me'. The two parishes of the Vatican will also welcome two families of refugees   
   in these days".   
    The Pope then went on to mention that the bishops of Venezuela and Colombia   
   will meet shortly to examine together the painful situation that has emerged on   
   the border between the two countries. "I see in this meeting a clear sign of   
   hope. I invite all, especially the beloved Venezuelan and Colombian peoples, to   
   pray that, in a spirit of solidarity and fraternity, the current difficulties   
   may be overcome".   
    He also remarked that yesterday in Gerona, Spain, the women religious Fidelia   
   Oller, Josefa Monrabal and Facunda Margenat, "killed for their fidelity to   
   Christ and to the Church", were proclaimed blessed. Despite threats and   
   intimidation, these women bravely stayed where they were to assist the sick,   
   trusting in God. May their heroic witness, unto the shedding of their blood,   
   give strength and hope to those who are persecuted today for their Christian   
   faith. And as we know, there are many of them".   
    Finally, he spoke about the inauguration last Friday in Brazzaville, capital   
   of   
   the Republic of the Congo, of the eleventh African Games, in which thousand of   
   athletes from all over the continent will compete. "I hope that this great   
   festival of sport will contribute to peace, fraternity and the development of   
   all the countries of Africa".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Holy Father receives the "Cells of evangelisation"   
    Vatican City, 5 September 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall, Pope   
   Francis received more than 5,000 members of the "Cells of Evangelisation" from   
   all over the world, accompanied by the Fr. Piergiorgio Perini, parish priest of   
   St. Eustorgio in Milan, Italy, who founded this institution whose statutes were   
   formally recognised by the Catholic Church on 15 April this year. With the help   
   of their "cells", parish priests are able to educate their parishes in   
   evangelisation and to continue their ordinary pastoral ministry while also   
   giving it a missionary quality.   
    This missionary aim requires, above all, "listening to the voice of the Holy   
   Spirit Who continues to speak to His Church and to drive her to take paths that   
   are at times little-known but decisive for the progress of evangelisation.   
   Remaining always willing to listen and being careful never to become exhausted   
   by tiredness and the difficulties of the moment, are conditions for overcoming   
   the various obstacles we encounter on the path of evangelisation".   
    The cells, with their daily commitment and in communion with other ecclesial   
   entities, help the parish community to become a family "in which we find the   
   rich and multiform reality of the Church". "Meeting in homes to share the joys   
   and hopes that are present in the heart of every person, is a genuine   
   experience   
   of evangelisation that closely resembles what took place in the early years of   
   the Church", remarked the Pope, noting that the Cells are "able to welcome all   
   without judging anyone, to offer the experience of God's presence and love for   
   one's brothers. Welcome is fundamental to evangelisation, as it is one of the   
   first signs of the communion to which we are called to bear witness, for having   
   encountered Christ in our life".   
    The Holy Father exhorted the members of the movement to make the Eucharist the   
   heart of their evangelising mission, "so that each Cell may be a Eucharistic   
   community where breaking bread is equivalent to recognising the real presence   
   of   
   Jesus Christ among us". "Your statutes were approved on Divine Mercy Sunday.   
   May   
   you always bear witness to the tenderness of God the Father and His closeness   
   to   
   everyone, especially the weakest and loneliest".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Cardinal Fernando Sturla, Pope's special envoy to the Fifth National   
   Eucharistic Congress of Bolivia   
    Vatican City, 5 September 2015 (VIS) - In a letter published today, written in   
   Latin and dated 22 August, the Holy Father appoints Cardinal Daniel Fernando   
   Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay, as his special   
   envoy   
   to the Fifth National Eucharistic Congress of Bolivia, to be celebrated in   
   Tarija, Bolivia from 16 to 20 September.   
    The mission accompanying the cardinal will be composed of Msgr. Diego Luis   
   Espana Gonzalez, vicar general of the diocese of Tarija, Bolivia, and Fr. Pablo   
   Cesar Alcoba Miranda, parish priest of the parish Nuestra Senora de Pilcomayo   
   in   
   Yacuiba and episcopal vicar of the same diocese.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience 40 prelates from the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, on their "ad   
   Limina" visit, in two separate groups. In the early morning, he received:   
    - Cardinal Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente, patriarch of Lisbon, with his   
   auxiliaries, Bishop Joaquim Augusto da Silva Mendes, Bishop Nuno Bras da Silva   
   Martins, and Bishop Jose Augusto Traquina Maria;   
    Bishop Antonio de Sousa Braga of Angra;   
    - Bishop Antonio Jose Cavaco Carrilho of Funchal, with Bishop emeritus Teodoro   
   de Faria;   
    - Bishop Manuel da Rocha Felicio of Guarda;   
    - Bishop Antonio Augusto dos Santos Marto of Leiria-Fatima, with Bishop   
   emeritus Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva;   
    - Bishop Antonino Eugenio Fernandes Dias of Portalegre Castelo Branco;   
    - Bishop Manuel Pelino Domingues of Santarem;   
    - Bishop Gilberto Delio Gongalves Canavarro dos Reis of Setubal with Bishop   
   emeritus Manuel da Silva Martins;   
    - Archbishop Jose Francisco Sanches Alves of Evora, with Bishop emeritus   
   Maurilio Jorge Quintal de Gouveia;   
    - Bishop Antonio Vitalino Fernandes Dantas of Beja, with coadjutor Bishop Jose   
   Jogo dos Santos Marcos;   
    - Bishop Manuel Neto Quintas of Faro, with Bishop emeritus Manuel Madureira   
   Dias;   
    In the late morning, he received:   
    - Archbishop Jorge Ferreira da Costa Ortiga of Braga, with his auxiliary,   
   Bishop Francisco Jose Villas-Boas Senra de Faria Coelho;   
    - Bishop Antonio Manuel Moiteiro Ramos of Aveiro;   
    - Bishop Jose Manuel Garcia Cordeiro of Braganca Miranda, with Bishops   
   emeritus   
   Antonio Jose Rafael and Antonio Montes Moreira;   
    - Bishop Virgilio do Nascimento Antunes of Coimbra;   
    - Bishop Antonio Jose da Rocha Couto of Lamego, with Bishop emeritus Jacinto   
   Tomas de Carvalho;   
    - Bishop Antonio Francisco dos Santos of Porto, with his auxiliaries, Bishop   
   Antonio Maria Bessa Taipa, Bishop Joao Evangelista Pimentel Lavrador and Bishop   
   Pio Goncalo Alves de Sousa, and former auxiliary Bishop Joao Miranda Teixeira;   
    - Bishop Anacleto Cordeiro Gongalves de Oliveira of Viana do Castelo, with   
   Bishop emeritus Jose Augusto Martins Fernandes Pedreira;   
    - Bishop Amandio Jose Tomas of Vila Real;   
    - Bishop Ilidio Pinto Leandro of Viseu;   
    - Bishop Manuel da Silva Rodrigues Linda, Military Ordinary, with Military   
   Ordinary emeritus Bishop Januario Torgal Mendes Ferreira.   
    On Saturday, 5 September, the Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;   
    - Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine   
   of the Faith;   
    - Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brasilia, Brazil, president of the National   
   Conference of Bishops of Brazil, with Archbishop Murilo Sebastiao Ramos Krieger   
   of Sao Salvador da Bahia, vice president; and Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner,   
   auxiliary of Brasilia, secretary general.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    On Saturday, 5 September, the Holy Father:   
    - appointed Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect emeritus of the Congregation   
   for Catholic Education, as his special envoy at the concluding celebration of   
   the 500th anniversary of the arrival from Rome of the Sacred Image of the   
   Madonna of Lask in the shrine of Lask in the archdiocese of Lodz, to be held on   
   Sunday 8 November.   
    - accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Taiohae,   
   Marquis Islands, France, presented by Bishop Guy Chevalier, SS.CC. upon   
   reaching   
   the age limit. He is succeeded by Bishop Pascal Chang-Soi, SS.CC., coadjutor of   
   the same diocese.   
    - gave his assent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the   
   Armenian Patriarchal Church of Rev. Archpriest Kevork (Georges) Assadourian as   
   auxiliary of the patriarchal eparchy of Beirut of the Armenians (Catholics   
   12,500, priests 22, permanent deacons 3, religious 49), Lebanon. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Kamichlie, Syria in 1961 and was ordained a priest in   
   1986. He studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical University of St.   
   Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) and at the Pontifical Lateran University, and has   
   served in a number of roles in Lebanon, including vice rector of the seminary   
   of   
   Bzommar, vicar and parish priest in several parishes, and bursar. He currently   
   exercises his pastoral ministry in Paris in the Armenian-Catholic eparchy of   
   France.   
    - appointed Archbishop Thomas E. Gullickson, formerly apostolic nuncio in   
   Ukraine, as apostolic nuncio in Switzerland and in the Principality of   
   Liechtenstein.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Press conference on Pope Francis' two new Motu proprio on the reform of   
   canonical procedure for marriage annulment   
    Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) At midday tomorrow, Tuesday 8 September,   
   a   
   press conference will be held in the Holy See Press Office to present the two   
   letters issued "Motu proprio" by Pope Francis, "Mitis ludex Dominus Iesus" and   
   "Mitis et misericors Iesus" on the reform of canonical procedure for the   
   annulment of marriage in the Code of Canon Law (CIC) and the Code of Canons of   
   the Oriental Churches (CCEO) respectively.   
    The speakers in the conference, in the order in which they will intervene,   
   are:   
    - Msgr. Pio Vito Pinto, dean of the Roman Rota and president of the Special   
   Commission for the Study of the Reform of Matrimonial Processes in Canon Law;   
    - Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, president of the Pontifical Council for   
   Legislative Texts and member of the Special Commission;   
    - Bishop Dimitrios Salachas, apostolic exarch of Athens for Greek Catholics of   
   Byzantine Rite and member of the Special Commission;   
    - Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., secretary of the   
   Congregation   
   for the Doctrine of the Faith and member of the Special Commission;   
    - Msgr. Alejandro W. Bunge, prelate auditor of the Roman Rota and secretary of   
   the Special Commission;   
    - Fr. Nikolaus Schoch, O.F.M., substitute promoter of Justice at the Supreme   
   Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura and secretary of the Special Commission.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   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   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)