Pope Francis praises the work of the “Papal Foundation”

Vatican City, 17 April 2015 (VIS) – Today at midday Pope Francis received in audience, in the Sala Clementina, 225 members, administrators and collaborators of the “Papal Foundation” during their annual visit to Rome. The “Papal Foundation” is a Catholic association established in 1990 in Philadelphia, U.S.A. by the late Cardinal John Krol, which provides funding for the needs of the Church throughout the world.

In his address to the institution, the Pope emphasised the wide variety of projects supported by the Foundation, which offer “witness to the ceaseless efforts of the Church to promote the integral development of the human family, conscious as she is of the immense and ongoing needs of so many of our brothers and sisters”. The Papal Foundation “devotes a sizeable percentage of its resources to the education and formation of young priests, religious and lay men and women, hastening the day when their local Churches may be self-supportive, and, indeed,pass on the fruits of such generosity to others”.

Pope Francis thanked those present for the hard work and sacrifice that this entails, and to assured them of his heartfelt prayers for them, their loved ones, and all those whom they support.

“As the Church prepares for the coming Jubilee of Mercy, I ask our Lord Jesus Christ, 'the face of the Father’s mercy', to refresh and renew each one of you through his mercy, the greatest of his many gifts”, he concluded. “May each of you experience the healing and freedom that come from the encounter of forgiveness and gratuitous love offered in the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist”.

Declaration of the director of the Holy See Press Office on the Pope's possible trip to Cuba

Vatican City, 17 April 2015 (VIS) – The director of the Holy See Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., in response to questions from journalists regarding the possibility of Pope Francis visiting Cuba, has affirmed that “the Holy Father has taken into consideration the idea of making a stop in Cuba on the occasion of his upcoming trip to the United States. However, contacts with the Cuban authorities are still in too early a phase for it to be possible to regard this stop as a firm decision and an operative plan”.

Audiences

Vatican City, 17 April 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for New Evangelisation;

- Reiner Haseloff, minister president of Saxony-Anhalt, Federal Republic of Germany, with his wife and entourage.

Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 17 April 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:

- Rev. Fr. Juan de Dios Pena Rojas as bishop of El Vigia-San Carlos del Zulia (area 8,233, population 432,000, Catholics 427,000, priests 32, religious 10), Venezuela. The bishop-elect was born in Acequias, Venezuela in 1967 and was ordained a priest in 1992. He holds a bachelor's degree in theology from the Pontifical Xavierian University of Bogota, Colombia, a licentiate in theology from the Santa Rosa de Lima University Institute, Caracas, Venezuela, and a licentiate in history of the Church from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome. He has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles in the archdiocese of Merida, including formator in the major seminary, assessor for youth pastoral ministry, administrative director of the archiepiscopal curia, professor and president of the Scholastic Institute of the major seminary, parish priest, member and secretary of the presbyteral council, and chaplain of the Dominican Sisters of Santa Rosa de Lima. He is currently member of the college of consultors and of the Metropolitan Chapter, and rector of the “San Buenaventura” major seminary of Merida.

- Msgr. Francesco Viscome, Italy, substitute defender of the bond, as promoter of justice at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.

- Rev. Fr. Francesco Ibba, Italy, as substitute defender of the bond at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.