General audience: together, let us take mercy to every part of the world

Vatican City, 20 January 2016 (VIS) – In this morning's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to the Week of Prayer for Christian unity, taking place this year from 18 to 25 January, on the theme "Called to proclaim the mighty acts of the Lord". "The first letter of St. Paul is addressed to the first generation of Christians to make them aware of the gift received in Baptism, and the demands that this involves", said the Pope. "We too, in this Week of Prayer, are invited to rediscover all this, and to do so together, overcoming our divisions. Sharing Baptism means that we are all sinners and that we all need to be saved, redeemed, liberated from evil".

"When we as Christians decide to share one Baptism, we affirm that we all – Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox – share the experience of being called from the unforgiving and alienating darkness, towards the encounter with the living God, full of mercy. We all, unfortunately, experience selfishness, which generates division, closed-mindedness, contempt. Starting over from Baptism means rediscovering the source of mercy, the source of hope for all, because no-one is excluded from God's mercy".

"Sharing this grace creates an indissoluble bond between the Baptised: by virtue of our Baptism we can consider ourselves brothers", he continued. "We are truly the holy people of God, even though, as a result of our sins, we are not yet a fully united people. God's mercy, that works in Baptism, is stronger than our divisions. To the extent that we welcome the grace of mercy, we become ever more fully the people of God, and we also become capable of proclaiming all His wonderful works, starting from a simple and fraternal witness of unity".

"By the grace of Baptism", he concluded, "we have obtained God's mercy and we have been welcomed into His people. We all – Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants – form a royal priesthood and a holy nation. This means that we have a common mission, which is that of transmitting the mercy we have received to others, starting from the poorest and the abandoned". Pope Francis concluded by urging all disciples of Christ to "find a way to collaborate together to take the mercy of the Father to every part of the world".

Audiences

Vatican City, 20 January 2016 (VIS) – The Holy Father received in audience:

- A Muslim delegation, presenting an official invitation to the Holy Father to attend the Great Mosque in Rome;

- Bishops from Sudan and South Sudan, attending a meeting organised by the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

Yesterday he received in audience Bishop Cesar Daniel Fernandez of Jujuy, Argentina.

Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 20 January 2016 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

- appointed Bishop Canisio Klaus of Santa Cruz do Sul, Brazil, as bishop of Sinop (area 191,000, population 650,000, Catholics 534,000, priests 52, permanent deacons 2, religious 69), Brazil. He succeeds Bishop Gentil Delazari, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.

- erected the Maronite apostolic exarchate of Bogota, Colombia.

- appointed Fr. Fadi Abou Chebel, O.M.M., as the first apostolic exarch of the new exarchate of Bogota, Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in Deir al Qamar, Lebanon in 1969, took his solemn vows in 1994 and was ordained a priest in 1995. He holds a licentiate in pastoral theology and has served in a number of pastoral and administrative roles, including deputy priest, spiritual assistant for young seminarians, general director of the Notre Dame college of Louaize, university chaplain and general director of university pastoral ministry in Lebanon.

Cardinal Parolin to the Global Foundation: encourage an economy at the service of our common home, the world

Vatican City, 19 January 2016 (VIS) – Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin spoke yesterday at round table organised by the Global Foundation on the theme "Rejecting the globalisation of indifference – towards a more inclusive and sustainable global economy". This initiative, he said, emphasises the Foundation's "commitment to being a privileged place of dialogue between major economic and political players, as well as a catalyst for ideas for the construction of an economic system at the service of integral economic development".

Cardinal Parolin affirmed that since the beginning of his Pontificate, faced with the many difficulties which afflict the world, the Pope has emphasised "the grave consequences of indifference and of the lack of responsibility", calling for the correction of an economy that causes exclusion and inequality. "He invites the rich and the poor, the powerful and simple, politicians and entrepreneurs to put the creative power of human intelligence at the service of the common good, with a spirit of solidarity and – I would add – mercy".

"Without forgetting how much has been done in these first years of the third millennium to help people escape from extreme poverty, Pope Francis continues to underscore his conviction that much more still needs to be done, and that in times of crisis and economic hardship a spirit of global solidarity must not be lost. It goes without saying – that part of this great effort is the creation and distribution of wealth. The right use of natural resources, the proper application of technology and the harnessing of the spirit of enterprise are essential elements of an economy which seeks to be modern, inclusive and sustainable. That will be possible, keeping in mind the definition of justice of the Roman jurist Ulpian and of St Augustine of Hippo – “Iustitia est constans et perpetua voluntas ius suum cuique tribuendi” (Justice is the constant and perpetual will to render to every man his due), which the Pope quoted in his address to the United Nations on 25th September 2015, with reference to the “2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, in order to say to those responsible for global affairs that our world demands of all government leaders a will which is effective, practical and constant, concrete steps and immediate measures for preserving and improving the natural environment and thus putting an end as quickly as possible to the phenomenon of social and economic exclusion".

The Secretary of State concluded by highlighting the importance of the meeting organised by the Global Foundation, which is "an important space for encouraging an increase in global awareness of the serious problems of environmental degradation and exclusion. It will thus provide a stimulus to strengthen the action which has already begun, and is starting to show positive and enduring results. … I reiterate the wish that these days might bring forth worthwhile contributions to encourage an economy which is increasingly at the service of our common home, which is the world as a whole".

Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, sole non-Muslim speaker at the First Arab Thinkers Forum

Vatican City, 19 January 2016 (VIS) – "Interreligious Dialogue and Extremism: reasons and remedies" was the title of the First Arab Thinkers Forum, held in Abu Dhabi from 17 to 18 January at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research. The only non-Muslim speaker was Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, who intervened during the first session during which the Grand Mufti of Lebanon, Sheikh Abdul Latif Daryan, also gave an address. In the other sessions there were contributions from various figures from the Arab Emirates, Egypt and Morocco.

Fr. Ayuso Guixot structured his discourse around five key points: extremism, the culture of encounter, the key role of religious leaders, the need for sincere dialogue and the importance of prayer. He emphasised that it was not his intention to pursue considerations on the economic, political, social and cultural reasons for extremism, well known to those present, preferring to focus instead on Pope Francis' recommendations to the international community on how to construct peace which can serve to counter extremism.

He began by citing the Holy Father's address to the Diplomatic Corps on 11 January this year, in which he affirmed that "extremism and fundamentalism find fertile ground not only in the exploitation of religion for purposes of power, but also in the vacuum of ideals and the loss of identity – including religious identity – which dramatically marks the so-called West. This vacuum gives rise to the fear which leads to seeing the other as a threat and an enemy, to closed-mindedness and intransigence in defending perceived notions. Yet the greatest challenge we face is that overcoming indifference in order to work together for peace, a good which must constantly be sought, by the promotion of a 'culture of encounter'. … Pope Francis believes that the motivation for interreligious dialogue must rest in the mutual commitment to peace and justice, thus making them the basic principles for all exchanges".

With reference to the key role of religious leaders, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue underlined that "extremist tendencies, irrespective of their origin, are actually among the most dangerous threats to world peace and security", and are incompatible with a truly religious ethic. Consequently, there is a need for "genuine effort by religious leaders and opinion makers to identify those persons who portray false beliefs and behaviours as part of their religious ideology". Political leaders "must support this campaign of awareness in order to prevent extremism in society and to lay the groundwork for moderation", has said, adding that "As religious leaders, we are obliged to denounce all violations against human dignity and human rights. Human life, a gift of God the Creator, possesses a sacred character. As such, any violence that seeks religious justification warrants the strongest condemnation because the Omnipotent is the God of life and peace".

In relation to the need for sincere interreligious dialogue, the prelate underlined that believers are united in the path of life, starting from our own identify for the good of our brothers and sisters. "Every one of us offers the witness of our identity to others and engages in dialogue with others. Then dialogue can move on to theological questions. But even more important and beautiful is to walk together without betraying our own identity, without disguising it, without hypocrisy".

Finally he recalled that "we believers have no recipe for these problems, but we have one great resource: prayer. As believers we pray. We must pray. Prayer is our treasure, which we draw from according to our respective traditions, to request the gifts for which humanity longs".