VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXVI - # 36   
   DATE 22-02-2016   
      
   Summary:   
   - Jubilee of the Curia: be a model for all   
   - Angelus: the Pope recounts his apostolic trip to Mexico   
   - Francis: no capital punishment during the Year of Mercy   
   - Jubilee audience: mercy and commitment   
   - Communique of the Secretariat for Communications   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Jubilee of the Curia: be a model for all   
    Vatican City, 22 February 2016 (VIS) - At 10.30 a.m. today, the Solemnity of   
   the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle, the Holy Father presided at a Holy Mass   
   celebrated in the Vatican Basilica for the Jubilee of the Roman Curia, the   
   Governorate and the Institutions of the Holy See. All the participants,   
   including the Pope, then carried out a procession of faith from the Paul VI   
   Hall   
   to the Basilica, passing through the Holy Door.   
    "At this time, the Lord Jesus addresses a question to every one of us: 'But   
   who   
   do you say that I am?'. A clear and direct question, from which it is not   
   possible to escape or remain neutral, nor is it possible to postpone the answer   
   or delegate it to someone else. But there is nothing inquisitional about this;   
   instead, it is full of love! The love of our only Master, Who today calls us to   
   renew our faith in Him, recognising Him as the Son of God and the Lord of our   
   life. And the first one called to renew his profession of faith is the   
   Successor   
   of Peter, who bears the responsibility of confirming his brothers".   
    "Let us allow grace to form again our heart so as to believe, and open our   
   mouth to fulfil the profession of faith and obtain salvation. Let us, then,   
   make   
   Peter's words our own: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God'. May our   
   thought and our gaze be fixed on Jesus Christ, the beginning and end of every   
   action of the Church. He is the foundation and no-one may lay another. He is   
   the   
   'stone' on which we must build. St. Augustine recalls this with expressive   
   words   
   when he writes that the Church, although agitated and disturbed by the   
   upheavals   
   of history, does not fall down, because she is built on stone, from which   
   Peter's name is derived. It is not the stone that derives its name from Peter,   
   but Peter from the stone, just as it is not the name Christ that derives from   
   Christian, but Christian from Christ. The stone is Christ, the foundation on   
   which Peter too was built".   
    Francis emphasised that "from this profession of faith there derives, for each   
   one of us, the task of responding to this call from God. Pastors, first and   
   foremost, are required to have as a model God Himself Who takes care of His   
   flock. ... It is also good for us, called to be Pastors in the Church, to let   
   the   
   face of God the Good Shepherd illuminate us, purify us, transform us and   
   restore   
   us, fully renewed in our mission. In our workplaces too may we feel, cultivate   
   and practice a strong pastoral sense, especially towards the people we   
   encounter   
   every day. May no-one feel neglected or mistreated, but may everyone be able to   
   experience, especially here, the loving care of the Good Shepherd".   
    "We are called upon to be God's collaborators in a task as fundamental and   
   unique as bearing witness by our existence the strength of the grace that   
   transforms and the power of the Spirit that renews. Let us allow the Lord to   
   free us from every temptation that distances us from the essence of our   
   mission,   
   and let us rediscover the beauty of professing our faith in the Lord Jesus.   
   Faith to the ministry matches well with the mercy we wish to experience. In the   
   Sacred Scripture, indeed, faithfulness and mercy are inseparable. Where there   
   is   
   one there is the other, and it is precisely in their reciprocal nature and   
   complementarity that we can see the very presence of the Good Shepherd. The   
   faithfulness that is required of us is that of acting in accordance with   
   Christ's heart. As we have heard in the words of the apostle Peter, we must   
   tend   
   to our flock with a generous heart and become a model for all. In this way,   
   'when the Chief Shepherd appears', we will be able to receive 'the crown of   
   glory that will never fade away'".   
      
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    Angelus: the Pope recounts his apostolic trip to Mexico   
    Vatican City, 21 February 2016 (VIS) - Pope Francis described his trip to   
   Mexico as "an experience of transfiguration" in his reflection before this   
   Sunday's Angelus. Starting from the Gospel reading of this second Sunday of   
   Lent, dedicated to the Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor, the Holy Father   
   spoke about his visit to the land of the Virgin of Guadalupe.   
    In Mexico, he said "the Lord has shown us the light of His glory through the   
   Body of the Church, of His holy people that live in this land — a body so often   
   wounded, a people so often oppressed and despised, whose dignity is violated.   
   In   
   fact, the various encounters experienced in Mexico were truly full of light:   
   the   
   light of a faith that transfigures faces and illumines our path".   
    "The spiritual 'centre of gravity' of my pilgrimage was the Shrine of Our Lady   
   of Guadalupe", he added. "To remain in silence before the image of the Mother   
   was what suggested the trip to me. I thank God for giving me this opportunity.   
   I   
   contemplated and let myself to be gazed upon by She whose eyes hold the gaze of   
   all of her children, the sorrows of violence, kidnapping and murders, the   
   violence against so many poor people, against so many women. Guadalupe is the   
   most visited Marian sanctuary in the world. From all of America, people go to   
   pray there where the ‘Virgin Morenita' appeared to the Indian St. Juan Diego,   
   giving rise to the evangelisation of the continent and its new civilization, a   
   fruit of encounter between diverse cultures".   
    "It is precisely this inheritance that the Lord has entrusted to Mexico: to   
   protect the wealth of diversity, and at the same time, to manifest the harmony   
   of a common faith: a simple and robust faith, accompanied by a great force of   
   vitality and humanity", explained the Pope. "Like my predecessors, I also went   
   to confirm the Mexican people in their faith, but at the same time to be   
   confirmed. I have gathered fully this gift so that it may be of benefit to the   
   universal Church".   
    "A shining example of what I am saying was given by families: Mexican families   
   welcomed me with joy as a messenger of Christ and pastor of the Church. But at   
   the same time, they gave me clear and strong witness of lived faith, of faith   
   that transfigures life, for the edification of all Christian families in the   
   world. The same may be said about the young, consecrated persons, priests,   
   workers and the imprisoned".   
    After giving thanks to the Virgin of Guadalupe for this pilgrimage and   
   acknowledging the contribution of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities of   
   Mexico and all those who made the trip possible, Francis gave special praise to   
   the Holy Trinity for the encounter in Cuba with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and   
   All Russia, a meeting that was greatly desired by previous popes.   
    "This event too is a prophetic light of the Resurrection, which the world   
   today   
   needs more than ever. May the Holy Mother of God continue to guide us in the   
   path of friendship and unity. Let us pray to the Virgin of Kazan, an icon of   
   whom was given to me by Patriarch Kirill".   
      
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    Francis: no capital punishment during the Year of Mercy   
    Vatican City, 22 February 2016 (VIS) - After today's Angelus prayer, Pope   
   Francis spoke about the international conference "For a World Without the Death   
   Penalty," organised by the Sant'Egidio Community, which begins in Rome   
   tomorrow,   
   and expressed his hope that it may inspire fresh efforts towards the abolition   
   of the death penalty.   
    The Pope observed that the increasingly strong public opposition to the death   
   penalty, even as an instrument of legitimate social defence, is a sign of hope.   
   "Indeed, modern societies are able to effectively control crime without   
   definitively removing from the criminal the possibility of redeeming himself.   
   The issue lies in the context of a perspective on penal justice that   
   increasingly conforms to the dignity of man and God's design for man and for   
   society. And also penal justice open to the hope of being reintegrated in   
   society. The command "thou shalt not kill" has absolute value and refers to the   
   guilty as well as the innocent.   
    "The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy is a good opportunity to promote in the   
   world an increasingly mature respect for life and the dignity of each person.   
   Because even a criminal has the inviolable right to life, a gift of God. I   
   appeal to the consciences of those who govern, so that an international   
   consensus may be reached for the abolition of the death penalty. I propose to   
   those among them who are Catholic to make an exemplary gesture of courage: that   
   the death penalty not be applied in this Holy Year of Mercy".   
    "All Christians and men and women of good will are called today to work not   
   only for the abolition of the death penalty, but also to improve conditions in   
   prisons, in respect for human dignity and the dignity of those deprived of   
   freedom".   
    The Pope also mentioned next Thursday's Via Crucis through the streets of   
   Rome,   
   organised by the Pope Juan XXIII Foundation, founded by the priest Oreste   
   Benzi,   
   in support of women who are victims of human trafficking, and to pray for them.   
    Before concluding the Pope reiterated that Lent is a good time to undertake a   
   path of conversion, based on mercy. "For this, I have decided to give to you   
   here in the Square a 'spiritual medicine' called 'Misericordina'. We did this   
   once before, but this one is better, it is 'Misericordina-Plus': a box with a   
   rosary and an image of the Merciful Jesus. Volunteers, including the poor, the   
   homeless, refugees and also religious, will now distribute them. Receive this   
   gift as a spiritual aid to help spread forgiveness and fraternity, especially   
   in   
   this year of mercy".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Jubilee audience: mercy and commitment   
    Vatican City, 20 February 2016 (VIS) - This morning fifty thousand people   
   attended the Holy Father's Jubilee audience in St. Peter's Square, following   
   his   
      
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    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)