VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 227
DATE 18-12-2015
Summary:
- The Nativity shows us that the Lord never imposes
- Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be canonised
- "Migrants and refugees: threat or opportunity?": meeting of the Bilateral
Commission of the Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy
See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews
- Holy See Press Office Communique on the autopsy of Msgr. Jozef Wesolowski
- Audiences
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The Nativity shows us that the Lord never imposes
Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall Pope
Francis received seven hundred people from the Bavarian municipalities of
Hirschau, Schanaittenbach and Freudenberg, who donated the Christmas tree
adorning St. Peter's Square this year, and representatives from the Italian
province of Trento who, along with the archdiocese, created the Nativity
display. The decorations on the tree are from the Lene Thun Foundation of
Bolzano and, as the Holy Father commented, represent the dreams of the children
who decorated it, whom he thanked.
"These wishes that we carry in our heart are now in the most suitable place,
because they are close to the child of Bethlehem: they are entrusted to Him, He
Who came to live in our midst. Indeed, Jesus did not simply appear on earth,
and
did not dedicate just a little of His time to us, but rather came to share our
life and to receive our desires, as He wanted and still wants to live here,
along with us and for us. Our world, which at Christmas became His world, is
important to Him. The creche reminds us of this: God, in his great mercy,
descended to us to stay with us".
The Nativity also tells us that the Lord "never imposes upon us with force. To
save us, He did not change history by performing a grand miracle. Instead, He
lived with simplicity, humility and meekness. God does not like the dramatic
revolutions of the powerful of history, and does not use a magic wand to change
situations. Instead He makes Himself small, He becomes a child, to attract us
with love, to touch our hearts with His humble goodness, to draw attention
through His poverty to those who worry about accumulating the false treasures
of
this world".
The Holy Father recalled that this was the intention of St. Francis when he
invented the creche - to pay homage to the Child who was born in Bethlehem so
as
to be able to in some way perceive with the eyes of the body the hardships He
suffered for the lack of the basic necessities for a newborn. Indeed, the scene
honours and praises simplicity, poverty and humility. "I invite you, then, to
pause before the Nativity scene, for there God's tenderness speaks to us. There
we contemplate divine mercy, made flesh so that we gaze tenderly upon it. Above
all, it wishes to move our hearts".
In this regard, Francis indicated that in the creche there is a figure who
reveals the mystery of the Nativity. "It is a character who performs a good
act,
stooping to assist an elderly person. He not only looks to God but also
imitates
Him, as, like God, he inclines mercifully to one in need. May these gifts of
yours, which will be lit up this evening, attract the gaze of many and above
all
revive in our life the true light of Christmas".
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Mother Teresa of Calcutta to be canonised
Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday, 17 December, the Holy Father
Francis received in a private audience Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., prefect
of
the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, during which he authorised the
Congregation to promulgate the following decrees:
MIRACLES
- Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (nee Anjeze Gonxhe Bojaxhiu), Albanian foundress
of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity (1910-1997).
HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Giuseppe Ambrosoli, Italian professed priest of the Comboni
Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (1923-1987).
- Servant of God Adolfo (ne Leonardo Lanzuela Martinez), Spanish professed
religious of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (1894-1976).
- Servant of God Heinrich Hahn, Italian layman (1800-1882).
___________________________________________________________
"Migrants and refugees: threat or opportunity?": meeting of the Bilateral
Commission of the Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy
See's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews
Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - The Bilateral Commission of the
Delegations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Holy See's Commission for
Religious Relations with the Jews held its 13th meeting in Jerusalem in the
offices of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation on the theme "Migrants and refugees:
threat or opportunity?" on 16 and 17 December. At the end of the event the
Commission issued a joint statement, which began by commemorating the recently
deceased Cardinal Jorge Mejia, the first Catholic co-chair of the Bilateral
Commission, and conveyed wishes for a full and speedy recovery to Chief Rabbi
Shear Yashuv Cohen.
The meeting, chaired by Chief Rabbi Rasson Arousi and Cardinal Peter Kodwo
Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace",
focused
primarily on the "enormous current humanitarian crisis in the form of hundreds
of thousands of refugees seeking asylum and the challenges this poses",
highlighting a number of issues, including the tensions between the obligation
to welcome and "love the stranger as yourself" while meeting one's
responsibilities to one's own identity, society, community and specific
religious mission; the challenge posed by migration in terms of the fullness
and
authenticity of human existence and experience, and the moral demands for
respect for human dignity that cannot be ignored.
During the meeting, it was reiterated that Jews and Christians are required to
address these challenges and to do the utmost to ensure that the Divine Image
in
which all humanity is created is respected and fostered fully among migrant and
refugee populations.
Similarly, immigrants are to be recognised as a blessed resource to be
welcomed
and respected for their human dignity, and as potential to contribute to the
positive growth and development of society. To help influence public opinion
and
legislatures to regulate and more effectively implement immigration procedures,
mindful of the preferred destinations of migrants themselves.
Finally, the Bilateral Commission attended a presentation on Israeli
initiatives to address the plight of refugees and victims of conflict.
___________________________________________________________
Holy See Press Office Communique on the autopsy of Msgr. Jozef Wesolowski
Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today
announced that on 14 December, the report on the chemical toxicological
examinations carried out on samples taken during the autopsy of Msgr. Jozef
Wesolowski was submitted to the Chancellor's Office of the Vatican City State
Court of First Instance.
The conclusions of the Report definitively confirmed what had already emerged
from the post-mortem examination; that is, that death was ascribable to natural
causes (acute myocardial infarction), excluding other exogenous causes.
The various investigations were conducted in strict accordance with the
guidelines and protocols recognised at international level, by a Board of
medical examiners appointed by the Promoter of Justice the day after the
Prelate's unexpected death.
___________________________________________________________
Audiences
Vatican City, 18 December 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience Archbishop Fabio Martinez Castilla of Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, with
his auxiliary, Bishop Jose Luis Mendoza Corzo and Bishop Felipe Arizmendi
Esquivel of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
___________________________________________________________
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