Pope Benedict XVI

Friday, May 04, 2012

News Vatican Information Service 05/04/2012

SUMMARY:

- STATES MUST ENSURE THAT LEGISLATION DOES NOT INCREASE SOCIAL INEQUALITY
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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STATES MUST ENSURE THAT LEGISLATION DOES NOT INCREASE SOCIAL INEQUALITY

Vatican City, 4 May 2012 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received five new non resident ambassadors to the Holy See: Teshome Toga Chanaka of Ethiopia, David Cooney of Ireland, Naivakarurubalavu Solo Mara of the Republic of Fiji, Viguen Tchitetchian of Armenia and Dato' Ho May Young, the first ambassador of Malaysia to the Holy See.

Excerpts from the Holy Father's French-language address to the diplomats is given below:

"The development of the communications media has, in some way, made our planet smaller. ... Awareness of the great suffering caused throughout the world by both material and spiritual poverty calls people to mobilise in order to face, in justice and solidarity, all threats to human beings, society and the environment".

"Exodus to the great cities, armed conflict, hunger and pandemics, which affect so many people, give rise to new forms of poverty in our time. The global economic crisis has caused an increasing number of families to live in precarious conditions. When the manufacture and increase of needs leads us to believe in the possibility of unlimited enjoyment and consumption, the lack of the means necessary to achieve these ends leads to frustration. ... When poverty coexists with enormous wealth, a sense of injustice arises which can become a source of rebellion. Therefore it is necessary for States to ensure that legislation does not increase social inequality and that people can live dignified lives".

"The development to which all nations aspire must involve human beings in their entirety, not just economic factors. ... Experiences such as micro-credit, and initiatives to create cooperative associations show that it is possible to harmonise economic objectives with social necessities, democratic government and respect for nature. It is also advisable to encourage manual work and to promote an agriculture which works in favour of local people, viewing these activities with the respect they deserve".

"In order to strengthen the human factor of social and political life, attention must given to another kind of poverty: the loss of reference to spiritual values and to God. This defect make it more difficult to distinguish good from evil, and to overcome personal interests in favour of the common good. States have a duty to promote their cultural and religious heritage, which contributes to the development of a nation, and to facilitate people's access thereto, because by familiarising ourselves with our history each of us is able to discover the roots of our own existence".

"Religion helps us to recognise others as brothers and sisters in humanity. Giving everyone the opportunity to know God, in complete freedom, is to help them forge a strong personality which will enable them to bear witness to good, and put it into effect even at great cost. In this way we will build a society in which sobriety and fraternity triumph over misery, indifference and selfishness, over exploitation and waste and, above all, over exclusion".

AUDIENCES

Vatican City, 4 May 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience:

- Ten prelates of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, on their "ad limina" visit:

- Archbishop Michael Jarboe Sheehan of Santa Fe.

- Bishop James S. Wall of Gallup.

- Bishop Ricardo Ramirez C.S.B. of Las Cruces

- Bishop Thomas James Olmsted of Phoenix, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo A. Nevares.

- Bishop Gerald Frederick Kicanas of Tucson.

- Bishop James Douglas Conley, apostolic administrator of Denver.

- Bishop Paul D. Etienne of Cheyenne.

- Bishop Michael John Sheridan of Colorado Springs.

- Bishop Fernando Isern of Pueblo.

- Bishop Luigi Negri of San Marino-Montefeltro.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 4 May 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. James Romen Boiragi, vicar general and currently diocesan administrator of Khulna, Bangladesh, as bishop of the same diocese (area 28,236, population 15,343,767, Catholics 33,296, priests 45, religious 104). The bishop-elect was born in Holdibunia, Bangladesh in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1985. He studied in Bangladesh and in Rome and has served as pastor of the cathedral of Khulna and as vice judicial vicar of the diocesan tribunal.

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

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Thursday, May 03, 2012

News Vatican Information Service 05/03/2012

SUMMARY:

- CULTURE MUST REDISCOVER THE DYNAMISM OF TRANSCENDENCE
- BENEDICT XVI TO CELEBRATE MASS IN FRASCATI
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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CULTURE MUST REDISCOVER THE DYNAMISM OF TRANSCENDENCE

Vatican City, 3 May 2012 (VIS) - The "Agostino Gemelli" Faculty of Medicine and Surgery is currently celebrating its fiftieth anniversary. To mark the occasion, the Holy Father made a visit to Rome's Sacred Heart Catholic University this morning, where he pronounced an address focusing on "quaerere Deum" (the search for the absolute) in contemporary culture.

The Pope was received by the academic authorities of the teaching hospital, who were accompanied by Gianfranco Fini, president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, and by Lorenzo Ornaghi and Renato Balduzzi, respectively ministers of culture and of health. Also present was Cardinal Agostino Vallini, His Holiness' vicar general for the diocese of Rome, and Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan, Italy and president of the "Giuseppe Toniolo" Institute for Higher Studies. Many students and patients gathered to hear the Holy Father’s words, which he pronounced on an open area in front of the hospital building.

"Ours is a time in which the empirical sciences have transformed our view of the world, and even man's understanding of himself", the Pope said. "Numerous discoveries and innovative technologies ... are a justified reason for pride, but often they are not without worrying side effects".

"The Europe's fruitful root of culture and progress seems to have been forgotten; there the search for the absolute - 'quaerere Deum' - also embraced the need to develop the profane sciences, the entire world of knowledge. Indeed, scientific research and the demand for meaning, each with is own specific epistemological and methodological attributes, spring from a single source: the Logos which presided over the work of creation and guides the course of history. A mentality that is fundamentally technical and practical generates a dangerous imbalance between what is technically possible and what is morally good, with unforeseeable consequences.

"It is therefore important for culture to rediscover the vigour of meaning and the dynamism of transcendence. In a word, it must open itself decisively to the horizon of 'quaerere Deum'", Benedict XVI added. "Science and faith possess a fruitful reciprocity, almost a complementary need to understand reality. ... Christianity, the religion of the Logos, does not relegate faith to the field of irrationality; rather is attributes the origin and meaning of reality to creative Reason, which in the crucified God showed itself to be love and which invites us to follow the path of 'quaerere Deum': 'I am the way, the truth and the life'".

"By following the path of faith, man is able to distinguish, even in the reality of suffering and death which traverse his existence, an authentic possibility for goodness and for life. ... Care for those who suffer is, then, a daily encounter with the face of Christ, and the dedication of mind and heart becomes a sign of God's mercy and of His victory over death.

"Experienced in its entirety this search is illuminated by science and faith, drawing vigour and impetus from these two 'wings' and never losing a due sense of humility and of its own limitations. In this way the quest for God enriches understanding, becoming a ferment of culture, a promoter of true humanism, a search which does not stop at the surface. ... It is here that the irreplaceable role of the Catholic University comes into play, a place in which education is placed at the service of the person in order to construct an academic competence rooted in that heritage of knowledge which the succeeding generations have distilled into life wisdom; a place where care is not a task, but a mission".

"The Catholic University, which has a special relationship with the See of Peter, is today called to be an exemplary institution which does not limit learning to functionality and economic success, but broadens it horizons to projects in which the gift of intelligence investigates and develops the gifts of creation, abandoning a purely productive and utilitarian view of existence because 'the human being is made for gift, which expresses and makes present his transcendent dimension'". Finally, the Pope concluded his remarks by assuring patients at the Gemelli Hospital of his "prayers and affection".

BENEDICT XVI TO CELEBRATE MASS IN FRASCATI

Vatican City, 3 May 2012 (VIS) - In a communique made public today the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household states that the Holy Father, accepting the invitation of Bishop Raffaello Martinelli of Frascati, will celebrate Mass in Piazza San Pietro in that Italian town on 15 July. Following the celebration the Pope will return to Castelgandolfo where he will pray the Angelus. The announcement was made this morning by Bishop Martinelli while celebrating the Feast of Sts. Philip and James the Less, patron saints of that suburbicarian diocese.