By Linda Bordoni

In a world poisoned by the toxins of selfishness, individualism, by a culture of indifference and waste, Pope Francis praised the beauty of the family and said “today more than ever” we feel compelled to defend it.

The Pope was speaking during the homily at a Mass of thanksgiving on Saturday at the end of the 10th World Meeting of Families that has been unfolding in the Vatican on the theme “Family Love: a Vocation and a Path to Holiness”.

The five-day event, organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, concludes on Sunday when Pope Francis is scheduled to address families during the Angelus.

He described the moments of reflection and sharing, with their rich variety of experiences, plans and dreams, concerns and uncertainties, which have taken place during the World Meeting of Families, describing it as “a kind of vast constellation.” He told all those present: “Fathers, mothers and children, grandparents, uncles and aunts, adults and children, young and old,” each bringing a different experience of family, but with one hope and prayer.

Pope Francis then reflected on the liturgical readings of the day that all shine light on different aspects of marital and family love.

Family is the place where we learn to love

In Saint Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, he said the Apostle tells us that the freedom given to us by God is completely directed to love, so that “through love you may become slaves of one another” (Gal. 5:13).

Turning to married couples, he praised their courageous decision to build a family and “to use your freedom not for yourselves, but to love the persons that God has put at your side.”

Instead of living like little islands, he said, you became “servants of one another”.

That is how freedom is exercised in the family, Pope Francis explained, there are no “planets” or “satellites”, each travelling on its own orbit. The family is the place of encounter, of sharing, of going forth from ourselves in order to welcome others and stand beside them. 

Even as we reaffirm this with profound conviction, he said, we know full well “that it is not always the case, for any number of reasons and a variety of situations.”

“And so, in praising the beauty of the family, we also feel compelled, today more than ever, to defend the family.  Let us not allow the family to be poisoned by the toxins of selfishness, individualism, today’s culture of indifference and waste, and as a result lose its very DNA, which is the spirit of acceptance and service.”

Relationship between generations

The Second Book of Kings tells of the relationship between the prophets Elijah and Elisha. It reminds us, the Pope said, of the relationship between generations, the “passing on of witness” from parents to children.

He said in a world in which everything seems chaotic and precarious, some parents fear “that children will not be able to find their way amid the complexity and confusion of our societies.” This fear, he added, makes some parents anxious and others overprotective.

But reflecting on the relationship between Elijah and Elisha in which God shows us that he has confidence in the new generation, Pope Francis said: “How important it is for parents to reflect on God’s way of acting!”

“God is not anxious and overprotective; on the contrary, He trusts young people and He calls each of them to scale the heights of life and of mission,” he said.

And he encouraged parents not to shield their children “from the slightest hardship and suffering, but to try to communicate to them a passion for life, to arouse in them the desire to discover their vocation and embrace the great mission that God has in mind for them.”

“Dear parents,” he said, “if you help your children to discover and to accept their vocation, you will see that they too will be ‘gripped’ by this mission; and they will find the strength they need to confront and overcome the difficulties of life.”

A never-ending journey

Finally, the Gospel of Luke tells us that “To follow Jesus means to set out on a never-ending “trip” with him through the events of life. 

The Pope said that our Christian vocation calls us to experience “marriage and family life as a mission, demonstrating fidelity and patience despite difficulties, moments of sadness and times of trial.”

Inevitably, he said, there will be moments of “resistance, opposition, rejection and misunderstanding born of human hearts,” but with the grace of Christ, we are called to “transform these into acceptance of others and gratuitous love.”

By accepting the call to marriage and family, couples set out on a trip, “without knowing beforehand where exactly it would lead, and what new situations, unexpected events and surprises would eventually lie in store,” he said. 

The Church was born of a family

Pope Francis concluded by inviting families to keep looking ahead “as Jesus always precedes us on the way in love and service; He encouraged them to share the joy of family love that must always be open, directed outwards, capable of ‘touching’ the weak and wounded, the frail in body and the frail in spirit, and all whom you meet along the way”; and by assuring them that the Church is with them and in them!

By Shyamal Sinha

Xiao Qian gave an address to the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology in Sydney on Friday.

Mr Xiao, who was appointed to his diplomatic post in January, used his speech to reframe the relationship between the two nations.

He said there was “good potential for co-operation” between Canberra and Beijing in the near future following the change in government.

“After the recent federal election, Australia has a new Labor government. This is a choice for the Australian people and it’s a domestic affair of this country,” he said.

“Nonetheless, it has provided with an opportunity of possible improvement of our bilateral relations.”

The ambassador’s speech comes after months of mounting uneasiness in the Pacific over China’s expansion into the region, fuelled by the signing of a controversial security pact with Solomon Islands.

Mr Xiao did not in his speech address the Solomon Islands directly but said China’s development should be viewed as an “opportunity” rather than a “so-called threat to Australia”.

“And there is every reason for China and Australia to be friends and partners rather than adversaries or even so-called enemies,” he said.

Dhongdue carried a placard that read, “Free Tibet, Free East Turkestan, Free Hong Kong” as she shouted the same slogans while being ushered out of the hall by security personnel.

“This is the representative of a dictatorship with one million Muslims in concentration camps. Uyghur Muslims are being raped and tortured as we speak. [It is the same dictatorship] that commits genocide against Tibetans,” vocal Australian activist Drew Pavlou shouted. Another protestor shouted, “This is disgraceful! How about freedom of speech in China?” as he walked out of the room.

Activist Drew Pavlou holds sign and shouts ‘Free Uyghurs’ during the ambassador Xiao’s speech on Friday (Photo/ABC News)Both Kyinzom Dhongdue and Drew Pavlou are founders and members of a new political party in Australia, the Democratic Alliance. Dhongdue and Pavlou both ran for Senate but did not to win enough votes for office.

As a snide remark in response, Xiao said that it was his pleasure to address the event “although there are different views” which “should be expressed in a way that is appropriate”. He went on to say that the audience members “should respect the law and order” and “keep quiet while we’re speaking”.

China’s ambassador to Australia, however, said that there is “no such thing as absolute freedom” as he defended his country’s human rights violations. As he was facing repeated interruptions from activists, the envoy also said both the countries, China and Australia, should respect each other’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity”.

The diplomatic suspension between the Canberra and Beijing governments started during the pandemic when PM Scott Morrison called for the initial international investigation into the origins of Covid-19 in 2020. The Chinese government was outraged due to the probe, which eventually led to the trade barriers being enforced on Australian imports, including meat, wine and coal.

Protesters also raised the large-scale detention of the Uyghur ethnic minority group in China’s northwestern province of Xinjiang.

Mr Xiao said what was happening in Xianjang was a question of “national unity” rather than one of separatism and that “necessary measures have been taken”.

Following his speech, the ambassador took part in a Q+A-style discussion with Australia-China Relations Institute director, James Laurenceson.

Professor Laurenceson was effusive when thanking Mr Xiao for his participation in Friday’s event.

“The easiest thing in the world for the ambassador to have done today would have been to not accept our invitation to attend a public event,” he said.

“He could have stayed in the walls of the Chinese Embassy in Canberra comfortably.”

Passendo partnerships

The news follows investment of €2.3m in late 2021 and a raft of new hires in H1, with more to follow in H2

MILAN, ITALY, June 28, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ — Award-winning, Copenhagen-based email ad server and SSP Passendo has gone live with new integrations in Italy and Germany as it continues on its journey of rapid growth – building out a growing number of strategic integrations and further positioning itself as the leading global email ad serving platform.As it continues on its mission to enable publishers worldwide to realise the full value of in-email advertising, Passendo has also appointed Kristian Nielsen to the role of VP of Product and Harry Charalambous as Head of Demand & International Growth.

The company onboarded 13 new hires in H1 across the product, engineering, customer success, sales, finance and HR teams, and has already appointed three new board members earlier this year – Frédéric Lachaud, Cecilie Sofie Anker Andersen and Christoffer Feilberg – following fresh investment of €2.3m late last year.

As the leading dedicated email ad server, Passendo continues to enable the next generation of advertising for email for newsrooms globally. It offers publishers and marketers unique email ad delivery and measurement capabilities, boosting client revenues whilst enabling greater control over ad content and quality as it continues to build out a global category winner.

With its global go-to-market strategy developing fast as the company enters new markets across Europe, the US and APAC, Passendo is already helping an increasing number of publishers worldwide to boost their commercial potential within newsletters.

Andreas Jürgensen, CEO and co-founder of Passendo, says: “Germany and Italy have always been on our roadmap and we are very pleased to go live in these markets now as we continue on our exciting and fast-paced journey.”

Cesare Romano, the account executive overseeing Passendo’s Italian growth, adds: “The publishing landscape is gradually beginning to understand the true commercial potential of selling direct campaigns inside newsletters. At a time when the advertising industry is being revolutionised by cookieless policies, a premium advertising channel with the main goal of preserving users’ privacy can only thrive. Our goal is to help marketers capitalise on this channel quickly given that there is a lot of money left on the table in the email industry – particularly in markets such as Italy, where most newsletters don’t currently include any ads.”

Publishing houses such as Politico Euronews, Archant and Groupon are already
making use of Passendo’s email ad serving platform to increase direct revenues and to efficiently manage newsletter advertising campaigns at scale.

About Passendo

Passendo is the leading European platform commercialising newsletter inventory. Founded in 2016 by two digital advertising pioneers, its award-winning email ad server and SSP provides value for publishers and advertisers worldwide. By partnering with some of the world’s largest media businesses, Passendo helps them to activate new, incremental revenues in an existing and yet untapped media channel – in-email advertising – thereby reaching new audiences to unlock exciting opportunities.

More at: www.passendo.com

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p class=”contact c2″ dir=”auto”>Julia Linehan
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By Deborah Castellano Lubov

The official Logo of the upcoming Jubilee due to be held in 2025 has been unveiled.

In a press conference held on Tuesday in the Sala Regia of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, the Vatican revealed the official Logo for the upcoming Jubilee year.

The then-Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, now contained within the new Dicastery for Evangelization, was entrusted with coordinating the Holy See’s preparations for the Holy Year 2025 with the motto: “Pilgrims of Hope.”

The former Council’s President, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, revealed the logo and reminded that as preparations begin within the Church for the Holy Year, their Dicastery launched a competition, open to all, for the Logo’s creation.

A total of 294 entries were received from 213 cities and 48 different countries, he said, noting participants ranged in age from 6 to 83.

During the judging, the works were identified only by a number so that the author remained anonymous.

On June 11th, Archbishop Fisichella submitted the three final projects to Pope Francis to select the one that struck him the most.  

“After looking at the projects several times and expressing his preference, the project of Giacomo Travisani was chosen,” Archbishop Fisichella said.

Giacomo Travisani, present this evening, reflected on what motivated his submission. He said how he had imagined all people moving forward together, able to push ahead “thanks to the wind of Hope that is the Cross of Christ and Christ himself. ”

Winning Logo

The Logo shows four stylized figures to indicate all of humanity from the four corners of the earth. They each embrace one another, indicating the solidarity and brotherhood that must unite peoples. The first figure is clinging to the Cross. The underlying waves are choppy to indicate that the pilgrimage of life is not always on calm waters.

Because often personal circumstances and world events call for a greater sense of hope, a description of the Logo says, the lower part of the Cross is elongated turning into an anchor, which dominates the movement of the waves.

Anchors often have been used as metaphors for hope. 

The image shows how the pilgrim’s journey is not individual, but rather communal, with the signs of a growing dynamism that moves more and more toward the Cross.

“The Cross is not static,” Fisichella suggested, “but dynamic, bending toward and meeting humanity as if not to leave it alone, but rather offering the certainty of its presence and the reassurance of hope.”

The Jubilee 2025 Motto, Peregrinantes in Spem is also clearly visible in the color green.

Urgency to live Jubilee in light of hope

Archbishop Fisichella reflected on Jubilees and why the upcoming one is significant.

“Every Holy Year in the history of the Church,” he said, “has taken on its full meaning when it is placed within the historical context that humanity is experiencing at that time and particularly when it is able to read the signs of anxiety and unrest combined with people’s perceived expectations.

“The vulnerability experienced in recent years, together with the fear of the violence of wars,” he continued, “only makes the human condition more paradoxical: on the one hand, to feel the overwhelming power of technology which determines their days; on the other hand, to feel uncertain and confused about their future.”

In this context, Archbishop Fisichella reminded, “Pilgrims of Hope” was chosen for the Jubilee’s theme.

“It expresses the need to make sense of the present so that it can be preparatory for a real thrust into the future in order to embrace and respond to the various challenges that arise from time to time.”

Jubilees’ importance to life of the Church

In a recent letter addressed to Archbishop Fisichella, Pope Francis noted that “the Jubilee has always been an event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church.”

He recalled that ever since the year 1300, which marked the first Holy Year, “God’s holy and faithful people has experienced this celebration as a special gift of grace, characterized by the forgiveness of sins and in particular by the indulgence, which is a full expression of the mercy of God.”

In the Church, a Jubilee, or Holy Year, is a great religious event.

A Jubilee is “ordinary” if it falls after the customary 25-year period, and “extraordinary” when it is proclaimed by for some outstanding event.

The last ordinary Jubilee took place in the year 2000 during the pontificate of Pope St. John Paul I.  In 2015, Pope Francis proclaimed an Extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.

What to expect soon

After the summer, Archbishop Fisichella noted, the official Jubilee website and related app will be available.

“Both will be tools to help pilgrims participate fully in the proposed events, facilitating the spiritual and cultural experience of the city of Rome. In fact, in addition to the important Pilgrim’s Charter, the Jubilee portal will contain news, historical notes, practical information, services and multimedia tools, in ten languages available to the pilgrim and easily accessible for people with disabilities.”

The Dicastery is already envisioning major events, and highlighted that special attention will be given to the following categories: “Families, Children, Youth, Movements and Associations, Elderly, Grandparents, Disabled, Sports, Sick and Health Care, Universities, World of Work, Choirs and Choruses, Confraternities, Priests, Consecrated Persons, Eastern Catholics, Catechists, the Poor, Prisoners, and many others…”

A calendar will be ready by the end of the year so as to allow adequate organizational time for pilgrims and related agencies.