VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 165
DATE 26-09-2014

Summary:
- Pope Francis receives in audience the Focolare Movement
- Holy Father's calendar for October 2014
- Comments of the Holy See on the Concluding Observations of the Committee
on the Rights of the Child
- Cardinal Parolin encourages people of faith to condemn terrorist acts
- Comments of the Holy See on the Concluding Observations of the Committee
on the Rights of the Child
- The KAICIID deplores the abuse of religion to justify violent conflict
- Cardinals Nichols, Soo-Jung and Brenes Solorzano take possession of their
titular churches
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 Pope Francis receives in audience the Focolare Movement
 Vatican City, 26 September 2014 (VIS) - Contemplate, go forth, and
educate: these were the three directions Pope Francis gave this morning to
the Focolare Movement, whose general assembly takes place in Rome this
week.
 The Work of Mary, better known as the Focolare Movement, was born within
the bosom of the Catholic Church "from a small seed that, over the
years, has grown into a tree that now extends its branches in all the
expressions of the Christian family and also among members of different
religions, and among many who cultivate justice and solidarity alongside
the search for truth".
 Pope Francis referred with great affection and admiration to Chiara
Lubich, founder and firs president of the Focolare Movement, commenting
that, "faithful to the charism from which it was born and by which it
is nurtured, the Focolare Movement now finds itself faced with the same
task that awaits the Church as a whole: offering, with responsibility and
creativity, its special contribution to this new season of
evangelisation". He gave three directions on how to achieve this:
contemplate, go forth, and educate.
 To contemplate, it is necessary to "enlarge one's inner capacity to
accommodate Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit, to make contemplation
the indispensable condition for a supportive presence and effective action
that is truly free and pure". To contemplate means living in the
company of brothers and sisters, breaking the bread of communion and
fraternity with them, together crossing the threshold that leads to the
Father, since contemplation that excludes others is a deception. It is
narcissism".
 The next step is to "go forth like Jesus from the bosom of the Father
to proclaim the word of love to all, unto His sacrifice on the Cross. We
must learn from Him, from Jesus, the 'drive to go forth and give, to go out
from ourselves, to keep pressing forward in our sowing of the good seed'.
We must not linger, but rather, with God's help, must aim high and broaden
our horizons! And to do this, we must go forth with courage 'unto him
without the camp, bearing his reproach'. He awaits us in the suffering and
in the cries of our brothers, in the wounds of society and in the questions
posed by the culture of our times. It pains the heart when we see a Church,
faced with a humanity with many wounds - moral, existential, of war -
making philosophical, theological and spiritual Byzantisms, while lacking a
spirituality of action. It is necessary to go forth, because the Church is
like a field hospital. In this type of hospital, the first thing you do is
tend to the injured, rather than analysing their cholesterol levels; you do
that later".
 Finally, the third direction: educate. "It is necessary, as the
Gospel demands, to form new men and women, and to do this there must be a
school in humanity that measures up to the humanity of Jesus. ... Without
adequate education of the new generations, it is illusory to imagine the
realisation of a serious and lasting project in the service of a new
humanity".
 "Chiara Lubich, in her time, coined an expression that remains
relevant in our times", concluded the Holy Father. "Today, she
said, we need to form 'world-people', men and women with the soul, the
heart and the mind of Jesus and therefore capable of recognising and
interpreting the needs, worries and hopes that reside in the heart of every
person".

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 Holy Father's calendar for October 2014
 Vatican City, 26 September 2014 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical
Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has published the following calendar of
liturgical celebrations over which the Holy Father will preside during the
month of October:
 Sunday 4: At 6 p.m. in St. Peter's Square, prayer vigil in preparation for
the Synod on the family.
 Sunday 5: 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time. At 10 a.m. in the Papal Chapel of
the Vatican Basilica, Holy Mass for the opening of the Extraordinary Synod
of Bishops on the family.
 Sunday 12: 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time. At 10 a.m. in the Vatican
Basilica, Holy Mass for thanksgiving for the equipollent canonisation of
the French Canadian Saints Marie de l'Incarnation, O.S.U. (1599-1672), and
Francois de Montmorency-Laval, M.E.P. (1623-1708).
 Sunday 19: 29th Sunday of Ordinary Time. At 10.30 a.m. in the Papal Chapel
of the Vatican Basilica, Holy Mass for the conclusion of the Extraordinary
Synod of Bishops on the family and the beatification of the Servant of God,
Supreme Pontiff Paul VI.

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 Comments of the Holy See on the Concluding Observations of the Committee
on the Rights of the Child
 Vatican City, 26 September 2014 (VIS) - The Holy See has communicated to
the competent offices of the United Nations in Geneva the document
"Comments of the Holy See on the Concluding Observations of the
Committee on the Rights of the Child". The Concluding Observations
were presented by the Committee on the Rights of the Child on 5 February,
following the reports, written responses and interactive dialogue submitted
to the Committee by the Holy See as a State signatory of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child (CRC).
 The full English text of the Holy See's comments may be consulted at
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/2014/documents/rc-seg-st-20140205_concluding-observations-rights-child_en.html
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 Cardinal Parolin encourages people of faith to condemn terrorist acts
 Vatican City, 26 September 2014 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro
Parolin participated in the United Nations Security Council Open Debate on
terrorism, held last Wednesday, 24 September in New York, on "Threats
to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts".
Cardinal Parolin began by congratulating the U.S.A. on assuming the
presidency of the Security Council and applauded the timely convocation of
the debate, which came "at a time when every region of the world faces
the dehumanising impact of terrorism". He continued, "This is not
a phenomenon which impacts only certain peoples, religions or regions, but
rather is a crime which impacts the entire international community. The
ongoing, and in some regions escalating use of terrorism is a reminder that
such as shared challenge requires a shared commitment from all nations and
all people of good will".

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