VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXIV - # 85
DATE 10-05-2014

Summary:
- ABDUCTION OF SCHOOLGIRLS IN NIGERIA: A HORRIBLE FORM OF VIOLENCE TO BE
STRONGLY CONDEMNED
- THE POPE TO THE UNITED NATIONS EXECUTIVE BOARD: CHALLENGE ALL FORMS OF INJUSTICE
- TO THE PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES: EVANGELISATION MUST START WITH THE
LEAST AMONG US
- BISHOPS OF ETHIOPIA AND ERITREA: YOUR EFFORTS TO ALLEVIATE THE SUFFERING
OF YOUR PEOPLE BEAR WITNESS TO GOD'S LOVE
- CARDINAL TAURAN IN JORDAN
- AUDIENCES

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 ABDUCTION OF SCHOOLGIRLS IN NIGERIA: A HORRIBLE FORM OF VIOLENCE TO BE
STRONGLY CONDEMNED
 Vatican City, 9 May 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday, in a statement to journalists,
the director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J.,
declared that the kidnapping in Nigeria of a large number of schoolgirls by
Boko Haram terrorists is yet another of the "horrible forms of
violence long typical of this group".
 He continued, "The denial of any respect for the lives and dignity of
the human person, even the most innocent, vulnerable and defenceless, calls
for the strongest condemnation and elicits the most heartfelt compassion
for the victims, as well as horror at the physical and spiritual suffering
and the incredible humiliation inflicted upon them. We add our voice to the
many appeals for their liberation and their restoration to a normal
condition of life. We hope and pray that Nigeria, thanks to the commitment
of all those who are able to help, may find a way to end a situation of
conflict and hateful terrorism which is a source of incalculable
suffering".

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 THE POPE TO THE UNITED NATIONS EXECUTIVE BOARD: CHALLENGE ALL FORMS OF INJUSTICE
 Vatican City, 9 May 2014 (VIS) - This morning Pope Francis received in
audience the secretary general of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, and the
leading executive officers of the agencies, funds and programmes of the
United Nations and specialised organisations, gathered in Rome for the
biannual meeting for strategic coordination of the United Nations System
Chief Executives Board.
 In his address, the Pontiff thanked the those who are primarily
responsible for the international system, "for the great efforts being
made to ensure world peace, respect for human dignity, the protection of
persons, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, and harmonious
economic and social development". He also congratulated them on the
results of the Millennium Development Goals, especially in terms of
education and the decrease in extreme poverty, adding however, that
"it must be kept in mind that the world's peoples deserve and expect
even greater results" since "an important part of humanity does
not share in the benefits of progress and is in fact relegated to the
status of second-class citizens".
 Therefore, future sustainable development goals must be "formulated
and carried out with generosity and courage, so that they can have a real
impact on the structural causes of poverty and hunger, attain more
substantial results in protecting the environment, ensure dignified and
productive labour for all, and provide appropriate protection for the
family, which is an essential element in sustainable human and social
development. Specifically, this involves challenging all forms of injustice
and resisting the 'economy of exclusion', the 'throwaway culture' and the
'culture of death' which nowadays sadly risk becoming passively
accepted".
 The Holy Father explained that the spirit that should be "at the
beginning and end of all political and economic activity" may be found
in "the encounter between Jesus Christ and the rich tax collector
Zacchaeus, as a result of which Zacchaeus made a radical decision of
sharing and justice, because his conscience had been awakened by the gaze
of Jesus. The gaze, often silent, of that part of the human family which is
cast off, left behind, ought to awaken the conscience of political and
economic agents and lead them to generous and courageous decisions with
immediate results, like the decision of Zacchaeus. ... Today, in concrete
terms, an awareness of the dignity of each of our brothers and sisters
whose life is sacred and inviolable from conception to natural death must
lead us to share with complete freedom the goods which God's providence has
placed in our hands, material goods but also intellectual and spiritual
ones, and to give back generously and lavishly whatever we may have earlier
unjustly refused to others".
 "The account of Jesus and Zacchaeus teaches us that above and beyond
economic and social systems and theories, there will always be a need to
promote generous, effective and practical openness to the needs of
others", he continued. "Jesus does not ask Zacchaeus to change
jobs nor does he condemn his financial activity; he simply inspires him to
put everything, freely yet immediately and indisputably, at the service of
others. Consequently, I do not hesitate to state, as did my predecessors,
that equitable economic and social progress can only be attained by joining
scientific and technical abilities with an unfailing commitment to
solidarity accompanied by a generous and disinterested spirit of
gratuitousness at every level. A contribution to this equitable development
will also be made both by international activity aimed at the integral
human development of all the world's peoples and by the legitimate
redistribution of economic benefits by the State, as well as indispensable
cooperation between the private sector and civil society".
 "Consequently", the Holy Father concluded, "while
encouraging you in your continuing efforts to coordinate the activity of
the international agencies, which represents a service to all humanity, I
urge you to work together in promoting a true, worldwide ethical
mobilisation which, beyond all differences of religious or political
convictions, will spread and put into practice a shared ideal of fraternity
and solidarity, especially with regard to the poorest and those most
excluded".

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 TO THE PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES: EVANGELISATION MUST START WITH THE
LEAST AMONG US
 Vatican City, 9 May 2014 (VIS) - Missionary action is the paradigm for all
works of the Church, said the Holy Father this morning, in his address to
the participants in the meeting of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which
is being held in Rome this week.
 The Pope mentioned that with his apostolic exhortation "Evangelii
gaudium" he intended to encourage the faithful to begin a new,
evangelical era. "Evangelisation in this time of great social
transformations, necessitates a missionary, outreach Church, capable of
discernment in order to measure up to different cultures and visions of
man. For a world in transformation, there is a need for a Church that is
renewed and transformed by contemplation and personal contact with Christ,
by the power of the Spirit. ... It is He Who gives us the strength to
undertake the missionary path and the joy of proclamation, so that the
light of Christ may illuminate those who still do not know Him or have
denied Him. This takes the courage to go forth to 'reach all the
peripheries in need of the light of the Gospel'. We cannot be held back by
our weaknesses or our sins, nor by the many obstacles to the witness and
proclamation of the Gospel".

--- MPost/386 v1.21