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By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called for abolishing the death penalty worldwide, lifting the burden of debt on poor nations, global aid policies that respect life and revamped laws that welcome and integrate migrants.

He urged individuals, communities and nations to not let indifference, information overload or pessimism discourage them from concrete efforts "to improve the world around us, beginning with our families, neighbors and places of employment."

Building peace, he said, is not accomplished by words alone, but through the grace of God, a conversion of heart, an attitude of compassion and the courage to act against despair.

The pope's multifaceted plea came in his message for World Peace Day, Jan. 1. The message, which was delivered to world leaders by Vatican ambassadors, was released at the Vatican Dec. 15.

The message, titled "Overcome Indifference and Win Peace," contained a three-fold appeal to the world's leaders.

He asked that countries: "refrain from drawing other peoples into conflicts of wars," which not only destroy a nation's infrastructure and cultural heritage, but also their "moral and spiritual integrity"; forgive or make less burdensome international debt of poorer nations; and "adopt policies of cooperation which, instead of bowing before the dictatorship of certain ideologies, will respect the values of the local populations" and not harm the "fundamental and inalienable right to life of the unborn."

Also part of building peace in the world, he said, is addressing the urgent problem of improving the living conditions of prisoners, especially those still awaiting trial. Since rehabilitation should be the aim of penal sanctions, effective alternatives to incarceration should be considered as well as the abolition of the death penalty. The pope asked government authorities to consider "the possibility of an amnesty" or pardon.

The pope called on national governments to review their current laws on immigration and find ways they could "reflect a readiness to welcome migrants and to facilitate their integration" as well as respect the rights and responsibilities of all parties concerned.

All nations' leaders should also take concrete measures in alleviating the problem of a lack of housing, land and employment, the pope wrote, as well as stop discrimination against women in the workplace, which included unfair wages and precarious or dangerous working conditions. He said he hoped those who are ill could be guaranteed access to medical treatment, necessary medications and home care.

The pope's message focused on the dangers of cynicism and indifference against God, neighbor and creation.

"Disregard and the denial of God," he said, "have produced untold cruelty and violence." And the exploitation of natural resources and mistreatment of animals have an effect "on the way we treat other people."

"With the present Jubilee of Mercy, I want to invite the church to pray and work so that every Christian will have a humble and compassionate heart" and that all people will learn "to forgive and to give," he said in his message.

God is never indifferent to the world, he said. He not only sees, hears and knows, he "comes down and delivers" real healing and eternal teachings.

The credibility of the church and its members rests on their willingness to live and act with the same tireless mercy God has for the world, the pope said.

"We, too, then are called to make compassion, love, mercy and solidarity a true way of life, a rule of conduct in our relationships with one another," he said.

Since these attitudes of compassion and solidarity are often handed down from person to person, the pope emphasized the importance of families and teachers in showing what love, respect, dialogue, generosity, charity and faith mean.

He also reminded the media and communicators of their responsibility to "serve the truth and not particular interests." They don't just inform people, he said, but also form and influence their audience.

"Communicators should also be mindful that the way in which information is obtained and made public should always be legally and morally admissible," he said.

In his message, the pope praised those journalists and religious who raise awareness about troubling and "difficult situations," and defend the human rights of minorities, indigenous peoples, women, children and the most vulnerable people in society.

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Editor's Note: The text of the pope's World Peace Day message in English will be posted online at:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html

The text of the pope's message in Spanish will be posted online at:

http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/messages/peace/documents/papa-francesco_20151208_messaggio-xlix-giornata-mondiale-pace-2016.html

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 WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).

The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015.

"If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.

Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, including U.S. support for Mexican interdiction efforts which are intercepting children and families in Mexico and sending them back to danger, in violation of international law.

Bishop Seitz recommended an end to these interdictions and the introduction of a regional system which would screen children and families for asylum in Mexico and other parts of the region. He also called for Congress to approve and increase a $1 billion aid package proposed by the Administration.

"If we export enforcement," Bishop Seitz said, "we also must export protection."

Bishop Seitz recalled the words of Pope Francis before Congress in September, when he invoked the golden rule in guiding our nation's actions toward those seeking safety in our land.

Quoting the Holy Father, Bishop Seitz repeated to the committee, "'The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.'"

"Mr. Chairman, I pray that time, and history, will conclude that we honored this rule in meeting this humanitarian challenge," Bishop Seitz concluded.

Bishop Seitz' testimony can be found at http://www.usccb.org//about/migration-policy/congressional-testimony/upload/seitz-ongoing-migration.pdf

Keywords: Bishop Mark J. Seitz, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Congress, Senate, Committee on Migration, migration, unaccompanied children, violence, Pope Francis
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(Vatican Radio) On Monday, 14 December 2015, Pope Francis received Cardinal Angelo Amato, SDB, Prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in a private audience. In the course of the audience, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate decrees regarding:

1. The miracle attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Maria Elisabetta Hesselblad, Founder of the Order of the Most Holy Saviour of Saint Bridget; born a Flågavik, Sweden on 4 June 1870, died at Rome 24 April 1957.

2. The miracle attributed to the intercession of the Servant of God Ladislao Bukowinski, diocesan Priest; nato a Berdyczów, Ukraine, on 22 December 1904, died in Karaganda, Kazakhstan, 3 December 1974.

3. The miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Maria Celeste Crostarosa (née Giulia), Foundress of the Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer; born in Naples, Italy, on 31 October 1696, died in Foggia, Italy, 14 November 1755.

4. The miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Maria di Gesù (née Carolina Santocanale), Foundress of the Congregation of the Capuchin Sisters of the Immaculata of Lourdes; born in Palermo 2 October 1852 and died in Cinisi, Italy, 27 January 1923.

5. The miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Itala Meta, Benedictine Oblate of the Monastery of Saint Paul in Rome; born in La Spezia, Italy, 28 August 1904, and died there 29 April 1957.

6. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Angelo Ramazzotti, Patriarch of Venice, Founder of the Institute for Foreign Missions; born in Milan, Italy, 3 August 1800 and died in Crespano del Grappa, Italy, on 24 September 1861.

7. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Joseph Vithayathil, diocesan Priest, Founder of the Congregation of Sisters of the Holy Family; born in Puthenpally, India, on 23 July 1865, died at Kuzhikkattussery, India, 8 June 1964.

8. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Joseph Mary Arizmendiarrieta, diocesan Priest; born in Markina, Spain, 22 April 1915, and died in Mondragón 29 November 1976.

9. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Giovanni Schiavo, professed Priest of the Congregation of San Giuseppe; born in Sant’Urbano, Italy, 8 July 1903 and died at Caxias di Sul, Brazil, 27 January 1967.

10. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Venanzio Maria Quadri (né Antonio), professed Religious of the Order of the Servants of Mary; born in Vado di Setta, Italy, 9 December 1916, and died in Rome 2 November 1937.

11. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God William Gagnon, professed Religious of the Hospitaller Order of St John; born in Dover, USA, 16 May 1905 and died in Hô Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), Vietnam, 28 February 1972.

12. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Teresa Rosa Ferdinanda de Saldanha Oliveira e Sousa, of the Third Order of Saint Dominic, Foundress of the Congregation of Portugal of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena; born 4 September 1837 in Lisbon, Portugal, and died there on 8 January 1916.

13. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Maria Emilia Riquelme Zayas, Foundress of the Institute of the Missionaries of the Most Holy Sacrament and of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate; born in Granada, Spain, 15 August 1847, and died there 10 December 1940.

14. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Maria Speranza della Croce (née Salustiana Antonia Ayerbe Castillo), Co-founder of the Recollected Missionary Augustines; born in Monteagudo, Spain, 8 June 1890 and died there 23 May 1967.

15. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Emanuela Maria Maddalena Kalb (née Elena), professed Sister of the Congregation of Sister Canonesses of Santo Spirito in Sassia; born in Jaroslaw (now in Poland) on 12August 1899, and died in Krakow, Poland, on 8 January 1986.

16. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Nicola Wolf, Layman and Father of a family; born in Neuenkirch, Switzerland on 1 May 1756 and died at Sant’Urbano, Switzerland, on 18 September 1832.

17. The heroic virtue of the Servant of God Teresio Olivelli, Layman; born in Bellagio, Italy, on 7 January 1916, and died in the concentration camp at Hersbruck, Germany, on 17 January 1945.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday issued his message for the World Day of Peace, 1 Jan 2016. The theme of the Message is: “Overcome indifference and win peace.”

You can find the full text of the Pope's message for the World Day of Peace here. 

Listen to Ann Schneible's report: 

In the message, dated 8 Dec 2015, the Pope acknowledged the various forms of war, terrorism, and persecution present in today’s world, but said there is reason to hope. He cited several events over the course of the year 2015, including the various initiatives confronting climate change, the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, and the Jubilee of Mercy.

Referencing the theme of the message, the Holy Father then highlighted various forms of indifference in society. First, there is indifference to God, which in turn leads to indifference to one’s neighbour and subsequently to the environment.

Pope Francis also addressed what he referred to as an “indifference to mercy,” as seen with the Genesis account of Cain murdering his brother Abel. In contrast, God intervenes, the message reads: “He sees, hears, comes down, and delivers. God does not remain indifferent. He is attentive and He acts.”

“Mercy is the heart of God,” the Pope writes, and therefore must be the heart of all His children.

Pope Francis said we are called to “compassion, love, mercy and solidarity” in our relationships with one another. He added that “the conversion of our hearts” is needed for us to become “open to others in authentic solidarity.” The Pope called for the building of a culture of solidarity and mercy in order to overcome indifference.

This begins with families, which are the “first place where the values of love, fraternity, togetherness and sharing, concern and care for others are lived out and handed on.” He spoke also of the role of teachers, and communicators. The Pope added that communicators in particular should be “mindful” of how they obtain and disseminate information, saying their methods should always be “legally and morally admissible.”

Pope Francis went on to say that peace is the fruit of a culture of solidarity, mercy, and compassion.

It is also a sign of the Jubilee of Mercy, which began 8 Dec, in which all are called to recognize indifference, and “improve the world around us.”

The Holy Father said these efforts begin with our families, neighbours, and places of employment. They extend to civil society’s care for vulnerable persons, such as “prisoners, migrants, the unemployed, and the infirm.”

On the subject of migrants, the Pope asked that legislation on migration be reviewed, in a way that facilitates their integration into society, with special attention given to legal residency in order to avoid criminal behaviour.

Pope Francis appealed to national leaders to offer assistance to men and women suffering from lack of work, land, and lodging.

The Pope concluded by entrusting the reflections contained in the message to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis says the Church must be humble, poor and trusting in the Lord. 

Speaking during Mass at Casa Santa Marta on Tuesday morning the Pope emphasized the fact that poverty is the first of the Beatitudes, and that the poor are the Church’s true riches.

Commenting on the first reading from the Book of Zephaniah in which Jesus rebukes the chief priests and warns them that even prostitutes will precede them into the Kingdom of Heaven, Pope Francis said that still today temptations can corrupt the witness of the church.

“A Church that is truly faithful to the Lord – he said - must be humble, poor and trusting in God”.

The Pope also made it quite clear that to be a humble Church or a humble person one must be prepared to say: “I am a sinner”. Humility - he said – is not a pretense; it’s not a theatrical attitude. True humility demands that the Church and  that each and every one of us take a first step and recognizes one’s sinfulness.

And if anyone has the habit – Francis said – of being judgmental, pointing to the defects of others and gossiping about them, then he is not a humble person.

The second step – he said - is poverty, which "is the first of the Beatitudes." 

To be poor in spirit, he explained, means that one is "attached only to the riches of God."

So – Pope Francis continued - we must say “no to a Church that is attached to money, that thinks of money, that thinks of how to earn money."

The Pope recalled the martyrdom of the Deacon Lawrence, an heroic witness in the first millennium who assembled the poor before the emperor saying they represented the real gold and silver of the Church, and he warned against some ancient customs which demanded monetary offers from pilgrims in order to pass through the Holy Door.

"As is known - said the Pope - in a temple of the diocese, to pass through the Holy Door, naively they said to people that you had to make an offer: this is not the Church of Jesus, this is the Church of these chiefs priests, attached to money " he said

The third step – he said - for a humble Church is to always trust in the Lord that never disappoints.

"Where is my faith? In power, in friends, in money? It is in the Lord! The legacy that God promised to leave us is of a humble and poor people who trust in the name of the Lord. Humble because it knows it sins; poor because it is attached to the riches of God; trusting in the Lord because it knows that only He has its good at heart” he said.

Pope Francis concluded with the prayer - as we prepare for Christmas – for a humble heart, a poor heart, a heart that trusts in the Lord who never disappoints.

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