VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 155
DATE 15-09-2014

Summary:
- The Pope to render homage to martyrs of faith in Albania
- Sixth meeting of the Council of Cardinals
- Francis marries twenty couples from the diocese of Rome
- Angelus: the Cross restores hope
- Humanity still has not learnt that war is madness
- Cardinal Aguilar to take possession of his titular church
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 The Pope to render homage to martyrs of faith in Albania
 Vatican City, 15 September 2014 (VIS) - Homage to martyrs of faith,
victims of the communist regime, the importance of dialogue with Islam in a
country with a Muslim majority but with a notable Christian presence, both
Catholic and Orthodox, and the memory of blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta,
born in Albania, will be the fundamental themes that Pope Francis will
address in his upcoming trip to the capital Tirana next Sunday, 21
September, said Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director of the Holy See Press
Office, in a press conference held this morning.
 The apostolic trip to Albania is Pope Francis' first in a European country
outside Italy and the fourth of his pontificate.

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 Sixth meeting of the Council of Cardinals
 Vatican City, 15 September 2014 (VIS) - The sixth meeting of the Council
of Cardinals with the Holy Father began this morning, and will continue
during the days of 16 and 17 September. The Council of Cardinals was
instituted by Pope Francis to assist in the governance of the universal
Church and to draw up a plan for the revision of the apostolic constitution
"Pastor bonus" on the Roman Curia.

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 Francis marries twenty couples from the diocese of Rome
 Vatican City, 14 September 2014 (VIS) - This morning, Pope Francis
celebrated the marriage of twenty couples from Rome, the diocese of which
he is bishop, during a Holy Mass celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica. The
cardinal vicar of Rome, Agostino Vallini, and Archbishop Filippo Iannone,
vice-regent and director of the diocesan Centre for Family Pastoral,
concelebrated with the Pontiff.
 The couples married by the Pope, according to a press release from the
Vicariate of Rome, are like many others, engaged for different lengths of
time; some already live together, others have children, and others met
within the parish. The youngest couple were born in 1986 and 1989
respectively, whereas the eldest were born in 1958 and 1965.
 In his homily, the Holy Father, commenting on the Bible passage that
speaks of the long and wearisome journey of the people of Israel through
the desert, spoke of marriage as a path with areas of light and shadows,
during which the mercy and grace of Christ can regenerate and channel
married and family life.
 "Today's first reading speaks to us of the people's journey through
the desert", he began. "We can imagine them as they walked, led
by Moses; they were families: fathers, mothers, sons and daughters,
grandparents, men and women of all ages, accompanied by many children and
the elderly who struggled to make the journey. This people reminds us of
the Church as she makes her way across the desert of the contemporary
world, reminds us of the People of God composed, for the most part, of
families.
 "This makes us think of families, our families, walking along the
paths of life with all their day to day experiences. It is impossible to
quantify the strength and depth of humanity contained in a family: mutual
help, educational support, relationships developing as family members
mature, the sharing of joys and difficulties. Families are the first place
in which we are formed as persons and, at the same time, the 'bricks' for
the building up of society.
 "Let us return to the biblical story. At a certain point, 'the people
became impatient on the way'. They are tired, water supplies are low and
all they have for food is manna, which, although plentiful and sent by God,
seems far too meagre in a time of crisis. And so they complain and protest
against God and against Moses: 'Why did you make us leave?'. They are
tempted to turn back and abandon the journey.
 "Here our thoughts turn to married couples who 'become impatient on
the way', the way of conjugal and family life. The hardship of the journey
causes them to experience interior weariness; they lose the flavour of
matrimony and they cease to draw water from the well of the Sacrament.
Daily life becomes burdensome, and often, even 'nauseating'. During such
moments of disorientation - the Bible says - poisonous serpents come and
bite the people, and many die. This causes the people to repent and to turn
to Moses for forgiveness, asking him to beseech the Lord so that he will
cast out the snakes. Moses prays to the Lord, and the Lord offers a remedy:
a bronze serpent set on a pole; whoever looks at it will be saved from the
deadly poison of the vipers.
 "What is the meaning of this symbol? God does not destroy the
serpents, but rather offers an 'antidote': by means of the bronze serpent
fashioned by Moses, God transmits his healing strength, namely his mercy,
which is more potent than the Tempter's poison.
 "As we have heard in the Gospel, Jesus identifies Himself with this
symbol: out of love the Father 'has given' His only begotten Son so that
men and women might have eternal life. Such immense love of the Father
spurs the Son to become man, to become a servant and to die for us upon a
cross. Out of such love, the Father raises up his Son, giving Him dominion
over the entire universe. This is expressed by Saint Paul in his hymn in
the Letter to the Philippians. Whoever entrusts himself to Jesus crucified
receives the mercy of God and finds healing from the deadly poison of sin.
 "The cure which God offers the people applies also, in a particular
way, to spouses who 'have become impatient on the way' and who succumb to
the dangerous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness,
abandonment. To them too, God the Father gives His Son Jesus, not to
condemn them, but to save them: if they entrust themselves to Him, He will
bring them healing by the merciful love which pours forth from the Cross,
with the strength of His grace that renews and sets married couples and
families once again on the right path.

--- MPost/386 v1.21