VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 227   
   DATE 18-12-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Nativity shows us that the Lord never imposes   
   - Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be canonised   
   - "Migrants and refugees: threat or opportunity?": meeting of the Bilateral   
   Commission of the Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy   
   See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews   
   - Holy See Press Office Communique on the autopsy of Msgr. Jozef Wesolowski   
   - Audiences   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Nativity shows us that the Lord never imposes   
    Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall Pope   
   Francis received seven hundred people from the Bavarian municipalities of   
   Hirschau, Schanaittenbach and Freudenberg, who donated the Christmas tree   
   adorning St. Peter's Square this year, and representatives from the Italian   
   province of Trento who, along with the archdiocese, created the Nativity   
   display. The decorations on the tree are from the Lene Thun Foundation of   
   Bolzano and, as the Holy Father commented, represent the dreams of the children   
   who decorated it, whom he thanked.   
    "These wishes that we carry in our heart are now in the most suitable place,   
   because they are close to the child of Bethlehem: they are entrusted to Him, He   
   Who came to live in our midst. Indeed, Jesus did not simply appear on earth,   
   and   
   did not dedicate just a little of His time to us, but rather came to share our   
   life and to receive our desires, as He wanted and still wants to live here,   
   along with us and for us. Our world, which at Christmas became His world, is   
   important to Him. The creche reminds us of this: God, in his great mercy,   
   descended to us to stay with us".   
    The Nativity also tells us that the Lord "never imposes upon us with force. To   
   save us, He did not change history by performing a grand miracle. Instead, He   
   lived with simplicity, humility and meekness. God does not like the dramatic   
   revolutions of the powerful of history, and does not use a magic wand to change   
   situations. Instead He makes Himself small, He becomes a child, to attract us   
   with love, to touch our hearts with His humble goodness, to draw attention   
   through His poverty to those who worry about accumulating the false treasures   
   of   
   this world".   
    The Holy Father recalled that this was the intention of St. Francis when he   
   invented the creche - to pay homage to the Child who was born in Bethlehem so   
   as   
   to be able to in some way perceive with the eyes of the body the hardships He   
   suffered for the lack of the basic necessities for a newborn. Indeed, the scene   
   honours and praises simplicity, poverty and humility. "I invite you, then, to   
   pause before the Nativity scene, for there God's tenderness speaks to us. There   
   we contemplate divine mercy, made flesh so that we gaze tenderly upon it. Above   
   all, it wishes to move our hearts".   
    In this regard, Francis indicated that in the creche there is a figure who   
   reveals the mystery of the Nativity. "It is a character who performs a good   
   act,   
   stooping to assist an elderly person. He not only looks to God but also   
   imitates   
   Him, as, like God, he inclines mercifully to one in need. May these gifts of   
   yours, which will be lit up this evening, attract the gaze of many and above   
   all   
   revive in our life the true light of Christmas".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be canonised   
    Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday, 17 December, the Holy Father   
   Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., prefect   
   of   
   the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the   
   Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:   
    MIRACLES   
    - Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (nee Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu), Albanian foundress   
   of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity (1910-1997).   
    HEROIC VIRTUES   
    - Servant of God Giuseppe Ambrosoli, Italian professed priest of the Comboni   
   Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (1923-1987).   
    - Servant of God Adolfo (ne Leonardo Lanzuela Martinez), Spanish professed   
   religious of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (1894-1976).   
    - Servant of God Heinrich Hahn, Italian layman (1800-1882).   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    "Migrants and refugees: threat or opportunity?": meeting of the Bilateral   
   Commission of the Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy   
   See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews   
    Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - The Bilateral Commission of the   
   Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See's Commission for   
   Religious Relations with the Jews held its 13th meeting in Jerusalem in the   
   offices of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on the theme "Migrants and refugees:   
   threat or opportunity?" on 16 and 17 December. At the end of the event the   
   Commission issued a joint statement, which began by commemorating the recently   
   deceased Cardinal Jorge Mejia, the first Catholic co-chair of the Bilateral   
   Commission, and conveyed wishes for a full and speedy recovery to Chief Rabbi   
   Shear Yashuv Cohen.   
    The meeting, chaired by Chief Rabbi Rasson Arousi and Cardinal Peter Kodwo   
   Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace",   
   focused   
   primarily on the "enormous current humanitarian crisis in the form of hundreds   
   of thousands of refugees seeking asylum and the challenges this poses",   
   highlighting a number of issues, including the tensions between the obligation   
   to welcome and "love the stranger as yourself" while meeting one's   
   responsibilities to one's own identity, society, community and specific   
   religious mission; the challenge posed by migration in terms of the fullness   
   and   
   authenticity of human existence and experience, and the moral demands for   
   respect for human dignity that cannot be ignored.   
    During the meeting, it was reiterated that Jews and Christians are required to   
   address these challenges and to do the utmost to ensure that the Divine Image   
   in   
   which all humanity is created is respected and fostered fully among migrant and   
   refugee populations.   
    Similarly, immigrants are to be recognised as a blessed resource to be   
   welcomed   
   and respected for their human dignity, and as potential to contribute to the   
   positive growth and development of society. To help influence public opinion   
   and   
   legislatures to regulate and more effectively implement immigration procedures,   
   mindful of the preferred destinations of migrants themselves.   
    Finally, the Bilateral Commission attended a presentation on Israeli   
   initiatives to address the plight of refugees and victims of conflict.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Holy See Press Office Communique on the autopsy of Msgr. Jozef Wesolowski   
    Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today   
   announced that on 14 December, the report on the chemical toxicological   
   examinations carried out on samples taken during the autopsy of Msgr. Jozef   
   Wesolowski was submitted to the Chancellor's Office of the Vatican City State   
   Court of First Instance.   
    The conclusions of the Report definitively confirmed what had already emerged   
   from the post-mortem examination; that is, that death was ascribable to natural   
   causes (acute myocardial infarction), excluding other exogenous causes.   
    The various investigations were conducted in strict accordance with the   
   guidelines and protocols recognised at international level, by a Board of   
   medical examiners appointed by the Promoter of Justice the day after the   
   Prelate's unexpected death.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience Archbishop Fabio Martinez Castilla of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, with   
   his auxiliary, Bishop Jose Luis Mendoza Corzo and Bishop Felipe Arizmendi   
   Esquivel of San Cristobal de Las Casas.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   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)