News Vatican Information Service 01/05/2012

SUMMARY:

- Pastoral Recommendations for the Year of Faith

- Papal Masses for Epiphany and Feast of the Lord's Baptism

- Other Pontifical Acts

- Notice

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PASTORAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE YEAR OF FAITH

VATICAN CITY, 5 JAN 2012 (VIS) - A communique was published today containing information about a "Note with pastoral recommendations for the Year of Faith" which, by order of the Holy Father, has been prepared by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in consultation with other dicasteries of the Holy See, and with the help of the Committee for the Preparation of the Year of Faith. The Note is dated 6 January, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, and will be made public on Saturday 7 January.

Today's communique explains that, with his Apostolic Letter "Porta fidei" of 11 October 2011, Benedict XVI declared a Year of Faith, due to begin on 11 October, fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II, and to conclude on 24 November 2013, Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ Universal King. The introduction to the Note states that "the Year of Faith is intended to contribute to a renewed conversion to the Lord Jesus and to the rediscovery of faith, so that the members of the Church will be credible and joy-filled witnesses to the Risen Lord, capable of leading those many people who are seeking it to the door of faith".

The beginning of the Year of Faith coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of Vatican Council II, and the twentieth of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, "two great events which have marked the life of the Church in our days", the communique says. "TheYear of Faithwill be a propitious occasion to make Vatican Council II and the Catechism of the Catholic Church more widely and deeply known".

The pastoral recommendationscontained in the Note aim "to aid both the encounter with Christ through authentic witnesses to faith, and the ever-greater understanding of its contents". All members of the Church are invited to work to ensure that, during the Year of Faith, we may rediscover and "share that which is most dear to us: Christ Jesus, the Redeemer of mankind". The communique further explains that those pastoral recommendations do not intend to preclude "other initiatives which the Holy Spirit will inspire among Pastors and faithful in various parts of the world".

The Note divides its recommendations into four groups: (1) Universal Church, (2) episcopal conferences, (3) dioceses and (4) parishes, communities, associations and movements. Some of the specific suggestions it contains are outlined in the communique.

"Along with the solemn opening celebration for the Year of Faith and other events in which the Holy Father will participate (Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, WYD 2013), various ecumenical initiatives are being planned 'aimed at the restoration of unity among all Christians'. Moreover 'there will be a solemn ecumenical celebration in which all of the baptised will reaffirm their faith in Christ'.

"On the level of episcopal conferences, attention will be given to the quality of catechesis, and efforts will be made to examine 'local catechisms and various catechetical supplements in use in the particular Churches ... to ensure their complete conformity with the Catechism of the Catholic Church'. It is also hoped that use will be made of the language of the mass media and art, with 'television and radio transmissions, films and publications focusing on the faith, its principles and content, as well as on the ecclesial significance of Vatican Council II'.

"At the diocesan level, the Year of Faith is considered, among other things, as an occasion for 'renewed creative dialogue between faith and reason in the academic and artistic communities, through symposia, meetings and days of study, especially at Catholic universities', and as a favourable time for 'penitential celebrations ... in which all can ask for God's forgiveness, especially for sins against faith'.

"At the parish level the focus remains on the celebrationof the faith in the liturgy, especially in the Eucharist, because 'in the Eucharist, mystery of faith and source of the new evangelisation, the faith of the Church is proclaimed, celebrated and strengthened'. It is on this foundation that other initiatives will come into being, develop and spread, particularly those undertaken by Institutes, new Communities and Ecclesial Movements.

"'A Secretariat to coordinate all of the different initiatives promoted by various dicasteries of the Holy See, or other events relevant to the Universal Church, will be established within the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation'. The Secretariat 'can also suggest appropriate initiatives' for the Year of Faith, and 'will open a dedicated website with the goal of making available useful information' on the subject".

CDF/ VIS20120105 (770)

PAPAL MASSES FOR EPIPHANY AND FEAST OF THE LORD'S BAPTISM

VATICAN CITY, 5 JAN 2012 (VIS) - At 9.30 a.m. tomorrow, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Benedict XVI will preside at Mass in the Vatican Basilica. During the ceremony he will confer episcopal ordination upon archbishops-elect Msgr. Charles John Brown, apostolic nuncio to Ireland, and Msgr. Marek Solczynski, apostolic nuncio to Georgia and Armenia. Following Mass the Pope will pray the Angelus from the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace.

On Sunday 8 January, Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass in the Sistine Chapel and administer the Sacrament of Baptism to a number of children. At midday he will pray the Angelus with faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 5 JAN 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Archbishop Emil Paul Tscherrig, apostolic nuncio to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway, as apostolic nuncio to Argentina.

- Appointed Archbishop Manuel Monteiro de Castro, secretary of the Congregation for Bishops, as penitentiary major of the Apostolic Penitentiary. He succeeds Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli, whose resignation from the same office the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

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NOTICE

VATICAN CITY, 5 JAN 2012 (VIS) - No VIS bulletin will be issued tomorrow Friday 6 January, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, the next service will be transmitted on Saturday 7 January.

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You can find more information at: www.visnews.org

The news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used, in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:

V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City

News Vatican Information Service 01/05/2012

SUMMARY:

- Christmas Means Bringing God's Joy and Light to Others

- Papal Message for the World Day of the Sick

- Other Pontifical Acts

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CHRISTMAS MEANS BRINGING GOD'S JOY AND LIGHT TO OTHERS

VATICAN CITY, 4 JAN 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father held his weekly general audience this morning in the Paul VI Hall, in the presence of 7,000 pilgrims.

Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis to the mystery of the Lord's Nativity, noting that "our first reaction to this extraordinary event of God Who becomes a child ... is joy". This "arises from a sense of heartfelt wonder at seeing how God comes close to us and cares for us; how He acts in history. ... It arises from a contemplation of the face of that humble child because we know that it is the Face of God. ... Christmas is a time of joy ... because God - Who is the goodness, life and truth of mankind - comes down to man's level in order to raise man to Himself. God comes so close that we can see and touch Him". For this reason, the Pope explained, "Christmas is the point at which heaven and earth unite. ... In that needy Child ... what God is (eternity, strength, sanctity, life, joy) unites with what we are (weakness, sin, suffering death)".

The phrase "admirabile commercium" is current in the theology and spirituality of the Nativity, used to describe this "admirable exchange between the divine and the human. ... The first act of that exchange comes about in Christ's own humanity. The Word assumed our humanity and, in exchange, human nature was raised to divine dignity. The second act of the exchange consists in our real and intimate involvement in the divine nature of the Word. ... Thus Christmas is the feast in which God comes so close to man as to share the very act of being born, showing men and women their most profound dignity: that of being children of God. Humanity's dream which began in the Garden of Eden - we want to be like God - is realised in an unexpected way, not through the greatness of man, who cannot make himself God, but through the humility of God Who came down among us in His humility, raising us to the true greatness of His being ".

Benedict XVI also turned his attention to another aspect of Christmas, symbolised by light. "Christ's coming dissipates the shadows of the world and fills the holy night with a celestial splendour, spreading the radiance of God the Father over the faces of men, even today", he said. "After having spoken and intervened in history through messengers and signs, 'He appeared', He came out of His inaccessible light in order to illuminate the world". All Christians must be aware of their mission and responsibility to bear witness to the new light of the Gospel, and to bring it to the world. The Church receives the light of Christ "to be illuminated thereby and to spread it in all its splendour. And this must also come about in our own lives".

"Christmas means pausing to contemplate the Child, the Mystery of God Who became man in humility and poverty. Above all it means once again making that Child, Who is Christ the Lord, part of ourselves so as to live our lives from His, so as to make His feelings, His thoughts, His actions our feelings, thoughts and actions. To celebrate Christmas is to express the joy, novelty and light which that Birth brought into our lives, that we too may bring others joy, true novelty and the light of God".

After his catechesis the Holy Father greeted pilgrims in various languages, thanked a number of bands for having enlivened the celebration with their music and imparted his blessing upon those present.

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PAPAL MESSAGE FOR THE WORLD DAY OF THE SICK

VATICAN CITY, 4 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Made public yesterday was the Holy Father's Message for the World Day of the Sick which will be held, as is traditional, on 11 February, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The message, dated from the Vatican on 20 November 2011, Solemnity of our Lord Jesus Christ Universal King, has as its title Jesus' words to the leper from the Gospel of St. Luke: "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you".

Extracts from the English-language version of the message are given below.

"I wish to renew my spiritual closeness to all sick people, ... expressing to each one of them the solicitude and the affection of the whole Church. In the generous and loving welcoming of every human life, above all of weak and sick life, a Christian expresses an important aspect of his or her Gospel witness, following the example of Christ, Who bent down before the material and spiritual sufferings of man in order to heal them.

"I would like to place emphasis upon the 'Sacraments of healing', that is to say upon the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation and that of the Anointing of the Sick, which have their natural completion in Eucharistic Communion. The encounter of Jesus with the ten lepers, narrated by the Gospel of St. Luke, ... helps us to become aware of the importance of faith for those who, burdened by suffering and illness, draw near to the Lord. In their encounter with Him they can truly experience that he who believes is never alone! God, indeed, in His Son, does not abandon us to our anguish and sufferings, but is close to us, helps us to bear them, and wishes to heal us in the depths of our hearts.

"The faith of the lone leper who ... immediately went back to Jesus to express his gratitude, enables us to perceive that reacquired health is a sign of something more precious than mere physical healing, it is a sign of the salvation that God gives us through Christ; it finds expression in the words of Jesus: 'your faith has saved you'. He who in suffering and illness prays to the Lord is certain that God's love will never abandon him, and also that the love of the Church, the extension in time of the Lord's saving work, will never fail. Physical healing, an outward expression of the deepest salvation, thus reveals the importance that man - in his entirety of soul and body - has for the Lord".

"The tandem of physical health and renewal after lacerations of the soul thus helps us to understand better the 'Sacraments of healing'".

"The Sacrament of Penance ... consists in restoring us to God's grace, and joining with Him in an intimate friendship'".

"God, 'rich in mercy', like the father in the Gospel parable, does not close His heart to any of His children, but waits for them, looks for them. ... A time of suffering, in which one could be tempted to abandon oneself to discouragement and hopelessness, can thus be transformed into a time of grace so as to return to oneself, and like the prodigal son of the parable, to think anew about one's life, recognizing its errors and failures, longing for the embrace of the Father, and following the pathway to His home. He, in His great love, always and everywhere watches over our lives and awaits us so as to offer to every child that returns to Him the gift of full reconciliation and joy.

"From a reading of the Gospels it emerges clearly that Jesus always showed special concern for sick people. He not only sent out His disciples to tend their wounds but also instituted for them a specific Sacrament: the Anointing of the Sick. The Letter of James attests to the presence of this sacramental act already in the first Christian community: by the Anointing of the Sick, accompanied by the prayer of the elders, the whole of the Church commends the sick to the suffering and glorified Lord so that He may alleviate their sufferings and save them".

"This Sacrament deserves greater consideration today both in theological reflection and in pastoral ministry among the sick. Through a proper appreciation of the content of the liturgical prayers that are adapted to the various human situations connected with illness, and not only when a person is at the end of his or her life. ... Attention to and pastoral care for sick people, while, on the one hand, a sign of God's tenderness towards those who are suffering, on the other brings spiritual advantage to priests and the whole Christian community as well, in the awareness that what is done to the least, is done to Jesus Himself".

"The 'Sacraments of healing' ... are precious instruments of God's grace which help a sick person to conform himself or herself ever more fully to the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ. Together with these two Sacraments, I would also like to emphasise the importance of the Eucharist. Received at a time of illness, it contributes in a singular way to working this transformation, associating the person who partakes of the Body and Blood of Christ to the offering that He made of Himself to the Father for the salvation of all. The whole ecclesial community, and parish communities in particular, should pay attention to guaranteeing the possibility of frequently receiving Holy Communion, to those people who, for reasons of health or age, cannot go to a place of worship".

"The Eucharist, especially as Viaticum, is - according to the definition of St. Ignatius of Antioch - 'medicine of immortality, the antidote for death'; the Sacrament of the passage from death to life, from this world to the Father, Who awaits everyone in the celestial Jerusalem.

"The theme of this Message for the Twentieth World Day of the Sick, 'Stand up and go; your faith has saved you', also looks forward to the forthcoming Year of Faith which will begin on 11 October 2012. ... I wish to encourage sick people and the suffering always to find a safe anchor in faith, nourished by listening to the Word of God, by personal prayer and by the Sacraments, while I invite pastors to be increasingly ready to celebrate them for the sick. ... Priests should be full of joy, attentive to the weakest, the simple and sinners, expressing the infinite mercy of God with reassuring words of hope.

"To all those who work in the field of health, and to the families who see in their relatives the suffering face of the Lord Jesus, I renew my thanks and that of the Church".

"[May] Mary, Mother of Mercy and Health of the Sick ... accompany and sustain the faith and the hope of every sick and suffering person on the journey of healing for the wounds of body and spirit! I assure you all of a remembrance in my prayers, and I bestow upon each one of you a special Apostolic Blessing".

MESS/ VIS 20120104 (1190)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 4 JAN 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Cirilo Flores, auxiliary of Orange in California, U.S.A., as coadjutor bishop of San Diego (area 22,942, population 3,118,990, Catholics 981,211, priests 319, permanent deacons 114, religious 384), U.S.A.

- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of Los Angeles, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Gabino Zavala, in accordance with canons 411 and 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

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You can find more information at: www.visnews.org

The news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used, in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:

V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City