News From Vatican Information Services 03/15/2006

SUMMARY:

- New Catechesis: Relationship between Christ and Church
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

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NEW CATECHESIS: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRIST AND CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, MAR 15, 2006 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 30,000 people, Benedict XVI began a new cycle of catechesis dedicated to the mystery of the relationship between Christ and the Church in the light of the experience of the Apostles and the task with which they were entrusted.

"The Church was constituted upon the foundation of the Apostles as a community of faith, hope and charity," the Pope explained. This began "when certain fishermen in Galilee met Jesus, and allowed themselves to be conquered ... by his invitation: ... 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men'."

"After Mary, pure reflection of the light of Christ, it is the Apostles, their word and their testimony, that convey the truth of Christ to us. Yet theirs is not an isolated mission, it is part of a mystery of communion, one that involves the entire People of God and takes place in stages, from the old to the new Covenant."

The Holy Father highlighted the fact that Jesus' message "is completely misunderstood" if separated "from the context of the faith and hope of the chosen people," because "Jesus addressed Himself first of all to Israel in order to 'gather them' together in the eschatological time that had arrived with Him. Jesus' preaching, like John's, is both a call of grace and a sign of contradiction and judgement for the entire people of God."

For this reason, although the preaching of Jesus is "always a call to individual conversion, ... to interpret Christ's announcement of the Kingdom in individualistic terms would be unilateral and groundless," because in biblical tradition and despite its novelty, "it is clear that the entire mission of the Son-made-flesh has a community goal."

The choice of the twelve Apostles, a number that recalls the tribes of Israel, "reveals the significance of the prophetic-symbolic action inherent in the new institution. ... Choosing the Twelve, introducing them to communion of life with Him and rendering them participants in His mission of announcing the Kingdom, ... Jesus wishes to say that the definitive time has arrived in which God's promises are fulfilled."

"Thus, the twelve Apostles are the clearest sign of Jesus' will concerning the existence and mission of His Church, the guarantee that there is no contrast between Christ and the Church. And the slogan that became fashionable some years ago: 'Yes to Jesus, no to the Church,' is completely irreconcilable with the intentions of Christ."

Benedict XVI concluded: "Between the Son of God made flesh and His Church there exists a profound, unbreakable and mysterious continuity, by virtue of which Christ is present today in His people, and especially in those who are the successors of the Apostles."
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 15, 2006 (VIS) - Following today's general audience, the Holy Father received in audience Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz, apostolic nuncio to Great Britain.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 15, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Aachen, Germany, presented by Bishop Karl Reger, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Johannes Bundgens of the clergy of the diocese of Aachen, Germany, pastor at Heimbach, as auxiliary of Aachen (area 3,937, population 2,053,633, Catholics 1,192,828, priests 648, permanent deacons 62, religious 1,215). The bishop-elect was born in Eschweiler, Germany in 1956 and ordained a priest in 1980.

- Appointed Fr. Dirceu Vegini of the clergy of the diocese of Apucarana, Brazil, pastor of the parish of "Nossa Senhora Auxiliadora," as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Curitiba (area 12,923, population 2,806,000, Catholics 2,025,000, priests 484, permanent deacons 71, religious 2,146), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Massaranduba, Brazil in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1984.

His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, Lebanon, with the consent of the Synod of the Armenian Catholic Church and in accordance with canon 85 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, transferred Bishop Kevork Khazoumian, patriarchal exarch of Jerusalem and Amman, to the position of coadjutor to the archbishop of Istanbul of the Armenians, Turkey.
RE:NEA:NEC/.../... VIS 060315 (210)

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News From Vatican Information Services 03/14/2006

SUMMARY:

- Holy Father and President Mubarak Discuss Iraq and Iran
- Plenary of Pontifical Council for Social Communications
- Good Friday Collection for the Holy Land
- Other Pontifical Acts

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HOLY FATHER AND PRESIDENT MUBARAK DISCUSS IRAQ AND IRAN

VATICAN CITY, MAR 14, 2006 (VIS) - Yesterday evening, following the Holy Father's audience with Mohammed Hosni Mubarak, president of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls released the following declaration to journalists:

"The cordial discussions, which lasted for around half an hour, began with an acknowledgement of the good relations between the Holy See and the Arab Republic of Egypt, and of the situation of inter-religious affairs in that country.

"The meeting provided an opportunity to consider themes relative to the prospects for a stable peace in the Middle East. A profound exchange of ideas took place regarding the situation in Iraq, with some attention also being given to questions concerning the Islamic Republic of Iran."
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PLENARY OF PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 14, 2006 (VIS) - This morning, Archbishop John P. Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, delivered the opening speech at the plenary assembly of his dicastery, which is being held in the Vatican from March 13 to 18.

The inauguration of the plenary session was preceded, as is traditionally the case, by a Eucharistic concelebration, which was held at 5.30. p.m. yesterday in the chapel of the Vatican's "Domus Sancta Marthae."

The participants, around 60 members and consultors of the pontifical council, will consider the reception and implementation of John Paul II's Apostolic Letter "The Rapid Development," addressed to those responsible for social communications and published in February 2005.

During the course of its plenary assembly, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications will receive reports from committees and departments of social communications, both at a continental and national level, concerning the activities they have carried out over the last year, thus providing an overall vision of the situation of Catholic social communications in the world.
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GOOD FRIDAY COLLECTION FOR THE HOLY LAND

VATICAN CITY, MAR 14, 2006 (VIS) - In a letter sent to bishops throughout the world, Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, invites ecclesial communities to support the Christians who live in the Holy Land, especially by means of the annual Good Friday collection.

"The Land of the Lord," the letter reads, "continues to be the scene of a conflict that has lasted for decades and deprives Catholic communities and institutions of the adequate means to maintain and promote religious, humanitarian and cultural activities. This distressing situation leads to poverty and unemployment, with serious consequences for families and for the entire population. It also increases the disturbing phenomenon of the constant exodus of Christians, especially young couples for whom there is no prospect of a safe and dignified future.

"However, the presence of Christians in the Holy Land is more necessary than ever for the peaceful future of the area, as it is also for the good of the whole universal Church, which ought to find in the Holy Places living communities that profess the Gospel faith."

In his letter, the prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches goes on to recall Benedict XVI's audience with participants in the meeting of the Assembly of Organizations for Aid to the Eastern Churches (ROACO) in June 2005, during which the Holy Father "emphasized in any case that 'certain positive signs in recent months strengthen the hope that the day of reconciliation between the various communities working in the Holy Land will not be long in coming; for this', he said, 'let us unceasingly pray with trust'. This is the responsibility incumbent upon the universal Church with regard to the Mother Church of Jerusalem, 'to which,' as the Pope said, 'all Christians have an unforgettable obligation'."

"Thus, it is a duty of all Catholics throughout the world to accompany the Christian communities of that blessed Land with prayer and concrete solidarity."
CEO/GOOD FRIDAY COLLECTION/DAOUD VIS 060314 (340)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

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

- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Trier, Germany presented by Bishop Leo Schwarz, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Stephan Ackermann of the clergy of the diocese of Trier, Germany, rector of the St. Lambert study house for adult vocations at Burg Lantershofen, as auxiliary of the same diocese (area 12,870, population 2,500,000, Catholics 1,592,042, priests 1,068, permanent deacons 143, religious 2,774). The bishop-elect was born in Mayen, Germany in 1963 and ordained a priest in 1987.
RE:NEA/.../SCHWARZ:ACKERMANN VIS 060314 (100)

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