(Vatican Radio) The Holy Father has appointed the Card. Telesphore Placidus Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi (India), as his special envoy to the XI Plenary Assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), to be held in Colombo (Sri Lanka) from November 28 to December 4, 2016.
The Plenary Assembly is the supreme body of the FABC, where all committees and officers are answerable to it. The Plenary Assembly meets in ordinary session every four years. Membership of the Plenary Assembly comprise of all presidents of member conferences or their officially designated episcopal alternates and bishop-delegates elected by member conferences.
The 10th Plenary Assembly of the FABC was held in Xuan Loc Pastoral Centre, Dong Nai Province, northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, December 2012. On that occasion, Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales of Manila was the Papal legate to the Assembly, communicating the message of Pope Benedict XVI to the Asian bishops.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message marking the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Quilmes in Argentina.
“I know that you are preparing enthusiastically for this anniversary, and I join you in thanksgiving to God for the gifts received from His divine goodness,” – Pope Francis wrote to Bishop Carlos José Tissera – “He has remained faithful, giving you shepherds, from the first bishop, Jorge Novak, to this day; many priests and consecrated persons have given their lives to make Christ present among you. This fills me with joy.”
Pope Francis said he urged the people of the Diocese to be attentive to the Lord “passing before them,” and to help Him present in those who are “oppressed, exploited, disillusioned, sick, or suffering because of any other needs.”
Pope Francis also sent a message to the Diocese of San Carlos de Bariloche to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Argentinian town, Ingeniero Jacobacci.
Noting the damage to the town once caused by the Puyehue volcano in nearby Chile, Pope Francis said “after the ashes came the cloud of solidarity and a renewed effort to move forward,” and he noted the “creative solidarity” expressed by the town’s citizens.
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) The Statute for the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications was published on Thursday, saying its aim was “to respond to the current media reality, characterized by the presence and development of digital media and their increasing social interaction.” It said this evolving situation called for a reorganization of the Apostolic See’s various media outlets in order to proceed towards a merger of them under a united management. The Statute has been approved on “an experimental basis” for three years and is part of a wider ongoing reform of the Roman Curia and the Holy See’s institutions.
Listen to this report by Susy Hodges:
Role
The Statute confirms that the Secretariat for Communications was established by Pope Francis in his Motu Proprio, issued on 27th June 2015, with the aim of uniting all those entities within the Apostolic See which are involved in communications, in order to respond ever better to the needs of the Church’s evangelizing mission. It said new technological advances or media models that may emerge in the future will be adopted and also come under the umbrella of the Secretariat. When carrying out its functions, the Secretariat will coordinate its activities with the other Vatican Dicasteries and especially with the Secretariat of State.
Structure
The Statute confirmed that the Prefect, Secretary, Members and Consultants of the Secretariat for Communications have all been appointed by Pope Francis for 5-year terms. It said the Secretariat will be divided into 5 Administrative Departments: the Department for General Affairs, the Editorial Department, the Department for the Holy See’s Press office, the Technology Department and the Theological and Pastoral Department. All of them will come under the control of the Prefect and the Secretary and each Department will have its own Director, to be appointed by Pope Francis, having been proposed by the Prefect and including input from the Secretariat of State. The Prefect can also propose setting up “other entities” or organizations linked to the Holy See and each department can also avail themselves of “independent services.”
Department for General Affairs
Its duties and responsibilities include: the general management of the various departments, human resources, dealing with all legal and copyright matters and coordinating any international initiatives.
Editorial Department
Its duties and responsibilities include: giving guidelines and coordinating editorial policies pertaining to the Secretariat for Communications, developing new forms of communication and ensuring the effective integration of traditional media with today’s digital world.
Department for the Holy See’s Press Office
Its duties and responsibilities: include publishing and releasing official communications concerning both the activities of the Roman Pontiff and the Holy See, following the guidelines of the Secretariat of State, hosting and moderating press conferences and briefings, giving official replies to queries from journalists about the activity of the Pope and the Vatican in general, after having consulted the Secretariat of State.
Technology Department
Its duties and responsibilities include: managing the technological side of communications activity and keeping pace with and adopting new advances in this field, defining and applying methods that conform to Vatican and international norms and to best practices in the sector.
Theological and Pastoral Department
Its duties and responsibilities include: drawing up a theological vision of communications, promoting the pastoral activity of the Pope through words and images and providing a theological context to support them, promoting a pastoral-theological formation by setting up a network with local churches and Catholic associations active in the field of communications and making Christians more aware of the importance of communications methods for announcing the Christian message and promoting the common good.
Staff and Offices
All staff and consultants are to be chosen from people of proven reputation, free from any conflict of interest and possessing an adequate level of professional experience. Any conflict of interest that may arise during their mandate must be made known and appropriate measures taken to resolve it.
Documents and Data
All the documents, data and information held by the Secretariat for Communications will be used exclusively for the reasons stipulated by law and they will be protected in order to guarantee their safety, integrity and confidentiality, covered by office secrecy.
Archives
The Secretariat for Communications will have an archivist responsible for keeping the Secretariat’s archives and storing them “in a secure place within the Vatican City State or in an extraterritorial Vatican area.” The Prefect will be in charge of drawing up procedures for the best storage and preservation of documents including audiovisual and audio files, in both analogue and digital forms.
Working language
The working language used by the Secretariat for Communications will be Italian.
Transitional Norms
The Statute is of a transitional nature where, as already spelled out in the Moto Proprio, the organziations merging and becoming part of the Secretariat for Communications are: the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, the Holy See Press Office, Vatican Internet Service, Vatican Radio, Vatican Television Centre, L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican Printing Press, Vatican Photographic Service and the Vatican Publishing House. The Secretariat for Communications also will take over responsibility for the institutional website of the Holy See and take on the management of the social media outlets reporting on the activities of the Pope.
“All these organizations will continue their activities, observing the current norms, yet following the guidelines given by the Prefect until the date when they will be incorporated into the Secretariat for Communications, at which time they will be disbanded.” During the integration process, the various organizations involved will follow the regulations, guidelines or other instructions as issued by the Secretariat “within the framework of the general norms of the Holy See and respecting the acquired rights of the staff.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with the Italian National Council of the Order of Journalists, telling them that truth, professionalism and respect for human dignity were essential elements in their work.
Listen to Lydia O’Kane’s report
Meeting with the assembled Italian journalists in the Vatican’s Clementine Hall on Thursday, Pope Francis told them that there were few professions that have “so much influence on society like that of journalism.” He noted that they are usually the ones who are there to record what he called, the “first draft of history”, “the building of the news agenda and introducing people to the interpretation of events.”
He also noted that the journalistic profession was one that was continually adapting to changes in the way people digest news through new forms of media.
In his discourse the Pope stressed three essential elements in the work of a journalist, that he said, could serve to “improve the society in which we live”: To love the truth, to embody professionalism and to respect human dignity.
Truth
He said that loving the truth meant not only stating it, but living it and bearing witness to it in their work, adding, even in journalism we must be able to discern between shades of grey surrounding the events that we are called to tell.”
Speaking about the second element, professionalism, Pope Francis underlined that when there was professionalism, journalists remained “a cornerstone, a fundamental element for the vitality of a free and pluralistic society.”
Respecting human dignity
On the subject of human dignity, the Pope stressed the importance of responsible journalism and he reiterated earlier comments he made about rumours being a form of “terrorism”, and how you can kill a person with language. The Holy Father went on to say that “journalism cannot become a ” weapon of destruction “of people and even nations.” Criticism, is legitimate, he added, “as well as the denunciation of evil, but this must always be done respecting the other, his life, his affections”.
Holy See communications
Pope Francis during his discourse also commented on the changing communication’s environment of the Holy See. He said that it was experiencing a renewal process from which journalists should benefit, adding “the Secretariat for Communication will be the natural point of reference for your valuable work.”
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis contrasted the anxiety that comes from the Holy Spirit and the anxiety that comes from a dirty conscience. During his homily during the daily Mass at the Casa Santa Marta, he also spoke about vanity, which “masks” life, making it look like something it is not.
Listen to Christopher Wells’ report:
Two forms of anxiety
The Gospel of the day describes King Herod (Antipas) as being perplexed or anxious because, having had John the Baptist killed, he now felt threatened by Jesus. He was worried just as his father, Herod the Great, was troubled after the visit of the Magi. There can be two different kinds of anxiety in the soul, Pope Francis said, a “good” anxiety, which “the Holy Spirit gives us” and which “makes the soul restless to do good things”; and a “bad” anxiety, “that which is born from a dirty conscience.” The two Herods tried to resolve their anxiety by killing, going forward over “the bodies of the people”:
These people who had done such evil, who does evil and has a dirty conscience and cannot live in peace, because they live with a continual itch, with a continual rash that does not leave them in peace… These people have done evil, but evil always has the same root, any evil: greed, vanity, and pride. And all three do not leave the conscience in peace; all three do not allow the healthy restlessness of the Holy Spirit to enter, but bring you to live like this: anxiously, with fear. Greed, vanity, and pride are the roots of all evils.
Vanity, the osteoporosis of the soul
The day’s first Reading, taken from Ecclesiastes, speaks about vanity:
The vanity that makes us swell up. The vanity that does not have long life, because it is like a soap bubble. The vanity that does not give us true gain. What profit comes to the person for all the effort he puts into worrying? He is anxious to appear, to pretend, to seem. This is vanity. If we want to speak simply: vanity is covering up real life. And this makes the soul sick. Because in the end, if they cover up their real life in order to appear or to seem a certain way, all the things they do to pretend… What is gained? Vanity is like an osteoporosis of the soul: the bones seem good on the outside, but within they are totally ruined. Vanity makes us a fraud.
A face like an image in a picture, but the truth is otherwise
It’s like con men who “mark the cards” in order to win, the Pope continued. But “this victory is a fiction, it’s not true. This is vanity: living to pretend, living to seem, living to appear. And this makes the soul restless.” Pope Francis recalled the strong words Saint Bernard had for the vain: “Think of what you will be: food for worms.” Following on the saint’s thought, the Pope said, “All this ‘putting make-up’ on life is a lie, because the worms will eat you and you will be nothing.” What power does vanity have? he asked. Driven by pride to wickedness, it does not allow you to see your mistakes, “it covers everything, everything is covered”:
How many people do we know that appear one way: ‘What a good person! He goes to Mass every Sunday. He makes great donations to the Church.’ This is how they appear, but the osteoporosis is the corruption they have within. There are people like this – but there are also holy people! – who do this. This is vanity: You try to appear with a face like a pretty picture, and yet your truth is otherwise. And where is our strength and security, our refuge? We read it in the psalm between the readings: ‘Lord, you have been our refuge from generation to generation.’ And before the Gospel we recalled the words of Jesus: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ This is the truth, not the cosmetics of vanity. May the Lord free us from these three roots of all evil: greed, vanity, and pride. But especially from vanity, that makes us so bad.
(from Vatican Radio)…