VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXV - # 211   
   DATE 27-11-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - Meeting with clergy in Kenya: following Jesus leaves no place for ambition   
   - The Pope at the UNON: African heritage at constant risk of destruction   
   - In a Kangemi slum: thank you for reminding us that there are other types of   
   culture   
   - The Pope leaves Kenya for Uganda   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
   - Notice   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Meeting with clergy in Kenya: following Jesus leaves no place for ambition   
    Vatican City, 27 November 2015 (VIS) - In the sports field of the St. Mary   
   School, belonging to the archdiocese of Nairobi and founded in 1939 by the   
   Felician Sisters, the Holy Father met with clergy, men and women religious, and   
   seminarians of Kenya, to whom he addressed an extemporaneous discourse in his   
   native Spanish, including many expressions and idioms typical of his homeland   
   Argentina. An interpreter translated into English, one of Kenya's official   
   languages.   
    Francis said that he was struck by the passage in St. Paul's letter in which   
   he   
   says, "And I am sure of this, that He Who began a good work in you will bring   
   it   
   to completion at the day of Jesus Christ", and added, "All of you were chosen   
   by   
   the Lord; He chose each one of us. He began His work on the day He looked at us   
   in Baptism, and then later when He looked at us and said: 'If you wish, come   
   with me'. So we lined up and began our journey. But it was He Who began the   
   journey, not us. In the Gospel we read about one of the people Jesus healed,   
   who   
   then wanted to follow Him. But Jesus told him, 'No'. If we want to follow Jesus   
   Christ - in the priesthood and or consecrated life - we have to enter by the   
   door! And the door is Christ! He is the one Who calls, Who begins, Who does the   
   work. Some people want to enter by the window. It doesn't work that way. So   
   please, if any of you has friends who came in by the window, embrace them and   
   tell them it would be better to leave and go serve God in another way, because   
   a   
   work which Jesus Himself did not begin, by the door, will never be brought to   
   completion".   
    "There are people who do not know why God calls them, but they know that He   
   has. Go ahead in peace, God will let you know why He has called you. Others   
   want   
   to follow the Lord for some benefit. We remember the mother of James and John,   
   who said, 'Lord, I beg you, when you cut the cake, give the biggest slice to my   
   sons. ... Let one of them sit at your right and the other at your left'. We   
   can be   
   tempted to follow Jesus for ambition: ambition for money or power. All of us   
   can   
   say, 'When I first followed Jesus, I was not like that'. But it has happened to   
   other people, and little by little it was sowed in our heart like weeds. In our   
   life as disciples of Jesus there must be no room for personal ambition, for   
   money, for worldly importance. We will follow Jesus to the very last final step   
   of His earthly life, the Cross. He will make sure you rise again, but you have   
   to keep following Him to the end. And I tell you this in all seriousness,   
   because the Church is not a business or an a NGO. The Church is a mystery: the   
   mystery of Jesus Who looks at each of us and says 'Follow me'".   
    "So let this be clear: Jesus is the one Who calls. ... He does not 'canonise'   
   us.   
   We continue to be the same old sinners. ... We are all sinners; starting with   
   me.   
   But Jesus' tenderness and love keep us going. May He who began a good work in   
   you bring it to completion. ... Do you remember any time in the Gospel, when   
   the   
   Apostle James wept? Or when one of the other Apostles wept? Only one wept, the   
   Gospel tells us; he who knew he was a sinner, so great a sinner that he   
   betrayed   
   his Lord. And when he realised this, he wept. Then Jesus made him Pope. Who can   
   understand Jesus? It is a mystery! So never stop weeping. When priests and   
   religious no longer weep, something is wrong. We need to weep for our   
   infidelity, for all the pain in our world, for all those people who are cast   
   aside, the elderly who are abandoned, for children who are killed, for the   
   things we do not understand. We need to weep when people ask us, 'Why?'. None   
   of   
   us has all the answers to those questions. ... There are situations in life for   
   which we can only weep, and look to Jesus on the cross. This is the only answer   
   we have for certain injustices, certain kinds of pain, certain situations in   
   life. ... Whenever a consecrated man or woman or a priest forgets Christ   
   crucified, he or she falls into an ugly sin, a sin which disgusts God; it is   
   the   
   sin of being tepid, lukewarm. ... What else can I say to you? Never stray from   
   Jesus. In other words, never stop praying. 'But Father, sometimes it is so   
   tiresome to pray, it wearies us. It makes us fall asleep...'. So sleep before   
   the Lord: that is also a way of praying. But stay there, before Him and pray!   
   Do   
   not stop praying".   
    The Holy Father reiterated that "when we let ourselves be chosen by Jesus, it   
   is to serve: to serve the People of God, to serve the poorest, the outcast,   
   living on the fringes of society, to serve children and the elderly. But also   
   to   
   serve people who are unaware of their own pride and sin; to serve Jesus in   
   them.   
   Letting ourselves be chosen by Jesus means letting ourselves be chosen to   
   serve,   
   and not to be served".   
    "This is what I wanted to say to you, what I felt when I heard those words of   
   St. Paul, who trusted that the One Who began a good work in you will bring it   
   to   
   completion at the day of Jesus Christ'. A cardinal said to me ... that when he   
   goes to the cemetery and sees the graves of dedicated missionaries, men and   
   women religious who gave their lives, he wonders, 'Why don't we canonise this   
   or   
   that one tomorrow?', because they spent their lives serving others. ... Thank   
   you   
   for your courage in following Jesus, thank you for all the times you realise   
   that you yourselves are sinners, and thank you for all the tender caresses you   
   give to those who need them. Thank you for all those times when you helped so   
   many people die in peace. Thank you for 'burning' your lives in hope. Thank you   
   for letting yourselves be helped, corrected and forgiven every day. And as I   
   thank you, I also ask you not to forget to pray for me, as I need your prayers.   
   Many thanks".   
    "I must leave now, as there are children suffering from cancer whom I wish to   
   greet and comfort. I thank you, seminarians, whom I have not named but are   
   included in all that I have said. And if any of you do not have the courage to   
   take this path, seek another job, consider marrying and having a family. Thank   
   you".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope at the UNON: African heritage at constant risk of destruction   
    Vatican City, 27 November 2015 (VIS) - The Pope's final appointment yesterday   
   afternoon was at the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), the general   
   headquarters of the United Nations in Africa, instituted by the General   
   Assembly   
   in 1996. The structure also houses the offices of two United Nations   
   programmes,   
   the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN-Habitat (United   
   Nations Human Settlement Programme). Around twenty international and United   
   Nations organisations have their regional offices for Africa in Nairobi.   
    Upon arrival, the Pope was welcomed by the director general of the UNON, Sahle   
   Work Zewde, the executive director of UNEP Achim Steiner, and the executive   
   director of UN-Habitat, Joan Clos. Then, accompanied by the director general,   
   he   
   was invited to plant a tree in the UNON park; as Francis later emphasised, this   
   is an act charged with symbolic meaning in many cultures. He then entered the   
   new UNEP building where he pronounced a discourse before 3,000 people, in which   
   he expressed his hope that COP 21 may conclude with a "transformational" global   
   agreement based on the principles of solidarity, justice, equality and   
   participation, and with three complex and interdependent aims: the alleviation   
   of the impact of climate change, the fight against poverty, and the promotion   
   of   
   respect for human dignity. In view of the imminent 10th Ministerial Conference   
   of the World Trade Organisation, to be held in Nairobi, the Holy Father also   
   spoke about the agreements on intellectual property and access to medicine and   
   essential healthcare, and also mentioned illegal trafficking in animals and   
   precious stones, trades which perpetuate poverty and exclusion.   
    The following are extensive extracts from his discourse:   
    "Planting a tree is first and foremost an invitation to continue the battle   
   against phenomena like deforestation and desertification. ... Planting a tree   
   is   
   also an incentive to keep trusting, hoping, and above all working in practice   
   to   
   reverse all those situations of injustice and deterioration which we currently   
   experience. ... In a few days an important meeting on climate change will be   
   held   
   in Paris, where the international community as such will once again confront   
   these issues. It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were   
   particular   
   interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information   
   in order to protect their own plans and projects".   
    "COP21 represents an important stage in the process of developing a new energy   
   system which depends on a minimal use of fossil fuels, aims at energy   
   efficiency   
   and makes use of energy sources with little or no carbon content. We are faced   
   with a great political and economic obligation to rethink and correct the   
   dysfunctions and distortions of the current model of development. ... For this   
   reason, I express my hope that COP21 will achieve a global and   
   'transformational' agreement based on the principles of solidarity, justice,   
   equality and participation; an agreement which targets three complex and   
   interdependent goals: lessening the impact of climate change, fighting poverty   
   and ensuring respect for human dignity".   
    "For all the difficulties involved, there is a growing 'conviction that our   
   planet is a homeland and that humanity is one people living in a common home'.   
   No country 'can act independently of a common responsibility. If we truly   
   desire   
   positive change, we have to humbly accept our interdependence'. The problem   
   arises whenever we think of interdependence as a synonym for domination, or the   
   subjection of some to the interests of others, of the powerless to the   
   powerful.   
   What is needed is sincere and open dialogue, with responsible cooperation on   
   the   
   part of all: political authorities, the scientific community, the business   
   world   
   and civil society".   
    "At the same time we believe that 'human beings, while capable of the worst,   
   are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good and   
   making a new start'. This conviction leads us to hope that, whereas the   
   post-industrial period may well be remembered as one of the most irresponsible   
   in history, 'humanity at the dawn of the twenty-first century will be   
   remembered   
   for having generously shouldered its grave responsibilities'".   
    "This much-needed change of course cannot take place without a substantial   
   commitment to education and training. Nothing will happen unless political and   
   technical solutions are accompanied by a process of education which proposes   
   new   
   ways of living. ... This calls for an educational process which fosters in boys   
   and girls, women and men, young people and adults, the adoption of a culture of   
   care ... in place of a culture of waste, a 'throw-away culture' where people   
   use   
   and discard themselves, others and the environment. By promoting an 'awareness   
   of our common origin, of our mutual belonging, and of the future to be shared   
   with everyone', we will favour the development of new convictions, attitudes   
   and   
   lifestyles. ... We need to be alert to one sad sign of the 'globalisation of   
   indifference': the fact that we are gradually growing accustomed to the   
   suffering of others, as if it were something normal, or even worse, becoming   
   resigned to such extreme and scandalous kinds of 'using and discarding' and   
   social exclusion as new forms of slavery, human trafficking, forced labour,   
   prostitution and trafficking in organs. 'There has been a tragic rise in the   
   number of migrants seeking to flee from the growing poverty aggravated by   
   environmental degradation. They are not recognised by international conventions   
   as refugees; they bear the loss of the lives they have left behind without   
   enjoying any legal protection whatsoever'".   
    "Together with neglect of the environment, we have witnessed for some time now   
   a rapid process of urbanisation, which in many cases has unfortunately led to a   
   'disproportionate and unruly growth of many cities ... [where] we increasingly   
   see   
   the troubling symptoms of a social breakdown which spawns 'increased violence   
   and a rise in new forms of social aggression, ... a loss of identity', a lack   
   of   
   rootedness and social anonymity".   
    "Here I would offer a word of encouragement to all those working at local and   
   international levels to ensure that the process of urbanisation becomes an   
   effective means for development and integration. This means working to   
   guarantee   
   for everyone, especially those living in outlying neighbourhoods, the basic   
   rights to dignified living conditions and to land, lodging and labour. ... The   
   forthcoming Habitat-III Conference, planned for Quito in October 2016, could be   
   a significant occasion for identifying ways of responding to these issues".   
    "In a few days, Nairobi will host the 10th Ministerial Conference of the World   
   Trade Organisation. ... While recognising that much has been done in this   
   area, it   
   seems that we have yet to attain an international system of commerce which is   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)