GENERAL AUDIENCE: THE GIFT OF COUNSEL

Vatican City, 7 May 2014 (VIS) – Counsel, that gift by which the Holy Spirit enables us to make concrete decisions according to the logic of Jesus and the Gospel was the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis during this Wednesday's general audience.

The Holy Spirit “helps us to grow positively both inwardly and in the community, and helps us not to fall prey to selfishness or to our way of seeing things”. “The essential condition for conserving this gift is prayer”, said the Holy Father, explaining that “we can all say the prayers we learnt as children, but we can also approach God in our own words: Lord, help me, advise me. What should I do now? And with prayer, we make space for the Holy Spirit to come and help us in this moment, to advise us on what we should do. We must never forget to pray. No-one knows if we pray on the bus or walking along the street: we can pray in silence. Let us take advantage of these moments to pray … so that the Holy Spirit may grant us the gift of counsel”.

In our intimacy with God, and listening His Word, we gradually leave aside our personal logic … and within us there matures a profound harmony with the Lord which leads us, in turn, to ask ourselves what His will is. It is the Spirit who advises us, but we must make space for this to happen. It is necessary to give space and pray to so that [the Holy Spirit] may always help us”.

And, like the other gifts of the Holy Spirit, counsel is “a treasure for the entire Christian community”, since the Lord does not speak to us only in the intimacy of the heart, but also through the voice and the witness of our brothers … who help us to shed light on our lives and to recognise the Lord's will”. In this respect, Francis mentioned that once, in the Argentine diocese of Lujan, a young man with “tattoos and earrings and all those things” recounted a very serious situation to him in confession, and said that his mother had advised him to turn to the Virgin Mary. “She was a woman with the gift of counsel. This mother did not know how to solve her son's problem but she indicated a sure path to him. … And effectively the boy said to me that: 'I looked to Our Lady and I felt that I should do this, this and this...'. And I didn't have to speak”, he recalled, “as the mother and the boy himself had already said everything. This is the gift of counsel. You, mothers who have this gift, ask for it for your children. Being able to give advice to one's children is a gift from God”.

The Holy Father concluded by citing Psalm 16, which says: “I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken”. “May the Spirit always instil in our hearts that certainty, and in this way fill us with peace, and may we always ask for the gift of counsel!”.

MAY, MONTH OF THE ROSARY

Vatican City, 7 May 2014 (VIS) – At the end of today's general audience, in the greetings in different languages, the Pope addressed in German the relatives and friends of the new Swiss Guards who yesterday swore their allegiance and assured them that “the Holy Spirit will drive out all fear”. He went on to speak about the World Youth Day to be celebrated in Poland in 2016. “Let us begin our path towards the meeting in Poland”, he said; “Let us walk together, united in love and prayer, following St. John Paul II's invitation to be always young in the Holy Spirit”.

In Italian, he greeted the Red Cross volunteers who are celebrating 150 years since the foundation of this organisation; the families of the young people of the San Patrignano House, to whom he confirmed his support “against any type of drug abuse”, and the Italian Confcommercio Ascom Group from Padua, to whom he gave encouragement in this moment of economic difficulty.

The Pontiff also invited pilgrims to visit the tombs of the apostles so that “there might grow the Paschal joy of the Resurrection, which is also made manifest in certain charitable works”.Tomorrow, Thursday, the Church will recite the Supplication to Our Lady of Pompeii, the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Holy Rosary, and Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will be present. Therefore, he urged the faithful to invoke Mary's intercession “so that the Lord may grant mercy and peace to the Church and to all the world”, and encouraged them to take special care to pray the rosary during this month of May.

CARDINAL BALDISSERI TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS DIACONATE

Vatican City, 7 May 2014 (VIS) – The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff today announced that this coming Sunday, 11 May, at 10:30 a.m., Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, will take possession of the diaconate of Sant'Anselmo all'Aventino, Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta, 5.

SWISS GUARD: MORE THAN 500 YEARS OF LOYALTY TO THE POPE

Vatican City, 6 May 2014 (VIS) – The swearing-in ceremony for the new recruits to the Swiss Guard, which takes place every 6 May, was held at 10.30 this morning in the San Damaso courtyard. Before cardinals, bishops, members of the Curia, representatives of the diplomatic delegations to the Holy See, the Swiss Army, relatives and friends, the thirty new recruits swore their allegiance to the Holy Father one by one, over the flag of the Corps and wearing the traditional uniform. “There is a festive atmosphere. The sound of voices and music, the colours of the uniforms and flags, and the presence of many guests all show that this is an important moment”, said Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, substitute of the Segretariat of State in his discourse, representing the Holy Father.

“Five hundred and eight years have passed since the establishment of this meritorious Guard corps”, continued Archbishop Becciu, “and the fact that Switzerland continues to send young men keen to serve the Pope is a cause for offering fervent thanks to God”. The prelate went on to encourage the new recruits to invoke with affection and devotion the two new saints, St. John Paul II and Saint John XXIII. “Ask them to help us to fulfil our obligations to the best of our abilities”. He also mentioned that this is the month of May, “the month of Mary, and so the commencement of your service is under the special protection of Mary most Holy”.

During the ceremony, the delegation from the canton Schwyz was led by the president Walter Stahlin and included the new Swiss ambassador to the Holy See, Pierre-Yves Fux. This afternoon at 5.30, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will celebrate the Eucharist in St. Peter's Basilica, accompanied by the “Singkreis Brunnen”, a choir from the canton Schwyz.

THE SUPREME PATRIARCH AND CATHOLICOS OF ALL THE ARMENIANS, KAREKIN II, TO VISIT ROME

Vatican City, 6 May 2014 (VIS) – His Holiness Karekin II, head of the of the Catholicate of Etchmiadzin of the Armenian Apostolic Church will visit Rome from 7 to 9 May to meet with His Holiness Pope Francis. Karekin II was elected the 132nd Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians in 1999.

The Armenian Church consists of two catholicates and two patriarchates, and around six million faithful. The two catholicates of Etchmiadzin and Antelias are in full communion, but they are independent from an administrative point of view. The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople refer to Etchmiadzin for spiritual questions.

Following Vatican Council II, new relations have developed between the Catholic Church and the Armenian Church. Representatives of the two catholicates of Etchmiadzin and Antelias are members of the Mixed International Commission for theological dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches.

During the Jubilee year 2000, the Catholicos Karekin II visited the Church of Rome. In 2001, Pope John Paul II paid a visit to the Catholicate of Etchmiadzin. The patriarch later headed the Armenian delegation during the funeral of John Paul II. Karekin II also met with Benedict XVI in 2008 and 2012, and was present during the inauguration of the Petrine ministry of Pope Francis.

On 8 May the Catholicos will meet Pope Francis and they will pray together. They will visit the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and various other dicasteries of the Roman Curia. Finally, they will visit the tomb of St. Peter and pray before the statue of St. Gregory the Illuminator, which is located on the north courtyard of the Vatican Basilica.