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17-06-2015 - Year XXII - Num. 113 

Summary
- The family faced with death
- Appeal for the defence of creation and aid to refugees
- Consistory for the canonisation of blesseds Vincenzo Grossi, Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Louis Martin and Marie-Azelie Guerin
- Other Pontifical Acts

- Members and substitutes for the 14th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
The family faced with death
Vatican City, 17 June 2015 (VIS) – Bereavement in the family was the theme of Pope Francis' catechesis during this Wednesday's general audience in St. Peter's Square, attended by more than fifteen thousand people.
“Death is an experience that affects all families, without exception. It is part of life; however, when it touches someone close to us, it never appears natural to us. For parents, the loss of a child … is an affront to the promises, gifts and sacrifices of love joyfully offered to the life we have brought into being. The whole family is paralysed, silenced. And a child suffers something similar when he or she is left alone by the loss of one or both parents. The emptiness and abandonment that opens up inside the child is even more distressing on account of the fact that he does not have the sufficient experience to 'give a name' to what has happened. In these cases death is like a black hole that opens up in the life of families, for which we are unable to give any explanation. And at times we even reach the point of blaming God”.
“But many people – and I understand them – become angry with God, and blaspheme. 'Why have you taken my son, my daughter from me? There is no God, God does not exist! Why has He done this to me?'. But this anger arises from great pain; the loss of a son or a daughter, a father or mother, is an immense pain. … In these cases, death seems like a hole”.
But physical death, the Pope warned, has “accomplices” that are even worse: “hatred, envy, pride and greed, the sin of the world that works for death and renders it even more painful and unjust. Family ties appear to be the predestined and helpless victims of these powerful auxiliaries of death that accompany human history. Think of the absurd 'normality' with which, in certain moments and in certain places, the events that add horror to death are provoked by the hatred and indifference of other human beings. May the Lord free us from growing accustomed to this”.
Thanks to God's compassion given to us in Jesus, “many families demonstrate in their actions that death does not have the last word. Every time that a bereaved family – even terribly – finds the strength to keep the faith and love that unite us to those whom we love, it prevents death from claiming everything. The darkness of death must be faced with more intense love. In the light of the Resurrection of the Lord, Who never abandons any of those whom the Father has entrusted to Him, we can remove the 'sting' from death, as the apostle Paul said; we can prevent it from poisoning life, from spoiling our affections, from making us fall into the darkest emptiness. In this faith, we are able to console each other, knowing that the Lord has defeated death once and for all. Our dear ones have not disappeared into the darkness of nothing: hope assures us that they are in the good and strong hands of God. Love is stronger than death”, the Pope emphasised. If we let ourselves be supported by this faith, “the experience of bereavement can generate a stronger solidarity in family ties, a new openness to the suffering of other families, a new fraternity with those families who are born and reborn in hope”.
Faith gives us birth and rebirth in hope, reiterated Francis, recalling the passage from the Gospel in which Jesus revives the widower's son, restoring him to his mother. “This is our hope”, he exclaimed. “Jesus will restore to us all our dear ones who have passed away, He will return them to us and we will meet them again. … Let us remember this gesture of Jesus … as the Lord will do the same with the loved ones in our family”. This faith, he said, “protects us from a nihilistic vision of death, as well as from the false consolations of the world, 'so that the Christian truth does not risk mixing itself with myths of various types'”, giving way to rites of superstition, ancient or modern”.
The Pope concluded by urging all pastors and all Christians to express in the most concrete way the sense of faith in relation to the family experience of bereavement. “The right to weep must not be denied”, he exclaimed. “Even Jesus was deeply moved and profoundly troubled by the bereavement of a family he loved. We can, instead, draw from the simple and powerful witness of many families who have known how to grasp, in the difficult passage of death, also the safe passage offered by the Lord, crucified and risen, with his irrevocable promise of the resurrection of the dead. The work of God's love is stronger than the work of death. We must seek to be 'accomplices' to that love, with our faith. … Death was defeated by Jesus on the cross. Jesus will restore all of us to our families”.
Appeal for the defence of creation and aid to refugees
Vatican City, 17 June 2015 (VIS) – Following today's catechesis the Pope mentioned thattomorrow the Encyclical on the care of creation, our “common home”, will be published. “Our home is being ruined and this damages everyone, especially the poorest. I therefore make an appeal for responsibility, on the basis of the task that God assigned to the human being in creation: 'to tend and to keep' the 'garden' in which He placed him. I invite everyone to welcome with an open heart this Document which is in line with the social doctrine of the Church”.
He also drew attention to World Refugee Day, organised by the United Nations and to be heldnext Saturday, and called for prayers “for the many brothers and sisters who seek refuge far from the lands of their birth, in search of a place where they can live without fear, so that their dignity may always be respected”. He added, “I encourage the work of the many who help them, and hope that the international community will act in a concerted and effective way to prevent the causes of forced migration”.
In his greetings to Polish pilgrims, the Holy Father mentioned St. Albert Chmielowski, whose memory is celebrated today. “Remembering his commitment to the poor, to the homeless, to the incurably sick, we open our hearts to the needs of our brothers. From this we learn to serve Christ in the poor and to be good for others, like bread. Let us imitate him in aspiring to holiness”.
Consistory for the canonisation of blesseds Vincenzo Grossi, Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Louis Martin and Marie-Azelie Guerin
Vatican City, 17 June 2015 (VIS) – On Saturday 27 June, in the Consistory Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father will preside at the celebration of Terce and the ordinary public consistory for the canonisation of the blesseds Vincenzo Grossi, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Institute of Daughters of the Oratory (1845-1917); Mary of the Immaculate Conception (nee Maria Isabel Salvat Romero), Spanish superior general of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross (1926-1998); and the French spouses Louis Martin (1823-1894) and Marie-Azelie Guerin (1831-1877), parents of St. Therese of Lisieux.
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 17 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Potsdam and director of the Institute for Climate Impact in Potsdam, Federal Republic of Germany, as ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
16-06-2015 - Year XXII - Num. 112 
Members and substitutes for the 14th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops
Vatican City, 16 June 2015 (VIS) – The following is a list of members and substitutes from the competent bodies for the 14th General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, confirmed by the Holy Father Francis on 22 May 2015. The previous list was published on 25 March.
A) Episcopal Conferences
AFRICA
ANGOLA and SAO TOME
Member: Bishop Emilio Sumbelelo of Uije, Angola
Substitute: Archbishop Jose de Queiros Alves, C.SS.R., of Huambo, Angola
BENIN
Member: Bishop Eugene Cyrille Houndekon of Abomey, vice president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Bishop Antoine Sabi Bio of Natitingou
CAMEROON
Members: Archbishop Joseph Atanga, S.J., of Bertoua
Archbishop Samuel Kleda of Douala, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitutes: Bishop Barthelemy Yaouda Hourgo of Yagoua
Bishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Mamfe
REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
Member: Bishop Urbain Ngassongo of Gamboma, president of the Episcopal Commission for Family Pastoral Ministry
Substitute: Bishop Louis Portella Mbuyu of Kinkala
GABON
Member: Bishop Mathieu Madega Lebouakehan of Mouila, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Bishop Jean-Vincent Ondo Eyene of Oyem
GAMBIA and SIERRA LEONE
Member: Bishop Charles Allieu Matthew Campbell of Bo, Sierra Leone
Substitute: Bishop Henry Aruna of Makeni, Sierra Leone
MALAWI
Member: Archbishop Thomas Luke Msusa, S.M.M., of Blantyre, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Bishop Emmanuel Kanyama of Dedza
INDIAN OCEAN (C.E.D.O.I.)
Member: Bishop Maurice Piat, C.S.Sp., of Port-Louis, Mauritius, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Bishop Gilbert Aubry of Saint-Denis-de-La Reunion, Reunion, France
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Member: Bishop Cyr-Nestor Yapaupa of Alindao
Substitute: Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga, C.S.Sp., of Bangui, president of the Episcopal Conference
SENEGAL, MAURITANIA, CABO VERDE and GUINEA-BISSAU
Member: Archbishop Benjamin Ndiaye of Dakar, president of the Episcopal Conference, Senegal
Substitute: Bishop Paul Abel Mamba of Ziguinchor, Senegal, vice president of the Episcopal Conference
TANZANIA
Members: Bishop Tarcisius J. M. Ngalalekumtwa of Iringa, president of the Episcopal Conference
Bishop Renatus Leonard Nkwande of Bunda
Substitutes: Bishop Joseph Roman Mlola of Kigoma
Bishop John Chrisostom Ndimbo of Mbinga
ZAMBIA
Member: Bishop Benjamin Phiri, auxiliary of Chipata
Substitute: Bishop Patrick Chisanga, O.F.M. Conv., of Mansa
AMERICA
BRAZIL
Members: Archbishop Sergio Da Rocha of Brasilia, president of the Episcopal Conference
Bishop Joao Carlos Petrini of Camacari
Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Mariana
Cardinal Odilo Pedro Scherer, archbishop of Sao Paulo
Substitutes: Bishop Joao Bosco Barbosa De Sousa, O.F.M., of Osasco
Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner, O.F.M., auxiliary of Brasilia
CANADA
Members: Archbishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Gatineau, president of the Episcopal Conference
Bishop Noel Simard of Valleyfield
Cardinal Thomas Christopher Collins, archbishop of Toronto
Archbishop Richard William Smith of Edmonton
Substitutes: Bishop Lionel Gendron, P.S.S., of Saint-Jean - Longueuil
Archbishop J. Michael MILLER, C.S.B., of Vancouver
COLOMBIA
Members: Bishop Pablo Emiro Salas Anteliz of Armenia
Cardinal Ruben Salazar Gomez, archbishop of Bogota
Archbishop Oscar Urbina Ortega of Villavicencio
Substitute: Archbishop Ricardo Antonio Tobon Restrepo of Medellín
COSTA RICA
Member: Bishop Jose Francisco Ulloa Rojas of Cartago, president of the Episcopal Commission for Family Pastoral Ministry
Substitute: Bishop Oscar Gerardo Fernandez Guillen of Puntarenas, president of the Episcopal Conference
EL SALVADOR
Member: Bishop Constantino Barrera Morales of Sonsonate
Substitute: Bishop Fabio Reynaldo Colindres Abarca, military ordinary of El Salvador
PUERTO RICO
Member: Archbishop Roberto Octavio Gonzalez Nieves, O.F.M., of San Juan de Puerto Rico, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Bishop Alvaro Corrada Del Rio, S.J. of Mayaguez
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Member: Bishop Gregorio Nicanor Pena Rodriguez of Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia en Higuey, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Bishop Fausto Ramon Mejia Vallejo of San Francisco de Macorís
ASIA
BANGLADESH
Member: Bishop Paul Ponen Kubi, C.S.C, of Mymensingh, president of the Episcopal Family Life Commission
Substitute: Bishop Sebastian Tudu of Dinajpur
KOREA
Member: Peter Kang U-Il of Cheju
Substitute: Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-Joong of Gwangju, president of the Episcopal Conference
JAPAN
Member: Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami, P.S.S. of Nagasaki, vice president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Bishop Dominic Ry?ji Miyahara of Fukuoka
INDIA (C.C.B.I.)
Members: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, president of the Episcopal Conference
Archbishop Filipe Neri Antonio Sebastiao Do Rosario Ferrao of Goa and Damao
Bishop Selvister Ponnumuthan of Punalur
Archbishop Dominic Jala, S.D.B. of Shillong
Substitute: Bishop Singaroyan Sebastianappan of Salem
SRI LANKA
Member: Bishop Harold Anthony Perera of Kurunegala
Substitute: Bishop Norbert Marshall ANDRADI, O.M.I. of Anuradhapura
EUROPE
BELGIUM
Member: Bishop Johan Jozef Bonny of Antwerpen, Anvers
Substitute: Bishop Lucas Van Looy, S.D.B., of Gent, Gand
BULGARIA
Member: Bishop GheorghiIvanov Jovcev of Sofia and Plovdiv
Substitute: Bishop Christo Proykov, apostolic exarch of Sofia for Catholics of Byzantine-Slav rite resident in Bulgaria, president of the Episcopal Conference
ITALY
Members: Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, president of the Episcopal Conference
Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan
Bishop Franco Giulio Brambilla of Novara
Bishop Enrico Solmi of Parma, president of the Commission for Life and the Family of the Italian Episcopal Conference
Substitutes: Bishop Gennaro Pascarella of Pozzuoli
Bishop Luciano Monari of Brescia
MALTA
Member: Bishop Mario Grech of Gozo, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Archbishop Charles Jude Scicluna of Malta
POLAND
Members: Archbishop Stanis?aw Gadecki, of Poznan, president of the Episcopal Conference
Archbishop-Bishop Henryk Hoser, S.A.C. of Warszawa-Praga
Bishop Jan Franciszek Watroba of Rzeszow
Substitutes: Archbishop Jozef Michalik of Przemysl of the Latins
Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski of Lodz
ROMANIA
Member: Bishop Petru Gherghel of Iasi
Substitute: Bishop Cornel Damian, auxiliary of Bucharest
SLOVAKIA
Member: Archbishop Stanislav Zvolensky of Bratislava, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute: Bishop Jozef Hal'Ko, auxiliary of Bratislava
SLOVENIA
Member: Archbishop Stane Zore, O.F.M., of Ljubljana
Substitute: Bishop Andrej Glavan of Novo Mesto, president of the Episcopal Conference
TURKEY
Member: Archbishop Levon Boghos Zekiyan of Istanbul of the Armenians
Substitute: Bishop Louis Pelatre, A.A., apostolic vicar of Istanbul, apostolic administrator of the apostolic exarchate of Istanbul for faithful of Byzantine rite resident in Turkey
UKRAINE
Member: Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki of Lviv of the Latins, president of the Episcopal Conference
Substitute:Bishop Radoslaw Zmitrowicz, O.M.I., auxiliary of Kamyanets-Podilskyi of the Latins
HUNGARY
Member: Bishop Andras Veres of Szombathely
Substitute: Bishop Laszlo Biro, military ordinary of Hungary
OCEANIA
PACIFIC (C.E.P.A.C.)
Member: Archbishop Peter Loy Chong of Suva, Fiji Islands
Substitute: Cardinal Soane Patita Paini Mafi, bishop of Tonga, Tonga, president of the Episcopal Conference
B) SUI IURIS ORIENTAL CATHOLIC CHURCHES
SYNOD OF THE MARONITE CHURCH
Members: Bishop Antoine Nabil Andari, auxiliary and syncellus of Joubbe, Sarba and Jounieh of the Maronites, president of the Episcopal Commission for the Family and Life, Lebanon
Bishop Antoine Tarabay, O.L.M. of Saint Maron of Sydney of the Maronites, Australia
Substitutes: Bishop Michel Aoun of Jbeil, Byblos of the Maronites, Lebanon
Bishop Gregory John Mansour of Saint Maron of Brooklyn of the Maronites, U.S.A.
C) UNION OF SUPERIORS GENERAL
Members: Fr. Adolfo Nicolas Pachon, S.J., prepositor general of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits)
Fr. Marco Tasca, O.F.M. Conv., minister general of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor Conventual
Fr. Mario Aldegani, C.S.I., superior general of the Congregation of St. Joseph (Josephites of Murialdo)
Fr. Richard Kuuia Baawobr, M.Afr., superior general of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers)
Fr. Bruno Cadore, O.P., master general of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans)
Fr. Jesus Diaz Alonso, S.F., superior general of the Sons of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Fr. Michael Brehl, C.SS.R., superior general of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists or Liguorini)
Fr. Javier Alvarez-Ossorio, SS.CC., superior general of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (Picpus)
Fr. Ab. D. Jeremias Schroder, O.S.B., arch-abbot president of the Benedictine Congregation of St. Odile
B. Herve JANSON, P.F.J., prior general of the Little Brothers of Jesus (Foucauld)
Substitutes: Fr. Edmund Jan Michalski, M.S.F., superior general of the Missionaries of the Holy Family
Fr. Gregory Gay, C.M., superior general of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazzarists)
Audiences
Vatican City, 16 June 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, with Fra' Matthew Festing, prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
Other Pontifical Acts
Vatican City, 16 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed:
- Cardinal Paul Poupard, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture, as his special envoy to the celebration of the millennium of the foundation of the Cathedral of Strasbourg, France, to be held on 15 August.
- Cardinal Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, archbishop emeritus of Quito, as his special envoy to the tenth National Eucharistic Congress of Peru, to be celebrated in Piura, Peru, from 13 to 16 August.

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