skip to main |
skip to sidebar
(Vatican Radio) In prayer we must be courageous and discover the true grace that is given us: God Himself. That was the Pope’s message at Thursday’s morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta.
At the heart of the homily was Jesus’ insistence, in the day’s Gospel, that we pray with trusting insistence. The parable of the importunate friend, the friend who obtains what he desires thanks to his insistence, gave Pope Francis the opportunity to reflect on the quality of our prayer:
“This makes us think, in our prayer: how do we pray? Do we pray like this, out of habit, piously but unbothered, or do we put ourselves forward with courage before the Lord to ask for the grace, to ask for what we’re praying for? Courage in prayer: a prayer that is not courageous is not a real prayer. The courage to trust that the Lord listens to us, the courage to knock on the door . . . The Lord says: ‘For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.’ But you have to ask, seek, and knock.”
“Do we get ourselves involved in prayer,” the Pope asked. “Do we know to knock at the heart of God?” In the Gospel Jesus says, “If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?” This, the Pope said, “is a great thing”:
“When we pray courageously, the Lord gives us the grace, but He also gives us Himself in the grace: the Holy Spirit, that is, Himself! The Lord never gives or sends a grace by mail: never! He brings it Himself! What we ask for is a little bit like [laughing] . . . it is the envelope that grace is wrapped in. But the true grace is Him, Who comes to bring it to me. It’s Him. Our prayer, if it is courageous, receives what it asks for, but also that which is more important: the Lord.”
In the Gospel, the Pope noted, “some people receive the grace and then go away”: of the ten lepers healed by Jesus, only once returned to thank him. Even the blind man of Jericho found the Lord in the healing, and praised God. But we must pray “with the courage of faith” Pope Francis insisted, prompting us to ask even for those things that prayer does not dare hope for — that is, God Himself:
"We ask for a grace, but we don’t dare say, 'But come Yourself to bring it to me.' We know that a grace is always brought by Him: It is He Himself who comes and brings it to us. Let us not embarrass ourselves by taking the grace and not recognizing Him who brings it to us, Him who gives it to us: The Lord. That the Lord may give us the grace of giving us Himself, always, in every grace. And that we might recognize Him, and that we might praise Him as did the sick people in the Gospel who were healed. So that, in that grace, we might find the Lord."
(VIS) Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, in a text focusing in detail on the content of the new law on transparency, supervision and financial information, mentions first that a significant part of the law is dedicated to measures against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, and gives details on the “individuals, the activity of risk assessment, prescriptions concerning suitable checks on counterparties … and the discipline of the international transfer of funds”, strengthened when these two criminal activities are suspected.
“Special attention is dedicated to giving information on suspicious activities, which obligated subjects are required to carry out before the Financial Information Authority”, continues Archbishop Mamberti. “In the case of a valid reason to suspect activities of money laundering or financing of terrorism, the Financial Information Authority transmits a detailed report to the Promoter of Justice and may also suspend transactions and operations under suspicion for up to five working days.”
“The system of prescriptions regarding measures against money laundering and the financing of terrorism is completed by the attribution, again to the Financial Information Authority, of a power of general supervision in relation to the implementation of the measures established by law on the part of obligated subjects, as well as a structured system of administrative sanctions that can be applied by the Authority or, in the most serious cases, by the president of the Governorate, upon suggestion by the Financial Information Authority”.
“A relevant area of the discipline introduced by Law XVIII is included in the section regarding 'Prudential supervision of bodies engaged in professional activities of a financial nature', or rather, those who regularly carry out a financial activity in an organised economic form, in the name of or on behalf of third parties, for the purposes of the production or exchange of goods or services. The introduction of this function … responds to a specific recommendation from the MONEYVAL Division of the Council of Europe, and Law No XVIII establishes the discipline of this activity by conceding broad-ranging powers of regulation to the Financial Information Authority”.
With reference to measures against individuals who threaten peace and international security, the archbishop explained that the provision of goods, economic resources and financial services is automatically denied to listed individuals, and the Financial Information Authority may immediately place a preventative block on their goods and resources, informing those subjects who carry out financial activities. In addition, cautionary measures may be adopted in relation to an individual not yet included on the list in the case of valid reasons to suspect that he or she poses a threat to peace and international security and provided that the subject is added to the list within fifteen-day period”.
With regard to the provisions of the Law in relation to the cross-border transportation of cash of a value of more than 10,000 euros, entering or leaving a State, and the legislation regarding information and co-operation, the prelate underlined “the central role attributed to the Financial Information Authority which collaborates and exchanges information both with other authorities of the Holy See and Vatican City State, and with analogous authorities in other States, in conditions of reciprocity and on the basis of agreement protocols”.
(VIS/Vatican Radio) The Holy See Press Office has issued a communique on the new Law XVIII of Vatican City State (8 October 2013), regarding transparency, supervision and information in the field of finance. The full text, published on October 9, 2013, is reprinted below:
1. On today’s date the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State adopted Law XVIII, consisting of norms regarding transparency, supervision and information in financial matters, by which the regulations of Decree No. XI of the President of the Governorate, of 8 August 2013, are confirmed as law.
2. In the implementation of Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio of 8 August 2013, and maintaining continuity with the existing norms and those introduced progressively following Pope Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio of 30 December 2010, for the prevention and countering of illegal activities in the area of monetary and financial dealings, Law No. XVIII strengthens the current internal system for the prevention and countering of money laundering and the financing of terrorism in conformity with international guidelines and, in particular, the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and relevant European Union sources.
3. In particular, Law No. XVIII consolidates the existing discipline in matters of:
- Measures to prevent and counter money laundering and the financing of terrorism;
- Vigilance and regulation of the bodies carrying out professional activities of a financial nature;
- Collaboration and exchange of information by the Financial Information Authority internally and at an international level;
- Measures against individuals who threaten peace and international security;
- Declarations of cross-border transportation of cash.
4. Law No. XVIII clarifies and consolidates the functions, powers and responsibilities of the Financial Information Authority in the exercise of its functions of supervision and regulation in the prevention and countering of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, in its function of informing in financial matters, and, as established by Pope Francis in his Motu Proprio of 8 August 2013, the function of prudential supervision.
5. The new law – in conjunction with recent legislation in matters of substantive and procedural penal law and in matters of administrative sanctions, as well as Pope Francis’ Motu Proprio of 11 July 2013 on penal jurisdiction – constitutes a further important step in the direction of transparency and supervision of activities of a financial nature and a contribution to the stability and integrity of the sector at a global level.
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis sent a telegram on Wednesday to the President of Argentina, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, offering his prayers for her safe and speedy recovery.
Ms Fernandez suffered a head injury 2 months ago, but was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma – or bleeding – only last weekend. She underwent a 2-hour surgical operation on Tuesday, and is now recovering in the Favaloro Foundation Hospital in Buenos Aires.
Pope Francis knows President Kirchner from his time in Argentina, and received her in the Vatican earlier this year.
Please find below the full text of the papal telegram, in translation from the original Spanish.
In these, such difficult times, I wish to make my support felt with my prayer for you and for the complete recovery of your health. I hope you can feel my support through these words. I assure you of my prayers and of my solidarity. I pray to the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Luján, to strengthen you, so that you may keep your hopes high and return once again to your daily duties. I do not forget your family at this difficult time, nor the doctor who assists you, praying to the Lord to shed His light on them, so that they might make the right choices in their decisions.
May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin take care of you.
Cordially,
Francisco, PP.
