VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXVI - # 17   
   DATE 27-01-2016   
      
   Summary:   
   - General audience: God gives us the legacy of mercy   
   - The Pope invites faithful to "Cor Unum" retreat and greets circus performers   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
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    General audience: God gives us the legacy of mercy   
    Vatican City, 27 January 2016 (VIS) -God's mercy has always been present   
   throughout the history of the People of Israel, accompanying the way of   
   Patriarchs, endowing them with offspring despite their sterility as in the case   
   of Abraham and Sarah, and leading them on paths of grace and reconciliation, as   
   is shown by the story of Joseph and his brothers. When life became difficult   
   due   
   to slavery in Egypt, God was not indifferent to their suffering. He saved them   
   from the Pharaoh through Moses, he took them out of Egypt and led them through   
   the Red Sea and the desert to the promised land and to freedom. This was the   
   theme of the Holy Father's catechesis during this Wednesday's general audience   
   in St. Peter's Square, entitled "God heard their groaning and He remembered His   
   covenant", drawn from the Book of Exodus.   
    "Mercy is not indifferent to the pain of the oppressed, to the cry of those   
   who   
   suffer violence and slavery or are condemned to death. Suffering is a sad   
   reality that afflicts every age, including our own, and often makes us feel   
   helpless, tempting us to harden our hearts and think of other things. God,   
   however, is not indifferent; He never turns away from human suffering. The God   
   of mercy ... intervenes to save, inspiring men capable of hearing the cry of   
   suffering and of working in favour of the oppressed".   
    Moses, one of God's chosen ones, saved from the waters of the Nile by divine   
   mercy, becomes a mediator for the liberation of his people. "And we too, in   
   this   
   Year of Mercy, can be mediators ... with the works of mercy, being close to our   
   neighbours, to relieve them. They are many good things we can do", added the   
   Pope. "God's mercy always acts to save us. The Lord, through his servant Moses,   
   leads Israel in the desert like a child, educating his people in faith and   
   creating a strong bond of love, like that between a father and son, or a bride   
   and groom. ... God possesses all the earth because He has created it, but the   
   people become for Him a different type of possession: His personal reserve of   
   gold and silver, like the treasure King David says he has donated for the   
   construction of the Temple. This is what we become for God by welcoming his   
   covenant and letting ourselves be saved by Him. The Lord's mercy makes man   
   precious, like a personal wealth that belongs to Him, that He conserves and is   
   pleased with".   
    "These are the wonders of divine mercy, that finds fulfilment in the Lord   
   Jesus, in that 'new and eternal alliance' consummated with His blood, that with   
   forgiveness destroys our sin and definitively makes us children of God,   
   precious   
   jewels in the hands of the good and merciful Father. And if we are sons of God,   
   we have the possibility of inheriting this goodness and mercy. Let us ask the   
   Lord, in this Year of Mercy ... to open our heart to reach everyone with the   
   works   
   of mercy, the legacy of the mercy that God the Father has shown to us",   
   concluded the bishop of Rome.   
      
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    The Pope invites faithful to "Cor Unum" retreat and greets circus performers   
    Vatican City, 27 January 2016 (VIS) - Following today's catechesis, the Holy   
   Father mentioned that the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", on the occasion of the   
   Jubilee of Mercy, has arranged a day of spiritual retreat for people and groups   
   involved in charity service. The day, to be held in the individual dioceses   
   during the upcoming Lenten period, "will offer an opportunity to reflect on the   
   call to be merciful like the Father", said Francis, inviting those present to   
   welcome this proposal, following the indications and using the materials   
   prepared by "Cor Unum".   
    After his special greetings to the young, the sick and newly-weds, the Pope   
   mentioned that tomorrow will be the feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of   
   Catholic schools. "His example inspires you, dear young people, to see in the   
   merciful Jesus the sole teacher of life; may his intercession obtain for those   
   of you who are sick the serenity and peace present in the mystery of the Cross;   
   and may his doctrine encourage you, dear newly-weds, to trust in the wisdom of   
   the heart to fulfil your mission".   
    Finally, he greeted a group of circus performers and acrobats, reiterating   
   that   
   their profession is the creation of beauty, and beauty always brings us closer   
   to God.   
      
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    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 27 January 2016 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Fr.   
   Adilson   
   Pedro Busin, C.S., as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Porto Alegre (area   
   13,530,   
   population 3,423,000, Catholics 2,547,000, priests 359, permanent deacons 59,   
   religious 1,450), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Sarandi, Brazil in 1965,   
   gave his permanent vows in 1992 and was ordained a priest in 1993. He holds a   
   licentiate in science of education from the Pontifical Salesian University of   
   Rome, and has served in a number of roles in his congregation, including   
   vocational animator and rector of the minor seminary of Ciudad del Este,   
   Paraguay, master of novices in Porto Alegre, and provincial superior. He is   
   currently regional vicar for the South American region, president of the   
   Scalabrinian Association for the service of migrants, and master of novices.   
      
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