RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, THE PATH TO PEACE

VATICAN CITY, 13 JUL 2010 (VIS) - "Religious freedom, the path to peace" is the theme chosen by Pope Benedict XVI for the celebration of the 2011 World Day of Peace.

"The World Day of Peace", reads a communique on the subject released today, "will therefore be dedicated to the theme of religious freedom. It is well known that in many parts of the world there are various forms of restriction or denial of religious freedom, from discrimination and marginalisation based on religion, to acts of violence against religious minorities".

"Religious freedom is authentically realised when it is experienced as the coherent search for truth and for the truth about man. This approach to religious freedom offers us a fundamental criterion for discerning the phenomenon of religion and its expressions. It necessarily rejects the 'religiosity' of fundamentalism, and the manipulation of truth and of the truth about man. Since such distortions are opposed to the dignity of man and to the search for truth, they cannot be considered as religious freedom".

The communique recalls words Benedict XVI's pronounced before the United Nations General Assembly in 2008: "Human rights, of course, must include the right to religious freedom, understood as the expression of a dimension that is at once individual and communitarian - a vision that brings out the unity of the person while clearly distinguishing between the dimension of the citizen and that of the believer".

The text continues: "Today there are many areas of the world in which forms of restrictions and limitations to religious freedom persist, both where communities of believers are a minority, and where communities of believers are not a minority, and where more sophisticated forms of discrimination and marginalisation exist, on the cultural level and in the spheres of public, civil and political activity. 'It is inconceivable', as Benedict XVI remarked, 'that believers should have to suppress a part of themselves - their faith - in order to be active citizens. It should never be necessary to deny God in order to enjoy one's rights. The rights associated with religion are all the more in need of protection if they are considered to clash with a prevailing secular ideology or with majority religious positions of an exclusive nature'".

The communique concludes by highlighting how "man cannot be fragmented, and separated from what he believes, because that in which he believes has an impact on his life and on his person. 'Refusal to recognise the contribution to society that is rooted in the religious dimension and in the quest for the Absolute - by its nature, expressing communion between persons - would effectively privilege an individualistic approach, and would fragment the unity of the person'. It is for this reason that: 'Religious Freedom is the Path to Peace'".
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HOLY SEE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR 2009

VATICAN CITY, 10 JUL 2010 (VIS) - The forty-fifth meeting of the Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organisational and Economic Problems of the Holy See was held in the Vatican from 7 to 9 July, under the presidency of Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B.

  A communique published this afternoon explains that the Holy See consolidated financial statements for 2009, presented to the cardinals during the meeting by Archbishop Velasio De Paolis C.S., president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, show a deficit of 4,102,156 euro, the difference between an income of 250,182,364 euro and outgoings of 254,284,520 euro.

  The outgoings are due above all to the ordinary and extraordinary expenses of the dicasteries and offices of the Holy See, which employ 2,762 people of whom 766 are ecclesiastics, 344 religious and 1,652 lay people.

  The meeting also examined the consolidated financial statements of the Governorate of Vatican City State for 2009, which show a deficit of 7,815,183 euro. This represents an improvement with respect to last year which showed a loss of more than 15 million euro. A total of 1,891 people work under the jurisdiction of the Governorate.

  The communique highlights "the considerable economic and financial burden of protecting, evaluating and restoring the artistic heritage of the Holy See (major restoration work on the Colonnade of St. Peter's Square, and work on the papal basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls and St. Mary Major). Equally high costs were sustained for the internal security of Vatican City State and for important restructuring work in the Vatican Apostolic Library, which is due to reopen this September".

  Finally the consolidated financial statements of Peter's Pence were also presented. This fund consists of offers made to the Holy Father by the particular Churches, especially for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, and contributions by institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, foundations and various members of the faithful. In 2009 a total of 65,688,141 euro was raised, an increase with respect to last year. "The largest contributions in 2009 came from Catholics in the United States, Italy and France. Particularly significant, considering the number of Catholics, were the contributions from Korea and Japan".

  Bishops, depending on their resources and in keeping with canon 1271 of the Code of Canon Law, donated 25,066,541 euro. The largest donations came from dioceses in the United States, followed by those of Germany.

  The communique concludes by noting that the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR) donated some 50 million euros for the activities of the Holy Father.

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ANGELUS: THE LOGIC OF CHRIST IS THE LOGIC OF CHARITY

VATICAN CITY, 11 JUL 2010 (VIS) - At midday today the Holy Father appeared at the balcony overlooking the inner courtyard of the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo to pray the Angelus with pilgrims gathered there. He is currently spending a period of rest at Castelgandolfo, his summer residence.

  Commenting on today's Gospel reading, the parable of the Good Samaritan, the Holy Father affirmed that "it is up to us to be close to whoever needs help. The Samaritan", he said, "takes responsibility for the needs of a stranger whom robbers had left half dead at the roadside, while a priest and a Levite pass by on the other side, afraid perhaps that - as the precept said - they would be contaminated by contact with blood.

  "This parable must, then", the Pope added, "lead us to transform our logic in accordance with the logic of Christ, which is the logic of charity: God is love and to worship Him means to serve our brothers and sisters with sincere and generous love".

  Benedict XVI went on: "This Gospel episode presents us a criterion to use as a measure; that of 'universal love towards the needy whom we encounter by chance, whoever they may be'. Along with this universal rule, there is also a specifically ecclesial requirement; that 'within the ecclesial family no member should suffer through being in need'. The rule Christians follow, as learned from the teaching of Jesus, is that of the 'heart which sees' where there is need of love and acts accordingly".

  Finally, the Holy Father noted that today the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Benedict of Norcia , patron of his own pontificate and "father and legislator of Western monasticism" whom Paul VI proclaimed as patron of Europe in 1964, "recognising his great efforts towards the formation of European civilisation.

  "Let us entrust our journey of faith, and this holiday period in particular, to the Virgin, that our hearts may never lose sight of the Word of God and of our brothers and sisters in difficulty", he concluded.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 12 JUL 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Antonios Chouweifaty as adjunct promoter of justice at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.

  On Saturday 10 July it was made public that he accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Carapegua, Paraguay, presented by Bishop Celso Yegros Estigarribia, upon having reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Joaquin Hermes Robledo Romero.
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INSTRUMENTS OF RATIFICATION EXCHANGED WITH LOWER SAXONY

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUL 2010 (VIS) - On the afternoon of Monday 28 June at the apostolic nunciature in Berlin, Germany, Archbishop Jean-Claude Perisset, apostolic nuncio to Germany, and Christian Wulff, then minister-president of Lower Saxony now president of Germany, exchanged the instruments of ratification of an Agreement signed on 6 April this year.

  According to a communique published today the new Agreement modifies article 6 of the addendum to the 1965 Accord between the Holy See and Lower Saxony, and regulates the juridical position of certain Catholic schools administered by the dioceses of Hildesheim, Osnabruck, and Munster in that Land.

  A number of deputies from the Diet of Lower Saxony were present at the ceremony, along with a delegation of teachers and pupils from the schools involved in the agreement. Also present, apart from the staff of the nunciature, was Msgr. Felix Bernard, head of the Catholic office for Lower Saxony.

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