VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 075
DATE 21-04-2015
Summary:
- The Pope participates in the suffering and consternation of the Orthodox
Patriarch of Ethiopia for the recent slaughter of Christians
- Collaboration agreements with UNICEF and CONMEBOL in favour of Scholas
Occurrentes, signed before the Holy Father
- Other Pontifical Acts
- In memoriam
___________________________________________________________
The Pope participates in the suffering and consternation of the Orthodox
Patriarch of Ethiopia for the recent slaughter of Christians
Vatican City, 21 April 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon Pope Francis sent a
message to the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church, His
Holiness
Abuna Matthias, upon hearing of the slaughter of 28 Ethiopian Christians
kidnapped in Libya by the group ISIS.
"With great distress and sadness I learn of the further shocking violence
perpetrated against innocent Christians in Libya. I know that Your Holiness is
suffering deeply in heart and mind at the sight of your faithful children being
killed for the sole reason that they are followers of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus
Christ. I reach out to you in heartfelt spiritual solidarity to assure you of
my
closeness in prayer at the continuing martyrdom being so cruelly inflicted on
Christians in Africa, the Middle East and some parts of Asia.
It makes no difference whether the victims are Catholic, Copt, Orthodox or
Protestant. Their blood is one and the same in their confession of Christ! The
blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to
be
heard by everyone who can still distinguish between good and evil. All the more
this cry must be heard by those who have the destiny of peoples in their hands.
At this time we are filled with the Easter joy of the disciples to whom the
women had brought the news that 'Christ has risen from the dead'. This year,
that joy - which never fades - is tinged with profound sorrow. Yet we know that
the life we live in God's merciful love is stronger than the pain all
Christians
feel, a pain shared by men and women of good will in all religious traditions.
With heartfelt condolences I exchange with Your Holiness the embrace of peace
in Christ Our Lord".
___________________________________________________________
Collaboration agreements with UNICEF and CONMEBOL in favour of Scholas
Occurrentes, signed before the Holy Father
Vatican City, 21 April 2015 (VIS) - This morning, in the Domus Sanctae Marthae
and in the presence of Pope Francis, the executive director of UNICEF, Anthony
Lake, and the deputy president of CONMEBOL signed two collaboration agreements
in favour of Scholas Occurrentes, the educational network supported by the Holy
Father.
UNICEF is the United Nations Children's Fund, and CONMEBOL the South American
Football Confederation. Scholas Occurrentes is a the first worldwide initiative
with the aim of promoting integration and peace between peoples through
education, connecting more than 400,000 schools and educational networks, both
public and private and of all religions. The five-year collaboration with
UNICEF
will be based on the broadening of access for young children, especially the
most disadvantaged, to technology, sport and the arts - platforms for
education,
participation and the building of peace, enabling the young to learn about
themselves, others and the world that surrounds them.
Scholas and UNICEF will initially cooperate in a series of joint activities
worldwide, with the special aim of bringing an end to violence and promoting
the
connectedness of all young people, making the most of the unique capacities of
each person to favour the participation of adolescents and to broaden their
access to the tools and information they need to be connected, to communicate
and to collaborate.
The two organisations will explore the bonds between their respective
platforms
for mobilisation on social networks and communication media, and will support
both digital campaigns and social movements in aid of the most disadvantaged
children. The specific collaboration projects include involvement in the
Scholas
network in terms of content and opportunities for the participation by young
people in "The young express their own opinion", UNICEF's online space for
adolescents and young people. UNICEF will also adapt the U-Report for the
Scholas global community, which will enable its members to join the 500,000 or
so young people who already use the mobile-based platform to speak about their
interests and to participate.
The organisations will also develop new opportunities for collaboration in
relation to major events centred on world youth, such as the Summit on the
Social Impact of Youth, to be held during the Summer Games of the Special
Olympics in 2015 in Los Angeles. In 2016, the association will begin to explore
initiatives at regional, national and community levels, including campaigns to
raise awareness and joint promotional activities linked to issues affecting
millions of disadvantaged adolescents.
___________________________________________________________
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 21 April 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
- accepted the resignation from the pastoral ministry of the diocese of Kansas
City-St. Joseph, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Robert W. Finn, in accordance with
canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
- accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of
Guadalajara, Mexico, presented by Bishop JosΘ Trindad Gonzalez Rodriguez, in
accordance with canons 411 and 401 para. 2 and of the Code of Canon Law.
___________________________________________________________
In memoriam
Vatican City, 20 April 2015 (VIS) - The following prelates have died in recent
weeks:
- Bishop Andre Vallee, P.M.E., emeritus of Hearst, Canada, on 28 February at
the age of 84.
- Cardinal Edward Michael Egan, archbishop emeritus of New York, U.S.A, on 5
March at the age of 82.
- Bishop Antonio Dorado Soto, emeritus of Malaga, Spain, on 17 March at the
age
of 83.
- Bishop Malachy John Goltok, of Bauchi, Nigeria, on 21 March at the age of
49.
- Archbishop Ennio Appignanesi, emeritus of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marsico Nuovo
Italy, on 26 March at the age of 89.
- Bishop Alonso Llano Ruiz, emeritus of Istmina-Tado, Colombia, on 26 March at
the age of 83.
- Bishop Juan Carlos Maccarone, emeritus of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, on
29 March at the age of 74.
- Bishop Alberto Ricardo da Silva, emeritus of Dili, East Timor, on 2 April at
the age of 71.
- Bishop William Benedict Friend, emeritus of Shreveport, U.S.A. on 2 April at
the age of 83.
- Archbishop Luis Marøa Perez de Onraita Aguirre, emeritus of Malanje, Angola
on 3 April at the age of 81.
- Bishop Eugene Moke Motsuri , auxiliary emeritus of Kinshasa, Democratic
Republic of Congo, on 6 April at the age of 99.
- Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, archbishop emeritus of Montreal, Canada, on 8
April at the age of 78.
- Bishop Joao Alves dos Santos, O.F.M. Cap., of Paranagua, Brazil, on 9 April
at the age of 58.
-Bishop Elmo Noel Joseph Perera, emeritus of Galle, Sri Lanka, on 9 April at
the age of 82.
- Bishop Antonio Alberto Guimaraes Rezende, C.S.S., emeritus of Caetite,
Brazil, on 13 April at the age of 89.
- Cardinal Roberto Tucci, S.J., on 14 April, at the age of 93.
- Bishop Felice Leonardo, emeritus of Cerreto Sannita-Telese-Sant'Agata de'
Goti, Italy, on 15 April at the age of 100
- Cardinal Francis Eugene George, O.M.I., archbishop emeritus of Chicago,
U.S.A., on 17 April at the age of 78.
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www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va
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* Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
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