VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 165   
   DATE 27-09-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The future of the Church requires more active participation of the laity   
   - Meeting with the Hispanic community and other immigrants: "Never be ashamed   
   of   
   your traditions"   
   - God gave Creation to a family   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
      
   The future of the Church requires more active participation of the laity   
      
   Vatican City, 27 September 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis arrived in Philadelphia   
   for   
   the last stage of his apostolic trip yesterday at 9.30 a.m. local time (3.30   
   p.m. in Rome). His first act in this history city, where the Declaration of   
   Independence was adopted and the United States Constitution was signed, was the   
   celebration of Holy Mass at the Cathedral of Sts. Peter and Paul, a votive mass   
   to the Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, attended by the bishops, clergy, and   
   men and women religious of the state of Pennsyvlania.   
      
   "This morning I learned something about the history of this beautiful   
   Cathedral:   
   the story behind its high walls and windows", said the Pope in his homily. "I   
   would like to think, though, that the history of the Church in this city and   
   state is really a story not about building walls, but about breaking them down.   
   It is a story about generation after generation of committed Catholics going   
   out   
   to the peripheries, and building communities of worship, education, charity and   
   service to the larger society. ... All of this is a great legacy which you have   
   received, and which you have been called to enrich and pass on".   
      
   "Most of you know the story of Saint Katharine Drexel, one of the great saints   
   raised up by this local Church", he continued. "When she spoke to Pope Leo XIII   
   of the needs of the missions, the Pope ... asked her pointedly: 'What about   
   you?   
   What are you going to do?'. Those words changed Katharine's life, because they   
   reminded her that, in the end, every Christian man and woman, by virtue of   
   baptism, has received a mission. Each one of us has to respond, as best we can,   
   to the Lord's call to build up his Body, the Church".   
      
   Those words were addressed to a "a young woman with high ideals, and they   
   changed her life. They made her think of the immense work that had to be done,   
   and to realise that she was being called to do her part. How many young people   
   in our parishes and schools have the same high ideals, generosity of spirit,   
   and   
   love for Christ and the Church! ... To find ways of sharing their enthusiasm   
   and   
   gifts with our communities, above all in works of mercy and concern for   
   others?"   
   asked the Pope.   
      
   "One of the great challenges facing the Church in this generation is to foster   
   in all the faithful a sense of personal responsibility for the Church's   
   mission,   
   and to enable them to fulfil that responsibility as missionary disciples, as a   
   leaven of the Gospel in our world. This will require creativity in adapting to   
   changed situations, carrying forward the legacy of the past not primarily by   
   maintaining our structures and institutions, which have served us well, but   
   above all by being open to the possibilities which the Spirit opens up to us   
   and   
   communicating the joy of the Gospel, daily and in every season of our life".   
      
   Francis remarked that "it is significant that those words of the elderly Pope   
   were also addressed to a lay woman. We know that the future of the Church in a   
   rapidly changing society will call, and even now calls, for a much more active   
   engagement on the part of the laity. The Church in the United States has always   
   devoted immense effort to the work of catechesis and education. Our challenge   
   today is to build on those solid foundations and to foster a sense of   
   collaboration and shared responsibility in planning for the future of our   
   parishes and institutions. This does not mean relinquishing the spiritual   
   authority with which we have been entrusted; rather, it means discerning and   
   employing wisely the manifold gifts which the Spirit pours out upon the Church.   
   In a particular way, it means valuing the immense contribution which women, lay   
   and religious, have made and continue to make, to the life of our communities".   
      
   "During these days of the World Meeting of Families, I would ask you in a   
   particular way to reflect on our ministry to families, to couples preparing for   
   marriage, and to our young people", he concluded. "I know how much is being   
   done   
   in your local Churches to respond to the needs of families and to support them   
   in their journey of faith. I ask you to pray fervently for them, and for the   
   deliberations of the forthcoming Synod on the Family".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
      
   Meeting with the Hispanic community and other immigrants: "Never be ashamed of   
   your traditions"   
      
   Vatican City, 27 September 2015 (VIS) - The Independence National Historical   
   Park, considered the "most historic square mile in America" for its numerous   
   buildings linked to the American War of Independence between the United States   
   of America and Great Britain (1763-1783), was the scene of the Pope's meeting   
   with the Hispanic community and other immigrants. The central theme of his   
   discourse was religious freedom and the defence of the roots of every   
   individual   
   and people. Upon arrival, the representatives of the "Encuentros Nacionales del   
   ministerio Hispano" asked the Holy Father to bless a "Biblia Catolica para la   
   Familia y para el Joven" - a Catholic Bible for the Family and the Young - and   
   the "Cruz de los Encuentros", the cross carried on pilgrimages throughout all   
   the United States in preparation for each national "Encuentro" of the   
   community.   
   The initiative was started in 1972, and is intended to enhance the contribution   
   of the Hispano-Latin community to the life and decisions of the Catholic Church   
   in the country. The next Encuentro will take place in January 2017.   
      
   In his address to the thousands of people gathered in the Park, the Pope   
   remarked that one of the highlights of his trip was his visit to Independence   
   Mall, the birthplace of the United States of America, where the freedoms that   
   define the country were proclaimed for the first time. "The Declaration of   
   Independence stated that all men and women are created equal, that they are   
   endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that governments   
   exist to protect and defend those rights. Those resounding words continue to   
   inspire us today, even as they have inspired peoples throughout the world to   
   fight for the freedom to live in accordance with their dignity. But history   
   also   
   shows that these or any truths must constantly be reaffirmed, re-appropriated   
   and defended. ... We remember the great struggles which led to the abolition of   
   slavery, the extension of voting rights, the growth of the labour movement, and   
   the gradual effort to eliminate every kind of racism and prejudice directed at   
   successive waves of new Americans. This shows that, when a country is   
   determined   
   to remain true to its founding principles, based on respect for human dignity,   
   it is strengthened and renewed".   
      
   He went on to speak of the importance of remembering the past, as "a people   
   which remembers does not repeat past errors; instead, it looks with confidence   
   to the challenges of the present and the future. Remembrance saves a people's   
   soul from whatever or whoever would attempt to dominate it or use it for their   
   interests". He then reiterated his wish, "in this place which is symbolic of   
   the   
   American way" to "reflect ... on the right to religious freedom. It is a   
   fundamental right which shapes the way we interact socially and personally with   
   our neighbours whose religious views differ from our own".   
      
   "Religious freedom certainly means the right to worship God, individually and   
   in   
   community, as our consciences dictate", he explained. "But religious liberty,   
   by   
   its nature, transcends places of worship and the private sphere of individuals   
   and families. Our various religious traditions serve society primarily by the   
   message they proclaim. ... They remind us of the transcendent dimension of   
   human   
   existence and our irreducible freedom in the face of every claim to absolute   
   power. We need only look at history, especially the history of the last   
   century,   
   to see the atrocities perpetrated by systems which claimed to build one or   
   another 'earthly paradise' by dominating peoples, subjecting them to apparently   
   indisputable principles and denying them any kind of rights. Our rich religious   
   traditions seek to offer meaning and direction. ... At the heart of their   
   spiritual mission is the proclamation of the truth and dignity of the human   
   person and human rights. ... In a world where various forms of modern tyranny   
   seek   
   to suppress religious freedom, or try to reduce it to a subculture without   
   right   
   to a voice in the public square, or to use religion as a pretext for hatred and   
   brutality, it is imperative that the followers of the various religions join   
   their voices in calling for peace, tolerance and respect for the dignity and   
   rights of others".   
      
   We live in a world "subject to globalization ... which consciously aims at a   
   one-dimensional uniformity and seeks to eliminate all differences and   
   traditions   
   in a superficial quest for unity. The religions thus have the right and the   
   duty   
   to make clear that it is possible to build a society where a healthy pluralism   
   which respects differences and values them as such is a precious ally in the   
   commitment to defending human dignity... and a path to peace in our troubled   
   world".   
      
   He went on to mention the Quakers who founded Philadelphia, "inspired by a   
   profound evangelical sense of the dignity of each individual and the ideal of a   
   community united by brotherly love. This conviction led them to found a colony   
   which would be a haven of religious freedom and tolerance. That sense of   
   fraternal concern for the dignity of all, especially the weak and the   
   vulnerable, became an essential part of the American spirit. During his visit   
   to   
   the United States in 1987, St. John Paul II paid moving homage to this,   
   reminding all Americans that: 'The ultimate test of your greatness is the way   
   you treat every human being, but especially the weakest and most defenceless   
   ones'".   
      
   "I take this opportunity to thank all those, of whatever religion, who have   
   sought to serve the God of peace by building cities of brotherly love, by   
   caring   
   for our neighbours in need, by defending the dignity of God's gift of life in   
   all its stages, by defending the cause of the poor and the immigrant. All too   
   often, those most in need of our help are unable to be heard. You are their   
   voice, and many of you have faithfully made their cry heard. In this witness,   
   which frequently encounters powerful resistance, you remind American democracy   
   of the ideals for which it was founded, and that society is weakened whenever   
   and wherever injustice prevails. A moment ago I spoke about the tendency   
   towards   
   globalisation. Globalisation is not an ill. On the contrary, the tendency   
   towards globalisation is good in that it unites us. The aspect that can be bad   
   is the way in which it is realised. If globalisation aims to make us all equal,   
   like a sphere, then it destroys the specific character of each person and each   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)