VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXVI - # 18   
   DATE 28-01-2016   
      
   Summary:   
   - Audience with the president of Togo: joint commitment to peace and security   
   in   
   West and Sub-Saharan Africa   
   - Presentation of the World Day of the Sick   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audience with the president of Togo: joint commitment to peace and security in   
   West and Sub-Saharan Africa   
    Vatican City, 28 January 2016 (VIS) - The Holy Father Francis today received   
   in   
   audience the president of the Republic of Togo, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe, who   
   subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied   
   by   
   Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.   
    During the cordial discussions the Parties acknowledged the good existing   
   relations between the Holy See and Togo, and the prospects for their further   
   consolidation. Mention was made of the contribution of the Catholic Church to   
   the development of the country and the integral progress of the Togolese   
   population, especially in the field of education.   
    Attention then turned to various challenges affecting West and Sub-Saharan   
   Africa, with special emphasis on the need for joint commitment to the promotion   
   of security and peace in the Region.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Presentation of the World Day of the Sick   
    Vatican City, 28 January 2016 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press   
   Office   
   a press conference was held to present the 24th World Day of the Sick, to be   
   celebrated in Nazareth in the Holy Land on 11 February, feast day of Our Lady   
   of   
   Lourdes, on the theme "Entrusting oneself to the merciful Jesus like Mary: 'Do   
   whatever he tells you'", based on the account of the wedding at Cana according   
   to the Gospel of St. John.   
    The panel was composed of Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, president of the   
   Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers (Health Pastoral Care), Msgr.   
   Jean-Marie Mate Musivi Mupendawatu, secretary of the same dicastery, Rev.   
   Augusto Chendi, under-secretary, Rev. Fr. Pietro Felet, S.C.I., secretary   
   general of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land and local   
   referent for the organisation of the World Day of the Sick 2016.   
    The place where the Day will be held - Nazareth, in the Holy Land - is the   
   first point to highlight, said Archbishop Zimowski. Nazareth is the place of   
   the   
   incarnation, where Jesus began His salvific mission and in Galilee cured many   
   people, as is narrated in the Gospel of St. Mark, read in these days, in which   
   Christ calls to the sick to heal them and, in turn, is called to by them. "In a   
   certain sense we are all constantly called upon, although each person in a   
   different way", explained the prelate. "The human being suffers in different   
   places and, at times, suffers terribly. He calls to another person as he is in   
   need of his help and his presence. At times we are intimidated by the fact of   
   not being able to heal, of not being able to help like Jesus. Let us try to   
   overcome this embarrassment. The important thing is to keep going, to stay   
   beside the man who suffers. He needs, perhaps more than healing, the presence   
   of   
   another person, of a human heart full of mercy, of human solidarity".   
    "These are doctors, nurses, all the representatives of the healthcare   
   professions. They are the institutions that serve human health. ... We must   
   support this great tradition at all costs: the work of doctors and nurses is   
   treated not only as a profession but also and perhaps firstly as a service, as   
   a   
   vocation. Care for the physically impaired and the elderly, care for the   
   mentally ill - these sectors constitute, more than any other aspect of social   
   life, the measure of the culture of a society and the state".   
    Secondly, the archbishop remarked that the Day occurs in the context of the   
   extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, and that there will be a visit to the Basilica   
   of the Holy Sepulchre and the Basilica of the Agony in Gethsemane, the places   
   where Christ gave Himself to the Father for our salvation. "Jesus unites   
   humanity through His Cross, and the celebration of the World Day of the Sick in   
   the Holy Land will help us to realise the wish Pope Francis expressed in the   
   Bull of Indiction, that is, that 'this Jubilee year celebrating the mercy of   
   God   
   will foster an encounter with [Judaism and Islam] and with other noble   
   religious   
   traditions; may it open us to even more fervent dialogue so that we might know   
   and understand one another better; may it eliminate every form of   
   closed-mindedness and disrespect, and drive out every form of violence and   
   discrimination'. Every hospital and clinic, as the Holy Father reminds us, can   
   be a visible sign and place for promoting the culture of encounter and peace,   
   where the experience of sickness and suffering, as well as professional and   
   fraternal help, may contribute to overcoming every limit and division".   
    Finally, the archbishop spoke about the role of servants at the wedding of   
   Cana, who Mary told to do as Christ told them. "Naturally, the miracle takes   
   place through Christ's work; however, He sought human help in completing the   
   prodigy. He could have made the wine appear directly in the amphorae. But He   
   wants to count on human collaboration, and asks the servants to fill them with   
   water. How precious and pleasing to God it is to be servants of others! This,   
   more than anything else, makes us similar to Jesus, Who 'came not to be served,   
   but to serve'".   
    "The fruit of this Day must be concrete: the closeness of our hearts that is   
   expressed in mercy towards the sick and needy, who must feel the closeness or   
   proximity, material and spiritual, of the entire Christian community", he   
   concluded. "It is important that they are not left abandoned or alone as they   
   face such a delicate moment in their life".   
    Fr. Chendi explained that the programme of the Day is divided into three   
   parts:   
   liturgical moments; theological-pastoral insights, with the presence on 9   
   February in the Pontifical Institute Notre Dame Centre of Jerusalem of the   
   Catholic Ordinaries and Patriarchs and bishops of the sister Churches of the   
   Holy Land; and concrete gestures of charity, such as visits to various   
   hospitals   
   and healthcare structures present in the area.   
    The under-secretary also mentioned that plenary indulgence granted by Pope   
   Francis to those who participate in this Day, with the explicit intention that,   
   through corporal and spiritual works of mercy "they will encounter a renewed   
   and   
   authentic witness and discover the Christian meaning of suffering and its   
   sharing among brothers".   
    With regard to the theological and pastoral dimension, the congress of 9   
   February "will offer the opportunity to identify problems, also of an ethical   
   and pastoral nature, that are urgent from both a legislative and a clinical and   
   care-related point of view. In particular, in the name of the inviolable value   
   of every human life and the unique dignity characteristic of every person,   
   attention will be paid to issues regarding the end of life and the care of   
   people with different pathologies, both physically and psychologically   
   invalidating".   
    In relation to the charitable dimension, Fr. Chendi explained that the visits   
   to various entities working in the Holy Land, both Catholic and non-Catholic,   
   will constitute "a tangible sign of what Pope Francis describes in his message   
   as Mary's tenderness in Cana of Galilee, which translates into a predisposition   
   towards serving those in need and in particular our brothers and sisters in   
   sickness".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 28 January 2016 (VIS) - This morning, the Holy Father received   
   in   
   audience:   
    - Archbishop George Panikulam, apostolic nuncio in Uruguay;   
    - Leonardo DiCaprio.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 28 January 2016 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Fr. Jose   
   Hirais Acosta Beltran as bishop of Huejutla (area 6,014, population 557,987,   
   Catholics 502,752, priests 96, religious 67), Mexico. The bishop-elect was born   
   in Pezmatlan, Mexico in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1993. He has served   
   in   
   a number of pastoral roles in the diocese of Huejutla, including parish vicar,   
   vice rector of the minor seminary, professor and formator at the major seminary   
   and judge at the ecclesiastical tribunal. He is currently diocesan   
   administrator, prefect of studies and spiritual director of the major seminary   
   of Huejutla, defender of the bond in the diocesan tribunal and member of the   
   college of consultors.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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