do not receive the gift of the Spirit for ourselves alone, but to build up one   
   another in faith, hope and love. I think of Saints Joseph Mkasa and Charles   
   Lwanga, who after being catechised by others, wanted to pass on the gift they   
   had received. They did this in dangerous times. Not only were their lives   
   threatened but so too were the lives of the younger boys under their care.   
   Because they had tended to their faith and deepened their love of God, they   
   were   
   fearless in bringing Christ to others, even at the cost of their lives. Their   
   faith became witness; today, venerated as martyrs, their example continues to   
   inspire people throughout the world. They continue to proclaim Jesus Christ and   
   the power of his Cross".   
    "If, like the martyrs, we daily fan into flame the gift of the Spirit who   
   dwells in our hearts, then we will surely become the missionary disciples which   
   Christ calls us to be. To our families and friends certainly, but also to those   
   whom we do not know, especially those who might be unfriendly, even hostile, to   
   us. This openness to others begins first in the family, in our homes where   
   charity and forgiveness are learned, and the mercy and love of God made known   
   in   
   our parents' love. It finds expression too in our care for the elderly and the   
   poor, the widowed and the orphaned".   
    "The witness of the martyrs shows to all who have heard their story, then and   
   now, that the worldly pleasures and earthly power do not bring lasting joy or   
   peace. Rather, fidelity to God, honesty and integrity of life, and genuine   
   concern for the good of others bring us that peace which the world cannot give.   
   This does not diminish our concern for this world, as if we only look to the   
   life to come. Instead, it gives purpose to our lives in this world, and helps   
   us   
   to reach out to those in need, to cooperate with others for the common good,   
   and   
   to build a more just society which promotes human dignity, defends God's gift   
   of   
   life and protects the wonders of nature, his creation and our common home".   
    "Dear brothers and sisters, this is the legacy which you have received from   
   the   
   Ugandan martyrs - lives marked by the power of the Holy Spirit, lives which   
   witness even now to the transforming power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This   
   legacy is not served by an occasional remembrance, or by being enshrined in a   
   museum as a precious jewel. Rather, we honour them, and all the saints, when we   
   carry on their witness to Christ, in our homes and neighbourhoods, in our   
   workplaces and civil society, whether we never leave our homes or we go to the   
   farthest corner of the world".   
    "May the Uganda martyrs, together with Mary, Mother of the Church, intercede   
   for us, and may the Holy Spirit kindle within us the fire of his divine love!   
   Omukama abawe omukisa. God bless you!".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis to the young people of Kenya: tribalism is defeated by listening,   
   opening one's heart, and dialogue   
    Vatican City, 28 November 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father's last act in Kenya was   
   his encounter with the young in the Kasarani stadium, where he set aside his   
   prepared discourse and instead directly responded to some questions, in his   
   native Spanish. The following are extensive extracts from Pope Francis'   
   answers.   
    "There exists a question at the basis of all the questions you have asked me.   
   Why are there divisions, struggles, war, death and fanaticism? Why is there   
   this   
   desire for self-destruction? In the first page of the Bible, after all the   
   wonders that God worked, a brother kills his own brother. The spirit of evil   
   leads us to destruction; the spirit of evil leads us to disunity, to tribalism,   
   to corruption, to drug abuse. ... It leads us to destruction through   
   fanaticism.   
   Manuel asked me, 'What can we do to ensure that ideological fanaticism does not   
   rob us of our brothers or friends?'. ... The first thing I would say in   
   response   
   is that a man loses the best of his humanity, and a woman loses the best of her   
   humanity, when they forget to pray, because they consider themselves   
   omnipotent;   
   they do not feel the need to ask the Lord's help when faced with so many   
   tragedies. Life is full of difficulties, but there are two ways of looking at   
   difficulties: either you can see them as something that obstructs you, that   
   destroys you, or you can see them as a real opportunity. It is up to you to   
   choose. For me, is a difficulty either a path to destruction, or an opportunity   
   to overcome my situation, or that of my family, my community or my country? ...   
   Some of the difficulties that you have mentioned are challenges".   
    "One challenge that Lynette mentioned is that of tribalism. Tribalism destroys   
   a nation: ... it can be defeated by using our ear, our heart and our hand. With   
   our ears, we listen: what is your culture? Why are you this way? Why does your   
   tribe have this habit or this custom? ... With the heart: after listening, the   
   answer is to open your heart; and finally, to extend you hand so as to continue   
   the dialogue. ... I would now like to invite all you young people ... to come   
   here   
   and to take each other by the hand; let us stand up and take each other by the   
   hand as a sign against tribalism. We are all a single nation! ... Conquering   
   tribalism is a task to be carried out day by day: it is the work of the ear, in   
   listening to others; the work of the heart, opening one's heart to others; and   
   the work of the hand, extending one's hand to others".   
    "Another question is that of corruption. ... Corruption is something that   
   enters   
   into us. It is like sugar: it is sweet, we like it, it's easy, but then, it   
   ends   
   badly. With so much easy sugar we end up diabetic, and so does our country.   
   Every time we accept a bribe and put it in our pocket, we destroy our heart, we   
   destroy our personality and we destroy our homeland. ... What you steal through   
   corruption remains ... in the heart of the many men and women who have been   
   harmed   
   by your example of corruption. It remains in the lack of the good you should   
   have done and did not do. It remains in sick and hungry children, because the   
   money that was for them, through your corruption, you kept for yourself. Boys   
   and girls, corruption is not a path for life, it is a path of death".   
    "Manuel too asked some incisive questions. ... What can we do to prevent the   
   recruitment of our loved ones [by militias]? What can we do to bring them back?   
   To answer this question we need to know why a young person, full of hope, lets   
   himself be recruited or indeed seeks to be recruited: he leaves behind his   
   family, his friends, he drifts away from life, because he learns how to kill.   
   And this is a question that you must address to the authorities. If a young   
   person, a boy or a girl, a man or a woman, has no job and cannot study, what   
   can   
   he or she do? ... The first thing we must do to prevent the young from being   
   recruited or seeking recruitment is to focus on education and work. If young   
   people have no job, what future awaits them? ... This is the danger. It is a   
   social danger, that comes from beyond us, from beyond the country, because it   
   depends on the international system, which is unjust, and which places the   
   economy and the god of money at its centre, rather than the person".   
    "Another question was: how can we see the hand of God in the tragedies of   
   life?   
   ... Men and women all over the world ask themselves this question in one way or   
   another, and they find no explanation. There are questions to which, no matter   
   how much we try to respond, we are unable to find an answer. How can I see the   
   hand of God in a tragedy of life? There is just one answer: no, there is no   
   answer. There is just one route, looking at the Son of God. God delivered Him   
   to   
   us to save all of us. God Himself became a tragedy. God let Himself be   
   destroyed   
   on the cross. And when the moment comes when you do not understand, when you   
   are   
   desperate and the world seems to fall down around you, look to the Cross! There   
   we see God's failure, God's destruction. But there is also the challenge of our   
   faith. Because the story did not end with this failure: there was then the   
   Resurrection, which renewed us all".   
    "A final question ... What words do you have for young people who have not   
   experienced love in their own families? Is it possible to come out of this   
   experience? There are abandoned children everywhere: either they are abandoned   
   at birth, or they were abandoned by life, by the family and parents, and do not   
   feel the affection of the family. This is why the family is so important. ...   
   There is just one cure to emerge from this experience: give what you have not   
   received. If you have not received understanding, be understanding with others;   
   if you have not received love, love others; if you have felt the pain of   
   loneliness, draw close to those who are alone. Flesh is healed with flesh! And   
   God made Himself flesh to heal us. Let us too do the same towards others".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Video message: true change begins in ourselves   
    Vatican City, 28 November 2015 (VIS) - "'Realities simply are, whereas ideas   
   are worked out. There has to be a continuous dialogue between the two, lest   
   ideas become detached from realities. It is dangerous to dwell in the realm of   
   words alone, of images and rhetoric'. To prevent the danger of living detached   
   from reality, it is necessary to open the eyes and the heart", says Pope   
   Francis   
   in the video message he sent yesterday afternoon to the participants in the 5th   
   Festival of the Social Doctrine of the Church, held in Verona from 26 to 29   
   November, on the theme "The challenge of reality".   
    "Our life is made up of many things", he continued; "a torrent of news, of   
   many   
   problems: all this leads us not to see, not to be aware of the problems of the   
   people who are near us. Indifference seems to be a medicine that protects us   
   from involvement, and becomes a way of being more relaxed. This is   
   indifference.   
   But this non-involvement is a way of defending our selfishness, and saddens us.   
   ... The challenge of reality also requires the capacity for dialogue, to build   
   bridges instead of walls. This is the time for dialogue, not for the defence of   
   opposition and rigidity. I invite you to face 'the challenge of finding and   
   sharing the mystique of living together, of mingling and encounter, of   
   embracing   
   and supporting one another, of stepping into this flood tide which, while   
   chaotic, can become a genuine experience of fraternity, a caravan of   
   solidarity,   
   a sacred pilgrimage'".   
    "The challenge of reality, however, requires change. Everyone is aware of the   
   need for change, because we sense that something is not working. ... True   
   change   
   begins in ourselves and is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. People who experience   
   inner change from the Spirit lead also to social change".   
    The Pope goes on to mention the environmental challenge, and the need to   
   "listen to the cry of Mother Earth. Respect for creatures and for creation   
   represents a great challenge for the future of humanity. Man and creation are   
   inseparably linked". Francis emphasises that while we think of this theme as   
   being part of politics, economics and development strategy, "nothing can   
   substitute personal commitment. Austerity, responsible consumption, a lifestyle   
   that welcomes creation as a gift and excludes predatory and exclusive forms of   
   possession, is the concrete way of creating a new sensibility. If many of us   
   live like this, it will have a positive impact on society as a whole, and the   
   cry of the earth and the cry of the poor will become audible to all", he   
   concluded.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 28 November 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has accepted the   
   resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Yopougon, Cote d'Ivoire,   
   presented by Bishop Laurent Akran Mandjo upon reaching the age limit. He is   
   succeeded by Bishop Jean Salomon Lezoutie, coadjutor of the same diocese.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   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.   
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   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)