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(Vatican Radio) In this week's edition of There's More in the Gospel Than Meets the Eye, Jill Bevilacqua and Seàn-Patrick Lovett bring us readings and reflections for the Sixth Sunday of Easter. Listen:

Gospel                        Jn 14: 23-29

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words;
yet the word you hear is not mine
but that of the Father who sent me.

“I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit,
whom the Father will send in my name,
will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
Not as the world gives do I give it to you.
Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.
You heard me tell you,
‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’
If you loved me,
you would rejoice that I am going to the Father;
for the Father is greater than I.
And now I have told you this before it happens,
so that when it happens you may believe.”

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(Vatican Radio)  Advances in regenerative medicine will top the agenda of an international conference opening in the Vatican Thursday.  “Cellular Horizons: How Science, Technology, Information and Communication will Impact Society” 28-30 April is the third in a series of conferences (2011 and 2013) organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture’s office for Science and Faith and The Stem For Life Foundation on the Progress of Regenerative Medicine and its Cultural Impact. Researchers, doctors, patients, policy makers, business leaders and philanthropists will look at successful new therapies and attempt to identify ways to make them more available.

Listen to the report by Tracey McClure:

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, says:

“In this Jubilee Year of Mercy, we would like to challenge all of society to search for the cures to human illness.  The advancement of regenerative medicine holds great promise for the future, and together, we must bring these vital cellular therapies to the hundreds of millions of people suffering from disease around the world, especially those from under-served and developing nations.  With this event, we sound a clarion call to humanity that tomorrow’s cures can be found today in the human body, and that we have an obligation to bring these cellular therapies out of the clinic and into the real world.”

“Whether immunotherapies for cancer or stem cell treatments for rare diseases, there are now over 30,000 cell therapy trials in development noted on the clincaltrials.gov website,” says Dr. Robin Smith, President of The Stem For Life Foundation.  “This event will rally the world around a powerful idea – that the cells of our bodies hold the potential to vanquish disease, reduce global suffering and inspire hope for people around the world living with illness.”

3 Days focusing on the “cellular revolution”

The focus on Thursday,  the opening day of the conference, will be on ground-breaking therapies offering new hope in the treatment of pediatric cancer, rare diseases and diabetes.  On Friday, speakers will present cellular and technological breakthroughs in cancer and autoimmune disorders, and discuss the delivery of health care using technology and big data.  Pope Francis is expected to greet participants in an audience Friday. Also Friday: talks on “The Dawn of Next Generation Health Care” and “Humans 2.0” exploring societal, ethical psychological and spiritual implications of how technological advances in life sciences are poised to challenge even what it means to be human.

On Saturday, the final day of the conference, speakers will concentrate on “Cellular Frontiers” with emphasis on research, regulation and funding. Talks will focus on stem cell research, and include “Rebuilding and Restoring the Human Body,” “Aligning Stakeholders to Build a Regenerative Care Model,” “Facilitating Cellular Innovation and Distribution,” “Healthy Aging,” “Feeding Cells, Starving Cancer and Aging Well,” and “Cell Therapy Philanthropy.”

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(Vatican Radio) A press briefing was held on Thursday morning, in the John Paul II Hall of the Press Office of the Holy See, for the presentation of the Annual Report of the Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria (the Financial Information Authority, AIF), on the activities of financial reporting and supervision, both with regard to prudential decisions and for the prevention and combatting of money laundering and the financing of terrorism during Year IV, 2015.

Present at the briefing, in addition to the Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, the Director of the Holy See Press Office, were the President of the AIF, Dr René Brülhart, and the Director of the AIF, Dr Tommaso Di Ruzza.

Below, please find the official Press Release regarding the 2015 Annual Report of the Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria:

AIF press release | Annual Report 2015 | Effective regulatory framework

The Autorità di Informazione Finanziaria(AIF) of the Holy See and the Vatican City State has presented its Annual Report for 2015. The report reviews the activities and statistics of AIF for the year  2015.

2015 has seen an effective implementation and application of the regulatory framework of the  Holy See and the Vatican City State. Furthermore, international cooperation of the Vatican competent authority with its foreign counterparts to fight illicit financial activities has been intensified.

“The full implementation and application of Regulation No. 1 has shown the effectiveness of the regulatory framework of the Holy See and Vatican City State,” said René Brülhart, President of AIF. “International cooperation remains a key commitment of AIF. Additional Memoranda of Understandings with competent authorities of other jurisdictions were signed and the exchange of information on a bilateral level has increased significantly.”

The reporting system has been consolidated and in the last three years, 893 Suspicious Transaction Reports (STR) (202 in 2013, 147 in 2014 and 544 in 2015) have been filed with AIF.

“The  increase of STRs was not due to higher potential illicit financial activities, but to a number of different  factors, namely the finalization of the closure of client relationships no longer compliant with Vatican legislation and policies adopted by supervised entities, the monitoring of clients’ activities under foreign countries’ voluntary tax compliance programs as well as the general strengthening of the reporting system and the increased awareness of the supervised entities,” said Tommaso Di Ruzza, Director of AIF. In 2015, 17 reports were submitted to the Vatican Promoter of Justice for further investigation by judicial authorities.

The number of cases of bilateral cooperation between AIF and foreign competent authorities increased from 4 in 2012 to 81 in 2013 to113 in 2014 and 380 in 2015.

Since 2012, the number of declarations of outgoing cash above the amount of EUR 10,000 decreased steadily from 1,782 (2012) to 1,557 (2013) and 1,111 in2014 and remained stable in 2015 (1,196). Declarations for incoming cash also decreased from 598 (2012) to 550 (2013) to 429 in 2014 and 367 in 2015. This is due to an increased monitoring by the competent authorities and the introduction of reinforced procedures at the supervised entities.

About AIF

The Financial Information Authority is the competent authority of the Holy See and Vatican City State for supervision and financial intelligence for the prevention and countering of money laundering and financing of terrorism as well as prudential supervision.

Established by Pope Benedict XVI with the Apostolic Letter in form of Motu Proprio of 30 December 2010, AIF carries out its institutional activities in accordance with its new Statute introduced by Pope Francis with Motu Proprio of 15 November 2013 and Law No. XVIII of 8 October 2013.

In 2015, AIF signed MOUs with the financial intelligence units (FIUs) of Albania, Cuba, Luxemburg, Norway, Paraguay and Hungary. In previous years, AIF had already signed MOUs with the Authorities of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Slovenia, Spain, United Kingdom, United States of America, South Africa and Switzerland. AIF became a member of the Egmont Group in 2013. 

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The Episcopal Conference of Chad has been celebrating the inauguration of its new premise that now hosts its Catholic Secretariat. The building is also home to many other national Catholic programmes and bodies working in Chad.

Sometimes referred to as Tchad, the Republic of Chad is located in north central Africa.

The ceremony of inauguration took place in N'Djamena recently. President of the Episcopal Conference of Chad,  Bishop Jean-Claude Bouchard, OMI, expressed satisfaction with the new premises. He told guests at the ceremony that the Church in Chad wanted to bring together all the various national services and institutions under one roof. He emphasised that the work that the Church does in Chad, particularly its social services, were for the good of the whole country and not just Catholics.

The inauguration ceremony was a joyful event characterised by the presence of two choirs from the parishes of Saint Paul de Kabalaye and the Sacré-Cœur de Chagoua.

With a population of twelve million, 56 percent of Chadians are said to be Muslim while the remaining 44 percent is shared equally between Christians and those who practice traditional religions or profess no faith at all. Catholics in Chad are said to number one million. 

(KS)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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Vatican City, Apr 28, 2016 / 03:36 am (CNA).- A native of Zurich, Switzerland, David Geisser was a chef prodigy.

He compiled his first best-selling cookbook at age 18, produced his second cookbook before he was 23, and was working under masters such as Antonio Colaianni of the Gault Millau restaurant in Switzerland.

Amidst his rising stardom in the culinary world, he decided to join the Pontifical Swiss Guard – a historically elite body of Swiss soldiers who have served as guardians to the pope in Vatican City since the 1500s.

“I volunteered for the Pontifical Swiss Guard because that was my dream – to be like my father and serve in the Swiss Guard. It is a great honor for young Swiss men,” Geisser told CNA.


Credit: Katarzyna Artymiak.

He was officially sworn in as a Swiss Guard in May 2013. Once he was serving a higher cause, Geisser would hang up his apron and lay his acclaimed chef days to rest.

But during the same time, the Swiss Guard was working on a promotional pamphlet encouraging Swiss Guard prospectives to apply for the position of papal guardian. Geisser jumped on the opportunity to turn the recruit document into a high-quality cookbook, filled with pictures, recipes, and stories.

“The Commander [Daniel Anrig] decided the Swiss Guard should do a cookbook and assigned me to lead the project,” Geisser explained, saying Anrig had always been interested in Geisser’s culinary background.

Geisser collaborated with Commander Anrig and fellow Swiss Guard Erwin Niederberger, a former pastry chef who produced most of the cookbook’s text. Together, they transformed the recruit brochure into Buon Appetito – a culinary masterpiece, carefully crafted with 76 hand-picked recipes, including papal favorites.

Buon Appetito was released in Switzerland in 2014 and critics hailed it as “an instant classic.” In 2015, international publishing rights were acquired through the Archangel Company in Cleveland, Ohio and Buon Appetito was transformed into The Vatican Cookbook, released by Sophia Institute Press in April 2016.

The Vatican Cookbook includes additional photos and updated information, as well as an appeal to raise awareness of the Pope Francis-approved campaign, “One Human Family, Food For All.” Caritas International is sponsoring the endeavor in an effort to eradicate worldwide hunger, promote improved food production, and reduce food waste across the globe.

The recipes found in The Vatican Cookbook reflect the diverse heritage of both the popes and the guards, ranging from Polish, German, French, Bavarian, Italian and Argentine cuisine. According to Geisser, The Vatican Cookbook was ultimately a collaborative effort of the Swiss Guard with contributions from many ranking officers.

“We searched for the best of the truly classic recipes - the ones that had endured and were served at Vatican tables for centuries,” Geisser stated.  

“Most importantly, we asked the Guardsmen about the Popes they had served...they know what each Pope likes to eat better than anyone else. So, we were able to include the favorite dishes of the modern Popes – Francis, Benedict XVI, and St. John Paul II,” he continued.

Although Geisser was reluctant to pick a favorite recipe, he did say that “every meal has its place. There are recipes for all occasions and simple fare for every day – so, I favor them all.”


Credit: Katarzyna Artymiak.

Geisser pointed out that a week after its release, The Vatican Cookbook was ranked #1 on major Amazon Bestseller Lists, including cookbooks, Christian books, Catholic books, and new releases. It has also earned a shining 5-star rating from consumers.

“We were fortunate to get help from good writers, the best photographers, a fine publisher at Sophia Institute Press and support from the Swiss Guard and the Vatican,” Geisser reflected, saying “we hope everyone will enjoy it.”

Based on its overwhelming success, Geisser hinted that they have talked about producing another Vatican cookbook.

“We do not know yet what should be inside, but we think we have a good title: Vatican II,” Geisser stated, adding“we are working hard to keep the momentum going.”

“We tried to make a useful and joyful book. So far, the reaction in America tells us maybe we made a good book, and we are happy for that.”


Credit: Katarzyna Artymiak.

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