News Vatican Information Service 02/25-27/2012

SUMMARY:

- SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF THE POPE AND THE ROMAN CURIA
- LENT: PRAYER, PENANCE AND CHARITY TO RENEW OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD
- MARRIAGE, THE ONLY WORTHY "PLACE" IN WHICH TO PRODUCE CHILDREN
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF THE POPE AND THE ROMAN CURIA

Vatican City, 26 February 2012 (VIS) - The Pope and the Roman Curia began their annual spiritual exercises this evening, the first Sunday of Lent.

This year's meditations are being directed by Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, who will focus on the theme of "the communion of Christians with God".

The exercises are being held in the "Redemptoris Mater" Chapel of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, and will come to an end on Saturday 3 March. During the retreat all audiences are suspended, including the weekly general audience of Wednesday 29 February.

LENT: PRAYER, PENANCE AND CHARITY TO RENEW OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD

Vatican City, 26 February 2012 (VIS) - In his reflections before praying the Angelus this morning with faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, Benedict XVI commented on the Gospel reading from this Sunday's liturgy, St. Mark's narrative of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

"The Lord chose to undergo the attack of the tempter so as to defend us with His help and instruct us with His example", said the Holy Father quoting a text written by St. Leo the Great. This episode teaches us that man is never free from temptation, but we can become stronger than any enemy "by following the Lord every day with patience and humility, learning to build our lives not without Him or as if He did not exist, but in Him and with Him, because He is the source of true life. The temptation to remove God, to regulate ourselves and the world counting only on our own abilities, has always been present in the history of man", the Pope said.

In Christ, God addresses man "in an unexpected way, with a closeness that is unique, tangible and full of love. God became incarnate and entered man's world in order to take sin upon Himself, to overcome evil and to bring man back into God's world. But His announcement was accompanied by a request to respond to such a great gift. Indeed, Jesus said "repent, and believe in the good news'. This is an invitation to have faith in God and to convert every day of our lives to His will, orienting our every action and our every thought towards what is good. The period of Lent is a good time to renew and strengthen our relationship with God through daily prayer, acts of penance and works of fraternal charity".

Following the Angelus the Pope greeted pilgrims in a number of different languages, asking them to pray for him as he and the Roman Curia retire for their Lenten spiritual exercises, which begin this evening.

MARRIAGE, THE ONLY WORTHY "PLACE" IN WHICH TO PRODUCE CHILDREN

Vatican City, 25 February 2012 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father received 200 scientists and members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which is currently celebrating its eighteenth general assembly on the theme: "The diagnosis and treatment of infertility". This subject, said the Pope, "has particular scientific importance, and is an expression of the concrete possibility of fruitful dialogue between ethics and biomedical research".

"Research into diagnosis and therapy is the most scientifically correct approach to the question of infertility, as well as being the most respectful of the human condition of the people involved", said Benedict XVI. "Indeed, the union of a man and a woman, in that community of love and life which is marriage, represents the only worthy 'place' for a new human being to be called into existence".

The Pope explained how "the human and Christian dignity of procreation does not lie in a 'product', but in its bond with the conjugal act: that expression of the spouses' love for one another, that union which is not only biological but also spiritual. ... An infertile couple's legitimate aspirations to become parents must therefore, with the help of science, find a response which is fully respectful of their dignity as people and as spouses". Yet, the Holy Father said, the field of human procreation seems to be dominated "by scientism and the logic of profit", which often "restrict many other areas of research.

"The Church is attentive to the suffering of infertile couples", he added, "and her concern for them is what leads her to encourage medical research. Science, nonetheless, is not always capable of responding to the needs of many couples, and so I would like to remind those who are experiencing infertility that their matrimonial vocation is not thereby frustrated. By virtue of their baptismal and matrimonial vocation, spouses are always called to collaborate with God in the creation of a new humanity. The vocation to love, in fact, is a vocation of self-giving and this is something which no bodily condition can impede. Therefore, when science cannot provide an answer, the light-giving response comes from Christ".

Benedict XVI invited the participants in the general assembly to continue to develop "a science which is intellectually honest and dedicated to the continual search for the good of mankind. ... Indifference towards truth and goodness is a dangerous threat to authentic scientific progress", he warned. In conclusion, the Pope encouraged his audience to dialogue with faith because "it was Christian culture - rooted in the affirmation of the existence of Truth, and the intelligibility of reality in the light of Supreme Truth - which enabled modern scientific knowledge to develop in mediaeval Europe, a knowledge which in earlier cultures had remained in the bud".

AUDIENCES

Vatican City, 25 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Marc Ouellet P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, accompanied by Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary of the same congregation.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 25 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Arrigo Miglio of Ivrea, Italy, as archbishop of Cagliari (area 4,041, population 572,615, Catholics 567,615, priests 247, permanent deacons 37, religious 919), Italy. He succeeds Archbishop Giuseppe Mani, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of Medellin, Colombia, presented by Bishop Gilberto Jimenez Narvaez, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Bishop John F. Du of Dumaguete, Philippines, as metropolitan archbishop of Palo (area 4,620, population 1,762,000, Catholics 1,362,000, priests 161, religious 191), Philippines.

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

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News Vatican Information Service 02/24/2012

SUMMARY:

- CHRISTIANS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEIR FAITH IN ORDER TO HELP OTHERS TO GOD
- CHARITY, A PRIVILEGED FORM OF EVANGELISTATION
- THE KING OF TONGA RECEIVED BY THE POPE
- VIETNAM - HOLY SEE JOINT WORKING GROUP TO MEET AT THE END OF THE MONTH
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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CHRISTIANS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEIR FAITH IN ORDER TO HELP OTHERS TO GOD

Vatican City, 24 February 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday morning the Holy Father met with priests of the diocese of Rome. Following a reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians, Benedict XVI delivered a long off-the-cuff commentary on the Gospel passage.

The Apostle says: "I ... beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace".

The first call we receive is that of Baptism, the Pope explained, the second is the vocation to be pastors at the service of Christ. "The great ill of the Church in Europe and the West today is the lack of priestly vocations. Yet, the Lord calls always, what is lacking are ears to listen. We listened to the Lord's voice and must remain attentive when that voice is addressed to others. We must help to ensure the voice is heard so that the call will be accepted".

According to St. Paul, the primary virtue which must accompany vocation is humility. This is the virtue of the followers of Christ Who, "being equal to God, humbled Himself, accepting the status of servant, and obeying even unto the cross. This was the Son's journey of humility, which we must imitate. ... The opposite of humility is pride, the root of all sin. Pride means arrogance, which above all seeks power and appearance. ... It has no intention of pleasing God; rather of pleasing itself, of being accepted, even venerated, by others. The 'self' becomes the centre of the world; the prideful self which knows everything. Being Christian means overcoming this original temptation, which is also the nucleus of original sin: being like God, but without God".

By contrast "humility is above all truth, ... recognition that I am a thought of God in the construction of His world, that I am irreplaceable as I am, in my smallness, and that only in this way am I great. ... Let us learn this realism; not seeking appearance, but seeking to please God and to accomplish what He has thought out for us, and thus also accepting others. ... Acceptance of self and acceptance of others go together. Only by accepting myself as part of the great divine tapestry can I also accept others, who with me form part of the great symphony of the Church and Creation". In this way, likewise, we learn to accept our position within the Church, knowing that "my small service is great in the eyes of God".

Lack of humility destroys the unity of Christ's Body. Yet at the same time, unity cannot develop without knowledge. "One great problem facing the Church today is the lack of knowledge of the faith, 'religious illiteracy'", the Pope said. "With such illiteracy we cannot grow. ... Therefore we must reappropriate the contents of the faith, not as a packet of dogmas and commandments, but as a unique reality revealed in its all its profoundness and beauty. We must do everything possible for catechetical renewal in order for the faith to be know, God to be known, Christ to be known, the truth to be known, and for unity in the truth to grow".

We cannot, Benedict XVI warned, live in "a childhood of faith". Many adults have never gone beyond the first catechesis, meaning that "they cannot - as adults, with competence and conviction - explain and elucidate the philosophy of the faith, its great wisdom and rationality" in order to illuminate the minds of others. To do this they need an "adult faith". This does not mean, as has been understood in recent decades, a faith detached from the Magisterium of the Church. When we abandon the Magisterium, the result is dependency "on the opinions of the world, on the dictatorship of the communications media". By contrast, true emancipation consists in freeing ourselves of these opinions, the freedom of the children of God. "We must pray to the Lord intensely, that He may help us emancipate ourselves in this sense, to be free in this sense, with a truly adult faith, ... capable of helping others achieve true perfection ... in communion with Christ".

The Pope went on: "Today the concept of truth is viewed with suspicion, because truth is identified with violence. Over history there have, unfortunately, been episodes when people sought to defend the truth with violence. But they are two contrasting realities. Truth cannot be imposed with means other than itself! Truth can only come with its own light. Yet, we need truth. ... Without truth we are blind in the world, we have no path to follow. The great gift of Christ was that He enabled us to see the face of God".

"Where there is truth, there is charity", the Pope concluded. "This, thanks be to God, can be seen in all centuries, despite many sad events. The fruits of charity have always been present in Christianity, just as they are today. We see it in the martyrs, we see it in so many nuns, monks, and priests who humbly serve the poor and the sick. They are the presence of Christ's charity and a great sign that the truth is here".

CHARITY, A PRIVILEGED FORM OF EVANGELISTATION

Vatican City, 24 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received members of the "Circolo di San Pietro" who gave him, as they traditionally do every year, the "Peter's Pence" collection which is raised annually in parishes and religious institutes of the diocese of Rome. The sum is offered to the Pope to help him respond to the many petitions that come to him from around the world, especially from the poorest countries.

Benedict XVI thanked the members of the group for their efforts in favour of the needy, including canteens for the poor, shelters and international aid, and he encouraged them to ensure that faith, charity and witness continue to be the guiding principles of their apostolate.

"Lent has just begun", the Pope noted, "a liturgical period which invites us to reflect upon the nucleus of Christian life: charity. ... The witness of charity has a particular effect upon the heart of mankind; the new evangelisation ... requires great openness of spirit and a sagacious readiness to accept everyone", he said.

The Holy Father highlighted how "the authenticity of our faithfulness to the Gospel may also be measured in terms of the concern and solicitude we effectively strive to show towards others, especially the weak and the marginalised. Concern for others involves wishing their good in all aspects: physical, moral, and spiritual. Although modern culture seems to have lost a sense of good and evil, we must reaffirm that goodness exists and it triumphs.

"Responsibility towards our fellows means, then, wanting and doing good for others, hoping that they too will open themselves to the logic of goodness", he added. "Concern for our brothers and sisters means opening our eyes to their needs, overcoming that hardness of heart which makes us blind to others' suffering. Thus the service of charity becomes a privileged form of evangelisation, also in the light of Jesus' teaching, Who will consider what we have done to our fellows, especially the smallest and weakest, as having been done to Him".

Concluding his address, Benedict XVI highlighted the need to "bring our hearts into harmony with Christ's heart, so that our loving support for others may be translated into participation and sharing of their suffering and hopes. This will reveal both God's infinite mercy for all mankind, ... and our own faith in Him. Meeting others and opening our hearts to their needs is an opportunity for salvation and beatitude".

The "Circolo di San Pietro" was founded in Rome in 1869 by a group of young people under the guidance of Cardinal Jacobini and delegated by the Pope to exercise charity towards the poor.

THE KING OF TONGA RECEIVED BY THE POPE

Vatican City, 24 February 2012 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI received His Majesty Siaosi Tupou V, King of Tonga. The King subsequently went on to meet with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

The cordial discussions dwelt on various aspects of the country's social and economic life, as well as on the positive contribution the Catholic Church makes in various sectors of society, and her activities of human promotion. There followed an exchange of opinions on the international situation, with particular reference to the Pacific island States.

VIETNAM - HOLY SEE JOINT WORKING GROUP TO MEET AT THE END OF THE MONTH

Vatican City, 24 February 2012 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. today issued the following declaration:

"In accordance with the decision taken at the end of the second meeting of the Vietnam - Holy See Joint Working Group, held in the Vatican on 23 and 24 June 2010, the third meeting of the Joint Working Group will take place in Hanoi, Vietnam, on 27 and 28 February. Following a number of visits by the non-resident Pontifical representative to Vietnam, the meeting will serve to strengthen and develop bilateral relations".

AUDIENCES

Vatican City, 24 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience:

- Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general emeritus of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome.

- Archbishop Adriano Bernardini, apostolic nuncio to Italy and the Republic of San Marino.

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

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 24 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the new eparchy of Segheneity (area 29,499, population 850,000, Catholics 35,557, priests 52, religious 70) Eritrea, with territory taken from the eparchy of Asmara. He appointed Fr. Fikremariam Hagos Tsalim, vicar general of Asmara, as first bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia in 1970 and ordained a priest in 1996. He studied in Rome and has been active in pastoral work in and around Asmara.

- Appointed Fr. Dominik Schwaderlapp of the clergy of the archdiocese of Cologne, Germany, vicar general and canon of the metropolitan chapter, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 6,181, population 5,200,000, Catholics 2,111,166, priests 1,061, permanent deacons 317, religious 2,028). The bishop-elect was born in Selters/Westerwald, Germany in 1967 and ordained a priest in 1993. He has worked in pastoral care and served for a number of years as private secretary to the archbishop of Cologne.

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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 02/23/2012

SUMMARY:

- REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY, WELCOMING GOD AND HOPING FOR THE RESURRECTION
- HOLY FATHER MEETS WITH PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME
- CARDINAL FILONI TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS DIACONATE
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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REMEMBERING OUR MORTALITY, WELCOMING GOD AND HOPING FOR THE RESURRECTION

Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, Ash Wednesday, Benedict XVI presided over the traditional penitential procession from the church of St. Anselm on Rome's Aventine Hill to the nearby basilica of Santa Sabina where he celebrated Mass. Cardinals, archbishops, bishops, the Benedictine monks of St. Anselm, the Dominican Fathers of Santa Sabina and lay faithful participated in the event.

Following the procession, Benedict XVI celebrated the Eucharist and the rite of the imposition of the ashes. He received ashes from Cardinal Jozef Tomko, titular of the basilica, then distributed ashes to the cardinals and bishops present, as well as to various members of the faithful. Following the Gospel reading the Pope pronounced his homily, explaining that ashes are "an element of nature which through the liturgy become a sacred symbol, one of great importance on this day which marks the beginning of the Lenten journey".

"Ashes are one of those material signs which bring the cosmos into the liturgy", he said. "Although they are not a sacramental sign, they are nonetheless associated with prayer and the sanctification of Christian people". In fact, before imposing them on the heads of the faithful, the priest blesses the ashes, and one of the formulae he may use to do so refers to a passage from Genesis: "You are dust and to dust you shall return", the words with which God concludes His judgement after the original sin.

Because of that sin, God cursed the earth whence Adam had come. Indeed, following the creation of the world, God had "formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being". Thus, the Holy Father explained, "the sign of the ashes leads us into the great narrative of the creation in which, through the image of the dust of the earth moulded by God and animated by His breath, it is recounted that human beings are a unique combination of matter and divine breath. ... In the narrative of Genesis, we see how the symbol of dust undergoes a negative transformation because of sin. Before the fall, the earth had a potential which was entirely good", recalling "God's creative act which was entirely open to life". Following sin and the subsequent divine curse, "it became a sign of the inexorable destiny of death: 'You are dust and to dust you shall return'".

The earth, then, shares man's destiny and only concedes him its fruits in exchange for much "toil" and "the sweat of his brow". Nonetheless, "this curse of the earth has a medicinal function for man, whom the earth’s recalcitrance helps to maintain within his own limits, to recognise his own nature. ... This means that God's intentions, which are always benign, are more profound that any curse. The curse, in fact, was due not to God but to sin; yet God could not but inflict it because He respects man's freedom and its consequences, even its negative consequences". However the Lord, along with "just punishment, also wished to announce the way of salvation, which passed by way of the earth, by way of that 'dust', that 'flesh' which was assumed by the Word".

The liturgy of Ash Wednesday uses the words of Genesis in this perspective of salvation, "as an invitation to penance and humility, to remember our own mortality; not so as to give way to desperation but to accept, as part of that mortality, the inconceivable closeness of God Who, beyond death, opens the way to resurrection, to heaven finally and ultimately rediscovered".

"The possibility we have for divine forgiveness essentially depends on the fact that God Himself, in the person of His Son, chose to share our condition, but not the corruption of sin. God caused His Son to rise again with the power of the Holy Spirit and Jesus, the new Adam, became ... the first fruit of the new creation".

"The God Who drove our first ancestors from the Garden of Eden", Benedict XVI affirmed in conclusion, "sent His Son to our earth devastated by sin, ... so that we, prodigal children, might return to our true homeland, penitent and redeemed by His mercy. Thus may it be for each of us, for all believers, for all men and women who humbly recognise their need for salvation".

HOLY FATHER MEETS WITH PRIESTS OF THE DIOCESE OF ROME

Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall, as is traditional at the beginning of Lent, the Holy Father met with pastors and priests of the diocese of Rome. The audience took the form of a "lectio divina" by the Pope on a passage from the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians. The event came to an end with the Our Father and the apostolic blessing.

CARDINAL FILONI TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS DIACONATE

Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff today announced that at 11 a.m. on Sunday 26 February Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, will take possession of the diaconate of Nostra Signora di Coromoto in San Giovanni di Dio, Largo Nostra Signora di Coromoto 2, Rome.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 23 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Calcutta, India, presented by Archbishop Lucas Sirkar S.D.B., upon having reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Archbishop Thomas D'Souza.

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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 02/22/2012

SUMMARY:

- LENT, A TIME TO SHOULDER OUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITIES
- BRAZIL FRATERNITY CAMPAIGN: CARE FOR THE BODY AND SOUL OF THE SICK
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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LENT, A TIME TO SHOULDER OUR CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITIES

Vatican City, 22 February 2012 (VIS) - During his general audience this morning, the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to the subject of Lent (which begins today, Ash Wednesday), the period of forty days leading up to the Easter Triduum, memorial of the passion, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Benedict XVI reminded the 7,500 pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Hall that, in the early days of the Church, Lent was a time in which catechumens began their journey of faith and conversion prior to receiving Baptism. Later, all the faithful were invited to participate in this period of spiritual renewal. Thus "the participation of the whole community in the various stages of the Lenten journey underlines an important dimension of Christian spirituality: the fact that redemption is available not just for the few, but for everyone, thanks to Christ's death and resurrection".

"The time leading up to Easter is a time of 'metanoia', a time of change and penance, a time which identifies our human lives and our entire history as a process of conversion, which begins to move now in order to meet the Lord at the end of time".

The Church calls this period "Quadragesima", a period of forty days which has precise references in Holy Scripture. Indeed, "forty is the symbolic number with which the Old and New Testaments represent the most important moments of the People of God's experience of faith. It is a figure which expresses a time of expectation, purification, return to the Lord, awareness that God is faithful to His promises; ... a time within which we must make our choice, shoulder our responsibilities without further delay. It is a time for mature decisions".

Noah spent forty days in the Ark during the Flood, then had to wait forty days more before he could return to dry land. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai to collect the Commandments. The Jewish People spent forty years wandering in the desert, then enjoyed forty years of peace under the government of the Judges. The inhabitants of Niniveh made forty days penance to obtain God's forgiveness. The reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, the first kings of Israel, lasted forty years each. In the New Testament, Jesus spent forty days praying in the wilderness before beginning His public life and, following the resurrection, He spent forty days instructing His disciples before ascending to heaven.

The liturgy of Lent, the Pope explained, "has the aim of facilitating our journey of spiritual renewal in the light of this long biblical experience. Above all, it helps us to imitate Jesus Who, in the forty days He spent in the wilderness, taught us to overcome temptation through the Word of God. ... Jesus went into the wilderness in order to be in profound contact with the Father. This was a constant aspect of Christ's earthly life. He always sought out moments of solitude to pray to His Father and abide in intimate and exclusive communion with Him, before retuning among mankind. But in the 'wilderness' ... Jesus was beset by temptation and the seduction of the Evil One, who suggested a messianic path, a path which was far from God's plans because it involved power, success and dominion, not love and the total gift of self on the Cross".

Benedict XVI went on to suggest that the Church herself is a pilgrim in the "wilderness" of the world and history. This wilderness is made up of "the aridity and poverty of words, life and values, of secularism and the culture of materialism which enclose people within a worldly horizon and detach them from any reference to transcendence. In such an atmosphere the sky above us is dark, because veiled with clouds of selfishness, misunderstanding and deceit. Nonetheless, even for the Church today, the wilderness can become a period of grace, because we have the certainty that even from the hardest rock God can cause the living water to gush forth, water which quenches thirst and restores strength".

"During Lent", said the Holy Father in conclusion, "may we discover fresh courage to accept situations of difficulty, affliction and suffering with patience and faith, aware that, from the darkness, the Lord will cause a new day to shine forth. And if we have been faithful to Jesus, following Him on the way of the Cross, the luminous world of God, the world of light, truth and joy, will be ours again".

At the end of the catechesis Benedict XVI greeted pilgrims in various languages. Speaking Polish he highlighted how "fasting and prayer, penance and works of mercy" are the principal means of preparation for Easter.

The Pope also addressed a special greeting to faithful of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, who were present in the Paul VI Hall. The ordinariate was set up a little over a year ago for groups of Anglican clergy and faithful wishing to enter into full visible communion with the Catholic Church. The general audience ended with the apostolic blessing.

BRAZIL FRATERNITY CAMPAIGN: CARE FOR THE BODY AND SOUL OF THE SICK

Vatican City, 22 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent a Message to Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, archbishop of Aparecida and president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, for the Fraternity Campaign traditionally promoted by the Brazilian Church during Lent. The theme for the 2012 campaign is: "Health spreads over all the earth".

In his Message the Pope recalls how the purpose of the campaign is "to arouse a greater fraternal and community spirit in caring for the sick, and to invite society to ensure that everyone has access to the means necessary for a healthy life".

The biblical theme of the campaign - taken from Ecclesiasticus - reminds Christians that health goes beyond bodily well-being. When Jesus healed the paralytic, before causing the man to walk again, He forgave him his sins, "showing us that the perfect cure is the forgiveness of sin, Health par excellence is health of the soul, 'for what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?' In fact, in Latin the words for 'health' and 'salvation' have their roots in the same term, and in the Gospel the activity of the Saviour of mankind is associated with many episodes of healing".

Benedict XVI expresses his hope that the campaign "may arouse increasingly profound solidarity with sick people in the hearts of the faithful, and of all people of good will. The sick often suffer more through solitude and abandonment than through their infirmity. We must remember the Jesus identified Himself with them: 'I was sick and you took care of me'. At the same time we must help them discover that, although sickness is a difficult trial, it can also, in union with the crucified and risen Christ, be a form of participation in the mystery of Jesus' suffering for the salvation of the world. Indeed, 'by offering our pain to God through Christ, we can share in the victory of good over evil, because God makes our offering, our act of love, fruitful'".

The Pope concludes his Message by invoking the intercession of Our lady of Aparecida, that the Lord may grant everyone, and especially the sick, "comfort and strength in accomplishing the duties specific to their individual, family or social condition, that these may become a source of health and progress in Brazil, making it fertile in sanctity, economically prosperous, even-handed in the distribution of wealth, joyful in public service, equitable in power and fraternal in development".

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 22 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Jacinto Furtado de Brito Sobrinho of Crateus, Brazil, as metropolitan archbishop of Teresina (area 26,495, population 1,195,000, Catholics 1,018,000, priests 118, permanent deacons 19, religious 203), Brazil.

- Appointed Fr. Olivier de Germay of the clergy of the archdiocese of Toulouse, France, episcopal vicar and pastor of the "ensemble paroissial" of Bauzelle, as bishop of Ajaccio (area 8,722, population 275,000, Catholics 256,000, priests 75, permanent deacons 16, religious 69), France. The bishop-elect was born in Tours, France in 1960 and ordained a priest in 1998. He frequented a military academy before going to study at the French seminary in Rome. He has worked in pastoral care and as professor of sacramental and family theology at the "Institut Catholique" of Toulouse.

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Palmerston North, New Zealand, presented by Bishop Peter James Cullinane, upon having reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Charles Drennan.

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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 02/21/2012

SUMMARY:

- COMMUNIQUE ON THE PONTIFICAL CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF PERU
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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COMMUNIQUE ON THE PONTIFICAL CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF PERU

Vatican City, 21 February 2012 (VIS) - Given below is the text of a communique released this morning by the Holy See Press Office concerning the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.

"This morning, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., met with Marcial Rubio Correa, rector of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP).

"The secretary of State made reference to the assiduous and generous commitment shown by various members of the university in the formation of students, and the broad range of disciplines the PUCP offers to young people. Cardinal Bertone then informed Mr. Rubio Correa of the conclusions the Holy See has reached following intense dialogue and numerous meetings over the course of many years between the current grand chancellor, his predecessors and the university, and following the apostolic visit made to the university from 5 to 11 December 2011 by Cardinal Peter Erdo, archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary.

"Those conclusions took particular account of the outcome of the apostolic visit and of the proposal presented by the rector at the end of that visit.

"The cardinal secretary of State informed Mr. Rubio Correa of the Holy See’s request that the statutes of the PUCP be regularised as soon as possible, adapting them to the Apostolic Constitution 'Ex Corde Ecclesiae' for the good of the PUCP itself and of the Church in Peru. Given the evident importance of safeguarding the Catholic identity of the university, the cardinal secretary of State requested that the competent academic authorities present the statutes for approval by Easter Sunday, 8 April, with the amendments indicated to the university on 16 July 2011.

"Finally, Cardinal Bertone expressed the hope that the academic community would accept these indications, so that the PUCP may increasingly dedicate itself to its mission of offering young people a solid formation, rooted in faithfulness to the Magisterium, as a guarantee of the great contribution the university is called to make to the country".

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 21 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. George A. Sheltz of the clergy of the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, U.S.A., vicar general, chancellor and moderator of the Curia, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 23,257, population 5,811,010, Catholics 1,146,908, priests 427, permanent deacons 357, religious 687). The bishop-elect was born in Houston in 1946 and ordained a priest in 1971. He has served as pastor of various parishes of his diocese, and as director of the Secretariat for Clergy and Chaplains.

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News Vatican Information Service 02/18-20/2012

SUMMARY:

- Unity In The Church Is A Divine Gift Which Must Be Defended
- Pope Tells New Cardinals To Bear Witness To The Joy Of Christ’s Love
- Cathedra Of Peter Is A Sign Of Christ's Authority, Based On Faith And Love
- Other Pontifical Acts

______________________________________

Unity In The Church Is A Divine Gift Which Must Be Defended

Vatican City, 20 February 2012 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Holy Father received the twenty-two new cardinals created in the recent consistory, accompanied by members of their families and other faithful who had come with them to Rome. The Pope spoke to each group in its own language, concluding with some words in Italian addressed to them as a whole.

Speaking French he said that "our society, which experiences moments of uncertainty and doubt, has need of Christ's clarity. May each Christian bear witness with faith and courage, and may the imminent period of Lent favour a return towards God".

Turning then to address the groups as a whole, the Holy Father highlighted how the creation of new cardinals "is an opportunity to reflect upon the universal mission of the Church in the history of man. In human affairs, which are often agitated and confused, the Church is always alive and present, bringing Christ: light and hope for all humankind. Remaining united to the Church and to the message of salvation she bears, means anchoring ourselves in truth, reinforcing a sense of true values, remaining serene whatever happens.

"I exhort you, then", the Pope added in conclusion, "always to remain united to your pastors, and to the new cardinals, in order to be in communion with the Church. Unity in the Church is a divine gift which must be defended and developed. I entrust you, dear brother cardinals, and the faithful accompanying you, to the protection of the Mother of God and of the Apostles Peter and Paul".

Pope Tells New Cardinals To Bear Witness To The Joy Of Christ’s Love

Vatican City, 19 February 2012 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican Basilica, Benedict XVI presided at a Eucharistic concelebration with the twenty-two cardinals created in yesterday's consistory. At the beginning of the ceremony, Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, addressed a greeting to the Pope in the name of all the new cardinals.

Extracts from the Holy Father's homily are given below:

"In the second reading that we have just heard, St. Peter exhorts the “elders” of the Church to be zealous pastors, attentive to the flock of Christ. These words are addressed in the first instance to you. ... The new dignity that has been conferred upon you is intended to show appreciation for the faithful labour you have carried out in the Lord’s vineyard, to honour the communities and nations from which you come and which you represent so worthily in the Church, to invest you with new and more important ecclesial responsibilities and finally to ask of you an additional readiness to be of service to Christ and to the entire Christian community. This readiness to serve the Gospel is firmly founded upon the certitude of faith".

"Today’s Gospel passage presents Peter, under divine inspiration, expressing his own firm faith in Jesus as the Son of God and the promised Messiah. In response to this transparent profession of faith, which Peter makes in the name of the other Apostles as well, Christ reveals to him the mission He intends to entrust to him, namely that of being the “rock”, the visible foundation on which the entire spiritual edifice of the Church is built. ... This Gospel episode ... finds a further and more eloquent explanation in one of the most famous artistic treasures of this Vatican Basilica: the altar of the Chair. After passing through the magnificent central nave, and continuing past the transepts, the pilgrim arrives in the apse and sees before him an enormous bronze throne that seems to hover in mid air, but in reality is supported by the four statues of great Fathers of the Church from East and West. And above the throne, surrounded by triumphant angels suspended in the air, the glory of the Holy Spirit shines through the oval window. ... It represents a vision of the essence of the Church and the place within the Church of the Petrine Magisterium.

"The window of the apse opens the Church towards the outside, towards the whole of creation, while the image of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove shows God as the source of light. But there is also another aspect to point out: the Church herself is like a window, the place where God draws near to us, where He comes towards our world. The Church does not exist for her own sake, she is not the point of arrival, but she has to point upwards, beyond herself, to the realms above. The Church is truly herself to the extent that she allows the Other, with a capital “O”, to shine through her - the One from Whom she comes and to Whom she leads. The Church is the place where God “reaches” us and where we “set off” towards Him: she has the task of opening up, beyond itself, a world which tends to become enclosed within itself, the task of bringing to the world the light that comes from above, without which it would be uninhabitable.

"The great bronze throne encloses a wooden chair from the ninth century, which was long thought to be St. Peter’s own chair and was placed above this monumental altar because of its great symbolic value. It expresses the permanent presence of the Apostle in the Magisterium of his successors. St. Peter’s chair, we could say, is the throne of truth which takes its origin from Christ’s commission".

"The chair of Peter evokes another memory: the famous expression from St. Ignatius of Antioch’s letter to the Romans, where he says of the Church of Rome that she “presides in charity”. In truth, presiding in faith is inseparably linked to presiding in love. Faith without love would no longer be an authentic Christian faith. ... The word “charity”, in fact, was also used by the early Church to indicate the Eucharist. ... Therefore, to “preside in charity” is to draw men and women into a Eucharistic embrace - the embrace of Christ - which surpasses every barrier and every division, creating communion from all manner of differences. The Petrine ministry is therefore a primacy of love in the Eucharistic sense, that is to say solicitude for the universal communion of the Church in Christ. And the Eucharist is the shape and the measure of this communion, a guarantee that it will remain faithful to the criterion of the tradition of the faith.

"The great Chair is supported by the Fathers of the Church". They "represent the whole of the tradition, and hence the richness of expression of the true faith of the holy and one Church. This aspect of the altar teaches us that love rests upon faith. Love collapses if man no longer trusts in God and disobeys Him. Everything in the Church rests upon faith: the Sacraments, the liturgy, evangelisation, charity. Likewise the law and the Church’s authority rest upon faith. The Church is not self-regulating, she does not determine her own structure but receives it from the word of God, to which she listens in faith as she seeks to understand it and to live it. ... The Sacred Scriptures, authoritatively interpreted by the Magisterium in the light of the Fathers, shed light upon the Church’s journey through time, providing her with a stable foundation amid the vicissitudes of history.

"After considering the various elements of the altar of the Chair, let us take a look at it in its entirety. We see that it is characterised by a twofold movement: ascending and descending. This is the reciprocity between faith and love. ... A selfish faith would be an unreal faith. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ and enters into the dynamic of love that finds its source in the Eucharist, discovers true joy and becomes capable in turn of living according to the logic of this gift. True faith is illumined by love and leads towards love, leads on high, just as the altar of the Chair points upwards towards the luminous window, the glory of the Holy Spirit, which constitutes the true focus for the pilgrim’s gaze as he crosses the threshold of the Vatican Basilica. ... God is not isolation, but glorious and joyful love, spreading outwards and radiant with light".

"The gift of this love has been entrusted to us, to every Christian. It is a gift to be passed on to others, through the witness of our lives. This is your task in particular, dear brother cardinals: to bear witness to the joy of Christ’s love".

Cathedra Of Peter Is A Sign Of Christ's Authority, Based On Faith And Love

Vatican City, 19 February 2012 (VIS) - Following this morning's concelebration of the Eucharist with the twenty-two cardinals created in Saturday's consistory, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

Before the Marian prayer, the Holy Father reminded people that "this Sunday is a particularly joyful one here in the Vatican, because of yesterday's consistory in which I created twenty-two new cardinals. This morning I had the joy of concelebrating the Eucharist with them in St. Peter's Basilica, over the tomb of the Apostle whom Jesus called to be the 'rock' upon which to build His Church. I therefore invite you all to pray for these our venerable brothers, who are now more deeply committed to collaborating with me in guiding the universal Church, and to bearing witness to the Gospel even unto the sacrifice of their lives. This is the significance of their red garments: the colour of blood and of love".

Benedict XVI also recalled the fact that yesterday's consistory took place against the backdrop of the Feast of the Cathedra of St. Peter, which had been brought forward to this Sunday to ensure it did not coincide with Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. The cathedra, the Pope explained, "is the seat reserved for the bishop. ... The Cathedra of St. Peter ... is the symbol of the special mission that Peter and his successors have to feed the flock of Christ and to keep it united in faith and charity. ... This particular duty devolves upon the community of Rome and its Bishop because it was in this city that the Apostles Peter and Paul spilt their blood, along with many other martyrs. Thus we return to the witness of blood and charity. The Cathedra of Peter is a sign of authority: the authority of Christ which is founded upon faith and love".

In conclusion, the Holy Father entrusted the new cardinals to the protection of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of the Church, that she might "help me and my collaborators to work tirelessly for the unity of the People of God, and to announce the message of salvation to all people, humbly and courageously performing the service of truth in charity".

Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 20 February 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Timothy Costelloe S.D.B., auxiliary of Melbourne, Australia, as archbishop of Perth (area 427,377, population 1,681,142, Catholics 415,633, priests 266, permanent deacons 15, religious 615), Australia. He succeeds Archbishop Barry James Hickey, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Dresden - Meissen, Germany, presented by Bishop Joachim Friedrich Reinelt, upon having reached the age limit.

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