THE POPE RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONGO: SPECIAL ATTENTION TO REFUGEES AND REGIONAL SECURITY

Vatican City, 8 December 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Vatican Apostolic Palace the Holy Father received in audience the president of the Republic of the Congo, Denis Sassou N'Guesso, who subsequently went on to meet with Archbishop Pietro Parolin, secretary of State.

During the cordial discussions, the Parties focused on the positive contribution made by the Catholic Church in Congolese society, in particular in the fields of welfare and education. Mention was made of the good existing relations between the Holy See and the Republic of Congo, and various themes of common interest were considered, renewing intentions to strengthen further bilateral collaboration.

Finally, the focus turned to several questions of interest to Central Africa, including various situations of a humanitarian nature, with particular attention to assistance for refugees, as well as the problem of security in the Region, also in relation to the growth of tensions due to fundamentalism.

THE POPE CELEBRATES IN SANTA MARTA WITH THE CATHOLIC COPTIC PATRIARCH: MAY PEACE ARISE AGAIN IN THE HOLY LAND AND THE MIDDLE EAST

Vatican City, 8 December 2013 (VIS) – “Let us pray with trust that in the Holy Land and in all the Middle East peace may always arise again from the all too frequent and often dramatic interruptions. Let let enmity and divisions cease for ever”. This was the Pope's appeal during the morning Mass in the Santa Marta guesthouse, concelebrated with the Partriarch of Alexandria of the Catholic Copts, Ibrahim Isaac Sidrik, as a public demonstration of the ecclesiastical communion sought by the Patriarch and conceded by Pope Benedict XVI.

Francis cited the prophet Isaiah, who “reawakened in our hearts the wait for the glorious return of the Lord”, commenting that “the encouragement to those with 'fearful hearts' we feel to be addressed to those in the beloved land of Egypt, who experience insecurity and violence, at times because of their Christian faith. 'Be strong; do not fear!' These are the words of consolation that find confirmation in fraternal solidarity. I am grateful to God for this encounter, which gives me a way of reinforcing your – and our – hope, which is one and the same”.

“The Gospel presents Christ, Who vanquishes the paralysis of humanity … the paralyses of the conscience are contagious. With the complicity of the moments of poverty of history, and our own sin, they can expand and enter into social structures and communities to the extent of blocking entire populations. But Christ's command can turn the situation around: 'Rise, be on your way!”.

“Let us pray for the rapid reinstatement of peace agreements, often paralysed by opposed and obscure interests. Let there finally be real guarantees of religious freedom for all, along with the right of Christians to live serenely where they are born, in the homeland they have loved as citizens for two thousand years, to contribute as always to the good of all. May the Lord Jesus, who experienced flight with the Holy Family and was received in your generous land, watch over Egyptians on their travels throughout the world in search of dignity and security”.

“And may we proceed, in search of the Lord, in search of new roads, new ways to reach the Lord. And should it be necessary to open up a hole in the roof so that we all might be closer to the Lord, let our imagination, creative in charity, lead us to this: to find and make new roads for encounter, roads of brotherhood, roads of peace”.

On his part, the Patriarch Sidrak emphasised that “in this delicate historical moment”, the Church in Egypt “needs to be supported by the paternal embrace” of the Holy Father. “In the time that we prepare to celebrate the incarnation of the Word”, he observed, “we cannot but recall the historical bond between my land and this mystery, from the moment in which the first place to welcome the Holy Family in flight from Herod's persecutions was none other than Egypt. This corner of land between the desert and the Nile has known, and still knows, the painful drama experienced by many people who wish to be listened to and received. Our Church is there, ready to welcome whoever knocks on the door, and to offer hospitality to whoever seeks help, to care for the needy and the abandoned, and to give witness to the Gospel”.

“May the light of the Holy Nativity be the star that reveals the road of love, of unity, of reconciliation and of peace, gifts my land greatly needs. We ask your blessing, Holy Father, and await you in Egypt”.

HOMAGE TO MARY IMMACULATE: LET US NOT BE DEAF TO THE CRY OF THE POOR OR THE SUFFERING OF THE OPPRESSED

Vatican City, 8 December 2013 (VIS) – This Sunday, 8 December, was the first time that Pope Francis has paid the traditional homage to Mary Immaculate in Rome's Piazza di Spagna. During his journey by jeep from the Vatican to the centre of Rome, the Holy Father was warmly received by Roman faithful and greeted the thousands of people gathered in the streets near the Spanish Embassy to the Holy See, opposite the statue of the Virgin, to which the Pope offers a floral wreath on the day of the Immaculate Conception.

As is traditional, the Pope stopped briefly in front of the Church of the Most Holy Trinity where he received the tribute from the Via Condotti Storeowners Association, and proceeded on foot to the Square, where he embraced several children and patients in wheelchairs, and shook hands with many people. After greeting Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of the city of Rome, and Ignazio Marino, mayor of the capital, he recited the following prayer, composed specially for the occasion:

“Virgin most holy and immaculate,

to you, the honour of our people,

and the loving protector of our city,

do we turn with loving trust.

You are all-beautiful, O Mary!

In you there is no sin.

Awaken in all of us a renewed desire for holiness:

May the splendour of truth shine forth in our words,

the song of charity resound in our works,

purity and chastity abide in our hearts and bodies,

and the full beauty of the Gospel be evident in our lives.

You are all-beautiful, O Mary!

In you the Word of God became flesh.

Help us always to heed the Lord’s voice:

May we never be indifferent to the cry of the poor,

or untouched by the sufferings of the sick and those in need;

may we be sensitive to the loneliness of the elderly and the vulnerability of children,

and always love and cherish the life of every human being.

You are all-beautiful, O Mary!

In you is the fullness of joy born of life with God.

Help us never to forget the meaning of our earthly journey:

May the kindly light of faith illumine our days,

the comforting power of hope direct our steps,

the contagious warmth of love stir our hearts;

and may our gaze be fixed on God, in whom true joy is found.

You are all-beautiful, O Mary!

Hear our prayer, graciously hear our plea:

May the beauty of God’s merciful love in Jesus abide in our hearts,

and may this divine beauty save us, our city and the entire world.

Amen”.

After the act of veneration, the Pope went on to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where, as announced during the Angelus, he prayed before the image of Mary “Salus populi romani”, for all and especially for the inhabitants of the capital.

ANGELUS: THE MYSTERY OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION IS NOT ALIEN TO US

Vatican City, 8 December 2013 (VIS) – On the day of the Immaculate Conception, the Pope appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with the thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square, and asked all to join him in invoking Mary, repeating “Full of grace”, as God saw her in His loving plan: “beautiful and full of grace”.

“Our mother is beautiful!” he continued. “Mary guides us as we journey towards the Nativity, because she teaches us how to experience the time of Advent, awaiting the Lord … Who will come to us all together in the feast, but also to each one of us, in our hearts”.

He went on to comment on the reading from the Gospel of St. Luke, which presents Mary, a girl from Galilee, a small village at the outskirts of the Roman Empire and remote even within Israel. However, although she was “a young girl from a faraway village”, “the gaze of the Lord” rested upon her, “and He chose her as the mother of His Son. In the light of her maternity, Mary was preserved from original sin, from that fracture in the communion with God, with others and with creation, which deeply wounds every human being. But this fracture was healed in advance in the mother of He Who came to free us from the slavery of sin. The Immaculate Conception is inscribed in God's design; it is the fruit of God's love, which saves the world”.

“And the Virgin never strayed from that love; all her life, all her being is a 'yes' to that love, and a 'yes' to God. But it certainly was not easy for her! When the Angel describes her as the 'favoured one', she is 'greatly troubled' since, in her humility, she considers herself as nothing before God”, but she “listens, obeys within herself, and answers, 'I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word'”.

“The mystery of this girl from Nazareth, who is in God's heart, is not alien to us”, emphasised the Bishop of Rome. “It is not that she is there and we are here. No, we are connected. Indeed, God turns His loving gaze upon every man and every woman. With both name and surname. His loving gaze falls upon every one of us. The apostle Paul affirms that God 'chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight'. We too have always been chosen by God to lead a holy life, free of sin”.

“On this feast day”, concluded Pope Francis, “contemplating our Immaculate and beautiful Mother, we also recognise our truest destiny, our deepest vocation: to be loved, to be transformed by love, to be transformed by the beauty of God”.

Following the Marian prayer, the Pope greeted the Church in North America, which today celebrates the foundation of her first parish, Notre-Dame de Quebec, 350 years ago. “We give thanks for her journey so far, especially for the saints and martyrs who have made those lands fruitful. I give my heartfelt blessing to all the faithful who celebrate this jubilee”.

22ND WORLD DAY OF THE SICK: GIVE OUR LIVES FOR OUR BRETHREN

Vatican City, 7 December 2013 (VIS) – A message from Pope Francis, dated 6 December, for the 22nd World Day of the Sick 2014 was published on Friday. The Day will take place on 11 February 2014, liturgical memory of the Blessed Virgin Maria of Lourdes, and will take the theme “Faith and Charity: we too must give our lives for the brethren”.

The Pope mentions that the Church sees in the sick “the special presence of the suffering Christ”, and added that God has reduced and transformed sickness and suffering. “Reduced”, he writes, “because it no longer has the last word, which is instead new life in all its fullness; transformed because in union with Christ, the negative can become positive”. Jesus is the way, and with His Spirit we can follow Him. Just as the Father gave His Son for love, and the Son gave Himself for that same love, we too can love others as God has loved us, giving our lives for our brethren”.

Francis went on to mention that by Baptism and Confirmation, we are called to conform to Christ, the Good Samaritan to all those who suffer. “When we come close, with tenderness, to those in need of care, we bring the hope and the smile of God amid the contradictions of the world”. He explained that to grow in tenderness and respectful, gentle charity, the best Christian model is Mary. “She knows how to undertake this path and for this reason she is the Mother of all the sick and suffering. We are able to turn to her with trust and filial devotion, sure that she will assist and support us, and will never abandon us. She is the mother of the Risen Christ” he concluded; “she stays next to our crosses and accompanies us on the true path towards resurrection and full life”.