(Vatican Radio) In a message to participants at an international seminar on the role of sports coaches, Pope Francis spoke of the crucial role that trainers play, especially in the lives of young people. The two day seminar has been organised by the Sports department of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and is focusing on the professional, personal and spiritual formation of sports coaches as role models for the next generation.
Philippa Hitchen reports:
In the message to seminar participants, Pope Francis said we all need wise, mature and well-balanced people in our lives to help us grow in faith, in family relationships and in our working lives. A true educator, he continued, is a person who encourages us to take on a new activity without fear, helps to have confidence in ourselves and our companions and supports us in times of difficulty as well as at moments of joy and success.
During childhood and adolescence, he said, this is particularly important as we look for role models and feel the need to be affirmed and appreciated. During this delicate phase, Pope Francis said, the responsibility of trainers is huge since they can have great influence over both the behaviour and the development of a child’s personality. Above all, he said, coaches must be models of integrity and impartiality, joy and patience, since young people will be influenced more by a person’s behaviour than by his or her words.
Finally, Pope Francis spoke of the importance of faith and spirituality which help us to preserve the authentic values of sport, rather than letting them be driven by the rowing pressure of economic interests. Trainers, he said, can play a vital role in creating a climate of solidarity and inclusion, reaching out to young people at risk on the margins of society.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) In a message to participants at an international seminar on the role of sports coaches, Pope Francis spoke of the crucial role that trainers play, especially in the lives of young people. The two day seminar has been organised by the Sports department of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and is focusing…
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(Vatican Radio) “We clearly need a fundamental change of course, to protect the earth and its people – which, in turn, will allow us to ‘dignify humanity’.”
Speaking at the General Assembly for Caritas Internationalis, Cardinal Peter Turkson, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said humanity is facing far reaching changes especially with regard to climate change and human development. Although humanity has made great progress, especially in the past two centuries, this progress “has its dark sides and unacceptable costs.” Much of the world remains in poverty, despite abundant resources, while “a privileged global elite” controls the bulk of the world’s wealth and consumes the bulk of its resources. As an example, Cardinal Turkson pointed out that although the world produces more than enough food for everyone, hundreds of millions of people still go hungry. Caritas’ campaign “One Human Family: Food for All,” he noted, seeks to address that challenge.
The same attitudes of indifference also affect how we treat the natural world. Human beings are part of nature, but too often we have “traversed the planet’s most fundamental natural boundaries” leading to a disruption of the earth’s ecological balance, and threatening the earth with “great ruin.” Cardinal Turkson warned that climate related disasters threaten both “poor countries and those at the heart of the modern economy” – although the consequences are much more serious for poorer countries.
The solutions, Cardinal Turkson said, must be based on several fundamental principles. All human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, and so we must treat one another as brothers and sisters, basing our relationships on respect, reconciliation, and solidarity.”
We must also recognize “that everything God has created is good, precious, and valuable… and thus, the correct response to receiving such a magnificent gift is surely one of gratitude, love, and respect.” For this reason, he said, we have a “sacred duty” to care for the earth, and to ensure that we will hand this gift down to our children.
Cardinal Turkson said we can and should use the gifts of the earth, but the current model is “out of balance.” We have used too much, and preserved too little. In 2015, he noted, three major conferences – on financial development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; on sustainable development in New York; and on climate change in Paris – will attempt to come to grips with the real problems we face, and come to an agreement on the remedies.
In the concluding portion of his address, Cardinal Turkson said any attempts to find solutions must be grounded on a firm moral foundation. “Without moral conversion and change of hearts, even good regulations, policies, and targets in the world are unlikely to prove effective. Without this ethical foundation, humanity will lack the courage, the moral substance, to carry out even the most sensible policy proposals.” We all have a “moral imperative” to protect and care for creation, and for the human person, noting especially the obligation of more privileged nations – and individuals – to care for the poor, especially with regard to climate change.
Therefore, he said, we need “to cultivate a new set of values and virtues – including conservation of the environment, compassion for the excluded, courage to take bold decisions, and a commitment to work together in common purpose for the global common good. We need a full conversion of hearts and minds, habits and lifestyles, structures and institutions.”
The 20th General Assembly for Caritas Internationalis concludes on Sunday.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) “We clearly need a fundamental change of course, to protect the earth and its people – which, in turn, will allow us to ‘dignify humanity’.” Speaking at the General Assembly for Caritas Internationalis, Cardinal Peter Turkson, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said humanity is facing far reaching changes…
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(Vatican Radio) The Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine at the Vatican announced Wednesday that they have reached accord on the language of the Comprehensive Agreement toward which they have been working.
The Statement came at the conclusion of their Plenary Session at the Vatican.
The draft Agreement will now be submitted to the respective authorities for approval ahead of setting a date in the near future for the signing.
Below, please find the full text of the Joint Communique of the Bilateral Commission between the Holy See and the State of Palestine at the conclusion of the Plenary Session:
On 13 May 2015, the Bilateral Commission of the Holy See and the State of Palestine, which is working on a Comprehensive Agreement following on the Basic Agreement, signed on 15 February 2000, held a Plenary Session in the Vatican to acknowledge the work done at an informal level by the joint technical group following the last official meeting held in Ramallah at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine on 6 February 2014.
The talks were chaired by Mgr Antoine Camilleri, Under-Secretary for the Holy See’s Relations with States, and by Ambassador Rawan Sulaiman, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Affairs of the State of Palestine.
The discussions took place in a cordial and constructive atmosphere. Taking up the issues already examined at an informal level, the Commission noted with great satisfaction the progress achieved in formulating the text of the Agreement, which deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine.
Both Parties agreed that the work of the Commission on the text of the Agreement has been concluded, and that the agreement will be submitted to the respective authorities for approval ahead of setting a date in the near future for the signing.
The members of the Delegation of the Holy See were:
1. Mgr Antoine Camilleri, Under-Secretary for Relations with States;
2. His Excellency Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine;
3. His Excellency Archbishop Antonio Franco, Apostolic Nuncio;
4. Father Luciano Lorusso, Under-Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches;
5. Mgr Alberto Ortega, Official of the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State;
6. Father Emil Salayta, Judicial Vicar of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The members of the Palestinian Delegation were:
1. Ambassador Rawan Sulaiman, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Affairs;
2. Ambassador Issa Kassissieh, Representative of the State of Palestine to the Holy See;
3. Mr Ammar Hijazi, Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Affairs;
4. Mr Azem Bishara, Juridical Counsellor of the PLO.
(from Vatican Radio)…