SUMMARY:
-
BENEDICT XVI RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF HAITI
-
BENEDICT XVI: REHABILITATION OF PRISONERS IS THE CULMINATING FEATURE
OF PENAL SYSTEMS
- THE
POPE: BEAUTY OF FAITH IS NOT AN OBSTACLE TO ARTISTIC CREATION
-
AUDIENCES
______________________________________
BENEDICT
XVI RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF HAITI
Vatican
City, (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican Apostolic Palace the Holy
Father Benedict XVI received in audience President Michel Joseph
Martelly of the Republic of Haiti, who subsequently went on to meet
with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. who was
accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations
with States.
The
cordial discussions focused on the good relations that exist between
the Holy See and Haiti. Particular attention was given to the special
contribution offered by the Church through her educational, social
and charitable institutions, especially following the earthquake that
affected the population of Haiti and in the subsequent
reconstruction. The discussions concluded with emphasis on the
importance of continuing collaboration for the harmonious development
of Haitian society.
BENEDICT
XVI: REHABILITATION OF PRISONERS IS THE CULMINATING FEATURE OF PENAL
SYSTEMS
Vatican
City, 22 November 2012 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI received
participants in the seventeenth Council of Europe Conference of
Directors of Prison Administration.
Speaking
English, the Holy Father observed that "matters of criminal
justice are continually being brought to the attention of the public
and of governments, especially at a time when economic and social
inequalities and increasing individualism are feeding the roots of
criminality. There is a tendency, though, to limit the debate to the
legislative aspect of the question of crime and punishment or to the
judicial process. … Less attention is given to the way custodial
sentences are carried out. In this regard, alongside the parameter of
'justice', another essential element is respect for human dignity and
human rights. Yet this too, while indispensable and unfortunately
still far from being observed in many countries, is not enough to
safeguard fully the rights of the individual.
"A
concrete commitment is needed, not just a statement of principle, in
order to bring about the offender’s effective re-education, which
is required both for the sake of his own dignity and with a view to
his reintegration into society. … If human justice in this area is
to look to divine justice and be shaped by that higher vision, the
re-educational purpose of the sentence must be regarded not as an
ancillary or secondary aspect of the penal system, but rather as its
culminating and defining feature.
"In
order to 'practise justice', it is not enough that those found guilty
of crimes be simply punished: it is necessary that in punishing them,
everything possible be done to correct and improve them. When this
does not happen, justice is not done in an integral sense. In any
event, it is important to avoid giving rise to a situation where
imprisonment that fails in its re-educational role becomes
counter-educational and paradoxically reinforces rather than
overcomes the tendency to commit crime and the threat posed to
society by the individual".
The Pope
underlined how prison directors and their collaborators in the
judicial and social fields can make "a significant contribution,
together with all those responsible for the administration of justice
in society, towards promoting this 'more genuine' justice that is
'open to the liberating power of love' and is tied to human dignity.
… Contact with offenders paying the price for what they have done
and the commitment needed to restore dignity and hope to people who
in many cases have already suffered marginalisation and scorn call to
mind the mission of Christ Himself, Who came to call not the just,
but sinners, the privileged recipients of divine mercy".
The Holy
Father continued, "Everyone is called to become his brother’s
keeper, transcending the homicidal indifference of Cain. You in
particular are asked to take custody of people who, in prison
conditions, are at greater risk of losing their sense of life’s
meaning and the value of personal dignity, yielding instead to
discouragement and despair. Profound respect for persons, commitment
to the rehabilitation of prisoners, fostering a genuinely educational
community: these things are all the more urgent, in view of the
growing number of 'foreign prisoners', whose circumstances are often
difficult and precarious".
"Particularly
important in this regard is the promotion of forms of evangelisation
and spiritual care, capable of drawing out the most noble and
profound side of the prisoner, awakening his enthusiasm for life and
his desire for beauty, so characteristic of people who discover anew
that they bear within them the indelible image of God", the Holy
Father concluded.
THE
POPE: BEAUTY OF FAITH IS NOT AN OBSTACLE TO ARTISTIC CREATION
Vatican
City, 22 November 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in the Aula Magna
of the Palazzo San Pio X, the Pontifical Academies held their
seventeenth public session on the theme "Pulchritudinis fidei
testis: the artist, like the Church, is a witness to the beauty of
faith". The session was opened by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi,
president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and Cardinal
Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B read out a message from
Benedict XVI to the participants.
In the
text the Pope confirms "the desire of the Church to rediscover
the joy of common reflection and concerted action, with the aim of
restoring the theme of beauty as the focus of attention within
ecclesial communities, civil society and the world of culture".
Beauty,
continues the Pope, "should be confirmed and expressed in all
forms of art, without however detracting from the experience of
faith; rather it should freely and openly confront faith in order to
draw inspiration and to find subject matter. The beauty of faith,
indeed, is never an obstacle to the creation of artistic beauty, as
it constitutes in a sense its vital lymph and its ultimate horizon.
Indeed, true artists, defined in the Vatican Council II Message to
Artists as 'guardians of beauty in the world', by virtue of their
special aesthetic sensibility and intuition, are capable of grasping
and assimilating the true beauty of faith more deeply than others,
and thus expressing and communicating it in their own language.
"In
this respect, we can therefore consider the artist as an important
witness to the beauty of faith. He is able to participate, through
his own specific and original contribution, to the vocation and
mission of the Church, especially when, through various forms of
artistic expression, he wishes to or is requested to create works of
art directly linked to faith and worship, or to the liturgical
activity of the Church".
In the
Year of Faith, the Pope invites all Christian artists and all those
who engage in dialogue with faith to ensure that their artistic
development becomes a "complete journey involving all dimensions
of human existence, in order to witness more effectively the beauty
of faith in Jesus Christ, the image of the glory of God Who
illuminates the history of humanity".
The
session concluded with the awarding of the pontifical academies
annual prize, dedicated this year to the arts and with special
emphasis on the fields of painting and sculpture. The prizewinners
were the Polish sculptor Anna Gulak and the Spanish painter David
Ribes Lopez, while the pontifical medal was presented to the Italian
sculptor Jacopo Cardillo.
AUDIENCES
Vatican
City, 22 November 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in
audience four prelates from the Episcopal Conference of France, on
their 'ad limina' visit.
-
Archbishop Roland Minnerath of Dijon.
- Bishop
Benoit Riviere of Autun.
- Bishop
Thierry Brac de la Perriere of Nevers.
-
Archbishop Yves Patenotre of Sens.
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