FUNERAL FOR CARDINAL MARCHISANO

Vatican City, 30 July 2014 (VIS) – This morning Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, presided at the funeral of Cardinal Francesco Marchisano, archpriest emeritus of St. Peter's Basilica, who died on Sunday 27 July at the age of 85. In his homily, Cardinal Sodano recalled the late prelate's 62 years of service to the Church, praising his methodical and silent approach. “A style that recalls that of the bees depicted on Pope Urban VIII's coat of arms, in memory of his work”.

He also commented on Cardinal Marchisano's works of charity, in particular his thirty years of work at the Institute for the Deaf-Mute, and thanked the Lord “for the gift He has given to the Church, for this generous ministry”.

PAPAL AND HOLY SEE HIGHLIGHTS FOR JANUARY – APRIL 2014

Vatican City, 30 July 2014 (VIS) – The following are highlights of the activities of Pope Francis and the Holy See during the months of January to April 2014.

JANUARY

6: Private visit to the Roman parish of Sant'Alfonso Maria de' Liguori alla Giustiniana, Rome.

9: The Holy Father receives in audience Severin Mathias Akeo, the new ambassador of Cote d'Ivoire to the Holy See, presenting his credential letters.

16: Publication of the Holy Father's message for the 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations (11 May) on the theme “Vocations: Witness to the Truth”.

18: The Holy Father nominates Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as his special envoy to Panama for the closing ceremony of the jubilee year convoked for the fifth centenary of the erection of the first diocese (Santa Maria la Antigua) on the American continent (14-15 February 2014).

19: Pastoral visit to the Roman parish of “Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio”.

22: Pope's message to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

23: Presentation of the Holy Father's message for the 48th World Day of Social Communication, entitled, “Communication at the service of an authentic culture of encounter”.

24: The Holy Father receives in audience the president of the French Republic, Francois Hollande.

25: Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”, visits the areas struck by the typhoon Haiyan-Yolanda in the Philippines on 8 November 2013.

27 and 30: Audience with prelates of the Austrian Bishops' Conference, on their “ad limina” visit.

31: Presentation of the Year for Consecrated Life, convoked by Pope Francis in 2015.

FEBRUARY

3: The Holy Father received in audience His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, head of State of the Independent State of Samoa.

4: Presentation of the Holy Father's Lenten message for 2014, entitled “He became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (cf. 2 Cor 8,9).

6: Publication of the Holy Father's message, dated 21 January 2014, to the young people preparing for the 29th World Youth Day 2014, on the theme: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.

6: The Holy Father receives in audience Wafaa Ashraf Moharram Bassim, ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the Holy See, presenting her credential letters.

7: Audience with the bishops of the Polish Episcopal Conference, at the end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.

13: Audience with the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Bulgaria, at the end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.

14: The Holy Father meets with ten thousand engaged couples from all over the world on the feast of St. Valentine. The encounter, organised by the Pontifical Council for the Family, takes as its theme “The joy of 'Yes' for ever”.

14: The Pope receives in audience prelates of the Czech Bishops' Conference at the end of their “ad limina” visit.

15: Audience with the president of the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades.

16: Pastoral visit to the Roman parish of “San Tommaso Apostolo” in the Infernetto quarter.

17-19: The Pope meets with the Council of Cardinals, created on 13 April 2013 and confirmed by the chirograph of 28 September, to assist in the governance of the Universal Church and to draw up a plan for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution “Pastor bonus” on the Roman Curia.

20-21: Extraordinary Consistory on the family.

21: The Holy Father receives in audience Dilma Rousseff, president of Brazil, on the occasion of the Consistory in which Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro is created a cardinal.

22: Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of 19 new cardinals.

24: Motu proprio, “Fidelis et dispensator prudens”, (Lk 12,42), by which the Holy Father constitutes a new framework for the coordination of economic and administrative matters of the Holy See and Vatican City State.

24: The president of the Republic of Haiti, Michael Joseph Martelly, is received in audience by Pope Francis.

25: Publication of a letter addressed by Pope Francis to families in view of the upcoming Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled for October 2014, on the theme “The pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelisation”.

27: Presentation of the protocol for the Holy See's participation in Expo Milan 2015, on the theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”.

MARCH

1: The Holy Father receives in audience Victor Ponta, prime minister of Romania.

3: Audience with the prelates of the Spanish Episcopal Conference at the end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.

3: The Pope appoints Msgr. Alfred Xuereb, official of the Secretariat of State, as prelate secretary general of the Secretariat for the Economy.

4: The Pope opens the gardens of the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo.

10: It is made public that from 13 to 18 August, the Holy Father will make an apostolic trip to the Republic of Korea, on the occasion of the 6th Asian Youth Day, to be held in the diocese of Daejeon.

12: Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo, patriarch emeritus of Lisbon, Portugal, dies at the age of 78.

16: Pastoral visit to the Roman parish of “Santa Maria dell'Orazione” at Setteville di Guidonia, in the north sector of the diocese of Rome.

17: Audience with the three prelates of the Episcopal Conference of East Timor on their “ad limina” visit.

17: Christina Kirchner, president of the Argentine Republic, pays a private visit to the Holy Father.

17: Presentation of the “Global Freedom Network”, an agreement between representatives of the great world religions to combat modern forms of slavery and human trafficking, in collaboration with the “Walk Free Foundation”.

20: The Pope receives in audience Filip Vujanovic, president of the Republic of Montenegro.

20: Agreement signed by the NTT Data Corporation and the Vatican Apostolic Library to digitally archive 82,000 manuscripts.

21: Pope Francis nominates Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the Family, as his special envoy to the celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the destruction and reconstruction of the Abbey of Montecassino, Italy.

21: The Holy Father receives in audience the President of the Republic of Malta, George Abela.

21: Death of His Holiness Mar Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, at the age of 80.

22: Pope Francis receives in audience Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

22: The Holy Father Francis institutes the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

22: Msgr. Brian Ferme is appointed as prelate secretary of the Council for the Economy.

22: The Holy Father appoints Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, as his special envoy to the celebration commemorating the 650th anniversary of the consecration of the Cathedral of Krakow, Poland on 28 March.

24: Audience with the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Guinea at the end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.

25: The Holy Father appoints Bishop Nunzio Galantino of Cassano all'Jonio, Italy, as secretary general of the Italian Episcopal Conference for a five-year term.

26: Pope Francis receives in audience Barack H. Obama, president of the United States of America.

27: Pope Francis receives in audience Karolos Papoulias, president of the Hellenic Republic.

28: The Holy Father receives the bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar at the end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.

APRIL

3: The Holy Father receives in audience Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

3: Pope Francis receives in audience the bishops of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Rwanda at the end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.

5: The Holy Father Francis receives in audience Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of the Republic of Liberia.

6: Visit to the Roman parish of St. Gregory the Great, in the west of the diocese of Rome.

7: Pope Francis receives in audience the bishops of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference, at the end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.

7: His Majesty Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein, King of Jordan, is received in audience by the Holy Father.

8: Death of His Beatitude Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch emeritus of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Iraq, at the age of 87.

10: The Pope receives in audience Zvonimir Jankuloski, ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia at the Holy See, presenting his credential letters.

12: Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta, archbishop of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, takes possession of the title of St. Mary Mother of Providence in Monte Verde, Via di Donna Olimpia, 35.

17: Holy Mass “in cena Domini” at the St. Mary of Providence Centre of the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation, Rome.

24: Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo, O.M.I., archbishop of Cotabato, Philippines, takes of the title of St. Mary “Regina Mundi” in Torre Spaccata, Via Alessandro Barbosi, 6.

25: Audience with the bishops of the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, from South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland, at the end of their “ad limina” visit.

26: The Holy Father receives in audience the prime minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

26: The Holy Father receives in audience Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado, president of the Republic of Honduras, with his wife and entourage.

26: Pope Francis receives in audience Their Majesties King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium.

26: Pope Francis receives in audience Bronislaw Komorowski, president of the Republic of Poland, with his wife and entourage.

27: Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday), canonisation of Blesseds Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II.

27: Cardinal Philippe Nakellentuba Ouedraogo, archbishop of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, takes possession of the title of St. Mary the Consoler at Tiburtino, Via de Casal Bertone, 80.

28: Pope Francis receives Their Majesties King Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain.

28-30: Pope Francis' fourth meeting with the “Council of Cardinals”, created by the Holy Father to help with the governance of the universal Church and to draw up a plan for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution “Pasto bonus” on the Roman Curia.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 30 July 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of Bombay, India, presented by Archbishop Agnelo Rufino Gracias, upon reaching the age limit.

POPE FRANCIS' APOSTOLIC TRIP TO SRI LANKA AND THE PHILIPPINES

Vatican City, 29 July 2014 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office today announced that His Holiness Francis, accepting the invitation from the civil authorities and the bishops, will make an Apostolic trip to Sri Lanka from 12 to 15 January and the Philippines from 15 to 19 January 2015. The program for the trip will be published shortly.

THE POPE TO THE PENTECOSTAL CHURCH: WE ARE ON THE PATH TOWARDS UNITY

Vatican City, 29 July 2014 (VIS) – Unity in diversity and the plea for forgiveness for the lack of understanding shown by some Catholics towards their Pentecostal brothers were the key themes of the Pope's address at the Pentecostal Church of the Reconciliation in Caserta yesterday, during his meeting with his friend, the pastor Giovanni Traettino, whom he known for many years, both in Buenos Aires and as bishop of Rome, engaged in ecumenism. The meeting took place in a cheerful and intimate atmosphere, and was attended by 200 people, mostly Pentecostals from Italy, the United States and Argentina, as well as other countries. “With men like you”, said Pastor Traettino to his friend, Pope Francis, “there is hope for us, as Christians”.

The Pope's address responded to the discourse pronounced by Pastor Traettino, who had remarked that the presence of Jesus and walking in the presence of Jesus should be at the centre of our life. Francis remarked that “walk” was God's first commandment to his people, represented by Abraham – “walk before me faithfully and be blameless” – and added, “I don't understand a Christian who stands still! I don't understand a Christian who doesn't walk. A Christian must walk … because that which is still, that does not move ahead, becomes corrupt. Like still water, which is the first to become stagnant. … There are Christians who confuse walking and moving ahead with moving around. These, instead, are errants who saunter here and there; these are people who lack parrhesia, the boldness to go ahead; they lack hope”.

He went on to cite the story of Jacob who, during a time of famine, sent his eleven sons – ten of whom were guilty of betrayal, having sold their brother Joseph – to Egypt to buy grain. There, they once again found Joseph, who in the meantime had become the vizier. “When we walk in God's presence, we find brotherhood”, asserted the Pope. “When instead we stop, we scrutinise each other too much, and we set out on another path, that of gossip. … And in this way it begins, from the first moment the division of the Church began. And it is not the Holy Spirit who causes division! … From the very beginning there has been this temptation in the Christian community. 'I am from this group, you are from that one', 'No! I am the Church, you are a sect', and so on. … The Holy Spirit creates diversity in the Church … diversity, rich and beautiful. But, at the same time, the Holy Spirit creates unity, and so the Church is one in her diversity. To borrow a phrase used by an evangelical, a phrase I love, it is the 'reconciled diversity' of the Holy Spirit, Who creates both of these things: diversity in charisms, and harmony in charisms”.

To offer an image of how unity in the Church could be, Pope Francis first described a sphere, all of whose points are equidistant from the centre. This, he said, was an example of uniformity, and “the Holy Spirit does not create uniformity”. “Let us imagine, instead, a polyhedron: it is an example of unity, but with many different parts, each with its own peculiarity and charism. This is unity in diversity. This is the path that we Christians take, giving it the theological name of ecumenism: we seek to ensure that this diversity is harmonised by the Holy Spirit and becomes a unity; we seek to walk in the presence of God to be blameless”.

Pastor Traettino had also referred to the incarnation of Jesus, and the Holy Father responded that “the incarnation of the Word is the foundation – it is Jesus Christ! God and man, Son of God and Son of man, true God and true man. This is how the first Christians understood Him to be and they fought hard to maintain this truth: the Lord is God and man. It is the mystery of Christ's flesh. … I love the poor, the widow, the slave, the imprisoned. … I love them all, as these people who suffer are Christ's flesh. … It is not possible to preach a purely intellectual Gospel: the Gospel is the truth but it is also love and beauty! And this is the joy of the Gospel!”.

“On this path, many times we have done the same thing as the brothers of Joseph, when jealous and envy have divided us”, he remarked. “That sad story in which the Gospel for some was lived as truth and they did not realise that behind this attitude there were bad things, things that were not the Lord's, an ugly attempt at division. That sad history, in which there are repeated the same things that Joseph's brother did: denouncements, the laws of these people who 'are against the purity of the race'. … And these laws were ratified by baptised persons! Some of those who enacted these laws, and some of those who persecuted, denounced their pentecostal brothers because they were 'enthusiastic', almost 'crazy', who spoiled the race. … I am a pastor of Catholics, and I beg forgiveness for this. I ask your forgiveness on behalf of those Catholic brothers and sisters who did not understand and who were tempted by the devil, and who did the same thing that Joseph's brothers did. I ask the Lord for the grace to recognise and to forgive”.

Pope Francis went on to comment on Pastor Traettino's words, “The truth is an encounter”. “An encounter between people”, he emphasised. “The truth is not made in a laboratory, it is made in life, seeking Jesus in order to find Him. But the greatest and most beautiful mystery is that when we find Jesus, we realise that He sought us first, that He had found us first, because He arrives before us. I like to use the Spanish verb 'primerea' to describe this, meaning that He precedes us, and always awaits us. … That encounter that transforms us: everything comes from that encounter. This is the path of Christian sanctity: seeking Jesus every day in order to meet him, and letting oneself be sought and found by Jesus every day”.

“We are on that path of unity, among brothers”, he concluded. “Some people will be surprised: they will say, the Pope has gone to the evangelicals! He has gone to meet his brothers! Yes! Because – and this is the truth – they came to me first, in Buenos Aires. … And so this friendship began, this closeness between the pastors in Buenos Aires, and here today. I thank you, and I ask you to pray for me, as I need your prayers”.

Following the meeting, in the mid afternoon, the Pope returned to the Vatican by helicopter.