is diversity and at times clashes. Unfortunately, brothers have not and
continue
not to accept their differences, and end up fighting against each other.
Reflecting on the history of our relationship, we cannot but feel sad faced
with
the conflicts and violence committed in the name of our faith, and I ask the
Lord to grant us the grace of acknowledging ourselves as sinners and of
forgiving each other. It is God's initiative, that never resigns to man's sin,
that opens up new forms of living this fraternity, and from this we cannot
escape. I ask forgiveness on behalf of the Catholic Church for unchristian,
even
inhuman gestures and behaviour towards you. In the name of Jesus Christ,
forgive
us".
The Pope expressed his profound joy at noting that the relations between
Catholics and Waldensians are now increasingly based on mutual respect and
fraternal charity, and that there have been and are many opportunities to
strengthen them, for example "collaboration for the publication in Italian of
an
interconfessional translation of the Bible, pastoral agreements for the
celebration of marriage and, more recently, the draft of a joint appeal
opposing
violence towards women". Likewise, this year at Easter the Waldensian Church in
the Italian city of Pinerolo offered the Catholic Church the wine for the
celebration of Holy Saturday, and the Catholic Church responded by offering the
Waldensians the bread for the Holy Supper on Easter Sunday. "It is a gesture
between the two Churches that goes far beyond the pure and simple courtesy",
noted Francis. "It is a gesture that anticipates, in some way, the unity of the
Eucharistic Mass that we all hope for".
"Inspired by these steps, we are called to continue to walk together",
emphasised the Pope at the end of his discourse. "One area that offers ample
opportunities for collaboration between Waldensians and Catholics is
evangelisation. Aware that the Lord has gone before us and precedes us in love,
let us go together towards the men and women of today, who at times seem so
distracted and indifferent, to transmit to them the heart of the Gospel, or
rather 'the beauty of the saving love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ Who
died and rose from the dead'. Another sector in which we can work increasingly
united is that of the service to suffering humanity: to the poor, the sick,
migrants. ... The differences that continue to exist between Catholics and
Waldensians on important anthropological and ethical questions do not prevent
us
from finding forms of cooperation in these and other fields. If we walk
together, the Lord will help us to live this communion that precedes any
disagreement".
The meeting at the Waldensian Temple ended with the Lord's Prayer, recited
together. The Pope then returned to the archbishop's residence to meet with a
number of his relatives - six direct relatives with their families, a total of
thirty people for whom he celebrated Holy Mass and with whom he lunched.
Before his return to Rome at 5.30 p.m., the Pope greeted the members of the
Committee for the Exposition of the Shroud and the organisers of his visit to
Turin, his home town, which Cardinal Bergoglio used to visit every time he
travelled to Italy.
___________________________________________________________
The Pope to the Knights of the Order of Merit for Labour: the economy
contributes to development when rooted in justice
Vatican City, 20 June 2015 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall Pope
Francis received in audience four hundred members of the National Federation of
the Knights of the Order of Merit for Labour, which has for a hundred years
been
awarded to those who have distinguished themselves in the fields of business
and
economy for their contribution to the creation of work and the promotion of
Italian products throughout the world.
"This work is more valuable than ever in an age like ours, in which the
economic and financial crisis has been followed by severe stagnation and also a
true recession, in a social context already marked by inequalities and
unemployment, especially regarding young people. This latter constitutes a true
social scourge, inasmuch as it deprives the young of an essential element for
their realisation, and deprives the economy of the contribution of their vital
strengths. The world of work should be awaiting young people, well-prepared and
keen to make efforts and to emerge. Instead, the message that has often been
received in these years is that there is no need for them. And this is the
symptom of serious dysfunction, that cannot be attributed solely to causes at a
global and international level".
"The common good, which is the ultimate objective of living together, cannot
be
reached through a mere increase in earnings or production, but has as an
indispensable precondition the active involvement of all the members of the
social body. The social teaching of the Church continually recalls this
fundamental criterion: that the human being is at the centre of development,
and
while men and women remain passive or at the margins, the common good cannot be
considered to have been fully achieved. ... Here is the social scope of work:
the
capacity for involved people and entrusting responsibility, so as to stimulate
enterprise, creativity and effort. This has positive effects on the new
generations and ensures that society begins to look ahead again, offering
prospects and opportunities, and therefore hopes for the future".
The Holy Father emphasised that this National Foundation has the commendable
purpose of ensuring that its members highlight not only the social role of work
but also its ethical scope. "Indeed, the economy contributes to the authentic
development that does not marginalise peoples and individuals only when it is
rooted in justice and respect for the law, when it keeps away from corruption
and crime, and when it does not neglect to care for the environment. The
practice of justice, as the Biblical texts wisely tell us, is not limited to
abstention from iniquity or the observance of the laws (although this is
already
important!), but instead goes much further. The truly just, as well as
respecting the rules, act with conscience and interest in the good of all, and
not only for themselves. The just take to heart the fate of the less advantaged
and the poorest, never tire of working, and are always ready to take new paths.
We hope for the practice of justice in this full sense for every economic
worker
and all citizens".
___________________________________________________________
To the Catholic Biblical Federation: the Word of God is a sacramental
Vatican City, 20 June 2015 (VIS) - The members of the Catholic Biblical
Federation were received last Friday by the Holy Father, on the occasion of
their tenth plenary session to reflect on the Sacred Scripture as a source of
evangelisation, and on the fiftieth anniversary of the promulgation of the
dogmatic Constitution on the Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum. The Pope handed
those present a written discourse, published by the VIS on the same day, and
gave a brief improvised address, a summary of which is offered below.
"The surprises of God, that help us to realise that all our plans all our
thoughts and many things, before the living Word of God, collapse and crumble.
When a Church closes up in herself and forgets that she has been sent to
announce the Gospel, that is, the Good News, to move hearts with the kerygma,
then she ages and weakens. And, I would add, she sickens and dies".
"I have heard it said many times that the diocese in northern Africa at the
time of St. Augustine were dead Churches. No! There are two ways of dying:
dying
closed in oneself or dying by giving life as witness. And a Church that has the
courage - the parrhesia - to carry forward the Word of God without shame is on
the road to martyrdom".
"In the first reading of today's Mass we have heard that Paul tell of the
things he suffered, to 'boast'. 'But whatever anyone else dares to boast of - I
am speaking as a fool - I also dare to boast of that'. The outline is this. But
if St. Paul had stayed there, in one of the churches, like that of Corinth, and
only there, he would not have suffered all that he says. Why? Because he was an
outgoing man - when he saw that things were going well, he handed over to
another and went on. He is a model".
"At the end he says this beautiful phrase: after 'boasting' of his many
journeys, the many times he was whipped, the time he was stoned, all of that,
'if I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness'. In another
passage - you Biblical scholars must know it - he says, 'I will boast all the
more gladly of my weaknesses'. Paul's third boast is not vanity: 'But far be it
from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ'. This is his
strength. And this is an outgoing Church, a martyrial Church. She is a Church
who takes to the street, who walks. But I prefer a Church wounded in an
accident
rather than a Church that sickens from being closed up in herself. With this
parrhesia and this hypomone; that patience that is shouldering situations, but
also the tenderness of carrying the injured faithful on one's shoulders, that
have been given to her. A pastoral Church. Only the Word of God and, alongside
the Word, the Eucharist. The brothers who gather to praise the Lord with the
weakness of bread and wine, the Body of the Lord, the Blood of the Lord".
"The Word of God is not something that makes life easy. No, no. It always
places us in difficulty! If someone bears it with sincerity, it places him in
difficulty, it embarrasses him many times. But it is necessary to tell the
truth, with tenderness, with that shouldering of situations and of people. It
can be understood as a fraternal respect that knows how to 'caress'".
"One of the things that worry me is the functional proclamation of the Word of
God in homilies. Please, do everything to help your brothers - deacons, priests
and bishops - to give the Word of God in their homilies, so that it reaches the
heart. A thought, an image, a sentiment can also reach... but the Word of God
must arrive. There are many who are capable, but they make the mistake of
offering a beautiful theological dissertation. ... The Word of God is a
sacramental! For Luther it is a sacrament, that acts also ex opere operato
(effective in and of itself, Ed.). Then the tendency was more towards the
Tridentine view, that of ex opere operantis (receiving its efficacy through the
mediator, Ed.). Theologians then found the Word of God to be somewhere between;
part ex opere operato, part ex opere operantis. It is a sacramental. Discourses
are not sacramental, they are discourses done well. But in the homilies may
there be the Word of God, as it touches the heart".
___________________________________________________________
Audiences
Vatican City, 20 June 2015 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father received in
audience:
- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;
- Joaquin Mbana Nchama, ambassador of Equatorial Guinea, presenting his
credential letters;
- Bishop Jorge Pedro Carrion Pavlich of Puno, Peru;
- Dr. Giuseppe Guzzetti, president of the Associazione di Fondazioni e di
Casse
di Risparmio (ACRI) (Association of Foundations and Savings Banks), and
entourage.
___________________________________________________________
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 22 June 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop
Luis Mariano Montemayor, apostolic nuncio in Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Cabo
Verde and apostolic delegate to Mauritania, as apostolic nuncio in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo.
On Saturday 20 June, the Holy Father:
- appointed Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza, O.F.M., of Huejutla, Mexico, as
bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa (area 19,860, population 989,000, Catholics
904,000, priests 147, religious 179), Mexico. He succeeds Bishop Alejo Zavala
Castro, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese was
accepted in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.
- given his assent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the
Maronite Patriarchal Church of Fr. Abata Hanna Rahme, O.L.M., as eparchal
bishop
of Baalbek - Deir El-Ahmar (Catholics 66,050, priests 19, permanent deacons 1,
religious 39), Lebanon. The bishop-elect was born in Aynata, Lebanon in 1960,
gave his solemn vows in 1989 and was ordained a priest in 1990. He holds a
bachelor's degree in philosophy and theology from the Sorbonne University,
Paris, where he was also conferred a doctorate in history of religions and
religious anthropology. Within the Lebanese Maronite Order he has also served
as
superior of the St. Charbel Convent in Bekaa-Kafra, director of schools of the
Order, member of the secretariat general of the Catholic Schools of Lebanon,
and
professor at the "St. Esprit" University of Kaslik. He is currently
protosyncellus of the eparchy of Baalbek - Deir El-Ahmar.
___________________________________________________________
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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