VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 150   
   DATE 07-09-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope praises the synodality of the Church in Portugal   
   - We cannot remain indifferent to those who suffer as a result of war and   
   violence   
   - God is not closed in on Himself, but opens up to humanity   
   - Appeal to the dioceses of Europe to welcome refugee families   
   - The Holy Father receives the "Cells of evangelisation"   
   - Cardinal Fernando Sturla, Pope's special envoy to the Fifth National   
   Eucharistic Congress of Bolivia   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
   - Press conference on Pope Francis' two new Motu proprio on the reform of   
   canonical procedure for marriage annulment   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope praises the synodality of the Church in Portugal   
    Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received   
   in   
   audience the bishops of the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, at the end of   
   their   
   "ad Limina" visit, and subsequently handed them a written discourse in which he   
   praises, among other things, the growth of synodality as a style of pastoral   
   life in the country's particular Churches and various initiatives including the   
   general enquiry on the beliefs and faith of the Portuguese people, the first   
   response to which is the Note "Promoting pastoral renewal in the Church in   
   Portugal" (April 2013).   
    The Pope also emphasised that the five-yearly reports of the bishops suggest   
   that the Church in Portugal has more positive than negative aspects and lives   
   serenely, guided by common sense, and is listened to by the majority of the   
   population and national institutions, even though her voice is not always   
   followed. The people are hospitable, generous, religious and peace-loving, and   
   the episcopate is fraternally united. The priests are well-prepared both   
   spiritually and culturally, and consecrated persons are faithful to the charism   
   of their founders, while the laity expresses in the world the effective   
   presence   
   of the Church.   
    However, the Pope notes the abandonment of Christian practice by young people   
   after their confirmation, precisely at an age at which they take up the reins   
   of   
   future life, and asked if this is perhaps due to a failure of catechesis to   
   grow   
   with them and to respond to their questions and concerns. He therefore invites   
   the bishops to rethink the question of a global catechetical path covering   
   different ages and offers them encouragement, recalling that the Lord assures   
   His constant presence and His infallible assistance to the Church.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    We cannot remain indifferent to those who suffer as a result of war and   
   violence   
    Vatican City, September 2015 (VIS) - "Peace is always possible - religions and   
   cultures in dialogue" is the title of the 28th International Meeting for Peace,   
   organised by the Sant'Egidio Community. Twenty years after the end of the war   
   in   
   the Balkans, it is being held this year in Tirana, Albania from 6 to 8   
   September. The Meetings follow the trail of St. John Paul II who attended the   
   first in 1986 in Assisi, Italy.   
    Below are extensive extracts of the Holy Father's message to participants,   
   dated 29 August 2015, memory of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist.   
    "As historical contexts change and peoples are called upon to face profound   
   and   
   at times dramatic transformations, we are increasingly aware of the need for   
   the   
   followers of different religions to meet, to engage in dialogue, to journey   
   together and to collaborate for peace, in that 'spirit of Assisi' that refers   
   to   
   the luminous witness of St. Francis".   
    "This year you have chosen to visit Tirana, the capital of a country that has   
   become a symbol of the peaceful cohabitation of different religions, after a   
   long history of suffering. ... I wished to choose Albania as the first European   
   country to visit, precisely to encourage the path of peaceful coexistence after   
   the tragic persecutions suffered by Albanian believers during the last century.   
   The long list of martyrs still speaks to us today of that dark period, but also   
   of the strength of faith that does not bend to the arrogance of evil. In no   
   other country in the world has the decision to exclude God from the life of the   
   people been so strong; even just a religious sign was enough to warrant   
   punishment with prison, if not death. This deeply affected the Albanian people,   
   up to the moment at which they regained their freedom, when the members of the   
   various religious communities, sorely tested by the suffering they had   
   experienced, were once more able to live together in peace".   
    "It is precisely because it has its foundations in God that 'peace is always   
   possible', as the title of your Meeting this year affirms. It is necessary to   
   confirm this truth, especially today, when in some parts of the world it would   
   seem that violence, persecution and abuse prevail over religious freedom, along   
   with resignation to protracted conflicts. We must never become resigned to war!   
   And we must not remain indifferent to those who suffer as a result of war and   
   violence. For this reason I have chosen as the theme of the next World Day of   
   Peace: 'Overcome indifference and win peace'. But it is also a form of violence   
   to raise walls and barriers to obstruct those who seek a place of peace. It is   
   violence to reject those who flee from inhuman conditions in the hope of a   
   better future. It is violence to discard children and the elderly from society   
   and from life itself. It is violence to widen the gap between those who waste   
   the superfluous and those who lack essentials".   
    "In this world, faith in God leads us to believe and leads us to cry aloud   
   that   
   peace is possible. It is faith that drives us to trust in God and not to resign   
   ourselves to the work of evil. As believers we are called upon to rediscover   
   that universal vocation to peace that lies at the heart of our different   
   religious traditions, and to courageously offer it again to the men and women   
   of   
   our time. I reiterate what I said in this respect when speaking to religious   
   leaders in Tirana: 'Authentic religion is a source of peace and not of   
   violence!   
   No one must use the name of God to commit violence! To kill in the name of God   
   is a grave sacrilege. To discriminate in the name of God is inhuman'".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    God is not closed in on Himself, but opens up to humanity   
    Vatican City, 6 September 2015 (VIS) - The Gospel account of the deaf-mute,   
   which shows how Jesus restores the full communication of the person with God   
   and   
   neighbour, was the theme of Pope Francis' reflection during this morning's   
   Angelus audience.   
    The Holy Father explained to the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's   
   Square at midday that the miracle takes place in the area of Decapolis, in   
   pagan   
   territory, and therefore the deaf-mute brought before Jesus is transformed into   
   a symbol of the non-believer who completes a journey towards faith. "Indeed,   
   his   
   deafness expresses the inability to listen and to understand not only the words   
   of man, but also the Word of God. And St. Paul reminds us that 'faith comes   
   from   
   hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ'".   
    The first thing Jesus does is to take the man far from the crowd: "He does not   
   wish to publicise the gesture He is about to perform, nor does He want His word   
   to be submerged in the din of voices and the chatter of those around. The Word   
   of God that Christ communicates to us requires silence so as to be received as   
   the Word that heals, reconciles and re-establishes communication".   
    Jesus then touches the ears and the tongue of the man to restore, through   
   touch, the communication that had been blocked. But the miracle is "a gift that   
   comes from on high, that Jesus implores from the Father; this is why He lifts   
   His eyes to the heavens and commands, 'Be opened'. And the deaf man's ears   
   open,   
   the knot in his tongue is untied and he begins to speak correctly".   
    This passage teaches us that "God is not closed in on Himself, but instead   
   opens up to and communicates with humanity. In His immense mercy, He overcomes   
   the abyss of the infinite difference between Him and us, and comes towards us.   
   In order to communicate with humanity, God becomes man. It is not enough for   
   Him   
   to speak to us through the law and the prophets; He makes Himself present in   
   the   
   person of His Son, the Word made flesh. Jesus is the great 'bridge-builder' who   
   constructs in Himself the great bridge of full communion with the Father".   
    "But this Gospel also speaks to us about ourselves", emphasised the Pope.   
   "Often we are caught up and closed in on ourselves, and we create many   
   inaccessible and inhospitable islands. Even the most elementary human   
   relationships at times create situations incapable of mutual openness; the   
   closed couple, the closed family, the closed group, the closed parish, the   
   closed nation ... and this is not of God. This is ours, it is our sin".   
    "However, at the origin of our Christian life, in baptism, precisely this   
   gesture and this word of Jesus are present: 'Ephthatha!', 'Be opened!'. And the   
   miracle was performed: we were cured of the deafness of selfishness and the   
   muteness of closure and sin, and we become part of the great family of the   
   Church. We are able to hear God Who speaks to us and to communicate His Word to   
   those who have never heard it, or have forgotten it, burying it under the   
   thorns   
   of the worries and deceits of the world".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Appeal to the dioceses of Europe to welcome refugee families   
    Vatican City, 6 September 2015 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus, Francis   
   launched a heartfelt appeal to all the dioceses of Europe to welcome families   
   among the tens of thousands of refugees seeking to flee the horrors of war and   
   persecution.   
    "We recognise God's mercy through our works, as is shown by the life of   
   Blessed   
   Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the anniversary of whose death we commemorated   
   yesterday".   
    "Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who flee death from   
   war or hunger, on a journey towards the hope of life, the Gospel calls to us   
   and   
   asks us to be close to them, to the smallest and the abandoned; to give them   
   real hope. Not merely to say; 'be brave, be patient'. Christian hope is   
   assertive, with the tenacity of those who go towards a certain destination".   
    "Therefore, as we near the Jubilee of Mercy, I wish to address an appeal to   
   the   
   parishes, religious communities, monasteries and shrines throughout Europe to   
   express the concreteness of the Gospel and to welcome a family of refugees. A   
   concrete gesture in preparation for the Holy Year of Mercy. May every parish,   
   every religious community, every monastery and every shrine in Europe host a   
   family, starting with my diocese of Rome",   
    "I address my brother bishops in Europe, true pastors, so that in their   
   dioceses they may hear my appeal, recalling that Mercy is the second name of   
   Love: 'as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)