To the Korean community: be a Church of martyrs

Vatican City, 14 March 2015 (VIS) – On the afternoon of Thursday, 12 March, the Pope celebrated Holy Mass in St. Peter's Basilica with the Korean community of Rome, accompanied by prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, in Rome on their “ad Limina” visit and whom Pope Francis had received in audience in the morning. In his homily, the Pope spoke about the laity, who carried forth the Church for two centuries, encouraging them to be as courageous as the first faithful; he urged all those present to be aware of this responsibility.

He went on to mention Korea's martyrs, and emphasised that the seedbed of the Church has been watered with their blood and thus given life. “Do not give up. Be on your guard against 'religious wellbeing'”, he said. “If you do not go ahead with the strength of faith, with the zeal and love of Jesus Christ, if you become soft – 'rosewater Christians', weak – your faith will diminish”. The Pope also highlighted the importance of being sons of martyrs, adding that “apostolic zeal is not negotiable. … You are a Church of martyrs, and this is a promise for all Asia. Keep going, and do not give up. No spiritual worldliness, nothing. No easy Catholicism, without zeal. No religious wellbeing. Love for Jesus Christ, love for Jesus Christ's Cross, and love for your history”.

Audiences

Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Cardinal Robert Sarah, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments;

- Frère Alois, prior of Taizé

- Delegation of the Latin American Network on the Social Doctrine of the Church;

- Six prelates of the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, on their “ad Limina” visit:

- Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna, Sarajevo, with his auxiliary, Bishop Pero Sudar;

- Bishop Franjo Komarica of Banja Luka, with his auxiliary, Bishop Marko Senren;

- Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno, apostolic administrator of Trebinje and Mrkan;

- Bishop Tomo Vuksic, military ordinary.

On Saturday, 14 March, the Holy Father received in audience:

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

- Archbishop Orlando Antonini, apostolic nuncio in Serbia.

From the Oriental Churches

Vatican City, 16 March 2015 (VIS) – The Synod of Bishops of the Maronite Patriarchal Church, in its extraordinary session of 10 to 14 March 2015:

- accepted the resignation of Bishop Elias Sleiman from the pastoral care of the eparchy of Lattaquie upon reaching the age limit, and elected him as president of the Patriarchal Tribunal.

- elected Bishop Joseph Mouawad, patriarchal vicar of Ehden-Zgorta, Syria, as bishop of Zahle (Catholics 50,000, priests 34, religious 42), Lebanon.

- elected, with pontifical assent, the Rev. Corepiscopa Antoine Chbeir as bishop of Lattaquie of the Maronites (Catholics 35,000, priests 27, religious 50), Syria. The bishop-elect was born in Ghosta, Lebanon, and was ordained a priest in 1988. He holds a doctorate in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome and has served as parish priest and diocesan chancellor. He is currently chancellor of the patriarchal vicariate of Jounieh, Lebanon, and succeeds Bishop Elias Sleiman.

Other Pontifical Acts

On Saturday, 14 March, the Holy Father:

- appointed Rev. Fr. Alojzij Cvikl, S.J., as metropolitan archbishop of Maribor (area 45,520, population 1,601,000, Catholics 47,900, priests 46, permanent deacons 71, religious 89), Slovenia. The bishop-elect was born in Celje, Slovenia in 1955 and was ordained a priest in 1983. He studied philosophy and theology at the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana and at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and holds a licentiate in pedagogy and social sciences from the “Lumen Vitae” Institute in Brussels, Belgium. He has served in a number of roles, including: deputy priest and parish priest in the parish of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in Ljubljana – Dravlje, rector of the Internate at the St. Stanislaw Archiepiscopal Institute in Ljubljana-Sentvid and teacher of religion at the Classical Lyceum of the same Institute, provincial of the Jesuits in Slovenia, president of the Conference of Major Superiors of Slovenia, and rector of the Pontifical Russian College (Russicum), Rome. He is currently bursar of the Archdiocese of Maribor.

- appointed the following consultors of the general secretariat of the Synod of Bishops: Msgr. Lluis Clavell, ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas; Giuseppe Bonfrate, lecturer in the Faculty of Theology of the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; Maurizio Gronchi, ordinary professor of dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome; Michele Giulio Masciarelli, lecturer in dogmatic theology at the Marianum Faculty, Rome, and fundamental theology at the Theological Institue of Abruzzo and Molise, Chieti; Peter Paul Saldanha, lecturer in ecclesiology at the Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome; Dario Vitali, lecturer in ecclesiology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; Aimable Musoni, S.D.B., lecturer in systematic theology, ecclesiology and ecumenism at the Pontifical Salesian University, Rome; Fr. François Xavier Dumortier, S.J., Magnificent Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome; Fr. Georges Ruyssen, S.J., lecturer in canon law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, Rome; Fr. Sabatino Majorano, C.SS.R., lecturer in systematic moral theology at the Alphonsianum Academy, Rome; Fr. Manuel Jesus Arroba Conde, C.M.F., dean of the Institutum Utriusque Iuris at the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome; Fr. Jose Granados, D.C.J.M., vice president of the John Paul II Pontifical Institute for Marriage and Family Studies, lecturer at the Pontifical Gregorian Institute.

The Pope announces an Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy

Vatican City, 14 March 2015 (VIS) – Yesterday, 13 March 2015, in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Francis declared the celebration of an extraordinary Holy year. The Jubilee announcement was made during the homily of the penitential celebration with which he opened the “24 Hours for the Lord” initiative. This “Jubilee of Mercy” will commence with the opening of the Holy Door in the Vatican Basilica on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December, and will conclude on November 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.

The papal Bull will be made public on Divine Mercy Sunday, 12 April, the Feast day instituted by St. John Paul II and celebrated on the Sunday after Easter.