VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXII - # 228   
   DATE 21-12-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope greets the Roman Curia: return to the essentials   
   - The Pope receives Vatican employees: live the Jubilee in the domestic church   
   too   
   - Christmas: encounter Jesus in places of wonder   
   - The path to ending violence in the Middle East   
   - Francis praises the Italian Rail service for its solidarity with the poor   
   - The Pope opens the Holy Door of Charity and repeats that Heaven cannot be   
   bought with money or honours   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope greets the Roman Curia: return to the essentials   
    Vatican City, 21 December 2015 (VIS) - Missionary and pastoral spirit,   
   idoneity   
   and sagacity, spirituality and humanity, example and fidelity, reasonableness   
   and gentleness, innocuousness and determination, diligence and attentiveness,   
   charity and truth, openness and maturity, respectfulness and humility,   
   intrepidness and alertness, and finally, accountability and sobriety. These are   
   the qualities Pope Francis highlighted this morning in his greetings to the   
   Roman Curia, as a practical aid to embracing the time of grace of Christmas and   
   the Year of Mercy and ensuring the fruitfulness of service to the Church. "I   
   would ask the Heads of Dicasteries and other superiors to ponder this, to add   
   to   
   it and to complete it", he said. "It is a list based on an acrostic analysis of   
   the word 'Misericordia' ... with the aim of having it serve as our guide and   
   beacon".   
    During his traditional exchange of Christmas greetings with the members of the   
   Roman Curia, the Holy Father addressed the prelates recalling their previous   
   meetings: in 2013, when he stressed "two important and inseparable aspects of   
   the work of the Curia: professionalism and service", offering St. Joseph as a   
   model to be imitated. Then, last year, as a preparation for the sacrament of   
   Reconciliation, he considered "certain temptations or maladies - the catalogue   
   of curial diseases ... which could affect any Christian, curia, community,   
   congregation, parish or ecclesial movement. Diseases which call for prevention,   
   vigilance, care and, sadly, in some cases, painful and prolonged   
   interventions".   
    "Some of these diseases became evident in the course of the past year", he   
   continued, "causing no small pain to the entire body and harming many souls,   
   also by scandal. It seems necessary to state what has been - and ever shall be   
   -   
   the object of sincere reflection and decisive provisions. Reform will move   
   forward with determination, clarity and firm resolve, since Ecclesia semper   
   reformanda. Nonetheless, diseases and even scandals cannot obscure the   
   efficiency of the services rendered to the Pope and to the entire Church by the   
   Roman Curia, with great effort, responsibility, commitment and dedication, and   
   this is a real source of consolation. St. Ignatius taught that 'it is typical   
   of   
   the evil spirit to instil remorse, sadness and difficulties, and to cause   
   needless worry so as to prevent us from going forward; instead, it is typical   
   of   
   the good spirit to instil courage and energy, consolations and tears,   
   inspirations and serenity, and to lessen and remove every difficulty so as to   
   make us advance on the path of goodness'".   
    Therefore, "it would be a grave injustice not to express heartfelt gratitude   
   and needed encouragement to all those good and honest men and women in the   
   Curia   
   who work with dedication, devotion, fidelity and professionalism, offering to   
   the Church and the Successor of Peter the assurance of their solidarity and   
   obedience, as well as their constant prayers. Moreover, cases of resistance,   
   difficulties and failures on the part of individuals and ministers are so many   
   lessons and opportunities for growth, and never for discouragement. They are   
   opportunities for returning to the essentials, which means being ever more   
   conscious of ourselves, of God and our neighbours, of the sensus Ecclesiae and   
   the sensus fidei".   
    Francis turned to the central theme of his discourse: "this return to   
   essentials ... just a few days after the Church's inauguration of the   
   pilgrimage   
   of the Holy Year of Mercy, a Year which represents for her and for all of us a   
   pressing summons to gratitude, conversion, renewal, penance and    
   econciliation".   
   At the time of Christmas, the feast of God's infinite mercy, as St. Augustine   
   of   
   Hippo tells us, and in the context of the Year of Mercy, he presented to the   
   Roman Curia "a practical aid", beginning with the theme of missionary and   
   pastoral spirit.   
    "Missionary spirit is what makes the Curia evidently fertile and fruitful; it   
   is proof of the effectiveness, efficiency and authenticity of our activity.   
   Faith is a gift, yet the measure of our faith is also seen by the extent to   
   which we communicate it. All baptised persons are missionaries of the Good   
   News,   
   above all by their lives, their work and their witness of joy and conviction. A   
   sound pastoral spirit is an indispensable virtue for the priest in particular.   
   It is shown in his daily effort to follow the Good Shepherd who cares for the   
   flock and gives his life to save the lives of others. It is the yardstick for   
   our curial and priestly work. Without these two wings we could never take   
   flight, or even enjoy the happiness of the 'faithful servant'".   
    With regard to idoneity and sagacity: "Idoneity, or suitability, entails   
   personal effort aimed at acquiring the necessary requisites for exercising as   
   best we can our tasks and duties with intelligence and insight. It does not   
   countenance 'recommendations' and payoffs. Sagacity is the readiness to grasp   
   and confront situations with shrewdness and creativity. Idoneity and sagacity   
   also represent our human response to divine grace, when we let ourselves follow   
   the famous dictum: 'Do everything as if God did not exist and then put it all   
   in   
   God's hands as if you did not exist'".   
    Spirituality and humanity: "Spirituality is the backbone of all service in the   
   Church and in Christian life. It is what nourishes all our activity, sustaining   
   and protecting it from human frailty and daily temptation. Humanity is what   
   embodies the truthfulness of our faith; those who renounce their humanity   
   renounce everything. Humanity is what makes us different from machines and   
   robots which feel nothing and are never moved. Once we find it hard to weep   
   seriously or to laugh heartily - these are just two signs - we have begun our   
   decline and the process of turning from 'humans' into something else. Humanity   
   is knowing how to show tenderness and fidelity and courtesy to all.   
   Spirituality   
   and humanity, while innate qualities, are a potential needing to be activated   
   fully, attained completely and demonstrated daily".   
    Example and fidelity: "Blessed Paul VI reminded the Curia - in 1963 - of 'its   
   calling to set an example'. An example of avoiding scandals which harm souls   
   and   
   impair the credibility of our witness. Fidelity to our consecration, to our   
   vocation, always mindful of the words of Christ, 'Whoever is faithful in a very   
   little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is   
   dishonest also in much' and 'If any of you put a stumbling block before one of   
   these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great   
   millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of   
   the sea. Woe to the world for stumbling blocks! Occasions for stumbling are   
   bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block comes".   
    Reasonableness and gentleness: "Reasonableness helps avoid emotional excesses,   
   while gentleness helps avoid an excess of bureaucracy, programmes and planning.   
   These qualities are necessary for a balanced personality: 'The enemy - and   
   forgive me for quoting St. Ignatius once again - pays careful heed to whether a   
   soul is coarse or delicate; if it is delicate, he finds a way to make it overly   
   delicate, in order to cause it greater distress and confusion'. Every excess is   
   a symptom of some imbalance".   
    Innocuousness and determination: "Innocuousness makes us cautious in our   
   judgements and capable of refraining from impulsive and hasty actions. It is   
   the   
   ability to bring out the best in ourselves, in others and in all kinds of   
   situations by acting carefully and attentively. It consists of doing unto   
   others   
   what we would have them do to us. Determination is acting with a resolute will,   
   clear vision, obedience to God and solely for the supreme law of the salus   
   animarum".   
    Charity and truth: "Two inseparable virtues of Christian life, 'speaking the   
   truth in charity and practising charity in truth'. To the point where charity   
   without truth becomes a destructive ideology of complaisance and truth without   
   charity becomes myopic legalism".   
    Openness and maturity: "Openness is honesty and rectitude, consistency and   
   absolute sincerity with regard both to ourselves and to God. An honest and open   
   person does not act virtuously only when he or she is being watched; honest   
   persons have no fear of being caught, since they never betray the trust of   
   others. An honest person is never domineering like the 'wicked servant', with   
   regard to the persons or matters entrusted to his or her care. Honesty is the   
   foundation on which all other qualities rest. Maturity is the quest to achieve   
   balance and harmony in our physical, mental and spiritual gifts. It is the goal   
   and outcome of a never-ending process of development which has nothing to do   
   with age".   
    Respectfulness and humility: "Respectfulness is an endowment of those noble   
   and   
   tactful souls who always try to show genuine respect for others, for their own   
   work, for their superiors and subordinates, for dossiers and papers, for   
   confidentiality and privacy, who can listen carefully and speak politely.   
   Humility is the virtue of the saints and those godly persons who become all the   
   more important as they come to realise that they are nothing, and can do   
   nothing, apart from God's grace".   
    "Diligence and attentiveness: "The more we trust in God and his providence,   
   the   
   more we grow in diligence and readiness to give of ourselves, in the knowledge   
   that the more we give the more we receive. What good would it do to open all   
   the   
   Holy Doors of all the basilicas in the world if the doors of our own heart are   
   closed to love, if our hands are closed to giving, if our homes are closed to   
   hospitality and our churches to welcome and acceptance. Attentiveness is   
   concern   
   for the little things, for doing our best and never yielding to our vices and   
   failings. St. Vincent de Paul used to pray: "Lord, help me to be always aware   
   of   
   those around me, those who are worried or dismayed, those suffering in silence,   
   and those who feel alone and abandoned".   
    Intrepidness and alertness: "Being intrepid means fearlessness in the face of   
   troubles, like Daniel in the den of lions, or David before Goliath. It means   
   acting with boldness, determination and resolve, 'as a good soldier'. It means   
   being immediately ready to take the first step, like Abraham, or Mary.   
   Alertness, on the other hand, is the ability to act freely and easily, without   
   being attached to fleeting material things. The Psalm says: 'if riches   
   increase,   
   set not your heart on them'. To be alert means to be always on the go, and   
   never   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)