatt priests: "keep your ear to God's heart and your hand   
   on the pulse of the time"   
   - Audiences   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audience with the president of Israel: responsibility of religious leaders in   
   promoting reconciliation and peace   
    Vatican City, 3 September 2015 (VIS) Today in the Vatican Apostolic Palace the   
   Holy Father Francis received in audience Reuven Rivlin, president of the State   
   of Israel, who subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro   
   Parolin,   
   accompanied by the secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Paul   
   Gallagher.   
    During the cordial discussions the Parties focused on the political and social   
   situation in the Middle East, affected by several conflicts, with special   
   attention to the condition of Christians and other minority groups. In this   
   respect the importance of interreligious dialogue was recognised, along with   
   the   
   responsibility of religious leaders in promoting reconciliation and peace.   
    The need and urgency of promoting a climate of trust between Israelis and   
   Palestinians was highlighted, alongside the resumption of direct negotiations   
   with the aim of reaching an agreement respecting the legitimate aspirations of   
   the two Populations, as a fundamental contribution to peace and stability in   
   the   
   Region.   
    Various issues were considered regarding the relations between the State of   
   Israel and the Holy See, and between the state authorities and local Catholic   
   communities. The Parties expressed their hope that the bilateral Agreement   
   currently being drafted be concluded promptly, and that an adequate solution be   
   found for various matters of common interest, including the situation of   
   Christian schools in the country.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope to Schoenstatt priests: "keep your ear to God's heart and your hand   
   on   
   the pulse of the time"   
    Vatican City, 3 September 2015 (VIS) - Contemplation, service, fraternity -   
   three facets of priestly life that Pope Francis proposed to the participants in   
   the general chapter of the Schoenstatt Fathers. The Apostolic Schoenstatt   
   Movement was founded on 18 October 1914 by Fr. Jose Kentenich as a path of   
   spiritual renewal within the Catholic Church, and his name is drawn from the   
   Marian shrine near Koblenz, Germany, which houses the image of Our Lady, and   
   where there are the head offices of the movement's communities, now present in   
   42 countries. The Secular Institute of Schoenstatt Fathers was instituted by   
   Fr.   
   Jose Kentenich on 18 July 1965, in the service of the Apostolic Movement.   
    The Pope remarked that, after these years of progress, their concern is to   
   "keep alive your foundational charism and the ability to communicate it to the   
   young, so as to continue to inspire and support your lives and your mission.   
   You   
   are aware that a charism is not a museum piece, that remains intact in a   
   display   
   cabinet, to be contemplated alone. Fidelity, keeping the charism pure, does not   
   in any way mean closing it in a sealed bottle, like distilled water, so that it   
   is not contaminated by the outside world. ... Fr. Kentenich expressed this very   
   well when he said that it was necessary to keep an ear to God's heart and a   
   hand   
   on the pulse of the time. ... These are the two pillars of an authentic   
   spiritual   
   life".   
    The Pope went on to speak about contact with God: "it is not a good approach   
   to   
   neglect prayer or, worse still, to abandon it with the excuse of a demanding   
   ministry. ... It would be a grave error to think that the charism stays alive   
   focusing on external structures ... or forms. God frees us from the spirit of   
   functionalism. The vitality of the charism is rooted in the 'first love',   
   renewed daily, in our willingness to listen and to respond with loving   
   generosity. ... May this healthy and necessary 'decentralisation' work in us,   
   so   
   that we set ourselves aside to allow Christ to occupy the centre of our life".   
    The second pillar is formed by the expression "taking the pulse of the time",   
   that is, reality and people. "We must not be afraid of reality", emphasised   
   Francis. "Dialogue with God in prayer also leads us to listen to his voice in   
   the people and the situations that surround us. We do not have two separate   
   ears, one for God and one for reality. ... When we meet with our brothers,   
   especially those who in our eyes or in the eyes of the world are less   
   agreeable,   
   what do we see? Do we realise that God loves them, that they are of the same   
   flesh that Christ assumed, or are we indifferent to their problems? ... In   
   prayer   
   we learn not to pass by Christ Who suffers in His brothers. Let us learn to   
   serve".   
    "You are practically the last reality of the Movement founded by Fr.   
   Kentenich,   
   and this carries an important lesson, and is very good", observed the Pope.   
   "This fact of being the 'last' clearly reflects the role held by priests in   
   relation to their brothers. The priest must never be above or in front of   
   others, but instead must walk alongside them, loving them with the same love of   
   Christ, Who came not to be served but rather to serve and to give His life in   
   return for so many others. ... Let us ask the Lord to give us shoulders as   
   strong   
   as His, to carry those who are without hope, those who seem lost, those to whom   
   no-one offers a glance ... and free us from 'careerism' in our priestly life".   
    Finally, the Pope commented on priestly fraternity. "Please, never be alone",   
   he warned. "The presbyteral ministry cannot be conceived of in an individual   
   or,   
   worse still, individualist way. Fraternity is the great school of discipleship.   
   ... It is not we who choose our brothers, but we have the conscious and   
   fruitful   
   option to love them as they are, with their flaws and their virtues. ...   
   Please,   
   may there not be any indifference in your communities. Behave as men: if   
   disagreements or differences of opinion arise, do not worry: better the heat of   
   the argument than the coldness of indifference, which is the real tomb of   
   fraternal charity".   
    At the end of the meeting the Pope gave three recommendations to the   
   Schoenstatt priests. "Firstly, accompany and care for families, so that they   
   are   
   able to live the holy alliance of love and life, especially those who   
   experience   
   moments of crisis or difficulty. Secondly, and thinking of the upcoming jubilee   
   of mercy, dedicate plenty of time to the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Be great   
   forgivers. ... May you be witnesses of God's mercy and tenderness in your   
   communities. And thirdly, pray for me, as I need your prayers", he concluded.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 3 September 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretary for the Economy;   
    - Archbishop Anselmo Guido Pecorari, apostolic nuncio in Bulgaria and   
   Macedonia;   
    - Ephraim Mirvis, chief rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth, and   
   entourage.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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