return on Thursday from his apostolic trip in Mexico. The Pope's catechesis was   
   on the theme of the commitment Christians are called to make to offer a   
   concrete   
   sign of God's closeness to the people they encounter.   
    "The Jubilee of Mercy is an opportunity to enter in depth into the mystery of   
   God's goodness and love", he said. "In this Lenten time, the Church invites us   
   to get to know better the Lord Jesus, and to live faith in a way coherent with   
   a   
   lifestyle that expresses the Father's mercy. My life, my attitude, my way of   
   going about the world must be a concrete sign of the fact that God is close to   
   us. Little gestures of love, of tenderness, of attention, that let us think   
   that   
   the Lord is with us, close to us. In this way we open the door of mercy".   
    For this, it is necessary to be committed, and this means assuming a   
   responsibility, a task in relation to someone, and fulfilling it with fidelity,   
   dedication and care. "Every day we are asked to commit ourselves to the things   
   we do: in prayer, in work, in study, even in sport. ... In short, committing   
   oneself means acting with good will and effort to improve life", explained the   
   Pope.   
    "God too has committed Himself to us", he continued. "His first commitment was   
   that of creating the world, and despite our attempts to spoil it, He is   
   committed to keeping it alive. But His greatest commitment was that of giving   
   Jesus to us. ... St. Paul recalls this when he writes that God 'did not spare   
   his   
   own Son but gave him up for us all'.And, by virtue of this, together with Jesus   
   the Father will give us everything we need".   
    In the Gospel it is very easy to see how God's commitment to us is made   
   manifest. "In Jesus, God commits Himself fully in order to restore hope to the   
   poor, to those who are deprived of their dignity, to outsiders, the sick, the   
   imprisoned, and to sinners who welcome Him with good will. In all of this,   
   Jesus   
   was the living expression of the Father's mercy". Francis highlighted the fact   
   that Jesus' welcome to sinners: "if we think of it in a human way, the sinner   
   would be an enemy of Jesus, an enemy of God, but He drew close to them with   
   goodness, He loved them and He changed their heart. We are all sinners, all of   
   us. We all have some blame before God. But we must not be distrustful: He draws   
   close to us to offer us consolation, mercy and forgiveness. This is God's   
   commitment, and this is why He sent Jesus to us, to be close to us, to all of   
   us, and to open the door of His love, His heart and His mercy".   
    Taking as a starting point the merciful love with which Jesus expressed God's   
   commitment, we too can and must match His love with our effort, especially in   
   the situations of greatest need, when there is the greatest thirst for hope. I   
   think of our efforts with abandoned people, with those who have very serious   
   disabilities, with the gravely ill, with the dying, and with those who are no   
   longer able to express their gratitude. ... We bring God's mercy to all these   
   situations through commitment in life, which bears witness to our faith in   
   Jesus. We must always bring with us this caress from God - because God has   
   caressed us with His mercy - to those who are in need of it, to those who have   
   suffering in their heart or who are sad. We must approach them with that caress   
   from God, which is the same one God gave to us".   
    Francis concluded his catechesis by expressing his hope that the Jubilee may   
   contribute to helping our mind and our heart to be profoundly aware of God's   
   commitment to each one of us, and in this way, transform our life in a   
   commitment to mercy for all.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Communique of the Secretariat for Communications   
    Vatican City, 22 February 2016 (VIS) - The Secretariat for Communications   
   today   
   issued the following communique:   
    "Due to the end of the term of service at Vatican Radio of the Director   
   General   
   Fr. Federico Lombardi and the Managing Director Alberto Gasbarri, the prefect   
   for the Secretariat for Communications, Msgr. Dario Vigano, upon directions   
   from   
   the Secretariat of State, has appointed Giacomo Ghisani as "ad interim" legal   
   representative and head of the Directorate of Vatican Radio, responsible for   
   the   
   day-to-day management of Vatican Radio in the context of the current   
   restructuring of Vatican communications".   
    In an explanatory note, it is mentioned that by the Motu Proprio "The current   
   communications context", dated 27 June 2015, Pope Francis instituted the   
   Secretariat for Communications to integrate all the entities hitherto concerned   
   with communication into a new dicastery of the Roman Curia. These structures   
   were the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Holy See Press   
   Office, the Vatican Internet Service, the Vatican Television Centre,   
   L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Typography, the Photographic Service and the   
   Vatican Publishing House.   
    On 9 June of the same year, a feasibility study and working calendar were   
   presented to the Council of Cardinals (the so-called C9), indicating the   
   gradual   
   process of unification of the existing entities; "such bodies", it specifies,   
   "from the date of the publication of the present Motu Proprio, shall continue   
   their respective duties, observing however the indications provided by the   
   Secretariat for Communications".   
    The process has begun, and on 1 January 2016 the Pontifical Council for Social   
   Communications and the Holy See Press Office were unified, from an   
   administrative and management point of view. Nothing has been modified with   
   regard to the competence of the Secretariat of State in relation to   
   institutional communication.   
    This year, in accordance with the presented and approved time scale, the   
   complex but certainly positive unification of Vatican Radio and the Vatican   
   Television Centre was expected to take place. This was implemented for some   
   services (such as the distribution of sound and images for papal ceremonies and   
   other important Vatican events), and for the better deployment of human   
   resources.   
    In this context it is clear why at the end of February, at the end of their   
   respective five-year mandates and the upcoming retirements of two senior   
   figures, the Director General Fr. Federico Lombardi and the Managing Director   
   Alberto Gasbarri, they will not be substituted with figures in similar   
   directing   
   roles. Instead a legal representative and and head of the administrative office   
   will be appointed, in the single person of Giacomo Ghisani, currently deputy   
   director of the General Directorate of the Secretariat for Communications, who   
   has an excellent knowledge of Vatican Radio having worked there for many years   
   as head of the legal and international relations office.   
    The restructuring process will be accompanied by the formulation of new   
   Statutes not only for the Dicastery but also the connected body that will   
   ensure   
   legal representation both in institutional contexts and at European and   
   international level. The new Statutes will also reformulate the staffing plans   
   of the unified bodies.   
    "The task that awaits us offers a great opportunity to evaluate in both   
   entities the areas of excellence and our patrimony of multilingualism and   
   multiculturalism", the note says.   
    "In this phase, the Vatican Television Centre will continue to refer to   
   Stefano   
   D'Agostini for the purposes of ordinary administration. The staff of Vatican   
   Radio will refer to Giacomo Ghisani for administrative matters and to Fr.   
   Andrzej Majewski for editorial activities and the situation of the various   
   language versions (that is, the current Directorate of Programming).   
   Technological matters, including acquisitions and the development of projects   
   (the activity and competence of the current Technical Directorate) it will   
   refer   
   to Sandro Piervenanzi.   
    The Secretariat for Communications will follow this process with care and   
   attention, to facilitate solutions to eventual difficulties and to guarantee   
   its   
   success.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 22 February 2016 (VIS) - The Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Egas da Costa Freitas, ambassador of East Timor to the Holy See, presenting   
   his credential letters;   
    - Rogelio Francisco Emilio Pfirter, ambassador of Argentina to the Holy See,   
   presenting his credential letters.   
    On Friday, 19 February the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal   
   Jean-Louis   
   Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue,   
   accompanied by Bishop Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., secretary of the   
   same   
   dicastery.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Other Pontifical Acts   
    Vatican City, 22 February 2016 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Fr. Angel   
   Antonio Recinos Lemus as bishop of Zacapa y Santo Cristo de Esquipulas (area   
   5,066. population 613,000, Catholics 528,000, priests 32, permanent deacons 1,   
   religious 68), Guatemala. The bishop-elect was born in Azulco, Guatemala in   
   1963   
   and was ordained a priest in 1994. He holds a licentiate in biblical theology   
   from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and has served in a number of   
   academic, administrative and pastoral roles, including seminary professor,   
   director of the Institute of Theology of the National Seminary, head of   
   pastoral   
   ministry of indigenous peoples, representative of Guatemale in the information   
   network of the Church in Latin America, co-ordinator of the pastoral commission   
   for the defence of the environment, and parish priest in various parishes. He   
   is   
   currently parish priest of Nuestra Senora de Lourdes and in El Progreso   
   Achuapa,   
   Jutiapa.   
    On Saturday, 20 February, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Ricardo Lingan   
   Baccay, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Tuguegarao, Philippines, as bishop of   
   Alaminos (area 24,492, population 684,000, Catholics 565,000, priests 52,   
   religious 111), Philippines.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)