Subject: VISnews 110203
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 23
ENGLISH
THURSDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 2011
SUMMARY:
- Consecrated Life: Light, Prophecy, Wisdom of the Church
- Letters of Credence of New Austrian Ambassador
- Emmanuel Community: Eucharistic Communion and Mission
- Greater Sensitivity towards the Sick and Suffering
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
CONSECRATED LIFE: LIGHT, PROPHECY, WISDOM OF THE CHURCH
VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2011 (VIS) - Yesterday, Feast of the Presentation of
Jesus in the Temple and the Day of Consecrated Life, the Holy Father
presided at second Vespers in the Vatican Basilica.
"The Presentation of Jesus in the Temple", he said, "is an eloquent symbol
of complete donation of life, for all those men and women who are called to
reproduce, in the Church and the world, via the evangelical counsels, the
characteristic features of Jesus: chastity, poverty and obedience. It is for
this reason that today's feast was chosen by the Venerable John Paul II to
celebrate the annual Day of Consecrated Life".
Benedict XVI then went on to propose three themes for reflection on this
feast day: "Firstly", he said, the evangelical image of the Presentation of
Jesus in the Temple contains the fundamental symbol of light; the light
which, irradiating from Christ, shone on Mary and Joseph, on Simeon and Anna
and, through them, on everyone. The Church Fathers associated this shining
light with the spiritual journey. Consecrated life is an expression of this
journey, especially in ... love for divine beauty, reflection of the
goodness of God".
"Secondly", he continued, "the evangelical image is an expression of
prophecy, gift of the Holy Spirit. Simeon and Anna, contemplating the Baby
Jesus, foresee His destiny of death and resurrection for the salvation of
all mankind, and they announce this mystery as universal salvation.
Consecrated life, with its dual aspect of contemplation and activity, is
called to offer such prophetic witness. Consecrated men and women are in
fact given the chance to express primacy of God and passion for the Gospel,
practiced in life and announced to the poor and to the weakest of the
earth".
Finally, the Presentation also "expresses the wisdom of Simeon and Anna,
the wisdom of a life totally dedicated to seeking the face of God, His signs
and His will; a life dedicated to listening to and announcing His Word".
The Pope then went on to encourage consecrated men and women "to listen
assiduously to the Word, because all of life's wisdom arises from the Word
of the Lord. ... The Holy Spirit, in Whom the Bible was written, is the same
Spirit Who illumines the Word of God with new light for the founders and
foundresses. Every charism and every rule springs from it and seeks to be an
expression of it, thus opening up new pathways of Christian living marked by
the radicalism of the Gospel.
"The situation in which we live today, especially in the more developed
societies, is often marked by a radical plurality, by a progressive
marginalisation of religion from the public sphere, by a relativism which
extends to fundamental values", the Holy Father added. "This means that our
Christian witness must always be luminous and coherent and our educational
efforts attentive and generous". And he concluded by exhorting the
religious: "With the wisdom of your lives and faith in the infinite
possibilities of true education, guide the minds and hearts of the men and
women of our time towards 'the good life in the Gospel'".
HML/ VIS
20110203 (530)
LETTERS OF CREDENCE OF NEW AUSTRIAN AMBASSADOR
VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican Benedict XVI
received the Letters of Credence of Alfons M. Kloss, the new ambassador of
Austria to the Holy See.
Addressing the diplomat in German the Holy Father mentioned his 2007
apostolic trip to the Austrian shrine of Mariazell during which, he said, he
had had the chance to experience the profound Catholic faith so deeply
rooted in the Austrian people. He likewise observed that the Austria is a
country with a long tradition of peaceful coexistence among different
religions and cultures.
The Pope then went on to consider the relationship between State and
religion, highlighting how the latter cannot be relegated only to the
private sphere, and underlining the Catholic Church's role in education, and
in assistance to the disadvantaged for whom she often acts as spokesperson.
Another of the themes addressed in the Pope's remarks was defence of the
family, and the need for policies to support and protect it.
Finally, Benedict XVI referred to the building of the "common European
home", underlining once again the role played by Christianity in the
civilisation and culture of the continent.
CD/ VIS
20110203 (203)
EMMANUEL COMMUNITY: EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION AND MISSION
VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI
received members of the Emmanuel Community, currently marking the twentieth
anniversary of the death of their founder Pierre Goursat, the cause for
whose beatification was opened last year.
In his address to the group the Holy Father recalled other anniversaries
due to fall in coming months: forty years since the foundation of the
Emmanuel Community itself, the thirtieth anniversary of the community's NGO
FIDESCO, and twenty years since the recognition of its statutes by the
Pontifical Council for the Laity.
"The profound grace of your community arises from Eucharistic communion",
he said. "This adoration leads to compassion for all human beings, and from
this compassion comes the thirst to evangelise. In the spirit of your
charism, I exhort you to develop your spiritual life, giving pride of place
to the personal meeting with Christ, Emmanuel, God with us".
"An authentically Eucharistic life is a missionary life", the Pope
explained. "In a world often disoriented and in search for new reasons to
live, the light of Christ must be brought to everyone. Among the men and
women of today, be ardent missionaries of the Gospel, upheld by a life
radically founded on Christ".
"Today, the urgent need for this announcement is particularly felt in
families, which are so often fragmented, in the young and in the
intellectual world. Help to renew the apostolic dynamism of parishes from
within, developing their spiritual and missionary impulses. I encourage you
to be attentive to people who return to the Church and who have not had the
benefit of a profound catechesis. Help them anchor their faith in an
authentically theological, sacramental and ecclesial life".
The Holy Father then went on to invite the community "to live in a state
of genuine communion among its members. ... The community life you wish to
foster, while respecting the life of each individual, will be a living
witness for society of that fraternal love which must animate all human
relationships. Fraternal communion is already an announcement of the new
life that Christ came to establish", he said.
"May this communion, which is not a form of closure, be effective also in
local Churches. Each charism aims at the growth of the Body of Christ in its
entirety and missionary action must, then, constantly adapt to the reality
of the local Church, ever attentive to agreement and collaboration among
pastors, under the authority of the bishop. Furthermore", the Pope
concluded, "the mutual recognition of diversity of vocations in the Church,
and their indispensable contribution to evangelisation, is an eloquent sign
of the unity of Christ's disciples and of the credibility of their witness".
AC/ VIS
20110203 (460)
GREATER SENSITIVITY TOWARDS THE SICK AND SUFFERING
VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office a
press conference took place to present Benedict XVI's Message for the
nineteenth World Day of the Sick which will be held on 11 February, and a
seminar on the theme "Catholic healthcare associations and the culture of
life", due to be held on 5 February at Rome's St. Pius X Auditorium to mark
the end of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations of the Pontifical
Council for Health Pastoral Care.
Participating in today's conference were Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski,
Bishop Jose Luis Redrado Marchite O.H. and Msgr. Jean-Marie Mpendawatu Mate
Musivi, respectively president, secretary and under secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, and Rosa Merola, consultor of
the pontifical council and psychologist at Rome's Rebibbia prison.
Archbishop Zimowski explained how Benedict XVI's Message - published on 18
December 2010 - encourages people to reflect "on the mystery of human
suffering in the light of Christian faith. At the same time it promotes
greater sensitivity, within Christian communities and civil society, towards
our brothers and sisters who are experiencing situations of suffering and
illness, that no-one may be abandoned or deprived of the treatment they
need.
"From this perspective", he added, "the Pope immediately highlights three
fundamental preconditions for achieving authentic healthcare renewal,
beginning with the weakest sectors of the world population. ... The first of
these concerns the centrality of human beings, who must be given care and
attention, and even more so if they find themselves in conditions of want,
suffering or marginalisation. ...In the second place, there is need for an
authentic humanisation of the field of healthcare. ... The third point
concerns the commitment of the particular Churches, and the Pope invites
dioceses all over the world to strive to ensure that the care of sick and
suffering people may be improved and made more effective".
The president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care also
noted that in this year's Message "the Holy Father calls for serious
reflection on certain fundamental themes, beginning with the 'mystery of
suffering'. This is necessary, on the one hand, in order to recognise the
source of our light and hope and to find the strength to live through a
period of suffering and, on the other, to recognise the ... ways in which we
are called to care for sick and/or afflicted people".
"The World Day of the Sick, and suffering in general, are nor limited to
the elderly, Benedict XVI explains in his Message. Thus, he also calls on
young people - the sick and the healthy - to build bridges of love and
solidarity, and to do so on the foundation of the Eucharist", where Christ
"gives Himself to us for Love, to make us participants in His life". At the
same time the Pope invites us "to recognise and serve Christ in the face and
condition of our poor, afflicted, weak brothers and sisters".
The Pope's Message, Archbishop Zimowski concluded his remarks, "ends with
an appeal addressed to everyone, especially to those who, with various roles
and responsibilities (including volunteers to whom a recently-inaugurated
European Year has been dedicated), work in the field of healthcare and
treatment for the sick and suffering".
OP/ VIS
20110203 (550)
AUDIENCES
VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience
Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of
Peoples.
AP/ VIS
20110203 (30)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 3 FEB 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father accepted the resignation
from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Maribor, Slovenia presented by
Archbishop Franc Kramberger, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the
Code of Canon Law. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Archbishop Marjan Turnsek.
RE/ VIS
20110203 (60)
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