Pope Benedict XVI

Friday, June 02, 2006

News Vatican Information Services 06/02/2006

SUMMARY:

- Pontifical Ecclesial Academy: A True School of Formation
- CEI Media: Promote Expressions of Italian Christianity
- World Mission Day: "Charity, Soul of the Mission"
- Audiences
- In Memoriam

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PONTIFICAL ECCLESIAL ACADEMY: A TRUE SCHOOL OF FORMATION

VATICAN CITY, JUN 2, 2006 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Pope received Archbishop Justo Mullor Garcia, president of Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, accompanied by students and former students of that institution which trains candidates for the Holy See diplomatic service.

In his address to the group, the Holy Father told the current students - from 20 countries on four continents - that in order to prepare themselves for their future mission, "you are called, above all, to be a community of prayer in which the relationship with God is constant, faithful and intense. ... May the Eucharist you celebrate every day be the vital center, the source and the root of all your activities over these years and in the future, when you will perform your priestly ministry at the service of the Holy See in various countries of the world. ... Only if you remain faithful to your vocation will you be able to offer a valid service to the Apostolic See"

"Your academy," he went on, "wishes to continue to be a true school of human and theological formation. ... Today, there is more need that ever for a solid culture that includes, alongside the necessary theological formation, a deeper study of the perennial doctrine of the Church and of the guiding principles of the Holy See's activities at the ecclesial and international level."

After recalling the academy's three centuries of history, Benedict XVI highlighted how the fact that all those present reside in Rome but come from many different continents "represents a precious opportunity to nourish the spirit of unity and communion. ... Open, then, the horizon of your minds and hearts to the universality of the Church, so as to overcome any temptation to particularism and individualism."

The Pope concluded his address by calling on the future apostolic nuncios to ensure their formation "is not lacking in genuine devotion to the Virgin Mary. May she help you to grow in love for Christ and for the Church, and to tend ever more towards sanctity, the supreme ... aspiration of your Christian and priestly lives."
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CEI MEDIA: PROMOTE EXPRESSIONS OF ITALIAN CHRISTIANITY

VATICAN CITY, JUN 2, 2006 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received a group of 1,200 journalists and technicians from the Italian daily "Avvenire," the television channel Sat 2000, and other communications media belonging to the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI). The group was led by Cardinal Camillo Ruini president of the CEI.

"Dear friends," said the Pope, "yours is a truly important function. Indeed, it is also thanks to your efforts that the commitment of Italian Catholics to bring the Gospel of Christ to the lives of nations can continue."

The Holy Father then went on to recall the foundation of "Avvenire" by order of Paul VI in the years following Vatican Council II, and the subsequent expansion of Catholic communications media to include radio and television.

"In order to understand the overall significance of the work to which you dedicate yourselves every day," the Pope said, "it may prove useful to reflect briefly upon the relationship between faith and culture" in Europe. "European culture ... was formed over centuries with the contribution of Christianity. However, since the Enlightenment western culture has been distancing itself from its Christian foundations." And, "especially in recent times, ... the reduction of faith to a subjective experience and the consequent secularization of public conscience show us, clearly and dramatically, the consequences of this separation."

Nonetheless, the Pope continued, in various parts of the continent "experiences of and approaches to Christian culture are being affirmed or emerging anew, with increasing force. In particular, Catholic faith is still substantially present in the life of the Italian people and the signs of its renewed vitality are visible to all.

"Therefore," he added, "constant discernment is necessary in your work as communicators inspired by the Gospel. As you well know, the pastors of the Italian Church are careful to conserve those Christian forms that come from the great traditions of the Italian people and that mould community life, updating them, purifying them where necessary and, above all, reinforcing and encouraging them. It is also your duty to sustain and promote the new Christian experiences that are coming into being, helping them to develop an ever greater awareness of their ecclesial roots and of the role they can play."

Benedict XVI described the work of the communicators as "a task not to be undertaken in an abstract or purely intellectual manner, but remaining attentive to the infinite details of the real life of a people."

"Do not tire," he concluded, "of building bridges of understanding and communication between ecclesiastical experience and public opinion. Thus you will be protagonists of a form of communication ... that serves modern mankind."
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WORLD MISSION DAY: "CHARITY, SOUL OF THE MISSION"

VATICAN CITY, JUN 2, 2006 (VIS) - "Charity, Soul of the Mission," is the theme of the Holy Father's Message for 80th World Mission Day, due to be celebrated on October 22, 2006.

"Each Christian community," writes the Pope in his Message which is dated April 29, "is called to communicate God Who is Love. ... Man came from the Creator's hands as the fruit of an initiative of love. Sin then clouded the divine stamp within him," but God the Father sent His Son to save "all human beings from the slavery of evil and death."

"Thanks to Christ, the Good Shepherd Who does not abandon the lost sheep, men and women of all times are given the possibility of entering into communion with God. ... The amazing sign of this love is the Cross."

Benedict XVI indicates that "in order to love according to God, it is necessary to live in Him and of Him. God is man's first 'home' and only those who live in Him burn with a fire of divine charity capable of 'setting alight' the world. Is this not the mission of the Church in all times? It is not, then, difficult to understand that true missionary solicitude - the principal commitment of the ecclesial community - is linked to faithfulness to divine love, and this is true for each individual Christian, for each local community, for the particular Churches and for the entire People of God.

"Awareness of this shared mission," he adds, "is what animates the generous willingness of Christ's disciples to undertake works of human and spiritual promotion that bear witness, as the beloved John Paul II wrote in his Encyclical 'Redemptoris mission,' to 'the soul of all missionary activity: love'."

The Holy Father emphasizes the fact that "to be missionaries means to love God with all one's being, to the point of giving, if necessary, one's life for Him. How many priests, religious and lay people, even in our own time, have rendered the supreme witness of love through martyrdom!"

He adds: "To be missionaries is to attend, like the Good Samaritan, to everyone's needs, especially those of the poorest and most needy, because those who love with Christ's heart do not seek their own interest, but only the glory of the Father and the good of others. This is the secret of the apostolic fruitfulness of missionary work, which cuts across frontiers and cultures, reaches people and spreads even to the confines of the world."

The Pope concludes his Message by asking that World Mission Day "be an occasion to better understand that the witness of love, the soul of the mission, concerns everyone. ... Alongside those who are on the front line ... of evangelization - and here my thoughts go out to missionaries - there are many others, children, young people and adults, who with prayer and cooperation contribute in various ways to spreading the Kingdom of God on earth. The hope is that, with everyone's contribution, this shared participation may grow ever more."
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 2, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, archbishop of Lima, Peru.

This evening, he is scheduled to receive in audience Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, JUN 2, 2006 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Bishop Gerardo de Andrade Ponte, emeritus of Patos, Brazil on May 24, at the age of 81.

- Bishop Basil Filevich, emeritus of Saskatoon of the Ukrainians, Canada on April 20, at the age of 88.

- Archbishop Raffaello Funghini, president of the Court of Appeal of Vatican City State, on May 17, at the age of 77.

- Bishop Michael M. O'Shea O.S.M., apostolic vicar of Ingwavuma, South Africa on May 30, at the age of 75.

- Bishop Oscar Serfilippi O.F.M. Conv. emeritus of Jesi, Italy on May 20 at the age of 76.
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V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Thursday, June 01, 2006

News Vatican Information Services 06/01/2006

SUMMARY:

- Month of May: Pope Thanks Mary for Her Protection
- Nourish Christian People with the Food of Truth
- Vatican Museums: a Witness to Unchanging Divine Beauty
- Holy Father's Prayer Intentions for June
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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MONTH OF MAY: POPE THANKS MARY FOR HER PROTECTION

VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 2006 (VIS) - At 8 p.m. yesterday, the traditional procession marking the end of the month of May wound its way from the Church of St. Stephen of the Abyssinians - located near the apse of the Vatican Basilica - to the Grotto of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens. Hundreds of people participated in the ceremony, which was presided by Archbishop Angelo Comastri, His Holiness' vicar general for Vatican City State.

Benedict XVI arrived at the Grotto at 9 p.m. and, before imparting his apostolic blessing, delivered a brief address.

The Pope first recalled how this year the month of May was "characterized by the arrival of the image of the Virgin of Fatima in St. Peter's Square on the 25th anniversary of the assassination attempt against the beloved John Paul II, and also by my apostolic trip ... to Poland, where I was able to visit the places dear to my great predecessor."

At the Shrine of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa, he said, "I understood how much our celestial Protectress accompanies her children's journey, and does not disregard supplications addressed to her with humility and faith. Once again, together with you, I wish to thank her for having accompanied me during my visit to the dear land of Poland. I also wish to express my gratitude to Mary for her support in my daily service to the Church. I know I can rely on her help in all situations, indeed I know that she, with maternal intuition, meets all her children's needs and intervenes effectively in their support."

Benedict XVI then highlighted how in the Virgin Mary's visit to her cousin Elizabeth - which the Church celebrates today as the Feast of the Visitation of Mary - "the hidden protagonist is Jesus. Mary carried Him in her womb as in a sacred tabernacle. ... Wherever Mary goes, there is Jesus."

"May true Marian devotion never obscure or diminish faith and love for Jesus Christ, our Savior, the only mediator between God and man. ... Let us, then, entrust ourselves to her with filial devotion."

The Pope concluded his address by asking the faithful to pray especially for the forthcoming vigil in St. Peter's Square on Saturday, June 3, when he will meet with new lay movements and communities "those promising groups that have blossomed in the Church following Vatican Council II."
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NOURISH CHRISTIAN PEOPLE WITH THE FOOD OF TRUTH

VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received participants in the third meeting of the 11th ordinary council of the Secretariat General of the Synod of Bishops. They, under the leadership of Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, are gathering and organizing the proposals that emerged from the last synod, held in October 2005 on the theme, "The Eucharist: source and summit of the life and mission of the Church."

"Today's meeting," the Holy Father told them, "is an appropriate occasion to emphasize once more the importance of charity in the activities of the pastors of the Church. ... Nourishing the Lord's flock is a ministry of watchful love that calls for total dedication, complete commitment of energy and, if necessary, the sacrifice of life. The Eucharist is, above all, the source and the hidden permanent impulse of our mission."

He went on: "In his ecclesial existence, the bishop represents the image of Christ Who nourishes us with His flesh and His blood. From the Eucharist, the pastor draws the strength to exercise that special pastoral charity which consists in dispensing the food of truth to Christian people."

"The truth of Love cannot be silenced, because it is the very essence of God. Preaching it from the rooftops is not just 'amoris officium' but a vital message for mankind in all times. The truth of evangelical love concerns all men, and all of man, and compels the pastor to proclaim it without fear or reticence, never yielding to the conditioning of the world."

The Pope concluded his brief remarks be reminding bishops that, "in a time such as our own, characterized by the growing phenomenon of globalization, it becomes ever more necessary to bring the truth of Christ and His Gospel of salvation to everyone vigorously and clearly. There are innumerable areas in which to proclaim and lovingly bear witness to the truth: so many people are hungry and cannot be left to languish without sustenance."
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VATICAN MUSEUMS: A WITNESS TO UNCHANGING DIVINE BEAUTY

VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 2006 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Holy Father received the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums on the occasion of their pilgrimage to Rome for the five-hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Vatican Museums. The Patrons of the Arts is an American association founded in 1983, that contributes to financing the restoration and maintenance of the works of art in the Vatican Museums.

The Pope thanked the association for its "continuing interest, which is motivated not only by a sense of stewardship for the incomparable cultural patrimony of the Vatican Museums, but also by a generous commitment to the Church's evangelizing mission."

He continued: "In every age Christians have sought to give expression to faith's vision of the beauty and order of God's creation, the nobility of our vocation as men and women made in His image and likeness, and the promise of a cosmos redeemed and transfigured by the grace of Christ. The artistic treasures which surround us are not simply impressive monuments of a distant past. Rather, for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who contemplate them year after year, they stand as a perennial witness to the Church's unchanging faith in the Triune God who, in the memorable phrase of St. Augustine, is Himself 'Beauty ever ancient, ever new'."

"May your support of the Vatican Museums," he concluded, "bear abundant spiritual fruits in your own lives and advance the Church's mission of bringing all people to the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ, 'the image of the invisible God,' in Whose Eternal Spirit all creation is reconciled, restored and renewed."
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HOLY FATHER'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR JUNE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father's general prayer intention for June is: "That Christian families may lovingly welcome every child who comes into existence and surround the sick and the aged, who need care and assistance, with affection."

His mission intention is: "That pastors and the Christian faithful may consider inter-religious dialogue and the work of acculturation of the Gospel as a daily service to promote the cause of the evangelization of peoples."
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Alfred Clifton Hughes of New Orleans, U.S.A.

- Archbishop Antoine Hamid Mourany, emeritus of Damascus of the Maronites.

- Daniel Perez del Castillo, ambassador of Uruguay on his farewell visit.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 1, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Jerome Beau of the clergy of the archdiocese of Paris, France, rector of the archdiocesan seminary, and Fr. Jean-Yves Nahmias of the clergy of the archdiocese of Paris, vicar general, as auxiliaries of the archdiocese of Paris (area 105, population 2,221,000, Catholics 1,554,700, priests 1,286, permanent deacons 93, religious 3,557). Bishop-elect Beau was born in Paris in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1984. Bishop-elect Nahmias was born in Saint-Mande, France in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1989.

- Fr. Bernard Unabali, vicar general of the diocese of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, as auxiliary of the same diocese (area 11,230, population 185,000, Catholics 148,900, priests 26, religious 63). The bishop-elect was born in Bolioko, Papua New Guinea in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1985.
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