VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXVI - # 19   
   DATE 29-01-2016   
      
   Summary:   
   - To the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: faith is not only   
   knowledge   
   committed to memory, but truth lived in love   
   - Two initiatives linked to the Jubilee: the Missionaries of Mercy and the   
   translation to Rome of the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina and St. Leopold   
   Mandic   
   - World Leprosy Day: combating disease and reintegrating survivors in society   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    To the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: faith is not only knowledge   
   committed to memory, but truth lived in love   
    Vatican City, 29 January 2016 (VIS) - "Mercy is the foundation of the life of   
   the Church: the first truth of the Church, indeed, is Christ's love", were the   
   opening words of the Holy Father's discourse to the participants in the plenary   
   assembly of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, whom he received in   
   audience this morning in the Clementine Hall. The Pope went on to urge all the   
   Christian people, both pastors and the faithful, to rediscover during this   
   Jubilee the corporal and spiritual works of mercy as when, in the twilight of   
   life, we are asked if we have given food to the hungry and given the thirsty   
   water to drink, we will also be asked "if we have helped people to set their   
   doubts aside, if we have committed ourselves to welcoming sinners, admonishing   
   them and correcting them, if we have been able to combat ignorance, especially   
   in relation to the Christian faith and the righteous life".   
    "In faith and in charity a cognitive and unifying relationship is established   
   with the mystery of Love, which is God Himself. The effective mercy of God   
   became, in Jesus, affective mercy, as He made Himself man for the salvation of   
   mankind. The task entrusted to your Dicastery here finds its ultimate   
   foundation   
   and and adequate justification. Christian faith, indeed, is not only knowledge   
   to be committed to memory, but also truth to live in love. Therefore, along   
   with   
   the doctrine of the faith, it is also necessary to safeguard the integrity of   
   customs, particularly in the most delicate areas of life. Adhering to faith in   
   the person of Christ implies both an act of reason and a moral response to His   
   gift. In this respect, I thank you for all your commitment and the   
   responsibility you exercise in treating cases of abuse of minors by members of   
   the clergy".   
    "Safeguarding the integrity of faith and customs is a delicate task.   
   Performing   
   this mission well requires collegial commitment. ... The correct synodality   
   must   
   be promoted at all levels of ecclesial life", added the Pope, citing in this   
   respect the meeting organised by the Congregation with the Doctrinal   
   Commissions   
   of the Episcopal Conferences of Europe, enabling various doctrinal and pastoral   
   challenges to be faced in a collegial way and thus inspiring in the faithful "a   
   new missionary impulse and greater openness to the transcendent dimension of   
   life, without which Europe runs the risk of losing its humanist spirit that it   
   nevertheless loves and defends".   
    Another significant contribution of the Congregation to the renewal of   
   ecclesial life was its study on complementarity between hierarchical and   
   charismatic gifts, called upon to collaborate in synergy for the good of the   
   Church and the world, and whose relationship evokes the Trinitarian root, the   
   bond between the divine Word made flesh and the Holy Spirit, which is always a   
   gift of the Father and the Son.   
    "It is precisely this root, if acknowledged and listened to humbly, that   
   permits the Church to let herself be renewed at any time. ... Unity and   
   plurality   
   are the seal of a Church that, moved by the Spirit, knows how to walk with a   
   sure and faithful step towards the purpose that the Risen Lord has indicated to   
   them throughout history. Here we see clearly how the synodal dynamic, if   
   correctly understood, is born from communion and leads towards an increasingly   
   implemented, deepened and extended, in the service of the life and the mission   
   of the People of God".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Two initiatives linked to the Jubilee: the Missionaries of Mercy and the   
   translation to Rome of the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina and St. Leopold   
   Mandic   
    Vatican City, 29 January 2016 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press   
   Office   
   Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting   
   New Evangelisation, and Msgr. Graham Bell, under-secretary of the same   
   dicastery, presented two initiatives linked to the Jubilee Year: the   
   Missionaries of Mercy and the temporary translation to Rome of the relics of   
   St.   
   Pio of Pietrelcina and St. Leopold Mandic.   
    "It is has been almost two months now since Pope Francis opened the Holy Door   
   of St. Peter's", said Archbishop Fisichella. "Since that moment, the Doors of   
   Mercy have been opened all around the world. The incredible number of people   
   who   
   have registered for these events allows us to acknowledge how this insight of   
   Pope Francis, his idea of having this Extraordinary Jubilee, has answered a   
   true   
   need of the people of God who are receiving this event of grace with great joy   
   and enthusiasm. We can conclude from this participation that the Jubilee is   
   being intensely lived in all the world and in every local Church, where this   
   time of grace is being organised as a genuine form of renewal for the Church   
   and   
   as a particular moment of the new evangelisation".   
    "Every day we receive thousands of pictures and documents from around the   
   world   
   attesting to the commitment and the faith of believers", he continued. "Yet all   
   of this activity has not stopped a substantial number of pilgrims from arriving   
   in Rome during this period. According to the data available to us on a daily   
   basis, as of today 1,392,000 people have participated in Jubilee events. An   
   interesting detail is that 40 per cent of those who have attended come from   
   abroad, speaking largely Spanish and French. We have registered pilgrims from   
   Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Korea, Kenya, Mozambique, El Salvador, New Zealand,   
   Argentina, Mexico, the Fiji Islands, Russia, Belarus, the Seychelles, the Ivory   
   Coast, Chad, Kuwait, the U.S.A., Albania and from many other countries. I would   
   like to reiterate that this is not the criteria by which to judge the actual   
   outcome of the Jubilee. A Holy Year of mercy goes well beyond numbers, for it   
   is   
   intended to touch the hearts and the minds of people in order to assist them in   
   coming to understand the ways in which God's great love manifests itself in   
   their daily lives. It is a time during which to assess our lives of faith and   
   to   
   understand how we are capable of conversion and renewal, both of which come   
   from   
   recognising the importance of remaining focused upon what is essential. In any   
   case, a general evaluation of the Jubilee cannot be made after only two months   
   but must be done at its conclusion. All of the other considerations at the   
   moment are incomplete and temporary and, thus, do not merit particular   
   attention".   
    Archbishop Fisichella described two signs of the Holy Father's concrete   
   witness   
   of mercy. On Friday, December 18, he opened the Door of Charity in the homeless   
   shelter, "Don Luigi di Liegro", where he celebrated Holy Mass in the refectory.   
   On January 15, he visited first the "Bruno Buozzi" nursing home for the elderly   
   in Torrespaccata, Rome, then the Casa Iride where he spent time with those in   
   vegetative states who are being assisted by their families. "These signs   
   possess   
   a symbolic value before all of the many needs that are present in society   
   today", he emphasised, "intended to stir in all of us a greater awareness of   
   the   
   many situations of need in our cities and to offer a small response of caring   
   and aid".   
    Following these reflections on the first two months of the Jubilee, the   
   prelate   
   presented two upcoming special events. The first is the presence in Rome of the   
   reliquaries containing the relics of St. Leopold Mandic and St. Pio of   
   Pietrelcina. "Such an occasion is of great significance for it is an   
   unprecedented event, given the stories of these two saints who spent their   
   lives   
   in the service of the mercy of God. Fr. Leopold (1866-1942) was canonised by   
   St.   
   John Paul II on December 16, 1983 and is less well known than St. Pio. Yet, his   
   hunger for holiness spread beyond the Church of Padua, where he lived the major   
   part of his life and where his memory and his relics remain. Originally from   
   Croatia, this Capuchin father dedicated all of his life to the confessional.   
   For   
   almost thirty years, he spent from ten to fifteen hours a day in the secrecy of   
   his cell, the very place which became a confessional for thousands of people   
   who   
   found in their relationships with him the privileged witness of forgiveness and   
   of mercy. Some of his brothers noted that he was 'ignorant and too lenient in   
   forgiving everyone without discernment'. Yet, his simple and humble response to   
   this charge leaves one speechless: 'Should the Crucified blame me for being   
   lenient, I would answer Him: Lord, you gave me this bad example. I have not yet   
   reached the folly of your having died for souls'".   
    St. Pio (1887-1968), canonised in 2002 by St. John Paul II, "does not require   
   lengthy presentation. This simple Capuchin friar spent his entire life at San   
   Giovanni Rotondo without ever leaving that town. Certainly, during his life,   
   some in Rome caused him to suffer, but his holiness always prevailed. In the   
   silence of obedience, he also became a privileged witness of mercy, dedicating   
   all of his life to the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We are   
   grateful to the Capuchin Fathers and to the Bishops of the Dioceses of Padua   
   and   
   Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo for having responded so graciously to   
   the wish of the Pope that the relics of these two saints remain in Rome for a   
   period of time during the Jubilee".   
    "The program is quite simple", he explained. "The urns containing the relics   
   will arrive in Rome on February 3 where they will be placed in the Church of   
   San   
   Lorenzo Fuori le Mura. The church will be open to the faithful starting at   
   15:00   
   with a celebration of reception. The relics will remain in San Lorenzo until   
   20:30 the following day, during which time there will be a number of   
   celebrations reserved for the vast extended Franciscan Family. An all-night   
   vigil is being organised in the Jubilee Church of San Salvatore in Lauro, which   
   will begin at 22:00 on February 4. The prayer will continue until the following   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)