VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 154
DATE 13-09-2014

Summary:
- Pope Francis: the shadow of Cain looms over history from 1914 to the present
- The Pope to visit Turkey at the end of November
- Cardinal Antonelli, Pope's special envoy to the consecration of the new
Shrine to St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 Pope Francis: the shadow of Cain looms over history from 1914 to the present
 Vatican City, 13 September 2014 (VIS) - Today, the centenary of the
outbreak of the First World War (13 September 1914), Pope Francis chose to
celebrate Mass at the Military Monument of Redipuglia, in the Italian
province of Gorizia.
 The Holy Father left the Vatican by helicopter at 8 a.m. and landed
shortly before 9 a.m. at the airport of Ronchi dei Legionari, where he was
received by the archbishop of Gorizia, Carlo Alberto Maria Redaelli. He
transferred by car to the Austro-Hungarian cemetery of Fogliano di
Redipuglia, the resting place of 14,550 soldiers who fell in this area. At
the entrance there is the phrase "Im Leben und im Tode vereint"
("United in Life and Death"). The Pope placed a floral wreath at
the central monument to 7000 unknown soldiers.
 The Pope subsequently proceeded to the Military Monument, a large cemetery
dedicated to the memory of the more than one hundred thousand Italian
soldiers who lost their lives in the Great War, in foothills of Mount Sei
Busi, a contested territory in the early phases of the conflict and where
the tomb of Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia Aosta, commander of the Third
Army, is located. The monument was designed by the architect Giovanni
Greppi and the sculptor Giannino Castiglioni, and building work commenced
in 1933; it was inaugurated by the then head of government, Benito
Mussolini, in 1938, in the presence of more than 50,000 First World War
veterans.
 The first reading narrated the story of Cain and Abel, and in his homily
the Holy Father commented on the murder of Abel to condemn indifference in
the face of war.
 "After experiencing the beauty of travelling throughout this region,
where men and women work and raise their families, where children play and
the elderly dream, I now find myself here, in this place, near this
cemetery, able to say only one thing: War is madness. Whereas God carries
forward the work of creation, and we men and women are called to
participate in his work, war destroys. It also ruins the most beautiful
work of his hands: human beings. War ruins everything, even the bonds
between brothers. War is irrational; its only plan is to bring destruction:
it seeks to grow by destroying.
 "Greed, intolerance, the lust for power ... are the motives
underlying the decision to go to war, and they are too often justified by
an ideology; but first there is a distorted passion or impulse. Ideology is
presented as a justification and when there is no ideology, there is the
response of Cain: 'What does it matter to me? Am I my brother's keeper?'.
War does not look directly at anyone, be they elderly, children, mothers,
fathers. 'What does it matter to me?'
 "Above the entrance to this cemetery, there hang in the air those
ironic words of war, 'What does it matter to me?' All of the dead who
repose here had their own plans, they had their own dreams, but their lives
were cut short. Why? Because humanity said, 'What does it matter to me?'.
Even today, after the second failure of another world war, perhaps one can
speak of a third war, one fought piecemeal, with crimes, massacres,
destruction. In all honesty, the front page of newspapers ought to carry
the headline, 'What does it matter to me?'. Cain would say, 'Am I my
brother's keeper?'.
 "This attitude is the exact opposite of what Jesus asks of us in the
Gospel. We have heard: He is in the least of his brothers; He, the King,
the Judge of the world, He is the one who hungers, who thirsts, He is the
stranger, the one who is sick, the prisoner. Those who care for their
brother or sister enter into the joy of the Lord; those who do not do so,
however, who by their omission say, 'What does it matter to me?', remain
excluded.
 "Here, and in the other cemetery, lie many victims. Today, we
remember them. There are tears, there is mourning, there is grief. From
this place we remember all the victims of every war. Today, too, there are
many victims ... How is this possible? It is so because in today's world,
behind the scenes, there are interests, geopolitical strategies, lust for
money and power, and there is the manufacture and sale of arms, which seem
to be so important! And these plotters of terrorism, these schemers of
conflicts, just like arms dealers, have engraved in their hearts, 'What
does it matter to me?'
 "It is the task of the wise to recognise errors, to feel pain, to
repent, to beg for pardon and to cry. With this 'What does it matter to
me?' in their hearts, the merchants of war perhaps have made a great deal
of money, but their corrupted hearts have lost the capacity to weep. Cain
did not weep. He was not able to weep. The shadow of Cain hangs over us
today in this cemetery. It is seen here. It has been seen from 1914 right
up to our own time.
 "With the heart of a son, a brother, a father, I ask each of you,
indeed for all of us, to have a conversion of heart: to move on from 'What
does it matter to me?', to shed tears: for each one of the fallen of this
'senseless massacre', for all the victims of the mindless wars, in every
age. Brothers, humanity needs to weep, and this is the time to weep".
 Following Mass and after greetings from the military archbishop for Italy,
Santo Marciano and the Chiefs of Staff and General Commanders, the bishop
of Rome presented to those in attendance the "Light of St.
Francis" Lamp, which will be lit in the respective dioceses during the
events commemorating the First World War. The lamp was donated by the Holy
Convent of Assisi and the oil was given by the "Libera"
Association of the priest Don Luigi Ciotti.
 The Pope subsequently bade farewell to those present and transferred to
Ronchi dei Legionari airport, where he departed for the Vatican.

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 The Pope to visit Turkey at the end of November
 Vatican City, 13 September 2014 (VIS) - Late yesterday afternoon, in
response to questions from journalists, the director of the Holy See Press
Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., gave the following declaration:
 "This morning the Holy See has received a letter with an official
invitation from the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to visit the
country. Preparations will therefore be made for a trip to take place in
the final days of November, although the length and programme of the visit
are yet to be confirmed".

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 Cardinal Antonelli, Pope's special envoy to the consecration of the new
Shrine to St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
 Vatican City, 13 September 2014 (VIS) - In a letter made public today,
written in Latin and dated 29 July, the Holy Father nominated Cardinal
Ennio Antonelli, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the
Family, as his special envoy to the consecration of the new Shrine to St.
Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows in Teramo, Italy, scheduled to take place on
21 September.

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 13 September 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
 - appointed the following as members of the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples: Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat
for the Economy; Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan, archbishop of New York,
U.S.A.; Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, archbishop of Manila, Philippines;
Cardinal Jean-Pierre Kutwa, archbishop of Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire; Cardinal
Orani Joao Tempesta, archbishop of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops;
Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary emeritus of the Pontifical Council
for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples; Archbishop Luigi
Travaglino, apostolic nuncio to the Principality of Monaco, Holy See
Permanent Observer at the United Nations Organisations and Organisms for
Food and Agriculture; Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, president of the
Pontifical Council for Social Communications; Archbishop Ignatius Suharyo
Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta, Indonesia; Archbishop Patrick Christopher Pinder
of Nassau, Bahamas; Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Bangui, Central
African Republic; Archbishop Giampiero Gloder, president of the Pontifical
Ecclesiastical Academy; Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi
Minh, Vietnam; Bishop Tarcisius Isai Kikuchi of Niigata, Japan; Bishop
Celmo Lazzari, apostolic vicar of San Miguel de Sucumbios, Ecuador; Fr.
Michael Anthony Perry, O.F.M., minister general of the Order of Friars
Minor; Fr. Louis Lougen, O.M.I., superior general of the Oblate
Missionaries of Mary Immaculate; Socrates Mesiona, director general of the
PP.OO.MM. In the Philippines; Sister Luzia Premoli, S.M.C., superior
general of the Combonian Missionaries,
 - appointed the following as consultors of the same Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples: Archbishop Jorge Carlos Patron Wong, bishop
emeritus of Paplanta, Mexico, secretary for seminaries of the Congregation
for the Clergy; and Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru,
secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts.

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