SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN: DIVINE LOVE OPENS US TO OTHERS

VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2009 (VIS) - In today's general audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope focused his attention on Symeon the New Theologian, "an Eastern monk from Asia Minor whose writings exercised an important influence on theology and spirituality in the East, especially as regards the experience of mystical union with God".

  The Holy Father explained how Symeon was born in Galatai, Asia Minor. He began a civilian career in the imperial service but abandoned it in order "to follow the path of union with God" under the guidance of Symeon the Pious in a monastery in Constantinople. He died in the year 1022.

  "Symeon focused his reflections on the presence of the Holy Spirit in the baptised and on the awareness they must have of this spiritual truth. Christian life, he insists, is intimate and personal communion with God. ... True knowledge of God ... stems from a journey of inner purification". This journey must pass through "profound penitence and sincere suffering for ones sins in order to achieve union with Christ, the source of joy and peace".

  "This saintly Oriental monk reminds everyone to pay great attention to spiritual life. If, in fact, we are rightly concerned with tending to our physical, human and intellectual development, it is even more important not to overlook our inner development which consists in knowledge of God and communion with Him, so as to experience His help at all times and in all circumstances".

  Symeon the New Theologian "had certain proof that the source of Christ's presence and action in a person's soul is love", said Benedict XVI. "The love of God grows within us if we remain united to Him through prayer and listening to His Word. Only divine love makes us open our hearts to others and renders us sensitive to their needs, bringing us to consider everyone as our brothers and sisters and inviting us to respond to hatred with love and to offence with forgiveness".

  Recalling then how, as a young man, Symeon "found a spiritual director who helped him greatly and for whom he always maintained great respect", the Pope told his audience: "This remains valid even today, as everyone - priests, consecrated persons, lay people and especially the young - is invited to seek the counsel of a good spiritual father, one capable of accompanying each individual in a profound knowledge of self and leading him or her to intimate union with the Lord, that their lives may be increasingly moulded to the Gospel".

  "To advance towards the Lord we always have need of a guide, of some form of dialogue; we cannot do it just with our own reflections. And finding this guide is part of the ecclesial nature of our faith".
AG/SYMEON THE NEW THEOLOGIAN/...                     VIS 20090916 (480)

AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2009 (VIS) - Following this morning's general audience, the Holy Father received in audience Emil Boc, prime minister of Romania, accompanied by an entourage.
AP/.../...                                 VIS 20090916 (30)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Sergio Aparecido Colombo of Paranavai, Brazil, as bishop of Braganca Paulista (area 4,400, population 1,054,000, Catholics 789,000, priests 96, religious 196), Brazil. He succeeds Bishop Jose Maria Pinheiro, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

 - Appointed Bishop Jacinto Inacio Flach, auxiliary of Porto Alegre, Brazil, as bishop of Criciuma (area 5,093, population 539,000, Catholics 447,000, priests 66, permanent deacons 1, religious 163), Brazil.
NER:RE/.../COLOMBO:PINHEIRO:FLACH                     VIS 20090916 (100)

FIRST VISIT TO ROME OF ARCHBISHOP HILARION OF VOLOKOLAMSK

VATICAN CITY, 15 SEP 2009 (VIS) - Archbishop Hilarion of Volokolamsk, president of the Department for External Church Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow, is due to visit Rome from 15 to 20 September at the invitation of Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, according to a communique released by the council.

  This will be Archbishop Hilarion's first visit to Rome since he was appointed as president of the Department for External Church Affairs of the Patriarchate of Moscow to substitute Metropolitan Kirill following the latter's election as Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia.

  The archbishop will be received by the Holy Father and will meet, among others, Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B.; Cardinal Walter Kasper; Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

  "In the wake of the many meetings and conversations with the Patriarch in the past", says the communique, "this visit will confirm the ties of friendship between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, on the solid basis of mutual understanding and respect, with a view to closer collaboration and to favour the presence of the Church in the lives of the peoples of Europe and the world".
CON-UC/VISIT/HILARION:KASPER                 VIS 20090915 (230)

VAN THUAN PRIZES FOR SOLIDARITY AND DEVELOPMENT

VATICAN CITY, 15 SEP 2009 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office a conference was held to present the forthcoming second award of the Van Thuan Prize and of the Van Thuan - Solidarity and Development Prizes. Participating in today's meeting were Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and Msgr. Marco Frisina, director of the choir of the diocese of Rome and author of a composition in honour of Cardinal Van Thuan entitled: "Sentieri della speranza" (Paths of Hope).

  The Van Thuan Prize is awarded to people who have distinguished themselves in the promotion and defence of human rights.

  The award ceremony itself will take place tomorrow, 16 September, at Palazzo Colonna in Rome, on the seventh anniversary of the death of Cardinal Francois-Xavier Van Thuan, whose beatification cause was opened in 2007. The Vietnamese cardinal was Cardinal Martino's predecessor at the head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

  The 2009 Van Thuan Prize will be awarded to Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg for his efforts to defend the right to life and religious freedom.

  The Van Thuan - Solidarity and Development Prizes, to the value of 15,000 euros each, will be given to four humanitarian projects:

 - The Skills Development Centre for the Blind run by Fr. Carlo Velardo S.D.B. in Pakkred, Thailand.

 - The ALAS project of the "Caminos de Libertad" Foundation in the archdiocese of Bogota, Colombia, for the building of a national centre for pastoral care in penitentiaries.

 - The Non-profit Organisation "Cooperazione Missionaria e Sviluppo" run by Msgr. Andrea Vece at the Our Lady of Fatima parish in Salerno, Italy.

 - "ROCHER L'oasis des cites", an association dedicated to educational and social projects at the service of inhabitants of "difficult" neighbourhoods of French cities.
OP/VAN THUAN PRIZES/MARTINO                 VIS 20090915 (310)