Subject: VISnews 120112
Organization: VIS
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
TWENTY SECOND YEAR - N. 9
ENGLISH
THURSDAY, 12 JANUARY 2012
SUMMARY:
- Individual Destiny Is Linked to Collective Destiny
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
___________________________________________________________
INDIVIDUAL DESTINY IS LINKED TO COLLECTIVE DESTINY
VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2012 (VIS) - "The challenges we are currently facing
are numerous and complex, and can be overcome only if we reinforce our
awareness that the destiny of each of us is linked to that of everyone else.
For this reason ... acceptance, solidarity and legality are fundamental
values". With these words the Holy Father welcomed the authorities of the
City of Rome, the Region of Lazio, and the Province of Rome, whom he
received this morning in a traditional annual meeting for the exchange of
New Year greetings.
The Pope went on: "The present crisis can, then, be an opportunity for the
entire community to verify whether the values upon which social life is
founded have generated a society that is just, fair and united, or whether
it is necessary to undertake a profound rethink in order to rediscover
values which ... not only favour economic recovery, but which are also
attentive to promoting the integral good of human beings".
Benedict XVI expressed the view that the roots of the current crisis lie
in "individualism which clouds the interpersonal dimension of man and leads
him to close himself into his own little world, concerned first and foremost
with satisfying his own needs and desires with scant concern for others".
The consequences of such a mentality are "speculation in housing, increasing
difficulty for young people to enter the world of work, the solitude
suffered by so many elderly, the anonymity which often characterises urban
life, and the sometimes superficial attention paid to situations of
marginalisation and poverty".
The first step towards creating a more human society is "to rediscover
relationships as the constituent element of our lives". Man is called to
live in relation with other people and with God, Who alone "is capable of
welcoming man unconditionally and of giving him infinite love".
Institutions must foment and increase the awareness that we all form part
of the same structure, encouraging values of acceptance, solidarity and
legality, said the Pope highlighting the work of Christian organisations
which welcome people who have abandoned their own countries due to poverty
or violence. He invited his audience to develop ways to integrate people
into the social fabric, so that "individuals may learn to consider the place
in which they reside as a 'common home', in which to live and for which to
care".
Acceptance must be accompanied by solidarity, because "charity and justice
require that, in times of need, those with the greatest resources should
look after the disadvantaged". Benedict XVI insisted that institutions must
give particular support to families, especially large families, in which
context he invited the authorities "to defend the family founded on marriage
as an essential cell of society". They must also show solidarity towards
young people, "who are most penalised by the lack of work, ... implementing
policies which ensure fairly priced accommodation and which help to
guarantee employment", so as to avoid the risk that young people "fall
victim to criminal organisations offering easy takings".
Finally, the Pope turned his attention to the need "to promote a culture
of legality, helping citizens to understand that law exists to channel the
many positive energies that exist in society, and thus to promote the common
good. ... Institutions have the task ... of issuing just and fair
provisions, also taking account of the law which God inscribed in man's
heart, and which everyone can understand through reason".
AC/ VIS
20120112 (580)
AUDIENCES
VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience:
- Renata Polverini, president of the Region of Lazio, Italy.
- Gianni Alemanno, mayor of the City of Rome.
- Nicola Zingaretti, president of the Province of Rome.
- Bishop John A. Eijiro Suwa of Takamatsu, Japan.
- Bishop Paul Sueo Hamaguchi of Oita, Japan.
- Bishop Thomas Aquino Manyo Maeda of Hiroshima, Japan.
AP/ VIS
20120112 (70)
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Ignatius
Chama of Mpika, Zambia, as archbishop of Kasama (area 59,130, population
1,182,000, Catholics 705,208, priests 66, religious 177), Zambia, and as
apostolic administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of the
diocese of Mpika.
NER/ VIS
20120112 (60)
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