the feasibility study conducted by the same Commission.
Starting from the analyses and reports of McKinsey and the previous
commissions
(COSEA and the Vatican Media Commission chaired by Lord Chris Patten), the
current Commission presented a plan for reform to be implemented over a
four-year period, ensuring the protection of staff and a gradual integration of
institutions. These are the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the
Holy See Press Office, Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television Centre, the
Osservatore Romano, the Photographic Service, the Vatican Publishing House, the
Vatican Typography and the Internet Office.
The Council of Cardinals expressed a positive judgement to the Holy Father,
also in relation to the expected time span. The constitution of the dicastery
will be drafted, and the necessary appointments made during the coming months
to
enable the process to be initiated. The Commission is currently continuing its
work, which has yet to be completed.
On Wednesday morning, the Council heard a communique from Fr. Michael Czerny
of
the Pontifical Council "Justice and Peace" regarding the Holy Father's new
encyclical and the preparation for its publication. Fr. Czerny explained that,
at the Pope's behest, emails will be sent, introduced by a letter from Cardinal
Turkson, to inform ordinaries throughout the world of the upcoming publication
of the encyclical and to provide suggestions and assistance on the teaching and
previous interventions by the Pope on the theme of the environment. It is hoped
that this will allow individual bishops and episcopates to prepare for the new
document and to accompany it with appropriate explanations and comments, so as
to ensure that the publication of the encyclical is experienced as an important
event in the life of the universal Church and in communion with the Holy
Father.
The next meeting of the Council of Cardinals is scheduled for 14 to 16
September.
___________________________________________________________
The Holy See and the United States sign agreement against tax evasion
Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning Archbishop Paul Richard
Gallagher, secretary for Relations with States, and the U.S. Ambassador to the
Holy See, Kenneth F. Hackett, signed an historic agreement between the Holy See
(acting also in the name of and on behalf of Vatican City State) and the United
States of America to improve international tax compliance and the exchange of
tax information in view of the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
This agreement - which is the first formal intergovernmental agreement between
the Holy See and the United States - underscores the commitment of both parties
to promote and ensure ethical behaviour in the financial and economic fields.
In
particular, this agreement will prevent tax evasion and facilitate the
compliance of fiscal duties by those U.S. citizens who conduct financial
activities in Vatican City State.
Ensuring the payment of taxes and preventing tax evasion are of crucial
economic importance for every community since adequate tax revenues and public
spending are indispensable for governments to become instruments of development
and solidarity, to encourage employment growth, to sustain business and
charitable activities, and to provide systems of social insurance and
assistance
designed to protect the weakest members of society.
In a context of economic globalisation, it is therefore essential to
strengthen
the exchange of information with the view to prevent tax evasion. The present
agreement is thus based on the most up-to-date global standards to curtail
offshore tax evasion through the automatic exchange of tax information.
___________________________________________________________
The Holy See at the 39th Conference of the FAO: sustainable human development
Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) - Msgr. Fernando Chica Arellano, head of the
Holy See delegation at the 39th session of the Conference of the FAO (United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation), being held in Rome from 6 to 13
June, spoke this morning at the seventh plenary session dedicated to the theme
"Breaking the cycle of rural poverty and hunger by strengthening rural
resilience: social protection and sustainable agricultural development".
Tomorrow in the Vatican the Holy Father will receive in audience the 450
attendees of the Conference.
"The member States and various intergovernmental institutions who work in the
sector of development and cooperation keep a close eye on the FAO and its
activities, as does civil society in its different and valuable forms of
organisation. The work that this organisation is called upon to undertake, in
the present and in the near future, in the various regions of the world, must
be
focused on this reality", affirmed the prelate. "This requires extra effort: in
facing the problems of the rural world and the needs of those who suffer from
hunger and malnutrition it is also necessary to consider the condition of
agricultural workers and their earnings, but without forgetting that the
agricultural worker is not solely an economic subject. He or she is a person
capable of participating in decision-making regarding production, conservation
and distribution of the fruits of the land".
"Therefore, more than sustainable development, it would be far more incisive
and coherent to speak about sustainable human development, or rather a
development that places at the centre the human person, with his or her real
capacities, limitations, peculiarities and needs, both individually and as a
family. If the economic parameters do not take all this into account, the
resulting damage is clear and irreparable, for greater progress can never be
equivalent to less humanity. An ethical and human vision of development
requires
us instead to share resources, strategies and financing, but above all reminds
us of the urgency and importance of solidarity as well as determination to put
an end, once and for all, to the underdevelopment of the rural world. The
Organisation may then continue to be the competent 'centre' for the gathering,
study and dissemination of information on agriculture, production methods and
regulations, as its Constitution stipulates and as is justly expected of it at
all levels".
"The Holy See delegation wishes here to reaffirm the willingness of the
Catholic Church, in her structures and organisational forms, to contribute to
this effort", concluded Msgr. Chica Arellano.
___________________________________________________________
Audiences
Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in audience
Archbishop Piergiorgio Bertoldi, apostolic nuncio in Burkina Faso and Niger,
with family members.
This afternoon, he is scheduled to receive in audience Vladimir V. Putin,
president of the Russian Federation, and entourage.
___________________________________________________________
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 10 June 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has accepted:
- the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Amargosa, Brazil,
presented by Bishop Joao Nilton dos Santos Souza, in accordance with canon 401
para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
- appointed Bishop Teodoro Mendes Tavares, C.S.Sp., auxiliary of the
archdiocese of Belem do Para, Brazil, as coadjutor bishop of the diocese of
Ponta de Pedras (area 2,082, population 2,253,045, Catholics 1,857,243, priests
199, permanent deacons 82, religious 545), Brazil.
___________________________________________________________
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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.
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