VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 156   
   DATE 15-09-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Message for the 24th World Day of the Sick   
   - Statistics of the Catholic Church in Cuba and the United States of America   
   - Participants in the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Message for the 24th World Day of the Sick   
    Vatican City, 15 September 2015 (VIS) - "Entrusting oneself to the merciful   
   Jesus like Mary: 'do whatever he tells you'" is the title of the Holy Father's   
   message for the 24th World Day of the Sick (11 February, liturgical memory of   
   Our Lady of Lourdes). This year the Day will be solemnly celebrated in the Holy   
   Land, and for this reason, reflecting on the Gospel account of the wedding at   
   Cana, the Pope recalls that illness, especially when grave, challenges our   
   human   
   existence and causes us to pose questions that explore the depths of the   
   person.   
   The following is the full text of his message, signed in the Vatican on 15   
   September, the memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows.   
    "The twenty-fourth World Day of the Sick offers me an opportunity to draw   
   particularly close to you, dear friends who are ill, and to those who care for   
   you. This year, since the Day of the Sick will be solemnly celebrated in the   
   Holy Land, I wish to propose a meditation on the Gospel account of the wedding   
   feast of Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle through the intervention   
   of his Mother. The theme chosen - Entrusting oneself to the merciful Jesus like   
   Mary: 'Do whatever he tells you' is quite fitting in light of the Extraordinary   
   Jubilee of Mercy. The main Eucharistic celebration of the Day will take place   
   on   
   11 February 2016, the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, in Nazareth   
   itself, where 'the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us'. In   
   Nazareth, Jesus began his salvific mission, applying to himself the words of   
   the   
   Prophet Isaiah, as we are told by the Evangelist Luke: 'The Spirit of the Lord   
   is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He   
   has   
   sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to   
   let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord'.   
    Illness, above all grave illness, always places human existence in crisis and   
   brings with it questions that dig deep. Our first response may at times be one   
   of rebellion: why has this happened to me? We can feel desperate, thinking that   
   all is lost, that things no longer have meaning.   
    In these situations, faith in God is on the one hand tested, yet at the same   
   time can reveal all of its positive resources. Not because faith makes illness,   
   pain, or the questions which they raise, disappear, but because it offers a key   
   by which we can discover the deepest meaning of what we are experiencing; a key   
   that helps us to see how illness can be the way to draw nearer to Jesus who   
   walks at our side, weighed down by the Cross. And this key is given to us by   
   Mary, our Mother, who has known this way at first hand.   
    At the wedding feast of Cana, Mary is the thoughtful woman who sees a serious   
   problem for the spouses: the wine, the symbol of the joy of the feast, has run   
   out. Mary recognises the difficulty, in some way makes it her own, and acts   
   swiftly and discreetly. She does not simply look on, much less spend time in   
   finding fault, but rather, she turns to Jesus and presents him with the   
   concrete   
   problem: 'They have no wine'. And when Jesus tells her that it is not yet the   
   time for him to reveal himself, she says to the servants: 'Do whatever he tells   
   you'. Jesus then performs the miracle, turning water into wine, a wine that   
   immediately appears to be the best of the whole celebration. What teaching can   
   we draw from this mystery of the wedding feast of Cana for the World Day of the   
   Sick?   
    The wedding feast of Cana is an image of the Church: at the centre there is   
   Jesus who in his mercy performs a sign; around him are the disciples, the first   
   fruits of the new community; and beside Jesus and the disciples is Mary, the   
   provident and prayerful Mother. Mary partakes of the joy of ordinary people and   
   helps it to increase; she intercedes with her Son on behalf of the spouses and   
   all the invited guests. Nor does Jesus refuse the request of his Mother. How   
   much hope there is in that event for all of us! We have a Mother with   
   benevolent   
   and watchful eyes, like her Son; a heart that is maternal and full of mercy,   
   like him; hands that want to help, like the hands of Jesus who broke bread for   
   those who were hungry, touched the sick and healed them. All this fills us with   
   trust and opens our hearts to the grace and mercy of Christ. Mary's   
   intercession   
   makes us experience the consolation for which the apostle Paul blesses God:   
   'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of   
   compassion and God of all encouragement, who encourages us in our affliction,   
   so   
   that we may be able to encourage those who are in any affliction with the   
   encouragement with which we ourselves are encouraged by God. For as Christ's   
   sufferings overflow to us, so through Christ does our encouragement also   
   overflow'. Mary is the 'comforted' Mother who comforts her children.   
    At Cana the distinctive features of Jesus and his mission are clearly seen: he   
   comes to the help of those in difficulty and need. Indeed, in the course of his   
   messianic ministry he would heal many people of illnesses, infirmities and evil   
   spirits, give sight to the blind, make the lame walk, restore health and   
   dignity   
   to lepers, raise the dead, and proclaim the good news to the poor. Mary's   
   request at the wedding feast, suggested by the Holy Spirit to her maternal   
   heart, clearly shows not only Jesus' messianic power but also his mercy.   
    In Mary's concern we see reflected the tenderness of God. This same tenderness   
   is present in the lives of all those persons who attend the sick and understand   
   their needs, even the most imperceptible ones, because they look upon them with   
   eyes full of love. How many times has a mother at the bedside of her sick   
   child,   
   or a child caring for an elderly parent, or a grandchild concerned for a   
   grandparent, placed his or her prayer in the hands of Our Lady! For our loved   
   ones who suffer because of illness we ask first for their health. Jesus himself   
   showed the presence of the Kingdom of God specifically through his healings:   
   'Go   
   and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame   
   walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor   
   have   
   the good news proclaimed to them'. But love animated by faith makes us ask for   
   them something greater than physical health: we ask for peace, a serenity in   
   life that comes from the heart and is God's gift, the fruit of the Holy Spirit,   
   a gift which the Father never denies to those who ask him for it with trust.   
    In the scene of Cana, in addition to Jesus and his Mother, there are the   
   'servants', whom she tells: 'Do whatever he tells you'. Naturally, the miracle   
   takes place as the work of Christ; however, he wants to employ human assistance   
   in performing this miracle. He could have made the wine appear directly in the   
   jars. But he wants to rely upon human cooperation, and so he asks the servants   
   to fill them with water. How wonderful and pleasing to God it is to be servants   
   of others! This more than anything else makes us like Jesus, who 'did not come   
   to be served but to serve'. These unnamed people in the Gospel teach us a great   
   deal. Not only do they obey, but they obey generously: they fill the jars to   
   the   
   brim. They trust the Mother and carry out immediately and well what they are   
   asked to do, without complaining, without second thoughts.   
    On this World Day of the Sick let us ask Jesus in his mercy, through the   
   intercession of Mary, his Mother and ours, to grant to all of us this same   
   readiness to be serve those in need, and, in particular, our infirm brothers   
   and   
   sisters. At times this service can be tiring and burdensome, yet we are certain   
   that the Lord will surely turn our human efforts into something divine. We too   
   can be hands, arms and hearts which help God to perform his miracles, so often   
   hidden. We too, whether healthy or sick, can offer up our toil and sufferings   
   like the water which filled the jars at the wedding feast of Cana and was   
   turned   
   into the finest wine. By quietly helping those who suffer, as in illness   
   itself,   
   we take our daily cross upon our shoulders and follow the Master. Even though   
   the experience of suffering will always remain a mystery, Jesus helps us to   
   reveal its meaning.   
    If we can learn to obey the words of Mary, who says: 'Do whatever he tells   
   you', Jesus will always change the water of our lives into precious wine. Thus   
   this World Day of the Sick, solemnly celebrated in the Holy Land, will help   
   fulfil the hope which I expressed in the Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary   
   Jubilee of Mercy: ‘I trust that this Jubilee year celebrating the mercy of God   
   will foster an encounter with [Judaism and Islam] and with other noble   
   religious   
   traditions; may it open us to even more fervent dialogue so that we might know   
   and understand one another better; may it eliminate every form of   
   closed-mindedness and disrespect, and drive out every form of violence and   
   discrimination' (Misericordiae Vultus, 23). Every hospital and nursing home can   
   be a visible sign and setting in which to promote the culture of encounter and   
   peace, where the experience of illness and suffering, along with professional   
   and fraternal assistance, helps to overcome every limitation and division.   
    For this we are set an example by the two religious sisters who were canonised   
   last May: S.t Marie-Alphonsine Danil Ghattas and St. Mary of Jesus Crucified   
   Baouardy, both daughters of the Holy Land. The first was a witness to meekness   
   and unity, who bore clear witness to the importance of being responsible for   
   one   
   another other, living in service to one another. The second, a humble and   
   illiterate woman, was docile to the Holy Spirit and became an instrument of   
   encounter with the Muslim world.   
    To all those who assist the sick and the suffering I express my confident hope   
   that they will draw inspiration from Mary, the Mother of Mercy. 'May the   
   sweetness of her countenance watch over us in this Holy Year, so that all of us   
   may rediscover the joy of God's tenderness', allow it to dwell in our hearts   
   and   
   express it in our actions! Let us entrust to the Virgin Mary our trials and   
   tribulations, together with our joys and consolations. Let us beg her to turn   
   her eyes of mercy towards us, especially in times of pain, and make us worthy   
   of   
   beholding, today and always, the merciful face of her Son Jesus!   
    With this prayer for all of you, I send my Apostolic Blessing".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Statistics of the Catholic Church in Cuba and the United States of America   
    Vatican City, 15 September 2015 (VIS) - In view of the Pope's upcoming   
   apostolic trip to Cuba and the United States of America, the Central Church   
   Statistics Office has published the statistics relating to the Catholic Church   
   in the two countries, current as of 31 December 2013.   
    Cuba has a surface area of 110,861 km2 and a population of 11,192,000   
   inhabitants, of whom 6,775,000 are Catholics, equivalent to 60.5 per cent of   
   the   
   population. There are 11 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 283 parishes and   
   2,094   
   pastoral centres. There are currently 17 bishops, 365 priests, 659 men and   
   women   
   religious, and 4,395 catechists. There are 85 seminarians. The Church has six   
   centres for Catholic education, from pre-school to university level. With   
   regard   
   to charitable and social centres belonging to the Church or directed by   
   ecclesiastics or religious, in Cuba there are 173 hospitals and clinics, one   
   home for the elderly or disabled, two orphanages and nurseries, and three   
   special centres for social education or re-education and institutions of other   
   types.   
    The United States have a surface area of 9,372,616 km2 and a population of   
   316,253,000 inhabitants, of whom 71,796,000 are Catholics, representing 22.7   
   per   
   cent of the population. There are 196 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 18,256   
   parishes and 2,183 pastoral centres. There are currently 457 bishops, 40,967   
   priests, 55,390 men and women religious, 381,892 catechists and 5,829   
   seminarians. The Church has 11,265 centres for Catholic education, from   
   pre-school to university level. With regard to charitable and social centres   
   belonging to the Church or directed by ecclesiastics or religious, in the   
   United   
   States there are 888 hospitals and clinics, two leper colonies, 1,152 homes for   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)