Shortlythereafter, Saul became Paul, the great saint, the Apostle to the   
   Gentiles. He had received Stephen?s forgiveness. We can say that Paul was born   
   of God?s grace and Stephen?s forgiveness.''   
   ''We also are born of God?s forgiveness. Not only in Baptism but every time we   
   are forgiven our hearts are reborn, are remade. From the beginning, every step   
   forward in the life of faith is impressed with the seal of divine mercy.   
   Because   
   only when we are loved can we in turn love. It does us good to remind ourselves   
   of this: if we want to move forward in faith, we must first of all receive   
   God?s   
   forgiveness. We must meet the Father who is always ready to forgive everything   
   and who, in forgiving us, heals our hearts and reignites our love. We must   
   never   
   tire of asking God?s forgiveness,'' Pope Francis emphasized, ''because it is   
   only when we are forgiven, when we feel ourselves pardoned, that we can learn   
   toforgive.''   
   The Holy Father acknowledged that forgiving ''is not easy. It is always very   
   difficult.'' He explained that, in order to imitate Christ and forgive the   
   great   
   and small offenses that we suffer every day, we have to start with prayer like   
   St. Stephen. ''It starts from our hearts. We can deal with the resentment we   
   feel through prayer, entrusting those who have done us wrong to God?s mercy. ?   
   Then we discover that this inner struggle to forgive purifies us from evil and   
   that prayer and love set us free from the inner chains of rancor. ? Through   
   forgiveness we overcome evil with good, we turn hatred into love, and thus make   
   the world cleaner.''   
   Before finishing, Pope Francis entrusted to the Virgen Mary all those who,   
   ''like St. Stephen, suffer persecution in the name of the faith, our many   
   martyrs today. Help direct our prayers to receive and to offerforgiveness.''   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Christmas Message: ''Only God?s Mercy Can Free Humanity from the Many Forms of   
   Evil''   
   Vatican City, 25 December 2015 (VIS) ? At noon today, the Solemnity of the   
   Birth   
   of the Lord, the Pope gave the traditional Christmas message from the central   
   balcony of St. Peter?s Basilica. On finishing the address, which is given in   
   its   
   entirety below, he imparted the Urbi et Orbi blessing ''to the city [of Rome]   
   and to the world''.   
   ''Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Christmas!   
   Christ is born for us, let us rejoice in the day of our salvation!''   
   ''Let us open our hearts to receive the grace of this day, which is Christ   
   himself. Jesus is the radiant ?day? which has dawned on the horizon of   
   humanity.   
   A day of mercy, in which God our Father has revealed his great tenderness to   
   the   
   entire world. A day of light, which dispels the darkness offear and anxiety. A   
   day of peace, which makes for encounter, dialogue and, above all,   
   reconciliation. A day of joy: a ?great joy? for the poor, the lowly and for all   
   the people.''   
   ''On this day, Jesus, the Savior is born of the Virgin Mary. The Crib makes us   
   see the ?sign? which God has given us: ?a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and   
   lying in a manger?. Like the shepherds of Bethlehem, may we too set out to see   
   this sign, this event which is renewed yearly in the Church. Christmas is an   
   event which is renewed in every family, parish and community which receives the   
   love of God made incarnate in Jesus Christ. Like Mary, the Church shows to   
   everyone the ?sign? of God: the Child whom she bore in her womb and to whom she   
   gave birth, yet who is the Son of the Most High, since he ?is of the Holy   
   Spirit?. He is truly the Savior, for he is the Lamb of God who takes upon   
   himself the sin of the world. With the shepherds, let us bowdown before the   
   Lamb, let us worship God?s goodness made flesh, and let us allow tears of   
   repentance to fill our eyes and cleanse our hearts. This is something we all   
   need!''   
   ''He alone, he alone can save us. Only God?s mercy can free humanity from the   
   many forms of evil, at times monstrous evil, which selfishness spawns in our   
   midst. The grace of God can convert hearts and offer mankind a way out of   
   humanly insoluble situations.''   
   ''Where God is born, hope is born. He brings hope. Where God is born, peace is   
   born. And where peace is born, there is no longer room for hatred and for war.   
   Yet precisely where the incarnate Son of God came into the world, tensions and   
   violence persist, and peace remains a gift to be implored and built. May   
   Israelis and Palestinians resume direct dialogue and reach an agreement which   
   will enable the two peoples to live together in harmony, ending a conflict   
   which   
   has longset them at odds with grave repercussions for the entire region.''   
   ''We pray to the Lord that the agreement reached in the United Nations may   
   succeed in halting as quickly as possible the clash of arms in Syria and in   
   remedying the extremely grave humanitarian situation of its suffering people.   
   It   
   is likewise urgent that the agreement on Libya be supported by all, so as to   
   overcome the grave divisions and violence afflicting the country. May the   
   attention of the international community be unanimously directed to ending the   
   atrocities which in those countries, as well as in Iraq, Libya, Yemen and   
   sub-Saharan Africa, even now reap numerous victims, cause immense suffering and   
   do not even spare the historical and cultural patrimony of entire peoples. My   
   thoughts also turn to those affected by brutal acts of terrorism, particularly   
   the recent massacres which took place in Egyptian airspace, in Beirut, Paris,   
   Bamako andTunis.''   
   ''To our brothers and sisters who in many parts of the world are being   
   persecuted for their faith, may the Child Jesus grant consolation and strength.   
   They are our martyrs of today.''   
   ''We also pray for peace and concord among the peoples of the Democratic   
   Republic of Congo, Burundi and South Sudan, that dialogue may lead to a   
   strengthened common commitment to the building of civil societies animated by a   
   sincere spirit of reconciliation and of mutual understanding.''   
   ''May Christmas also bring true peace to Ukraine, offer comfort to those   
   suffering from the effects of the conflict, and inspire willingess to carry out   
   the agreements made to restore concord in the entire country.''   
   ''May the joy of this day illumine the efforts of the Colombian people so that,   
   inspired by hope, they may continue their commitment to workingfor the desired   
   peace.''   
   ''Where God is born, hope is born; and where hope is born, persons regain their   
   dignity. Yet even today great numbers of men and woman are deprived of their   
   human dignity and, like the child Jesus, suffer cold, poverty, and rejection.   
   May our closeness today be felt by those who are most vulnerable, especially   
   child soldiers, women who suffer violence, and the victims of human trafficking   
   and the drug trade.''   
   ''Nor may our encouragement be lacking to all those fleeing extreme poverty or   
   war, travelling all too often in inhumane conditions and not infrequently at   
   the   
   risk of their lives. May God repay all those, both individuals and states, who   
   generously work to provide assistance and welcome to the numerous migrants and   
   refugees, helping them to build a dignified future for themselves and for their   
   dear ones, and to be integrated in the societies which receivethem.''   
   ''On this festal day may the Lord grant renewed hope to all those who lack   
   employment ? and they are so many! May he sustain the commitment of those with   
   public responsibilities in political and economic life, that they may work to   
   pursue the common good and to protect the dignity of every human life.''   
   ''Where God is born, mercy flourishes. Mercy is the most precious gift which   
   God   
   gives us, especially during this Jubilee year in which we are called to   
   discover   
   that tender love of our heavenly Father for each of us. May the Lord enable   
   prisoners in particular to experience his merciful love, which heals wounds and   
   triumphs over evil.''   
   ''Today, then, let us together rejoice in the day of our salvation. As we   
   contemplate the Crib, let us gaze on the open arms of Jesus, which show us the   
   merciful embrace of God, as we hear the cries of the Child who whispers tous:   
   ?for my brethren and companions? sake, I will say: Peace be within you?.''   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Christmas Eve Mass: ''The Mission of Making Known ''The Prince of Peace'''   
   Vatican City, 24 December 2015 (VIS) ? This evening, beginning at 9:30pm, Pope   
   Francis presided over Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. During the   
   course of the celebration he gave this homily:   
   ''Tonight 'a great light' shines forth; the light of Jesus' birth shines all   
   about us. How true and timely are the words of the prophet Isaiah which we have   
   just heard: ''You have brought abundant joy and great rejoicing'! Our heart was   
   already joyful in awaiting this moment; now that joy abounds and overflows, for   
   the promise has been at last fulfilled. Joy and gladness are a sure sign that   
   the message contained in the mystery of this night is truly from God. There is   
   no room for doubt; let us leave that to the skeptics who, by looking to reason   
   alone, never find the truth. There isno room for the indifference which reigns   
   in the hearts of those unable to love for fear of losing something. All sadness   
   has been banished, for the Child Jesus brings true comfort to every heart.''   
   ''Today, the Son of God is born, and everything changes. The Savior of the   
   world   
   comes to partake of our human nature; no longer are we alone and forsaken. The   
   Virgin offers us her Son as the beginning of a new life. The true light has   
   come   
   to illumine our lives so often beset by the darkness of sin. Today we once more   
   discover who we are! Tonight we have been shown the way to reach the journey's   
   end. Now must we put away all fear and dread, for the light shows us the path   
   to   
   Bethlehem. We must not be laggards; we are not permitted to stand idle. We must   
   set out to see our Savior lying in a manger. This is the reason for our joy and   
   gladness: this Child has been ''born to us'; he was ''given to us', as   
   Isaiahproclaims. The people who for two thousand years have traversed all the   
   pathways of the world in order to allow every man and woman to share in this   
   joy   
   are now given the mission of making known ''the Prince of Peace' and becoming   
   his effective servant in the midst of the nations.''   
   ''So when we hear tell of the birth of Christ, let us be silent and let the   
   Child speak. Let us take his words to heart in rapt contemplation of his face.   
   If we take him in our arms and let ourselves be embraced by him, he will bring   
   us unending peace of heart. This Child teaches us what is truly essential in   
   our   
   lives. He was born into the poverty of this world; there was no room in the inn   
   for him and his family. He found shelter and support in a stable and was laid   
   in   
   a manger for animals. And yet, from this nothingness, the light of God's glory   
   shines forth. From now on, the way of authentic liberation and perennial   
   redemption is open toevery man and woman who is simple of heart. This Child,   
   whose face radiates the goodness, mercy and love of God the Father, trains us,   
   his disciples, as Saint Paul says, ''to reject godless ways' and the richness   
   of   
   the world, in order to live ''temperately, justly and devoutly'.''   
   ''In a society so often intoxicated by consumerism and hedonism, wealth and   
   extravagance, appearances and narcissism, this Child calls us to act soberly,   
   in   
   other words, in a way that is simple, balanced, consistent, capable of seeing   
   and doing what is essential. In a world which all too often is merciless to the   
   sinner and lenient to the sin, we need to cultivate a strong sense of justice,   
   to discern and to do God's will. Amid a culture of indifference which not   
   infrequently turns ruthless, our style of life should instead be devout, filled   
   with empathy, compassion and mercy, drawn daily from the wellspring ofprayer.''   
   ''Like the shepherds of Bethlehem, may we too, with eyes full of amazement and   
   wonder, gaze upon the Child Jesus, the Son of God. And in his presence may our   
   hearts burst forth in prayer: ''Show us, Lord, your mercy, and grant us your   
   salvation'.''   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
   Vatican City, 28 December 2015 (VIS) ? Today, the Holy Father appointed Msgr.   
   Brian McGee as Bishop of Argyll and the Isles (area 31,080, population 77,400,   
   Catholics 10,179, priests 25, permanent deacons 1, religious 32), Scotland.   
   Bishop-elect McGee was born in Greenock, in the Diocese of Paisley, in 1965 and   
   was ordained a priest of the clergy of Paisely in 1989. He has served as a   
   pastor as well as the Scots College?s spiritual director. He was diocesan   
   director of the RCIA program as well as Episcopal Vicar for marriage and the   
   family. Since 2014 he has served as Paisley?s vicar general.   
   On Thursday, 24 December, the Holy Father appointed Msgr. Wojciech Tomasz Osial   
   as auxiliary bishop of Lowicz (area 5,806, population 609,479, Catholics   
   607,825, priests 166, religious 390), Poland. Bishop-elect Osial was born in   
   Lowicz in 1970 and was ordained a priest in 1995. He holds a doctorate in   
   catechetics fromRome?s Pontifical Salesian University and has been serving as   
   Lowicz?s diocesan director for catechism and curial notary. He is also a   
   professor in the seminaries of Lowicz and Oltarzew as well as the Cardinal   
   Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw. He has been a canon of the cathedral   
   chapter since 2014.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
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