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Skriven 2007-06-14 07:02:08 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45.0)
Ärende: VIS post for Friday 08 JUN 2007
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                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE

SEVENTEENTH YEAR - N. 105
ENGLISH
FRIDAY, JUNE 8, 2007

SUMMARY: JUNE 7 - 8

- The Eucharist, a Mystery Defying Human Understanding
- Caritas: Assist in the Mission to Spread the Love of God
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

===========================================================

THE EUCHARIST, A MYSTERY DEFYING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING

VATICAN CITY, JUN 7, 2007 (VIS) - At 7 p.m. today, Solemnity of Corpus
Christi, Benedict XVI celebrated Mass on the square in front of Rome's
Basilica of St. John Lateran, then presided at the Eucharistic procession to
the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

  In his homily, the Pope recalled how the Solemnity of Corpus Christi
"originated in a specific historical and cultural context. It came into
being with the precise aim of openly reaffirming the People of God's faith
in Jesus Christ, living and truly present in the Blessed Sacrament of the
Eucharist."

  Consequently, "Corpus Christi is a reprise of the mystery of Holy
Thursday, almost an act of obedience to Jesus' invitation to 'proclaim from
the housetops' what He passed on in secret. The Apostles received the gift
of the Eucharist from the Lord in the intimacy of the Last Supper, but the
gift was intended for everyone, for the whole world. This is why it is
openly proclaimed and exposed, so that everyone has the chance of meeting
'Jesus Who passes.' ... This is the perpetual and living heritage that Jesus
left us in the Sacrament of His Body and His Blood."

  "Benedict XVI continued: "This is a mystery that is beyond our
understanding, and we should not be surprised if even today many people
struggle to accept the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. ... The
Eucharist remains a 'sign of contradiction,' and it cannot be otherwise,
because a God Who becomes flesh and sacrifices Himself for the life of the
world throws human wisdom into crisis."

  Yet, "for each generation of Christians the Eucharist is the indispensable
nourishment that sustains them as they cross the desert of this world, made
barren by ideological and economic systems that fail to promote life; ... a
world dominated by the logic of power and possession rather than by the
logic of service and of love; a world in which the culture of violence and
death often triumph. But Jesus comes out to meet us and gives us assurances:
He Himself is 'the bread of life'."

  The Holy Father then went on to consider the Gospel of St. Luke and its
account of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes. "It contains," he said,
"an explicit invitation for each individual to make his or her own
contribution. The five fish and the two loaves represent our contribution,
poor but necessary, which He transforms into a gift of love for everyone.
... The Eucharist is, then, a call to sanctity and to the giving of self to
others, because 'each of us is truly called, together with Jesus, to be
bread broken for the life of the world'."

  Benedict XVI concluded his homily be recalling that at the end of the Mass
he would "symbolically carry the Lord Jesus along the streets and through
the neighborhoods of Rome. Thus we will, so to speak, immerse Him in our
daily lives, so that He may walk where we walk. ... We walk the paths of the
world knowing He is next to us, supported by the hope of one day seeing Him
face to face in the definitive meeting."

  Following Mass, the Pope presided at a Eucharistic procession that passed
along Rome's Via Merulana to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Along the way,
thousands of faithful prayed and sang, accompanying the Blessed Sacrament.
An open vehicle transported the Sacrament in a mostrance, before which the
Holy Father knelt in prayer.
HML/CORPUS CHRISTI/...                                          VIS 070608
(590)

CARITAS: ASSIST IN THE MISSION TO SPREAD THE LOVE OF
 GOD

VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 2007 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father received
participants in the 18th General Assembly of the Caritas Internationalis
Confederation. They were led by Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga
S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, whom the general assembly had
elected as the new president of the group.

  Speaking in English, the Pope recalled that Caritas Internationalis today
numbers more than 150 national organizations and that Servant of God John
Paul II conferred public and canonical legal personality upon the
confederation. "This means," he said, "that your confederation does not
simply work on behalf of the Church, but is truly a part of the Church,
intimately engaged in the exchange of gifts that takes place on so many
levels of ecclesial life. As a sign of the Holy See's support for your work,
Caritas Internationalis has been granted its wish to be accompanied and
guided by the Pontifical Council 'Cor Unum'."

  The mission of the confederation, said Benedict XVI, is "to assist in the
Church's mission to spread throughout the world the love of God. ... Charity
has to be understood in the light of God Who is 'Caritas': God who loved the
world so much that he gave His only Son. In this way we come to see that
love finds its greatest fulfillment in the gift of self. This is what
Caritas Internationalis seeks to accomplish in the world. The heart of
Caritas is the sacrificial love of Christ, and every form of individual and
organized charity in the Church must always find its point of reference in
Him, the source of charity.

  "This theological vision," he added, "has practical implications for the
work of charitable organizations. ... The first is that every act of charity
should be inspired by a personal experience of faith, leading to the
discovery that God is Love. ... Only when charitable activity takes the form
of Christ-like self-giving does it become a gesture truly worthy of the
human person created in God's image and likeness."

  "The second implication follows closely from the first. God's love is
offered to everyone, hence the Church's charity is also universal in scope,
and so it has to include a commitment to social justice."

  "For this reason, the great challenges facing the world at the present
time, such as globalization, human rights abuses, unjust social structures,
cannot be confronted and overcome unless attention is focused on the deepest
needs of the human person: the promotion of human dignity, well-being and,
in the final analysis, eternal salvation."

  The Holy Father concluded his address by assuring those present that
"there are countless men and women whose hearts are filled with joy and
gratitude for the service you render them. I wish to encourage each one of
you to persevere in your special mission to spread the love of Christ, Who
came so that all may have life in abundance."
AC/.../CARITAS INTERNATIONALIS                          VIS 070608 (500)

AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate
audiences:

 - Mohamed El Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA), accompanied by his wife and an entourage.

 - Five prelates from the Regional Episcopal Conference of North Africa, on
their "ad limina" visit:

    - Bishop Maroun Elias Lahham of Tunis, Tunisia.

    - Bishop Claude Rault M. Afr., of Laghouat, Algeria.

    - Bishop Gabriel Piroird of Constantine, Algeria.

    - Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli O.F.M., apostolic vicar of
Tripoli, Libya.

    - Bishop Alphonse Georger of Oran, Algeria.

  This evening, he is scheduled to receive in separate audiences three
prelates from the Regional Episcopal Conference of North Africa, on their
"ad limina" visit:

    - Bishop Sylvester Carmel Magro O.F.M., apostolic vicar of Benghazi,
Libya.

    - Fr. Acacio Valbuena Rodriguez, apostolic prefect of Western Sahara.

    - Fr. Jose Seijas Torres, apostolic administrator of Tangier, Morocco.
AP:AL/.../...                                                           VIS

070608 (150)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Fr. Denis Komivi Amuzu-Dzakpah, vicar general of the
archdiocese of Lome, Togo and secretary of the Episcopal Conference of Togo,
as archbishop of Lome (area 3,682, population 1,535,000, Catholics 436,263,
priests 175, religious 494). The archbishop-elect was born in Kpogame
Tahasi, Togo in 1943 and ordained a priest in 1972. He succeeds Archbishop
Philippe Fanoko Kossi Kpodzro, whose resignation from the pastoral care of
the same archdiocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age
limit.

 - Appointed Msgr. Lourdes Daniel, vicar general of the diocese of Poona,
India as bishop of Amravati (area 46,447, population 10,182,215, Catholics
6,224, priests 34, religious 207), India. The bishop-elect was born in Dehu
Road, India in 1947 and ordained a priest in 1980.
NER:RE/.../AMUZU:KPODZRO:DANIEL                         VIS 070608 (140)


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