SUMMARY:
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WORLD MEETING IN MILAN: AN EPIPHANY OF THE FAMILY
-
PAPAL MESSAGE FOR THE DIAMOND JUBILEE OF ELIZABETH II
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
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NOTICE
______________________________________
WORLD
MEETING IN MILAN: AN EPIPHANY OF THE FAMILY
Vatican
City, 6 June 2012 (VIS) - Benedict XVI focused his catechesis during
this morning's general audience on his recent trip to Milan, his
first pastoral trip as Peter's Successor to that Italian archdiocese
where he had participated in the seventh World Meeting of Families.
The Holy
Father recalled the first stage of his journey, which had taken him
to Piazza del Duomo, heart and symbol of Milan, where he had exhorted
the hundreds of thousands gathered to greet him "to live the
faith as part of their individual and community experience, their
private and public life, so as to create a stable and authentic 'well
being' on the basis of the family, which must be rediscovered as
mankind's most important heritage".
That
evening the Holy Father had attended a concert at the La Scala opera
house, in which "the notes of Beethoven's ninth symphony
expressed that aspiration to universality and fraternity which the
Church tirelessly seeks by announcing the Gospel; a fraternity which
bursts forth in the famous 'Hymn to Joy'". At the end of the
concert, he said, "I spoke of the contrast between this ideal
and the dramatic events of history, and of the need for a God Who is
near, Who shares our sufferings, as my thoughts went to so many of
our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of the
earthquake". Benedict XVI also recalled how he had spoken of the
family in the third millennium. "It is in families that we first
experience how human beings are not created to live closed in
themselves, but in relation with others. It is in the family that the
light of peace begins to burn in people's hearts, so as to illuminate
our world".
On
Saturday, addressing priests, religious, seminarians and Church
leaders in the cathedral of Milan, the Pope had reaffirmed "the
importance of celibacy and consecrated virginity, which was to dear
to the great St. Ambrose. ... These are a luminous sign of love for
God and for our brothers and sisters, founded on an increasingly
intimate relationship with Christ in prayer and expressed in the
total gift of self".
Benedict
XVI then went on to recall how, in the stadium of San Siro, he had
invited young people who had recently received or were about to
receive the Sacrament of Confirmation "to say their free and
responsible 'yes' to the Gospel of Jesus, and to welcome the gifts of
the Holy Spirit which mould them as Christians and enable them to
live the Gospel and to be active members of the community".
During
his meeting with representatives of government, industry and the
world of culture, the Pope had emphasised the fact that "the
legislation and activities of State institutions must always be at
the service of individuals, safeguarding them in all aspects,
beginning with the right to life which must never be deliberately
suppressed, and reconsigning the specific identity of the family
founded on marriage between a man and a woman".
At the
"Celebration of Witnesses" in Milan's Bresso Park the Holy
Father had responded to questions put to him by a number of families.
"I wanted to provide a sign of the open dialogue that exists
between families and the Church, between the world and the Church",
he said to the faithful at his general audience. "I was greatly
struck by the moving testimonies of couples and children from
different continents on the important issues of our day: the economic
crisis, the difficulty in reconciling work and family, the spread of
separation and divorce, and existential questions which touch adults,
young people and children alike. I wish to recall what I have often
said in the past in defence of family time, which is threatened by
the imposition of work-related commitments. Sunday is the day of the
Lord, the day of man, a day in which everyone must be free, free for
the family and free for God. By defending Sunday we defend man's
freedom".
At Mass
on Sunday 3 June for the close of the seventh World Meeting of
Families, also celebrated in Bresso Park which "was transformed
into a kind of open-air cathedral", Benedict XVI had launched a
"call to build ecclesial communities increasingly similar to
families, capable of reflecting the beauty of the Blessed Trinity and
of evangelising not just with the word but by irradiation, with the
power of a love that is lived, because love is the only power that
can transform the world".
More than
one million people had attended the gathering in Milan meeting which
was, the Holy Father concluded, "an 'epiphany' of the family.
Families were present in their many different forms, but also in that
unicity which is their fundamental identity: a communion of love
founded upon marriage and called to be a shrine of life, a small
Church, a cell of society. A message of hope went out from Milan to
the whole world, a message backed up by real experience that it is
possible and joyful, though demanding, to experience a faithful love
'forever', open to life; it is possible to participate as families in
the mission of the Church and in the construction of society. ... May
the experience of Milan bring abundant fruits to the Church and
favour increased attention to the cause of the family, which is the
cause of man and of civilisation".
PAPAL
MESSAGE FOR THE DIAMOND JUBILEE OF ELIZABETH II
Vatican
City, 6 June 2012 (VIS) - Made public today was a message sent by the
Holy Father to Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom who is
currently celebrating her Diamond Jubilee (sixty years since she
became monarch). The English-language text bears the date of 23 May.
"I
write to offer my warmest congratulations to Your Majesty on the
happy occasion of the Diamond Jubilee of your reign. During the past
sixty years you have offered to your subjects and to the whole world
an inspiring example of dedication to duty and a commitment to
maintaining the principles of freedom, justice and democracy, in
keeping with a noble vision of the role of a Christian monarch.
"I
retain warm memories of the gracious welcome accorded to me by Your
Majesty at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh at the beginning of my
apostolic visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010, and I renew
my thanks for the hospitality that I received throughout those four
days. Your personal commitment to cooperation and mutual respect
between the followers of different religious traditions has
contributed in no small measure to improving ecumenical and
inter-religious relations throughout your realms.
"Commending
Your Majesty and all the royal family to the protection of Almighty
God, I renew my heartfelt good wishes on this joyful occasion and I
assure you of my prayers for your continuing health and prosperity".
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 6 June 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
-
Appointed Fr. Jose Gilson O.F.M. Cap., definitor general of the Order
of Friars Minor Capuchins in Rome, as bishop of Erexim (area 5,586,
population 211,685, Catholics 168,800, priests 64, permanent deacons
15, religious 133), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Ibirama,
Brazil in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1988. He has held a number of
offices in his order including master of postulants, bursar and
minister provincial of Curitiba. He has also worked as professor of
ecclesiastical history at the "Studium Theologicum" of
Curitiba. He succeeds Bishop Gironimo Zanandrea, whose resignation
from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted,
upon having reached the age limit.
-
Appointed Archbishop Julio Murat, apostolic nuncio to Zambia, also as
apostolic nuncio to Malawi.
NOTICE
Vatican
City, 6 June 2012 (VIS) - No VIS bulletin will be transmitted
tomorrow, Solemnity of Corpus Christi and a holiday in the Vatican.
Service will resume on Friday 8 June.
You
can find more information at: www.visnews.org
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