Subject: VISnews 111014   
   Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede   
   From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt    
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 177   
   ENGLISH   
   FRIDAY, 14 OCTOBER 2011   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Public Office Must be Exercised with Dignity, Responsibility   
   - Audiences   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   PUBLIC OFFICE MUST BE EXERCISED WITH DIGNITY, RESPONSIBILITY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 14 OCT 2011 (VIS) - "The exercise of civil authority is so   
   important as to have an almost 'sacred' character; therefore it must be   
   exercised with great dignity and a lively sense of responsibility". These   
   words were pronounced this morning by the Holy Father to Italian provincial   
   prefects, accompanied by Roberto Maroni, minister of the Interior, in an   
   audience arranged as part of the celebrations marking the 150th anniversary   
   of Italian unification.   
      
     In his address the Pope highlighted how throughout the country "we can see   
   the traces which the Christian faith has left impressed in the customs of   
   the Italian people, giving rise to noble and deep-rooted religious and   
   cultural traditions, as well as to an artistic heritage unique in the   
   world". Today too the Catholic Church "is an important presence among the   
   people, aware of their deepest needs which she interprets in a logic of   
   readiness and service".   
      
     "Conscious of the fact that, as John Paul II said, we depend upon one   
   another, the Church wishes to unite with other institutions and with the   
   various territorial organisations, in order to create a firm platform of   
   moral virtues upon which to build a coexistence worthy of man. In this   
   mission the Church knows she can rely on the effective and friendly   
   collaboration of prefects, whose function it is to guarantee ... social   
   cohesion and civil rights".   
      
     Benedict XVI recalled the position of the Social Doctrine of the Church   
   vis-a-vis public administration, "which is not to be conceived as impersonal   
   or bureaucratic, but rather as an act of generous assistance for citizens,   
   undertaken with a spirit of service". He also noted how the work of prefects   
   today has become more complex and arduous due to economic and social   
   uncertainty, and exhorted them not to be disheartened by difficulties.   
   "Handle the matters entrusted to you with prudence and a great sense of   
   duty, never failing in your commitment to truth and or in your courage to   
   defend the supreme good. ... As high-level representatives of State, you are   
   called to combine authority and professionalism in the exercise of your   
   responsibilities, especially at times of tension and discord", he said.   
      
     The Pope concluded by inviting the prefects to follow the example of their   
   patron, St. Ambrose, "so that your work may always serve justice, peace,   
   freedom and the common good. God will not fail to support your efforts,   
   rewarding them with abundant fruits to spread the civilisation of love".   
   AC/                                                                     VIS   
   20111014 (420)   
      
   AUDIENCES   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 14 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate   
   audiences:   
      
    - Fr. Julian Carron, president of the Fraternity of Communion and   
   Liberation.   
      
    - Seven prelates from the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, on their   
   "ad limina" visit:   
      
       - Archbishop Mark Benedict Coleridge of Canberra and Goulburn.   
      
       - Archbishop Adrian Leo Doyle of Hobart.   
      
       - Archbishop-Bishop Djibrail Kassab of Saint Thomas the Apostle of   
   Sydney of the Chaldeans.   
      
       - Bishop Daniel Eugene Hurley of Darwin.   
      
       - Bishop Gregory O'Kelly S.J. of Port Pirie.   
      
       - Archbishop John Alexius Bathersby of Brisbane.   
      
       - Bishop James Foley of Cairns.   
      
     This evening he is scheduled to receive in audience Cardinal Marc Ouellet   
   P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.   
   AP:AL/                                                          VIS 20111014   
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