ENTHUSIASM AND COURAGE GIVE START TO PROCLAIMING CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, 30 MAY 2011 (VIS) - This afternoon the Holy Father received participants in the plenary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, instituted in October of 2010, along with its president, Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella.

  Referring to the theme of the next synod of bishops in October of 2012, the theme of which will be "The New Evangelization and the Transmission of the Christian Faith", the Pope said that "the term 'new evangelization' recalls the need of a new way of evangelizing, especially for those who live in a situation like today's where the development of secularization has left deep marks on even traditionally Christian countries".

  "The crisis we are living through", he stated, "carries with it signs of the exclusion of God from people's lives, a general indifference to the Christian faith, and even the intention of marginalizing it from public life. ... Moreover, the phenomenon of people who wish to belong to the Church but who are strongly determined by a vision of life that is opposed to the faith is often seen".

  Benedict XVI emphasized that "proclaiming Jesus Christ, the sole Savior of the world, is more complex today than in the past, but our task continues to be the same as at the beginning of our history. The mission hasn't changed, just as the enthusiasm and courage that motivated the apostles and first disciples should not change".

  The Church's message, he continued, "needs to be renewed today in order to convince modern persons, who are often distracted and insensitive. That is why the new evangelization must find the ways to make the proclamation of salvation more effective, the salvation without with life is contradictory and lacking in what is essential. This includes those who remain tied to Christian roots but who have a difficult relationship with modernity. It is important to make them understand that being Christian is not a type of outfit that one wears in private or on special occasions, but something living and totalizing, capable of taking all that is good in modernity".

  The Pope expressed the desire that in the plenary's work these days, the members and consultors outline "a plan to help the entire Church and the particular different Churches in the commitment of the new evangelization; a plan whereby the urgency of a renewed evangelization takes charge of formation, particularly that of the new generations, and is united to the proposal of concrete signs capable of making the Church's response in this particular moment clear".

  "If, on the one hand, the entire community is called to revive the missionary spirit in order to offer the new message that persons of our times are hoping for, it cannot be forgotten", he finished, "that the lifestyle of believers needs real credibility, as much more convincing as the more dramatic is the condition of the persons to whom it is addressed".
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CARDINAL MARX TO TAKE POSSESSION OF TITULAR CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, 30 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff announced that on Sunday, 5 June, at 10:30am, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of München und Freising (Munich), Germany will take possession of the title of San Corbiniano at Via Carlo Orff, 12.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 30 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received Norbert Lammert, President of the "Bundestag", the German parliament, accompanied by an entourage.

  On Saturday morning, 28 May, the Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

  - Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches,

- Six prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on their ad limina visit:

  - Bishop Sebastian Thekethecheril of Vijayapuram,

  - Bishop Stephen Athipozhiyil of Alleppey,

  - Bishop Vincent Samuel of Neyyattinkara,

  - Bishop Selvister Ponnumuthan of Punalur, and

  - Bishop Stanley Roman with Bishop Emeritus Joseph Gabriel Fernandez of Quilon.

  On Saturday afternoon the Holy Father met with:

  - Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli O.F.M., apostolic vicar of Tripoli, and

  - Cardinal Marc Ouellet, P.S.S., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
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POPE ENTRUSTS ITALY TO VIRGIN'S PROTECTION

VATICAN CITY, 27 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, Benedict XVI presided over the praying of the Rosary together with the bishops of Italy, entrusting the people of Italy to the Virgin. The Italian bishops were gathered for a General Assembly on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the political unification of Italy.

  After praying the Luminous Mysteries, Benedict XVI addressed the Italian bishops, recalling that this basilica "is the first in the West dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God", and that on 1 January 2000, Pope John Paul II opened the Holy Door "entrusting the Jubilee Year to Mary. Today we also wish to cross the threshold of this Most Holy "Door", which is Christ, and we ask the Virgin Mary to sustain our journey and to intercede for us".

  "The dispositions of the Virgin's heart - listening, receptiveness, humility, faithfulness, praise, and waiting -", he said, "correspond to the inner provisions and the gestures that shape Christian life. Aware that they express what God desires of the Church, they are what nourish her".

  "Faith, in fact", he continued, "is not alienation. The experiences that poison the dignity of humanity and the quality of social life are other [than faith]. ... Italy, celebrating 150 years of political unity, has reason to be proud of the presence and outreach of the Church, which does not pursue privileges nor intend to substitute the responsibilities of political institutions. Respectful of the State's legitimate secularity, the Church is attentive to sustaining the fundamental rights of the human person. Among these are foremost ethical instances and therefore the openness to transcendence, which constitute values prior to any state jurisdiction because they are inscribed in the very nature of the human person".

  The Church recalls "the duty to promote and protect human life in all its stages and to concretely support the family". In this context he referred to the problem of unemployment "that compromises the serenity of planning for family life in young persons, seriously damaging the authentic and harmonious development of society".

  The Pope urged the prelates to encourage "the faithful laity to overcome every spirit of small-mindedness, distraction, and indifference, and to participate in social life in the first person. Promote the formation of initiatives inspired by the Church's social doctrine so that those who exercise political and administrative responsibilities do not fall victim to the temptation to exploit their positions for personal interest or the thirst for power".

  "Taking education as the theme of this decade's pastoral commitment, you have sought to express the certainty that Christian existence - the good life of the Gospel - is precisely the demonstration of an accomplished life. In this way you assure a service that is not just religious or ecclesial but social as well, contributing to building the city of humanity. Take heart, then! In spite of every difficulty, 'nothing is impossible for God'".

 Benedict XVI concluded by entrusting the Italian peoples to the protection of Mary "Mater unitatis", so that the Lord might grant them "the invaluable gifts of peace and fraternity, and therefore harmonious development. That political forces might also be helped to live this anniversary of Unity as an occasion to strengthen the national union and to overcome every prejudicial conflict. That diverse and legitimate sensitivities, experiences, and perspectives might be rebuilt in a wider picture in order to seek together that which truly contributes to the good of the country. That the example of Mary might open the path to a more just, mature, and responsible society, capable of rediscovering the profound values of the human heart.
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CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS: WITNESS TO LOVE OF GOD

VATICAN CITY, 27 MAY 2011 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI received 400 participants of the General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis, with its president, Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

  The Pope recalled that that agency, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary, was founded by Pope Pius XII after the horrors of World War II "to demonstrate the solidarity and concern of the entire Church in the face of so many situations of conflict and emergency in the world". Meanwhile, Pope John Paul II strengthened even more the ties linking the various national Caritas associations to one another and to the Holy See, granting public canonical juridical personality to Caritas Internationalis. "As a result, the international agency took on a particular role in the heart of the ecclesial community and was called to share, in collaboration with the ecclesiastical hierarchy, in the Church's mission of making manifest, through practical charity, that love which is God himself".

  "Through such witness ... the Church reaches out to millions of persons and makes it possible for them to recognize and sense the love of God, who is always close to every man and woman in need. For us Christians, God himself is the source of charity; and charity is understood not merely as generic benevolence but as self-giving, even to the sacrifice of one's life for others in imitation of the example of Jesus Christ".

  Caritas Internationalis, the pontiff explained, "differs from other social agencies in that it is ecclesial; it shares in the mission of the Church. This is what the Popes have always wanted and this is what your General Assembly is called forcefully to re-affirm. It should be noted that Caritas Internationalis is basically made up of the various national Caritas agencies. In comparison with many Church institutions and associations devoted to charity, Caritas is distinctive. Despite the variety of canonical forms taken by the national agencies, all of them offer an outstanding aid to Bishops in their pastoral exercise of charity. This entails a particular ecclesial responsibility: that of letting oneself be guided by the Church's Pastors. Since Caritas Internationalis has a universal profile and is canonically a public juridical person, the Holy See is also responsible for following its activity and exercising oversight to ensure that its humanitarian and charitable activity, and the content of its documents, are completely in accord with the Apostolic See and the Church's Magisterium, and that it is administered in a competent and transparent manner. This distinctive identity remains the strength of Caritas Internationalis, and is what makes it uniquely effective".

  Then referring to the important role of that agency at the international level, the Pope affirmed that, thanks to the experience gained in these years, the Caritas members have learned to be "advocates within the international community of a sound anthropological vision, one nourished by Catholic teaching and committed to defending the dignity of all human life.  Without a transcendent foundation, without a reference to God the Creator, without an appreciation of our eternal destiny, we risk falling prey to harmful ideologies".

  Caritas Internationalis is "an organization charged with fostering communion between the universal Church and the particular churches, as well as communion between all the faithful in the exercise of charity. At the same time it is called to help bring the Church's message to political and social life internationally. In the political sphere - and in all those areas directly affecting the lives of the poor - the faithful, especially the laity, enjoy broad freedom of activity.  No one can claim to speak 'officially' in the name of the entire lay faithful, or of all Catholics, in matters freely open to discussion.  On the other hand, all Catholics, and indeed all men and women, are called to act with purified consciences and generous hearts in resolutely promoting those values which I have often referred to as 'non-negotiable'".

  "It is within this greater horizon, then, and in close collaboration with the Church's Pastors who are ultimately responsible for her witness of charity, that the national Caritas agencies are called to continue their vital witness to the mystery of God's healing and transforming love made manifest in Jesus Christ. The same holds true for Caritas Internationalis, which can rest assured that it will enjoy the assistance and support of the Holy See - particularly through the competent dicastery, the Pontifical Council Cor Unum - as it strives to carry out its mission". 
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