(Vatican Radio) It is hard to love our enemies, but that is exactly what God is asking us to do, said Pope Francis at Mass Tuesday morning. He said we must pray for those who hate us and have done us wrong, ‘that their heart of stone be turned to flesh, that they may feel relief and love’. God lets sun shine and rain fall on the good and the bad, on the just and the unjust and, the Pope added, we must do the same or else we are not being Christian. Emer McCarthy reports:

Pope Francis began his homily, with a series of questions that encompassed some of the most pressing dramas of humanity. How can we love our enemies? The Pope asked, how can we love those who decide to “bomb and kill so many people?" And again, how can we "love those who out of their for love money prevent the elderly from accessing the necessary medicine and leave them to die"? Or those who only seek "their own best interests, power for themselves and do so much evil?" "It seems hard to love your enemy," he noted, but Jesus asks it of us. This current liturgy, he said, proposes "Jesus’ updating of the law", of the law of Mount Sinai with the Law of the Mount of Beatitudes. The Pope also pointed out that we all have enemies, but deep down we too we can become enemies of others:

"We too often we become enemies of others: we do not wish them well. And Jesus tells us to love our enemies! And this is not easy! It is not easy ... we even think that Jesus is asking too much of us! We leave this to the cloistered nuns, who are holy, we leave this for some holy soul, but this is not right for everyday life. But it must be right! Jesus says: 'No, we must do this! Because otherwise you will be like the tax collectors, like pagans. Not Christians. '"

So how can we love our enemies? Pope Francis noted that Jesus, "tells us two things": first look to the Father who "makes the sun rise on evil and good" and "rain fall on the just and unjust”. God "loves everyone." And then he continued, Jesus tells us to be "perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect", "imitate the Father with that perfection of love." He added Jesus "forgive his enemies", "does everything to forgive them”. He warned that taking revenge is not Christian. The Pope asks But how can we succeed in loving our enemies? By praying. "When we pray for what makes us suffer - the Pope said - it is as if the Lord comes with oil and prepares our hearts for peace":

"Pray! This is what Jesus advises us:' Pray for your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Pray! '. And say to God: 'Change their hearts. They have a heart of stone, but change it, give them a heart of flesh, so that they may feel relief and love '. Let me just ask this question and let each of us answer it in our own heart: 'Do I pray for my enemies? Do I pray for those who do not love me? 'If we say' yes', I will say, 'Go on, pray more, you are on the right path! If the answer is' no ', the Lord says:' Poor thing. You too are an enemy of others! '. Pray that the Lord may change the hearts of those. We could say: 'But this person really wronged me', or they have done bad things and this impoverishes people, impoverishes humanity. And following this libe of thought we want to take revenge or that eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth".

Pope Francis reaffirmed, it’s true that love for our enemies "impoverishes us”, because it makes us poor "like Jesus", who, when he came to us, lowered himself and became poor" for us. The Pope noted that some could argue this was not a good deal "if the enemy makes me poorer" and of course, "according to the criteria of this world, it is not a good deal." But this, he said, is "the path Jesus travelled" who from rich became poor for us. In this poverty, "in this Jesus’ lowering of himself – he said - there is the grace that has justified us all, made us all rich." It is the "mystery of salvation":


"With forgiveness, with love for our enemy, we become poorer: love impoverishes us, but that poverty is the seed of fertility and love for others. Just as the poverty of Jesus became the grace of salvation for all of us, great wealth ... Let us think today at Mass, let us think of our enemies those who do not wish us well: it would be nice if we offered the Mass for them: Jesus, Jesus' sacrifice, for them, for those who do not love us. And for us too, so that the Lord teaches us this wisdom which is so hard, but so beautiful, because it makes us look like the Father, like our Father: it brings out the sun for everyone, good and bad. It makes us more like the Son, Jesus, who in his humiliation became poor to enrich us, with his poverty. "

(Vatican Radio) Below we publish the homily of Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches and President of R.O.A.C.O. at Santa Maria in Traspontina, Tuesday, 18 June 2013, for the annual meeting of the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches.__________

Your Beatitudes, Brothers in the episcopate and the priesthood, dear Friends of ROACO,

1. At the Holy Eucharist we find ourselves in the heart of God through the love of the Cross and the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, which the Holy Spirit pours without measure upon each one of us. We wish to open our Plenary Session by entrusting ourselves, dutifully and trustingly, to God. May He raise up and direct our good intentions, leading them to completion by His grace. This is our common prayer which we direct to Him.

Our very first desire must be to remain strongly anchored in the Christian vision of solidarity. This will be guaranteed by constant reference to the Pastors and to the diocesan Churches, which support the ROACO agencies, together with the coordination that our Congregation willingly offers, in response to the mandate of the Bishop of Rome, which is to spread far and wide, among our brothers and sisters in the East, fraternity and solicitude.

2. The Eucharist is always able to reawaken in us the grace which we owe to God. Christ is the altar, which can never be destroyed. He is the eternal high priest. And he is also the Spotless Victim who makes perfect our own sacrifice, which includes the gift of our life to God in the obedience of faith. Because Christ unites us to Himself, it is possible and necessary to strive, as today’s Gospel asks of us, for the perfection which is found in the Heavenly Father Himself. The journey towards Christian perfection is, nevertheless, highly demanding, for it is measured by the paradoxical love of the Cross: “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”! When one thinks of the vortex of violence - as unceasing as it is irrational - which has struck our brothers and sisters in Syria and Iraq, as well as of the tension threatening in the Holy Land, in Egypt, and in other places in the Middle East, one cannot avoid the fully paradoxical nature, from a human point of view, of the Gospel’s command. It is so demanding: “If you love those who love you, what merit do you have?” I think of the understandable temptation for Christians to combat adversity with methods other than those of humble trust in Divine Providence, which, obviously, works through dialogue and every other possible initiative directed at safeguarding the right to religious liberty and safety for all, including the smallest ecclesial communities, which need to be guaranteed the right to participate fully in the civil life of their respective Countries.

With these goals in mind, we bear all such persons before the heart of God in this Holy Mass, at which we also remember the benefactors of the Eastern Churches, both living and deceased. Indeed, those many who are presently suffering are very much our benefactors also, because they face the burden of life with dignity and at great cost bring honor to the name of Christian. Nor do we wish to forget the innumerable victims and the enormous sufferings that are afflicting the motherland of Christianity. We beg the Lord, therefore, that He render Eastern Christians strong and meek, filling them with the consolation of the faith, along with all those who partake in their tragic fate. We implore that they never ever respond to hate with hate; that they never give in to blind vengeance; that they never doubt the power of God to set eventually by His grace a limit to such great evils.

3. In the meantime, we are to be the interpreters of their suffering before every organ of ecclesial and civil government, with the humble resolve that ought to characterize ecclesial speech and action. The public denouncement of the unbearable conditions of their life must be accompanied by our very concrete solicitude to alleviate them. The always challenging words of the apostle Paul offer today the most radical motivation for our solidarity: the example of Christ. “Rich though he was, he became poor” so that we might become rich through his poverty! Likewise, the first Christian community, “amid much testing of tribulation” managed to turn “their overflowing joy and their very deep poverty ... [into a] rich generosity”. While the developed West suffers from a serious economic crisis, its duty to share the urgent needs of so many brothers and sisters, especially in Syria, has not diminished but even increased; many migrants have been forced to find refuge or at least some relief in the West, sometimes after having lost everything on a personal or family level.

4. The presence of the “Heads and Fathers” of the Coptic and Chaldean Churches, as well as the Apostolic Nuncios and other witnesses, makes our cry for peace all the more heartfelt. We wish to embrace in the Lord all of the Oriental Churches, including those who are seeking a new homeland for their children in various parts of the world. As a result, they suffer the fear of losing their origins, especially their spiritual roots. Together with our brothers and sisters of the East, we would like “to sing praises to the Lord while we have life”, making our own the response to the Psalm. Sing from our common faith and, at the same time, work with persevering generosity so that all those in dire distress understand that the Lord “keeps faith forever; he executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry”. In this perspective of accompaniment and participation, Mary Most Holy precedes us by her example of the ever caring Mother. May she sustain us, so that the beneficiaries of our charity never doubt that “the Lord sets the prisoners free... he watches over the sojourners, upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin”. Amen.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis received the participants in the pastoral convention of the Rome diocese on Monday evening, at the opening of the event. In recent years, the annual meeting between the bishop of Rome and the leaders of pastoral, catechetical and outreach initiatives in the city has taken place in the cathedral Basilica of St John Lateran. On Monday evening, however, the venue was changed to the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican City. Listen:
The Holy Father spoke off the cuff, interrupted several times by sustained applause. The transformative, revolutionary power of grace, especially baptismal grace, and the need to renew faith formation in order to tap that power, were the focal points of the first portion of the Holy Father’s remarks, which traced a broad-strokes overview of the pastoral focus of the diocese through the past year. Then, Pope Francis turned to the theme of spiritual discipline, patience and zeal for the Gospel – to carry the Gospel into the suburbs and outskirts of the city, into the hearts of those who live without hope.
“We must go out to reach the flesh of the Lord who suffers,” wherever and in whatever circumstances the suffering one happens to be. “Dear, dear brothers and sisters,” said Pope Francis, “Let us be not afraid! Let us go forth to tell our brothers and our sisters that we are under grace, that Jesus gives us grace and that it costs us nothing: only [we must] receive it,” and he concluded with a one word exhortation: Avanti! “Forward!”
Here is a Vatican Information Service synopsis of the speech by Pope Francis
(VIS) – “I'm Not Ashamed of the Gospel” was the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis given yesterday afternoon in the Paul VI Hall for the inauguration of the Ecclesial Congress (17-19 June) that concludes the Diocese of Rome's pastoral year. The theme of the pastoral year was: “Christ, We Need You! The Responsibility of the Baptized in Proclaiming Jesus Christ.”
The meeting began with Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of the Diocese, greeting the Bishop of Rome. His address followed the Reading of the First Letter of St. Paul to the Romans, which contains the phrases that inspired the Pope's catechesis: “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel. … We who were baptized … are not under the law but under grace.” Following are ample excerpts from Pope Francis' prepared address with some of the impromptu comments he added.
“A revolution, in order to transform history, must profoundly change human hearts. Revolutions that have taken place throughout the centuries have changed political and economic systems, but non of them have truly changed the human heart. Only Jesus Christ accomplished the true revolution, the one that radically transforms life, with his Resurrection that, as Benedict XVI loves to recall, was 'the greatest “mutation” in the history of humanity' and it gave birth to a new world.”
“This is the experience that the Apostle Paul lives. After having met Jesus on the way to Damascus, he radically changes his perspective on life and receives Baptism. God transforms his heart. Before he was a violent persecutor of Christians, now he becomes an Apostle, a courageous witness of Jesus Christ. … With Baptism, the paschal sacrament, we to are made to participate in that same change and, like Paul, 'we too might live in newness of life'. … We are led to believe that it is primarily in changing structures that we can build a new world. Faith tells us that only a new heart, one regenerated by God, can create a new world: a heart 'of flesh' that loves, suffers, and rejoices with others; a heart full of tenderness for those who, bearing the wounds of their lives, feel themselves to be on the outskirts of society. Love is the greatest force for transforming reality because it breaks down the walls of selfishness and fills the chasms that keep us apart from one another.”
“Even in Rome there are people who live without hope and who are immersed in deep sadness that they try to get out of, believing to have found happiness in alcohol, in drugs, in gambling, in the power of money, in sex without rules. But they find themselves still more dejected and sometimes vent their anger towards life with violent acts that are unworthy of the human person. … We who have discovered the joy of having God for our Father and his love for us, can we stand idly by in front of our brothers and sisters and not proclaim the Gospel to them? We who have found in Jesus Christ, who died and rose again, the meaning of life, can we be indifferent towards this city that asks us, perhaps even unconsciously, for hope? … We are Christians; we are disciples of Jesus not to be wrapped up in ourselves but to open ourselves to others in order to help them, in order to bring them to Christ and to protect every creature.”
“St. Paul is aware that Jesus—as his name signifies—is the Saviour of all humanity, not just of persons of a certain age or geographical area. The Gospel is for all because God loves everyone and wants to save everyone. The proclamation of the Gospel is destined primarily to the poor, to those who often lack the essentials for a decent life. The good news is first announced to them, that God loves them before all others and comes to visit them through the acts of charity that the disciples of Christ carry out in his name. Others think that Jesus' message is destined to those who don't have cultural training and who therefore find in faith the answer to the many 'whys' that are present in their hearts. Instead, the Apostle strongly affirms that the Gospel is for everyone, even experts. The wisdom that comes from Revelation is not opposed to human wisdom, but rather purifies and elevates it. The Church has always been present in the places where culture develops.”
The Pope then improvised: “The Gospel is for all! Going out toward the poor doesn't mean that we must become paupers or some sort of 'spiritual bums'! No, that's not what it means! It means that we must go towards the flesh of the suffering Jesus but Jesus' flesh also suffers in those who don't know it, with their studies, their intelligence, their culture. We must go there! That's why I like to use the expression 'go to the outskirts', the existential peripheries. Everyone, all of them, [who suffer] from physical and real poverty to intellectual poverty, which is also real. All the outskirts, all the intersections of paths: go there. And there sow the seed of the Gospel by word and by witness.”
“This means that we must have courage. … I want to tell you something. In the Gospel there's that beautiful passage that tells us of the shepherd who, on returning to the sheepfold and realizing that a sheep is missing, leaves the 99 and goes to look for it, to look for the one. But, brothers and sisters, we have one. It's the 99 who we're missing! We have to go out, we must go to them! In this culture—let's face it—we only have one. We are the minority. And do we feel the fervour, the apostolic zeal to go out and find the other 99? This is a big responsibility and we must ask the Lord for the grace of generosity and the courage and the patience to go out, to go out and proclaim the Gospel.”
“Sustained by this certainty that comes from Revelation, we have the courage, the confidence, to go out of ourselves, to go out of our communities, to go where men and women live, work, and suffer, and to proclaim the Father's mercy to them, which was made known to humanity in Jesus of Nazareth. … Let us always remember, however, that the Adversary wants to keep us separated from God and therefore instils disappointment in our hearts when we do not see our apostolic commitment immediately rewarded. Every day the devil sows the seeds of pessimism and bitterness in our hearts. … Let us open ourselves to the breath of the Holy Spirit, who never ceases to sow seeds of hope and confidence. Don't forget that God is the strongest and that if we allow him into our lives nothing and no one can oppose his action. So let's not be overcome by the discouragement that we encounter in facing difficulties when we talk of Jesus and the Gospel. Let's not think that faith doesn't have a future in our city!”
“St. Paul then adds: 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel'. For him, the Gospel is the proclamation of Jesus' death on the cross. … The cross forcefully reminds us that we are sinners, but above all that we are love, that we are so dear to God's heart that, to save us, He didn't hesitate to sacrifice his Son Jesus. The Christian's only boast is knowing that they are loved by God. … Every person needs to feel themself loved the way they are because this is the only thing that makes life beautiful and worthy of being lived. In our time, when [what is freely given] seems to fade in our interpersonal relationships, we Christians proclaim a God who, to be our friend, asks nothing but to be accepted. Think of how many live in desperation because they have never met someone who has shown them attention, comforted them, made them feel precious and important. We, the disciples of Christ, can we refuse to go to those places that no one wants to go out of fear of compromising ourselves or the judgement of others, and thus deny our brothers and sisters the announcement of God's mercy?”
Speaking off the cuff again, the Pope added: “Freely given! We have received this gratuity, this grace, freely. We must give it freely. And this is what, in the end, I want to tell you … Don't be afraid of love, of the love of God our Father. … Don't be afraid to receive the grace of Jesus Christ. Don't be afraid of our freedom that is given by the grace of Jesus Christ, or, as Paul said: 'You are not under the law but under grace'. Don't be afraid of grace. Don't be afraid to go out of yourselves … to go and find the 99 who aren't home. Go out to dialogue with them and tell them what we think. Go show them our love, which is God's love.”

(Vatican Radio) From Conflict to Communion: that’s how Lutherans and Catholics are describing their ecumenical journey of the past 50 years, as they look ahead together to the 500^th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017.
From Conflict to Communion is the name of a joint document from the Lutheran-Roman Catholic International Commission on Unity which was presented at a press conference on Monday at the Lutheran World Federation headquarters in Geneva. The lengthy text looks at the joint responsibility for the division of the Western Church in the 16^th century, addressing the challenges of healing those memories and working together for reconciliation and common witness to the world.
Topics explored in the document include basic themes of Martin Luther’s theology with a view to Lutheran–Catholic dialogue, as well as focusing on five ecumenical imperatives for the relationship between both Churches as they commemorate 2017 together.
On October 31^st 1517, German monk and theologian Martin Luther is thought to have nailed to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg his 95 theses addressing issues that he saw as urgently in need of reform. The resulting Reformation not only divided the Protestant and Catholic Churches, but also radically challenged the role of religion in societies.
Mgr. Matthias Turk is in charge of Lutheran-Catholic relations with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He accompanied Council President, Cardinal Kurt Koch to Geneva on Monday for a joint press conference and earlier he spoke to Philippa Hitchen about the significance of this joint document on commemorating the Reformation together:

Listen:

"It is a very important landmark after so many centuries of conflict and misunderstanding, leading even to wars between nations and within countries.....this is the first Reformation anniversary which can be addressed jointly, ecumenically. As Martin Junge, the General Secretary of the World Lutheran Federation has said, this commemoration will be international, it should be ecumenical and it should call us to common witness....

The reason for Church divisions are very often misunderstandings and different interpretations of the same contents of faith and theological convictions. So in our international ecumenical dialogue, we were able to rediscover the common basis we have in these questions of faith and were able to express that these are no longer Church dividing issues....

Also from our Catholic side, our own conviction is 'Ecclesia semper reformanda' - that the life of the Church has to be reformed all the time, in every age, so we have this common intention of reform on both sides....what we could do in this document is to indicate the main themes of the theology of Martin Luther in lifht of our own ecumenical dialogue, showing that many ideas of Martin Luther have been issues for the whole Church and important elements of renovation of the Church.....

This document could be a basis for all sorts of ecumenical dialogues....with other partners because it addresses the basic intention necessary reform of the Church and also addresses our own relationship with God"

The full text of the document ‘From Conflict to Communion’ is available from the German Evangelische Verlangsanstalt and Bonifatius publishing house.

(Vatican Radio) For a Christian, Jesus is “all”, and this is the source of his or her benevolence.
This was the focus of Pope Francis’s message during Mass on Monday morning at the Domus Sanctae Marthae. The Pope also affirmed that the righteousness of Jesus exceeds the righteousness of the scribes, that it is superior to the “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” kind of justice.
Amongst those present at the Mass, which was concelebrated by Cardinal Attilio Nicora, was a group of collaborators of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority and a group of Vatican Museums collaborators accompanied by the Museum administrative director, Fr Paolo Nicolini. The Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Tagle, was also present.

“If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also”. Pope Francis focused his homily on Jesus’ earth-shaking words to his disciples. The slap of the cheek – he said - has become a classic take used by some to laugh about Christians. In life, he explained, everyday logic teaches us to “fight to defend our place” and if we receive a slap “we react and return two slaps in order to defend ourselves”. On the other hand, the Pope said, when I advise parents to scold their children I always say: “never slap their cheek”, because “the cheek is dignity”. And Jesus, he continued, after the slap on the cheek goes further and invites us to hand over our coat as well, to undress ourselves completely.

The righteousness that He brings – the Pope affirmed – is another kind of justice that is totally different from “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. It’s another justice. This is clear when St. Paul speaks of Christians as “people who have nothing in themselves but possess all things in Christ”. So, Christian security is exactly this “all” that is in Christ. “All” - he added – is Jesus Christ. Other things are “nothing” for a Christian. Instead, the Pope warned, “for the spirit of the world “all” means things: riches, vanities”, it means “to be well placed in society” where “Jesus is nothing”. Thus, if a Christian can walk 100 kilometres when he is asked to walk 10, “it’s because for him or for her this is “nothing”. And with serenity, “he or she can give his or her coat when asked for his or her tunic”. This is the secret of Christian benevolence that always goes together with meekness”: it is “all”, it is Jesus Christ:

“A Christian is a person who opens up his or her heart with this spirit of benevolence, because he or she has “all”: Jesus Christ. The other things are “nothing”. Some are good, they have a purpose, but in the moment of choice he or she always chooses “all”, with that meekness, that Christian meekness that is the sign of Jesus’ disciples: meekness and benevolence. To live like this is not easy, because you really do receive slaps! And on both cheeks! But a Christian is meek, a Christian is benevolent: he or she opens up his or her heart. Sometimes we come across these Christians with little hearts, with shrunken hearts…. This is not Christianity: this is selfishness, masked as Christianity”.

“A true Christian” – the Pope continued – “knows how to solve this bi-polar opposition, this tension that exists between “all” and “nothing”, just as Jesus has taught us: “First search for God’s Kingdom and its justice, the rest comes afterwards”.

“God’s Kingdom is “all”, the other is secondary. And all Christian errors, all the Church’s errors, all our errors stem from when we say “nothing” is “all”, and to “all” we say it does not count… Following Jesus is not easy, but it’s not difficult either, because on the path of love the Lord does things in such a way that we can go forward; it is the Lord himself who opens up our heart”.

This is what we must pray for – the Pope said – “when we are confronted with the choice of the slap, the coat, the 100 kilometres”, we must pray the Lord to “open up our heart” so that “we are benevolent and meek” . We must pray so that we do not “fight for small things, for the “nothings” of daily life”.

“When one takes on an option for “nothing”, it is from that option that conflicts arise in families, in friendships, between friends, in society. Conflicts that end in war: for “nothing”! “Nothing” is always the seed of wars. Because it is the seed of selfishness. “All” is Jesus. Let us ask the Lord to open up our heart, to make us humble, meek and benevolent because we have “all” in Him; and let’s ask him to help us avoid creating everyday problems stemming from “nothing”.

(Vatican Radio) Ten years after the publication of the Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Europa", the operators of social communications have examined the challenges facing the Church's missionary work in Europe today. The annual meeting of the Spokesperson and Press Officers promoted by CCEE took place June 12 through 15 in Bucharest, Romania, at the invitation of the Archbishop of the Romanian Capital City and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Romania, Mgr. Ioan Robu.

Jesus Christ, who lives in his Church, is a source of hope for Europe. Today, more than ever, the message of hope of the Apostolic Exhortation seems prophetic and topical for Europe. Our Continent, in fact, seems to go through a time of bewilderment and dimming of hope. In this phase of crisis, many people feel confused and disappointed by the institutions and have lost the points of reference that had so far withstood our societies of the Old Continent. The Europe of 2013 seems to be run through more by a wave of uncertainty then by the desire of future. This crisis, though, is not only economic, but also cultural, anthropological, ethical and spiritual; it is an opportunity for Europe to get rid of practical agnosticism and religious indifferentism and take decisions about its own future out of the encounter with the Person and the message of Jesus Christ (cf. Ecclesia in Europa, 2).

The main challenge therefore is to understand who is the European man of 2013 and where he is heading to. How can the Catholic Church be at his side, help him to integrate the message of the Gospel in his daily experience and bring forward the proposal, with new words and modern tools, also in terms of communication, concerning the person of Jesus and the values which can be found ​​in his gospel.

The Europe of 2013

Through the help of some experts - Prof. Andrea Pin, researcher and adjunct professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Padua, Italy, Mgr. Piotr Mazurkiewicz, official of the Pontifical Council for the Family, and Prof. Manfred Spieker, who holds a chair of Social Sciences at the University of Osnabrück, Germany, the participants have discussed about the changes taking place in Europe today.

In the last few years, several elements testify the changes in progress in the fields of politics, economy and law. We are witnessing, for example, a multiplication of rights: the so-called new rights – i.e., individual rights – which are the very fruits of a society where individualism reigns, where everything that is possible must be made lawful by means of the law. These same new rights seem to have developed in parallel with the expansion of the logic of economy in our society. In fact, the current economic crisis and its answers clearly show how the economy is becoming the benchmark for evaluating rules and is subtracting decisional power to the individuals (and to democracy); economic programs (and not social issues) often hold the balance in general elections. Broadly speaking, the economy has become the highway through which individual rights find their way of access, whose paradigm of reference is an ethos that does not require to look into one's conscience about what is the truth. At the same time, this system is already showing off its limits. Our everyday experience testifies that these rights do not comply with what they promise.

Gender theory, euthanasia and culture of death
During the meeting we also analyzed topics such as the gender theory, euthanasia, and the language of the culture of death. It is particularly significant to note how often people use a law-based language – the right to reproductive health to justify abortion or the right to self-determination and to actively assisted death to justify euthanasia – to foster a practice, a culture of death which is the ultimate man's attempt to replace God: to be the masters of life rather than its mere administrators.

We have also analyzed from the perspective of communication some initiatives related to these themes, such as the "manif pour tous" (rally for everyone) and the campaign of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales against same sex marriage. The resulting picture clearly testifies to the "fracture" that has come about in these countries between representative democracy (the elect) and participatory democracy (the people who do not feel represented), thus showing how on these issues, the social debate is extremely necessary and, at the same time, how it poses new challenges to the Church.

In general, from the reflections and the debate in the plenary session, it clearly came out that the question is ultimately of an anthropological nature: what idea of ​​man Europe wants to deliver to the future?

Copyright and Privacy

Thanks to the intervention of Ms. Elvana Thaçi, Head of the "Internet Governance" Unit - Directorate "Information Society and Action against Crime" (Council of Europe), we could check the state-of-the-art on the issues of copyright and privacy and their effects on the life of the Church (as an institution) and the faithful. The challenge is to regulate the relationship between two fundamental rights: the right to intellectual property and the right to freedom of expression. In fact, in many cases, especially with the expansion of the Internet, these rights eventually collide. Particular attention has been given to the protection and treatment of private data.

News.va and PopeApp

During the meeting, Mr. Thaddeus Milton Jones of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications (Vatican) brought us the greetings of the President of that Roman dicastery, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, and presented the many activities of his pontifical council, particularly in the field of the new media (PopeApp, the twitter account Pontifex, etc.) and the union of the various instruments of communication of the Holy See in the multilingual portal .

Romania

The participants have been briefed on the situation of Christians in Romania and on the commitment of the Romanian Church in the field of social communications by Fr. Eduard Mihai Cosa, Secretary General of the Romanian Catholic Bishops’ Conference (CER), by Msgr. Cornel Damian, Auxiliary Bishop of Bucharest, and by Fr. Francisc Dobos, spokesman of CER and co-organizer of the meeting. Romania, a bridge country between East and West, is a specific and very complex reality where we see a coexistence, not without tensions, of various Christian denominations (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) and linguistic minorities (Hungarian and German). In recent years, the Catholic dioceses have invested heavily on communication, also thanks to the new means of social communications and the Internet. Virtually every diocese is equipped with a press office and a website.

The Bishops' Conference of Romania, which is bi-ritual, as it includes bishops of Latin rite and Greek-catholic bishops, is specially engaged in the preparations for the beatification (August 31) of the Venerable Vladimir Ghika (who died in 1954), a Romanian intellectual and priest, who suffered martyrdom under the Communist regime. The testimony of many Christian religious and lay faithful who suffered persecution during the dark years of communism was presented by Mgr. Mihai Fratila, Greek-catholic bishop of Bucarest, and Fr. Francisc Ungureanu, postulator of the cause of beatification of the Venerable Ghika. The testimony of these men and these women has allowed the Church to survive during the totalitarian regime and it is an incentive for leading to the fall of the masks of suspect which are still very strong in the country.

The meeting concluded with an open discussion on some particularly important events in the life of the Church in recent months (Vatileaks, the renunciation of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of Pope Francis) and a presentation of the activities of CCEE and ComECE.

(Vatican Radio) Money, politics and economics must serve, not rule. They must serve people and promote an ethics of truth. This was the thread running through Pope Francis Letter to the British Prime Minister on the eve of the G8 Summit.The Holy Father's Letter was in response to one sent by David Cameron ahead of the Northern Ireland summit which gathers togther the leaders of the 8 most powerful nations in the world to the banks of Lough Erne. Listen:
In his letter, Pope Francis praises the priorities on the agenda of the British G8 Presidency: the free international market, taxation, and transparency on the part of governments and economic actors; concerted action to eliminate hunger and ensure food security and the protection of women and children from sexual violence in conflict situations.

In this regards Pope Francis writes that the G8 "cannot fail to address the situation in the Middle East, especially in Syria".He expresses the hope that the Summit will help to obtain "an immediate and lasting cease-fire and to bring all parties in the conflict to the negotiating table". "Peace is an essential pre-requisite for the protection of women, children and other innocent victims", and "conquering hunger".

Pope Francis writes that, "in a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy". As such he concludes his letter "every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one's own human potential. This is the main thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless".



Below please find the text of Pope Francis’ letter to the British Prime Minister:

To The Right Honourable David Cameron, MP Prime Minister
I am pleased to reply to your kind letter of 5 June 2013, with which you were good enough to inform me of your Government's agenda for the British G8 Presidency during the year 2013 and of the forthcoming Summit, due to take place at Lough Erne on 17 and 18 June 2013, entitled A G8 meeting that goes back to first principles.

If this topic is to attain its broadest and deepest resonance, it is necessary to ensure that all political and economic activity, whether national or international, makes reference to man. Indeed, such activity must, on the one hand, enable the maximum expression of freedom and creativity, both individual and collective, while on the other hand it must promote and guarantee their responsible exercise in solidarity, with particular attention to the poorest.
The priorities that the British Presidency has set out for the Lough Erne Summit are concerned above all with the free international market, taxation, and transparency on the part of governments and economic actors. Yet the fundamental reference to man is by no means lacking, specifically in the proposal for concerted action by the Group to eliminate definitively the scourge of hunger and to ensure food security. Similarly, a further sign of attention to the human person is the inclusion as one of the central themes on the agenda of the protection of women and children from sexual violence in conflict situations, even though it must be remembered that the indispensable context for the development of all the afore-mentioned political actions is that of international peace. Sadly, concern over serious international crises is a recurring theme in the deliberations of the G8, and this year it cannot fail to address the situation in the Middle East, especially in Syria.. In this regard, I earnestly hope that the Summit will help to obtain an immediate and lasting cease-fire and to bring all parties in the conflict to the negotiating table. Peace demands a far-sighted renunciation of certain claims, in order to build together a more equitable and just peace. Moreover, peace is an essential pre-requisite for the protection of women, children and other innocent victims, and for making a start towards conquering hun^ger, especially among the victims of war.
The actions included on the agenda of the British G8 Presidency, which point towards law as the golden thread of development – as well as the consequent commitments to deal with tax avoidance and to ensure transparency and responsibility on the part of governments – are measures that indicate the deep ethical roots of these problems, since, as my predecessor Benedict XVI made clear, the present global crisis shows that ethics is not something external to the economy, but is an integral and unavoidable element of economic thought and action.
The long-term measures that are designed to ensure an adequate legal framework for all economic actions, as well as the associated urgent measures to resolve the global economic crisis, must be guided by the ethics of truth. This includes, first and foremost, respect for the truth of man, who is not simply an additional economic factor, or a disposable good, but is equipped with a nature and a dignity that cannot be reduced to simple economic calculus. Therefore concern for the fundamental material and spiritual welfare of every human person is the starting-point for every political and economic solution and the ultimate measure of its effectiveness and its ethical validity.
Moreover, the goal of economics and politics is to serve humanity, beginning with the poorest and most vulnerable wherever they may be, even in their mothers' wombs. Every economic and political theory or action must set about providing each inhabitant of the planet with the minimum wherewithal to live in dignity and freedom, with the possibility of supporting a family, educating children, praising God and developing one's own human potential. This is the main thing; in the absence of such a vision, all economic activity is meaningless.
In this sense, the various grave economic and political challenges facing today's world require a courageous change of attitude that will restore to the end (the human person) and to the means (economics and politics) their proper place. Money and other political and economic means must serve, not rule, bearing in mind that, in a seemingly paradoxical way, free and disinterested solidarity is the key to the smooth functioning of the global economy.
I wished to share these thoughts with you, Prime Minister,, with a view to highlighting what is implicit in all political choices, but can sometimes be forgotten: the primary importance of putting humanity, every single man and woman, at the centre of all political and economic activity, both nationally and internationally, because man is the truest and deepest resource for politics and economics, as well as their ultimate end.
Dear Prime Minister, trusting that these thoughts have made a helpful spiritual contribution to your deliberations, I express my sincere hope for a fruitful outcome to your work and I invoke abundant blessings upon the Lough Erne Summit and upon all the participants, as well as upon the activities of the British G8 Presidency during the year 2013, and I take this opportunity to reiterate my good wishes and to express my sentiments of esteem.

Below please find the letter written to Pope Francis by Prime Minister Cameron

5 June 2013
Your Holiness,
When I said farewell to Pope Benedict at the end of his historic State Visit to Britain in September 2010, .I made a number of promises. I said that the United Kingdom would keep its promises on aid, in particular in dedicating 0.7% of GNI to international development aid, despite the tough economic times. I said that we would continue to help the poorest and ensure the money we spend on aid goes to those who need it most. I also promised that we would redouble our resolve to work for the common good, working closely with the Holy See.
In 2013, the United Kingdom holds the Presidency of the G8 group of nations. I am determined to ensure that our G8 agenda will lead to real benefits for the global economy and will help people in developed and developing countries alike. Your Holiness has spoken eloquently about the need to rebalance the global economy, to help the poor and disadvantaged, and to find people work. My aim for our G8 Presidency, especially at the G8 Summit at Lough Erne on 17 and 18 June, is to do this by restoring strong and sustainable growth to the world economy by practical action on fairer taxes, freer trade, and greater transparency.
I will use the G8 to galvanise collective international action to effectively tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance - problems shared by developed and developing countries alike. We shall promote a new global standard for automatic information exchange between tax authorities to shrink the space for tax evasion. We shall provide political support for the ongoing OECD and G20 work to prevent some individuals and corporates artificially shifting their profits to ultra-low tax jurisdictions, distorting competition and seek to enhance the flow of information to tax authorities. We shall seek to set out concrete steps we will take to let law enforcement and tax collectors find out who really owns and controls every company. We shall also explore what more can be done by the G8 to support lower-income developing countries to collect the tax revenues owed to them, thereby strengthening their public services in areas like health and education on which people's well-being depends.
On trade, I know the Vatican has taken a keen interest in trade liberalisation, particularly the potential that it offers to alleviate poverty, and the need to ensure the poorest countries are integrated into the global economy. This is very much in line with the trade agenda for Lough Eme. We shall ensure that the G8 shows leadership on free trade by opening our markets, resisting protectionism and supporting an open, global rule-based trading system to ensure that all countries can benefit from increased trade. Protectionism and trade bureaucracy are amongst the most significant brakes on the global economy, affecting developing and developed economies alike and creating a barrier to economic and social progress. This is why I will put political impetus on progressing bilateral and plurilateral deals as well as supporting the multilateral trading system.
We will support efforts to conclude a multilateral deal on Trade Facilitation at the WTO Ministerial Conference in December, which could add $70 billion to the global economy and would help boost trade in Africa in particular. We will also work with African countries to help them realise their goal of a Continental Free Trade Area, including through our support for regional integration. This could see intra-African trade double by 2022. If G8 countries complete all of their current trade deals and those in the pipeline, it could boost the income of the whole world by more than $1 trillion. Under our G8 Presidency, I also want to see real progress on tackling food and nutrition insecurity through practical action and greater political commitment to fighting global malnutrition.
Many of the world's poorest countries are shackled by a lack of transparency, poor mles, corrupt practices and weak capacity. Too often, a veil of secrecy allows cor^rupt corporations and officials in countries to flout the law and prevent development. Too often, mineral wealth in developing countries becomes a curse rather than a blessing, as a lack of transparency fosters crime and corruption. Too often, instead of a shared hope for the next generation, such wealth brings conflict, greed, and environmental damage. Through the G8, I plan to push for mandatory higher global standards for the extractives sector, to encourage responsible and sustainable investment in land, and setting the standards for ensuring that government data are released in an open and useable format.
Finally, the High Level Panel Report on the post-2015 development agenda, which we transferred to the UN Secretary General last week, highlighted the importance of trade, tax and transparency to better the lives of the world's poorest. The Report presents an ambitious roadmap to eradicate extreme poverty from the face of the earth by 2030. It says that everyone - regardless of gender, ethnicity, income, disability, age - must have their basic needs met, and their economic and human rights respected. It too makes a strong call for economic growth that promotes social inclusion and preserves the planet's natural resources for future generations. It says that freedom from violence, good governance and justice are not only fundamental to achieving poverty eradication, but goods in themselves that all citizens of the world have equal right to enjoy. I hope that you will be able to read the Report and offer support for its core messages.
You have called for disinterested solidarity and for a return to person-centred ethics in the world of finance and economics. As President of the G8, I aim to help secure the growth and stability on which the prosperity and welfare of the whole world depends. To do this, we must tackle the conditions that cause poverty, stiffen the sinews of responsible capitalism, and strengthen governance and transparency.
I believe that this path is one which requires more than the G8 to find success, that responsible governments, business and faiths can and should travel together, doing what we can to turn these values into practical action for the benefit of all.

(Vatican Radio) “Let us say ‘Yes’ to life and not death.” These were the words of Pope Francis during his homily on Sunday morning for Evangelium Vitae Day, a day celebrating the Gospel of Life. Listen to Ann Schneible's report:

An estimated 200,000 people were in Saint Peter’s Square for Holy Mass and the Angelus that followed with Pope Francis to mark the Year of Faith event dedicated to the Gospel of Life.

In his homily, the Pope noted how the Scriptures continuously tell us how God is the Living One who bestows life.

However, he said that “all too often, people do not choose life, they do not accept the ‘Gospel of Life’ but let themselves be led by ideologies and ways of thinking that block life, that do not respect life, because they are dictated by selfishness, self-interest, profit, power and pleasure, and not by love, by concern for the good of others.”

The Holy Father went on to say that people dream of building a new “Tower of Babel”, a city of man that is without God. They believe that the rejection of “God, the message of Christ, the Gospel of Life, will somehow lead to freedom, to complete human fulfillment.”

As a result,” the Pope continued, “the Living God is replaced by fleeting human idols which offer the intoxication of a flash of freedom, but in the end bring new forms of slavery and death.”

Concluding his homily, Pope Francis called on the faithful to “say ‘Yes’ to the God who is love, life and freedom, and who never disappoints.”

In his Angelus address following Mass, Pope Francis pointed to a perfect example of one who followed the Gospel of Life. He called attention to Saturday’s beatification of a husband and father of seven from Capri Italy who was killed in a concentration in 1944 for witnessing to his faith. Blessed Oduardo Focherini had saved countless lives from Nazi persecution before losing his own.

The Holy Father also greeted participants in a Harley-Davidson rally, marking 110 years of the manufacturer of the iconic American motorbike. Over 100,000 bikers had gathered in Rome this weekend; 1,400 of them had their bikes blessed by the Pope following the Angelus prayer.