VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXVI - # 10   
   DATE 18-01-2016   
      
   Summary:   
   - The Pope receives in audience Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco   
   - To the Finnish ecumenical delegation: Christians are called upon to be   
   credible witnesses to unity and artisans of peace and reconciliation   
   - Francis thanks public security personnel in the Vatican   
   - Francis visits the Great Synagogue of Rome   
   - Angelus: Jesus responds to the promises of joy that fill our hearts   
   - The Pope prays for the victims of the attacks in Indonesia and Burkina Faso,   
   and urges migrants not to let themselves be robbed of hope   
   - The Pope advocates a new humanism of work   
   - The Pope begins his "Fridays of mercy"   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope receives in audience Prince Albert and Princess Charlene of Monaco   
    Vatican City, 18 January 2016 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in   
   audience His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, accompanied by Her   
   Serene Highness Princess Charlene. The Prince subsequently met with Cardinal   
   Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher,   
   secretary for Relations with States.   
    During the cordial discussions, the existing good bilateral relations were   
   emphasised and reference was made to the historical contribution of the   
   Catholic   
   Church to the life of the Principality. Attention then turned to various   
   matters   
   of common interest, such as the protection of the environment, humanitarian aid   
   and the integral development of peoples.   
    Finally, the parties considered some issues affecting the international   
   community, such as peace and security, the acceptance of migrants and the   
   general situation in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the Finnish ecumenical delegation: Christians are called upon to be   
   credible   
   witnesses to unity and artisans of peace and reconciliation   
    Vatican City, 18 January 2016 (VIS) - This year, as is traditional, an   
   ecumenical delegation from Finland, led this year by the Lutheran bishop of   
   Helsinki, Irja Askola, came to visit the bishop of Rome for the feast day of   
   St.   
   Henry of Uppsala, patron of the country.   
    "Your ecumenical pilgrimage is an eloquent sign of the fact that, as   
   Lutherans,   
   Orthodox and Catholics, you have recognised what unites you and together you   
   wish to bear witness to Jesus Christ, Who is the foundation of unity", said the   
   Pope, expressing his joy at their visit.   
    "In a special way, we can thank the Lord for the fruits of the dialogue   
   between   
   Lutherans and Catholics", he continued. "Here I think in particular of the   
   common document on 'Justification in the Life of the Church'. Building on these   
   foundations, our dialogue is making promising progress towards a shared   
   understanding, on the sacramental level, of Church, Eucharist and Ministry.   
   These steps forward, made together, lay a solid basis for a growing communion   
   of   
   life in faith and spirituality, as our relations develop in a spirit of serene   
   discussion and fraternal sharing".   
    Although in this dialogue, differences still remain in doctrine and in   
   practice, "This must not discourage us, but instead spur us along our journey   
   towards ever greater unity, not least by working to overcome old ideas and   
   suspicions. In a world frequently torn by conflict and marked by secularism and   
   indifference, we are called to join in professing our faith in Jesus Christ,   
   and   
   thus to become ever more credible witnesses of unity and promoters of peace and   
   reconciliation", concluded the Holy Father.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis thanks public security personnel in the Vatican   
    Vatican City, 18 January 2016 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received in   
   audience in the Clementine Hall the members of the General Inspectorate for   
   Public Security in the who serve in the Vatican. The agents also accompany the   
   Pope on his pastoral visits in Italy, and the Pope also thanked them for their   
   service in this role.   
    During his address to the security personnel, Francis affirmed that his   
   meeting   
   with them was very important this year in the context of the Holy Year of   
   Mercy,   
   an event of spiritual significance which has already brought tens of thousands   
   of pilgrims from around the world to Rome in this first month alone. The   
   managers, officials and agents of the public security service are therefore   
   required to make even greater efforts "to ensure that the celebrations and   
   events connected with the extraordinary Jubilee take place in a regular and   
   fruitful way. External order, over which you keep careful watch, can only   
   benefit inner order, permeated with serenity and peace".   
    "We have just concluded Christmas time, but in many places, as in St. Peter's   
   Square, the nativity remains on display, and invites us to protect within us,   
   following the example of Our Lady, the mystery we have celebrated. Mary offered   
   us Jesus as the beginning of a new life. The Child is the true consoler of   
   hearts, the true light that illuminates our life, conquering the darkness of   
   sin. In Him we have contemplated the face of the mercy of God the Father, and   
   we   
   have received a renewed invitation to convert to love and forgiveness. May this   
   spiritual experience accompany us throughout the entire Holy Year, and may the   
   Jubilee of Mercy be for all of us a time that is strong for the spirit, a time   
   of reconciliation with God and with our brothers", concluded the Holy Father.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Francis visits the Great Synagogue of Rome   
    Vatican City, 17 January 2016 (VIS) - Yesterday, following in the footsteps of   
   St. John Paul II and Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, Pope Francis visited the Great   
   Synagogue of Rome to greet the Jewish community of the capital, the   
   longest-established in the world. The Holy Father was received by the president   
   of the Community of Rome, Ruth Dureghello, the president of the Union of   
   Italian   
   Jewish Communities, Renzo Gattegna and the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di   
   Segni, who gave a welcome address.   
    "Toda rabba", (thank you), responded Francis, who then went on to speak about   
   the importance that he has always attributed to the relationship between Jews   
   and Christians ever since his days in Buenos Aires, when he met with the   
   Argentine Jewish community and closely followed its celebrations and   
   ceremonies.   
   "In Jewish-Christian dialogue, there is a unique and special bond, by virtue of   
   the Jewish roots of Christianity: Jews and Christians should consider   
   themselves   
   brothers, united by the same God and by a rich common spiritual heritage on   
   which we base and continue to build the future". In this respect, he recalled   
   that on 13 April 1986 St. John Paul II, during his visit to the same synagogue,   
   coined the expression "elder brothers" to describe Jews in relation to   
   Christians, and indeed, he affirmed "you are our elder brothers and sisters in   
   faith. We all belong to the same family, the family of God, Who accompanies us   
   and protects us as His people".   
    Francis noted that 2015 marked the fiftieth anniversary of the conciliar   
   Declaration "Nostra aetate", which enabled systematic dialogue between the   
   Catholic Church and Judaism, transforming the relationship between Christians   
   and Jews. "From enemies and strangers, we have become friends and brothers. ...   
   'Yes' to the rediscovery of the Jewish roots of Christianity, 'no' to any form   
   of anti-Semitism, and condemnation of every injustice, discrimination and   
   persecution that may derive from it". The Pope also highlighted the theological   
   dimension of this dialogue, affirming that "Christians, to understand   
   themselves, cannot but refer to these Jewish roots, and the Church, while   
   professing salvation through faith in Christ, acknowledges the irrevocable   
   nature of the Old Covenant and God's constant, faithful love for Israel".   
    However, alongside the theological questions, the Pope also spoke about the   
   challenges that today's world must face, beginning with that of the integral   
   ecology that both Jews and Christians must respond to by offering "to humanity   
   as a whole the Bible's message regarding care for creation. Conflicts, wars,   
   violence and injustice open up deep wounds in humanity, and we are called upon   
   to strengthen our commitment to peace and justice. Man's violence against man   
   contradicts any religion worthy of the name, and in particular, the three great   
   monotheistic religions. Life is sacred, as a gift from God. The fifth   
   Commandment of the Decalogue says: 'Thou shalt not kill'. God is the God of   
   life, and wishes always to promote it and defend it; and we, created in His   
   image and semblance, are required to do likewise. Every human being, as a   
   creature of God, is our brother, regardless of his origin or his religious   
   belief. ... Neither violence nor death will have the final word before God,   
   Who is   
   the God of love and life. We must pray ceaselessly so that in Europe, the Holy   
   Land, the Middle East, Africa and every other part of the world He may help us   
   to practice the logic of peace, reconciliation, forgiveness and life".   
    The ceremony was also attended by the last Italian survivors of the Shoah, and   
   the bishop of Rome spoke to them of how "the Jewish people, throughout their   
   history, have suffered violence and persecution, up to the extermination of   
   European Jews during the Shoah. Six million people, just because they belonged   
   to the Jewish people, were victims of the most inhuman barbarism perpetrated in   
   the name of an ideology that sought to substitute man for God".   
    "On 16 October 1943, more than a thousand men, women and children of the   
   Jewish   
   community of Rome were deported to Auschwitz", he recalled. "Today I wish to   
   remember them with the heart in a special way: their suffering, their anguish,   
   their tears must never be forgotten. And the past must serve as a lesson for   
   the   
   present and for the future. The Shoah teaches us that it is necessary to   
   maintain the highest vigilance, so as to intervene promptly in defence of human   
   dignity and peace. I would like to express my closeness to every living witness   
   of the Shoah, and I greet in particular those of you who are present here".   
    "In the last fifty years, mutual understanding and trust, and friendship, have   
   grown and deepened between us", concluded the Holy Father. "Let us pray   
   together   
   to the Lord so that He might lead us on a path to a better future. God has   
   plans   
   for our salvation".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Angelus: Jesus responds to the promises of joy that fill our hearts   
    Vatican City, 17 January 2016 (VIS) - Today, World Day of Migrants and   
   Refugees, the Pope appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic   
   Palace to pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square,   
   including seven thousand people from various ethnic communities on a pilgrimage   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)