VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 135
DATE 21-07-2014

Summary:
- PROGRAMME OF THE POPE'S PASTORAL VISIT TO CASERTA
- IMITATE GOD'S PATIENCE AND AWAIT THE HARVEST WITH HOPE
- APPEAL FOR THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST
- POPE FRANCIS: TERRORISM IS A MADNESS THAT KNOWS ONLY HOW TO KILL
- CARDINAL SANDRI TO THE ORIENTAL CHRISTIANS: YOUR TEARS AND HOPES ARE OURS
- OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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 PROGRAMME OF THE POPE'S PASTORAL VISIT TO CASERTA
 Vatican City, 21 July 2014 (VIS) - The programme of the Holy Father's pastoral
visit to Caserta, Italy, scheduled for Saturday 26 July, was published today.
 The Pope will leave the Vatican by helicopter at 3 p.m. and will land 45
minutes later at the heliport of the Italian Air Force (Aeronautica Militare)
School in the Reggia or Royal Palace of Caserta. At 4 p.m. he will meet the
priests of the diocese at the Air Force Officer's Club and at 6 p.m. he will
celebrate Mass in the square adjacent to the Royal Palace. At 7.30 p.m. he will
depart for the Vatican where he is expected to arrive at 8.15 p.m.

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 IMITATE GOD'S PATIENCE AND AWAIT THE HARVEST WITH HOPE
 Vatican City, 20 July 2014 (VIS) - "In a field where the master sows the
grain, one night an enemy sowed tares among them, a plant whose name in Hebrew
has the same root as 'Satan' and refers to the concept of division. The
following morning the servants wanted to remove the weed, but the master
stopped them, 'Lest while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat
with them'". The Holy Father commented on this parable on Sunday morning, as he
appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the faithful
gathered in St. Peter's Square. "The parable of the good seed and the tares
takes on the problem of evil in the world", explained the Pope, "and highlights
God's patience".
 "The teaching of the parable is twofold. First, it says that the evil in the
world does not come from God, but from His enemy, the devil. This enemy is
astute; he has sown evil amidst the good, so that it is impossible for man to
clearly separate the two; but God, in the end, will do so". The Holy Father
went on to consider the second theme: "the constrast between the impatience of
the servants and the patient waiting of the master of the field, who represents
God". He remarked that often we are hasty to judge, classify and sort the good
from the bad, and emphasised that God, on the other hand, knows how to wait.
"He looks at the 'field' of each person's life with patience and mercy. He
sees, far better than we do, the dirt and the evil, but He also sees the seeds
of good and waits confidently for them to mature. God is patient, He knows how
to wait".
 "The attitude of the master is that of hope, based on the certainty that evil
has neither the first nor the last word. And, thanks to God's patient hope,
that same weed may in time become good grain. But beware: evangelical patience
is not indifference to evil; one must not confuse good and evil! Faced with the
weeds in the world, the Lord's disciple is called to imitate God's patience, to
nurture hope with the support of an unshakeable faith in the final victory of
good, of God. In the end, we will all be judged by the same yardstick with
which we ourselves have judged: the mercy we have shown to others will be used
also with us. Let us ask Our Lady, our Mother, to help us to grow in patience,
hope and mercy".

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 APPEAL FOR THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST
 Vatican City, 20 July 2014 (VIS) - "I have received with some concern the news
from the Christian communities of Mosul, Iraq, and from other parts of the
Middle East who, ever since the beginnings of Christianity, have co-existed
there alongside their fellow citizens, making a significant contribution to the
good of society", said the Pope after today's Angelus prayer. "Today they are
persecuted. Our brothers are persecuted, they are cast out, they are forced to
leave their homes without having the chance to take anything with them. To
these people I wish to express my closeness and my constant prayer. Dear
brothers and sisters, so persecuted, I know how much you suffer, I know that
you have been deprived of everything. I am with you in faith in He Who
conquered evil".
 He urged them to continue their prayer for the situations of tension and
conflict that persist in many areas of the world, especially in the Middle East
and Ukraine. "May the God of peace rouse in everyone an authentic desire for
peace and reconciliation. Violence cannot be overcome with violence. Violence
is defeated with peace! Let us pray in silence, for peace; all of us, in
silence. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!".

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 POPE FRANCIS: TERRORISM IS A MADNESS THAT KNOWS ONLY HOW TO KILL
 Vatican City, 19 July 2014 (VIS) - On Friday 18 July the Holy Father sent a
video message to the Argentine Israeli community, to convey his closeness to
the families of the victims of the bombing of the AMIA (Argentine Israelite
Mutual Association), which took place twenty years ago in Buenos Aires (18 July
1994). It caused 85 deaths and more than 200 casualties, making it one of the
most significant terrorist attacks the country has experienced.
 "Terrorism is a form of madness"; says Francis in the recorded message.
"Terrorism knows only how to kill - it does not build, it destroys. Therefore,
I wish to express my closeness to all those who have seen lives derailed and
hopes dashed, ruined. Sometimes it is said that Buenos Aires is a city that
needs to mourn, but has not yet wept enough. At the risk of repeating a
well-worn cliché, I repeat: we need to mourn more. We tend to set things aside,
not to come to terms with our history, with our sufferings, with things that
could have been beautiful but were not. For this reason, it is so difficult for
us to find the path to justice, to settle the debt that this tragedy has
contracted with society. Along with my closeness, along with my prayers for all
the victims, today I wish to add my desire for justice to be done. May God
bless you all, institutions and families. And may God give peace to those who
died in this act of lunacy".

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 CARDINAL SANDRI TO THE ORIENTAL CHRISTIANS: YOUR TEARS AND HOPES ARE OURS
 Vatican City, 21 July 2014 (VIS) - Yesterday Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect
of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, celebrated Mass in the Maronite
Cathedral of Our Lady of Lebanon in Los Angeles, United States, on the occasion
of the festivity of Sts. Charbel and Elias, commemorated by Lebanese Maronites
all over the world on the third Sunday of July. Around four hundred faithful of
the Oriental Churches participated in the celebration.
 According to a communiqué from the dicastery, the cardinal spoke in his homily
of the immense suffering caused by the desperate fate of many innocent people
and remarked that, while the Christians in Mosul in Iraq and Aleppo in Syria
are the most afflicted, the entire area is in a state of insecurity,
unfortunately maintained by widespread indifference. He also made reference to
those affected by current events in Palestine, "who are in tears, unable to be
men and Christians in serenity and dignity. We tell them that their tears are
ours, nonetheless we share the same hope, and its name is Christ; and Jesus
Christ is faithful. For this, we persevere together in the same journey".
 After reading the appeal in support of persecuted Christians, launched by Pope
Francis during yesterday's Angelus, the Cardinal invited the faithful to pray
in silence and emphasised the Church's closeness to the Patriarchs, the bishops
and the people of the Syro-Catholic and Chaldean Churches. He emphasised the
Church's participation in their suffering and urged them to persevere in the
defence of human rights and religious freedom, "particularly where Christians
have been living for two thousand years since the beginning of Christianity" to
the benefit of society, and where they may continue to offer their contribution
to the human community.

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 OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
 Vatican City, 21 July 2014 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Joseph
Gebara, coadjutor of the eparchy of Nossa Senhora do Paraiso em Sao Paolo,
Brazil, as bishop of the same eparchy (Catholics 436,000, priests 11, permanent
deacons 3, religious 4). He succeeds Bishop Fares Maakaroun, M.S.P., whose
resignation from the pastoral care of the same eparchy in accordance with canon
210 para. 1 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches was accepted by the
Holy Father.
 On Saturday, 19 July, the Holy Father appointed Cardinal Ennio Antonelli,
president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Family, as his special
envoy to the consecration of the new Shrine of San Gabriele dell'Addolorata,
Teramo, Italy, scheduled for 21 September 2014.

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