VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 111
DATE 17-06-2014

Summary:
- THE CHURCH IS REJUVENATED BY MOTHERHOOD
- THE POPE TO MAGISTRATES: BE AN EXAMPLE OF MORAL INTEGRITY FOR SOCIETY
- ANNE-MARIE PELLETIER FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE RATZINGER PRIZE

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 THE CHURCH IS REJUVENATED BY MOTHERHOOD
 Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) - At 7 p.m. yesterday in the Paul VI Hall
the Holy Father met with the representatives of the diocese of Rome,
gathered to participate in the Diocesan Pastoral Congress on the theme
"A people who raise children. Community and family in the major stages
of Christian initiation". During his address, Pope Francis spoke on
the issue of the "society of orphans": of parents who do not
spend enough time playing with their children because of their long working
hours, and because of their fatigue when they arrive home that leads the
young to be deprived of time spent freely with their parents. He emphasised
that nowadays we need this sense of gratuity within the family, in
parishes, in society as a whole, and that the Lord is revealed to us in
gratuity, or rather as Grace: "But if we do not have a sense of
gratuity within the family, at school, in the parish, it will be very
difficult to understand what the grace of God is: that grace that cannot be
bought or sold, that is a gift from God, and is indeed God Himself".
He also commented on other social aspects that contribute to the
"orphanhood" of the young: "a technological society that
multiplies to infinity the opportunities for pleasure, distraction and
curiosity, but is not able to lead man to true joy", and added that
only by encountering Jesus can be encounter true joy and understand that we
do not lead our lives in vain, as a task has been conferred to each one of
us".
 The Holy Father went on to describe the Church as a mother who knows how
to raise her children. "The great challenge faced by the Church is
that of being a mother", he said, "not a well-organised NGO full
of pastoral plans. ... The Church needs to rediscover her maternity. She
must be a mother; maternity is the grace that we must now ask of the Holy
Spirit in order to go ahead in our pastoral and missionary conversion.
However, the Church grows not by proselytism but by maternal attraction,
through tenderness, through the testimony of her many children". The
Pope remarked that the Mother Church has aged somewhat, to the risk of
becoming "Grandmother Church", and that she must therefore be
rejuvenated, "but not by taking her to a cosmetic surgeon, no! The
Church becomes younger when she is able to generate more sons; the more
children she has, the younger she becomes". The Pontiff added that
this means recovering the memory of the Church. In a world in which there
exists little sense of history and fear of time, a world in which the
present reigns supreme, in which language is increasingly abbreviated and
everything becomes rapid, making us slaves to our situation, we must
recover the memory of God's patience. "God is not hasty during our
history of salvation, and has accompanied us throughout history". The
Pope therefore urged the priests and clergy present not to close the doors
of their churches, but rather to welcome all with an open heart, as a
family, asking the Lord to make them able to participate in their
difficulties and in the problems that children and the young frequently
encounter in their lives.
 "People hope to find Jesus' gaze in us, often without realising it;
they seek a serene and joyful gaze that enters the heart. But the whole
parish must transform into a welcoming place, not only the priests and
catechists". The Pope encouraged those present to ask themselves
whether their parishes were truly welcoming, whether their celebrations
were scheduled to favour the participation of the young, if they spoke the
language of youth and if their communities kept their doors open.
 Before concluding, the Pope acknowledged that the work carried out by
priests is not easy. "It is easier to be a bishop", he affirmed,
"because we can always maintain a distance and hide ourselves behind
the title of 'Your excellency', and defend ourselves in this way. But being
a priest, when the parishioners knock on the door, when they talk to you
about their problems ... it is not easy". He commented that the Church
in Italy is strong because of her priests, and urged them not to forget the
memory of evangelisation and always to stay close to the faithful. "We
want a Church of faith, who believes that the Lord is able to make her a
mother, to give her many children; our Holy Mother Church".

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 THE POPE TO MAGISTRATES: BE AN EXAMPLE OF MORAL INTEGRITY FOR SOCIETY
 Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) - This morning Pope Francis received in
audience the members of the High Council for the Italian Magistrature, to
whom he expressed his esteem for their work which "aims at the good
functioning of a sector that is vital for social coexistence". He also
apologised for not having received them yesterday as scheduled, explaining
that "in the mid-morning I felt unwell and had a fever, so I had to
cancel all my appointments. I am sorry for this".
 The ethical aspect of the work of magistrates was the first point in his
brief address, and highlighted that as in all countries, there are legal
norms intended to protect their freedom and independence to carry out their
important and delicate task with all the necessary guarantees ...
responding adequately to the role that society has conferred upon them and
maintaining an irrefutable impartiality".
 The independence of the magistrate and his aim, justice, "require a
careful and punctual application of the law", he continued. "The
certainty of the law and the balance of the various powers in a democratic
society are summarised in the principle of legality, over which the
magistrate presides. The judge is responsible for decisions that affect not
only the rights and property of citizens, but which have consequences for
their very existence".
 The Pope listed some of the intellectual, psychological and moral
qualities that all representatives of the magistrature must possess, and
which offer a guarantee of reliability, giving special emphasis to
prudence, which "is not a virtue because it means staying put: 'I'm
careful, I don't move', no! It is a virtue of governance, a virtue for
moving ahead", a virtue that enables one "to weigh with serenity
the reason of law and fact that must be at the base of any judgement. One
is more prudent when one has a heightened inner equilibrium, and is able to
control the impulses of one's own character, one's own personal views,
one's own ideological standpoints".
 "Italian society expects much of the magistrature", he remarked,
"especially in the current context characterised by the progressive
erosion of our heritage of values and the evolution of democratic
structures". He urged the magistrates not to let down the legitimate
expectations of the people, and always to make efforts to be "an
example of moral integrity for all of society".
 Finally, he recalled some illustrious magistrates, such as Vittorio
Bachelet, who led the High Council of the Magistrature through times of
great difficulty, and who fell victim to terrorism during the "years
of lead", the period of social and political unrest in Italy between
the 1960s and 1980s, and Rosario Livatino, killed by the Mafia, whose cause
for beatification has been opened. "They offered exemplary witness to
the style typical of the faithful lay Christian: loyal to institutions,
open to dialogue, and firm and courageous in their defence of justice and
the dignity of the human person".

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 ANNE-MARIE PELLETIER FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE RATZINGER PRIZE
 Vatican City, 17 June 2014 (VIS) - This morning a press conference was
held in the Holy See Press Office to present two events organised by the
"Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI": the 2014
Ratzinger Prize, which will be awarded on 22 November, and the congress to
be held in the Pontifical Bolivarian University of Medellin in Colombia
(23-24 October 2014).
 The speakers at the conference were Cardinal Camillo Ruini, president of
the Scientific Committee of the "Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger
- Benedict XVI", Msgr. Giuseppe Scotti, president of the Foundation,
and German Cardona Gutierrez, Colombia's ambassador to the Holy See.
Cardinal Ruini announced the names of the prizewinners: the French
Professor Anne-Marie Pelletier and Professor Waldemar Chrostowski.
Professor Pelletier is the first woman ever to win the Prize, and is a
scholar of hermeneutics and biblical exegesis who has also focused on the
issue of women in Christianity; Professor Chrostowski, the first ever
Polish prizewinner, is a priest, biblicist and expert on Catholic-Jewish
dialogue.
 Anne-Marie Pelletier, born in 1946, taught general linguistics and
comparative literature at the University of Paris X, then Marne-la-Vallee,
as well as theology of marriage at the Catholic Institute of Paris. She has
for some years taught sacred scriptures and biblical hermeneutics at the
Notre Dame faculty of the seminary of Paris. Since 2013 she has held the
role of professor of biblical teaching at the European Institute of Science
of Religions (IESR). Her research extends to Judaism and Christianity at
the College des Bernardins, and the monastic world. She has published
widely: notable works in the field of hermeneutics and biblical exegesis
are "Lectures du Cantique des Cantiques. De l'enigme du sens aux
figures du lecteur", "Lectures bibliques. Aux sources de la
culture occidentale", "D'age en age les Ecritures. La Bible et
l'hermeneutique contemporaine", and "Le livre d'Isaie, l'histoire
au prisme de la prophetie". With regard to the question of women in
Christianity, she has written two books: "Le christianisme et les
femmes. Vingt siecles d'histoire", and "Le signe de la
femme".
 "Pelletier is therefore a most distinguished figure in contemporary
French Catholicism", commented Cardinal Ruini, "who unites
deserved scientific prestige and a great and versatile cultural liveliness
with an authentic dedication to causes of the highest importance for
Christian witness in society".
 Msgr. Waldemar Chrostowski was born in 1951 in Chrostowo, Poland. He holds
a doctorate in theology and in 2013 received the title of university
professor from the President of Poland. He is the general editor of the
journal "Collectanea Theologica" and is the president of the
Association of Polish Biblicists. His scientific and didactic production is
extensive and includes his dissertation "Prophets before history. The
interpretation of the story of Israel in Ezekiel 16, 20 and 23 and their
reinterpretation in the Bible of the Seventies", the two volumes of
"The Garden of Eden - known testimony of the Assyrian diaspora"
and "Assyrian diaspora of the Israelites", "God, Bible,
Messiah", and "The Church, Jews, Poland". He teaches in the
faculty of theology of the Warsaw Academy, now Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski
University, and in various other universities and seminaries.
 "Msgr. Chrostowski is engaged in Catholic-Jewish and Polish-Jewish
dialogue and has for some time been a member of the commission of the
Polish episcopate for dialogue with Judaism. He unites scientific rigour
with passion for the Word of God, service to the Church and engagement in
interreligious dialogue", concluded Cardinal Ruini.
 Msgr. Giuseppe Antonio Scotti went on to present the convention
"Respect for life, path for peace", which will take place from 23
to 24 October in the Bolivarian University of Medellin, Colombia. The
congress is the fourth since the institution in 2010 of the "Vatican
Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI" and, like the previous
ones, will count on the participation of the universities in the host
country, along with the local Church and representatives of civil society
and politics. Since the first encounter, organinsed in Bygdoszcz, Poland,
275 universities have taken part, involving 1600 teachers and students who
have carried out projects of reflection and research related to the theme.
 "The appointment in Medellin this October ... once more emphasises
that universities - the young people and people who study, think and seek
there - can and wish to take an active and committed role in the
construction of a fully human future, aware that our times, marked by
globalisation, with its positive and negative aspects, as well as bloody
conflicts and threats of war, necessitate renewed and concerted commitment
to seeking the common good, and the development of the whole of humanity
and the whole human person".

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