VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXV - # 226   
   DATE 17-12-2015   
      
   Summary:   
   - To new non-resident ambassadors: collaborate in promoting a culture of   
   solidarity   
   - The Pope receives the boys and girls of Catholic Action   
   - Presentation of the Manual on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles   
   on extreme poverty   
   - Audiences   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To new non-resident ambassadors: collaborate in promoting a culture of   
   solidarity   
    Vatican City, 17 December 2015 (VIS) - The new ambassadors to the Holy See,   
   representing Guinea, Latvia, India and Bahrain, respectively Fatoumata Balde,   
   Veronika Erte, Smita Purushottam and Muhammad Abdul Ghaffar respectively, were   
   received in audience by Pope Francis this morning. In his address, the Holy   
   Father recalled the recent publication of his message for the World Day of   
   Peace, entitled "Overcome indifference and win peace", and took the opportunity   
   to invite the diplomats to collaborate in promoting a culture of solidarity,   
   counteracting the globalisation of indifference, one of the negative tendencies   
   of our time.   
    "There are many ways in which this attitude of indifference manifests itself,   
   and it has several causes", he explained. "Essentially, however, these derive   
   from an imbalanced humanism, in which man has taken God's place and has thus   
   become the victim of various forms of idolatry. Even the grave ecological   
   crisis   
   that we are experiencing can be traced back to this anthropological imbalance.   
   Indifference towards God, our neighbour and our environment are interconnected   
   and grow reciprocally. Therefore, they can be combated only with a response   
   that   
   faces all three together, that is through a renewed humanism that relocates the   
   human being in a correct relationship with the Creator, with others and with   
   creation. It involves promoting a culture of solidarity and sharing, and this   
   requires the commitment of those who with responsibility in the political,   
   social, cultural and educational fields. ... All this is necessary to combat   
   indifference and to build peace".   
    The Pope remarked that the year that is drawing to an end has been marked by   
   violent conflicts and terrorism. "This situation is provoking in more mature   
   consciences a non-violent, spiritual and moral reaction. It is this that we   
   want   
   and must nurture with the means available to us and according to our   
   responsibilities. The Catholic Church, in accordance with her own mission, with   
   the recently initiated Jubilee of Mercy, seeks to spread throughout the world   
   the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, urging the faithful and men and   
   women of goodwill to open themselves up to the grace of God and to practise   
   what   
   in our tradition are the 'works of corporal and spiritual mercy'. Civil society   
   is likewise called to make specific and courageous gestures of concern for its   
   most vulnerable members, such as prisoners, migrants, the unemployed and the   
   infirm. Furthermore, I would also appeal to national leaders for concrete   
   gestures in favour of our brothers and sisters who suffer from a lack of   
   labour,   
   land and lodging. In the international context I fervently hope that each   
   Nation   
   may be committed to renewing its relations with other peoples enabling   
   fraternity also within the family of nations".   
    The Pope concluded his discourse by sending, through the new diplomatic   
   representatives, a fraternal greeting to the pastors and faithful of the   
   Catholic communities present in those countries, encouraging them always to   
   contribute loyally to the common good of society. "The more and the better they   
   do this, the more their full religious freedom will be acknowledged. The Holy   
   See is honoured to be able to establish with each one of you, and with the   
   countries you represent, an open and respectful dialogue and constructive   
   collaboration".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope receives the boys and girls of Catholic Action   
    Vatican City, 17 December 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Consistory Hall the   
   Holy Father received in audience sixty boys and girls from Catholic Action   
   Youth   
   to exchange Christmas wishes with them, as is customary every year. As today is   
   also the Pope's 79th birthday, they also celebrated by offering him a cake,   
   which he received with thanks.   
    This year's theme of the path of formation in Catholic Action Youth is   
   "Journeying to You", which means "taking the path of good, not that of evil",   
   said Francis. "The path of forgiveness, not that of revenge; the path of peace,   
   not that of war; the path of solidarity, not that of selfishness". Catholic   
   Action Youth has also drawn up a plan for offering aid to migrants in the   
   diocese of Agrigento, whose community the Pope thanked for their exemplary   
   efforts to welcome the many brothers and sisters "who arrive full of hope but   
   also bearing many wounds and with many needs, in search of peace and   
   sustenance". The young people of Catholic Action can offer a special   
   contribution to this initiative, with their enthusiasm and prayer, which he   
   advised them to "accompany with a small sacrifice, to share their essentials   
   with others who do not have them".   
    The Pope also commented that yesterday's general audience was attended by a   
   five month-old baby, born on a boat off the Sicilian coast, with his parents.   
   "There are many of them. Many children arrive, others do not make it.   
   Everything   
   you do for these people is good. Many thanks for what you do".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Presentation of the Manual on the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles   
   on extreme poverty   
    Vatican City, 17 December 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press   
   Office, a press conference was held to present the manual "Making human rights   
   work for people living in extreme poverty: a handbook for implementing the UN   
   Guiding Principles on extreme poverty and human rights". The panel was composed   
   of Bishop Bernardo Johannes Bahlmann, O.F.M., of Obidos, north-east Brazil;   
   Michel Roy, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis; Fr. Michael A. Perry,   
   O.F.M., minister general of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor; Francesca   
   Restifo, Franciscans International (FI) International Advocacy Director; and   
   Jean Tonglet, ATD Fourth World delegate for Italy and Relations with the Holy   
   See.   
    Bishop Bahlmann began by speaking about deforestation in the Amazon and the   
   catastrophic consequences for the populations who live there and for the planet   
   as a whole; Fr. Perry then commented on how Franciscans live in close contact   
   with the communities affected by poverty in various parts of the world, and   
   seek   
   to establish a strong bond between the protection of the rights of the poor and   
   the protection of the environment. Francesca Restifo then explained the content   
   and aims of the Manual.   
    "The elimination of extreme poverty is not only a moral duty, but also a legal   
   obligation, by virtue of the provisions of international law on human rights.   
   Extreme poverty is not merely an economic question: it is a multidimensional   
   phenomenon that includes both the lack of income and the basic capacities for   
   being able to live in a dignified fashion, and it is something that seriously   
   compromises the possibility for people to exercise or obtain their rights in   
   the   
   foreseeable future. The guiding principles are the first instrument that the   
   United Nations dedicated to people in poverty. We understood the potential of   
   this document and immediately felt the need to translate it into a language   
   accessible to all. As is enshrined in them: 'Extreme poverty is not inevitable.   
   It is, at least in part, created, enabled and perpetuated by acts and omissions   
   of States and other economic actors'. But 'the tools for ending it are within   
   reach'".   
    These tools are "a basis in human rights, providing a framework for the   
   long-term eradication of extreme poverty, starting from the acknowledgement   
   that   
   those who live in poverty are holders of rights and agents of their own change;   
   empowerment, or rather making people autonomous and active in their community   
   in   
   reclaiming their rights; and participation and consultation with these people   
   in   
   the policies that affect them directly".   
    "The aim of the manual that we present today was and remains that of helping   
   local workers to understand better the consequences in terms of human rights   
   for   
   people who live in conditions of extreme poverty, and to propose to them a   
   series of concrete actions to reclaim their rights, thus becoming agents of   
   change. Our objective was to translate their individual challenges into   
   collective actions. To do this, it was first necessary to listen to the needs   
   of   
   those who work with people directly involved in situations of poverty. ... This   
   took two years of constant consultation and collaboration at a capillary level   
   with local communities and a continual exchange of ideas and information. We   
   consulted with activists working in urban slums and in rural areas with limited   
   access to basic services, with indigenous local populations who were losing   
   their land and their means of subsistence due to the actions of large   
   multinationals, and with those who work directly in the field to protect women,   
   children, migrants and refugees".   
    With regard to the content of the manual, Restifo explained that following the   
   introductory chapter, the second part establishes various fundamental   
   principles   
   such as the importance of winning the trust of those who live in extreme   
   poverty, the evaluation of the risks that they may run in claiming their   
   rights,   
   and their active participation in all phases of the process. The third part   
   offers suggestions for concrete actions which can be undertaken to help the   
   authorities respect their obligations in terms of human rights - valid   
   proposals   
   both for developing countries and those that are already industrialised. This   
   is   
   also the part that focuses on groups of rights, recognising their   
   indivisibility, mutual relationship and interdependence. It is a practical   
   guide   
   to acting according to the situation and the specific questions relating to   
   those involved. Finally, the fourth part is dedicated to the importance of   
   monitoring the actions undertaken".   
    Finally, Restifo emphasised that there is not a clear division between poverty   
   and extreme poverty, but the latter is characterised by multiple and   
   interrelated violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural   
   rights. "Extreme poverty affects various areas of human existence and often   
   creates a vicious circle of impotence, stigmatisation, discrimination,   
   exclusion   
   and material deprivation ... elements that feed on each other. Some people can   
   be   
   poor but at the same time are part of a social fabric in which they are in any   
   case integrated. Others do not have the same possibility".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 17 December 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation   
   of Peoples;   
    - Archbishop Alessandro D'Errico, apostolic nuncio in Croatia;   
    - Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, apostolic nuncio in the Netherlands;   
    - Professor Carl A. Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, with   
   Archbishop William Edward Lori of Baltimore, United States of America.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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