Subject: VISnews 110518   
   Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede   
   From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt    
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 93   
   ENGLISH   
   WEDNESDAY, 18 MAY 2011   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Pray for Salvation of Humanity in Daily Prayer   
   - Commitment to Pray for Church in China   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   PRAY FOR SALVATION OF HUMANITY IN DAILY PRAYER   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 18 MAY 2011 (VIS) - After having visited the theme of prayer   
   as a universal phenomenon in the past two Wednesday catecheses, today the   
   Pope began a new Biblical reflection on a theme "that will guide us to   
   deepen the dialogue of covenant between God and humanity that animates the   
   history of salvation until its fullness ... in Christ".   
      
     Addressing the pilgrims present in this Wednesday's general audience in   
   St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI explained that "Abraham, the great   
   patriarch, father of all believers", offers us the first example of a prayer   
   of intercession when God told him of His plan to destroy the cities of Sodom   
   and Gomorrah, "because of the wickedness of its inhabitants".   
      
     The Patriarch, the Pope said, "did not limit himself to asking for the   
   salvation of the innocent but also implored forgiveness for the entire city,   
   appealing to God's justice", a divine justice that "seeks the good and   
   creates it by means of a forgiveness that transforms the sinners, converting   
   and saving them".   
      
     "Abraham's thought, that seems almost paradoxical, can be summarized thus:   
   of course the innocent cannot be treated like the guilty, that would be   
   unjust; instead the guilty need to be treated as the innocent, applying a   
   'higher' justice, offering them the possibility of salvation because, if the   
   evildoers accept God's forgiveness and confess their blame, letting   
   themselves be saved, they will not continue doing evil but will also become   
   just, no longer needing to be punished".   
      
     Emphasizing that "forgiveness breaks the spiral of sin", the Pope noted   
   that "Abraham, in his dialogue with God, asks exactly for that ... through   
   his intercession, his prayer to God for the salvation of the others, he   
   demonstrates and expresses the desire for salvation that God always nurtures   
   for the sinner. Evil cannot be accepted. It must be pointed out and   
   destroyed through punishment. the destruction of Sodom had precisely this   
   function. The Lord, however, did not wish the death of the wicked but that   
   they convert and live: His desire is always to forgive, to save, to give   
   life, and to transform evil into good".   
      
     The Pope stressed that "a transformation from within is necessary, a   
   pretext for good, a beginning of what sets in motion the transformation from   
   evil into good, hatred into love, and vengeance into forgiveness".   
      
     "However, God's mercy in the history of His people extends even further.   
   ... The infinite and surprising love of God will be made fully manifest when   
   the Son of God becomes man, the definitive Just One, the perfect Innocent   
   who will bring salvation to the entire world with His death on the cross,   
   forgiving and interceding for those who 'know not what they do'. Then, each   
   person's daily prayer will find its answer, then all our intercessions will   
   be fully granted".   
      
     Benedict XVI ended by asking that "the prayer of Abraham, our father in   
   the faith, teach us to open our hearts more and more to God's overabundant   
   mercy, so that in our daily prayer we might know how to desire the salvation   
   of humanity and to ask for it with perseverance and with confidence in the   
   Lord who is great in love".   
   AG/                                                                     VIS   
   20110518 (520)   
      
   COMMITMENT TO PRAY FOR CHURCH IN CHINA   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 18 MAY 2011 (VIS) - At the end of this morning's general   
   audience in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI spoke briefly about the Church   
   in China. Next Tuesday, 24 May, is the day dedicated to the Blessed Virgin   
   Mary, Help of Christians, who is venerated with great devotion at the Shrine   
   of Sheshan in Shanghai. The Pope took this opportunity to invite the   
   faithful everywhere to join in prayer with and for the Church in China.   
      
     While the Church in China is growing, Christ there, as in other places   
   around the world is still rejected, ignored, or persecuted. The Holy Father   
   asked "all Chinese Catholics to continue and to deepen their own prayers,   
   especially to Mary, the powerful Virgin. At the same time all Catholics   
   throughout the world have a duty to pray for the Church in China: those   
   members of the faithful have a right to our prayers, they need our prayers".   
      
     "Chinese Catholics, as they have said many times, want unity with the   
   universal Church, with the Supreme Pastor, with the Successor of Peter. By   
   our prayers we can obtain for the Church in China that it remain one, holy   
   and Catholic, faithful and steadfast in doctrine and in ecclesial   
   discipline".   
      
     Although many Chinese bishops, priests, and faithful encounter   
   difficulties in freely professing their faith, with our prayers, the Pope   
   emphasized that "we can help them to find the path to keep their faith   
   alive, to keep their hope strong, to keep their love for all people ardent,   
   and to maintain in its integrity the ecclesiology that we have received from   
   the Lord and the Apostles ".   
      
     In conclusion, the Holy Father asked Mary "to enlighten those who are in   
   doubt, to call back the straying, to console the afflicted, and to   
   strengthen those who are ensnared by the allure of opportunism".   
   AG/                                                                     VIS   
   20110518 (250)   
      
   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 18 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father accepted the   
   resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Cali, Colombia   
   presented by Archbishop Juan Francisco Sarasti Jaramillo, C.I.M., in   
   accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. He is succeeded   
   by Coadjutor Bishop Dario de Jesus Monsalve Mejia.   
   RE:NER/                                                         VIS 20110518   
   (50)   
      
   _____________________________________________   
      
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