Appeal to the dioceses of Europe to welcome refugee families

Vatican City, 6 September 2015 (VIS) – After praying the Angelus, Francis launched a heartfelt appeal to all the dioceses of Europe to welcome families among the tens of thousands of refugees seeking to flee the horrors of war and persecution.

“We recognise God's mercy through our works, as is shown by the life of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the anniversary of whose death we commemorated yesterday”.

“Faced with the tragedy of tens of thousands of refugees who flee death from war or hunger, on a journey towards the hope of life, the Gospel calls to us and asks us to be close to them, to the smallest and the abandoned; to give them real hope. Not merely to say; 'be brave, be patient'. Christian hope is assertive, with the tenacity of those who go towards a certain destination”.

“Therefore, as we near the Jubilee of Mercy, I wish to address an appeal to the parishes, religious communities, monasteries and shrines throughout Europe to express the concreteness of the Gospel and to welcome a family of refugees. A concrete gesture in preparation for the Holy Year of Mercy. May every parish, every religious community, every monastery and every shrine in Europe host a family, starting with my diocese of Rome”,

“I address my brother bishops in Europe, true pastors, so that in their dioceses they may hear my appeal, recalling that Mercy is the second name of Love: 'as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me'. The two parishes of the Vatican will also welcome two families of refugees in these days”.

The Pope then went on to mention that the bishops of Venezuela and Colombia will meet shortly to examine together the painful situation that has emerged on the border between the two countries. “I see in this meeting a clear sign of hope. I invite all, especially the beloved Venezuelan and Colombian peoples, to pray that, in a spirit of solidarity and fraternity, the current difficulties may be overcome”.

He also remarked that yesterday in Gerona, Spain, the women religious Fidelia Oller, Josefa Monrabal and Facunda Margenat, “killed for their fidelity to Christ and to the Church”, were proclaimed blessed. Despite threats and intimidation, these women bravely stayed where they were to assist the sick, trusting in God. May their heroic witness, unto the shedding of their blood, give strength and hope to those who are persecuted today for their Christian faith. And as we know, there are many of them”.

Finally, he spoke about the inauguration last Friday in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, of the eleventh African Games, in which thousand of athletes from all over the continent will compete. “I hope that this great festival of sport will contribute to peace, fraternity and the development of all the countries of Africa”.

The Holy Father receives the “Cells of evangelisation”

Vatican City, 5 September 2015 (VIS) – This morning in the Paul VI Hall, Pope Francis received more than 5,000 members of the “Cells of Evangelisation” from all over the world, accompanied by the Fr. Piergiorgio Perini, parish priest of St. Eustorgio in Milan, Italy, who founded this institution whose statutes were formally recognised by the Catholic Church on 15 April this year. With the help of their “cells”, parish priests are able to educate their parishes in evangelisation and to continue their ordinary pastoral ministry while also giving it a missionary quality.

This missionary aim requires, above all, “listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit Who continues to speak to His Church and to drive her to take paths that are at times little-known but decisive for the progress of evangelisation. Remaining always willing to listen and being careful never to become exhausted by tiredness and the difficulties of the moment, are conditions for overcoming the various obstacles we encounter on the path of evangelisation”.

The cells, with their daily commitment and in communion with other ecclesial entities, help the parish community to become a family “in which we find the rich and multiform reality of the Church”. “Meeting in homes to share the joys and hopes that are present in the heart of every person, is a genuine experience of evangelisation that closely resembles what took place in the early years of the Church”, remarked the Pope, noting that the Cells are “able to welcome all without judging anyone, to offer the experience of God's presence and love for one's brothers. Welcome is fundamental to evangelisation, as it is one of the first signs of the communion to which we are called to bear witness, for having encountered Christ in our life”.

The Holy Father exhorted the members of the movement to make the Eucharist the heart of their evangelising mission, “so that each Cell may be a Eucharistic community where breaking bread is equivalent to recognising the real presence of Jesus Christ among us”. “Your statutes were approved on Divine Mercy Sunday. May you always bear witness to the tenderness of God the Father and His closeness to everyone, especially the weakest and loneliest”.

Cardinal Fernando Sturla, Pope's special envoy to the Fifth National Eucharistic Congress of Bolivia

Vatican City, 5 September 2015 (VIS) – In a letter published today, written in Latin and dated 22 August, the Holy Father appoints Cardinal Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., archbishop of Montevideo, Uruguay, as his special envoy to the Fifth National Eucharistic Congress of Bolivia, to be celebrated in Tarija, Bolivia from 16 to 20 September.

The mission accompanying the cardinal will be composed of Msgr. Diego Luis Espana Gonzalez, vicar general of the diocese of Tarija, Bolivia, and Fr. Pablo Cesar Alcoba Miranda, parish priest of the parish Nuestra Senora de Pilcomayo in Yacuiba and episcopal vicar of the same diocese.

Audiences

Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience 40 prelates from the Portuguese Episcopal Conference, on their “ad Limina” visit, in two separate groups. In the early morning, he received:

- Cardinal Jose Macario do Nascimento Clemente, patriarch of Lisbon, with his auxiliaries, Bishop Joaquim Augusto da Silva Mendes, Bishop Nuno Bras da Silva Martins, and Bishop Jose Augusto Traquina Maria;

Bishop Antonio de Sousa Braga of Angra;

- Bishop Antonio Jose Cavaco Carrilho of Funchal, with Bishop emeritus Teodoro de Faria;

- Bishop Manuel da Rocha Felicio of Guarda;

- Bishop Antonio Augusto dos Santos Marto of Leiria-Fatima, with Bishop emeritus Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva;

- Bishop Antonino Eugenio Fernandes Dias of Portalegre Castelo Branco;

- Bishop Manuel Pelino Domingues of Santarem;

- Bishop Gilberto Delio Gongalves Canavarro dos Reis of Setubal with Bishop emeritus Manuel da Silva Martins;

- Archbishop Jose Francisco Sanches Alves of Evora, with Bishop emeritus Maurilio Jorge Quintal de Gouveia;

- Bishop Antonio Vitalino Fernandes Dantas of Beja, with coadjutor Bishop Jose Jogo dos Santos Marcos;

- Bishop Manuel Neto Quintas of Faro, with Bishop emeritus Manuel Madureira Dias;

In the late morning, he received:

- Archbishop Jorge Ferreira da Costa Ortiga of Braga, with his auxiliary, Bishop Francisco Jose Villas-Boas Senra de Faria Coelho;

- Bishop Antonio Manuel Moiteiro Ramos of Aveiro;

- Bishop Jose Manuel Garcia Cordeiro of Braganca Miranda, with Bishops emeritus Antonio Jose Rafael and Antonio Montes Moreira;

- Bishop Virgilio do Nascimento Antunes of Coimbra;

- Bishop Antonio Jose da Rocha Couto of Lamego, with Bishop emeritus Jacinto Tomas de Carvalho;

- Bishop Antonio Francisco dos Santos of Porto, with his auxiliaries, Bishop Antonio Maria Bessa Taipa, Bishop Joao Evangelista Pimentel Lavrador and Bishop Pio Goncalo Alves de Sousa, and former auxiliary Bishop Joao Miranda Teixeira;

- Bishop Anacleto Cordeiro Gongalves de Oliveira of Viana do Castelo, with Bishop emeritus Jose Augusto Martins Fernandes Pedreira;

- Bishop Amandio Jose Tomas of Vila Real;

- Bishop Ilidio Pinto Leandro of Viseu;

- Bishop Manuel da Silva Rodrigues Linda, Military Ordinary, with Military Ordinary emeritus Bishop Januario Torgal Mendes Ferreira.

On Saturday, 5 September, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops;

- Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith;

- Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brasilia, Brazil, president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, with Archbishop Murilo Sebastiao Ramos Krieger of Sao Salvador da Bahia, vice president; and Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, auxiliary of Brasilia, secretary general.

Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 7 September 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:

On Saturday, 5 September, the Holy Father:

- appointed Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Catholic Education, as his special envoy at the concluding celebration of the 500th anniversary of the arrival from Rome of the Sacred Image of the Madonna of Lask in the shrine of Lask in the archdiocese of Lodz, to be held on Sunday 8 November.

- accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Taiohae, Marquis Islands, France, presented by Bishop Guy Chevalier, SS.CC. upon reaching the age limit. He is succeeded by Bishop Pascal Chang-Soi, SS.CC., coadjutor of the same diocese.

- gave his assent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the Armenian Patriarchal Church of Rev. Archpriest Kevork (Georges) Assadourian as auxiliary of the patriarchal eparchy of Beirut of the Armenians (Catholics 12,500, priests 22, permanent deacons 3, religious 49), Lebanon. The bishop-elect was born in Kamichlie, Syria in 1961 and was ordained a priest in 1986. He studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) and at the Pontifical Lateran University, and has served in a number of roles in Lebanon, including vice rector of the seminary of Bzommar, vicar and parish priest in several parishes, and bursar. He currently exercises his pastoral ministry in Paris in the Armenian-Catholic eparchy of France.

- appointed Archbishop Thomas E. Gullickson, formerly apostolic nuncio in Ukraine, as apostolic nuncio in Switzerland and in the Principality of Liechtenstein.