* Original message posted in: VATICAN.   
   * Crossposted in: IN_CATHOLIC.   
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTIETH YEAR - N. 172   
   ENGLISH   
   MONDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2010   
      
   SUMMARY OF POPE'S PASTORAL VISIT TO PALERMO, ITALY: 3 OCTOBER   
      
   - Pope in Palermo: Live Gospel Values Courageously   
   - Meeting with Priests, Religious and Seminarians   
   - Young People and Families, a Sign of Hope for All Italy   
      
   OTHER NEWS: 2 - 4 OCTOBER   
      
   - Man's Masterpiece Is Each of His Acts of Authentic Love   
   - Special Papal Envoys to Minsk and Saint-Pierre de Solesmes   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
   - Mission, an Essential Part of the Mission of the Baptised   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   POPE IN PALERMO: LIVE GOSPEL VALUES COURAGEOUSLY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 3 OCT 2010 (VIS) - At 8.15 a.m. today Benedict XVI departed   
   from Rome's Ciampino airport, bound for the Italian city of Palermo where he   
   is making a pastoral visit to participate in a regional ecclesial meeting of   
   families and young people.   
      
     Arriving at the Falcone e Borsellino airport, the Holy Father was received   
   by Archbishop Paolo Romeo of Palermo and by Archbishop Salvatore Di Cristina   
   of Monreale. Among those present was Angelino Alfano, Italian justice   
   minister, as well as other political, civil and ecclesiastical authorities.   
      
     From the airport the Pope travelled to the Foro Italico near the seafront   
   in Palermo where he celebrated Mass in the presence of 200,000 people.   
      
     In his homily the Holy Father referred to the name the ancient Greeks gave   
   the city, "Panormus" (meaning Port of all). "This name", he said, "was meant   
   to suggest security, peace and serenity. Coming among you for the first time   
   my hope is that the city, drawing inspiration from the most authentic values   
   of its history and tradition, may fulfil the hope for serenity and peace   
   expressed in that name, for its own inhabitants and for the entire nation.   
      
     "I know that there is no shortage of problems in Palermo, as in the rest   
   of Sicily", he added. "In particular, my mind goes to those who live their   
   lives in conditions of real insecurity because of lack of work, uncertainty   
   about the future, physical and moral suffering, and ... organised crime. I   
   am here among you today to testify to my closeness and to my recollection of   
   you in prayer. I am here to give you a strong encouragement not to be afraid   
   to bear clear witness to the human and Christian values so profoundly rooted   
   in the faith and history of this territory and its people".   
      
     "All the texts of this Sunday's liturgy speak of the faith, which is the   
   foundation of all Christian life", the Pope explained. "Just as a lever can   
   lift much more than its own weight, so faith, even just a pinch of faith,   
   can achieve unthinkable extraordinary things. ... Having faith, trusting in   
   Christ, accepting Him, allowing Him to transform us, following Him unto the   
   end, makes possible what is humanly impossible, in all situations".   
      
     The Holy Father then focused his attention on the fervent faith of the   
   Palermitan Church over the course of the centuries. "It should not be   
   forgotten", he told his audience, "that your religious sense has always   
   inspired and guided family life, nourishing values such as the capacity for   
   giving and showing solidarity towards others, especially those who suffer,   
   and the innate respect for life. This is a precious patrimony which must be   
   jealously protected and relaunched, especially in our own time. Dear   
   friends, preserve this precious treasure of your Church's faith; may   
   Christian values always guide your choices and your actions".   
      
     Referring then to the second part of today's Gospel readings, which speaks   
   of humility and its close bond with the faith, Benedict XVI said: "We must   
   never present ourselves before God as one who believes he has provided a   
   service and merits a great reward. This is an illusion that can afflict   
   anyone, even people who work much in the service of the Lord, in the Church.   
   On the contrary, we must be aware that we never do enough for God".   
      
     And he went on: "Sicily has been and still is a land of saints, who came   
   from all walks of life and lived the Gospel simply and fully. To you, the   
   lay faithful, I say again: do not be afraid to live and bear witness to the   
   faith in the various areas of society, in the multifarious situations of   
   human life, especially the difficult ones! Faith gives you the strength of   
   God always to be faithful and courageous, to carry on with renewed decision   
   and to take the initiatives necessary to beautify the countenance of your   
   land".   
      
     "Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord", the Holy   
   Father cried. "We must be ashamed of evil, of what offends God, of what   
   offends man; we must be ashamed of the evil brought to the civil and   
   religious community by actions that do not like to see the light of day".   
      
     The Pope continued his homily: "The temptation to discouragement and   
   resignation comes to those who are weak in the faith, to those who confuse   
   evil with good, to those who think that in the face of evil, often profound   
   evil, nothing can be done. On the other hand, people strong in faith, people   
   who have complete trust in God and live in the Church, can bring the   
   overwhelming power of the Gospel to bear.   
      
     "This was the behaviour of the saints who flowered over the course of the   
   centuries, in Palermo and all Sicily, and of the lay people and priests of   
   today, whom you know well, such as Fr. Pino Puglisi [a priest killed by the   
   mafia]. May they always keep you united and nourish in each of you the   
   desire to proclaim, though word and deed, Christ's presence and love. People   
   of Sicily, look to the future with hope! ... Live the values of the Gospel   
   courageously so as to ensure the light of goodness shines forth! With the   
   power of God, everything is possible".   
      
     At the end of Mass, the Pope prayed the Angelus with the faithful present.   
   In his remarks he mentioned Anna Maria Adorni, proclaimed blessed today in   
   the Italian city of Parma. She dedicated her life to helping women in prison   
   and founded two religious institutes. "She was", said Pope Benedict, "known   
   as the 'living rosary', and its is my pleasure to recall her at the   
   beginning of the month dedicated to the Holy Rosary. May daily meditation on   
   the mysteries of Christ in union with Mary ... strengthen us all in faith,   
   hope and charity".   
   PV-PALERMO/                                                     VIS 20101004   
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   MEETING WITH PRIESTS, RELIGIOUS AND SEMINARIANS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 3 OCT 2010 (VIS) - At 5 p.m. today in the cathedral of   
   Palermo, Italy, the Holy Father met with clergy, consecrated people and   
   seminarians.   
      
     Following some minutes in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, the Pope   
   addressed those present.   
      
     He began by speaking to priests, encouraging them "always to be men of   
   prayer in order, also, to be teachers of prayer". In this context he noted   
   how "it is not easy to remain faithful to these daily appointments with the   
   Lord, especially today when the rhythm of life has become so frenetic and   
   our occupations absorb ever more time. Yet we must convince ourselves that   
   the moment of prayer is fundamental, because it is there that divine grace   
   acts most effectively, making our ministry fruitful. There are many pressing   
   matters, but if we are not in inner communion with God we can give nothing,   
   not even to others".   
      
     After then highlighting how "the Eucharist is the source and summit of   
   Christian life", the Pope asked: "What care do we take in preparing   
   ourselves for Mass? In celebrating it? In remaining in adoration? Are our   
   churches truly 'houses of the Lord' where His presence attracts people who,   
   unfortunately, today often feel the absence of God?   
      
     "A priest always and immutably finds the source of his identity in Christ   
   the Priest", the Holy Father added. "It is not the world that defines his   
   status, according to its requirements and its conception of social roles.   
   ... A priest exists for the faithful; he encourages them and supports them   
   in the exercise of their common priesthood as baptised individuals, in their   
   journey of faith, in cultivating hope and living in charity, the love of   
   Christ. Dear priests, always show particular concern for the world of youth.   
   As the Venerable John Paul II said in this land, throw wide open the doors   
   of your parishes to young people, that they may throw open their hearts to   
   Christ. May they never find those doors closed".   
      
     The Pope went on: "Priests cannot distance themselves from the daily   
   concerns of the People of God. Quite the contrary, they must remain very   
   close to those concerns, but as priests". Recalling then the anniversary of   
   the murder of Fr. Pino Puglisi, a Palermitan priest killed by the mafia, the   
   Pope noted how "he had a heart aflame with true pastoral charity. He   
   dedicated a large part of his zealous ministry to educating children and   
   young people, at the same time struggling to ensure that all Christian   
   families fulfilled their fundamental vocation as primary educators of their   
   children's faith. The people entrusted to his pastoral care were able to   
   draw nourishment from the spiritual wealth of this good pastor, the cause   
   for whose beatification is currently underway. I encourage you to preserve a   
   living memory of his fruitful priestly witness, and to imitate his heroic   
   example".   
      
     Turning then to address members of institutes of consecrated life and   
   cloistered monks and nuns, the Holy Father encouraged them "always to follow   
   Christ without comprise, ... thus bearing witness to the beauty of being   
   Christian in such a radical way. ... Your presence and your lifestyle infuse   
   the ecclesial community with a vital impulse towards the 'high degree' of   
   Christian life. Indeed, we could say that your existence is like a sermon,   
   extremely eloquent though often silent", he said.   
      
     The Pope concluded his remarks by addressing the seminarians present.   
   "Respond generously to the call of the Lord, ... becoming increasingly   
   identified with Christ the High Priest, and preparing yourselves for the   
   mission with a solid human, spiritual, theological and cultural formation.   
   ... Commit yourselves to this time of grace and conserve in your hearts the   
   joy and enthusiasm of the first moment of your call and your 'yes'" to   
   Christ.   
   PV-PALERMO/                                                     VIS 20101004   
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   YOUNG PEOPLE AND FAMILIES, A SIGN OF HOPE FOR ALL ITALY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 3 OCT 2010 (VIS) - This evening, during the last event of his   
   pastoral visit to Palermo, the Pope met with thousands of young people   
   gathered in the city's Piazza Politeama, to whom he spoke about Chiara   
   Badano, beatified in Rome on 25 September.   
      
     Recalling how the blessed died young of an incurable disease, he said:   
   "Nineteen years full of life, of love, of faith. Two years, the last two,   
   also full of suffering but always in love and light, a light she irradiated   
   around her and that came from within, from her heart full of God".   
      
     After then highlighting how her parents "lit the flame of faith in their   
   daughter's heart, and helped Chiara keep it alight even in the difficult   
   moments as she was growing up and especially in the long trial of   
   suffering", Benedict XVI noted how "the relationship between parents and   
   children ... is the torch of faith that is transmitted from generation to   
   generation".   
      
     "The family", he went on, "is fundamental because it is here that the   
   first perception of the meaning of life germinates in the human heart. It   
   germinates in the relationship with the mother and father, who are   
   responsible for their children's life but also the first collaborators of   
   God in transmitting the life of faith".   
      
     In Sicily too "there are splendid testimonies of young people who   
   [germinate and] grow like beautiful lush plants", said the Holy Father. "Do   
   not to be afraid to contrast evil", he told his audience. "Do not give in to   
   the lure of the mafia, which is the path of death, incompatible with the   
   Gospel, as many of your bishops have said".   
      
     Referring then to the theme of the next World Youth Day - "Planted and   
   built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith" - the Pope said: "The image of   
   the tree tells us that each of us needs a fertile soil in which to sink our   
   roots, a terrain rich in nutritional substances which make the person grow".   
   These substances "are values, but above all they are love and faith,   
   knowledge of the true face of God and awareness that He loves us infinitely,   
   faithfully, patiently, to the point of giving His life for us.   
      
     "In this context", he added, "the family is like a 'little Church',   
   because it transmits God, it transmits the love of Christ by virtue of the   
   Sacrament of Marriage. ... And the family, in order to be a 'little Church',   
   must be well inserted into the 'great Church'; in other words, into the   
   family that Christ came to create".   
      
     In closing Benedict XVI referred to the difficulties the people of Sicily   
   have to face. "Where there are young people and families who chose the way   
   of the Gospel, there is hope", he said. "And you are a sign of hope, not   
   only for Sicily but for all Italy.   
      
     "I have brought you a witness of sanctity and you have offered me yours:   
   the faces of so many young people of this land who have loved Christ with   
   evangelical radicality. ... The greatest gift we have received is to be a   
   Church, to be in Christ a sign and instrument of unity, peace and freedom.   
   No-one can take this joy from us. No-one can take this power! Courage, dear   
   young people and families of Sicily! Be saints!"   
      
     During his journey by car from Palermo to the city's Falcone e Borsellino   
   airport at Punta Raisi, the Pope paused at Capeci, where an attack in 1992   
   cost the lives of Judge Giovanni Falcone and his police escort. The Pope   
   descended from his car and placed a bunch of flowers at one of the memorial   
   plaques, then prayed in silence for all the victims of the mafia and of   
   organised crime. He then returned to his car and continued his journey to   
   the airport.   
   PV-PALERMO/                                                     VIS 20101004   
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   MAN'S MASTERPIECE IS EACH OF HIS ACTS OF AUTHENTIC LOVE   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 2 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Yesterday evening in the Vatican's Paul VI   
   Hall, Benedict XVI attended a concert sponsored by ENI, Italy's national   
   electricity company. Haydn's Symphony No. 94 in G Major; Cecilia, vergine   
   romana by Arvo Part, and Beethoven's Choral Fantasy in C Minor were   
   performed by the orchestra and choir of the Italian Accademia nazionale di   
   Santa Cecilia.   
      
     At the end of the performance the Pope expressed his gratitude to ENI,   
   which is currently financing restoration work on the Vatican Basilica.   
      
     Going on then to refer to the music itself, Benedict XVI remarked how "the   
   combination of a work on St. Cecilia with compositions by Haydn and   
   Beethoven, presents a contrast rich in meaning, one which invites us to   
   reflect. The piece concerning the martyrdom of the saint, and the particular   
   style with which it is rendered into music, seem to represent the place and   
   role of faith in the universe: in the midst of the living forces of nature,   
   which surround man and are also in him, faith is a different force, one   
   which responds to a profound word 'that emerges from silence' as St.   
   Ignatius of Antioch would say.   
      
     "The word of faith", the Pope added, "has need of great inner silence in   
   order to listen and obey a voice which lies beyond the visible and tangible   
   world. This voice speaks through natural phenomena, because it is the power   
   that created and governs the universe. But to recognise it we need a humble   
   and obedient heart, something also taught us by the saint whose feast day   
   falls today: St. Therese of the Child Jesus".   
      
     And Benedict XVI concluded: "Faith follows this profound voice in places   
   that even art itself cannot reach alone. It follows it along the path of   
   witness, in the giving of self for love, as Cecilia did. Thus the most   
   beautiful work of art, the masterpiece of human beings, is each of their   
   acts of authentic love: from the smallest (in everyday sacrifice) unto the   
   extreme sacrifice. At this point life itself becomes a hymn; an anticipation   
   of the symphony we will sing together in heaven".   
   BXVI-CONCERT/                                                   VIS 20101004   
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   SPECIAL PAPAL ENVOYS TO MINSK AND SAINT-PIERRE DE SOLESMES   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 2 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from the   
   Holy Father in which he appoints Cardinal Jozef Tomko, prefect emeritus of   
   the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, as his special envoy to   
   celebrations marking the third centenary of the consecration of the   
   cathedral of Minsk, Belarus, due to take place there on 9 October. The   
   Letter is written in Latin and bears the date of 9 June.   
      
     The cardinal will be accompanied on his mission by Msgr. Edmund   
   Dowgilowicz-Nowicki, pastor of the parish of St. Joseph at Maladzechna, and   
   by Fr. Bernard Radzik O.C.D., pastor of the parish of St. Andrew at Narach.   
      
     Likewise made public today was a Letter in which Benedict XVI appoints   
   Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for   
   Inter-religious Dialogue, as his special envoy to celebrations marking the   
   millennium of the abbey of Saint Pierre de Solesmes, France, scheduled for   
   12 October. The Letter, also written in Latin, is dated 13 September.   
      
     Cardinal Tauran will be accompanied by Fr. Michel du Merle, a monk and   
   expert in inter-religious dialogue, and by Fr. Bertrand Gamelin, librarian   
   of the abbey.   
   BXVI-LETTER/                                                    VIS 20101004   
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   AUDIENCES   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 2 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate   
   audiences:   
      
    - Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.   
      
    - Four prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, on their   
   "ad limina" visit:   
      
       - Archbishop Moacyr Grechi O.S.M. of Porto Velho.   
      
       - Bishop Mose Joao Pontelo C.S.Sp. of Cruzeiro do Sul.   
      
       - Bishop Gerlado Verdier of Guajara-Mirim.   
      
       - Bishop Franz Josef Meinrad Merkel C.S.Sp. of Humaita.   
   AP:AL/                                                          VIS 20101004   
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   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 2 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:   
      
    - Appointed Archbishop Oscar Julio Vian Morales S.D.B. of Los Altos,   
   Quetzaltenango - Totonicapan, Guatemala, as metropolitan archbishop of   
   Guatemala (area 2,591, population 4,690,000, Catholics 3,753,000, priests   
   532, permanent deacons 3, religious 1,423), Guatemala. He succeeds Cardinal   
   Rodolfo Quezada Toruno, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same   
   archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.   
      
    - Appointed Msgr. Vito Angiuli of the clergy of the metropolitan   
   archdiocese of Bari - Bitonto, Italy, pro vicar general, as bishop of Ugento   
   - Santa Maria di Leuca (area 475, population 129,500, Catholics 126,000,   
   priests 69, permanent deacons 5, religious 148), Italy. The bishop-elect was   
   born in Sannicandro di Bari, Italy in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1977.   
      
    - Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese   
   of Guatemala, Guatemala, presented by Bishop Jose Ramiro Pellecer Samayoa,   
   in accordance with canons 411 and 401 para. 1 of the Code of Canon Law.   
   NER:RE/                                                         VIS 20101004   
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   MISSION, AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE MISSION OF THE BAPTISED   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 4 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received prelates   
   from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (North region 1 and   
   Northeast region), who have just completed their "ad limina" visit.   
      
     In his address the Pope praised the efforts made by the bishops who,   
   "often lacking the necessary means", bring "the Good News of Jesus to all   
   corners of the Amazon jungle, in the knowledge that God wants all mankind to   
   be saved and to know the truth".   
      
     "God can achieve this salvation in extraordinary ways that only He knows.   
   Nonetheless, if His Son came, it was to show us, through His word and life,   
   the ordinary ways to salvations, and He told us to transmit this revelation   
   to others with His authority. And so we cannot avoid this thought: man may   
   be saved by other ways, thanks to God's mercy, without the announcement of   
   the Gospel. But can I be saved if through negligence, fear, shame or   
   erroneous ideas, I fail to announce it?"   
      
     "Sometimes we hear the objection that imposing the truth - though it be   
   the truth of the Gospel and of salvation - can be a violation of religious   
   freedom", said the Holy Father, in which context he quoted words of Paul VI:   
   "It would, of course, be a mistake to impose anything on the conscience of   
   our brothers and sisters, but propounding knowledge of the truth of the   
   Gospel and the salvation of Jesus Christ, with absolute clarity and full   
   respect for the free choice of conscience (hence without coercion or   
   dishonest persuasion), ... far from being an attack on religious freedom, is   
   a homage to that freedom, which can choose a route that even non-believers   
   consider noble and edifying. ... To present Christ and His kingdom in a   
   respectful way, more than a right, is a duty of evangelisation".   
      
     "The call to mission", the Pope went on, "is not directed exclusively to a   
   restricted group of members of the Church; rather, it is an imperative   
   addressed to all the baptised, an essential element of their vocation". The   
   Pope also referred to the Fifth General Conference of the Episcopate of   
   Latin America and the Caribbean which took place in the Brazilian city of   
   Aparecida in 2007 and which had among its goals the recovery of the   
   missionary dimension of the Church.   
      
     "The challenges of the current time could lead to a reduced view of the   
   mission", the Holy Father observed. "Yet mission cannot be limited to a mere   
   search for new ways to make the Church more attractive and capable of   
   overcoming the competition of other religious groups or relativist   
   ideologies. The Church does not work for herself. She is at the service of   
   Jesus Christ and exists to ensure the Good News is accessible to everyone.   
   The Church is catholic precisely because she invites all human beings to   
   experience new life in Christ. Mission, then, is neither more nor less than   
   the natural consequence of the very essence of the Church, a service of the   
   ministry of unity which Christ wished to achieve in His crucified body".   
   AL/                                                                     VIS   
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    - Origin: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede (1:396/3)    
   --- timEd/2 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS-Meridian, MS-bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)