News From Vatican Information Services 02/15/2006

SUMMARY:

- Benedict XVI Concludes Catechesis of John Paul II
- Message to Cubans: Open Your Hearts to God and the World
- Other Pontifical Acts

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BENEDICT XVI CONCLUDES CATECHESIS OF JOHN PAUL II

VATICAN CITY, FEB 15, 2006 (VIS) - At the beginning of the general audience Benedict XVI recalled that today's catechesis was the last "of the long cycle begun years ago by my beloved predecessor, the unforgettable John Paul II," who wished to cover "the entire sequence of Psalms and Canticles that constitute the basic fabric of the Liturgy of the Hours and of Vespers.

"Having reached the end of this textual pilgrimage - like a journey through a flower garden of praise, invocation, prayer and contemplation - we now come to the canticle that closes the celebration of Vespers: the Magnificat."

The Pope went on: "It is a canticle that reveals ... the spirituality ... of those faithful who recognized themselves as 'poor,' not only in detaching themselves from all forms of idolatry of wealth and power, but also in profound humility of heart, free from the temptation to pride and open to the irruption of divine saving grace."

If the first part of the Magnificat, the Holy Father explained, is "the celebration of divine grace which irrupted into the heart and the life of Mary, making her Mother of the Lord," Mary's personal witness was nonetheless "not solitary, ... because the Virgin Mother was aware she had a mission to achieve for humanity, and her own story is part of the history of salvation."

In the second part, "the voice of Mary is joined by the entire community of faithful" who celebrate God's actions in history. "The 'style' that inspires the Lord of history is clear: He takes the side of the least and the lowliest." On this subject, the Pope quoted the words of St. Ambrose: "May each one of us glorify the Lord with the soul of Mary. ... If, according to the flesh, the mother of Christ is one, then according to the faith, all souls generate Christ."

Prior to the general audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope went to the Vatican Basilica to greet a group of Italian students and participants in a pilgrimage promoted by the French religious family, "Freres de Saint-Jean."

Addressing the students, Benedict XVI spoke of his recent Encyclical "Deus caritas est," recalling that "the love of God is the source and motive for our true joy. I invite each of you to understand and accept ever more this Love that changes life and renders you credible witnesses of the Gospel."

The Holy Father then turned to the participants in the pilgrimage of the "Freres de Saint-Jean" who are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the foundation of their organization. "May your pilgrimage be a time of renewal, one in which to analyze the experiences you have had, learn the appropriate lessons, and discern with ever greater profundity the vocations that arise and the missions to which you are called, in trusting collaboration with the pastors of local churches."
AG/MAGNIFICAT/FRERES SAINT-JEAN VIS 060215 (500)

MESSAGE TO CUBANS: OPEN YOUR HEARTS TO GOD AND THE WORLD

VATICAN CITY, FEB 15, 2006 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message from the Pope to Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, archbishop of San Cristobal de La Habana and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba, for the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Cuban National Ecclesial Encounter.

In his Message, dated February 2, Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, the Holy Father sends affectionate greetings to the bishops, priests, consecrated people and laity of Cuba, expressing his "spiritual closeness" and "encouragement for their evangelizing tasks."

On this anniversary, writes Benedict XVI, it would be particularly appropriate to recall the words used by John Paul II on his visit to Cuba in 1998: "May Cuba open to the world, and may the world open to Cuba." Such openness, the Pope says, "requires us first of all to consider how to open heart and understanding to the things of God; how those who coexist can open to one another, believing and trusting in each another though with different ways of thinking and believing; and finally, how to open to the world, with its challenges, its possibilities and its difficulties."

"Only through the gaze of God, a loving gaze, will it be possible to arrive at the truth of each individual, of each group and of those who live together in one land. On this journey, ... much help may be gained from each Christian's experience of prayer, in the silence and humility of daily work, in faithfulness to professed faith, in the implicit or explicit announcement of the Gospel. Much help is also to be had from the love of majority of Cubans for the 'Madre de la Cardida del Cobre," patroness of this land for so long, who accompanies its inhabitants with motherly tenderness."
MESS/NATIONAL ECCLESIAL ENCOUNTER/CUBA:ORTEGA VIS 060215 (320)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 15, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Archbishop Michael Louis Fitzgerald M. Afr., president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, as apostolic nuncio to the Arab Republic of Egypt and delegate to the Organization of the League of Arab States.
NN/.../FITZGERALD VIS 060215 (50)

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Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City

News From Vatican Information Services 02/14/2006

SUMMARY:

- Initiatives for Fifth Centenary of Vatican Museums
- World Council of Churches Meeting in Brazil
- Solid Partnership with the World Council of Churches
- Other Pontifical Acts

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INITIATIVES FOR FIFTH CENTENARY OF VATICAN MUSEUMS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 14, 2006 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office this morning, Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and Francesco Buranelli, director of the Vatican Museums, held a press conference to present initiatives for the commemoration of the fifth centenary of the Vatican Museums.

"This is not a conventional or a merely symbolic anniversary," said Cardinal Szoka, "it marks the chance but fortunate discovery of the marble statue of Laocoon and his sons in 1506. The anniversary seeks to unify a centuries-long history of culture and art promoted with constancy and competency by the Roman Pontiffs, who collected the works of the past to save them from oblivion and destruction, and to hand them down to later generations."

The cardinal indicated that the Vatican Museums, visited annually by four million people, "house a centuries-old heritage, and not only a material heritage. The museums are responsive of their duty to conserve and transmit ... to future generation these expressions of genius, of life, of thought and of spirituality from the past; and they will continue to do so, without seeking to avoid the challenges of the present, with the perseverance and conviction that has always marked them."

For his part, Francesco Buranelli, director of the Vatican Museums, outlined the various initiatives planned to mark the fifth centenary throughout the year 2006.

The official commemoration will begin on Friday, February 17, with the celebration of a Mass of thanksgiving in the Sistine Chapel, presided by Cardinal Szoka and attended by the entire personnel of the Vatican Museums.

During the first half of 2006, two important museums, recently restored, will be reopened to the public. "They exemplify the commitment of the Roman Pontiffs to promoting evangelization through the language of art," said Francesco Buranelli. The first of these is the Pio Christian Museum founded by Benedict XIV between 1756 and 1757 to house the various objects acquired by the Vatican during the first half of the eighteenth century, and "to promote the splendor of Rome and affirm the truth of the Christian religion." This museum will open on March 16 with an exhibition dedicated to finds made in the Roman catacombs during the eighteenth century, exhibited in glass cases decorated with busts of 24 cardinal librarians.

The second gallery to open will be the Missionary Ethnological Museum. Founded by Pius XI in 1926, it was housed in the Lateran Palace until 1963 when Blessed John XXIII decided to move it to the Vatican. The museum, which opened to the public ten years later under the pontificate of Paul VI, presents the cultures and religious practices of non-European countries, and their contacts with Christianity. The sections dedicated to China, Japan, Korea, Tibet and Mongolia are due to open on June 20.

Following their complete restoration, the wall paintings of the Room of Mysteries in the Borgia Apartment, the work of Pinturicchio and his assistants, will be presented on April 27. The lunettes, decorated with scenes from the lives of Jesus and Mary, have been cleaned, while restoration work also revealed a series of ornamental decorations hidden for more than thirty years behind heavy tapestries.

In the autumn, a new section of the Roman necropolis on the Via Triumphalis will be opened, discovered thee years ago during work on the new Santa Rosa parking lot in the Vatican. It will be possible to visit around 30 mausolea and 70 individual tombs dating from the first century BC to the third century AD.

The anniversary celebration will come to an end in November with the exhibition: "Laocoon. At the origins of the Vatican Museums." The event will be accompanied by an international congress on the theme of the identity, essence and role of museums in modern society.
.../VATICAN MUSEUMS/SZOKA:BURANELLI VIS 060214 (640)

WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES MEETING IN BRAZIL

VATICAN CITY, FEB 14, 2006 (VIS) - Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is due to participate in the inaugural session of the ninth general assembly of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC). The meeting is being held at Porto Alegre, Brazil, from February 14 to 23 on the theme: "God in Your Grace, transform the world."

A communique made public today indicates that the general assembly is the WCC's most important governing body and is held every seven years. It is expected that the Brazil meeting will be attended by 3,000 participants, including more than 700 official delegates representing the 340 churches and ecclesial communities affiliated to the WCC, organizations otherwise associated with the WCC, and non-affiliated churches.

According to the program, each day will begin with a joint prayer and a small group of biblical reflection; this will be followed by three plenary sessions and a joint evening prayer. One of the assembly's main tasks will be to appoint the members of the new central committee which will oversee implementation of the WCC activities until the next assembly in 2013.

Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will head the official Catholic delegation, made up of 18 members who will act as observers. These include representatives from the Roman Curia, episcopal conferences and lay movements, as well as religious superiors.

The Catholic Church, the communique concludes, is not a member of the WCC, though it collaborates with the organization in various ways, particularly with its Faith and Constitution Commission which has the task of continuing the search for the unity of Christians by promoting common study and reflection on subjects over which division still exists, such as ecclesiology. The Joint Working Group, instituted in 1965, is the principal structure coordinating relations between the Catholic Church and the WCC.
CON-UC/WCC ASSEMBLY/BRAZIL VIS 060214 (320)

SOLID PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES

VATICAN CITY, FEB 14, 2006 (VIS) - Benedict XVI has written a message to Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, for the occasion of the ninth general assembly of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC), which is being held at Porto Alegre, Brazil, from February 14 to 23.

In the English-language text, Benedict XVI writes: "Mindful of our shared baptismal faith in the Triune God, the Catholic Church and the World Council of Churches seek ways to cooperate ever more effectively in the task of witnessing to God's divine love. After 40 years of fruitful collaboration, we look forward to continuing this journey of hope and promise, as we intensify our endeavors towards reaching that day when Christians are united in proclaiming the Gospel message of salvation to all."

The Pope concludes with assurances of his spiritual closeness to those participating in the Porto Alegre meeting, and reaffirms "the Catholic Church's intention to continue a solid partnership with the World Council of Churches."
MESS/WORLD COUNCIL CHURCHES/KASPER VIS 060214 (180)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 14, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Confirmed Cardinal Camillo Ruini, his vicar general for the diocese of Rome, as president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, "donec aliter provideatur."

- Appointed Fr. Alessandro Perego of the clergy of the diocese of Rome, as defender of the bond at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
NA/.../RUINI:PEREGO VIS 060214 (70)

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