News From Vatican Information Services 11/25/2005

SUMMARY:

- Catholic University: Faithfulness to the Magisterium
- Audiences

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CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY: FAITHFULNESS TO THE MAGISTERIUM

VATICAN CITY, NOV 25, 2005 (VIS) - This morning, Benedict XVI visited Rome's Sacred Heart Catholic University, for the occasion of the inauguration of the academic year.

The day began in the university, prior to the Pope's arrival, with a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general of the diocese of Rome. The Eucharistic celebration was attended by students from all branches of the Sacred Heart Catholic University: Milan, Brescia, Piacenza-Cremona, Campobasso and Rome.

At 11.00 a.m. in the main hall of the "Agostino Gemelli" Faculty of Medicine and Surgery the main celebration began in the Holy Father's presence. The Sacred Heart University was founded by Fr. Agostino Gemelli from whom the famous hospital, which is part of the university, takes its name. A brief speech by Lorenzo Ornaghi, rector of the university, was followed by a greeting from Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Milan, Italy.

The Pope began his address by greeting the academic authorities, then said: "Finding ourselves here together we cannot but think of the time charged with trepidation and emotion we experienced in this hospital during John Paul II's final months. During those days, from all over the world the thoughts of Catholics and non-Catholics alike were directed to the Gemelli hospital where, from his ward, the Pope provided everyone with a matchless lesson on the Christian meaning of life and suffering, bearing personal witness to the Christian message." On this subject, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude for "the attentive care given to the Holy Father."

Highlighting the fact that many thousands of young people pass through the university, the Pope asked: "How do they leave? What culture did they find, assimilate, develop? This is the great challenge: ... to give life to a true Catholic university, one that excels for the quality of its research and teaching and, at the same time, for its faithfulness to the Gospel and to the Church's Magisterium."

"The Catholic university," he went on, "is a great workshop in which, in keeping with the various disciplines, new lines of research are constantly being developed in a stimulating encounter between faith and reason, one that aims to recover the synthesis" between these two elements. This synthesis is "unfortunately contrasted by important currents of modern philosophy. As a consequence, ... the fundamental questions facing man - how to live and how to die - seem to be excluded from the realm of rationality and are left to that of subjectivity. The end result is that the question which gave rise to the university - that of truth and goodness - disappears, to be replaced by the question of feasibility. This then is the great challenge facing Catholic universities: to practice science within the horizon of a rationality different from that which dominates today, in keeping with a form of reason open to the transcendent, to God."

Benedict XVI called on the teachers and students to cast out their nets "into the high seas of knowledge, trusting in the Word of Christ, even when you experience the fatigue and disappointment of not having 'fished' anything. In the great sea of culture, Christ always has need of 'fishers of men,' in other words, of people of conscience, well prepared people who place their professional expertise at the service of the Kingdom of God. And university research, if carried out from the standpoint of faith, is also part of this service to the Kingdom and to mankind."

In closing his address, the Pope referred to the "Paul VI International Scientific Institute of research on human fertility and infertility for responsible procreation," which was founded in November 2000. "It is, he said, "an eloquent example of that synthesis of truth and love that constitutes the living center of Catholic culture."

The Holy Father pointed out how the institute, "which came into being in response to the appeal launched by Paul VI in his Encyclical 'Humanae vitae,' aims to give a secure scientific foundation both to the natural regulation of human fertility and to the commitment to overcome infertility by natural means. Echoing my venerated predecessor's grateful appreciation for this scientific initiative, I trust it may find the necessary support in continuing to carry out its important research activities."

Following his address, Benedict XVI bid farewell to the academic authorities and the students, before returning to the Vatican by car.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 25, 2005 (VIS) - This evening, the Holy Father is scheduled to receive in audience Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
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V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City

News From Vatican Information Services 11/24/2005

SUMMARY:

- Dialogue between Cultures, Key Factor for Development
- Christmas Concert to Be Dedicated to Eastern Missions
- Audiences

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DIALOGUE BETWEEN CULTURES, KEY FACTOR FOR DEVELOPMENT

VATICAN CITY, NOV 24, 2005 (VIS) - Benedict XVI today received in audience a group of representatives from member States of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), accompanied by Jacques Diouf, director general of the organization, for the occasion of the 33rd FAO Conference which is currently being held.

"This is our first meeting and it allows me to see at close hand your efforts in the service of a great ideal: that of liberating humanity from hunger," said the Pope in his English-language address. He also expressed his "sincere appreciation for the programs which the FAO, in its diverse agencies, has carried out for the past sixty years, defending with competence and professionalism the cause of man, beginning precisely with the basic right of each person to be 'free of hunger'."

The Holy Father went on to refer to the contrast between progress in the areas of the economy, science and technology, and the continuing increase of poverty, expressing the hope that the experience accumulated by the FAO may "help to develop a method adequate to the task of combating hunger and poverty, one shaped by that concrete realism which has always characterized the work of your distinguished organization."

The FAO has, said Pope Benedict, "worked for broader cooperation and has seen in the 'dialogue of cultures' a specific means of ensuring greater development and secure access to food. Today more than ever, there is a need for concrete, effective instruments for eliminating the potential for conflict between different cultural, ethnic and religious visions. There is a need to base international relations on respect for the person and on the cardinal principles of peaceful coexistence and fidelity to commitments undertaken. ... There is likewise a need to recognize that technical progress ... is not everything. True progress ... enables each people to share its own spiritual and material resources for the benefit of all.

"Here I wish to mention the importance of helping native communities, all too often subjected to undue appropriations aimed at profit, as your organization recently pointed out in its 'Guidelines on the Right to Food.' Also, it must not be forgotten that, while some areas are subject to international measures and controls, millions of people are condemned to hunger, even outright starvation, in areas where violent conflicts are taking place, conflicts which public opinion tends to neglect because they are considered internal, ethnic or tribal."

The Holy Father identified one "encouraging sign" in the "initiative of the FAO to convene its member States to discuss the issue of agrarian reform and rural development. This is not a new area, but one in which the Church has always shown interest, out of particular concern for small rural farmers who represent a significant part of the active population especially in developing countries. One course of action might be to ensure that rural populations receive the resources and tools which they need, beginning with education and training, as well as organizational structures capable of safeguarding small family farms and cooperatives."

Finally, the Pope recalled the forthcoming meeting in Hong Kong for negotiations on international commerce, particularly with regard to farm products. "The Holy See, he said, "is confident that a sense of responsibility and solidarity with the most disadvantaged will prevail, so that narrow interests and the logic of power will be set aside. It must not be forgotten that the vulnerability of rural areas has significant repercussions on the subsistence of small farmers and their families if they are denied access to the market. ... Support should also be given to the role of rural women and at the same time to children for whom not only nutrition but also basic education must be assured."
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CHRISTMAS CONCERT TO BE DEDICATED TO EASTERN MISSIONS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 24, 2005 (VIS) - The Vatican's traditional Christmas concert will be held in the Paul VI Hall at 6.30 p.m. on Saturday, December 3. This year it will be dedicated to missions in the east.

According to a communique made public today, the concert aims "to raise public awareness concerning the question of the Church's missionary vocation and to gather funds to support missions in east Asia." One reason for this choice of theme, the communique says, "is because 2006 has been proclaimed as the 'Xavierian Year' (in honor of the patron of missions St. Francis Xavier, on the fifth centenary of his birth), of which the concert will officially mark the opening."

The concert will include various pieces from a new musical on the life of the saint: "Xavier - dreaming of China." It was to that country that the Jesuit saint was travelling on his last missionary journey; however, he fell ill on the island of Sancian, 100 kilometers off the Chinese coast, and died there on December 3, 1552.

Artists from all over the world will participate in the concert "to symbolize the encounter between a diversity of countries, cultures, religions, life experiences, ideals, and musical genres and styles," the communique concludes, and "in order to highlight once again the universality of the Church."
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 24, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Nine prelates from the Conference of the Polish Episcopate on their "ad limina" visit:

- Archbishop Marian Golebiewski of Wroclaw, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Edward Janiak and by Cardinal Henryk Roman Gulbinowicz, archbishop emeritus.

- Bishop Stefan Cichy of Legnica, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Stefan Regmunt and by Bishop emeritus Tadeusz Rybak.

- Bishop Ignacy Dec of Swidnica.

- Archbishop Tadeusz Goclowski C.M. of Gdansk, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Ryszard Kasyna.

- Archbishop Andre Gaumond of Sherbrooke, Canada, president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, accompanied by Archbishop Vernon James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, and by Msgr. Mario Paquette P.H., respectively vice president and secretary of the same conference.

This evening, he is scheduled to receive in separate audiences nine prelates from the Conference of the Polish Episcopate on their "ad limina" visit:

- Bishop Jan Bernard Szlaga of Pelplin.

- Bishop Andrzej Wojciech Suski of Torun, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Jozef Szamocki.

- Archbishop Henryk Muszynski of Gniezno, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Wojciech Polak and by former Auxiliary Bishop Szczepan Wesoly.

- Bishop Wieslaw Alojzy Mering of Wloclawek, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Stanislaw Gebicki, and by Bishop emeritus Bronislaw Dembowski.
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V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City