VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 174   
   DATE 07-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The spirit of the family is the constitutional charter of the Church   
   - Rapporteurs and moderators of the Circuli Minori of the Synod   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The spirit of the family is the constitutional charter of the Church   
    Vatican City, 7 October 2015 (VIS) - During the period of the Synod dedicated   
   to "The vocation and the mission of the family in the Church and the   
   contemporary world", the catechesis of the Wednesday general audiences will   
   focus on various aspects of the relationship between the Church and the family,   
   the Pope announced this morning to the thousands of faithful gathered in St.   
   Peter's Square. Francis asked all to pray for a good outcome of the Synod   
   assembly, and underlined that the family deserves all the dedication of which   
   the Church is capable, and therefore the Synod is called upon to interpret the   
   care of the Church for the family in our times.   
    "Men and women of today are in need of a robust injection of family spirit",   
   he   
   continued. "Indeed, the style of relations - civil, economic, legal,   
   professional, and as citizens - would appear very rational, formal and   
   organised, but also very 'dehydrated', arid and anonymous. At times this   
   becomes   
   unbearable. While seeking to be inclusive in its forms, in reality it abandons   
   an ever greater number of people to solitude and exclusion".   
    The family, however, "opens for the whole of society a far more human   
   prospect:   
   it opens children's eyes onto life ... and introduces them to the need for   
   bonds   
   of fidelity, sincerity, trust, cooperation and respect; it encourages the   
   planning of an inhabitable world and the belief in relationships of trust, even   
   in difficult situations. ... And we are all aware of the indispensable nature   
   of   
   the care of the family for its smallest members, the most vulnerable, the   
   wounded, and even those who have encountered the most disasters in the conduct   
   of their lives".   
    Nevertheless, the Pope remarked, "the family is not granted due recognition or   
   support in the political and social organisation of contemporary society. I   
   would add: not only does the family not receive adequate recognition, but it no   
   longer generates learning. At times it would seem that, in spite of all its   
   science and technology, modern society is still not able to translate this   
   knowledge into better forms of civil coexistence. ... In this situation, the   
   opposite extremes of this brutalisation of relationships - that is,   
   technocratic   
   obtuseness and amoral familism - come together and feed into one another. It is   
   a paradox".   
    "The Church perceives today, at this precise point, the historical meaning of   
   her mission with regard to the family and genuine family spirit; starting from   
   a   
   careful revision of life. .. It could be said that the 'family spirit' is a   
   constitutional charter for the Church. This is how Christianity should appear   
   and should be. ... The Church is and must be the family of God".   
    The Pope recalled that when Jesus invited Peter to follow Him, He said that He   
   would have made him a "fisher of men". "And this called for a new type of net.   
   We could say that today families are one of the most important nets for the   
   mission of Peter and the Church. It is not a net that takes prisoners! On the   
   contrary, it liberates from the treacherous waters of abandonment and   
   indifference, that drown many human beings in a sea of loneliness and   
   indifference. Families are well aware of the dignity of being sons and not   
   slaves or outsiders".   
    "From here, from the family, Jesus begins again his path among human beings to   
   persuade them that God has not forgotten them. From here Peter takes strength   
   for his ministry. From here the Church, in obedience to the Word of the Master,   
   goes out to fish offshore, sure that if it takes place, the catch will be   
   miraculous. May the enthusiasm of the Synod Fathers, inspired by the Holy   
   Spirit, kindle the zeal of a Church that abandons the old nets and goes out to   
   fish again, trusting in the Word of her Lord. Let us pray intensely for this!   
   Indeed, Christ promised and reassures us: if even a bad father does not refuse   
   to give bread to his hungry children, of course God would not refuse to give   
   the   
   Spirit to those who, imperfect as they are, ask with impassioned insistence".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Rapporteurs and moderators of the Circuli Minori of the Synod   
    Vatican City, 7 October 2015 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today published   
   the following list of rapporteurs and moderators of the Circuli Minori:   
    RAPPORTEURS   
    Circulus Gallicus "A": Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Lille, France, elected   
    Circulus Gallicus "B": Msgr. Francois-Xavier Dumortier, S.J,. elected   
    Circulus Gallicus "C": Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher, elected   
    Circulus Anglicus "A": Archbishop Joseph Edward Kurtz, elected   
    Circulus Anglicus "B": Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, elected   
    Circulus Anglicus "C": Bishop Mark Benedict Coleridge, elected   
    Circulus Anglicus "D": Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., elected   
    Circulus Italicus "A": Rev. Fr. Manuel Jesus Arroba Conde, C.M.F., elected   
    Circulus Italicus "B": Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, elected   
    Circulus Italicus "C": Bishop Franco Giulio Brambilla, elected   
    Circulus Hibericus "A": Cardinal Jose Luis Lacunza Maestrojuan, O.A.R.,elected   
    Circulus Hibericus "B": Archbishop Baltazar Porras Cardozo, elected   
    Circulus Germanicus: Archbishop Heiner Koch, elected   
    MODERATORS   
    Circulus Gallicus "A": Cardinal Gerald Cyprien Lacroix, elected   
    Circulus Gallicus "B": Cardinal Robert Sarah, elected   
    Circulus Gallicus "C": Maurice Piat, C.S.Sp., elected   
    Circulus Anglicus "A": Cardinal George Pell, elected   
    Circulus Anglicus "B": Cardinal Vincent Nichols, elected   
    Circulus Anglicus "C": Eamon Martin, elected   
    Circulus Anglicus "D": Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins, elected   
    Circulus Italicus "A": Cardinal Francesco Montenegro, elected   
    Circulus Italicus "B": Cardinal Edoardo Menichelli, elected   
    Circulus Italicus "C": Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, elected   
    Circulus Hibericus "A": Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B. elected   
    Circulus Hibericus "B": Cardinal Francisco Robles Ortega, elected   
    Circulus Germanicus: Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, O.P.,elected   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 7 October 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Fr. Luy Gonzaga Nguyen Hung Vi as bishop of Kontum (area 25,240, population   
   1,775,200, Catholics 300,649, priests 169, religious 477), Vietnam. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Ha Noi, Vietnam, in 1952, and was ordained a priest in   
   1990. He holds a licentiate in liturgy from the Institut Catholique of Paris,   
   France, and has served as parish vicar of Binh Cang in Nha Trang, director of   
   the minor seminary of Kontum in Ho Chi Minh City, and secretary of the   
   episcopal   
   office in Kontum. He is currently pastor of the parish of Phuong Nghia, Kontum.   
   He succeeds Bishop Michael Hoang Duc Oanh, whose resignation from the pastoral   
   care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy   
   Father.   
    - Bishop Carmelo Cuttitta, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Palermo, Italy, as   
   bishop of Ragusa (area 1,029, population 221,835, Catholics 213,252, priests   
   130, permanent deacons 8, religious 276), Italy. He succeeds Bishop Paolo Urso,   
   whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the   
   age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - Fr. Peter Huynh Van Hai as bishop of Vinh Long (area 6,772, population   
   3,976,552, Catholics 199,404, priests 205, religious 775), Vietnam. The   
   bishop-elect was born in 1954 in Ben Tre, Vietnam, and was ordained a priest in   
   1994. He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Institut Catholique of Paris,   
   France, and has served as head of vocations for the diocese of Vinh Long. He is   
   currently lecturer in philosophy in the major seminaries of Can Tho and Ho Chi   
   Minh City.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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