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VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - N° 218
DATE 03-12-2012
Summary:
- MAN IS CONSIDERED IN BIOLOGICAL TERMS OR AS "HUMAN CAPITAL"
- THE POPE ADDRESSES THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE OF ROME
- THE POPE ON TWITTER: VOICE OF UNITY AND LEADERSHIP FOR THE CHURCH
- ADVENT: THE COMING OF THE LORD CONTINUES
- FIRST VESPERS OF ADVENT WITH ROME UNIVERSITIES
- THE POPE PRAISES THE VALUES OF ITINERANT PERFORMERS
- MOTU PROPRIO ON THE SERVICE OF CHARITY
- SENTENCE OF THE VATICAN TRIBUNAL IN THE CLAUDIO SCIARPELLETTI TRIAL
- THE HOLY FATHER'S SPECIAL ENVOYS
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
___________________________________________________________
MAN IS CONSIDERED IN BIOLOGICAL TERMS OR AS "HUMAN CAPITAL"
Vatican City, 3 December 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today gave an address to
the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace.
"Man is nowadays considered in predominantly biological terms or as 'human
capital', a 'resource', part of a dominant productive or financial mechanism.
Although we continue to proclaim the dignity of the person, new ideologies -
the hedonistic and
egotistic claim to sexual and reproductive rights, or unregulated financial
capitalism that abuses politics and derails the true economy - contribute to a
concept of the worker and his or her labour as 'minor' commodities and
undermine the natural
foundations of society, especially the family. In fact, the human being, ....
transcendent by comparison to other beings or earthly goods, enjoys true
supremacy and responsibility for himself and for creation. ... For
Christianity, work is fundamental
for man, for his identity, socialisation, the creation of a family and his
contribution to peace and the common good. For precisely this reason, the aim
of access to work for all is always a priority, even in periods of economic
recession.
"From new evangelisation of the social sphere, we can derive a new humanism
and renewed cultural and prospective commitment", the Pope continued. The new
evangelisation "helps to dethrone modern idols, replacing individualism,
materialistic consumerism
and technocracy with a culture of fraternity and gratuity, and with mutual
love. Jesus Christ summarised these precepts and gave them the form of a new
commandment - 'Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another' -
and here lies the secret
of every fully human and pacific social life, as well as the renewal of
politics and of national and global institutions. Blessed John XXIII motivated
efforts to build a world community, with a corresponding authority precisely
on love for the common
good of the human family".
"The Church certainly does not have the task of suggesting, from a judicial or
political point of view, the precise configuration of an international system
of this type, but rather offers a set of principles for reflection, criteria
for judgement and
practical guidelines able to guarantee an anthropological and ethical
structure for the common good. However, it is important to note that one
should not envisage a superpower, concentrated in the hands of the few,
dominating all peoples and exploiting
the weakest among them, but rather that such an authority should be understood
primarily as a moral force, a power to influence according to reason, or
rather as a participatory authority, limited in competence and by law",
concluded the Holy Father.
___________________________________________________________
THE POPE ADDRESSES THE VENERABLE ENGLISH COLLEGE OF ROME
Vatican City, 3 December 2012 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI addressed
members of the Venerable English College of Rome, the Catholic seminary for
the formation of priests from England and Wales. The College, which celebrates
its 650th anniversary
this year, has its origins in an ancient English hospice which accommodated
British pilgrims to Rome.
The Holy Father, following his greeting to Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, a
former rector of the College, emphasised the "long tradition of zeal for the
faith and loyalty to the Apostolic See" in the Catholic community in England
and Wales. He
remarked that it was his predecessor, Pope Gregory the Great, who sent St.
Augustine of Canterbury to "plant the seeds of Christian faith on Anglo-Saxon
soil. The fruits of that missionary endeavour are only too evident in the
six-hundred-and-fifty-year
history of faith and martyrdom that distinguishes the English Hospice of Saint
Thomas à Becket and the Venerable English College that grew out of it".
Addressing the seminarians, he continued, "you too ... are the men God has
chosen to spread the message of the Gospel today, in England and Wales, in
Canada, in Scandinavia ... Your first task, then, is to come to know Christ
yourselves, and the time
you spend in seminary provides you with a privileged opportunity to do so.
Learn to pray daily, especially in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament,
listening attentively to the word of God and allowing heart to speak to heart,
as Blessed John Henry
Newman would say. ... Allow the fascination of His person to capture your
imagination and warm your heart. He has chosen you to be His friends, not His
servants, and He invites you to share in His priestly work of bringing about
the salvation of the
world".
"You have heard much talk about the new evangelization, the proclamation of
Christ in those parts of the world where the Gospel has already been preached,
but where to a greater or lesser degree the embers of faith have grown cold
and now need to be
fanned once more into a flame. ... Fire in sacred Scripture frequently serves
to indicate the divine presence. ... Just as a small fire can set a whole
forest ablaze, so the faithful testimony of a few can release the purifying
and transforming power of
God’s love so that it spreads like wildfire throughout a community or a
nation".
Benedict XVI concluded by mentioning his visit to the United Kingdom in 2010.
He said, "I saw for myself that there is a great spiritual hunger among the
people. Bring them the true nourishment that comes from knowing, loving and
serving Christ. Speak
the truth of the Gospel to them with love. Offer them the living water of the
Christian faith and point them towards the bread of life, so that their hunger
and thirst may be satisfied. Above all, however, let the light of Christ shine
through you by
living lives of holiness, following in the footsteps of the many great saints
of England and Wales, the holy men and women who bore witness to God’s
love, even at the cost of their lives".
___________________________________________________________
THE POPE ON TWITTER: VOICE OF UNITY AND LEADERSHIP FOR THE CHURCH
Vatican City, 3 December 2012 (VIS) - A press conference was held this morning
in the Holy See Press Office to explain the presence of the Pope on Twitter
and to provide additional information on the use of the new media in the
Vatican.
The conference was presented by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of
the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Msgr. Paul Tighe, secretary
of the same dicastery, Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press
Office, Vatican Radio
and the Vatican Television Centre, Professor Gian Maria Vian, editor of
'L'Osservatore Romano' and Greg Burke, media advisor to the Secretariat of
State. Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Twitter's director of Social Innovation, was also
present.
Given below are extracts from the English-language Note explaining the
presence of the Holy Father on Twitter:
"The Pope's presence on Twitter is a concrete expression of his conviction
that the Church must be present in the digital arena. ... The Pope's presence
on Twitter can be seen as the 'tip of the iceberg' that is the Church's
presence in the world of new
media. The Church is already richly present in this environment – there
exist a whole range of initiatives from the official websites of various
institutions and communities to the personal sites, blogs and micro-blogs of
public church figures and
of individual believers. The Pope's presence on Twitter is ultimately an
endorsement of the efforts of these 'early adapters' to ensure that the Good
News of Jesus Christ and the teaching of his Church is permeating the forum of
exchange and dialogue
that is being created by social media. His presence is intended to be an
encouragement to all Church institutions and people of faith to be attentive
to develop an appropriate profile for themselves and their convictions in the
'di
gital
continent'. The Pope's tweets will be available to believers and non-believers
to share, discuss and to encourage dialogue. It is hoped that the Pope's short
messages, and the fuller messages that they seek to encapsulate, will give
rise to questions
for people from different countries, languages and cultures".
"Part of the challenge for the Church in the area of new media is to establish
a networked or capillary presence that can effectively engage the debates,
discussions and dialogues that are facilitated by social media and that invite
direct, personal and
timely responses of a type that are not so easily achieved by centralized
institutions. Moreover, such a networked or capillary structure reflects the
truth of the Church as a community of communities which is alive both
universally and locally. The
Pope's presence on Twitter will represent his voice as a voice of unity and
leadership for the Church but it will also be a powerful invitation to all
believers to express their 'voices', to engage their 'followers' and 'friends'
and to share with them
the hope of the Gospel that speaks of God’s unconditional love for all
men and women".
"In addition to the direct engagement with the questions, debates and
discussions of people that is facilitated by new media, the Church recognizes
the importance of new media as an environment that allows to teach the truth
that the Lord has passed to
His Church, to listen to others, to learn about their cares and concerns, to
understand who they are and for what they are searching. ... It is for this
reason that it has been decided to launch the Pope's Twitter channel with a
formal question and
answer format. This launch is also an indication of the importance that the
Church gives to listening and is a warranty of its ongoing attentiveness to
the conversations, commentaries and trends that express so spontaneously and
insistently the
preoccupations and hopes of people".
The first tweets from the Pope's handle on Twitter will be given on 12
December, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Initially tweets will be published
with the Wednesday general audiences, although they may subsequently become
more frequent. The first
tweets, on 12 December, will respond to questions put to the Pope on matters
of faith. The public can send questions between now and 12 December in the
languages listed below. The official Papal handle is @pontifex.
In addition to English, tweets will also be published in the following
languages:
Spanish @pontifex_es
Italian @pontifex_it
Portuguese @pontifex_pt
German @pontifex_de
Polish @pontifex_pl
Arabic @pontifex_ar
French @pontifex_fr
Other languages may be added in the future. Further information can be
obtained at http://blog.twitter.com/
___________________________________________________________
ADVENT: THE COMING OF THE LORD CONTINUES
Vatican City, 3 December 2012 (VIS) - "The word 'advent' means 'coming' or
'presence', said the Pope to the faithful gathered yesterday in St. Peter's
Square to pray the Angelus, as the Church began a new liturgical year. "In the
ancient world it
indicated the visit of the king or emperor to a province; in the language of
Christianity it refers to the coming of God, to his presence in the world; a
mystery that involves the entire cosmos and all of history, and with two
culminating moments: the
first and the second coming of Jesus Christ".
Benedict XVI explained that these two culminating moments are first the
Incarnation, and then the glorious return of Christ at the end of time. "These
two moments, chronologically distant – and it is not given to us to know
how far apart they are
– touch us deeply, because by His death and resurrection Jesus has
already accomplished that transformation of humanity and of the cosmos that is
the final goal of creation. But before that end, it is necessary that the
Gospel be proclaimed to all
nations, as Jesus says in the Gospel of Saint Mark. The coming of Christ is
continuous; the world must be infused by His presence. This permanent coming
of the Lord in the proclamation of the Gospel requires our continual
collaboration; and the Church
... in communion with her Lord, collaborates in this coming of the Lord, in
which His glorious return has already begun".
The Word of God traces "a line of conduct to pursue in order to be ready for
the coming of the Lord. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says to the disciples,
'Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness
and the anxieties of
daily life ... Be vigilant at all times and pray', inviting them to simplicity
and prayer. The apostle Paul encourages them to 'increase and abound in love'
among themselves and towards others. ... In the midst of the turmoil of the
world, or the desert
of indifference and materialism, Christians accept the salvation of God and
bear witness to it by following a different way of life. ... The community of
believers is a sign of the love of God, of His justice that is already present
and working in
history, but not yet fully realised, and that therefore should always be
awaited, invoked, and sought after with patience and courage".
Following the Angelus, the Pope mentioned that today in Kottar, India, the
layperson and martyr Devasahayam Pillai, who lived in the eighteenth century,
was beatified. "We unite ourselves to the joy of the Church in India and pray
that the new Blessed
may sustain the faith of Christians in that great and noble country".
"Tomorrow", he added, "we celebrate the International Day for Persons with
Disabilities. Each individual, with his or her physical or psychological
limits, including those of a serious nature, is always of inestimable value
and must be considered as
such. I encourage ecclesial communities to take care to welcome these brothers
and sisters of ours, and urge legislators and governors to protect those with
disabilities and to promote their full participation in the life of our
society as a whole".
___________________________________________________________
FIRST VESPERS OF ADVENT WITH ROME UNIVERSITIES
Vatican City, 1 December 2012 (VIS) - In the Vatican Basilica at 5.30 p.m.
today, Benedict XVI presided at first Vespers for the First Sunday of Advent
with academics from the Roman and pontifical universities on the occasion of
the beginning of the
academic year.
In his homily, the Holy Father remarked that "the entire journey of the year
of the Church is directed to discovering and reliving God's trust in Jesus
Christ who came to us in Bethlehem, as a child. The full history of salvation
is a journey of love,
mercy and benevolence, from creation to the liberation of the people of Israel
from the slavery of Egypt, from the giving of the Law at Sinai to the return
to the homeland from Babylonian slavery. ... God is not closed away in heaven,
but rather
inclines towards the affairs of mankind, a great mystery that exceeds any
possible expectation. ... He does all this out of his unwavering love for
humanity. ... 'God is love'. ... God, in Jesus of Nazareth, takes upon himself
the whole of humanity, the
entire history of humanity, setting it on a decisive new course to
transformation into a new human being, engendered by and tending towards God".
"The liturgical year that we begin with these Vespers will also form part of
the path in which you once more relive the mystery of this trust in God, upon
whom you are called to base your life, as on a solid rock", said the Pope,
addressing the students
present. "By celebrating and undertaking this itinerary of faith with the
Church, you will experience that Jesus Christ is the sole Lord of the cosmos
and of history, without Whom any human construction would amount to nothing.
The liturgy, lived in its
true spirit, is always the fundamental school for life in Christian faith, a
'theological' faith involving your whole being - body, heart and soul - to
enable you to become living stones in the construction of the Church and
collaborators in new
evangelisation".
He continued, "We live in a context in which we often encounter indifference
towards God. But I believe that, in the inner depths of those people ... whose
lives are distant from God, there resides a nostalgia for the infinite, for
transcendence. It is
your task, within the university halls, to bear witness to God Who is close to
us, and Who is made manifest also in the search for the truth, which is the
soul of any intellectual pursuit. ... Faith is the door that God opens in our
lives in order to
lead us to the encounter with Christ, in which the present day of humanity
meets that of God. Christian faith is not the adhesion to a generic or
undefined god, but rather to the living God Who in Jesus Christ, the Word made
flesh, entered into human
history and revealed Himself as man's Redeemer. To believe means to entrust
one's own life to Him, as only He can give it fullness in time and open it to
hope beyond time".
"In this Year of Faith I wish to invite the academic community of Rome to
reflect upon faith. The continuing dialogue between the state or private and
pontifical universities allows us to hope for an increasingly significant
presence of the Church in
the cultural life not only of Rome but also in Italian and international
contexts".
The Pope concluded by remarking that that the next World Youth Day in Rio de
Janeiro will provide "an important opportunity for offering your testimony and
commitment to the moral and social renewal of the world".
At the end of the ceremony a delegation from the University of Rome "Roma 3"
presented an icon of Mary "Sedes Sapientiae" ("Seat of Wisdom") to a
university delegation from Brazil, the country which will host the next World
Youth Day.
___________________________________________________________
THE POPE PRAISES THE VALUES OF ITINERANT PERFORMERS
Vatican City, 1 December 2012 (VIS) - At midday today in the Vatican's Paul VI
Hall, Benedict XVI received the participants in the pilgrimage of the "World
of Itinerant Performers", promoted on the occasion of the Year of Faith by the
Pontifical Council
for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, in collaboration with
the diocese of Rome and the "Migrantes" foundation of the Italian Episcopal
Conference. Thousands of circus performers, fairground workers, puppeteers,
acrobats, street
performers, musical band members, mechanical musicians, folk groups and
pavement artists were present.
"Your great family is distinguished above all by your ability to use the
particular and specific language of your art", which, the Pope said,
"constitutes an immediate form of communication for entering into dialogue
with children and adults, kindling
feelings of serenity, joy and harmony".
"With these characteristics and style, you show the values that form a part of
your tradition: love for the family, care for the young, attention to the
disabled, care for the sick, and respect for the elderly and their experience.
In your environment,
dialogue between generations, a sense of friendship, and the pleasure of
working as a team all flourish. You excel in hospitality and the welcome you
extend to others, along with your attention to responding to the most
authentic wishes, especially
those of the young generations. Your crafts require sacrifices, responsibility
and perseverance, courage and generosity; virtues today's society does not
always appreciate, but which have contributed to shaping entire generations
within your great
family".
The Pope continued, "I am also aware of the many problems you face due to your
itinerant condition, such as the education of your children, the search for
appropriate locations for performances, obtaining authorisation for shows and
stay permits for
foreigners. I hope that the local authorities will make efforts to protect you
as a group, recognising the social and cultural value of travelling shows, and
encourage both you and the rest of civil society to overcome prejudice,
aspiring to a good
level of integration in local contexts".
"The Church takes pleasure in the commitment you show and appreciates your
loyalty to the traditions you are justly proud of. Like you, the Church is a
pilgrim in the world, and invites you to participate in her divine mission
through your daily work.
... Although the itinerant life can prevent you from stable participation in a
parish community and does not facilitate regular participation in catechesis
and divine worship, new evangelisation is necessary even in your world. I hope
that you are able
to find welcoming and accommodating people, able to help meet your spiritual
needs, in the communities within which you temporarily stay. However, do not
forget that the family is the first route by which faith is transmitted; it is
the little domestic
Church entrusted with the role of introducing Jesus and His Gospel, and
educating in accordance with God's law, so that everyone might reach full
human and Christian maturity".
"Assuring you of the closeness of the Church, who shares your path, I entrust
you all to the Virgin Mary, the star of your journey, whose maternal presence
will accompany you in every moment of your life", concluded Benedict XVI.
___________________________________________________________
MOTU PROPRIO ON THE SERVICE OF CHARITY
Vatican City, 1 December 2012 (VIS) - Given below is Benedict XVI's Apostolic
Letter issued "motu proprio" on "The Service of Charity", dated 11 November
2012.
"'The Church's deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility:
of proclaiming the word of God (kerygma-martyria), celebrating the sacraments
(leitourgia) and exercising the ministry of charity (diakonia). These duties
presuppose each other
and are inseparable'.
"The service of charity is also a constitutive element of the Church's mission
and an indispensable expression of her very being; all the faithful have the
right and duty to devote themselves personally to living the new commandment
that Christ left us,
and to offering our contemporaries not only material assistance, but also
refreshment and care for their souls. The Church is also called as a whole to
the exercise of the diakonia of charity, whether in the small communities of
particular Churches or
on the level of the universal Church. This requires organization 'if it is to
be an ordered service to the community', an organization which entails a
variety of institutional expressions.
"With regard to this diakonia of charity, in my Encyclical Deus Caritas Est I
pointed out that 'in conformity with the episcopal structure of the Church,
the Bishops, as successors of the Apostles, are charged with primary
responsibility for carrying
out in the particular Churches' the service of charity; at the same time,
however, I noted that 'the Code of Canon Law, in the canons on the ministry of
the Bishop, does not expressly mention charity as a specific sector of
episcopal activity'. Although
'the Directory for the Pastoral Ministry of Bishops explored more specifically
the duty of charity as a responsibility incumbent upon the whole Church and
upon each Bishop in his Diocese', there was still a need to fill the
aforementioned lacuna and to
give adequate expression in canonical legislation to both the essential nature
of the service of charity in the Church and its constitutive relationship with
the episcopal ministry, while outlining the legal aspects of this ecclesia
l
service, especially when carried out in an organised way and with the explicit
support of the Bishops.
--- NetMgr/2 1.0y+
* Origin: NetMgr+ @ Sursum Corda! BBS Meridian MS USA (1:396/45)
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