(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with Fra’ Robert Matthew Festing, the Prince and Grand Master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, in a private audience to discuss the Order’s worldwide activities and the plight of migrants, an issue in which the Order of Malta is heavily involved. The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order…
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(Vatican Radio) The Holy See signed on Friday a Comprehensive Agreement with the State of Palestine, which deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine. The formal signing of the Agreement has been years in the making, following the Basic Agreement signed on 15 February 2000. Doctor Riad…
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(Vatican Radio) The Holy See signed on Friday a Comprehensive Agreement with the State of Palestine, which deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine. The formal signing of the Agreement has been years in the making, following the Basic Agreement signed on 15 February 2000. Doctor Riad…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) The Holy See signed on Friday a Comprehensive Agreement with the State of Palestine, which deals with essential aspects of the life and activity of the Catholic Church in Palestine.
The formal signing of the Agreement has been years in the making, following the Basic Agreement signed on 15 February 2000.
Doctor Riad Malki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine, addressed the delegation of the Holy See, represented by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States for the Vatican City State, at the signing ceremony.
Below is Dr. Malki’s address:
Speech by Dr. Riad Malki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Palestine, on the occasion of the signing of a Comprehensive Agreement between the State of Palestine and the Holy See
26 June 2015
Your Excellency Archbishop Gallagher,
Esteemed members of the delegations of the Holy See and the State of Palestine,
We are pleased and honored to have officially signed the Comprehensive Agreement between the State of Palestine and the Holy See, following a number of years of intensive negotiations in a spirit of partnership. This agreement is a historic agreement. It would have not been possible without the support and personal dedication of President Abbas, and the blessing of His Holiness, Pope Francis, to our efforts in this regard.
This agreement builds on the special relations between the State of Palestine and the Holy See, and expands further on the Basic Agreement signed between the PLO and the Holy See in the year 2000.
The agreement is comprehensive. Its provisions span the shared vision of the two Parties for peace and justice in the region, the protection of fundamental freedoms, the status and protection of Holy Sites, and the means of enhancing and furthering the presence and activities of the Roman Catholic Church in the State of Palestine.
For the first time, the Agreement includes an official recognition by the Holy See of Palestine as a State, in recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, freedom and dignity in an independent state of their own, free from the shackles of occupation. It also supports the vision for peace and justice in the region in accordance with international law and based on two states, living side by side in peace and security, on the basis of the 1967 borders.
The agreement reinforces our bond with new and unprecedented provisions related to the special status of Palestine as the birthplace of Christianity and as the cradle of monolithic religions. It embodies our shared values of freedom, dignity, tolerance, co-existence, and equality of all. This comes at a time when extremism, barbaric violence, and ignorance threaten the social fabric and cultural identity of the region and indeed of human heritage. At this backdrop, the State of Palestine reiterates its commitment to combat extremism, and to promote tolerance, freedom of consciousness and religion, and to equally safeguard the rights of all its citizens. These are the values and principles that reflect the beliefs and aspirations of the Palestinian people and its leadership, and they are the pillars upon which we continue to endeavor to establish our independent and democratic State.
This agreement consolidates and improves the current state of affairs, in which the Roman Catholic Church enjoys rights, privileges, immunities, and free access. It upholds the Church’s standing as an important contributor to the lives of many Palestinians.
This Agreement is the product of a number of years of detailed and exhaustive negotiations between both of our teams, in a spirit of friendship and partnership. I would like to take this opportunity to extend our thanks and appreciation to them and to all others who contributed to this effort, for their hard work and commitment. In particular to the members of the Palestinian team composed of Ambassador Rawan Sulaiman, Ambassador Issa Kassissieh, Ammar Hijazi and Azem Bishara, and to the team of the Holy See, in particular Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Archbishop Antonio Franco, Msgr. Alberto Ortega, and Fr. Emil Salayta.
On behalf of President Abbas and the Palestinian leadership, I wish to reiterate the commitment of the State of Palestine to implement this historic agreement, in both letter and spirit, and to further deepen our partnership.
Congratulations and thank you.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received a group of some 230 participants for the World Meeting of the International Conference of Catholic Guiding on Friday. The Guides are in Rome from June 25 th -30 th , to explore the theme of living the joy of the Gospel as a Guide.
The international umbrella group for Catholic Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, ICCG, officially came into existence on the Feast of the Epiphany, 1965, in Rome, when twenty-one Girl Guide associations established the International Catholic Conference of Guiding, signing its Charter, its Statutes and approving its Internal Rules.
In remarks prepared for the occasion and delivered to the group in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, Pope Francis thanked the Guides for choosing a theme rooted in and responding to his Apostolic exhortation, Evangelii gaudium , and praised the program of the Meeting. “It is a wonderful program,” he said. To proclaim to others, through the witness of our lives, that encountering Jesus makes us happy; that meeting Jesus frees us and heals us; that meeting Jesus opens us to others and encourages us to proclaim this especially to the poorest among us, to those who are farthest away, most lonely and abandoned.”
The Holy Father went on to encourage the participants in their work of recovering, nurturing and furthering the authentic vision of womanhood, in the Church and in the world. “Today it is very important that womanhood be properly appreciated,” he said. “Here, too,” he continued, “the role of educational associations like yours – that serve girls particularly – is absolutely crucial for the future.” In a world in which ideologies contrary to the nature and God’s plan for marriage and family, Pope Francis said, “It is therefore necessary to educate girls not only to the beauty and grandeur of their vocation as women, in a fair and differentiated relationship between man and woman, but also to take on important responsibilities in the Church and in society.” The Holy Father said that, in places where women are still in a position of inferiority, and even exploited and abused, Guides are certainly called to play a major role in the promotion and education of women.
Pope Francis concluded with an appeal to the Guides, calling on them to remain open to the chance that God might be calling them to religious life. “I ask you also not to forget the necessary and explicit openness of your pedagogy to the possibility of a life consecrated to the Lord, of which the movement of the Guides has been so fruitful in its history.”
(from Vatican Radio)…