VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - N° 70
DATE 14-04-2014

Summary:
- POPE FRANCIS TO SEMINARIANS: ?IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO ACT LIKE
SHEPHERDS, CHANGE PATH?
- PALM SUNDAY: ?WHO ARE WE BEFORE JESUS WHO TRIUMPHS AND BEFORE JESUS WHO SUFFERS??
- ANGELUS: MAY THE WYD CROSS BE A SIGN OF HOPE FOR THE WORLD
- THE STUDY OF HISTORY, ONE OF THE PATHS TO THE TRUTH
- POPE FRANCIS: CARE FOR YOUR PATIENTS WITHOUT FORGETTING THEY ARE PEOPLE
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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 POPE FRANCIS TO SEMINARIANS: ?IF YOU ARE NOT WILLING TO ACT LIKE
SHEPHERDS, CHANGE PATH?
Vatican City, 14 April 2014 (VIS) ? This morning the Holy Father met with
the seminarians of the community of the Pontifical College ?Leoniano de
Anagni?, and warned them not to fall into the trap of thinking that they
are preparing to exercise a profession, to become the employees of a
business enterprise or a bureaucratic entity. ?You are becoming 'good
shepherds', in the image of Jesus, to be like Him, in the midst of His
flock, to graze His sheep. Before this vocation, we can answer like the
Virgin Mary to the Angel: 'How is this possible?'?
?Becoming good shepherds in the image of Jesus is something very great, and
we are so small?, he continued. ?Yes, it is true, it is too great; but it
is not our work! It is the work of the Holy Spirit, with our collaboration.
? I no longer live, but Christ lives inme?, said Francis, emphasising that
only in this way is it possible to be deacons and priests of the Church. ?
If you are not willing to follow this path, with these attitudes and these
experiences, it is better to have the courage to seek another. There are
many ways, in the Church, to bear Christian witness?. Before concluding,
the Pope encouraged the seminarians to reflect on this theme and emphasised
that following in Christ's ministry allows no place for mediocrity, who
always leads to using the holy people of God to one's own advantage.

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 PALM SUNDAY: ?WHO ARE WE BEFORE JESUS WHO TRIUMPHS AND BEFORE JESUS WHO SUFFERS??
Vatican City, 13 April 2014 (VIS) ? Today in St. Peter's Square Pope
Francis began the rites of Holy Week with the solemn liturgical celebration
of Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Lord.
The ceremony began with the blessing of the palms and the olive branches
placed beside the obelisk in the Square, carried in procession to the
entrance of the basilica. The young people of Rome and other diocese took
part in the celebration, in relation to the 29th World Youth Day, which
this year takes the theme, ?Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the Kingdom of heaven?.
The Pope based his homily on the question, ?Who am I, before my Lord? Who
am I, before Jesus Who enters Jerusalem on this feast day? ? Who am I,
before Jesus Who suffers??
?This week, we begin with a celebratory procession with olivebranches: all
the people welcome Jesus. Children and young people sing in praise of
Jesus. ? But this week proceeds in the mystery of Jesus' death and His
resurrection. We have listened to the Passion of the Lord. It will do us
good to ask the question, who am I? Who am I before my Lord? Who am I,
before Jesus Who enters Jerusalem on this feast day? Am I able to express
my joy, to praise Him? Or do I keep my distance? Who am I, before Jesus Who
suffers??
We have heard many names: the group of leaders, some who are priests, some
Pharisees, some doctors of the Law, who had decided to kill Him. They
waited for the opportunity to take Him. Am I like one of them?
?We have also heard another name: Judas. Thirty coins. Am I like Judas? We
have heard of other names: the disciples who understood nothing, who slept
while the Lord suffered. Do I spend my life asleep? Or am I like the
disciples, who did not understand what it was to betray Jesus?Like that
other disciple who wanted to resolve everything by the sword: am I like
them? Am I like Judas, who pretended to love and to kiss the Master in
order to deliver Him into the hands of His enemy, to betray Him? Am I a
traitor? Am I like those leaders who are quick to judge and seek false
witnesses: am I like them? And when I do these things, if I do them, do I
believe that in so doing I save the people?
?Am I like Pilate, in that when I see that the situation is difficult, I
wash my hands of it and do not assume my responsibility and condemn people,
or allow them to be condemned? Am I like that crowd that does not know if
it is in a religious meeting, a court of judgement or a circus, and chooses
Barabas? For them it was all the same: it was more entertaining to
humiliate Jesus.
?Am I like the soldiers who strike the Lord, who spit on Him, insult Him,
who amuse themselves by humiliating the Lord? Am I like the Cyrenian who
returnedfrom work, weary, but who had the good will to help the Lord carry
the cross? Am I like those who passed before the Cross and made fun of
Jesus: 'He was so brave! If he comes down from the Cross we will believe in
Him!' Making fun of Jesus?.
?Am I like those brave women, such as the Mother of Jesus, who were there,
who suffered in silence? Am I like Joseph, the secret disciple who carried
the copy of Jesus with love, to bury him? Am I like the two Marys, who
remained before His tomb crying and praying?
?Am I like the leaders who, the following day went to Pilate to say, 'Look,
this man said that he would be resurrected. Careful that this is not
another trick'?, and blocked the life, blocked the tomb to defend doctrine,
so that life does not come out?
?Where is my heart? Which of these people do I resemble? May this question
accompany us throughout the week?.

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 ANGELUS: MAY THE WYD CROSS BE A SIGN OF HOPE FOR THE WORLD
Vatican City, 14 April 2014 (VIS) ? Following the solemn liturgical
celebration of Palm Sunday, the Pope prayed the Angelus with the seventy
thousand faithful present in St- Peter's Square and, before the Marian
prayer, he greeted the 250 delegates, bishops, priests, religious and
laypeople who participated during these days in the meeting for the World
Youth Day organised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.
?In this way there begins the path of preparation for the next world
meeting that will take place in July 2016 in Krakow on the theme 'Blessed
are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy'. Before long the young
Brazilians will deliver to the Polish youth the Cross of the World Youth
Days. It was Blessed John Paul II who entrusted the Cross to the young
thirty years ago: he asked them to take it all over the world as a sign of
Christ's love forhumanity. On 27 April we will have the joy of celebrating
the canonization of this Pope, along with John XXIII. John Paul II, who
initiated the World Youth Days, will become its great patron; in the
communion of saints he will continue to be a father and a friend for the
young of the world. Let us ask the Lord that the Cross, along with the icon
of Mary 'Salus Populi Romani', be a sign of hope for all, revealing
Christ's invincible love to the world?.
Following these words, the World Youth Day Cross was consigned, and Pope
Francis added, ?I greet all Romans and all pilgrims, and I greet in
particular the delegations from Rio de Janeiro and Krakow, led by their
archbishops, Cardinals Orani Joao Tempesta and Stanislaw Dziwisz. In this
context, I have the joy of announcing that, God willing, on 15 August at
Daejeon, in the Republic of Korea, I will meet with the young of Asia in
their great continental meeting?.

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