Subject: VISnews 110413
Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 71
ENGLISH
WEDNESDAY, 13 APRIL 2011
SUMMARY:
- Saintliness is the Measure of Christian Life
- Video Message to Families Reunited in Melbourne
- Holy See Press Office Declaration on Ex-Bishop of Bruges
- Presentation of "Youcat", Catechism for Youth
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
SAINTLINESS IS THE MEASURE OF CHRISTIAN LIFE
VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - During this Wednesday's general audiences,
Benedict XVI concluded the cycle of catechesis he has dedicated over the
course of two years to the many saints who "with their faith, with their
charity and with their lives, have been beacons for many generations, and
are thus also for us".
"Often we are led to believe that sainthood is reserved to a few chosen
ones", the Pope said. Nonetheless, "saintliness, the fullness of Christian
life, does not consist in the achievement of extraordinary feats, but in
uniting oneself with Christ... in making His disposition ... His behaviour
... our own. ... The II Vatican Council, in the Constitution of the Church,
speaks clearly of the universal call to sainthood, affirming that no-one is
excluded".
However, a holy life, the Pope continued, "is not principally the result
of our efforts, as it is God ... who renders us holy, and it is the action
of his Spirit which animates us from within, the same life of Christ
resurrected which is communicated to us and which transforms us ...
Saintliness is therefore ultimately rooted in baptismal grace, in being
introduced to the paschal mystery of Christ, by which His Spirit, His
resurrected life, is communicated to us. ... But God always respects our
freedom and asks us to accept this gift and to live with the demands it
brings, asks that we may allow ourselves to be transformed by the action of
the Holy Spirit, conforming our will to the will of God".
"How can it be that our way of thinking and our actions become the thought
and action of Christ?" asked the Pope. "Once again, the II Vatican Council
offers us clear guidance; it tells us that Christian holiness is none other
than charity, fully experienced". However, in order that charity might,
"like a good seed, grow in the soul and there bear fruit, the faithful must
listen gladly to the Word of God and, by its grace, carry out His will
through their works, participate frequently in the sacraments, above all the
Eucharist and the Holy Liturgy; they must constantly apply themselves in
prayer, in the abnegation of their selves, in the active service of their
brothers and in the exercise of every virtue. ... For this reason the true
disciple of Christ is characterised by his charity both toward God and
toward his neighbour".
"The Church, during the Liturgical Year, invites us to commemorate an
array of saints who have fully lived in charity, and have loved and followed
Christ in their everyday lives. They show us that it is possible to follow
this path. ... We are all called to saintliness: it is the very measure of
Christian life".
Benedict XVI concluded by inviting us all to open ourselves "to the action
of the Holy Spirit, which transforms our life, so that we too may become
tesserae in the great mosaic of sainthood that God creates throughout
history".
AG/ VIS 20110413
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VIDEO MESSAGE TO FAMILIES REUNITED IN MELBOURNE
VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - Following today's catechesis and during
his greeting to the pilgrims in several languages, the Holy Father addressed
an English-language video message to the participants in the Third National
Family Gathering in Melbourne, Australia:
"This important event is an occasion for you not only to witness to the
bonds of affection within your individual families, but also to deepen them
with the wider family of God, which is the Church, so that you become
protagonists of a new humanity, a renewed culture of love and unity, of life
and stability, giving glory to God our Father at all times".
AG/ VIS 20110413
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HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE DECLARATION ON EX-BISHOP OF BRUGES
VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - The following declaration was made to the
press in the late afternoon yesterday by the director of the Holy See Press
Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., regarding the situation of the ex-bishop
of Bruges, Belgium, Msgr. Roger Vangheluwe:
"In view of the proceedings against Msgr. Roger Vangheluwe, ex-bishop of
Bruges, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - as already
communicated to the Nunciature in Belgium - has requested that he leave
Belgium and undergo a period of spiritual and psychological counselling.
Throughout this period he will obviously be forbidden from publicly
exercising his priestly or episcopal functions. The psychological treatment
has been decided upon by the Congregation to enable further diagnostic and
prognostic information to be gathered in order to continue and conclude the
proceedings with a definitive decision, which shall remain the competence of
the Congregation, to be approved by the Holy Father. This decision shall
naturally require consideration of the various aspects of the question,
above all the suffering of the victims and the need for justice. The
proceedings are therefore still in progress and the decision made by the
Congregation is of an interlocutory nature and not definitive".
OP/ VIS 20110413
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PRESENTATION OF "YOUCAT", CATECHISM FOR YOUTH
VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - A press conference was held in the Holy
See Press Office at 12.30 today to present "Youcat", the Catechism of the
Catholic Church aimed at the young, prepared by participants in the XXVI
World Youth Day to be held in Madrid from 16 to 21 August 2011.
The speakers at the conference were cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of
the Pontifical Council for the Laity; Christoph Schonborn, O.P., archbishop
of Vienna, Austria; archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical
Council for Promoting the New Evangelisation; Bernhard Meuser, promoter and
editor of Youcat, and two young participants.
Cardinal Rylko commented that this catechism for young people has been
translated into six languages, and 700,000 copies have been distributed. "It
is a gift from the Holy Father to the young participants in World Youth
Day".
Referring to the planned World Youth Day, the cardinal continued "It is
not enough to make young people 'dream'; it is necessary also to help them
grow well-rooted in the rich earth of Christian tradition. ... A real
education in the faith of the young, therefore, must begin by freely
proposing Christ to them. He is the solid rock upon which they may build
their lives!"
He explained that "'Youcat' translates the content of the 'Catechism of
the Catholic Church' rigorously and faithfully, and using language adapted
to the young. It does not replace the Catechism, but rather, leads toward
it, paving the way to the 'Catechism' and its 'Compendium'. It aims to guide
the young toward a deeper knowledge of their faith".
Archbishop Fisichella emphasised that "'Youcat' answers a current need to
present the content of the faith, professed by throughout time by Christians
everywhere, in language that is simple, complete and above all accessible to
the young".
One of the young people present explained that the name "Youcat" is a
translation of the word "Ju-Kat", which corresponds to the abbreviation of
the German "Jugend" (youth) and catechism.
OP/ VIS 20110413
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 13 APR 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Erected the new ecclesiastical province of Pelotas (area 20,594,
population 588,000, Catholics 341,000, priests 54, permanent deacons 15,
religious 176), Brazil, raising it to the rank of Metropolitan Church. The
new ecclesiastical province will have as suffragans the dioceses of Bage and
Rio Grande, previously belonging to the ecclesiastical province of Porto
Alegre. He appointed bishop Jacinto Bergmann of Pelotas as metropolitan
archbishop of the new circumscription.
- Erected the new ecclesiastical province of Santa Maria (area 21,316,
population 532,000, Catholics 400,000, priests 106, permanent deacons 14,
religious 588), Brazil, raising it to the rank of Metropolitan Church. The
new ecclesiastical province will have as suffragans the dioceses of
Uruguaiana, Cruz Alta, Santo Angelo, Santa Cruz do Sul and Cachoeira do Sul,
previously belonging to the ecclesiastical province of Porto Alegre. He
appointed bishop Helio Adelar Rubert of Santa Maria as metropolitan
archbishop of the new circumscription.
- Erected the new ecclesiastical province of Passo Fundo (area 12,000,
population 525,000, Catholics 416,000, priests 157, religious 419), Brazil,
raising it to the rank of Metropolitan Church. The new ecclesiastical
province will have as suffragans the dioceses of Vacaria, Frederico
Westphalen and Erexim, previously belonging to the ecclesiastical province
of Porto Alegre. He appointed bishop Pedro Ercilio Simon of Passo Fundo as
metropolitan archbishop of the new circumscription.
The ecclesiastical province of Porto Alegre, Brazil, shall retain as
suffragans the dioceses of Caxias do Sul, Novo Hamburgo, Osorio and
Montenegro.
ECE:NER/ VIS 20110413
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