{UAH} The Pope's New Year's address to the Diplomatic Corps

Today Monday 12 th January 2015 the Pope met all members of the Diplomatic Corps
accredited to the Vatican and extended to them his happy wishes for a good year. The
ceremony took place in the Vatican this morning before the Pope leaves for Sri Lanka
this evening. Over 180 countries have a diplomatic representation at tghe Vatican. And all
dilomats were present. The Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, H.E. Ambassador Jean Claude Michel
of Monaco, in his opening speech in French on behalf of the whole group, thanked the Pope for the
many accomplishments and for the new vision he had procured for the world in 2014. He further expressed
sincere thanks and gratitude for the canonization of the two great Popes ( St John XXIII and St John Paul II )
and he concluded by wishing Pope Francis a nice fruitful trip to Asia.
In his reply, in Italian, the Pope thanked the Ambassador for his nice words and thanked all his colleagues for
their presence..Then he went on to give a quick overall look at the situation in the world's most agitated spots.
He singled out that culture which refuses to recognize the rights individuals as being the source of all current troubles.
It was that culture which undermined dialogue and recociliation.And it was that culture which originally rejected Infant Jesus
and continues to this day to abandon Jesus, the messenger of true peace which God gives to the world as a precious gift.
He went on to name the most troubled zones on the globe and alluded to some logical proposals that would quicken a solution.
- Ukraine, where sincere dialogue and reconciliation are necessary
- Middle East where an effort is necessary in order to come to a settlement defining the borders between Palestine and Israel,
  real borders recogn,ized by the international community. He also condemned relmigious fundamentalism gnawin g the life of
  a region and asked in particular Moslem scholars and intellectuals to condemn fundamentalism which he described as a refusal
  to accept God. He spoke of the untold suffering of christrians in the region where many are forced to abandon their homes
  He finally observed that the Middle East without Christians would be a bare region.
- Africa, with its enormous troubles in Nigeria, Libya, South Sudan, Centrafrican Republic, the Horn of Africa, the DRC!
  All that needed serious commitment aimed at finding a true solution. The Pope expressed deep sympathies with the suffering
  people of all these regions and he noted how in the DRC women / mothers are obliged to quit their homes and seek refuge in
  order to flee from torture, sexual harassment, etc... He called on the international community to help bring a solution to these problems in Africa.
  He had a special word of thanks to the teams struggling to eliminate the Ebola syndrom in West Africa.
  He also had a word on the boat people for whom the real solution would be to attack on the root causes that push them out of their
  countries.
  And he was appreciative of Burkina Faso's drive towards true democracy axed on a human rights stance.
- About Asia, he called for sincere genuine efforts to bring the two Koreas together.
  He commended Turkey and Jordan for their roles in a disturbed Middle East.
- About the Americas, he mentioned some troubled spots and appreciated the effort on reconciliation. He commended the recent Cuba-USA
  reconciliation and praised the USA for having closed the Guantanamo Prison.
- He also gave his view on Italy noting a number of social problems the peninsula faces, however at the same time he commended
  the nation's effort to improve the people's lot.
- He commended in general those many countries aspiring correctly towards peace, democracy, and mutual understanding among their
  people.
- And he spotted on the need to help the aged, the sick and the handicapped. he deplored the spirit of rejection that looks at these
  people as a burden. He also appealed for bringing the youth closer to the aged as one way of enabling young people to learn more
  about society, culture and tradition. At the same time he appealed to all to help the youth found a future.
- The Pope turned to climate and appealed to the world to deal effectively with questions concerning the subject.
  At the end of his speech the Pope was given a long standing ovation after which he received and exchanged very briefly with each
diplomat in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, and Portuguese.
In the evening he was driven to Rome's Fiumicio International Airport where he boarded an Alitalia plane for Sri Lanka where he will
be arriving at 3.30 am European Time. During his stay there he is expected to strengthen the Christian community divided between
the near warring Cingalese and Tamils. And before leaving for the Philippines he will canonize an Indian missionary, Rev Fr Diaz.
Both Sri Lanka and the Philippines are more than ready to give the Pope a very rousing welcome that will continue to show his popularity
in Asia where he has just appointed cardinal three very.great heroic archbishops ( Vietnam, Burma and Thailand ) renowned for their unifying role
and heroism in pushing forwards the Church in spite of the very many challenges their clergy faces.He is going to grace comfort to all this
and he is moving strongly bagged with prayers of good wishes from the entire Catholic Church.

Dr G.H. Kkolokolo  ( Paris / France )

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