VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 191
DATE 29-10-2015
Summary:
- Audience with the president of Lithuania: greater solidarity between nations -
Transmitting Christian hope: the Pope receives the participants in the 6th World
Congress of Radio Maria
- Programme of Pope Francis' visit to Prato and Florence
- Message from Cardinal Tauran to the Religions for Peace European Assembly:
from fear to trust
- Audiences
___________________________________________________________
Audience with the president of Lithuania: greater solidarity between nations
Vatican City, 29 October 2015 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father Francis received
in
audience Dalia Grybauskaite, president of the Republic of Lithuania, who
subsequently met with Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, accompanied
by
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States.
During the cordial discussions appreciation was expressed for the positive
contribution of the Catholic Church to Lithuanian society. Attention then
turned
to a number of themes of common interest, such as European integration, the
need
for greater solidarity between nations to face various current challenges, the
reception of migrants in Europe, peace and security at regional and
international level, the conflict in Ukraine, and the situation in the Middle
East, with particular reference to Syria and the Holy Land.
___________________________________________________________
Transmitting Christian hope: the Pope receives the participants in the 6th
World Congress of Radio Maria
Vatican City, 29 October 2015 (VIS) - This morning the Pope received in the
Sala Clementina the participants in the Radio Maria 6th World Congress, taking
place in the shrine of Collevallenza, Italy from 25 to 30 October and attended
by the presidents and priests who direct the 75 Radio Maria broadcasters
throughout the world and the further six who will shortly become active.
Thousands of volunteers contribute to the running of Radio Maria, which has
around 30 million listeners worldwide.
Pope Francis began his address by commenting that ever since its creation the
aim of Radio Maria has been to help the Church in her task of evangelising, and
to do so in its own special way, "with closeness to the concerns and problems
of
the people, with words of consolation and hope, the fruit of faith and
commitment to solidarity. ... The spread of Radio Maria in many environments,
very
diverse in terms of culture, language and tradition, is good news for all as it
shows that, when we have the courage to propose high profile content from a
clearly Christian position, the initiative is well-received, beyond our best
predictions, and at times by those who thereby perhaps come into contact with
the message of the Gospel for the first time".
The Pope invited the members of Radio Maria to continue their work, trusting
in
Providence that has always enabled them to find the means to respond to their
daily needs regarding the modernisation of technologies and the development of
the radio station, which has spread rapidly and organically. "In this respect,
the challenge is to maintain your style of sobriety, while continuing to seek
suitable tools".
The work of Radio Maria has become "a true mission", which must be carried out
"with fidelity to the Gospel and to the Magisterium of the Church, and
listening
to society and to the people, especially the poorest and most marginalised, so
as to be a point of reference and a support to all your listeners. ... All
those
who listen to your radio programmes recognise you as a broadcaster that offers
ample space to prayer, demonstrating that when one opens up to prayer, one
opens
the door ... to the Lord. Your model in this is Our Lady. It is therefore
necessary to love Mary with your heart to live and feel in harmony with the
Church".
The Pope concluded by urging the directors "always to cultivate the inner
garden of prayer, of listening to the Word of God", and to seek out "good
readings, so as to deepen your faith. In other words, always be aware that you
give something great and unique: Christian hope, which is far more than a mere
spiritual consolation, since it is based on the power of the Resurrection,
witnessed with faith and works of charity".
___________________________________________________________
Programme of Pope Francis' visit to Prato and Florence
Vatican City, 29 October 2015 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today made
public the programme of the Holy Father's visit to Prato and Florence, Italy on
10 November for the Fifth National Congress of the Italian Church.
The Pope will depart at 7 a.m. from the Vatican heliport and will arrive an
hour later at the municipal sports camp in Prato. From there he will transfer
to
the cathedral and will address workers from the square. At 9 a.m. he will
travel
by helicopter from Prato to Florence where, after arrival at the Luigi Ridolfi
stadium, he will visit the baptistery and will meet with the representatives of
the National Congress of the Italian Church in Piazza Santa Maria del Fiore. At
midday he will pray the Angelus and greet the sick in the Basilica della
Santissima Annunziata, after which he will lunch with the poor who attend the
San Francesco Poverino refectory. After celebrating Holy Mass in the Artemio
Franchi municipal stadium, the Holy Father will greet the authorities and
depart
for Rome at 5 p.m., where he is due to arrive around 6 p.m.
___________________________________________________________
Message from Cardinal Tauran to the Religions for Peace European Assembly:
from
fear to trust
Vatican City, 29 October 2015 (VIS) - Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of
the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, has sent a message to the
participants in the Religions for Peace European Assembly, currently gathered
in
Castel Gandolfo to discuss the theme "Welcoming Each Other in Europe: from Fear
to Trust".
The cardinal mentioned the Assembly's concept paper, which underlines the
multiple challenges of today's Europe: fear of losing one's identity leading to
radicalism and fundamentalism, tendency to withdraw into oneself, xenophobia,
rising intolerance towards different religions and minorities and increasing
tides of forced migration due to wars, dictatorial regimes and ecological
crisis.
"How can we change fear into trust, discrimination into respect, enmity into
amity, polarisation into solidarity, a selfish lifestyle into a selfless one, a
throwaway culture into a caring culture, and confrontation into encounter and
dialogue? The true mission of religion is peace because religion and peace go
together. No true religious leader can ignore the culture of dehumanisation and
violence or preach and support it. We all agree that peace or violence and
trust
or fear come from the human heart. Prayer, spiritual practices, and actions for
justice and peace can awaken our hearts to overcome the polarised vision of
seeing our neighbour as another separate person. As religious leaders our
urgent
challenge today, is to transform distrust , suspicion, intolerance into a new
culture based on respect, mutual understanding, non-violence, solidarity and
peaceful conflict resolution. Since our spiritual patrimony is so great, let us
work together to remedy these social and cultural ills through dialogue and
cooperation".
___________________________________________________________
Audiences
Vatican City, 29 October 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
- Yury Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime;
- Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy.
___________________________________________________________
For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:
www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va
Copyright (VIS): the news contained in the services of the Vatican
Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting
the source: V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.
http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html
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* Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Huntsville AL=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)
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