WORLD OF JUSTICE CANNOT EXIST WITHOUT CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, 12 NOV 2008 (VIS) - In his general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square, the Pope turned his attention to St. Paul's eschatological teaching.

  In his First Letter to the Thessalonians, said the Holy Father, "St. Paul speaks of the return of Jesus, an event known as the 'parusia' or advent". The saint describes this vividly "using symbolic images that nonetheless transmit a simple and profound message: 'In the end we will be with the Lord forever'. ... Our future is 'to be with the Lord'".

  Benedict XVI pointed out how in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians, the Apostle "changes perspective and speaks of the negative events that will precede the end. We must not allow ourselves to be deceived, he says, as if the Day of the Lord were truly imminent by some chronological calculation. ... The continuation of the Pauline text makes it clear that the coming of the Lord will be preceded by apostasy and by the appearance of a person identified only as 'the lawless one', the 'one destined for destruction', whom tradition came to identify as the Antichrist".

  The Pope examined the fundamental attitudes a Christian must adopt in the face of the ultimate realities of death and the end of the world: "The first attitude", he said, "must be the certainty that Jesus rose and that, with the Father, He remains with us forever. ... Secondly, the certainty that Christ is with me; and since the future world has already begun in Christ, this gives us the certainty of hope. The future is not an area of darkness in which no-one can find their way. ... Without Christ, the future is dark even today. ... Christians know that the light of Christ is stronger and hence they experience a hope that is not vain, a hope that gives certainty and courage to face the future".

  The third attitude, the Pope went on, "is responsibility before Christ for the world and for our fellow man and, at the same time, the certainty of His mercy. ... We have to work to ensure this world opens to Christ, that it is renewed. ...We know that God is the true Judge, we are sure He is good, we know His face, the face of the risen Christ. ... For this reason we can be sure of His goodness and live our lives courageously".

  At the end of his First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul "repeats a prayer of the early Christian communities of Palestine, putting it into the mouths of the Corinthians themselves: 'Marana tha! Our Lord, come!' ... which is also how the Book of the Apocalypse ends. ... Can we pray like this today? In our lives, in our world, it is difficult to pray sincerely for this world to perish, for the coming of the New Jerusalem, the Final Judgement, Christ the Judge. ... Nonetheless, like the first Christian community we can say: Come Jesus! Of course we do not want the end of the world to come now. On the other hand, we do want the world of injustice to end, we do want the world to change, the civilisation of love to begin, a world of justice and peace to come, a world without violence and hunger. ... But without the presence of Christ a truly just and renewed world will never come".

  "We can and must cry out urgently in the circumstances of our own time: Come, Lord! Come in Your way, in the ways that You know. Come where there is injustice and violence. Come into the refuge camps of Darfur and North Kivu, in so many parts of the world. Come where drugs dominate. Come also among the rich who have forgotten You and who live for themselves alone. Come where You are known. Come in Your way and renew today's world. Come also into our hearts ... that we too may become light of God, Your presence".
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 12 NOV 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Fr. Jose Moreira da Silva of the clergy of the diocese of Porto Nacional, Brazil, pastor of the parish of "Nossa Senhora de Abadia" in Taguatinga, as bishop of Januaria (area 38,187, population 300,000, Catholics 270,000, priests 18, permanent deacons 2, religious 40), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Ponte Alta, Brazil in 1953 and ordained a priest in 1982. He succeeds Bishop Anselmo Muller M.S.F., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Fr. Neri Jose Tondello of the clergy of the diocese of Caxias do Sul, Brazil, "fidei donum" priest in the diocese of Juina and rector of the major seminary of Cuiaba, as bishop of Juina (area 129,078, population 140,800, Catholics 127,963, priests 17, religious 48), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Antonio Prado, Brazil in 1964 and ordained a priest in 1993.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 11 NOV 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Accepted the resignation from the diocese of Bathurst, Australia, presented by Bishop Patrick Dougherty, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Bishop Daniel Nlandu Mayi, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, as coadjutor of Matadi (area 31,000, population 2,100,000, Catholics 995,000, priests 127, religious 183), Democratic Republic of Congo.

 - Appointed as ordinary members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences: Govind Swarup, professor of astrophysics at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics of Mumbai, India, and Stanislas Dehaene, professor of cognitive experimental psychology at the College de France in Paris and director of the INSERM-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit in Orsay, France.
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PASTORAL CARE IN THE TREATMENT OF SICK CHILDREN

VATICAN CITY, 11 NOV 2008 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office this morning, a press conference was held to present the Twenty-third International Conference of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, which has as its theme this year: "Pastoral Care in the Treatment of Sick Children". The meeting is due to be held in the Vatican from 13 to 15 November.

  Participating in today's event were Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, Bishop Jose L. Redrado O.H. and Fr. Felice Ruffini M.I, respectively president, secretary and under secretary of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care; Bruna Costacurta, professor of biblical exegesis in the faculty of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, and Alberto G. Ugazio, co-ordinator of the department of paediatric medicine at Rome's "Bambino Gesu" Hospital.

  In his remarks, Cardinal Lozano Barragan indicated that "in the last decade more than two million children have been killed in the course of armed conflict, six million have been left handicapped, tens of thousands mutilated by antipersonnel mines and 300,000 recruited as child soldiers. More than 4,300,000 children have died of AIDS.

  "Poverty", he added, "remains the principal cause of childhood sickness. One billion two hundred thousand people live with less than a dollar a day. Even in the richest countries, one child in six lives under the poverty line. ... Two hundred and fifty million children under 15 work, including some 60 million who do so in dangerous conditions", while "many children and adolescents are left to their own devices. ... There are no controls on television programmes or on the Internet where they navigate without any kind of moral guidance. The sex trade, paedophilia, violence in schools, crimes, organised bands, etc., are all growing phenomena. ... Many families have relinquished their duty to educate" their children and "very often school education is reduced to mere information, with authentic formation being abandoned".

  Having provided these statistics, the cardinal turned to focus on the forthcoming meeting's theme of caring for sick children. "In the first part of the conference, entitled 'Situation'", he said, "we will consider the reality and origin of childhood diseases. We will begin with the history of treating sick children in the world, the demographics of the infant population and their mortality rates. We will then study the principal sicknesses to which children are exposed before evaluating whether globalisation represents an opportunity or a risk for the sick. ... We will also examine the question of lifestyle and diet. ... As concerns the political side of the question, we will study .... legislation and healthcare systems. ... In its ecological aspects we will consider initiatives undertaken by the World Health Organisation".

  In the second part of the conference, entitled "Reflection", participants will analyse "what Holy Scripture and the Fathers of the Church have to tell us about the cure of children, examining what those cures were over the course of Church history and the witness of the saints who consecrated their lives to caring for sick children. ... We will conclude our reflection with a dialogue on the great religions: Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism", said the cardinal.

  "The third part of the conference is dedicated to 'Action'", Cardinal Lozano Barragan went on. "What kind of catechesis and formation in the faith do we need in order to face this serious problem? How must we proceed in sacramental terms towards these children? How can we use the psychological sciences in this form of treatment?. ... We will examine research into medicines, nutrition and lifestyle. ... From a socio-political standpoint, we will highlight the role that the social communications media, and national and international healthcare systems must have, ... as well as the problem of migration. ... At a personal level, we will ask ourselves about the role of the diocese, of the parish, of religious orders and congregations, and of volunteers".

  The cardinal concluded by recalling that the conference will be attended "by 41 specialists from various countries, all of them highly qualified in their specific fields".
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REPUBLIC OF CHINA: CONTRIBUTION TO WORLD STABILITY

VATICAN CITY, 8 NOV 2008 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Holy Father received the Letters of Credence of Wang Larry Yu-yuan, the new ambassador of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the Holy See.

  "The Government in Taipei", said the Pope in his English-language remarks to the diplomat, "has a keen sense of belonging to a world community, a global human family. This is expressed in many ways, not least in the generosity with which aid and emergency relief is supplied to poorer nations. In this regard, your country makes a valuable contribution to the building of a more secure and stable world. The Holy See is pleased to work together with all those who seek to promote peace, prosperity and development, and appreciates the Republic of China's commitment to that noble cause".

  Benedict XVI recalled that although Catholics in the country "represent little more than one per cent of the population, they are eager to play their part in building up a society that is humane, just, and marked by genuine concern for the welfare of the weaker members of the community. .... Your government's firm commitment to freedom of religion has made it possible for the Church to carry out her mission of love and service, and to express herself openly through worship and the proclamation of the Gospel".

  "Thanks to their 'innate spiritual insight and moral wisdom', there is great religious vitality and capacity for renewal among the peoples of Asia. Hence the ground is particularly fertile for inter-religious dialogue to take root and grow", he said.

  "How important it is in today's world for different peoples to be able to listen to one another in an atmosphere of respect and dignity, conscious that their shared humanity is a bond far deeper than the cultural variations that seem to divide them!" the Pontiff exclaimed.

  "Frank and constructive dialogue is also the key to the resolution of the conflicts that threaten the stability of our world. In this regard, the Holy See welcomes the recent positive developments in relations between Taiwan and mainland China. Indeed the Catholic Church is eager to promote peaceful solutions to disputes of whatever kind, 'giving attention and encouragement to even the faintest sign of dialogue or desire for reconciliation'. In this way, she wishes to support the efforts of governments to become 'staunch champions of human dignity and courageous builders of peace'".
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