CARDINAL CANIZARES LLOVERA, POPE'S SPECIAL ENVOY

Vatican City, 8 February 2014 (VIS) – In a letter made public today, written in Latin and dated 16 January, the Holy Father nominated 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 concluding celebrations for the jubilee year for the fifth centenary of the erection of the first diocese (Santa Maria la Antigua) on the American Continent, scheduled to take place from 14-15 February 2014.

AUDIENCES

Vatican City, 10 February 2014 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

- Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome.

- Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

- Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin, Italy.

On Saturday, 8 February, the Holy Father received in audience:

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

Nineteen prelates of the Polish Episcopal Conference on their “ad limina” visit:

- Archbishop Andrzej Dziega of Szczecin-Kamien, with his auxiliary, Bishop Marian Blazej Kruszylowicz, O.F.M. Conv.;

- Bishop Edward Dajczak of Koszalin-Kolobrzeg, with his auxiliary, Bishop Krzysztof Zadarko;

- Bishop Stefan Regmunt of Zielona Gora-Gorzow, with his auxiliary, Bishop Tadeusz Litynski, and former auxiliary, Bishop Pawel Socha, C.M.;

- Archbishop Slawoj Leszek Glodz of Gdansk, with Archbishop emeritus Tadeusz Goclowski, C.M.M

- Bishop Ryszard Kasyna of Pelplin, with his auxiliary, Bishop Wieslaw Smigiel;

- Bishop Andrzej Wojciech Suski of Turun, with his auxiliary, Bishop Jozef Szamocki;

- Archbishop Wojciech Ziemba of Warmia, with his auxiliary, Bishop Jacek Jezierski;

- Bishop Jan Styrna of Elblag, with his auxiliary, Bishop Jozef Wysocki;

- Bishop Jerzy Mazur, S.V.D. of Elk, with his auxiliary, Bishop Romuald Kaminski.

- Cardinal Julian Herranz.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 10 February 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

- appointed Rev. Moses Hamungole as bishop of Monze (area 61,160, population 1,682,000, Catholics 302,205, priests 81, religious 166), Zambia. The bishop-elect was born in Kafue, Zambia in 1967 and was ordained a priest in 1994. He holds a licentiate in social communications from the Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, and a doctorate in social communications from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He has served in the following pastoral and administrative roles: vicar of the “New Kanyama” and “Railway-Chowa” parishes, director of Radio Yatsani and the communications office of the archdiocese of Lusaka, secretary for communications for the AMECEA in Nairobi, Kenya, and president of SIGNIS, Africa. He is currently director of English and Kishwahili programmes for Vatican Radio. He succeeds Bishop Emilio Patriarca, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.

- appointed Msgr. Demetrio Jiminez Sanchez-Mariscal, O.S.A., as bishop prelate of the territorial prelature of Cafayate (area 46,847, population 64,572, Catholics 57,352, priests 13, permanent deacons 1, religious 31), Argentina. The bishop-elect was born in Los Carralbos, Spain in 1963, took his perpetual vows in 1986 and was ordained a priest in 1988. He holds a licentiate in philosophy from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum), Rome, and a Master's degree in Science of Religions from the Pontifical Comillas University of Madrid, Spain. He has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles, including professor and bursar of the monastery of Santa Maria de la Vid, Burgos, Spain, vicar of the parish of San Manuel y San Benito, Madrid, vicarial secretary of the Agostinian region of San Jose, Argentina, regional vicar of the Agostinian Order in Argentina and Uruguay, priest of San Agustin in Buenos Aires, lecturer in the Tagaste Agostinian centre for theological studies and in the Instituto Teologico Escurialense, affiliated to the Pontifical University of Salamanca, visiting professor in theology of religions and interreligious dialogue in the Centro di Misionologia del Cono Sur Juan Pablo II, co-ordinator general and ordinary professor of the Escuela di Teologia y Ciencias Religiosas of the prelature of Cafayate, adjunct professor of philosophy at the Catholic University of Argentina, and associate professor in the faculty of philosophy at the St. Thomas Aquinas University in Buenos Aires. He currently works in the “Nuesta Senora de la Candelaria” parish and legal representative of the San Agustin college in Catamarca, Cafayate. He succeeds Bishop Mariano Anastasio Moreno Garcia, O.S.A., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same territorial prelature, upon having reached the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.

On Saturday, 8 February, the Holy Father:

- appointed Msgr. Fabio Fabene, office head of the Congregation for Bishops, as under-secretary of the Synod of Bishops.

- appointed Rev. John Keenan as bishop of Paisley (area 580, population 372,800, Catholics 88,600, priests 58, permanent deacons 6, religious 37), Scotland. The bishop-elect was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1964 and was ordained a priest in 1995. He holds a “Bachelor of Laws” degree from the University of Glasgow, a licentiate in philosophy and a baccalaureate in theology from the Gregorian Pontifical University. He has served in a number of pastoral roles, including vicar of the parish of “Christ the King” in King's Park, and chaplain of the Holyrood Secondary School in Glasgow. He is currently chaplain of the University of Glasgow, priest of the parish of “St. Patrick's” in Anderston, and director of vocations for the archdiocese of Glasgow.

NOTICE

Vatican City, 10 February 2014 (VIS) – No VIS bulletin will be transmitted tomorrow, the eighty-fifth anniversary of the institution of Vatican City State by the signing of the Lateran Pacts. Service will resume on Wednesday, 12 February.

POPE FRANCIS TO POLISH BISHOPS: THE CHURCH IN POLAND MUST REACH OUT TO THE PERIPHERIES

Vatican City, 7 February 2014 (VIS) – As the canonisation of Blessed John Paul II approaches, Pope Francis today received in audience the bishops of the Polish Episcopal Conference at the end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit. He referred to the future saint as “a great Pastor who … guides us from Heaven, and reminds us of the importance of spiritual and pastoral communion between bishops”, and invited the former Pope's compatriots to ensure that nothing and no-one may bring divisions between them, as they are “called to build communion and peace, rooted in fraternal love, and to offer an encouraging example to all”, bringing “the strength of hope” to the Polish people.

The conversations that the Bishop of Rome has held in these days with the Polish prelates have confirmed that the Church in Poland “has great potential for faith, prayer, charity and Christian practice”, and that this “favours the Christian formation of the people, motivated and convinced practice, and the availability of laypeople and religious to collaborate actively in ecclesial and social structures”. However, there has been a certain decline in various aspects of Christian life, and this requires “discernment, and a search for underlying reasons and methods for facing new challenges, such as, for example, the idea of freedom without limits, hostile tolerance or indeed distrust of the truth, or resistance to the Church's legitimate opposition to dominant relativism”.

The family, “the place where one learns to live in difference and to belong to others, and where parents transmit faith to their children”, should occupy a central position in the ordinary pastoral care of bishops, also because “nowadays marriage tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will. Unfortunately this vision also influences the mentality of Christians, promoting a tendency towards divorce or separation. Pastors are called upon to ask themselves how they can help those who experience this situation, so that they are not excluded from God's mercy, from the fraternal love of other Christians and the care of the Church for their salvation; on how to help them not to abandon their faith and to enable them to raise their children in the fullness of Christian experience”. In this respect, he commented on the need for bishops to consider how to improve the preparation of young people for marriage, so that they are able to “discover the beauty of this union, based on love and responsibility”, and how to “help families to live and appreciate not only moments of joy, but also those of pain and weakness”.

In view of the next World Youth Day, which will be held in Krakow in 2016, the Pope turned his thoughts to the young “who, along with the elderly, are the hope of the Church” and to whom today's technological world “offers new possibilities for communication, but at the same time reduces interpersonal relationships based on direct contact, on the exchange of values and shared experiences. However, in the hearts of the young there is the yearning for something deeper, which allows their personalities to bloom fully. We must work towards meeting this wish”. A good opportunity, is offered by catechesis, which reaches the majority of Polish schoolchildren, who reach a good level of understanding of the truth of faith. “The Christian religion, however, is not an abstract science, but rather the essential knowledge of Christ, a personal relationship with God Who is love”.

The third theme of the Pope's address was the vocation to the priesthood and to consecrated life. After commenting that there are many Polish priests who exercise their ministry in the local Churches and also abroad and in missions, he praised the universities and faculties of theology throughout the country which “provide good intellectual and pastoral preparation” which must always be accompanied by “human and spiritual formation”.

In priestly ministry, “the light of witness can be obscured or hidden under a bushel if there is a lack of missionary spirit, of the wish to go out to the peripheries, with an ever-renewed missionary conversion to seek or encounter those who await Christ's Good News. This apostolic style also demands a spirit of poverty, of abandonment, to allow freedom of proclamation and sincere witness to charity”. With regard to vocations to consecrated life, especially in woman, “it is worrying to see a decline in numbers of those joining religious congregations, even in Poland: a complex phenomenon, with multiple causes. I hope that female religious Institutes may continue to be, in a way suited to our times, privileged spaces for the affirmation and human and spiritual growth of women. May religious women be ready to face tasks and missions, even those which are difficult and demanding, which bring to the fore their intellectual, emotional and spiritual capacities, their personal talents and charisms”.

The Pope concluded by encouraging care for the poor as, “in Poland too, despite current economic development in the country, there are many who are in need, unemployed, homeless, sick, and marginalised, and also many families – especially larger family units – who do not have sufficient means to live and to educate their children. Be close to them! I know how much the Church does in Poland in this field, demonstrating great generosity not only at a national level but also in other countries throughout the world. I thank you and your communities for your work. Continue to encourage your priests, religious and all faithful to have the 'imagination of charity', and to practice it at all times. And do not forget those who for various reasons leave the country in search of a better life elsewhere. Their growing numbers and their needs perhaps require greater attention on the part of the Episcopal Conference. Accompany them with the suitable pastoral care, so that they may conserve the faith and religious traditions of the Polish people”.