Subject: VISnews 111125
Organization: VIS
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 207
ENGLISH
FRIDAY, 25 NOVEMBER 2011
SUMMARY:
- The Question of God in Today's World
- Christian Families, Signs of the Credibility of the Gospel
- Celebrations to Be Presided by the Pope December - January
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
THE QUESTION OF GOD IN TODAY'S WORLD
VATICAN CITY, 25 NOV 2011 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council for the Laity is
currently celebrating its twenty-fifth plenary assembly on the theme: "The
Question of God in Today's World". The participants were received in
audience this morning by the Holy Father who focused his remarks on two key
areas of the dicastery's recent activities: the Congress for Lay People in
Asia and World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain.
"The great continent of Asia", he said, "is home to many different
peoples, cultures and religions of ancient origin, but the Christian message
has so far reached only a small minority who often live their faith in
difficult circumstances, sometimes even suffering real persecution. The
congress was an opportunity ... to reinforce our missionary commitment and
courage. These our brothers and sisters bear admirable witness to their
adherence to Christ, enabling us to see how, thanks to their faith, vast
fields of evangelisation are opening for the Church in Asia in the third
millennium".
Referring then to the fact that the pontifical council is currently
preparing a similar congress for lay people in Africa, due to take place
next year in Cameroon, the Pope observed that such continental gatherings
"are important for the impetus they give to the work of evangelisation, for
reinforcing unity and strengthening the bonds between the particular
Churches and the universal Church".
Turning his attention to World Youth Day, he said: "An extraordinary
cascade of light, joy and hope illuminated not only Madrid, but also Europe
and the entire world, clearly re-establishing the importance of seeking God
in today's world. No one could remain indifferent, no one could think that
the question of God was irrelevant to modern man".
Focusing on the theme of the plenary, Pope Benedict said: "We must never
cease to raise this question, to 'begin again from God' so as to recognise
man in all his dimensions and dignity. Indeed the mentality, so widespread
in our time, which rejects any reference to the transcendent has proved
incapable of comprehending and preserving what is human. The spread of such
a mentality has generated the crisis we are experiencing today which, more
than an economic and social crisis, is a crisis of meaning and values. ...
In this context, the question of God is, in a certain sense, 'the main
question'. It brings us back to the basic query about man, to the
aspirations for truth, happiness and freedom which are inherent to the human
heart and which seek realisation".
"If it is true that 'being Christian is not the result of an ethical
choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person', then the
question of God is reawakened by meeting people who have the gift of faith,
who have a living relationship with the Lord. ... Here your role as lay
faithful is particularly important. ... You are called to show luminous
witness of the relevance of God in all fields of thought and action. In the
family and the workplace, in politics and in economics, modern man needs to
see and feel how the presence or absence of God changes everything.
"But the challenge of a mentality closed to the transcendent obliges even
Christians to focus more specifically on the central place of God", the Holy
Father added. "Efforts have been made in the past to ensure that the
presence of Christians in social, political and economic life was more
incisive, and perhaps less attention was given to the solidity of their
faith, almost as if it was taken for granted. The truth is that Christians
do not live on some distant planet, immune to the 'sicknesses' of the world;
they are affected by the turmoil, disorientation and difficulties of their
time. Therefore it is equally important to raise the question of God within
the Church. ... The first response to the great challenge of our time lies,
then, in a profound conversion of heart, so that the Baptism which made us
light of the world and salt of the earth, can truly transform us", he
concluded.
AC/ VIS
20111125 (690)
CHRISTIAN FAMILIES, SIGNS OF THE CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL
VATICAN CITY, 25 NOV 2011 (VIS) - A press conference was held this morning
in the Holy See Press Office to present the plenary assembly of the
Pontifical Council for the Family, which is to due to be held in the Vatican
from 29 November to 1 December. This year's plenary coincides with the
thirtieth anniversary of the Apostolic Exhortation "Familiaris consortio"
and the creation of the pontifical council itself. Participating in today's
conference were Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, Bishop Jean Laffitte, Msgr. Carlos
Simon Vazquez and Fr. Gianfranco Grieco O.F.M. Conv., respectively
president, secretary, under secretary and bureau chief of the Pontifical
Council for the Family, and Alfonso and Francesca Colzani, directors of
family services for the archdiocese of Milan, Italy.
Cardinal Antonelli focused on certain themes contained in "Familiaris
consortio", such as the central role of the family in the new evangelisation
and in pastoral care in parishes and dioceses. He also highlighted the
missionary vocation of the family "to live, irradiate and express to the
world the love and presence of Christ; ... to become a great sign of the
credibility of the Gospel through mutual service, generous and responsible
procreation, care of children, commitment to work, concern for the poor and
needy, prayer in the home, participation in Mass and Church activities, and
involvement in civil society".
Bishop Laffitte also drew attention to "Familiaris consortio", wherein
Blessed John Paul II spoke "of the need to help society rediscover true
family values at a time of moral crisis". For the late Pontiff it was
impossible "to consider the family without reference to conjugal love. This
would seem obvious but, in fact, recent legislation has juridically
legitimised alternative models of the family which separate it from its
deepest root: the love of a man and a woman linked by an indissoluble bond".
From a Christian perspective "new difficulties arise", said the secretary
of the pontifical council, such as the fact that "getting married in Church
is often no longer part of an active life of faith; and this means that an
awareness of the sanctity of Christian marriage is lost. Thus we can see why
the pastoral care of marriage and the family today requires serious and
profound consideration". Non practising Catholics could be offered "a brief
training course, including reading the Word of God, an introduction to the
most basic elements of Christian faith, and an initiation to sacramental
life with particular emphasis on the Sacraments of Marriage, the Eucharist
and Penance".
Msgr. Vazquez gave details of the programme of the plenary, which will
begin with a solemn concelebration of the Eucharist at the altar of Blessed
John Paul II in St. Peter's Basilica. "We wish to render particular homage
to the Pope who often described himself as the Pope of families", he said.
"There we will pray that the blessed may intercede with the Lord for all the
families of the world".
Fr. Grieco announced that the pontifical council's quarterly "Familia et
vita" will be dedicating a special edition to the thirtieth anniversary of
"Familiaris consortio". The twenty-nine articles it contains have been
written by experts and scholars of the main themes contained in the
Apostolic Exhortation, among them five cardinals, ten archbishops and
bishops, and six lay people including four women. He also explained that it
will be possible to follow the work of the plenary via the dicastery's
website: www.familia.va.
At the end of the press conference, attention turned to the seventh World
Meeting of Families, due to be held in Milan from 30 May to 3 June 2012.
Alfonso and Francesca Colzani explained that the pastoral year in the
archdiocese will be dedicated to the family in relation to work and rest.
The archdiocesan family services is organising meetings with the aim of
"offering individuals, couples and families the inner resources they need to
ensure that family life, in both work and rest, coincides with the Gospel.
The response from families has been one of great interest as they realise
that this has a direct bearing on the difficulties of daily life".
CON-F/ VIS 20111125
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CELEBRATIONS TO BE PRESIDED BY THE POPE DECEMBER - JANUARY
VATICAN CITY, 25 NOV 2011 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of
the Supreme Pontiff today published the calendar of celebrations to be
presided over by the Holy Father between December 2011 and January 2012.
DECEMBER
- Thursday 8: Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. At 4 p.m. in Rome's Piazza di Spagna, homage to Mary Immaculate.
- Sunday 11: Third Sunday of Advent. Pastoral visit to the Roman parish of
"Santa Maria delle Grazie" at Casal Boccone, with Mass at 9.30 a.m.
- Monday 12: Solemnity of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Mass for Latin America at
5.30 p.m. in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
- Thursday 15: Vespers with students of Roman universities in the Vatican
Basilica at 5.30 p.m.
- Saturday 24: Vigil of the Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord. Mass in the
Vatican Basilica at 10 p.m.
- Sunday 25: Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord. At midday from the central
loggia of the Vatican Basilica, "Urbi et Orbi" blessing.
- Saturday 31: At 5 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, First Vespers and "Te
Deum" of thanksgiving for the past year.
JANUARY 2012
- Sunday 1: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God and forty-fifth World Day of
Peace. Mass in the Vatican Basilica at 9.30 a.m.
- Friday 6: Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. Mass in the Vatican
Basilica at 9.30 a.m.
- Sunday 8: Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. Mass in the Sistine Chapel at
9.45 a.m., conferment of the Sacrament of Baptism upon a number of children.
- Wednesday 25: Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle.
Celebration of Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls at 5.30
p.m.
OCL/ VIS
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AUDIENCES
VATICAN CITY, 25 NOV 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience:
- Cardinal Peter Erdo, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, president
of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE), accompanied by
Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, Italy, vice president;
Archbishop Jozef Michalik of Przemysl of the Latins, Poland, vice president;
Msgr. Duarte da Cunha, secretary general, and Fr. Ferenc Janka, vice
secretary general.
- Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan of New York, U.S.A., on his "ad limina"
visit, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishops Dennis J. Sullivan, Josu Iriondo,
Dominik John Lagonegro and Gerald T. Walsh.
This evening he is scheduled to receive in audience Archbishop Luis
Francisco Ladaria Ferrer S.J., secretary of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 25 NOV 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop Juan Vicente Cordoba Villota S.J., auxiliary of
Bucaramanga, Colombia, as bishop of Fontibon (area 80, population 1,536,000,
Catholics 1,228,000, priests 84, permanent deacons 20, religious 178),
Colombia. He succeeds Bishop Enrique Sarmiento Angulo, whose resignation
from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon
having reached the age limit.
- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese
of Portland in Oregon, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Kenneth Donald Steiner,
upon having reached the age limit.
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