VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 85
DATE 12-05-2014

Summary:
- NEVER TIRE OF BEING MERCIFUL, THE POPE TELLS NEW PRIESTS
- REGINA COELI: TROUBLE YOUR PASTORS FOR THE MILK OF DOCTRINE
- A CELEBRATION OF SCHOOL
- INSTITUTES OF SECULAR LIFE: A SIGN OF THE CHURCH IN DIALOGUE
- THE POPE RECEIVES THE CENTESIMUS ANNUS: THE CRISIS HAS WORSENED THE
"ALLERGY" TO SOLIDARITY
- DAY OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN COPTS AND CATHOLICS
- DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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 NEVER TIRE OF BEING MERCIFUL, THE POPE TELLS NEW PRIESTS
 Vatican City, 11 May 2014 (VIS) - Today is World Day of Prayer for
Vocations, and Pope Francis presided this morning at a Mass for the
ordination of thirteen new priests: six Italians, four from various
countries in Latin America, one from Pakistan, one from South Korea and one
from Vietnam.
 The Bishop of Rome, who added various personal reflections to the Rite of
Ordination, urged the new priests never to tire of being merciful, adding
however that they are not the owners of the doctrine since this belongs to
Christ.
 "You, who are about to enter the priesthood, must consider that in
exercising the ministry of the sacred doctrine, you will be participants in
the mission of Christ, the sole master. Make use of all this, the Word that
you yourselves have received with joy, from your mothers, from your
catechists. Read and meditate on the word of the Lord assiduously, to
believe what your have read, to teach what you have learnt in faith, to
live what you have taught. May your doctrine, therefore, be nourishment to
the people of God; yet it is not your doctrine, you are not its masters! It
is the doctrine of the Lord, and you must be faithful to the doctrine of
the Lord ... since, by word and example you edify the house of God, the
Church".
 "By Baptism you will add new faithful to the people of God; with the
sacrament of penance you will forgive sins in the name of Christ and the
Church. And here I want to pause to ask you, for the love of Jesus Christ,
never tire of being merciful! Please! Have that capacity for forgiveness
that the Lord had; He Who came not to condemn but to forgive! Have mercy,
great mercy! And if you are worried about being too forgiving, think of
that holy priest of whom I have spoken, who stopped before the tabernacle
and said, 'Lord, forgive me if I have forgiven too much. But you have set
me a bad example!'. And I say to you, truly, it pains me when I encounter
people who no longer go to confession because they have been reproached and
scolded. They felt as though the doors of the Churches had been closed in
their faces. Please, do not do this: mercy, mercy! The good shepherd enters
by the door, and the wounds of the Lord are the door of mercy: if you do
not enter into your ministry through the Lord's wounds, you will not be
good priests".
 The Pope concluded by quoting St. Augustine, when he spoke of the pastors
"who sought their own pleasure, who used the Lord's sheep to feed and
clothe themselves, to assume the majesty of a ministry that may or may not
have been God's. Finally, participating in Christ's mission, as a leader
and pastor, in filial communion with your bishop, commit yourselves to
uniting the faithful in a single family, to lead them to God the Father
through Christ in the Holy Spirit. Keep before your eyes the example of the
Good Shepherd, who came not to be served but to serve, and to seek and save
what was lost".

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 REGINA COELI: TROUBLE YOUR PASTORS FOR THE MILK OF DOCTRINE
 Vatican City, 11 May 2014 (VIS) - At midday today, after celebrating Mass
for the ordination of thirteen new priests, the Holy Father appeared at the
window of his study to pray the Regina Coeli with the faithful gathered in
St. Peter's Square. He commented on today's Gospel reading, the parable of
the Good Shepherd, which exemplifies "the type of relationship Jesus
had with His disciples: a relationship based on tenderness, love, mutual
understanding and the promise of an incomparable gift. 'I came that they
may have life and have it abundantly'".
 This bond, Francis said, "is the model for relations between
Christians and for all human relations", and although "today,
too, many propose themselves as pastors for our existence ... only the
Risen Christ is the true Pastor, able to give us life in abundance".
 He invited all present to pray for the pastors of the Church, for all the
bishops, "including the bishop of Rome, and for all priests. For all
of them! In particular, let us pray for the new priests of the diocese of
Rome, whom I ordained this morning in St. Peter's Basilica. A greeting to
these thirteen priests! May the Lord help us, as pastors, always to be
faithful to the Master and to be wise and enlightened guides for the people
of God entrusted to us. I ask you too to help us: help us to be good
pastors".
 In this regard, the Pope explained that once he read a text by St.
Caesarius of Arles, a priest of the first centuries of the Church, who
explained how the people of God can help their pastor, with the following
example: "When a calf is hungry he goes to the cow, his mother, for
milk. However, the cow does not give it to him immediately; it almost seems
as if she keeps it for herself. And so what does the calf do? He nudges the
cow's udder with his nose, and in this way the milk comes. It is a
beautiful image. And this, says the saint, is what you must do with your
pastors: always knock at their door, at their heart, so that they give you
the milk of doctrine, the milk of grace and the milk of guidance. I ask
you, please, to trouble your pastors, to disturb them, all of us, so that
we can give you the milk of grace, doctrine and guidance. Bother us! Think
of that beautiful image of the calf who nudges his mother to feed
him".
 "This Sunday we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for
Vocations", he continued. "This year's message tells us that
'every vocation always requires an exodus from oneself in order to centre
one's life on Christ and on His Gospel'. Therefore, the call to follow
Jesus is exciting and challenging at the same time. ...Let us pray that,
even in these times, many young people may hear the voice of the Lord, that
always risks being suffocated by so many other voices".
 Following the Marian prayer, the bishop of Rome greeted, amongst others,
the neocatechumenal communities that "on these Sundays during Easter
time proclaim the Risen Jesus in one hundred squares in Rome and in many
cities throughout the world. May the Lord give you the joy of the Gospel!
And carry on your good work!". He also offered a special blessing to
the children who in these months have received or will receive their First
Communion, and finally he encouraged all present to dedicate "a good
memory or a prayer to all mothers. ... Entrusting them to the mother of
Jesus, we pray to the Virgin for our mothers and for all mothers. ... A
warm greeting to all mothers".

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 A CELEBRATION OF SCHOOL
 Vatican City, 10 May 2014 (VIS) - This afternoon, in St. Peter's Square,
the Holy Father met with teachers, parents, educators, pupils and other
workers within the context of Italian schools. The event was organised by
the Italian Episcopal Conference with the project, "The Church for the
School". At 4.15 p.m. the Holy Father toured St. Peter's Square and
Via della Conciliazione by jeep, greeting those present. At 5 p.m. the
meeting began with a greeting from Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of
the Italian Episcopal Conference, and Professor Stefania Giannini, the
Italian minister for education. Various participants shared testimonies,
along with moments of music and other entertainments.
 Finally, Pope Francis addressed those present. "We can see that this
is a demonstration 'for', not 'against'!", he said. It is not a
complaint, it is a celebration! A celebration for the school. We are well
aware that there are problems and things that do not function well. But you
are here, we are here because we love school". He commented that he
too, for various reasons, loved school: "because it is the synonym for
openness to reality. Going to school means opening the mind and the heart
to reality, to its wealth of aspects and dimensions. This is valuable. In
the first years we take a 360 degree approach to learning, and then
gradually we focus in one direction, and finally we specialise. But if one
has learnt how to learn, this remains for ever, and one remains open to
reality! And teachers are always the first who must remain open to reality,
with the mind always open to learning. A teacher who is not open to
learning is not a good teacher, and is not interesting. The pupils
understand and snub him or her. They are attracted to teachers with open
and 'incomplete' thought, who look for something more, and they transmit
this attitude to their students".
 A second reason is that "the school is a place of encounter",
and the Pope added that "This is fundamental in the age of growth, as
a complement to the family. ... The school is the first society to
integrate with the family. The school and the family are not in opposition
to one another. They are complementary, and therefore it is important that
they collaborate between themselves with mutual respect. ... This reminds
me of an African proverb: 'It takes a village to raise a child'".
Finally, the Pontiff declared that he loved school "because it
educates us in truth, in what is good and beautiful. Education cannot be
neutral. It is either positive or negative; either it enriches or it
impoverishes; either it enables a person to grow or it lessens, even
corrupts him. The mission of schools is to develop a sense of truth, of
what is good and beautiful. And this occurs through a rich path made up of
many ingredients. This is why there are so many subjects - because
development is the result of different elements that act together and
stimulate intelligence, knowledge, the emotions, the body, and so on".
 "If something is true, it is good and beautiful; if it is beautiful,
it is good and true; if it is good, it is true and it is beautiful. And
together, these elements enable us to grow and help us to love life, even
when we are not well, even in the midst of many problems. True education
enables us to love life and opens us to the fullness of life".

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 INSTITUTES OF SECULAR LIFE: A SIGN OF THE CHURCH IN DIALOGUE
 Vatican City, 10 May 2014 (VIS) - "In the heart of human history: the
challenges of a complex society" is the theme of the assembly of the
Institutes of Secular Life, a form of consecrated life that has more
adherents in Italy than in any other country in the world, and which was
established "with a revolutionary gesture in the Church" by Pope
Pius XII with the apostolic constitution "Provida Mater Ecclesia"
in 1947.
 This morning the Holy Father, receiving in audience the participants in
the assembly, set aside his official address and spoke to them
off-the-cuff, underlining that the secular Institutes are "effectively
an act of bravery on the part of the Church in that moment, giving
structure and institutional character" to them.
 "From that moment up to the present you have done great good for the
Church, with bravery, as it takes bravery to live in the world. Many of you
come and go, alone, in your apartment; others are in small communities.
Every day, you live the life of someone who lives in the world, and at the
same time protect the dimension of contemplation, in relation to the Lord
and to the world; contemplating reality, contemplating the beauty of the
world, and also the great sins of society, deviations, all these things,
and always in spiritual tension. ... For this reason, your vocation is
fascinating, as it is a vocation that is located right there, where the
salvation of not only people but also institutions is at play".
 "I hope that you will always maintain this attitude of going beyond,
not only beyond, but even further, where everything is at play: politics,
the economy, education, the family. It is perhaps possible that at times
you are tempted to think, 'But what can I do?'", the Pope added.
"When this temptation rears, remember that the Lord has spoken to us
about the grain of wheat. And your life is like the grain of wheat. It is
like leaven. Do everything possible so that the Kingdom might come, grow
and be great, and that it may protect many people, like the mustard tree.
Think about this. A small life, a small gesture; a normal life, but it is
leaven, it is a seed, it allows growth. And this brings consolation. The
results in the balance of the Kingdom of God cannot be seen, but only the
Lord enables us to perceive something. ... We will see the results there,
above".

--- MPost/386 v1.21