(Vatican Radio) The Vatican “has long considered Indonesia to be a good example and a model of peace, inter-religious coexistence and tolerance between groups of different faiths” said the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, during a meeting held on Tuesday in Jakarta with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi.
The cardinal, is currently on a visit to Indonesia where he met with the Secretariat of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) on Monday, and will be travelling to East Timor on August 15 to preside over the celebration of the 500 years since the beginning of evangelization in the country.
The talks – which lasted half an hour – covered four areas: interfaith coexistence, cultural cooperation, joint media initiatives and education. The Secretary of State appreciated “the very significant phenomenon that people show respect, tolerance and acceptance of diversity, making Indonesia a truly unique nation”.
In a country where there are tensions between Muslims and Christians, the most important thing according Parolin “is to find ways to respect and accept differences; making every effort not to be violent and aggressive”.
In a joint statement released after the meeting, the two parties stated that “all differences must be addressed in the best possible way and all groups demonstrate willingness to collaborate to create a world that is open to any person”.
The Vatican was the first country to recognize the independence of Indonesia on August 17, 1945. The Cardinal’s visit to Jakarta is the first ever officiated by a secretary of state since 1950, the beginning of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and world’s most populous Islamic country. Good relations have been sealed by a series of papal visits, the last of which, John Paul II, was in 1989.
The Indonesian Foreign Minister said that Jakarta and the Vatican are engaged in exploring possible cooperation in the field of education. A partnership between the Pontifical Urban University and the Islamic University of Jakarta is being examined.
As part of a joint media initiative, another joint project will involve the Vatican Radio and Indonesia’s national public radio, Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) in the live coverage of the religious celebrations like Easter and Christmas that will be held in the Vatican to be broadcast especially on the island of Flores, which has a large Catholic population.
(Source: AsiaNews)
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday morning in the Paul VI Hall. The Holy Father dedicated his catechetical reflection once again to the family, opening a new phase in the series of reflections on the family, to three specific facets of family life: celebration, work and prayer.
“It is God himself who teaches us the importance of dedicating time to contemplating and enjoying the fruits of our labours, not only in our employment or profession, but through every action by which we as men and women cooperate in God’s creative work, even in times of difficulty,” said Pope Francis. The Pope went on to note that, even in the workplace, we celebrate – a birthday, a marriage, a new baby, a farewell or a welcome, and that true moments of celebration make us pause from our work, because they remind us that we are made in the image and likeness of God, who is not a slave to work, but the Lord of work. “So,” he said, “we must never be slaves to work but rather its master.” Nevertheless, “We know that millions of men and women, even children, are slaves to work. The obsession with economic profit and technical efficiency puts the human rhythms of life at risk,” he continued.
Pope Francis concluded his reflection with a focus on the need to recover attunement to the rhythms of life, which are found most especially in the sense of the sacred that at once draws to and flows from Sunday, the day of rest, and its centerpiece, the Eucharistic celebration. “Moments of rest, especially on Sunday, are sacred because in them we find God,” said Pope Francis, adding that the Sunday Eucharist brings to our celebrations every grace of Jesus Christ: his presence, his love and his sacrifice; his forming us into a community, and his way of being with us. “Everything is transfigured by his grace: work, family, the joys and trials of each day, even our sufferings and death,” he continued.
Pope Francis concluded with a prayer: “May we always recognize the family as the privileged place to understand, guide and sustain the gifts which arise from our celebrations, especially the Sunday Eucharist.”
Below, please find the full text of the official English-language summary of the Pope’s reflection, read after the Holy Father delivered the main catechesis in Italian
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We begin now a series of catecheses on three facets of family life: celebration, work and prayer. Let us turn first to celebrations which, as we see from the Story of Creation, are the invention of God, who on the seventh day rested from his work. It is God himself who teaches us the importance of dedicating time to contemplating and enjoying the fruits of our labours, not only in our employment or profession, but through every action by which we as men and women cooperate in God’s creative work, even in times of difficulty. In the workplace too, we celebrate – a birthday, a marriage, a new baby, a farewell or a welcome. True moments of celebration make us pause from our work, because they remind us that we are made in the image and likeness of God, who is not a slave to work, but the Lord of work! And so we must never be slaves to work but rather its master! Yet we know that millions of men and women, even children, are slaves to work. The obsession with economic profit and technical efficiency puts the human rhythms of life at risk. Moments of rest, especially on Sunday, are sacred because in them we find God. The Sunday Eucharist brings to our celebrations every grace of Jesus Christ: his presence, his love and his sacrifice; his forming us into a community, and his way of being with us. Everything is transfigured by his grace: work, family, the joys and trials of each day, even our sufferings and death. May we always recognize the family as the privileged place to understand, guide and sustain the gifts which arise from our celebrations, especially the Sunday Eucharist.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) It was announced on Monday that Pope Francis has decided to set up a “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation” which will be celebrated on September 1st annually.
In a letter to the heads of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, the Holy Father said he was acting on the suggestion of the representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
September 1st has been a Day of Prayer for Creation for some time in the Orthodox Church.
“The convergence, then, of the day of celebration, I find very significant,” said Cardinal Peter Turkson, the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Listen:
“There is a desire on the part of the Holy Father to have a convergence of certain gestures by certain religious leaders, especially when we are so close, and so related,” he explained.
(from Vatican Radio)…
POPE FRANCIS – GENERAL AUDIENCE – Paul VI Audience Hall – Wednesday, 12 August 2015. We begin now a series of catecheses on three facets of family life: celebration, work and prayer. Let us turn first to celebrations which, as we see from the Story of Creation, are the invention of God, who on the seventh day rested from his work. It is God himself who teaches us the importance of dedicating time to contemplating and enjoying the fruits of our labours, not only in our employment or profession, but through every action by which we as men and women cooperate in God’s creative work, even in times of difficulty. In the workplace too, we celebrate – a birthday, a marriage, a new baby, a farewell or a welcome. True moments of celebration make us pause from our work, because they remind us that we are made in the image and likeness of God, who is not a slave to work, but the Lord of work! And so we must never be slaves to work but rather its master! Yet we know that millions of men and women, even children, are slaves to work. The obsession with economic profit and technical efficiency puts the human rhythms of life at risk. Moments of rest, especially on Sunday, are sacred because in them we find God. The Sunday Eucharist brings to our celebrations every grace of Jesus Christ: his presence, his love and his sacrifice; his forming us into a community, and his way of being with us. Everything is transfigured by his grace: work, family, the joys and trials of each day, even our sufferings and death. May we always recognize the family as the privileged place to understand, guide and sustain the gifts which arise from our celebrations, especially the Sunday Eucharist. Holy Father: Saluto cordialmente i pellegrini di lingua inglese presenti a questa Udienza, specialmente quelli provenienti da Malta, Zimbabwe, Filippine e Trinidad e Tobago. Le vostre famiglie celebrino tutti i giorni l’amore e la misericordia del Signore, e siano un segno della Sua presenza costante nel mondo. Dio vi benedica tutti! Speaker: I offer an affectionate greeting to all the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors present at today’s Audience, including those from Malta, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, and Trinidad and Tobago. May your families celebrate daily the Lord’s love and mercy, and be a sign of his abiding presence in the world. May God bless you all!…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has announced the theme of the Message for the Church’s 49th World Day of Peace that will be celebrated on 1st January 2016 is: Overcome Indifference and Win Peace.
Please find below a communique released by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace which explains why the Pope chose this theme for the 2016 World Day of Peace:
Overcome Indifference and win Peace will be the title of the Message for the 49th World Day of Peace, the third of the papacy of Pope Francis. Indifference in regard to the scourges of our time is one of the fundamental causes of the lack of peace. Today, indifference is often linked to various forms of individualism which cause isolation, ignorance, selfishness and, therefore, lack of interest and commitment. Increase of information does not mean per se an increase of attention to the problems, if it is not accompanied by solidarity-based openness of conscience. To this end, it is essential the contribution that can provide–besides the family–educators, teachers, people of culture, media practitioners, intellectuals and artists. Indifference can be won only responding together to this challenge.
Peace is to be worked at: it is not something that one gains without efforts, without conversion of mind and heart, without a sense of creativity and positive engagement in discussion. Such an action must urgently have recourse to build a sense of responsibility and awareness creation about the serious problems and challenges afflicting our time, such as, fundamentalism, intolerance and massacres, persecutions on account of faith and ethnicity, disregard for freedom and the destruction of the rights of entire peoples, the exploitation of human beings submitted even to the different forms of slavery, corruption and organized crime, war and the plight of refugees and forcibly displaced persons. Such training and awareness creation should seek, at the same time, also opportunities and possibilities to fight these evils: the creation of a culture of law, education in dialogue and co-operation are, in this context, the fundamental forms of a constructive response.
The field for daily peace-building, overcoming indifference, is located in different forms of slavery of nowadays’ world, on which was dedicated The Message for the 1st January 2015: No longer slaves, but brothers and sisters. We should continue this commitment with heightened conscience and cooperation.
Peace is possible where the rights of every human being are recognized and respected, heard and known, according to freedom and justice. The Message for 2016 aims to be a starting point for all people of good will, particularly those who work in the education, media, culture, each one acting according to their possibilities and according to their best aspirations to build together a more conscious and merciful, and, therefore, more free and fair world.
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The World Day of Peace initiated by Paul VI, is celebrated each year on the first day of January. The Holy Father’s Message is sent to all Foreign Ministers of the world, and also indicates the Holy See’s diplomatic line during the coming year.
(from Vatican Radio)…