VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 170   
   DATE 01-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Francis praises the great spiritual and missionary heritage of the Comboni   
   Missionaries of the Sacred Heart   
   - Migrants and refugees challenge us: the response of the Gospel of mercy   
   - Presentation of the Pope's message for World Day of Migrants and Refugees:   
   "Emigration is not the juxtaposition of cultures, but rather an encounter of   
   peoples"   
   - Decrees for the Causes of Saints   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis praises the great spiritual and missionary heritage of the Comboni   
   Missionaries of the Sacred Heart   
    Vatican City, 1 October 2015 (VIS) - The Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of   
   Jesus attending their general chapter were received in audience by the Holy   
   Father in the Clementine Hall this morning. In his address to them, Francis   
   spoke about the words that define their name and identity.   
    As missionaries, the Combonians are "servants and messengers of the Gospel,   
   especially for those who do not know it or have forgotten it", said the Pope.   
   "At the root of this, the personal relationship with Christ ... determines all   
   of   
   our existence and action; and it is experienced and nurtured above all in   
   prayer, in staying by the Lord's side. ... In this prayerful space we encounter   
   the true treasure we give to our brethren through proclamation. Indeed, the   
   missionary is the servant of God Who speaks, Who wishes to speak to today's men   
   and women, just as Jesus spoke to those of His time. ... In the Word of God   
   there   
   is the wisdom that comes from above, and that enables us to find the languages,   
   approaches and tools suited to responding to the challenges of a changing   
   humanity".   
    As Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus, you contribute joyfully to the   
   mission of the Church, bearing witness to the charism of St. Daniel Comboni,   
   characterised by the merciful love of Christ's Heart for the defenceless. In   
   this Heart there is the source of the mercy that saves and generates hope.   
   Therefore, as you are consecrated to God for the mission, you are called upon   
   to   
   imitate the merciful and mild Jesus, to live your service with a humble heart,   
   caring for the most abandoned of our time. ... From that Heart you learn the   
   necessary meekness to carry out your apostolic action even in difficult and   
   hostile contexts. This heart, that so loved humanity, drives you to the   
   peripheries of society to bear witness to the perseverance of patient and   
   faithful love".   
    Finally, the Pope expresses to the missionaries his hope that this general   
   chapter might illuminate the path of the Institute in the coming years, helping   
   it to "continually rediscover its great heritage of spirituality and missionary   
   activity. In this way you are able to trustfully continue your valuable   
   contribution to the mission of the Church. May you be inspired and encouraged   
   by   
   the example of many of your brethren, who have given their lives for the cause   
   of the Gospel, willing even to offer the supreme witness of blood. Indeed, it   
   is   
   well known that the Combonian Institute is distinguished by an uninterrupted   
   chain of martyrs, up to our times. They are a fruitful seed in spreading God's   
   Kingdom, and protectors of your apostolic efforts".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Migrants and refugees challenge us: the response of the Gospel of mercy   
    Vatican City, 1 October 2015 (VIS) - "Migrants and refugees challenge us: the   
   response of the Gospel of mercy" is the title of the Holy Father's message for   
   World Day of Migrants and Refugees, to be held on 17 January 2016. The   
   document,   
   the full text of which is given below, was signed in the Vatican on 12   
   September, memorial of the Holy Name of Mary.   
    "Dear Brothers and Sisters, in the Bull of indiction of the Extraordinary   
   Jubilee of Mercy I noted that 'at times we are called to gaze even more   
   attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the   
   Father's   
   action in our lives'. God's love is meant to reach out to each and every   
   person.   
   Those who welcome the Father's embrace, for their part, become so many other   
   open arms and embraces, enabling every person to feel loved like a child and   
   'at   
   home' as part of the one human family. God's fatherly care extends to everyone,   
   like the care of a shepherd for his flock, but it is particularly concerned for   
   the needs of the sheep who are wounded, weary or ill. Jesus told us that the   
   Father stoops to help those overcome by physical or moral poverty; the more   
   serious their condition, the more powerfully is His divine mercy revealed.   
    In our time, migration is growing worldwide. Refugees and people fleeing from   
   their homes challenge individuals and communities, and their traditional ways   
   of   
   life; at times they upset the cultural and social horizons which they   
   encounter.   
   Increasingly, the victims of violence and poverty, leaving their homelands, are   
   exploited by human traffickers during their journey towards the dream of a   
   better future. If they survive the abuses and hardships of the journey, they   
   then have to face latent suspicions and fear. In the end, they frequently   
   encounter a lack of clear and practical policies regulating the acceptance of   
   migrants and providing for short or long term programmes of integration   
   respectful of the rights and duties of all. Today, more than in the past, the   
   Gospel of mercy troubles our consciences, prevents us from taking the suffering   
   of others for granted, and points out way of responding which, grounded in the   
   theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, find practical expression in   
   works of spiritual and corporal mercy.   
    In the light of these facts, I have chosen as the theme of the 2016 World Day   
   of Migrants and Refugees, 'Migrants and refugees challenge us: the response of   
   the Gospel of mercy'. Migration movements are now a structural reality, and our   
   primary issue must be to deal with the present emergency phase by providing   
   programmes which address the causes of migration and the changes it entails,   
   including its effect on the make-up of societies and peoples. The tragic   
   stories   
   of millions of men and women daily confront the international community as a   
   result of the outbreak of unacceptable humanitarian crises in different parts   
   of   
   the world. Indifference and silence lead to complicity whenever we stand by as   
   people are dying of suffocation, starvation, violence and shipwreck. Whether   
   large or small in scale, these are always tragedies, even when a single human   
   life is lost.   
    Migrants are our brothers and sisters in search of a better life, far away   
   from   
   poverty, hunger, exploitation and the unjust distribution of the planet's   
   resources which are meant to be equitably shared by all. Don't we all want a   
   better, more decent and prosperous life to share with our loved ones?   
    At this moment in human history, marked by great movements of migration,   
   identity is not a secondary issue. Those who migrate are forced to change some   
   of their most distinctive characteristics and, whether they like or not, even   
   those who welcome them are also forced to change. How can we experience these   
   changes not as obstacles to genuine development, rather as opportunities for   
   genuine human, social and spiritual growth, a growth which respects and   
   promotes   
   those values which make us ever more humane and help us to live a balanced   
   relationship with God, others and creation?   
    The presence of migrants and refugees seriously challenges the various   
   societies which accept them. Those societies are faced with new situations   
   which   
   could create serious hardship unless they are suitably motivated, managed and   
   regulated. How can we ensure that integration will become mutual enrichment,   
   open up positive perspectives to communities, and prevent the danger of   
   discrimination, racism, extreme nationalism or xenophobia?   
    Biblical revelation urges us to welcome the stranger; it tells us that in so   
   doing, we open our doors to God, and that in the faces of others we see the   
   face   
   of Christ Himself. Many institutions, associations, movements and groups,   
   diocesan, national and international organisations are experiencing the wonder   
   and joy of the feast of encounter, sharing and solidarity. They have heard the   
   voice of Jesus Christ: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock'. Yet there   
   continue to be debates about the conditions and limits to be set for the   
   reception of migrants, not only on the level of national policies, but also in   
   some parish communities whose traditional tranquillity seems to be threatened.   
    Faced with these issues, how can the Church fail to be inspired by the example   
   and words of Jesus Christ? The answer of the Gospel is mercy.   
    In the first place, mercy is a gift of God the Father who is revealed in the   
   Son. God's mercy gives rise to joyful gratitude for the hope which opens up   
   before us in the mystery of our redemption by Christ's blood. Mercy nourishes   
   and strengthens solidarity towards others as a necessary response to God's   
   gracious love, 'which has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit'.   
   Each of us is responsible for his or her neighbour: we are our brothers' and   
   sisters' keepers, wherever they live. Concern for fostering good relationships   
   with others and the ability to overcome prejudice and fear are essential   
   ingredients for promoting the culture of encounter, in which we are not only   
   prepared to give, but also to receive from others. Hospitality, in fact, grows   
   from both giving and receiving.   
    From this perspective, it is important to view migrants not only on the basis   
   of their status as regular or irregular, but above all as people whose dignity   
   is to be protected and who are capable of contributing to progress and the   
   general welfare. This is especially the case when they responsibly assume their   
   obligations towards those who receive them, gratefully respecting the material   
   and spiritual heritage of the host country, obeying its laws and helping with   
   its needs. Migrations cannot be reduced merely to their political and   
   legislative aspects, their economic implications and the concrete coexistence   
   of   
   various cultures in one territory. All these complement the defence and   
   promotion of the human person, the culture of encounter, and the unity of   
   peoples, where the Gospel of mercy inspires and encourages ways of renewing and   
   transforming the whole of humanity.   
    The Church stands at the side of all who work to defend each person's right to   
   live with dignity, first and foremost by exercising the right not to emigrate   
   and to contribute to the development of one's country of origin. This process   
   should include, from the outset, the need to assist the countries which   
   migrants   
   and refugees leave. This will demonstrate that solidarity, cooperation,   
   international interdependence and the equitable distribution of the earth's   
   goods are essential for more decisive efforts, especially in areas where   
   migration movements begin, to eliminate those imbalances which lead people,   
   individually or collectively, to abandon their own natural and cultural   
   environment. In any case, it is necessary to avert, if possible at the earliest   
   stages, the flight of refugees and departures as a result of poverty, violence   
   and persecution.   
    Public opinion also needs to be correctly formed, not least to prevent   
   unwarranted fears and speculations detrimental to migrants.   
    No one can claim to be indifferent in the face of new forms of slavery imposed   
   by criminal organisations which buy and sell men, women and children as forced   
   labourers in construction, agriculture, fishing or in other markets. How many   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)