Following the Eucharistic celebration, the Pope transferred to Tel Aviv's
Ben Gurion airport for his return flight to Rome, departing at 7.15 p.m.
and arriving at Rome's Ciampino airport at 11 p.m.

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 FRANCIS: TERRORISM IS BAD IN ITS ORIGINS AND ITS RESULTS
 Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) - "I want to say, with great
humility, that terrorism is bad! It is bad in its origins and it is bad in
its results. It is bad because it is born of hate, and it is bad in its
results because it does not construct, it destroys! May all people
understand that the path of terrorism does not help. The way of terrorism
is fundamentally criminal. I pray for all these victims and for all victims
of terrorism in the world. Please, no more terrorism! It is a dead-end
street".
 These were the words spoken by Pope Francis yesterday, before the tomb
commemorating the victims of terrorism in Israel.

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 THE POPE RETURNS TO THE VATICAN AND SPEAKS TO JOURNALISTS ON THE FLIGHT
 Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) - At the end of his trip, during the
flight from Tel Aviv to Rome, Pope Francis spoke for over 40 minutes with
the journalists who accompanied him on the flight, answering their
questions on various issues linked not only to his pilgrimage to the Holy
Land, but also in relation to the abuse of minors, remarried divorcees, his
upcoming trips, priestly celibacy, and so on. Below is a summary of some of
the Pope's answers.
 The Holy Land and the prayer meeting in the Vatican with Shimon Peres and
Mahmoud Abbas.
 The most authentic gestures are those that we don't think about, those
that come to us, aren't they? I thought about suggesting it during the
trip, but there were many logistical problems, because each one has to
consider the territory, and it's not easy. So I thought about a meeting,
and at the end, I came up with this invitation. It will be an encounter to
pray, not for the purposes of mediation. We will pray with the two
presidents; prayer is important, it helps. Afterwards, each person will
return home. There would be a rabbi, a Muslim, and myself.
 Abuse of minors
 At the moment there are three bishops under investigations: one has
already been found guilty and we are now considering the penalty to be
imposed. There are no privileges. ... A priest who does this betrays the
Body of the Lord, because this priest must lead this child, this boy, this
girl, to sanctity, and this boy or girl trusts in him; and instead of
leading them to sanctity he abuses them. This is very serious. It is like,
by way of comparison, holding a black Mass. You are supposed to lead them
to sanctity and instead you lead them to a problem that will last their
entire lives. In a few days' time there will be a Mass at the Domus Sanctae
Marthae with some survivors of abuse, and then a meeting with them. ... But
we must move forward on this issue, with zero tolerance!
 Contradiction between the poor and austere Church and the financial scandals within
 The Gospel tells us that Lord Jesus once said to His disciples that it is
inevitable that there will be scandals, because we are human and we are
sinners. And there will be scandals. The key is trying to avoid that there
are more of them! Economic administration calls for honesty and
transparency. The two Commissions, the one which has studied the IOR and
the Commission that has studied the Vatican as whole, have reached their
conclusions, and now the ministry, the Secretariat for the economy directed
by Cardinal Pell, will carry out the reforms that the two Commissions have
advised. ... For instance, in the IOR I think that around 1,600 accounts
have been closed, belonging to people who were not entitled to hold an
account at the IOR. The IOR exists to help the Church, and accounts can be
held by bishops, Vatican employees, and their widows or widowers, to draw
their pensions. ... But other private individuals are not entitled to
accounts. It is not open to all.
 European elections
 There is a key word: unemployment. This is a serious matter. It is serious
because I look at it this way, simplifying somewhat. We are in a global
economic system which places money at its centre, not the human person. A
true economic system should revolve around men and women, the human person.
This economic system we have today places money at the centre and to
maintain its equilibrium, it has to carry out various "waste"
measures. Children are discarded, as the low birth rates in Europe show,
and the elderly are abandoned.
 Stable and lasting peace in Jerusalem
 The Catholic Church has established its position from a religious point of
view: it will be the city of peace for the three religions. The concrete
measures for peace must come from negotiations. I agree that from the
negotiations perhaps it will emerge that it will be the capital of one
State or another, it would be madness on my part. But these are hypotheses,
and I do not consider myself competent to say that we should do one thing
or another. I believe that it is necessary to negotiate with honesty,
fraternity and great trust in the path of negotiation. It takes courage to
do this, and I pray that these two leaders, these two governments will have
the courage to take this path. It is the only route to peace.
 Priestly celibacy
 The Catholic Church has married priests - Greek Catholics, Coptic
Catholics, those of oriental rites. Celibacy is not a question of dogma,
but rather a rule of life that I greatly appreciate, as I believe it is a
gift for the Church. But, since it is not a dogma of faith, the door is
always open.
 Relations with the Orthodox Churches
 Patriarch Bartholomew and I spoke about the unity we create as we walk
together. Unity cannot be created in a congress on theology. He confirmed
that Athenagoras said to Paul VI: "We go ahead together, calmly, and
put all the theologians together on an island where they can discuss among
themselves, and we walk ahead in life!". There are many things we can
do to help each other. For instance, with the Churches. In Rome, as in many
cities, many Orthodox go to Catholic churches. Another thing we mentioned,
that may be considered in the pan-orthodox Council, is the date of Easter,
because it is somewhat ridiculous to say, "When is your Christ
resurrected? Mine was resurrected last week". Yes, the date of Easter
is a sign of unity. ... We also spoke a lot on the problems of ecology, and
the need to work together on this issue.
 Forthcoming trips and the problems faced by Christians in Asia
 With regard to Asia, two trips are planned: the one to South Korea, for
the meeting of young Asians, and then, next January, a two-day trip to Sri
Lanka and then on to the Philippines, to the area affected by the typhoon.
The problem of the lack of freedom of worship affects not only certain
Asian countries, but also other countries in the world. Religious freedom
is something that not all countries have. Some have a certain level of
control ... others adopt measures that lead to a real persecution of
believers. There are martyrs! There are martyrs in our times, Christian
martyrs, both Catholic and non-Catholic. There are places where it is
forbidden to wear a crucifix or to possess a Bible; where it is forbidden
to teach the catechism to children.
 Abdication from the pontificate in the case of failing strength and the
issue of Popes emeritus
 I will do what the Lord tells me to do: pray, and seek God's will. But I
think that Benedict XVI is not a unique case. It happened because he no
longer had the strength and in an honest way - he is a man of faith, and
humble - he took this decision. Seventy years ago bishops emeritus barely
existed, whereas now there are many. What will happen to Popes emeritus? I
think that we must look to him as an institution. He has opened a door, the
door of Popes emeritus. Will there be others? Only God knows. But this door
is open, and I think that a bishop of Rome, a Pope who feels that his
strength is declining - because we live much longer now - must ask himself
the same questions that Pope Benedict faced.
 Beatification of Pius XII
 The cause for Pius XII is open. However, there has been no miracle, and if
there are no miracles it is not yet possible to go ahead.
 Synod on the family and remarried divorcees
 The Synod in October will be on the family and the problems it faces; its
riches and its current situation. I do not like the fact that many people,
even within the Church, have said that it will be the Synod about remarried
divorcees, as if it could simply be reduced to a case study: can they
receive communion or not? The issue is much broader. Today, as we all know,
the family is in crisis, and it is a global crisis. Young people no longer
want to get married, or prefer simply to live together; marriage is in
crisis, and therefore the family is too. The problem of family pastoral
care is very broad. Pope Benedict said something about the family three
times: it is necessary to study the faith with which a person approaches
marriage and clarify that divorcees are not excommunicated, and very often
they are treated as if they are.
 Reform of the Roman Curia
 The council of eight cardinals is studying the constitution "Pastor
bonus" and the Roman Curia. It has consulted many people and with the
Curia and is still studying certain issues, such as bringing together
various dicasteries to streamline organisation. One of the key points is
the economy, and it is therefore necessary to work in collaboration with
the secretary of State. ... The obstacles are those one encounters in any
process of this type. Planning the approach, the work of persuasion is very
important. There are some people who do not see this clearly, but any
reform involves these things. But I am content, in truth.

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 HOLY FATHER'S CALENDAR FOR JUNE TO AUGUST 2014
 Vatican City, 27 May 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 from September to
November:
 JUNE
 Sunday, 8: Pentecost. At 10 a.m., Holy Mass in the Papal Chapel of the
Vatican Basilica.
 Thursday, 12: At 10 a.m. in the Consistory Hall, Consistory for various
causes of canonisation.
 Thursday, 19: Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. At 7
p.m., St. John Lateran, Holy Mass in the Papal Chapel. Procession to St.
Mary Major and Eucharistic blessing.
 Saturday 21: Pastoral visit to Cassano all'Jonio.
 Sunday 29: Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. At 9.30 a.m., in the Papal
Chapel: Holy Mass and imposition of the pallium on the new metropolitan
archbishops.
 JULY
 Saturday, 5: Pastoral visit to Campobasso and Isernia.
 AUGUST
 Wednesday, 13. Apostolic trip to the Republic of Korea for the Sixth Asian
Youth Day.

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 OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
 Vatican City, 27 May 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has:
 - accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese
of Lodz, Poland, presented by Bishop Adam Lepa, upon reaching the age
limit.
 - accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese
of Washington, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Francisco Gonzalez Valer, S.F.,
upon reaching the age limit.
 - gave his assent to the election by the Synod of Bishops of the
Greek-Catholic Ukrainian Church of Fr. Yosafat Moshchych as auxiliary of
the archieparchy of Ivano-Frankivsk of the Ukrainians, Ukraine. The
bishop-elect was born in Stariy Rozdil, Ukraine in 1976 and was ordained a
priest in 1999. He holds a licentiate in moral theology from the
Alphonsianum Academy, Rome, and has served as Superior General of the
missionary congregation of St. Andrew the Apostle. He is currently
"sincellus" for laical aggregations in the archieparchy of
Ivano-Frankivsk of the Ukrainians, Ukraine.

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