SUMMARY:
-
SPORTSMEN AND WOMEN ARE MORE THAN MERE COMPETITORS
- THE
PERENNIAL IMPORTANCE OF ST. AUGUSTINE
- THE
HOLY SEE ADHERES TO PROTECTION OF DIPLOMATS CONVENTION
-
AUDIENCES
- OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
______________________________________
SPORTSMEN
AND WOMEN ARE MORE THAN MERE COMPETITORS
Vatican
City, 27 September 2012 (VIS) - The International Federation of
Sports Medicine (FIMS) is, for the first time in its history, holding
its world congress in Rome. For the occasion participants were
received in audience by the Pope this morning, at the Apostolic
Palace in Castelgandolfo.
This, the
thirty-second FIMS world congress, is being attended by people from
117 countries on the five continents, "a significant
indication", the Holy Father said, "of the capacity for
sports and athletic endeavours to unite persons and peoples in the
common pursuit of peaceful competitive excellence".
"Just
as sport is more than just competition, each sportsman and woman is
more than a mere competitor: they are possessed of a moral and
spiritual capacity which ought to be enriched and deepened by sports
and sports medicine. Sometimes, however, success, fame, medals and
the pursuit of money become the primary, or even sole, motive for
those involved. It has even happened from time to time that winning
at all costs has replaced the true spirit of sport and has led to the
abuse and misuse of the means at the disposal of modern medicine".
This, the
Holy Father noted continuing his English-language address, is one of
the questions being discussed at the congress. "This", he
said, "is surely because you too appreciate that those whom you
care for are unique and gifted individuals, regardless of athletic
capabilities, and that they are called to moral and spiritual
perfection prior to the call to any physical achievement. Indeed, St.
Paul notes in his First Letter to the Corinthians that spiritual and
athletic excellence are closely related, and he exhorts believers to
train themselves in the spiritual life".
"As
the Lord Himself took human flesh and became man, so each human
person is called to reflect perfectly the image and likeness of God.
I therefore pray for you and for those whom your work benefits, that
your efforts will lead to an ever more profound appreciation of the
beauty, the mystery and the potential of each human person, athletic
or otherwise, able-bodied or physically challenged".
THE
PERENNIAL IMPORTANCE OF ST. AUGUSTINE
Vatican
City, 27 September 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday evening at the Apostolic
Palace in Castelgandolfo, the German diocese of Wurzburg offered a
concert in honour of the Holy Father. The performance - entitled
"Augustinus, a mosaic of sound" - was intended as part of
an international symposium on St. Augustine which is currently taking
place at the "Augustiniaum" in Rome. The piece was composed
by Winfried Bohm and Wilfried Hiller, and performed by the choir of
the cathedral of Wurzburg.
"The
modernity of this Great Father of the Latin Church is unchanged, as
is evident in the music we have just heard", said the Holy
Father referring to St. Augustine in his remarks at the end of the
concert. "Augustine is present and 'timeless'. Man's struggle,
his search for the most intimate part of himself, for truth, for God,
remains valid for all times. It does not concern only a master of
rhetoric and grammar who lived in the disturbed times of late
antiquity, but all human beings of all times".
"May
your symposium on the relationship between cultures in Augustine's
'City of God' be a fruitful contribution to deepening your
reflections on the bishop of Hippo, and to reconsigning his validity
for the questions and challenges we are facing today".
THE
HOLY SEE ADHERES TO PROTECTION OF DIPLOMATS CONVENTION
Vatican
City, 27 September 2012 (VIS) - "On the afternoon of 26
September 2012, before the Secretary General of the United Nations,
Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States,
deposited the instrument of adherence to the United Nations
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against
Internationally Protected Persons, including Diplomatic Agents (the
'Protection of Diplomats Convention')", according to a
communique released today by the Holy See.
"In
taking this step the Holy See has declared, in both its own name and
that of Vatican City State, that its intention is to make a further
concrete contribution to the global commitment to combating crimes
against diplomats.
"The
instrument of adherence also recalls how promoting the values of
fraternity, justice and peace between individuals and peoples is
something particularly close to the heart of the Holy See, and that
these objectives require observance of the rule of law and respect
for human rights. In this perspective, adherence to the Convention
confirms the Apostolic See's interest in international instruments of
judicial cooperation in criminal law, the which, like this
Convention, constitute an effective guarantee against criminal
activities deleterious to the peace and dignity of man.
"Therefore
this decision not only expresses the Holy See's desire to collaborate
in further protecting diplomatic personnel (in primis, its own and
those accredited to it), but also helps the international community
to guard against the risks of terrorism.
"Finally,
the initiative is itself part of the process which, as is well known,
began some time ago and aims to adapt the Vatican judicial system to
the highest international standards combating this serious problem".
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 27 September 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience:
- Six
prelates of the Conference of Bishops of France on their "ad
limina" visit:
-
Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, archbishop of Bordeaux, accompanied by
Auxiliary Bishop Laurent Dognin.
- Bishop
Hubert Herbreteau of Agen.
- Bishop
Herve Gaschignard of Aire et Dax.
- Bishop
Marc Aillet of Bayonne.
- Bishop
Michel Mouisse of Perigueux.
-
Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the
Laity.
OTHER
PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican
City, 27 September 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr.
Kestutis Kevalas of the clergy of the archdiocese of Kaunas,
Lithuania, national director of Radio Maria, as auxiliary of the same
archdiocese (area 8,750, population 678,000, Catholics 543,000,
priests 135, religious 232). The bishop-elect was born in Kaunas in
1972 and ordained a priest in 1997. He studied in Lithuania and the
United States and has worked in education and the pastoral care of
young people.
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