VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 162   
   DATE 23-09-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope at the Shrine of El Cobre: ours is a revolution of tenderness, joy   
   and compassion   
   - Francis leaves Cuba, reiterating that the family is not a 'problem' but   
   rather   
   an opportunity   
   - The Pope speaks about his trip in Cuba   
   - Francis arrives in the United States of America   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
      
   The Pope at the Shrine of El Cobre: ours is a revolution of tenderness, joy and   
   compassion   
      
   Vatican City, 23 September 2015 (VIS) - "God's presence in our lives never   
   leaves us tranquil: it always pushes to do something. When God comes, He always   
   calls us out of our house. We are visited so that we can visit others; we are   
   encountered so as to encounter others; we receive love in order to give love",   
   said Pope Francis yesterday in his final homily in Cuba, in the Minor Basilica   
   of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre.   
      
   The Pope commented on the Gospel passage that narrates the episode of Mary's   
   visit to her cousin Elizabeth. "Mary went in haste, slowly but surely, with a   
   steady pace, neither too fast nor so slow as never to get there. ... Henceforth   
   this was always to be her way. These lands have also been visited by her   
   maternal presence. The Cuban homeland was born and grew, warmed by devotion to   
   Our Lady of Charity".   
      
   "This was what your fellow citizens also stated a hundred years ago, when they   
   asked Pope Benedict XV to declare Our Lady of Charity the Patroness of Cuba",   
   Francis recalled. "They wrote that 'neither disgrace nor poverty were ever able   
   to crush the faith and the love which our Catholic people profess for the   
   Virgin   
   of Charity, for whom, in all their trials, when death was imminent or   
   desperation was at the door, there arose, like a light scattering the darkness   
   of every peril, like a comforting dew, the vision of that Blessed Virgin".   
      
   This Shrine has since kept alive the memory of God's holy and faithful pilgrim   
   people in Cuba. "From here she protects our roots, our identity, so that we may   
   never stray to paths of despair. The soul of the Cuban people, as we have just   
   heard, was forged amid suffering and privation which could not suppress the   
   faith, that faith which was kept alive thanks to all those grandmothers who   
   fostered, in the daily life of their homes, the living presence of God, the   
   presence of the Father Who liberates, strengthens, heals, grants courage and   
   serves as a sure refuge and the sign of a new resurrection. Grandmothers,   
   mothers, and so many others who with tenderness and love were signs of   
   visitation, valour and faith for their grandchildren, in their families".   
      
   "Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary   
   nature of love and tenderness", he emphasised. "We are asked to live the   
   revolution of tenderness as Mary, our Mother of Charity, did. We are invited to   
   'leave home' and to open our eyes and hearts to others. Our revolution comes   
   about through tenderness, through the joy which always becomes closeness and   
   compassion, and leads us to get involved in, and to serve, the life of others.   
   ...   
   Our faith, 'calls us out of our house', to visit the sick, the prisoner and to   
   those who mourn. It makes us able to laugh with those who laugh, and rejoice   
   with our neighbours who rejoice".   
      
   "Like Mary, we want to be a Church who serves, who leaves home and goes forth,   
   who goes forth from her chapels, her sacristies, in order to accompany life, to   
   sustain hope, to be a sign of unity. Like Mary, Mother of Charity, we want to   
   be   
   a Church who goes forth to build bridges, to break down walls, to sow seeds of   
   reconciliation. Like Mary, we want to be a Church who can accompany all those   
   'pregnant' situations of our people, committed to life, to culture, to society,   
   not washing our hands but rather walking with our brothers and sisters. All   
   together, serving, helping. All sons and daughters of God, sons and daughters   
   of   
   Mary, sons and daughters of this noble Cuban soil".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
      
   Francis leaves Cuba, reiterating that the family is not a 'problem' but rather   
   an opportunity   
      
   Vatican City, 23 September 2015 (VIS) - The Pope concluded his visit to Cuba by   
   meeting with families in the Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion cathedral in   
   Santiago, where he gave thanks to all Cubans for the warm welcome he has   
   received in these days, a "warmth spread by people who know how to welcome and   
   to accept someone, to make him feel at home".   
      
   The reading that preceded the Holy Father's discourse was the Gospel account of   
   the wedding at Cana. "Jesus begins His public life at a wedding. He enters into   
   that history of sowing and reaping, of dreams and quests, of efforts and   
   commitments, of hard work which tills the land so that it can yield fruit.   
   Jesus   
   began His life within a family, within a home. And He continues to enter into,   
   and become a part of, our homes. It is interesting to see how Jesus also   
   appears   
   at meals, at dinners. Eating with different people, visiting different homes,   
   was a special way for Him to make known God's plan. He goes to the home of His   
   friends, Martha and Mary, but He is not choosy; it makes no difference to Him   
   if   
   they are publicans or sinners, like Zacchaeus. He did not just act this way   
   himself; when He sent His disciples out to proclaim the good news of the   
   Kingdom   
   of God He told them: Stay in the same house, eating and drinking what they   
   provide. Weddings, visits to people's homes, dinners: those moments in people's   
   lives become 'special' because Jesus chose to be part of them".   
      
   Francis recalled that in his former diocese many families told him that "the   
   only time they came together was at dinner, in the evening after work, when the   
   children had finished their homework. These were special times in the life of   
   the family. They talked about what happened that day and what each of them had   
   done. ... Jesus chooses all those times to show us the love of God. He chooses   
   those moments to enter into our hearts and to help us to discover the Spirit of   
   life at work in our daily affairs. It is in the home that we learn fraternity,   
   solidarity, and not to be overbearing. It is in the home that we learn to   
   receive, to appreciate life as a blessing and to realise that we need one   
   another to move forward. ... That is why the Christian community calls families   
   'domestic churches'".   
      
   "Without family, without the warmth of home, life grows empty, there is a   
   weakening of the networks which sustain us in adversity, nurture us in daily   
   living and motivate us to build a better future. The family saves us from two   
   present-day phenomena: fragmentation ... and uniformity. In both cases, people   
   turn into isolated individuals, easy to manipulate and to rule. Societies which   
   are divided, broken, separated or rigidly uniform are a result of the breakup   
   of   
   family bonds, the loss of those relationships which make us who we are, which   
   teach us to be persons".   
      
   "The family is a school of humanity which teaches us to open our hearts to   
   others' needs, to be attentive to their lives", Francis continued. "Amid all   
   the   
   difficulties troubling our families today, please, never forget one thing:   
   families are not a problem, they are first and foremost an opportunity. An   
   opportunity which we have to care for, protect and support. We talk a lot about   
   the future, about the kind of world we want to leave to our children, the kind   
   of society we want for them. I believe that one possible answer lies in looking   
   at yourselves: let us leave behind a world with families. No doubt about it:   
   the   
   perfect family does not exist; there are no perfect husbands and wives, perfect   
   parents, perfect children, but this does not prevent families from being the   
   answer for the future. God inspires us to love, and love always engages with   
   the   
   persons it loves. So let us care for our families, true schools for the future.   
   Let us care for our families, true spaces of freedom. Let us care for families,   
   true centres of humanity".   
      
   The Holy Father invited all expectant mothers, "pregnant with hope as a new   
   baby   
   is a hope", to caress their growing child in the womb as he gave them his   
   blessing.   
      
   "I do not want to end without mentioning the Eucharist", he continued. "All of   
   you know very well that Jesus chose a meal to the setting for His memorial. He   
   chose a specific moment of family life as the 'place' of his presence among us.   
   A moment which we have all experienced, a moment we all understand: a meal. The   
   Eucharist is the meal of Jesus' family, which the world over gathers to hear   
   His   
   word and to be fed by His body. Jesus is the Bread of Life for our families. He   
   wants to be ever present, nourishing us by His love, sustaining us in faith,   
   helping us to walk in hope, so that in every situation we can experience the   
   true Bread of Heaven".   
      
   The Pope concluded by asking those present to pray for the World Meeting of   
   Families and for the Synod of Bishops on the family, to start at the beginning   
   of October. Then, accompanied by the archbishop of Santiago, Dionisio Guillermo   
   Garcia Ibanez, he greeted faithful in the cathedral and finally appeared at the   
   terrace overlooking Parque Cespedes, from where he bade farewell to Cuba with   
   the following words:   
      
   "I greet you. Thank you for your welcome and your warmth. The Cubans are truly   
   kind and good, and make you feel at home. Many thanks! And I would like to   
   offer   
   a word of hope. A word of hope that may perhaps make us turn our heads to look   
   backwards and ahead. Looking back is memory. The memory of those who have given   
   us life, and especially grandparents. A warm greeting to grandparents. Let us   
   not forget them. Grandparents are our living memory. And looking ahead:   
   children   
   and the young, who are the strength of the people. A people that cares for   
   grandparents and cares for children and the young is guaranteed victory! God   
   bless you, and let Him give you His blessing, but on one condition. I ask you   
   to   
   pray for me. This is the condition. May God Almighty, the Father, the Son and   
   the Holy Spirit, bless you. Farewell and thank you".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
      
   The Pope speaks about his trip in Cuba   
      
   Vatican City, 23 September 2015 (VIS) - During the flight from Cuba to the   
   United States, Pope Francis spoke with journalists and answered their questions   
   on a number of issues including the trade embargo against Cuba, his critique of   
   liberal capitalism and the future role of the Church on the island.   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)