___________________________________________________________   
      
    Angelus: the mission of the Christian community is to evangelise the poor   
    Vatican City, 25 January 2016 (VIS) - The evangelising activity of Jesus was   
   the theme of Pope Francis' reflection in this Sunday's Angelus. The Holy Father   
   explained to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square for the Marian prayer   
   that Christ was very different to the teachers of his time because, among other   
   things, He did not open a school for the study of the Law, but instead "went   
   about everywhere to preach and teach: in the synagogues, in the streets, in the   
   houses. Jesus also differs from John the Baptist, who proclaims the imminent   
   judgement of God, while Jesus proclaims the forgiveness of the Father".   
    Francis cites the Gospel of St. Luke, who narrates the scroll of the prophet   
   Isaiah in the Synagogue of Nazareth, when Jesus stands to read the Holy   
   Scripture and recites the passage "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because   
   He   
   has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor". Then, after a moment of   
   expectant silence, He says, to general amazement: "Today this Scripture passage   
   is fulfilled in your hearing".   
    "To evangelise the poor: this is the mission of Jesus, according to what He   
   Himself says", affirmed the Pope. "This is also the mission of the Church, and   
   of every person baptised in the Church. To be Christian and to be a missionary   
   is the same thing. To proclaim the Gospel, with words, and, even before that,   
   with one's life, is the principle end of the Christian community and of each of   
   its members. It is known that Jesus addresses the Good News to everyone,   
   without   
   excluding anyone; and yet, He privileges those who are furthest away, the   
   suffering, the sick, those discarded by society. But let us ask ourselves a   
   question. What does it mean to evangelise the poor? It means above all being   
   close to them, having the joy of serving them, freeing them from oppression,   
   and   
   all this in the name of and with the Spirit of Christ, because He is the Gospel   
   of God, He is the Mercy of God, He is the liberation of God. It is He Who was   
   made poor in order to enrich us with His poverty. ... The messianic   
   proclamation   
   of the Kingdom of God that has come amongst us is addressed in a preferential   
   way to the marginalised, to prisoners, to the oppressed."   
    "Probably in the time of Jesus these people were not at the centre of the   
   community of faith. And we can ask ourselves: today, in our parish communities,   
   in the associations, in the movements, are we faithful to Christ's programme?   
   Is   
   the evangelisation of the poor, bringing them the good news, our priority? This   
   is not about providing social assistance, much less about political activity.   
   It   
   is about the strength of the Gospel of God, Who converts hearts, heals the   
   wounded, and transforms human and social relationships according to the logic   
   of   
   love. Indeed, the poor are at the centre of the Gospel".   
    The Pope concluded by asking that the Virgin Mary, "Mother of evangelisers",   
   help us to "feel strongly the hunger and thirst for the Gospel that exists in   
   the world, especially in the heart and the flesh of the poor" so that each one   
   of us and every Christian community may "bear concrete witness to the mercy   
   that   
   Christ has given to us".   
      
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    Cardinal Puljic, Pope's special envoy to Dubrovnik   
    Vatican City, 23 January 2016 (VIS) - In a letter published today, written in   
   Latin and dated 30 December 2015, the Holy Father appoints Cardinal Vinko   
   Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna, Croatia, as his special envoy at the events   
   scheduled to take place in Dubrovnik on 3 February to commemorate the   
   seventeenth centenary of the martyrdom of St. Blaise, patron of the diocese,   
   and   
   the 600th anniversary of the Ragusan law against the slave trade.   
    The mission accompanying the cardinal will be composed of Msgr. Ivan Simic,   
   dean of the deanery of Dubrovnik, and Rev. Slavko Grubsic, former rector of the   
   church of St. Blaise in Dubrovnik.   
      
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    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 25 January 2016 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Neven Pelicaric, ambassador of Croatia, presenting his credential letters;   
    - Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, apostolic nuncio in Romania and Moldavia;   
    - Archbishop Wojciech Zaluski, apostolic nuncio in Burundi;   
    - Archbishop Mario Antonio Cargnello of Salta, Argentina;   
    - Budiarman Bahar, ambassador of Indonesia, on his farewell visit;   
    - Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, archbishop of Florence, Italy.   
    On Saturday 23 January, the Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Matthew S. Lee, ambassador of the Republic of China, presenting his   
   credential letters;   
    - His Beatitude Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, patriarch of Antioch of the   
   Maronites, Lebanon;   
    - Prefect Francesco Paolo Tronca, Commissioner of the Municipality of Rome;   
    - Cardinal Ruben Salazar Gomez, archbishop of Bogota, Colombia, with   
   Archbishop   
   Luis Augusto Castro Quiroga of Tunja, president of the Episcopal Conference of   
   Colombia; Archbishop Oscar Urbina Ortega of Villavicencio, deputy president;   
   Bishop Jose Daniel Falla Robles, auxiliary of Cali, general secretary.   
    Bishop Roberto Rodríguez, emeritus of La Rioja, Argentina.   
    In the afternoon of Friday 22 January, the Holy Father received in audience   
   Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 25 January 2016 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:   
    - erected the diocese of San Francisco de Asis de Jutiapa (area 3219,   
   population 458,321, Catholics 389,573, priests 24, religious 82), Guatemala,   
   with territory taken from the diocese of Jalapa, making it a suffragan of the   
   archdiocese of Santiago de Guatemala.   
    - appointed Fr. Antonio Calderon Cruz as bishop of the new diocese of San   
   Francisco de Asis de Jutiapa, Guatemala. The bishop-elect was born in Guatemala   
   City, Guatemala in 1959 and was ordained a priest in 1986. He has served in a   
   number of pastoral roles, including administrator, head of diocesan youth   
   pastoral ministry, formator in the "Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion" national   
   major seminary, parish priest, episcopal vicar for pastoral ministry, and   
   diocesan administrator. He is currently parish priest in the diocese of San   
   Marcos.   
    On Saturday 23 January the Holy Father has appointed Msgr. Miroslaw Milewski   
   as   
   auxiliary of Plock (area 11,000, population 3,779,000, Catholics 69,900,   
   priests   
   106, permanent deacons 34, religious 89), Poland. The bishop-elect was born in   
   Ciechanow, Poland in 1971 and was ordained a priest in 1997. He holds a   
   doctorate from the Catholic University of Lublino, Poland, and has served in a   
   number of pastoral and academic roles, including deputy priest, prefect of   
   discipline in the major seminary of Plock, and adjunct professor of Social   
   Doctrine of the Church at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University of Warsaw.   
   He   
   is currently vicar general and chancellor of the Curia, lecturer at the major   
   seminary of Plock, and member of the College of Consultors, the presbyteral   
   council and the pastoral council. In 2012 he was named Chaplain of His   
   Holiness.   
      
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