VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 177   
   DATE 12-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - To the Missionary Groups of Argentina: continue to build an outgoing Church   
   - The Pope encourages the participants in the World Peoples' Conference on   
   Climate Change and the Defence of Life   
   - Angelus: faith and attachment to wealth cannot coexist   
   - The Pope's profound sadness for the attack in Turkey   
   - The archbishop of Corfu, Zante and Cefalonia reflects with the Synod Fathers   
   on external worship and inner adhesion to the Word of God   
   - Respecting the freedom of faith, the outcome of an interreligious marriage   
   - Telegram for the attack in Turkey   
   - Plenary Session of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors   
   - New dormitory for the homeless near the Vatican   
   - Cardinals to take possession of their titular churches   
   - Cardinal Cordes, Pope's special envoy to the First National Eucharistic   
   Congress of the Czech Republic   
   - Audiences   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the Missionary Groups of Argentina: continue to build an outgoing Church   
    Vatican City, 12 October 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis has sent a message to the   
   participants in the Fourth National Meeting of Missionary Groups, which took   
   place in Santiago del Estero, Argentina from 10 to 12 October, examining the   
   theme "Mission, a way of life".   
    The Holy Father, who spiritually joins with the missionaries, writes: "Let us   
   always remember that we cannot show to others what we ourselves have not seen   
   or   
   heard. Therefore, to be a missionary, before announcing and communicating, it   
   is   
   necessary to see. To see that Jesus, who made Himself small to experience our   
   weakness, who assumed our mortal flesh, to clothe it in His immortality and Who   
   comes forward to meet us every day, to walk with us and to offer us His hand of   
   friendship when we are in difficulty".   
    "Never forget the call, your first encounter with Jesus, the joy with which   
   you   
   heard that first proclamation, perhaps from your parents, your grandparents,   
   your catechists or teachers", said the Holy Father. "And do not neglect to   
   pray,   
   to pray for each other, to support each other with prayer, so that Jesus,   
   through you, and in spite of your weakness, may work wonders before all   
   peoples".   
    "Neither must you forget that the mission, as well as being a passion for   
   Jesus, is a passion for His people. Let us look to Jesus, but let us also learn   
   how to look as Jesus does. A look of tenderness, understanding and mercy that   
   leads us to touch the wounds of the Lord in the flesh of our brothers in need.   
   To see Jesus in others purifies the heart, freeing it from selfishness, from   
   any   
   underhand intention, any worldly desire".   
    "I hope that these brief reflections will encourage you to continue building   
   an   
   outgoing Church, a fraternal group that works to communicate this joy that the   
   Lord has placed in our hearts", concluded the bishop of Rome.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope encourages the participants in the World Peoples' Conference on   
   Climate Change and the Defence of Life   
    Vatican City, 12 October 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro   
   Parolin has sent a message on behalf of the Holy Father to the Second World   
   Peoples' Conference on Climate Change and the Defence of Life, held in   
   Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, Bolivia from 9 to 12 October. In the text, the Pope   
   greets the participants and encourages them always to be guided in their   
   reflections and work by the principles of a just and integral ecology, that   
   takes into account the true good of the human person.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Angelus: faith and attachment to wealth cannot coexist   
    Vatican City, 12 October 2015 (VIS) - At midday today the Holy Father appeared   
   at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in   
   St.   
   Peter's Square. Francis reflected on the day's reading, from Chapter 10 of the   
   Gospel of St. Mark, which is divided into three scenes corresponding to three   
   gazes of Jesus. The first scene presents the encounter between the Teacher and   
   the young man who asks, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?". "Eternal   
   life   
   is not only the life of the hereafter, but it is also full life, complete and   
   limitless", said the Pope. "Jesus' response translates into an intense gaze   
   full   
   of tenderness and affection". He understands the youth's weakness and answers   
   that he must "give everything he has to the poor and follow Him. But the   
   youth's   
   heart is divided between two masters: God and money, and he goes away sad. This   
   shows us that faith and attachment to riches cannot coexist. Thus, in the end,   
   the initial impulse felt by the youth vanishes in the unhappiness of an   
   invitation to follow that fails".   
    In the second scene, Jesus gaze is pensive, and warning. Looking around Him,   
   He   
   says to His disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of   
   God!". Seeing the wonder of his disciples, who ask, "Then who can be saved?",   
   Jesus responds with a gaze of encouragement - this is the third gaze - and   
   says,   
   salvation, yes, "For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. If we   
   trust   
   in the Lord, we can overcome all the obstacles that prevent us from following   
   Him on the path of faith. To entrust oneself to the Lord. He will give us   
   strength; He will give us salvation; He will accompany us along the journey".   
    Finally, the third scene is that of Jesus' solemn declaration. "I assure you   
   that he who leaves everything to follow me will have eternal life in the age to   
   come and a hundred times more now in this present age". The Pope explained,   
   "This 'hundred times more' is made up of the things that are first possessed   
   and   
   then left, but which are found infinitely multiplied. We deprive ourselves of   
   goods and receive in exchange the joy of the true good; we free ourselves from   
   slavery to things and we win the liberty of service out of love; we renounce   
   possession and attain the happiness of giving. As Jesus said, 'There is more   
   joy   
   in giving than receiving'".   
    "Only in welcoming with humble gratitude the Lord's love do we free ourselves   
   from the seduction of idols and the blindness of our illusions. Money, pleasure   
   and success dazzle us, only to disappoint us later. They promise life but bring   
   death. The Lord asks us to detach ourselves from these false riches to enter   
   into true life, a full life, that is authentic and luminous". Before imparting   
   his blessing, the Pope asked those present if they had felt Jesus' gaze upon   
   them, and how they would want to respond. "Do you prefer to leave this square   
   with the joy that Jesus gives us, or with the sadness in your heart that   
   worldliness offers us?", he said, asking Our Lady to help open our heart to   
   Jesus' love.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope's profound sadness for the attack in Turkey   
    Vatican City, 11 October 2015 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus today, the   
   Pope   
   expressed his profound sadness for the attack against a demonstration for peace   
   in Ankara, Turkey, causing more than 100 deaths and numerous injuries. Francis   
   described the attack as a "terrible massacre" and sadness that the attack was   
   aimed at defenceless people demonstrating together for peace. "I pray for this   
   dear country and ask the Lord to receive the souls of the deceased and to   
   console the suffering and their families. Let us pray in silence together", he   
   added.   
    The Holy Father then mentioned that Tuesday 13 October is International Day   
   for   
   the Reduction of Natural Disasters. "Unfortunately it must be recognised that   
   the effects of such calamities are often aggravated by a lack of care for the   
   environment by man. I unite with all those who, in a far-sighted way, are   
   committed to the care of our common home, to promote a global and local culture   
   for the reduction of disasters and greater resilience when they occur,   
   harmonising new and traditional knowledge, and paying particular attention to   
   the most vulnerable populations".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The archbishop of Corfu, Zante and Cefalonia reflects with the Synod Fathers   
   on   
   external worship and inner adhesion to the Word of God   
    Vatican City, 10 October 2015 (VIS) - During this morning's Terce prayer with   
   the Synod Fathers, Archbishop Ioannis Spiteris O.F.M. Cap. of Corfu, Zante and   
   Cefalonia reflected on the biblical reading from the Book of Samuel. In the   
   text   
   the prophet accuses the king Saul of not having rigorously observed the law   
   that   
   demanded he sacrifice all his loot to God. The king not only kept it for   
   himself   
   but also passed the blame to his soldiers. But in the text, as Archbishop   
   Spiteris observed, Samuel also reproaches Saul who wishes to compensate for the   
   lack of faith and obedience to God through sacrifices, an external sign of his   
   devotion.   
    "The Author, by placing two attitudes before the man who wishes to please God,   
   does not invite him to choose between sacrifice and mercy (being docile), but   
   rather makes him understand that God appreciates one more than the other; that   
   His eyes do not rest on appearances but instead look to the heart. ... And   
   Samuel   
   shows Saul that sacrifice and listening to God's voice do not have the same   
   value: 'To obey is better than sacrifice'".   
    "Throughout the history of the Church, on paths beaten by saints, this   
   affirmation has and continues to illuminate. No, holiness (that is, the   
   communion with God as Love that is expressed in the commitment to living well   
   with love one's human and Christian commitments) does not consist in the   
   primacy   
   of sacrifice, of external and soulless worship, but rather in loving obedience   
   to God, in putting into practice His quintessential commandment, reciprocal   
   love. It may indeed be a fatal deception, this imposition of exorbitant   
   sacrifices, not so much for making life better and more serene for oneself and   
   for others, but rather for appearing better and holier than others, like the   
   Pharisee in the parable who boasts of his own merits and scorns the other,   
   considered a publican and a sinner. The Phariseeism which prevailed in Jesus'   
   time is always ready to resurface where insufficient attention is paid to the   
   Word to be welcomed with joy and put into practice".   
    "May we all, sacrificing the wish to listen to the many inner voices that urge   
   us to seek the salvation of our own good works, silencing the voice of the Lord   
   Who invites us to loving communion with Him, be able to entrust ourselves to He   
   Who is able to do all and Whose arms are continually open to welcome us",   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)