THE ECCLESIOLOGY OF VATICAN COUNCIL II AND THE SYNOD: CENTRAL THEMES OF THE COUNCIL OF CARDINALS

Vatican City, 2 October 2013 (VIS) – In a press conference held in the Holy See Press Office this morning, director Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., gave information on the meeting of the Council of Cardinals, taking place in the Vatican from 1 to 3 October.

The members of the Council, before the beginning of the meeting, concelebrate with the Pope the morning Holy Mass in the Santa Marta chapel, said Fr. Lombardi. Following the first meeting yesterday morning in the third loggia of the papal apartment, they decided to continue the meetings in the Santa Marta guesthouse, where they all currently reside. The meetings will take place in a small room, not far from the Chapel, for logistic reasons, ensuring that the members do not need to transfer to the apostolic palace. The meetings follow an intense schedule: from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Pope Francis will participate in the morning and evening sessions on Tuesday. Today he was not present due to the general Audience, but he will be present this afternoon and tomorrow.

The Pope emphasised the significance of the chirograph by which he instituted the Council of Cardinals, “a document that gives this group juridical status, stability and continuity and which makes the Council a more consistent tool, especially from a juridical point of view”. He also specified that the members are not “continental delegates”, but rather members of the episcopal college who are also cardinals, who have rich pastoral experience, and who come from large dioceses. The Holy Father chose them for this reason, but they are not delegates of the episcopates of various parts of the world.

“They are all people whom the Pope holds in high regard, with whom he is in confidence and accord and whose advice he considers to be helpful in taking what he considers to be the most suitable approach to the governance of the Church”, continued Fr. Lombardi. “This is not an insignificant task, since confidence and esteem foster the climate of serenity necessary for an open and constructive dialogue”.

The first meeting yesterday afternoon opened with a brief introduction from the Pope and a reflection on the ecclesiology of Vatican Council II, in order to define the nature of the Council in relation not only to organisational matters, but to “a broader theological and spiritual vision of the Church, inspired by the ecclesiology of Vatican Council II and the implementation of its themes”. “Naturally”, specified Fr. Lombardi, “this is not achieved simply by means of a morning round table, but indicates the views the various board members take. They have considered issues such as how to revive and refresh the relationship between the universal and local Church, communion and collegiality, the need to be a Church of the poor, and the role of the laity; all points raised by Vatican Council II and which form a backdrop to the work of the Council of Cardinals. In the light of this, they will later consider structures of governance”.

Each of the participants presented a brief summary of the suggestions received, and brought along material which forms part of the common working documentation for the Council. This has enabled the group to classify the major themes to be considered in this and subsequent sessions.

The afternoon session was dedicated to the Synod of Bishops and was attended by the new secretary, Bishop Baldisseri. “It is an important theme, both for the participation of the episcopate in the life of the Church through the synod, and for the urgency of initiating preparations for the next synod, about which we will probably know more within a few days. However we do not know if it will be an ordinary or extraordinary synod”, said Lombardi, adding that the Pope had made reference to a “theme of an anthropological nature: the family according to the Gospel, but in any case it is not yet precise. The Holy Father also said that prominent themes such as family and matrimonial pastoral will be the order of the day in the activity of the Church in the near future”.

“Today, Wednesday, the Council has focused on other issues such as the reform of the Curia in its various aspects, the function of the Secretariat of State, relations between the dicasteries and with the Holy Father. There have been many suggestions and contributions. It is is long term task, and therefore one should not expect conclusions in the short term or within these days”.

THE IOR PUBLISHES ITS ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE FIRST TIME

Vatican City, 1 October 2013 (VIS) – The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) today published its annual report for 2012 on its website, www.ior.va. It is the first report to be made public. The document, over a hundred pages long, reveals that in 2012 the IOR recorded a net profit of 86.6 million euros, a figure which enabled the Institute to make a contribution of 54.7 million euros to the budget of the Holy See. The report in itself is not a novelty, but rather the fact of its publication is; this constitutes a response to the demand for greater transparency in the Institute's activities, according to the president of the IOR, Ernst Von Freyberg, in an interview published today by Vatican Radio.

Von Freyberg explains that it is the first annual report published in the 125-year history of the IOR, and contains a description of its work, a summary of 2013 and the first eight months of 2013, statements from the supervisory board, from the commission of cardinals and from the prelate, and over sixty pages of detailed financial statements with a full audit statement from KPMG. “You do not have to be an accountant to understand these pages; if you read the introductory letter and the description of our business of 2012 and 2013 you will get a good idea of what the Institute for Religious Works is about'”.

With regard to the question of external auditing, included in the process of preparing the document, Von Freyberg reiterates that the IOR accounts have been audited for a long time by reputable international accounting firms, such as KPMG in 2013, and insists that this is not unusual; the novelty resides in the publication of the report. “The most surprising thing is how unsurprising it is. You see a rather conservatively managed financial institution safeguarding assets, investing in very conservative investments like government bonds and bank deposits. And you will see a highly capitalised institution. At the end of last year our equity ratio was 15% which is way above what comparable financial institutions would have”.

Von Freyberg emphasised that the publication of the report was “a key element” in the IOR's policy of transparency. “Since March this year we have embarked on a strategy based on three pillars. One is to reach out to the media and engage in a direct and open dialogue, telling the facts as they are in a systematic way. We now have a spokesperson's office for the IOR. The second element is to create a website which can serve as an authoritative source of facts about the Institute. The third element is to publish the annual report”.

For Von Freyberg the report is intended primarily for the “one billion Catholics in the world who have a right to know what this part of the Holy See does”. He added, “They also have a right to understand how we contribute to the wellbeing of the Church around the world. The second group is our partners, i.e. our correspondent banks who rely on us being a financially sound and well-managed business partner. The third group is the media, and financial analysts who may have an interest, and the public at large”.

With regard to the accounts and the general business of the IOR, the verdict is positive. “Since May we have employed the Promontory Group from the U.S. They are reviewing every single account and they are also doing special investigations for us. In addition and together with them we have reviewed our procedures for taking on clients and for dealing with clients to make sure that no money-laundering can happen at the Institute. All three projects have been going according to plan, we do have a new handbook, we do have new procedures, and we are also ready for inspection by third parties”.

Von Freyberg confirms that external help, in this case by the Promontory Group, is necessary for the IOR for two reasons. “The first is that you need someone with state of the art knowledge because he does these procedures time and again for different institutions in the world. The second is equally important. It is a lot of work. We have twenty to twenty-five people from the Promontory Group at any given day doing this work. We would not have these resources in house”.

The president of the IOR concludes that the publication of the report, represents “another step on the way to creating a compliant and transparent institution; the Holy Father will then decide later this year or next year in which exact direction he wants to send us. We have gone a long way on transparency and compliance, and the next important step is to look at our service to the client and see how we can improve the products we offer, the services we offer them”.

ARCHBISHOP ZIMOWSKI: OLD AGE IS THE FULFILMENT, NOT THE DECLINE, OF LIFE

Vatican City, 1 October 2013 (VIS) – The “International Day of Older Persons” is celebrated today, 1 October, and the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers (for Health Pastoral Care) has marked the event by publishing a message from its president, Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, entitled “The value of the life of the elderly”.

“This international day”, the prelate writes, “constitutes an important occasion, destined to assume ever greater relevance, considering that there estimated to be over 600 million older people in the world, and that the progressive ageing of the world population could, within a decade, bring this figure to over a billion elderly people. Therefore we are all called to collaborate everywhere, Christians and persons of good will, in the pursuit of a juster and more equitable society, enriched also by the effective participation of those who are at times considered 'not useful' or even as a 'burden', but who may instead offer a contribution based on the experience and wisdom acquired throughout life”.

“In many societies in so-called 'rich' countries, ensuring that the elderly are and remain 'co-protagonists' in social life means, in addition, facing the reality of increasing longevity, due to various factors including the growth of knowledge in medical and scientific fields. This longevity cannot, therefore, simply be a question of greater survival time, but should rather be accorded its due value in a respectful and appropriate manner, starting with the wishes and characteristics of the elderly and considering the context to which they belong”, continued the archbishop.

Solidarity between the young and the elderly leads to the understanding that “the Church is effectively the family of all generations, in which everyone must feel at home, which must not be guided by the logic of profit and of 'having', but rather by that of gratuitousness and love. When during old age life becomes fragile, it never loses its value nor its dignity; everyone is wanted and loved by God, everyone is important and necessary. … In this way there enters the value of a specific pastoral care, which includes first and foremost the fundamental element of communion between generations. … It regards the promotion of a culture of unity: unity between generations, which must not regard each other as detached or indeed opposed; a vision of life that allows new generations to grow, immersed daily in this culture of unity, to which each person brings an indispensable contribution”.

Archbishop Zimowski emphasises that this form of pastoral care should be a pastoral 'of' rather than 'for' the elderly, as “the older person is not first of all the object of care and charitable pastoral attention, but rather a subject and potential agent of pastoral action”, and insists that “religious assistance to the elderly should, indeed, be a commitment made by the Christian community as a whole”. To this end, the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers (for Health Pastoral Care) has organised an International Conference dedicated to “The Church in the service of the elderly patient: the care of persons affected by neurodegenerative pathologies”.

“From a Christian perspective, indeed, old age is not the decline of life, but rather its fulfilment: the synthesis of what one has learnt and lived, the synthesis of how much one has suffered, rejoiced, and withstood”.

AUDIENCES

Vatican City, 1 October 2013 (VIS) – Yesterday, 30 September, the Holy Father received in audience Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti of Ravello, apostolic nuncio to Belarus.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 1 October 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father:

- appointed Archbishop Joseph Spiteri as apostolic nuncio to Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. Archbishop Spiteri was previously apostolic nuncio to Sri Lanka.

- appointed Fr. Riccardo Ferri of the clergy of Massa Carrara-Pontremoli as prelate secretary to the Pontifical Academy of Theology. Fr. Ferri is a lecturer in theology, ordinary academic and council member of the Lateran Pontifical University.

- appointed Fr. Rafael Garcia de la Serrana Villalobos of the clergy of the personal prelature of Opus Dei as director of the Department of Technical Services of the Governorate of Vatican City State. Fr. Garcia de la Serrana Villalobos was previously vice director of the same department.

- accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Rockhampton, Australia, presented by Bishop Brian Heenan, upon having reached the age limit.

- accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Waterford and Lismore, Ireland, presented by Bishop William Lee, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.