VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 105
DATE 05-06-2014

Summary:
- THE POPE RECEIVES ARAM I, CATHOLICOS OF THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH OF
CILICIA: WE SHARE THE SAME HOPES
- FRANCIS: GYPSIES ARE ONE OF THE GROUPS MOST VULNERABLE TO NEW FORMS OF SLAVERY
- FUNERAL OF CARDINAL LOURDUSAMY
- AUDIENCES
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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 THE POPE RECEIVES ARAM I, CATHOLICOS OF THE ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC CHURCH OF
CILICIA: WE SHARE THE SAME HOPES
 Vatican City, 5 June 2014 (VIS) - "On our journey towards full
communion, we share the same hopes and a similar sense of responsibility as
we strive to be faithful to the will of the Lord Jesus Christ". With
these words, Pope Francis greeted His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the
Armenian Apostolic Church of Cilicia, during their meeting in the Vatican
this morning.
 As the Pope observed, His Holiness Aram I's commitment to the cause of
Christian unity is well known to all. The Catholicos has played an
important role in the World Council of Churches and in the Middle East
Council of Churches, which support Christian communities in the Middle
East, and has made a significant contribution to the Joint Commission for
Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox
Churches.
 Francis also remarked that Aram I represents "a part of the Christian
world that is irrevocably marked by a history of trials and sufferings
courageously accepted for the love of God. The Armenian Apostolic Church
has had to become a pilgrim people; it has experienced in a singular way
what it means to journey towards the Kingdom of God. The history of
emigration, persecutions and the martyrdom experienced by so many of the
faithful has inflicted deep wounds on the hearts of all Armenians. We must
see and venerate these as wounds inflicted on the very body of Christ, and
for this very reason a cause for unfailing hope and trust in the provident
mercy of the Father".
 "Trust and hope. How much these are needed! They are needed by our
Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East, especially those living
in areas racked by conflict and violence. But we too need them, as
Christians who are spared such sufferings yet so often risk losing our way
in the desert of indifference and forgetfulness of God, or living in
conflict with our brothers and sisters, or succumbing in our interior
struggle against sin. As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to learn humbly
to bear one another's burdens and to help each other to be better
Christians, better followers of Jesus. So let us advance together in
charity, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us, offering Himself to
God as a pleasing sacrifice".
 "In these days before Pentecost ... in faith, let us invoke the
Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, that he may renew the face of the
earth, be a source of healing for our wounded world, and reconcile the
hearts of all men and women with God the Creator. May He, the Paraclete,
inspire our journey towards unity. May He teach us to strengthen the
fraternal bonds which even now unite us in the one baptism and in the one
faith", concluded Francis.
 After the meeting, the Catholicos and the Pope prayed together in the
Redemptoris Mater Chapel.

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 FRANCIS: GYPSIES ARE ONE OF THE GROUPS MOST VULNERABLE TO NEW FORMS OF SLAVERY
 Vatican City, 5 June 2014 (VIS) - "New civil, cultural and social
approaches, and a new pastoral strategy for the Church" against
"modern forms of persecution, oppression and slavery" are
necessary to face the situation of gypsies throughout the world, said Pope
Francis during this morning's audience with the participants in the meeting
"The Church and gypsies: proclaiming the Gospel in the
peripheries", organised by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral
Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.
 The theme of the meeting, said Francis, involves "the memory of a
relationship, that between the ecclesiastical community and the gypsy
population, the history of a journey to get to know each other, to
encounter one another; and then the challenge for today, a challenge that
regards both ordinary pastoral care and new evangelisation".
 He commented that often gypsies find themselves on the margins of society,
"and at times are looked upon with hostility and suspicion; they are
rarely involved in the political, economic and social dynamics of the
country". He continued, "We know that it is a complex reality,
but certainly the gypsy population is also required to contribute to the
common good, and this is possible with adequate itineraries of
co-responsibility, the observance of duties and the promotion of the rights
of every person".
 He observed that among the causes of misery among various sectors of the
population there are factors such as "a lack of educational structures
for cultural and professional formation, the difficulty of access to
healthcare, discrimination in the employment market and a lack of decent
accommodation". He added that while these social ills affect everyone,
"the weakest groups are those who most easily become victims of new
forms of slavery. Indeed, the least protected are those who fall into the
trap of abuse, forced begging and other forms of abuse. Gypsies are among
the most vulnerable, especially those who are receive no help in relation
to integration or the promotion of the person in the various dimensions of
civil life".
 The care of the Church is relevant here: "Indeed, the Gospel is the
proclamation of joy for all and especially for the weakest and most
marginalised. We are called upon to ensure our closeness and solidarity to
these people, following the example of Jesus Christ, who demonstrated His
Father's predilection for them". However, alongside this united action
in favour of the gypsy population, there needs to be "commitment on
the part of local and national institutions and the support of the
international community, to identify projects and action for improving
quality of life".
 The Holy Father concluded by urging the Pontifical Council to continue in
its task and not to be discouraged, adding, "May gypsies find in you
brothers and sisters who love them with the same love that Christ had for
the marginalised. Be, for them, the welcoming and joyful face of the
Church".

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 FUNERAL OF CARDINAL LOURDUSAMY
 Vatican City, 5 June 2014 (VIS) - At 11.30 this morning, at the major
altar of St. Peter's Basilica, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College
of Cardinals, presided at the funeral mass for Cardinal Simon Lourdusamy,
prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, who died on
Monday in Rome at the age of 90.
 In his homily, the dean of the College of Cardinals described Cardinal
Lourdusamy as "a zealous priest who worked for more than ten years in
his beloved diocese of Pondicherry and then, for almost a decade, was
pastor of the archdiocese of Bangalore. He then generously accepted Pope
Paul VI's call to Rome, to serve in the missionary Congregation of
Propaganda Fide. Here, for twenty years, he dedicated his energies to the
great cause of the evangelisation of peoples, until finally, submitting to
the trials of illness, he continued to serve the Church in prayer and
suffering, with an attitude of great serenity".
 Following the Eucharistic celebration, the Holy Father administered the
rites of "Uitima Commendatio" and "Valedictio".

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 AUDIENCES
 Vatican City, 5 June 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has received in audience:
 - Archbishop Charles Daniel Balvo, apostolic nuncio in Kenya and South
Sudan; permanent observer of the Holy See for the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Human Settlements Programme
(UN-Habitat).
 - Doug Coe of the National Prayer Breakfast, U.S.A., and entourage.

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 OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
 Vatican City, 5 June 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
 - approved the appointment by the Cardinal Secretary of State of Tommaso
Di Ruzza as vice-director "ad interim" of the Financial
Information Authority (AIF). Dr. Di Ruzza was previously study assistant at
the AIF.
 - appointed, for a further five-year period, the following members of the
managing board of the Financial Information Authority: Maria Bianca Farina,
managing director of Poste Vita and Poste Assicura, Italy; Marc Odendall,
administrator of various foundations and financial advisor for the
philanthropic sector, Switzerland; Joseph Yuvaraj Pillay, president of the
Council of Consultors of the president of the Republic of Singapore,
Singapore; Juan C. Zarate, senior advisor at the Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS) and lecturer in law at Harvard University,
U.S.A.

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