* Original message posted in: VATICAN.   
   * Crossposted in: IN_CATHOLIC.   
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTIETH YEAR - N. 157   
   ENGLISH   
   WEDNESDAY, 15 SEPTEMBER 2010   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Clare of Assisi: a Decisive Impulse to Church Renewal   
   - Appeal for Peace in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan   
   - Holy See and Bosnia Herzegovina Ratify an Agreement   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   CLARE OF ASSISI: A DECISIVE IMPULSE TO CHURCH RENEWAL   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 15 SEP 2010 (VIS) - Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis   
   during this morning's general audience to St. Clare of Assisi (1193-1253), a   
   contemporary of St. Francis and one of the most beloved saints of the   
   Catholic Church. "Her witness", the Pope said, "shows us how much the Church   
   is indebted to courageous women rich in faith who, like her, were capable of   
   giving a decisive impulse to ecclesial renewal".   
      
     Clare, the Holy Father explained, was born to a rich and noble family.   
   While she was still very young, her relatives decided to arrange an   
   important marriage for her, but at the age of eighteen the saint, in a bold   
   gesture inspired by a profound desire to follow Christ, abandoned her family   
   home in the company of a friend. She joined the Friars Minor at the church   
   of Porziuncola and Francis himself welcomed her in a simple ceremony,   
   cutting her hair and investing her with the penitential habit. From that   
   moment Clare became a poor and humble bride of Christ, and dedicated herself   
   entirely to Him.   
      
     "Clare found in Francis of Assisi, especially at the beginning of her   
   religious experience, not only a master whose teachings to follow but also a   
   fraternal friend. The friendship between these two saints is a beautiful and   
   important element, for when two pure souls enflamed with the same love for   
   God meet, from their mutual friendship they draw a powerful stimulus to   
   follow the path of perfection. Friendship is one of the most noble and   
   exalted human sentiments, which divine Grace purifies and transfigures".   
      
     The Flemish bishop and chronicler Jacques de Vitry, who visited Italy   
   during that period, speaks of Clare and her followers in the early days of   
   the Franciscan movement and notes her sensibility towards "a characteristic   
   trait of Franciscan spirituality: ... radical poverty associated with   
   complete trust in Divine Providence".   
      
     For this reason the saint received "from Pope Gregory IX, or perhaps   
   earlier, from Innocent III", the so-called "Privilegium Paupertatis"   
   according to which Clare and her followers "could possess no material   
   property. This", the Pope explained, "was a truly extraordinary exception to   
   then current Canon Law, granted by the ecclesiastical authorities of the   
   time in appreciation of the fruits of evangelical sanctity they saw in the   
   lifestyle of Clare and her consoeurs.   
      
     "This shows", he added, "how even during the Middle Ages women played an   
   important not a secondary role. In this context it must be remembered that   
   Clare was the first woman in Church history to produce a written Rule,   
   approved by the Pope, so that the charism of Francis of Assisi could be   
   conserved in all the many female communities which were coming into being at   
   that time, and which sought to draw inspiration from the example of Francis   
   and Clare.   
      
     "In her convent of San Damiano, Clare heroically practised the virtues   
   that should characterise all Christians: humility, a spirit of piety and   
   penance, and charity".   
      
     Her fame of sanctity and the prodigies that came about thanks to her   
   intervention led Pope Alexander IV to canonise her in 1255, just two years   
   after her death. Her followers, the Poor Clares, still "play a vital role in   
   the Church with their prayer and their works", Pope Benedict concluded.   
   AG/                                                                     VIS   
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   APPEAL FOR PEACE IN INDIA, PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 15 SEP 2010 (VIS) - At the end of his general audience this   
   morning, the Pope pronounced the following appeal: "With great concern I am   
   following the events that have taken place recently in southern Asia,   
   especially in India, Pakistan an   
   d Afghanistan. I pray for the victims and   
   ask that respect for religious freedom and the logic of reconciliation and   
   peace may prevail over hatred and violence".   
   AG/                                                                     VIS   
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   HOLY SEE AND BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA RATIFY AN AGREEMENT   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 15 SEP 2010 (VIS) - A communique made public yesterday   
   afternoon announced that, on the morning of 14 September, a ceremony took   
   place in the Vatican to exchange the instruments of ratification of an   
   Agreement between the Holy See and Bosnia Herzegovina concerning religious   
   assistance to Catholic faithful who are members of that country's armed   
   forces. The Agreement itself was signed in Sarajevo on 8 April.   
      
     The ceremony was attended by, among others, Cardinal Secretary of State   
   Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for   
   Relations with States, and Sven Alkalaj, foreign minister of Bosnia   
   Herzegovina.   
      
     The Agreement came into effect on the day the instruments of ratification   
   were exchanged.   
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   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 15 SEP 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:   
      
    - Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of   
   Kalemie-Kirungu, Democratic Republic of Congo, presented by Bishop Dominique   
   Kimpinde, upon having reached the age limit.   
      
    - Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese   
   of Sao Luis do Maranhao, Brazil, presented by Bishop Geraldo Dantas de   
   Andrade S.C.I., upon having reached the age limit.   
      
    - Elevated Msgr. Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, president of the Pontifical   
   Academy for Life, to the dignity of bishop.   
      
    - Elevated Msgr. Enrico dal Covolo S.D.B., rector of the Pontifical Lateran   
   University, to the dignity of bishop.   
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   --- timEd/2 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS-Meridian, MS-bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)