VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 189   
   DATE 27-10-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Letter to the cardinal Secretary of State on questions related to the reform   
   of the Roman Curia   
   - Telegram of condolences for the earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan   
   - Esteem and appreciation for Patriarch Bartholomew I, awarded the Sophia   
   University Institute's first doctorate honoris causa   
   - Presentation of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Letter to the cardinal Secretary of State on questions related to the reform   
   of   
   the Roman Curia   
    Vatican City, 27 October 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has written a letter to   
   Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin regarding various issues that have   
   arisen during the process of reforming the structures of the Roman Curia. The   
   following is the full text of the letter:   
    "While the process of reform of various structures of the Roman Curia, to   
   which   
   the Council of Cardinals I instituted on 28 September 2013 is dedicating its   
   attention, is continuing in accordance with the established programme, it is   
   necessary to note that certain problems have emerged in the meantime, in   
   relation to which I intend to take prompt action.   
    I wish first to state that the current period of transition is not a time of   
   vacatio legis. Therefore, I confirm that the Apostolic Constitution "Pastor   
   bonus" and subsequent amendments thereto remain in full force, along with the   
   General Regulations of the Roman Curia.   
    Since compliance with the common rules is necessary both to guarantee the   
   orderly conduct of work in the Roman Curia and in the institutions connected to   
   the Holy See, and to ensure equitable treatment of employees and collaborators,   
   also in economic terms, I order that the provisions in the aforementioned   
   documents, as well as in the Regulations for lay staff of the Holy See and   
   Vatican City State and the Regulations of the independent Commission for the   
   evaluation of the recruitment of lay staff in the Apostolic See, be   
   scrupulously   
   observed.   
    Accordingly, all staff hiring and transfers must be carried out within the   
   limits established by staffing plans, excluding any other criterion, with the   
   nulla osta of the Secretariat of State and in compliance with the prescribed   
   procedures, including reference to the established parameters for remuneration.   
    The above, to the extent compatible with their Regulations, is valid also for   
   the Governorate of Vatican City State and the dependent Institutions of the   
   Apostolic See, although not expressly indicated in the Apostolic Constitution   
   Pastor bonus, with the exception of the Institute for the Works of Religion.   
    I therefore request, Your Eminence, that the provisions I have mentioned be   
   brought to the attention of all the Superiors of the Dicasteries, the Offices   
   and Bodies of the Roman Curia, as well as the Commissions, Committees and   
   connected Institutions, as well as the Governorate, highlighting in particular   
   the aspects requiring special attention, and that supervision of compliance be   
   exercised.   
    I thank you for your collaboration and, in communion of intentions and prayer,   
   I cordially greet you in the Lord".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Telegram of condolences for the earthquake in Afghanistan and Pakistan   
    Vatican City, 27 October 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro   
   Parolin today sent a telegram on behalf of the Holy Father to Archbishop Ghaleb   
   Bader, apostolic nuncio in Pakistan, following the serious earthquake in   
   Afghanistan and Pakistan.   
    "His Holiness Pope Francis was deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of   
   life in Afghanistan and Pakistan as a result of the earthquake in the region.   
   He   
   expresses his heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by this disaster,   
   and   
   he offers the assurance of his prayers for the dead, as well as for the injured   
   and those still missing. Upon all those who mourn the loss of loved ones and   
   upon the civil authorities and emergency personnel involved in the relief   
   efforts, Pope Francis invokes the divine blessings of consolation and   
   strength".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Esteem and appreciation for Patriarch Bartholomew I, awarded the Sophia   
   University Institute's first doctorate honoris causa   
    Vatican City, 27 October 2015 (VIS) - Pope Francis has sent a message to the   
   cardinal archbishop of Florence, Giuseppe Bettori, Grand Chancellor of the On   
   the occasion of the Sophia University Institute, Loppiano, Italy, following the   
   conferral of a doctorate honoris causa in "Culture of Unity" to His Holiness   
   Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.   
    The Holy Father greets those present, expresses his closeness, and offers a   
   special thought for his beloved brother Bartholomew, to whom, he writes, "I   
   renew my sentiments of profound esteem and heartfelt appreciation, rejoicing in   
   the present initiative which, as well as constituting heartfelt recognition for   
   his commitment to the promotion of the culture of unity, contributes favourably   
   to the common journey our Churches take towards full and visible unity, to   
   which   
   we aspire with dedication and perseverance".   
    "In the hope that the Sophia University Institute, following the charism of   
   the   
   Focolari Movement and open to the action of the Spirit, may continue to be a   
   place of encounter and dialogue between different cultures and religions, I   
   assure my prayerful remembrance and, asking for your prayers, I impart my   
   Blessing to all present", the Pope concludes.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Presentation of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress   
    Vatican City, 27 October 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press   
   Office   
   a press conference was held to present the 51st International Eucharistic   
   Congress, to take place in Cebu, Philippines from 24 to 31 January 2016 on the   
   theme "Christ in you, our Hope of glory; the Eucharist, source and goal of   
   mission". The speakers were Archbishop Jose S. Palma of Cebu, Philippines,   
   Archbishop Piero Marini, Italy, president of the Committee for the   
   International   
   Eucharistic Congresses, and Fr. Vittore Boccardi, S.S.S., member of the same   
   committee.   
    Archbishop Palma commented on the importance of the choice of Asia and the   
   Philippines to host the Congress. "In recent years, Asia is the continent that   
   has become one of the great engines of world growth in the economic and social   
   point of view", he said. "From the religious point of view, however, it is   
   still   
   a contingent that has to be evangelised; ... where the Catholic Church is a   
   small   
   minority; in spite of being the continent where Jesus was born, lived, died and   
   rose again. The 51st Eucharistic Congress, therefore, could become the mirror   
   of   
   the Asian Church in the sense that it will see how the Catholic Church carries   
   out its task of evangelisation. As with the previous Congresses,   
   representatives   
   of the different Churches and a myriad of pilgrims from all over the world will   
   be attending".   
    The Congress, he continued, is expected to be attended by "around 20   
   cardinals,   
   50 bishops from other countries and at least 100 Filipino bishops who gather   
   for   
   the Catholic Bishops Conference Plenary Assembly in January 2016. As of October   
   2015, we already have 8,345 registered pilgrims representing 57 nations". In   
   addition, said Archbishop Palma, so far there are 600 registered host families   
   ready to welcome pilgrims.   
    The events of the Congress will be divided into two main parts: the first, the   
   "Theological Symposium", will take place from 20 to 22 January, and the   
   "Congress Proper", from 24 to 31 January. The basic themes for reflection   
   during   
   the Theological Symposium are: "The Christian Virtue of Hope"; "Eucharist in   
   the   
   Gospel of St. John"; "Liturgy and Inculturation"; "The History of the Novus   
   Ordo"; "Evangelising the Secular World" and "A Catechism on the Sunday   
   Eucharist". During the Congress Proper, the themes will be "Christ our Hope of   
   Glory"; "Christian Hope"; "The Eucharist as Celebration of the Paschal   
   Mystery";   
   "The Eucharist as Mission"; "Mission as Dialogue"; "The Eucharist and Dialogue   
   with Cultures"; "The Eucharist and Dialogue with the Poor"; "The Eucharist and   
   Dialogue with other Religions" and "The Eucharist and Mary".   
    Archbishop Marini, with reference to the theme of the Congress, affirmed that   
   "the evangelical announcement and faith in the Lord Jesus professed by the   
   Christian community are important and necessary for Asia, but must be presented   
   in accordance with the methods of dialogue, methods that have distinguished the   
   activity of the particular Churches of the continent in the last thirty years.   
   It is precisely this programme of dialogue with cultures, religious traditions   
   and the multitudes of the poor that forms, in an entirely natural and evident   
   way, the fabric of pastoral reflections contained in the basic text. The text   
   explains that the Eucharist is the source and culmination of the mission of the   
   Church and identifies the added value offered by the Eucharistic celebration   
   for   
   a mission that is committed to leavening through the enzymes of dialogue,   
   reconciliation, peace and future, of which Asia is in great need".   
    "The Eucharistic Congresses, then, will go to Cebu to recall that the mission   
   is an exchange of gifts between those who announce and who receive the   
   evangelical message", he added. "They go to the city that is the cradle of   
   Christianity in the East to give and to receive, to evangelise and to be   
   evangelised, to speak but also to listen. In that human environment that is not   
   linked to the labyrinth of rationalism, the celebration of the Eucharistic   
   mystery is bound with the experience of poverty, suffering and affections and   
   continues to build communities that wish to break bread in the Kingdom of God".   
    Finally, Fr. Boccardi commented that the event in Cebu, along with the World   
   Youth Days, World Family Day, and so on, will become "an extraordinary resource   
   for bearing witness, through its celebration, to how the Eucharist is not only   
   the source of life in the Church but also the place of its projection in the   
   world. Every particular Church that celebrates the Eucharist in any part of the   
   world, is called upon to demonstrate the maturity of giving to others, of   
   mutual   
   listening, of availability and concrete collaboration so that the community of   
   faithful might become the house of God and of our brothers amid the homes of   
   mankind. There it will be possible to live that 'dialogue of life" that is a   
   starting point for the joyful witness of the Gospel".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 27 October 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Bishop Matteo Maria Zuppi, auxiliary of Rome, as metropolitan archbishop of   
   Bologna (area 3,549, population 998,600, Catholics 951,462, priests 590,   
   permanent deacons 127, religious 1,115), Italy. He succeeds Cardinal Carlo   
   Caffarra, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese upon   
   reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - Msgr. Corrado Lorefice as metropolitan archbishop of Palermo (area 1,366,   
   population 916,000, Catholics 909,000, priests 479, permanent deacons 41,   
   religious 1,249), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Ispica, Italy in 1962 and   
   was ordained a priest in 1987. He holds a licentiate in moral theology and a   
   doctorate in moral theology, and has served in a number of pastoral roles in   
   the   
   diocese of Noto, Italy, including bursar and vice rector of the seminary,   
   lecturer in moral theology, director of the diocesan and regional centres for   
   vocations, director of formation of permanent deacons, director of the diocesan   
   catechistic office, parish administrator, and episcopal vicar for the clergy.   
   He   
   is currently parish priest and vicar forane, episcopal vicar for pastoral   
   ministry, and lecturer in the "San Paolo" theological faculty of Catania. He   
   succeeds Cardinal Paolo Romeo, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the   
   same archdiocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - Msgr. Giacomo Morandi, vicar general of the archdiocese of Modena-Nonantola,   
   Italy, as under-secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)