Pope Benedict XVI

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

News From The Vatican Information Services

SUMMARY: April 12, 2006

- Easter: Certainty That Evil Does Not Have the Last Word
- Other Pontifical Acts
- Notice

___________________________________________________________

EASTER: CERTAINTY THAT EVIL DOES NOT HAVE THE LAST WORD

VATICAN CITY, APR 12, 2006 (VIS) - Benedict XVI dedicated his catechesis at today's general audience to the Easter Triduum. "Through the sacred rites," he told the 40,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square, "we relive the passion, death and resurrection of our Lord, reawakening the desire to follow Jesus more closely."

He went on to explain how: "Holy Thursday commemorates Christ's total giving of Himself to humanity in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Through the washing of feet, it also recalls in a dramatic way the new commandment to love one another. The day concludes with Eucharistic adoration in memory of Our Lord's agony in the Garden of Gethsemane.

"On Good Friday, we listen to the account of the Passion and contemplate Christ on the Cross. This is love in its most radical form: God gives His very self, in order to raise us up and save us. During Holy Saturday the Church is spiritually united with Mary, praying by the tomb of the Son of God who lies at rest after completing His work of redemption. Then, at the solemn Easter Vigil, the joyful Gloria and Easter Alleluia rise forth from the hearts of the whole Christian community, because Christ is risen and has defeated death!"

The Pope also called on those present to prepare themselves for Easter through the Sacrament of Confession. "We know we are sinners," he said, "but we trust in divine mercy. Let us be reconciled with Christ in order to enjoy more intensely the joy He communicates to us with His resurrection. His forgiveness, which is given to us in the Sacrament of Penance, is the source of interior and exterior peace and makes us apostles of peace in a world still marked, alas, by divisions and suffering, and by the drama of injustice, hatred, violence and the incapacity to achieve reconciliation and begin again in sincere forgiveness."

The celebration of the death and resurrection of Christ, said Benedict XVI, "gives us the certainty that evil does not have the last word; supported by this certain knowledge we can commit ourselves with greater courage and enthusiasm to creating a fairer world."
AG/EASTER:EVIL/... VIS 060412 (370)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 12, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Joseph Kwaku Afrifah-Agyekum, diocesan administrator, as bishop of Koforidua (area 19,323, population 2,500,000, Catholics 201,500, priests 76, religious 92), Ghana. The bishop-elect was born in Akimu Swedru, Ghana in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1983.
NER/.../AFRIFAH-AGYEKUM VIS 060412 (60)

NOTICE

VATICAN CITY, APR 12, 2006 (VIS) - As previously advised, due to the Easter holy days, which are holidays in the Vatican, and to the celebration of the first anniversary of the election of Benedict XVI, also a Vatican holiday, no further VIS transmissions are scheduled until Thursday, April 20, 2005.
.../.../... VIS 060412 (60)

V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

News Vatican Information Services

SUMMARY: April 11,2006

- Publication of Meditations for Via Crucis 2006
- Celebrating the Fifth Centenary of St. Peter's Basilica

___________________________________________________________

PUBLICATION OF MEDITATIONS FOR VIA CRUCIS 2006

VATICAN CITY, APR 11, 2006 (VIS) - According to a communique made public this morning by the Vatican Publishing House, the text of the meditations for this year's Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) will be available from today, Tuesday April 11, in religious bookshops and at major chains of booksellers.

The Way of the Cross on Good Friday, April 14, will be the first to be led by Benedict XVI. The meditations, written by Archbishop Angelo Comastri, prelate emeritus of Loreto and His Holiness' vicar general for Vatican City State, "invite us to reflect upon the devastating power of sin and, at the same time, encourage us to contemplate the healing power of God's love clearly expressed in the cross of Christ," the communique reads.

Apart from Italy, the text is also to be released in Germany and the United States where it is being published by the publishing houses of Herder and Ignatius Press respectively.
.../VIA CRUCIS/LEV:COMASTRI VIS 060411 (170)

CELEBRATING THE FIFTH CENTENARY OF ST. PETER'S BASILICA

VATICAN CITY, APR 11, 2006 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office at 11.30 a.m. on Thursday, April 20, a press conference will be held to present the celebrations being organized to mark the fifth centenary of St. Peter's Basilica.

Participating in the press conference will be Cardinals Francesco Marchisano, archpriest of the basilica, and Albert Vanhoye S.J., rector emeritus of the Pontifical Biblical College; Archbishop Angelo Comastri and Bishop Vittorio Lanzani, respectively president and delegate of the Fabric of St. Peter's; Antonio Paolucci, superintendent of the Florentine Museums and curator of the exhibition, "Petros Eni;" and Maria Cristina Carlo-Stella, bureau chief at the Fabric of St. Peter's.
OP/CENTENARY VATICAN BASILICA/... VIS 060411 (120)