Cathedral of San Cristobal de Las Casas, the Pope departed by helicopter to   
   Tuxtla Gutierrez where he met with families in the Victor Manuel Reyna stadium.   
   Upon arrival at the stadium, by popemobile, he was greeted by thousands of   
   people and received the keys to the city from the hands of the governor of the   
   state of Chiapas.   
    The meeting began with testimonies from a young couple; a family made up of   
   divorced parents in a new relationship; Manuel, a disabled adolescent; Beatriz,   
   a single mother, and various other couples from the diocese of Tapachula who   
   had   
   been married for many years.   
    The Pope then addressed those present, starting by giving thanks to God "for   
   being here, on Chiapaneca soil". He continued, "It feels good to be here on   
   this   
   soil, on this land; it is good to be here in this place which, with you here,   
   has a family flavour, a home flavour. ... I also thank you, families and   
   friends,   
   for giving us your witness, for opening to us the doors of your homes, the   
   doors   
   of your lives; you have allowed us to sit with you sharing both in the bread   
   that nourishes you and in the sweat of your brow as you face the difficulties   
   of   
   every day. It is the bread representing the joys, the hopes and the hard sweat   
   with which you confront sadness, disillusion and failings".   
    "Manuel, before thanking you for your testimony", he continued. "I thank you   
   for your witness and especially for your example. I liked the expression you   
   used, 'to put your heart into it' [echarle ganas] describing the attitude you   
   took after speaking with your parents. You began to put your heart into your   
   life, your family, your friends; you put your heart into us gathered here.   
   Thank   
   you. I believe that this is what the Holy Spirit always wants to do in our   
   midst: to put a new heart into us, giving us reasons to keep on taking risks   
   for   
   the good of the family, dreaming and building a life that has this sense of   
   home, of family".   
    "This is something which God the Father has always dreamt of and for which God   
   the Father has fought for a very long time. When everything seemed lost that   
   afternoon in the Garden of Eden, God the Father put a new heart into that young   
   couple and told them that everything was not lost. And when the people of   
   Israel   
   felt that they could not go on journeying through the desert, God the Father   
   put   
   His heart into it by giving them manna from heaven. And when the fullness of   
   time came, God the Father put His heart into it, into humanity, by sending us   
   His Son".   
    "Similarly, all of us here have had this experience, in different moments and   
   different ways; God the Father has put His heart into it for us. We can ask   
   ourselves: why? Because He cannot do otherwise. God our Father does not know   
   how   
   do to anything else but love us and put His best into us, encouraging us,   
   helping us move forward... because His name is love, His name is self-giving,   
   His   
   name is mercy. This He has shown us with complete power and clarity in Jesus,   
   His Son, Who risked everything to the end so as to once again make possible the   
   Kingdom of God. A Kingdom that invites us to share in a new mindset, that puts   
   into motion a dynamic power capable of opening the heavens, capable of opening   
   our hearts, our minds, our hands and capable of challenging us with new   
   possibilities. This is a Kingdom which has the feeling of family, the flavour   
   of   
   a life shared. In Jesus and with Jesus this Kingdom is possible".   
    "Manuel, you asked me to pray for the many adolescents who are disillusioned   
   and on a wrong path. How well we know this. Many adolescents who are deflated,   
   tired and without aspirations. And as you yourself rightly said, this attitude   
   often comes from a feeling of loneliness, from not having someone to talk to.   
   Think of fathers and mothers: do they speak to their sons or daughters or are   
   they always busy or in a rush?"   
    "This reminds me of the witness which Beatriz gave us", he continued.   
   "Beatriz,   
   you said: 'the struggle has always been difficult because of uncertainty and   
   loneliness'. How many times did you feel singled out, judged: 'that one'? Let   
   us   
   think of all those people, of all those women who go through what Beatriz went   
   through. Uncertainty, insufficiency, and often not having the bare essentials,   
   can lead to despair, can make us deeply anxious because we cannot see a way to   
   go on, especially when we have children in our care. Uncertainty is not only a   
   threat to our stomach (which is already serious), but it can also threaten our   
   soul, demoralising us and taking away our energy so that we seek apparent   
   solutions that in the end solve nothing. And you were brave Beatriz, thank you.   
   There is a kind of uncertainty which can be very dangerous, which can creep in   
   surreptitiously; it is the uncertainty born of solitude and isolation. And   
   isolation is always a bad counsellor".   
    "The way to overcome the uncertainty and isolation which makes us vulnerable   
   to   
   so many apparent solutions - as Beatriz mentioned - can be found on different   
   levels. One is through legislation which protects and guarantees the bare   
   necessities of life so that every home and every person can develop through   
   education and dignified employment. There is, on the other hand, what the   
   witness of Humberto and Claudia made evident when they explained how they tried   
   to convey to others the love of God that they experienced through service and   
   generous giving. Laws and personal commitment make good duo that can break the   
   spiral of uncertainty. And you have the inspiration, you pray, and you are   
   united to Jesus, and you are involved in the life of the Church. You used a   
   beautiful expression: 'Let us take communion with the brother who is weak, ill,   
   needy, in prison'. Thank you. Thank you".   
    "Today we see how on different fronts the family is weakened and questioned.   
   It   
   is regarded as a model which has done its time, but which has no place in our   
   societies; these, claiming to be modern, increasingly favour a model based on   
   isolation. ... It is true that family life is not always easy, and can often be   
   painful and stressful but, as I have often said referring to the Church, I   
   prefer a wounded family that makes daily efforts to put love into play, to a   
   family and society that is sick from isolationism or a habitual fear of love. I   
   prefer a family that makes repeated efforts to begin again, to a family and   
   society that is narcissistic and obsessed with luxury and comfort. ... I   
   prefer a   
   family with tired faces from generous giving, to a family with 'made up' faces   
   that know nothing of tenderness and compassion. I prefer a man and a woman, don   
   Aniceto and his wife, with faces that are wrinkled due to the daily struggles   
   over the fifty years of strong married love; and here we have them".   
    "And speaking of wrinkles, to change the subject a little, I remember the   
   testimony of a great actress - an actress of Latin American films - almost in   
   her sixties, and showing some wrinkles on her face. She was advised to have   
   some   
   work done on her face so as to carry on working successfully. Her response was   
   quite clear: 'These wrinkles cost me a lot of work, much effort, much pain and   
   a   
   full life, so I would never even dream of touching them; they are the signs of   
   my life history. And I am still a great actress'. The same thing happens in   
   marriage. Married life has to be renewed every day. And, as I said before, I   
   prefer families with wrinkles, with wounds, and scars, but who carry on moving   
   forwards; for these wounds, scars and wrinkles are the fruit of a faithful love   
   which has had its share of difficulties. Love is not easy, it not easy, but the   
   most beautiful thing is when a man and a woman can offer each other true love   
   and offer it for life".   
    "I have been asked to pray for you and I want to do so now. You, dear   
   Mexicans,   
   have something extra; you run ahead with an advantage. You have a Mother, la   
   Guadalupana. La Guadalupana wanted to visit this land and this gives us the   
   certainty of her intercession so that our dream, which we call the family, may   
   not be lost through uncertainty or solitude. She is a Mother and is always   
   ready   
   to defend our families, our future; she is always ready to put her heart into   
   it   
   by giving us her Son. For this reason, I invite you, as you are, without moving   
   around too much, to hold hands and address her together: 'Hail Mary...'".   
    After all those present in the stadium prayed a Hail Mary together, the Pope   
   added, "And let us not forget St. Joseph, quiet, a worker, but always at the   
   forefront looking after his family. Thank you, and may God bless you. And pray   
   for me. And now I would like to invite married couples here present, in the   
   context of this celebration of the family, to renew in silence their marriage   
   vows. And those who are preparing for marriage, ask for the grace of a faithful   
   family, full of love. In silence, renew your marriage vows, and newly-weds,   
   pray   
   for the grace of fidelity and love in the family".   
    Later in the afternoon Francis returned by air to Mexico City, from where he   
   travelled to Morelia to celebrate Mass with the priests, men and women   
   religious, consecrated persons and seminarians of the city, and to meet the   
   rectors of various Mexican universities and leaders of other Christian   
   confessions in the cathedral. The Pope's day will conclude with a meeting with   
   young people in the Morelos y Pavon Stadium, after which he will return to   
   Mexico City.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 16 February 2016 (VIS) - On 14 February, the Holy Father   
   appointed Bishop George Bugeja, O.F.M., as apostolic administrator sede vacante   
   et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis of the apostolic vicariate of Benghazi, Libya. He is   
   currently coadjutor of the apostolic vicariate of Tripoli, Libya, and succeeds   
   Bishop Sylvester Carmel Magro, O.F.M., whose resignation from the pastoral care   
   of the same apostolic vicariate upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the   
   Holy Father.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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