Interviewer: Your namesake St. Francis chose radical poverty and even sold his   
   evangeliarium. As the Pope, and bishop of Rome, do you ever feel under pressure   
   to sell the Church's treasures?   
    Pope Francis: "This is an easy question. They are not the treasures of the   
   Church, they are treasures of humanity. For example, if tomorrow I decide to   
   put   
   Michelangelo's Pieta up for auction, I cannot do this, since it is not the   
   property of the Church. It is kept in a church but it belongs to humanity. This   
   is true of all the treasures of the Church. But we have started to sell gifts   
   and other things that are given to me, and the proceeds from sales go to Msgr.   
   Krajewski, who is my almoner. Then there is the lottery. There were cars that   
   have all been sold or given away with a lottery and the proceeds are used for   
   the poor. There are things that can be sold, and we sell these".   
    Interviewer: Are you aware that the wealth of the Church can give rise to this   
   type of expectation?   
    Pope Francis: "Yes, if we make a catalogue of the assets of the Church, it   
   seems that the Church is very rich. But when the Concordat was made with Italy   
   in 1929 on the Roman Question, the Italian government at the time offered to   
   the   
   Church a large park in Rome. And the then Pope Pius XI said no, I would like   
   just half a square kilometre to guarantee the Church's independence. This   
   principle still stands.   
    "Yes, the real estate of the Church is considerable, but we use it to maintain   
   the structures of the Church and to maintain many works that are carried out in   
   countries in need: hospitals and schools. Yesterday, for example, I asked for   
   50,000 euros to be sent to Congo to build three schools in poor villages, as   
   education is important for children. They went to the competent administration,   
   I made the request, and the money was sent".   
    Interviewer: Holy Father, is it possible to imagine a world without the poor?   
    Pope Francis: "I would like a world without the poor. We must fight for this.   
   But I am a believer and I know that sin is always within us. And there is   
   always   
   human greed, the lack of solidarity, the selfishness that creates poverty.   
   Therefore, would seem difficult to me to imagine a world without the poor. If   
   you think about children exploited for slave labour, or sexually abused   
   children. And another form of exploitation: children killed for the trafficking   
   of organs. Killing children to remove their organs is greed. Therefore, I do   
   not   
   know if we will be able to make a world without poverty, because sin is always   
   there and leads to selfishness. But we must always fight, always ...".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Christians and Hindus: promoting human ecology together   
    Vatican City, 6 November 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of   
   the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, has written a message to   
   the   
   followers of Hinduism on the occasion of Deepavali, the Festival of Lights,   
   which will be celebrated on 11 November this year. The message, entitled   
   "Christians and Hindus: promoting human ecology together", is also signed by   
   Fr.   
   Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J, secretary of the same dicastery.   
    In the text, Cardinal Tauran comments that Pope Francis, in his recent   
   encyclical "Laudato si'", addresses the environmental and human ecological   
   crisis threatening our planet. "Thus we deem it opportune to share, in keeping   
   with our cherished tradition, some thoughts on the need to promote human   
   ecology, and to foster a rediscovery of the interconnectedness of creation.   
   Human ecology points to the relationship and responsibility which humans have   
   towards the earth and to the cultivation of 'ecological virtues'. These virtues   
   include a sustainable use of the earth's resources through the adoption of   
   policies, at national and international levels, which respect the   
   interconnectedness and interdependence of human beings and nature. These   
   issues,   
   as we know, have a direct bearing not only on the current health of our earth -   
   the home of the human family - but also for generations to come".   
    "Human selfishness, as evidenced in consumerist and hedonistic tendencies in   
   some individuals and groups, nurtures an insatiable desire to be 'masters' and   
   'conquerors' rather than 'guardians' and 'stewards' of nature. We are all   
   called, regardless of religious belief or national identity, to live with a   
   greater responsibility towards nature, to nurture life-giving relationships   
   and,   
   most of all, to reorder our lifestyles and economic structures according to the   
   ecological challenges facing us. Your tradition stresses the 'oneness' of   
   nature, humanity and the divine. The Christian faith teaches that the created   
   world is God's gift to all human beings. As stewards of the created order, we   
   are called to care for it responsibly and resolutely".   
    "There is an inseparable link between our harmony with creation and our peace   
   with one another. If peace is to prevail in the world, we must, together and as   
   individuals, consciously give ourselves to 'protecting nature, defending the   
   poor, and building networks of respect and fraternity'. Promotion of human   
   ecology requires formation and education, at all levels, in ecological   
   consciousness and responsibility, and in the wise stewardship of the earth's   
   resources. This begins in the family, 'the first and fundamental structure for   
   'human ecology in which man receives his formative ideas about truth and   
   goodness, and learns what it means to love and to be loved, and thus what it   
   actually means to be a person'. Educational and governmental structures have a   
   responsibility to form citizens in a proper understanding of human ecology and   
   its relationship to the future of humanity and the created world".   
    "United by our humanity and mutual responsibility, as well as our shared   
   values   
   and convictions, may we Hindus and Christians, together with people of all   
   religious traditions and good will, always foster a culture which promotes   
   human   
   ecology. In this way, there will be harmony within us, and in our relationships   
   with others, with nature and with God, which will 'favour the growth of the   
   tree   
   of peace'".   
    "Praying for a healthy ecology and creating awareness of the various ways to   
   care for creation is a truly ennobling work. Pope Francis has instituted,   
   therefore, an annual 'World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation' to be   
   observed on 1 September. It is hoped that this initiative will increase   
   awareness among all people of the need to be good stewards of creation and,   
   thereby, promote a true human ecology".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 6 November 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, S.J., secretary of the   
   Congregation   
   for the Doctrine of the Faith;   
    - Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio in Poland.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 6 November 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed:   
    - Bishop Juan Jose Omella Omella of Calahorra y La Calzada-Logrono, Spain as   
   archbishop of Barcelona (area 340, population 2,657,000, Catholics 2,116,479,   
   priests 826, permanent deacons 46, religious 3,092), Spain.   
    - Bishop Jozef de Kesel of Bruges, Belgium, as archbishop of Malines-Bruxelles   
   (area 3,635, population 2,825,000, Catholics 1,807,000, priests 1,794,   
   permanent   
   deacons 88, religious 3,249), Belgium. He succeeds Archbishop Andre Leonard,   
   whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese upon reaching   
   the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - Bishop Jozef de Kesel as military ordinary for Belgium.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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