Vatican Radio REPORT: The
Gospel should be generously and simply proclaimed said Pope Francis during
morning Mass Tuesday in the Casa Santa Marta chapel. Poverty and praise of God,
he said are the two key signs of an evangelical and missionary Church. Instead a
rich Church becomes an old, lifeless Church, it becomes an NGO that neglects the
true treasure of God's free grace. Pope Francis began his homily quoting Jesus exhortation to the Apostles,
sent to proclaim the Kingdom of God: "Provide yourselves with no gold or silver,
not even with coppers for your purses" (M 10:9). He said the Lord wants us to
proclaim the Gospel with simplicity, a simplicity "that gives way to the power
of the Word of God," because if the Apostles had not had "confidence in the Word
of God," "they would probably have done something else”. Pope Francis went on to
identify the "key word" in the mandate given by Jesus: "Freely you have
received, freely give." He said everything is grace and when we leave grace “a
little to one side” in our proclamation, the Gospel “is not effective".
"Evangelical preaching flows from gratuitousness, from the wonder of the salvation that comes and that which I have freely received I must freely give. This is what they were like at the beginning. St. Peter did not have a bank account, and when he had to pay taxes, the Lord sent him to the sea to catch fish and find the money in the fish, to pay. Philip, when he met Queen Candace’s finance minister, did not think, 'Ah, good, let’s set up an organization to support the Gospel ...' No! He did not strike a ‘deal’ with him: he preached, baptized and left".
Pope Francis said the Kingdom of God, "is a free gift”, but he also added that from the beginning of the Christian community, this attitude has been subjected to temptation. "There is the temptation to seek strength", he said, “ elsewhere than in gratuity”. This temptation creates "a little 'confusion," he warned, where “proclamation becomes proselytizing”. Instead "our strength is the gratuitousness of the Gospel." The Lord, "has invited us to preach, not to proselytize." Citing Benedict XVI, Pope Francis stated that "the Church does not grow through proselytizing but by drawing people to her". And this attraction, he said, comes from the testimony of "those who freely proclaim the gratuity of salvation".
"Everything is grace. Everything. And what are the signs of when an apostle lives this gratuity? There are so many, but I will underline only two: First, poverty. The proclamation of the Gospel must follow the path of poverty. The testimony of this poverty: I have no wealth, my wealth is the gift I received, God: this gratuity is our wealth! And this poverty saves us from becoming managers, entrepreneurs ... The works of the Church must be brought forward, and some are a little complex, but with a heart of poverty, not with the heart of an investment broker or an entrepreneur…"
Pope Francis continued, "The Church is not an NGO: it is something else, something more important, and this is the result of gratuity. Received and proclaimed". Poverty "is one of the signs of this gratuity." The other sign "is the ability of praise: when an apostle does not live this gratuity, he or she loses the ability to praise the Lord." Praising the Lord, in fact, "is essentially gratuitous, it is a gratuitous prayer: we do not ask, we only praise"
"These two are the signs of an apostle who lives this gratuity: poverty and the ability to praise the Lord. And when we find the apostles who want to build a rich Church and a Church without the gratuitousness of praise, the Church becomes old, the Church becomes an NGO, the Church becomes lifeless. Today we ask the Lord for the grace to acknowledge this generosity: 'Freely you have received, freely give'. Recognizing this gratuity, this gift of God . Let us move forward in preaching of Gospel".
Tuesday morning Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and was attended by Congregation Staff.
SHARED FROM RADIO VATICANA
ACCORD BETWEEN HOLY SEE AND CAPE VERDE
Vatican City, 11 June 2013 (VIS) – On Monday, 10 June, in the offices of the Government Palace in the capital city, Praia, in the presence of Prime Minister Jose Maria Neves, an Accord between the Holy See and the Republic of Cape Verde on the juridical status of the Catholic Church in Cape Verde was signed.
The signatories were: for the Holy See, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, and for the Republic of Cape Verde, Mr. Jorge Alberto da Silva Borges, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The agreement, taking note of the good relations that have developed between the Holy See and the Republic of Cape Verde in the last 37 years, defines and guarantees the legal status of the Catholic Church and regulates areas including canonical marriage, places of worship, Catholic institutions of instruction and education, the teaching of religion in schools, the Church's charitable care activities, pastoral care in the military and in penitential and health care facilities, and the property and taxation system. The agreement, which consists of a preamble and 30 articles, will enter into force on the thirtieth day after the exchange of instruments of ratification.
Vatican City, 11 June 2013 (VIS) – Today, Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., issued the following declaration:
“As agreed at its third meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 2012, the Vietnam - Holy See Joint Working Group will hold its fourth meeting in the Vatican on 13-14 June. The meeting will serve to strengthen and develop bilateral relations between Vietnam and the Holy See".
Vatican City, 11 June 2013 (VIS) – Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, C.S., Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva, addressed the 23rd Session of the Human Rights Council after the Holy See delegation had reviewed the UN Report on Access to Medicines. Archbishop Tomasi's statement points out an “insufficient attention to certain factors cited as 'key elements' by the Special Rapporteur”.
Instead of the legal factors that were the Report's main focus, “the Holy See Delegation found that the Report paid insufficient attention to basic needs of individuals and families, at all stages of the life cycle from conception to natural death.” In order to effectively provide access to medicines, “an integral human development approach that promotes just legal frameworks as well as international solidarity, not only among States, but also among and between all peoples” must be developed. The Holy See noted, with alarm, “the difficulties millions of people face as they seek to obtain minimal subsistence and the medicines they need to cure themselves” and called for “establishing true distributive justice which guarantees everyone adequate care on the basis of objective needs.”
While the prerequisite of States' responsibility in making medicines available is clear, “the strong engagement of non-governmental and religious organizations in providing both medicines and a wide range of treatment and preventive measures to ensure the full enjoyment of the right to health also should have been acknowledged.” Archbishop Tomasi concluded his address with the observation that “optimal facilitation of access to medicine is a complex endeavour and deserves comprehensive analysis and acknowledgement of all factors contributing to its promotion, rather than a more restricted analysis of legal, economic, and political frameworks.“
Vatican City, 11 June 2013 (VIS) – The following prelates passed away between January and March of this year:
- Bishop Moses Bosco Anderson, S.S.E., auxiliary emeritus of Detroit, Michigan, USA, on 1 January at the age of 84.
- Archbishop Joseph-Aurele Plourde, emeritus of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on 5 January at the age of 98.
- Bishop John Martin Darko, emeritus of Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, on 12 January at the age of 67.
- Bishop Michel Pollien, auxiliary emeritus of Paris, France, on 15 January at the age of 75.
- Cardinal Jozef Glemp, archbishop emeritus of Warsaw, Poland, on 23 January at the age of 83.
- Bishop Jean-Felix-Albert-Marie Vilnet, emeritus of Lille, France, on 23 January at the age of 90.
- Bishop Reinhold Stecher, emeritus of Innsbruck, Austria, on 29 January at the age of 91.
- Archbishop Joseph Cassidy, emeritus of Tuam, Ireland, on 31 January at the age of 79.
- Bishop Jacques Nguyen Van Mau, emeritus of Vinh Long, Viet Nam, on 31 January at the age of 99.
- Bishop John Michael D’Arcy, emeritus of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, USA, on 3 February at the age of 80.
- Bishop Joseph O. Egerega, vicar apostolic emeritus of Bomadi, Nigeria, on 3 February at the age of 72.
- Bishop Ignace Baguibassa Sambar-Talkena, emeritus of Kara, Togo, on 3 February at the age of 77.
- Bishop Joseph Theophile Louis Marie Madec, emeritus of Frejus-Toulon, France, on 5 February at the age of 89.
- Archbishop Arthe Guimond, emeritus of Grouard-McLennan, Alberta, Canada, on 6 February at the age of 81.
- Bishop Douglas Joseph Warren, emeritus of Wilcannia-Forbes, Australia, on 6 February at the age of 93.
- Bishop William Anthony Hughes, emeritus of Covington, Kentucky, USA, on 7 February at the age of 91.
- Bishop Amedeus Msarikie, emeritus of Moshi, Tanzania, on 7 February at the age of 81.
- Cardinal Giovanni Cheli, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, on 8 February at the age of 94.
- Bishop Oswaldo Brenes Alvarez, emeritus of Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica, on 11 February at the age of 70.
- Bishop Jesus Ramon Martinez de Ezquerecocha Suso, emeritus of Babahoyo, Ecuador, on 16 February at the age of 77.
- Bishop Anthony Theodore Lobo, emeritus of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on 18 February at the age of 75.
- Bishop Pedro Lisimaco de Jesus Vilchez Vilchez, emeritus of Jinotega, Nicaragua, on 19 February at the age of 83.
- Bishop Norbert Mary Leonard James Dorsey, C.P., emeritus of Orlando, Florida, USA, on 21 February at the age of 83.
- Bishop Jose Gustavo Angel Ramirez, M.X.Y., vicar apostolic emeritus of Mitu, Colombia, on 23 February at the age of 79.
- Cardinal Julien Ries, cardinal deacon of Sant’Antonio di Padova a Circonvallazione Appia, on 23 February at the age of 92.
- Bishop Giovanni D’Ascenzi, emeritus of Arezzo-Cortona-Sansepolcro, Italy, on 26 February at the age of 93.
- Cardinal Jean Marcel Honore, archbishop emeritus of Tours, France, on 28 February at the age of 92.
- Bishop Julian Voronovsky, M.S.U., emeritus of Sambir-Drohobych of the Ukrainians, Ukraine, on 28 February at the age of 76.
- Archbishop Gabriel Marie Etienne Vanel, emeritus of Auch, France, on 1 March at the age of 88.
- Archbishop Cleto Bellucci, emeritus of Fermo, Italy, on 7 March at the age of 91.
- Bishop Ignatius Anthony Catanello, auxiliary emeritus of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on 11 March at the age of 74.
- Bishop Gerard Sithunywa Ndlovu, emeritus of Umzimkulu, South Africa, on 13 March at the age of 74.
- Bishop Akio Johnson Mutek, of Torit, Sudan, on 18 March at the age of 55.
- Bishop Orozimbo Fuenzalida y Fuenzalida, emeritus of San Bernardo, Chile, on 27 March at the age of 87.
- Archbishop Charles Amarin Brand, emeritus of Strasbourg, France, on 31 March at the age of 92.
Vatican City, 10 June 2013 (VIS) – This morning, the Holy Father received Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
Vatican City, 11 June 2013 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father appointed Bishop Alan Stephen Hopes as bishop of East Anglia (area 12,570, population 2,855,000, Catholics 99,200, priests 118, permanent deacons 36, religious 131), England. Bishop Hopes, previously auxiliary of Westminster, England, and titular of Cuncacestre, serves as chairman of the Liturgy Committee on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
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