VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 155   
   DATE 14-09-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - 11th Meeting of the Holy Father with the Council of Cardinals   
   - In two interviews the Pope reaffirms that unfair economic systems cause   
   migration and insists on care for creation   
   - Angelus: following Jesus means rejecting the worldly mentality   
   - The Pope recalls the first Catholic martyr of South Africa   
   - Cooperatives must defend and promote an economy of honesty   
   - Pope's message for the opening of the plenary Assembly of the Council of   
   Episcopal Conferences of Europe   
   - Holy Father's calendar for September to November 2015   
   - Cor Unum convenes meeting on the humanitarian crisis in Syria and Iraq   
   - The Courtyard of Francis, from 23 to 27 September in Assisi   
   - Cardinal Kurt Koch, Pope's special envoy to the 1500th anniversary of the   
   Swiss Abbey of Saint-Maurice   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    11th Meeting of the Holy Father with the Council of Cardinals   
    Vatican City, 14 September 2015 (VIS) - This morning the eleventh meeting of   
   the Holy Father with the Council of Cardinals began. The work of the "Council   
   of   
   Nine" will continue until Wednesday 16 September.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    In two interviews the Pope reaffirms that unfair economic systems cause   
   migration and insists on care for creation   
    Vatican City, 14 September 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis has recently granted two   
   interviews: one to the Portuguese broadcaster Radio Renascenca, on the occasion   
   of the Portuguese bishops' "ad Limina" visit, and the other to the Argentine   
   Radio Milenium, focusing on care for creation and the value of friendship and   
   dialogue.   
    In the first, in response to a question regarding an eventual visit to   
   Portugal   
   to commemorate the centenary of the apparitions of the Virgin at Fatima,   
   Francis   
   expresses his wish to visit the country and adds that "the Virgin always asks   
   us   
   to receive and care for the family and the commandments. She does not ask for   
   anything unusual. ... And she appears to children. It is curious, she always   
   seeks   
   the simplest souls".   
    With regard to the phenomenon of migration to Europe, he affirms, "it is the   
   tip of an iceberg. We see these refugees, these poor people, who flee from war,   
   from hunger. ... But behind this there is the cause, and the cause is an unfair   
   socio-economic system". He adds, "Speaking of the ecological issue, within our   
   socio-economic structure, within politics, at the centre there must always be   
   the person. And today's dominant economic system has replaced the person at the   
   centre with the god of money, the idol". Therefore, he says, it is necessary to   
   look to the root causes. "When the cause is hunger, create jobs and invest.   
   When   
   the cause is war, seek peace, work for peace. Today the world is at war; it is   
   at war against itself".   
    In this respect, the Pope reaffirms the importance of acceptance. "Accepting   
   people, and welcoming them as they come". With regard to his appeal to all   
   parishes in Europe to host a family of refugees, he specified, "When I talk   
   about a parish welcoming a family, I do not mean that they should go and live   
   in   
   the parish house, but rather that the parish community seek a place, a corner   
   where they can make a little apartment or, if there is no other option, rent a   
   modest apartment for this family; that they should have a roof over their   
   heads,   
   they should be welcomed, and that they should be included within the   
   community".   
    He also considers the theme of the culture of well-being, commenting that the   
   birthrate is very low in many countries such as Italy, Portugal and Spain.   
   "When   
   there is an empty space, people seek to fill it. If a country has no children,   
   migrants come to occupy that space. ... Not wanting children is, in part - and   
   this is my interpretation, I don't know if it is correct - it is linked to the   
   culture of comfort, isn't it? And then the elderly are left alone. I think that   
   the great challenge facing Europe is to become once again Mother Europe, rather   
   than Grandmother Europe. ... It must be recognised that Europe has an   
   exceptional   
   culture - centuries of culture - and must regain her capacity for leadership in   
   the concert of nations. Or rather, she must become once again the Europe who   
   shows the way, as she has the culture to do so. ... Europe must assume her role   
   once again, as she has the culture to do so, to recover her identity. It is   
   true   
   that Europe has made mistakes. I do not reproach, I merely recall this. When   
   she   
   has wanted to speak about her identity, she has avoided recognising what is   
   probably the deepest part of it: her Christian roots. We all make mistakes in   
   life, but for Europe it is not too late to change".   
    The Pope also emphasises that the Church must be outbound and must be willing   
   to take risks. "If a church, a parish, a diocese, an institute, lives closed up   
   in itself, it comes to a halt. It is the same thing that happens to a closed up   
   home. We end up with an unhealthy Church, with fixed rules, without creativity,   
   'insured' but not safe. Instead, if a church or a parish goes out and   
   evangelises, the same thing happens that can occur to any person who goes out   
   into the street - accidents can befall them. So, between a sickly Church or an   
   accident-prone one, I would prefer an accident-prone Church as at least she   
   reaches out".   
    With reference to his expectations of the Jubilee of Mercy, he expresses his   
   hope that "everyone will come. May they come and experience God's love and   
   forgiveness", and with regard to the letter to Archbishop Fisichella in which   
   he   
   requests forgiveness during the Jubilee for the most difficult cases and to his   
   two Motu Proprios on the reform of processes for declaring nullity of marriage,   
   he explains that his intention is "to simplify ... to facilitate faith among   
   the   
   people ... to enable the Church to be a mother".   
    In the interview granted to Milenium, Francis says that "we are mistreating   
   creation; at times we treat it as if it were our worst enemy", and "we live in   
   a   
   system that, to earn money, has displaced man from the centre and put money in   
   his place, leading to the existence of "corrupt systems, with slavery, forced   
   labour and disregard for creation".   
    In relation to fundamentalism "as its followers are faithful to an idea but   
   not   
   to a reality", Francis warns of the danger represented by this "darkness that   
   obscures our horizon" and causes us to become closed up in our own convictions   
   and 'ideologies'. "It is a wall that prevents encounter with others".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Angelus: following Jesus means rejecting the worldly mentality   
    Vatican City, 13 September 2015 (VIS) - The path of those who follow Jesus   
   does   
   not lead to glory but is instead destined for true freedom, explained the Pope   
   to the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square this morning to   
   pray   
   the Angelus.   
    Francis commented on today's Gospel reading in which Jesus, on the path to   
   Caesarea Philippi, asks His disciples what the people said about Him, as some   
   of   
   them considered Him to have been sent by God, but did not yet recognise Him as   
   the Messiah. The apostles answered that some considered Him as the living image   
   of John the Baptist, others Elijah or one of the great prophets. Jesus then   
   asked His disciples, "But who do you say that I am?".   
    "Here is the most important question, that Jesus addresses to those who   
   followed him, to confirm their faith. Peter answers on behalf of all of them,   
   without hesitation, 'You are the Christ'. Jesus is moved by Peter's faith and   
   recognises that it is the 'fruit ... of the special grace of God the Father'.   
   And   
   so he openly reveals to the disciples what awaits him in Jerusalem: that is,   
   that 'the Son of Man must suffer many things ... and be killed, and after three   
   days rise again'. But upon hearing this Peter, who has just proclaimed his   
   faith   
   in Jesus as the Messiah, is horrified. He takes the Master aside and rebukes   
   him. Jesus reacts with great severity, saying 'Get behind me, Satan! For you   
   are   
   not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man'".   
    "Jesus realises that in Peter, as in the other disciples - and in each one of   
   us! - the grace of God is opposed by the temptation of the Evil one, that would   
   divert us from God's will. By announcing that He must suffer and be put to   
   death   
   to then rise again, Jesus wishes to show to those who follow Him that He is a   
   humble servant. And the Servant obeys His Father's Word and will, unto the   
   complete sacrifice of His own life. Therefore, turning to the crowd around Him,   
   He declares that he who wishes to be His disciple must accept being a servant,   
   as He has made Himself a servant, and warns, 'If anyone would come after me,   
   let   
   him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me'".   
    "Following Jesus means bearing one's own cross - we all have one - to   
   accompany   
   Him on the way, a rough path that is not that of success or fleeting glory, but   
   which leads to true freedom, which liberates us from selfishness and sin. It   
   means clearly refusing that worldly mentality that places the self and one's   
   own   
   interests at the centre of existence. ... Jesus instead invites us to give our   
   life for Him, for the Gospel, so as to receive it again renewed, fulfilled and   
   authentic. We are certain, thanks to Jesus, that this path leads ultimately to   
   resurrection, to full and definitive life with God. The decision to follow our   
   Master and Lord Who made Himself the Servant to all demands that we walk behind   
   Him and listen carefully to His Word - reading every day a passage from the   
   Gospel, and in the Sacraments".   
    Finally he addressed the young people in the Square: "I ask you: have you felt   
   the wish to follow Jesus more closely? Think, pray, and let the Lord speak to   
   you".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope recalls the first Catholic martyr of South Africa   
    Vatican City, 13 September 2015 (VIS) - After today's Angelus prayer, the Pope   
   mentioned that today in South Africa Samuel Benedict Daswa, the Catholic   
   Church's first martyr in that country, is proclaimed blessed. A primary school   
   teacher, Daswa was stoned to death in 1990 in Tshitanini, a village in the   
   province of Limpopo, for attributing a fire affecting some huts to lightning   
   and   
   not to the forces of evil, and for refusing to pay for the services of a   
   sangoma   
   to end the storms. "In his life, he always showed great coherence, bravely   
   assuming Christian attitudes and refusing worldly and pagan habits. May his   
   witness especially help families to spread Christ's truth and charity. His   
   witness joins that of many of our brothers and sisters, young and elderly,   
   children, persecuted, cast out and killed for confessing Jesus Christ. We thank   
   all these martyrs for their witness, Samuel Benedict Daswa and all of them, and   
   ask them to intercede for us".   
    He concluded by greeting teachers from Sardinia in precarious working   
   conditions, and expressed his hope that the problems of the world of work "be   
   faced taking into full consideration the family and its needs".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Cooperatives must defend and promote an economy of honesty   
    Vatican City, 12 September 2015 (VIS) "The Church knows the value of   
   cooperatives. Many of them originated from priests, committed lay faithful, and   
   communities inspired by the spirit of Christian solidarity ... and in the   
   encyclical 'Laudato si'' I have underlined their value in the fields of   
   renewable energy and agriculture", said the Pope this morning as he received in   
   audience in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall more than seven thousand people,   
   including directors, employees and their families, from the Cooperative Credit   
   Bank of Rome (BCC).   
    In his address Francis reiterated the suggestions he made in February to the   
   Confederation of Cooperatives, adding that each one should dedicate itself to   
   its specific mission: "Continue to be a motor for the development of the   
   weakest   
   part of local communities and of civil society, thinking especially of the   
   young   
   unemployed and aiming at the birth of new cooperative enterprises. Be agents in   
   proposing and implementing new welfare solutions, starting in the field of   
   healthcare. Occupy yourselves with the relationship between the economy and   
   social justice, keeping the dignity and value of the person at the centre. The   
   person must always be at the centre, not the god of money. Facilitate and   
   encourage family life, and propose cooperative and mutual solutions for the   
   management of common goods, that cannot become the property of the few or the   
   object of speculation. Promote a fraternal and social use of money, in the   
   style   
   of the true cooperative, in which people are not guided by capital, but instead   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)