News From Vatican Information Services 03/10/2006

SUMMARY:
- Movements and Communities: Missionaries of Christ
- European University Day: European-African Cooperation

MOVEMENTS AND COMMUNITIES: MISSIONARIES OF CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, MAR 10, 2006 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano sent a Message, in the Pope's name, to Archbishop Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, for the first Meeting of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities in Latin America, which is being held in Bogota, Colombia from March 9 to 12.
Benedict XVI, Cardinal Sodano writes, encourages participants in the congress "to share fraternally the wealth of their spirituality and experience, with the aim of invigorating Christian life in that part of the world, in which the Church lays so much hope."Referring to the theme of the meeting, "Disciples and missionaries today," the cardinal writes that "like good disciples, the Movements and Communities are called to be both witnesses to and missionaries of the message they have received, stretching out a friendly hand to others so that they too may discover Christ: to people who still do not know Him or who live their Christian faith in a superficial manner, to those who must be given the support necessary to strengthen their faith daily and form it correctly, against the snares of a secularized mentality or one that promotes religious indifference in many areas of Latin America.
"In this task, missionaries do not cease to be disciples and give no more than what they themselves have received and continue to receive, without advancing their own ideas or seeking their own gain. ... In this context, it is worthwhile recalling the words used by the Holy Father Benedict XVI in Cologne, Germany: 'The spontaneity of new communities is important, but it is equally important to maintain communion with the Pope and the bishops. It is they who guarantee that it is not individual itineraries that are being sought, but that all continue to live in that great family of God that the Lord founded with the twelve Apostles."
This, the cardinal concluded, also demonstrates "the importance of ecclesial communion, upon which the authenticity of all experiences of Christian life and the effectiveness of pastoral initiatives so much depend. For this reason, the much-loved John Paul II insisted that everyone be humbly integrated into the life of local Churches and within diocesan and parish structures, where they can all can communicate their different forms of association and expression."MESS/CONGRESS ECCLESIAL MOVEMENTS/RYLKO VIS 060310 (400)

EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY DAY: EUROPEAN-AFRICAN COOPERATION

VATICAN CITY, MAR 10, 2006 (VIS) - In the Paul VI Hall tomorrow, Saturday March 11, the Holy Father will preside at an evening vigil of Marian prayer with 7,000 university students. The students have come to Rome to participate in the fourth European Day for Universities which has as its theme: "Christian humanism, the path of a new cooperation between Europe and Africa."
The Day is being promoted by the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) and the vicariate of Rome's office for pastoral care in universities.
The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. with the entrance of the university students' cross. Then, following the presentation of the European and African delegations, there will be satellite linkups with university students in Madrid, Spain, Nairobi, Kenya, and Dublin, Ireland.
With the arrival of the Pope, scheduled for 6 p.m., the recitation of the holy rosary will begin, with the contemplation of the Glorious Mysteries. In further linkups local ordinaries - cardinals and bishops - will recite brief introductory prayers to each of the Mysteries: Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany; Archbishop Anthony John Valentine Obinna of Owerri, Nigeria; Bishop Bernard Genoud of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, Switzerland; Cardinal Bernard Agre, archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast; Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of the archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, Russia; and Bishop Gheorghi Ivanov Jovcev of Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
After the rosary, Benedict XVI will address some words to the participants before distributing copies of his first Encyclical "Deus caritas est" to ten student representatives and imparting his apostolic blessing. In keeping with tradition, the Day will conclude with the pilgrimage of the cross from the Paul VI Hall to the Church of St. Agnes in Rome's Piazza Navona..../EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY DAY/... VIS 060310 (300)

V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City

News From Vatican Information Services 03/09/2006

SUMMARY:

- Rural World and Its Values Not of Secondary Importance
- Meeting of Ecclesial Movements in Latin America

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RURAL WORLD AND ITS VALUES NOT OF SECONDARY IMPORTANCE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 9, 2006 (VIS) - On March 7, Archbishop Janusz Bolonek, apostolic nuncio to Uruguay, addressed the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development, promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and being held in Porto Alegre, Brazil from March 7 to 10.

The themes of the Conference, said the nuncio in his address, "are of vital importance to the human family and, as such, they also appeal directly to the Catholic Church which ... feels called to support the cause of human beings in all circumstances."

The program of the current meeting, the archbishop went on, highlights "a need to give fresh impulse to international solidarity in order to face the challenge presented by the development of peoples, and ... a specific compromise in favor of the growth of the rural world in order to guarantee humanity effective food security." The nuncio also underlined the urgent need "to avoid the danger of the rural world being considered of secondary importance, or even forgotten altogether, which would be detrimental to those fruitful elements of social, economic and spiritual order that characterize it."

"The FAO's idea of once again associating agrarian reform with rural development shows that, despite various initiatives carried out in many countries and incessant appeals for collaboration launched by international institutions, millions of people continue to await results. ... It must be recognized that one of the limits on policies and interventions in support of the rural world is the lack of reference to traditional structures, to moral values, ... and to the capacity for autonomous action on the part of individuals and communities."

Archbishop Bolonek continued: "Because they often live in situations of poverty and exploitation, with limited access to markets, ... and no support for their fundamental rights and needs, landless peasants and small-holders must be the primary recipients of cooperation programs ... that are able to guarantee real development."

The nuncio recalled this generation's responsibilities in another fundamental aspect affecting the future of rural areas: "conservation and protection" of nature and respect for the "mutual balance" of its various ecosystems.

"The worldwide scope of agricultural activity, the use of modern technology and constant progress in research encourage us to hope ... in the rapid and imminent growth of the production and rate of human development. These elements must be evaluated positively," Archbishop Bolonek concluded, "on the condition that they are seen as being an extension of the creation, something given to the human family and not factors to disturb the natural order."
DELSS/RURAL DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE/BOLONEK VIS 060309 (440)

MEETING OF ECCLESIAL MOVEMENTS IN LATIN AMERICA

VATICAN CITY, MAR 9, 2006 (VIS) - The first meeting of Ecclesial Movements and New Communities in Latin America is being held in Bogota, Colombia from March 9 to 12. The theme of the meeting is: "Disciples and missionaries today."

Promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM), the event aims to reflect upon the experience of ecclesial movements and new communities in the formation of lay people at the service of the evangelization of culture and social solidarity.

Representatives from more than 40 movements and new communities in Latin America are due to attend, as are the bishops with responsibility for movements and new communities from the 22 Latin American episcopal conferences.

The meeting will end on the afternoon of March 12 with a Eucharistic celebration which all members of movements and new communities in Bogota are invited to attend.

The conclusions of this meeting will be used in preparation for the fifth General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate, called by the Holy Father Benedict XVI for May 2007 at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Apparition in Brazil, on the theme: "Disciples and Missionaries of Jesus Christ, that our Peoples May Have Life in Him - 'I am the Way and the Truth and the Life'."
.../ECCLESIAL MOVEMENTS/BOGOTA VIS 060309 (230)

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