VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 187   
   DATE 24-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Telegram of condolences for the accident at Puisseguin   
   - Synod: an experience of grace, communion, collegiality and service, says the   
   bishop of Bilbao   
   - Declaration of the Synod of Bishops on the situation in the Middle East,   
   Africa and Ukraine   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Telegram of condolences for the accident at Puisseguin   
    Vatican City, 24 October 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro   
   Parolin has sent a telegram of condolences on behalf of the Holy Father to   
   Archbishop Jean-Pierre Richard of Bordeaux, France, following the road accident   
   that took place at Puisseguin involving a truck and a bus carrying elderly   
   people, claiming 43 victims.   
    Pope Francis joins in prayer in the suffering of the bereaved families, and   
   commends the victims to God's mercy so that He may welcome them in His light.   
   He   
   expresses his spiritual closeness to the injured and to the families of those   
   involved, and to the rescue services. As a pledge of consolation the Holy   
   Father   
   offers his special apostolic blessing to all those affected by the tragedy".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Synod: an experience of grace, communion, collegiality and service, says the   
   bishop of Bilbao   
    Vatican City, 24 October 2015 (VIS) - This morning Bishop Mario Iceta   
   Gavicagogeascoa pronounced the final meditation before the Synod Fathers   
   participating in the 14th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on   
   the Family, which will close tomorrow, Sunday 25 October, with a solemn Mass to   
   be celebrated by the Holy Father in St. Peter's Basilica.   
    "We are concluding the work of the Synod as an experience of grace, communion,   
   collegiality and service", said the prelate. "We have asked for the gift of the   
   Holy Spirit and we wished for Him to guide our work. The Holy Father affirmed   
   at   
   the beginning of this assembly that the Synod can be a space for the action of   
   the Holy Spirit only if we clothe ourselves in apostolic courage, evangelical   
   humility and trustful prayer. Therefore, faced with the decisions that we must   
   take in our episcopal ministry, the passage of the decision to bring Matthew   
   into the apostolic college comes to mind. "They prayed and said, "You, Lord,   
   who   
   know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen". This is   
   our method: show us what You want, let us know Your will. Immersed in prayer,   
   asking God to show us the way, so we can see what is His plan and not our own,   
   so we can see the paths we must travel to accompany families in fidelity to the   
   vocation to which they have been called".   
    "Along with prayer, we must remember the need for evangelical humility so as   
   to   
   know God's will. 'I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that you have   
   hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little   
   children'. ... As the Book of Proverbs tells us, 'When pride comes, then comes   
   disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom'. And St. Teresa of Avila, the fifth   
   centenary of whose birth we have just celebrated, wisely tells us that to   
   proceed in humility is to go towards the truth".   
    "This prayerful life, this evangelical humility, will allow us to act with   
   apostolic courage, the parrhesia St. Paul tells us about, with our eyes on   
   Christ and serving the families of this world with love for Him, enlightening   
   their path with the Word of God and the living Tradition of the Church,   
   supporting and accompanying them in joys and sorrows, so that they may fully   
   live the covenant of love which dispels darkness, overcomes loneliness and   
   individualism, recreates humanity, generates life and hope, welcomes and heals   
   what appears lost, and builds up the Church and the world".   
    "I conclude today, Saturday, by invoking the maternal intercession of Our   
   Lady.   
   Mothers are those who transform a house into a home. She ensures that the   
   Church   
   is not merely a Temple but also a home, a warm and familiar place of welcome   
   and   
   mercy. We turn to her this morning. She is the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, by   
   Whom she conceived virginally. We welcome this morning under her protection. In   
   Her we learn how to receive the gift of God, the Holy Spirit, Love in Person,   
   that enlightens us and helps us fulfil the task that has been entrusted to us   
   today".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Declaration of the Synod of Bishops on the situation in the Middle East,   
   Africa   
   and Ukraine   
    Vatican City, 24 October 2015 (VIS) - During this morning's General   
   Congregation, during Vespers for the conclusion of the Synod, the Synod Fathers   
   launched a new appeal for peace and the resolution of conflicts in the Middle   
   East, Africa and Ukraine, asking the international Community to act via   
   diplomatic channels and to engage in dialogue to end the suffering of thousands   
   of people. In the declaration, the full text of which is published below, the   
   Fathers make special reference to families compelled to flee their homes, and   
   give thanks to the countries that have welcomed refugees.   
    "Gathered around the Holy Father Francis, we the Synod Fathers, along with the   
   fraternal Delegates and Auditors participating in the 14th Ordinary General   
   Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, turn our thoughts to all the families of the   
   Middle East.   
    For years now, due to bloody conflicts, they have been victims of unspeakable   
   atrocities. Their conditions of life have been further aggravated in recent   
   months and weeks.   
    The use of weapons of mass destruction, indiscriminate killings, beheadings,   
   kidnapping of human beings, trafficking in women, the enrolment of children   
   into   
   militias, persecution on the basis of religious belief or ethnicity, the   
   destruction of cultural heritage and countless other atrocities have forced   
   thousands of families to flee their homes in search of refuge elsewhere, often   
   in conditions of extreme precariousness. Currently they are prevented from   
   returning and from exercising the right to live in dignity and safety on their   
   own soil, contributing to the reconstruction and the material and spiritual   
   well-being of their respective countries.   
    In such a dramatic context, there are continual violations of the fundamental   
   principles of human dignity and of peaceful and harmonious co-existence among   
   persons and peoples, of the most basic rights, such as the rights to life and   
   religious freedom, and of international humanitarian law.   
    Therefore, we wish to express our closeness to the Patriarchs, the Bishops,   
   the   
   priests, consecrated persons and faithful, as well as all the inhabitants of   
   the   
   Middle East, to demonstrate our solidarity and to assure them of our prayers.   
   We   
   think of all the people who have been kidnapped and ask for their liberation.   
   Our voices unite with the cry of so many innocent people: no more violence, no   
   more terrorism, no more persecution! May the hostilities and weapons   
   trafficking   
   cease immediately!   
    Peace in the Middle East must be sought not with choices imposed by force, but   
   rather with political decisions that respect the cultural and religious   
   particularities of the individual Nations and their various components.   
    Although we are grateful especially to Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and many   
   European countries for the welcome they have granted to refugees, we wish to   
   make a further plea to the international community so that in the search for   
   solutions they set aside particular interests and make use of the tools of   
   diplomacy, dialogue and international law.   
    Let us recall the words of Pope Francis to 'all communities who look to   
   Abraham: may we respect and love one another as brothers and sisters! May we   
   learn to understand the sufferings of others! May no one abuse the name of God   
   through violence! May we work together for justice and peace!'.   
    We are convinced that peace is possible, and that it is possible to stop the   
   violence in Syria, Iraq, Jerusalem and throughout the Holy Land that every day   
   involves increasing numbers of families and innocent civilians and aggravates   
   the humanitarian crisis. Reconciliation is the fruit of fraternity, justice,   
   respect and forgiveness.   
    Our sole wish, like that of the people of goodwill who form part of the great   
   human family, is that we may all live in peace, so that 'Jews, Christians and   
   Muslims find in other believers brothers and sisters to be respected and loved,   
   and in this way, beginning in their own lands, give the beautiful witness of   
   serenity and concord between the children of Abraham'.   
    Our thoughts and our prayers extend, with equal concern, solicitude and love,   
   to all the families that find themselves involved in similar situations in   
   other   
   parts of the world, especially in Africa and Ukraine. We have kept them in mind   
   during the work of this Synod Assembly, like the families of the Middle East,   
   and for them too make a strong plea for a return to a calm and dignified life.   
    Let us entrust our intentions to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,   
   accustomed to suffering, so that the world may soon become one family of   
   brothers and sisters".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 24 October 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Archbishop Paolo Rocco Gualtieri, apostolic nuncio in Madagascar and the   
   Seychelles, as apostolic nuncio in Mauritius.   
    - Fr. Aristide Gonsallo as bishop of Porto Novo (area 4,545, population   
   1,720,996, Catholics 650,000, priests 227, religious 124), Benin. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Cotonou, Benin in 1966 and was ordained a priest in   
   1992. He holds a doctorate in theology from the Catholic University of Angers,   
   France and a master's degree and doctorate in modern letters from the state   
   University of Angers. He has served as a teacher in the minor seminary of   
   Parakou, and is currently pastor of the St. Martin parish in Panape and   
   chaplain   
   of the diocesan hospital, and is responsible for the reorganisation of the   
   diocesan health service.   
    - Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., archbishop of Yangon, Myanmar, as papal   
   legate for the 51st International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Cebu,   
   Philippines from 24 to 31 January.   
      
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