Pope Benedict XVI

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

News Vatican Information Service 05/16/2012

SUMMARY:

- Prayer in the Letters of St. Paul

- Benedict XVI:Work Should not be an Obstacle to the Family

- Audiences

- Notice

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Prayer in the Letters of St. Paul

Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) - After having examined prayer in the Acts of the Apostles, Benedict XVI announced that he will dedicate his next series of catechesis to prayer in the Letters of St. Paul, which always begin and end with an expression of prayer and which have given us a rich range of forms of prayer.

In Wednesday's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square before more than 11,000 people, the Pope explained that the Apostle to the Gentiles wants us to understand that prayer "should not be seen as a simple good deed made to God, an action of our own. It is above all a gift, fruit of the living [and] revitalizing presence of the Father and of Jesus Christ in us".

When we pray we feel "our weakness ... our creatureliness, because we find ourselves before God's omnipotence and transcendence ... and we perceive our limitations ... and the necessity to trust ever more in Him". This then is when "the Holy Spirit helps us in our incapacity ... and guides us to turn toward God". Prayer, therefore, is mainly "the action of the Holy Spirit in our humanity that takes charge of our weakness and transforms us from persons who are bound to material reality into spiritual persons".

Among the effects of the action of the Spirit of Christ as the internal principle of all our acts, the Holy Father observed first that "prayer inspired by the Spirit gives us the possibility to abandon and overcome all forms of fear or slavery, living the true freedom of the children of God". Another consequence is that "our relationship with God becomes so deep that it is no longer affected by deeds or situations. We understand that prayer doesn't free us from trials or tribulations but we can live them in union with Christ, with His suffering, in view of also participating in His glory".

THERE IS NO HUMAN CRY THAT GOD DOES NOT HEAR

"Many times", the Pope said, "we ask God to deliver us from physical and spiritual evil ... however, we often have the impression that He doesn't hear us and we run the risk of becoming discouraged and of not persevering. In reality, there is no human cry that God does not hear. ... God the Father's answer to His son was not the immediate freedom from suffering, from the cross, or from death: through the cross and His death, God answered with the Resurrection".

Finally, "a believer's prayer, if open to the human dimension and to creation as a whole ...does not remain locked in on itself. It opens itself to share in the suffering of our time. It is thus converted into ... the channel of hope for all of creation and an expression of God's love that is poured into our hearts by means of the Spirit".

The apostle, the Holy Father concluded, teaches us that when we pray "we have to open ourselves to the presence and the action of the Holy Spirit ... in order to turn ourselves to God with our whole heart and our whole being. Christ's Spirit becomes the strength of our our 'weak' prayer, the light of our 'dim' prayer, ... teaching us to live while facing the trials of existence, in the certainty that we are not alone, opening ourselves to the horizons of humanity and the creation that 'is groaning in labour pains'".

Benedict XVI:Work Should not be an Obstacle to the Family

Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) - "Work should not be an obstacle to the family, but should rather sustain and unite it", affirmed Benedict XVI in an appeal made at the end of today's general audience.

After recalling that yesterday was the celebration of the International Day of Families that the UN dedicated this year to the relationship between family and work, the Pope noted that work should favour the family, "helping it to be open to life and to enter into relationship with society and with the Church". At the same time, the pontiff expressed his wish that Sunday, "the Lord's day and a weekly Easter, be a day of rest and an occasion to strengthen family ties".

Also during the traditional greetings in different languages to the more than 11,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI highlighted that tomorrow celebrates the Solemnity of the Lord's Ascension. This feastday "invites us to look to Jesus who, ascending to heaven, entrusts the apostles with the mandate of carrying His message of salvation to the entire world... The Lord has prepared a place for each of us and it is waiting for us. May our thoughts and our deeds be directed toward our heavenly homeland".

Audiences

Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) - After today's general audience, the Holy Father received Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller of Regensburg, Germany.

Notice

Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) - We inform our readers that no VIS bulletin will be transmitted tomorrow, Thursday 17 May, on the Solemnity of the Lord's Ascension, a feastday in the Vatican. Service will be resumed on Friday, 18 May.

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

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V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

News Vatican Information Service 05/15/2012

SUMMARY:

- POPE TO VISIT MILAN FOR WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES

- UNLAWFUL USE OF POPE'S IMAGE: BENETTON RETRACTION

- CARITAS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO SHORES

- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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POPE TO VISIT MILAN FOR WORLD MEETING OF FAMILIES

Vatican City, 15 May 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father will visit the archdiocese of Milan on the occasion of the 7th World Meeting of Families to take place in that Italian city.

Benedict XVI will depart from Rome's Ciampino Airport on 1 June at 4:00pm and will arrive an hour later in Milan. At 5:30pm he will address those gathered in the Piazza del Duomo and, at 7:30pm, will attend a concert in his honour and that of the official delegations to the World Meeting of Families at the Scala Theatre.

On Saturday, 2 June, at 10:00am, the Pope will participate in the "Hora Media" at the cathedral. He will read the meditation and will venerate the relics of St. Charles Borromeo. At 11:15am in Meazza Stadium, he will greet children who are being confirmed and will then give a speech and pray the Angelus. At 5:00pm in the Throne Room of the bishop's palace he will meet with civil authorities and, at 8:30pm, will address the participants of the "Celebration of Witnesses" that will take place in the metropolitan park of Bresso.

On Sunday, 3 June, at 10:00am in Bresso's park, he will celebrate Holy Mass and will pray the Angelus. At 1:15pm, after lunch in the bishop's palace with cardinals, bishops, and some families, he will greet members of the Family Foundation 2012 and the organizers of the visit.

Benedict XVI's return flight to Rome will arrive at Ciampino Airport at 5:30pm, from where he will travel by helicopter to the Vatican heliport where he is expected to arrive at 6:45pm.

UNLAWFUL USE OF POPE'S IMAGE: BENETTON RETRACTION

Vatican City, 15 May 2012 (VIS) - This morning a note from the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., was issued on the conclusion of the legal conflict between the Holy See and the Benetton Group, due to its unlawful use of Pope Benedict XVI's image in the "Unhate" ad campaign.

"Last Friday," reads the communique, "the Benetton Group published a note ... reaffirming its 'regret for having offended His Holiness Benedict XVI and believers', and assuring that it 'guarantees and maintains that all photographic images of the Holy Father have been retracted from commercial distribution and promises not to use the image of the Holy Father in the future without authorization from the Holy See'". It ends with stating that "the Benetton Group will use its resources to stop the further use of the image by third parties on internet sites and in other places".

"The communique of the Benetton Group," emphasizes Fr. Lombardi, "represents the conclusion, based on an agreed settlement, of the conflict between the lawyers of the Holy See ... and those of the Benetton Group, a conflict that took place, as announced, and has been open until now. The Benetton Group recognizes therefore ... that the Pope's image must be respected".

"The Holy See did not seek monetary compensation. Nevertheless, moral compensation in recognition of the abuse committed has been sought as well as affirming the desire to defend, even by legal means, the Pope's image. In place of monetary compensation it has asked and received from the Benetton Group an act of generosity, effective even if limited, toward one of the Church's charitable activities".

CARITAS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: DIALOGUE BETWEEN TWO SHORES

Vatican City, 15 May 2012 (VIS) - The 2012 meeting of MigraMed for all the Caritas organizations that operate in the Mediterranean countries will open in Cagliari, Italy tomorrow, 16 May. This year's forum is dedicated to the dialogue between the two shores of "Mare Nostrum" and will touch on, among other themes, the conflict in the Middle East and North Africa as well as the reception of emigrants and perspectives of emigration.

"A year after the Arab Spring and during the financial, economic, and social crisis that Europe is undergoing, Caritas in the Mediterranean, North African, Middle Eastern, and European areas will meet with Caritas Italy and the diocesan Caritas organizations on the theme of emigrants and the politics of development and welcome", reads a communique from Caritas Italy.

From 16 to 18 May will see the discussion on, among other themes to be analysed, Italy's system of welcome to those who have fled Libya: 3,000 of the 20,000 reception points in this country are administered under the umbrella of diocesan Caritas throughout the Italian territories.

The topic of interreligious dialogue will also be addressed because the Caritas organizations on the southern shore of the Mediterranean are found in countries that are, for the most part, Islamic. In this context, Caritas organizations from Libya, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Tunisia will take part. Likewise Caritas from France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Malta, and Albania as well as representatives from Caritas in the Middle East will participate.

The meeting will provide the opportunity to evaluate the present and future of emigration in the Mediterranean in light of the transformation in the Middle East and North Africa, along with Europe's role during this economic crisis and the humanitarian emergency of refugees.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 15 May 2012 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father appointed:

- Bishop Gabriel Justice Yaw Anokye as archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kumasi (area 5,118, population 1,744,000, Catholics 401,000, priests 112, religious 615), Ghana. He succeeds Archbishop Thomas Kwaku Mensah, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Bishop Varghese Chakkalakal of Kannur, India, as bishop of Calicut (area 12,505, population 10,453,000, Catholics 50,201, priests 125, religious 833), India. Concurrently he is named as the apostolic administrator "sede vacanate et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of the diocese of Kannur.

- Bishop Roberto Calara Mallari, previously auxiliary of San Fernando, Philippines, as bishop of San Jose (area 2,540, population 819,000, Catholics 725,000, priests 33, religious 34), Philippines