Assisi, "the alliance between people of religion and others who feel no sense
of belonging to any religious tradition but who are sincerely seeking the
truth. He did so in the conviction that profound and sincere dialogue can
lead, for the former, to
commitment to an ever necessary purification of the religion they profess and,
for the latter, to openness to the great questions facing humankind and the
Mystery which surrounds the life of man. In this way, the joint pilgrimage
towards truth can be
translated into a joint pilgrimage towards peace".
"The Holy Father", Cardinal Bertone concludes, "in the hope that the
meeting will prove fruitful, spiritually unities himself to all those
Subject: VISnews120910
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
present, in the certainty that the Lord, Father of all mankind, will continue
to guide us along the paths of
peace and of peaceful encounter between peoples".
___________________________________________________________
ANGELUS: JESUS CAME TO OPEN THE HEART OF MAN
Vatican City, 9 September 2012 (VIS) - Before praying the Angelus at midday
today. Benedict XVI focused some remarks on what he described as "a word
which, in its most profound meaning, sums up the whole message and work of
Christ. ... That word is
'ephphatha', which means 'be opened'".
The Pope recalled how Jesus was crossing the region known as the
"Decapolis", between the coastal area of Tyre and Sidon and Galilee, when He
was presented with a deaf man to heal. Christ touched his ears and tongue and,
looking up to heaven,
pronounced the word 'ephphatha'. Immediately the man was able to hear and
speak. "This deaf man, thanks to Jesus’ intervention, 'was opened'", the
Holy Father explained. "Before he had been closed, insulated, it was very
difficult for him to
communicate; his healing was an 'opening' to others and the world, an opening
that, starting from the organs of hearing and speech, involved his entire
person and life: Finally he was able to communicate, and thus to relate to
others in a new way".
"Yet", the Pope added, "we all know that man's closure and isolation do not
depend solely on the organs of sense. There is an inner closure which concerns
the deepest core of the person, what the Bible calls the 'heart'. This is what
Jesus came to
'open', to liberate, so as to enable us to live our relationship with God and
with others to the full.
"That is why I said that this little word, 'ephphatha' - be opened, sums up
Christ’s entire mission. He became man so that man, made inwardly deaf
and dumb by sin, would become able to hear the voice of God, the voice of love
speaking to his
heart, and so he would learn to speak in the language of love, to communicate
with God and with others".
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LEBANON WE MUST NOT RESIGN OURSELVES TO VIOLENCE
Vatican City, 9 September 2012 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus today the
Pope, speaking French and Arabic, spoke of his imminent apostolic trip to
Lebanon, where he is due to sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the
Special Assembly for
the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, which took place in the Vatican in
October 2010.
"I will have the happy opportunity to meet the people and the authorities
of Lebanon, as well as the Christians of that dear country, and those who have
come from nearby States", he said. "I am not unaware of the often dramatic
situation being
experienced by the peoples of that region which, for too long, has been rent
by incessant conflict. I understand the anguish of many inhabitants of the
Middle East, who are daily immersed in suffering of all kinds which sadly and
sometimes fatally
affects their individual and family lives. My thoughts go to those who, in
search of safe refuge, abandon their family and professional lives to
experience the precarious existence of the refugee. Although it seems
difficult to find solutions to the
various problems affecting the region, we must not resign ourselves to the
violence and kindling of tensions. Commitment to dialogue and reconciliation
must be be the priority for all sides involved, and it must be supported by
the international community which is becoming increasingly aware of the
importance that stable and lasting peace in the region has for the whole
world. My apostolic trip to Lebanon, and by extension to the entire Middle
East, comes about under the sign
of peace and with reference to Christ's words: 'My peace I give to you'. May
God bless Lebanon and the Middle East".
___________________________________________________________
TEN CITY SQUARES FOR TEN COMMANDMENTS
Vatican City, 9 September 2012 (VIS) - "Ten City Squares for Ten
Commandments" is the title of an initiative, which is being promoted by the
Renewal in the Holy Spirit Association and was inaugurated this evening in
Rome's Piazza del Popolo. The
initiative involves a series of evangelisation meetings which will take place
throughout the year in various Italian cities. The Pope sent participants a
video message which was projected on giant screens set up in Piazza del
Popolo.
"What significance do these Ten Words have for us in our current cultural
context, in which secularism and relativism risk becoming the criteria for all
choices, and in our society which seems to live as if God did not exist?", the
Holy Father asked.
"Our answer is that God gave us the Commandments to educate us in true freedom
and authentic love, that we might be truly happy. They are a sign of love of
God the Father, of his desire to teach us true discernment of good from evil,
of truth from
falsehood, of justice from injustice. They can be understood by everyone,
precisely because they translate fundamental values into concrete norms and
rules; and by practising them man is able to follow the path of true freedom,
... which leads to life
and happiness.
"When he fails to do this", Benedict XVI added, "when in his life man
ignores the Commandments, not only does he alienate himself from God and
abandon the covenant with Him, but he also abandons life and lasting
happiness. Man left to himself,
indifferent to God, proud of his own absolute autonomy, ends up pursuing the
idols of selfishness, power and domination, poisoning his relationship with
himself and others, and following not the path of life but the path of death.
The sad experience of
history, especially last century, stands as a warning for all humankind. ...
With His cross and resurrection Jesus brought the Commandments to fullness,
radically overcoming selfishness, sin and death with the gift of Himself for
love. Accepting the
infinite love of God, having faith in Him and following the path He has laid
down is the only thing that gives profound meaning to life and opens the way
to a future of hope".
___________________________________________________________
MARIOLOGY SINCE VATICAN COUNCIL II
Vatican City, 8 September 2012 (VIS) - "Mariology since Vatican Council II:
reception, outcomes and prospects" is the theme of the twenty-third
International Mariological Congress. Receiving the participants this morning
at Castelgandolfo, the Holy
Father highlighted the appropriateness of the theme in light of the fact that
11 October this year will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the
Council.
The Pope, who himself participated in Vatican Council II as a young
theologian, turned his attention to chapter eight of the Dogmatic Constitution
on the Church "Lumen Gentium", entitled: "The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of
God, in the Mystery of
Christ and the Church". Therein "the figure of Mary - re-examined and
reinterpreted from the point of view of the Word of God, the texts of
patristic and liturgical tradition, and a broad-ranging theological and
spiritual reflection - emerges in all her
beauty and uniqueness, closely enclosed within the fundamental mysteries of
the Christian faith.
"Mary, whose faith is emphasised above all else, is part of the mystery of
love and communion of the Blessed Trinity", Benedict XVI added. "Her
participation in the divine plan of salvation and the unique mediation of
Christ is clearly affirmed and
given its correct import, thus making it a model and a point of reference for
the Church which, in her, recognises herself, her vocation and her mission.
Popular piety, which has always looked to Mary, is likewise nourished by
biblical and patristic
references.
"Of course the conciliar text was not able to cover all the questions
concerning the Mother of God, but it does provide an essential interpretative
horizon for all subsequent reflection, both the theological and the purely
spiritual and pastoral.
Moreover, it represents a valuable and highly necessary point of equilibrium
between theological rationality and the emotion of belief".
The Pope concluded: "The unique figure of the Mother of God must be
understood and studied from different and complementary standpoints. While the
'via veritas' remains valid and necessary, we cannot but also follow the 'via
pulchritudinis' and the
'via amoris', in order to discover and contemplate ever more profoundly Mary's
firm and crystalline faith, her love for God and her unshakeable hope".
___________________________________________________________
PASTORAL CARE OF THE ROAD/STREET IN AFRICA
Vatican City, 10 September 2012 (VIS) - "The Pastoral Care of the
Road/Street: A walk together" is to be the theme of the first Integrated
Meeting for the Pastoral Care of the Road/Street for the Continent of Africa
and Madagascar, due to take place
in Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania from 11 to 15 September. The event has been
organised by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and
Itinerant Peoples, in collaboration with Tanzania's Episcopal Commission for
Migrants and Itinerant
Peoples.
The aim of the meeting is to promote pastoral initiatives and programmes in
local Churches for the benefit for people who live on or from the road/street.
This includes street women and children, people of no fixed abode, transport
workers and those
responsible for road safety.
Opening addresses will be made by Cardinal Polycarp Pengo, archbishop of
Dar-es-Salaam, and Archbishop Francisco Padilla, apostolic nuncio to
Tanzania.
___________________________________________________________
AUDIENCES
Vatican City, 10 September 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience:
- Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan, Italy.
- Vladeta Jankovic, ambassador of Serbia, accompanied by his wife, on a
farewell visit.
On Saturday 8 September he received in audience:
- Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Sant'Egidio Community, accompanied by
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the
Family, and Marco Impagliazzo, president of the Sant'Egidio Community.
- Seven prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Colombia on their "ad
limina" visit:
- Bishop Julio Hernando Garcia Pelaez of Istmina-Tado, apostolic
administrator of Quibdo.
- Bishop Jorge Alberto Ossa Soto of Santa Rosa de Osos.
- Bishop Guillermo Orozco Montoya of Girardota.
- Bishop Jose Roberto Lopez Londono of Jerico.
- Bishop Fidel Leon Cadavid Marin of Sonson-Rionegro.
- Bishop Hector Cubillos Pena of Zipaquira.
- Bishop Orlando Roa Barbosa, auxiliary of Ibague.
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 8 September 2012 (VIS) -The Holy Father:
- Appointed Bishop Rolando J. Tria Tirona O.C.D., prelate of Infanta,
Philippines, as metropolitan archbishop of Caceres (area 3,207, population
1,314,000, Catholics 1,272,000, priests 224, religious 376), Philippines. He
succeeds Archbishop Leonardo
Z. Legaspi O.P., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same
archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
- Appointed Fr. Jojo Anand of the clergy of Simdega, India, diocesan
director of the department for evangelisation and formation in the faith, as
bishop of Hazaribag (area 21,213, population 5,347,000, Catholics 38,875,
priests 108, religious 515),
India. The bishop-elect was born in Minjiutgarha-Kutungia, India in 1959 and
ordained a priest in 1992. He studied in India and in Rome, and has worked as
director of the Faith Formation Team of the archdiocese of Ranchi and as
assistant in the
cathedral. He succeeds Bishop Charles Soreng S.J., whose resignation from the
pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having
reached the age limit.
- Appointed Archbishop Luigi Travaglino, permanent observer of the Holy See
to the United Nations Organisations for Food and Agriculture (FAO, IFAD and
WFP), also as apostolic nuncio to the Principality of Monaco.
- Appointed Msgr. Piero Amenta, official of the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as prelate auditor of the
Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
___________________________________________________________
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