News Vatican Information Services 06/08/2006

SUMMARY:

- Mass and Eucharistic Procession for Corpus Christi
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts
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MASS AND EUCHARISTIC PROCESSION FOR CORPUS CHRISTI

VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 2006 (VIS) - At 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 15, Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass in the square of St. John Lateran, then preside at the Eucharistic procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Norbert Lammert, speaker of the German parliament, the "Bundestag," accompanied by an entourage.

- Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care.

- Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, apostolic nuncio to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, accompanied by members of his family.

- Maximo Pacheco Gomez, ambassador of Chile, accompanied by his wife, on a farewell visit.

- Lorenzo Ornaghi, rector of the Sacred Heart Catholic University.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS


VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Michael Francis Burbidge, auxiliary of Philadelphia, U.S.A., as bishop of Raleigh, (area 82,524, population 4,073,983, Catholics 188,101, priests 138, permanent deacons 37, religious 118), U.S.A. He succeeds Bishop Francis Joseph Gossman, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Msgr. Daniel E. Thomas of the clergy of the archdiocese of Philadelphia, U.S.A., pastor of the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 5,652, population 3,875,021, Catholics 1,479,895, priests 1,048, permanent deacons 224, religious 3,733). The bishop-elect was born in Philadelphia in 1959 and ordained a priest in 1985.

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News Vatican Information Services 06/07/2006

SUMMARY:

- Peter, Custodian of Communion with Christ
- Other Pontifical Acts

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PETER, CUSTODIAN OF COMMUNION WITH CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, JUN 7, 2006 (VIS) - The foundation of the Church upon the rock represented by St. Peter the Apostle, custodian of communion with Christ, provided the theme for Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience today, which was held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of more than 50,000 people.

The Pope began by recalling how the Gospel of St. John, "in recounting the first meeting of Jesus with Simon, brother of Andrew, records a curious event: Jesus 'looked at him and said: so you are Simon, the son of John? You shall be called Cephas (which means Peter)'."

"This fact takes on particular significance if we consider how, in the Old Testament, a change of name often accompanied a new mission," said the Pope before going on to mention a number of evangelical episodes that highlight "the will of Christ to attribute to Peter a special importance within the Apostolic college," such as when He stayed in Peter's house in Capernaum, or chose his boat on the Lake of Gennesaret.

"Peter himself," the Holy Father continued, "was aware of his special position: it was often he who would speak, also in the name of the others, asking for explanation of a difficult parable or the exact meaning of a precept. ... Equally decided was the profession of faith which, again in name of the Twelve, he made near Caesarea Philippi. To Jesus Who asks: 'But who do you say that I am?' it is Peter who replies: 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.'

"In response," the Pope added, "Jesus then pronounced the solemn declaration that defined, once and for all, Peter's role in the Church: 'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church. ... I will give you the keys of the kingdom, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Benedict XVI went on: "The three metaphors Jesus uses are themselves very clear: Peter will be the rock foundation upon which the building of the Church rests; he will hold the keys of the kingdom of heaven to open and close to whom he will; and finally, he can bind and loosen in the sense that he can impose or prohibit whatever he considers necessary for the life of the Church. ... This describes ... what would later be qualified with the term 'primacy of jurisdiction'."

After the resurrection, Peter was the first of the Apostles to witness the appearance of Jesus, and this again marks "the continuity between his primacy among the Apostles and the preeminence he would continue to have in the community that came into being following the events of Easter."

"The fact that a number of the key texts referring to Peter are associated with the Last Supper, during which Christ conferred upon him the ministry of confirming his brethren, shows how the Church, which was born from the Paschal remembrance celebrated in the Eucharist, has, in the ministry entrusted to Peter, one of her constitutive elements."

"This is primacy for all time. Peter must be the custodian of communion with Christ. He must guide [people] to communion with Christ, and guide in such a way that the net does not break but supports that great universal communion by which together we can be with Christ, Who is Lord of us all. This is his responsibility, guaranteeing communion with Christ, with Christ's charity, and the implementation of that charity in daily life."

"Let us pray that the primacy of Peter, entrusted to weak human beings, may always be exercised in this original sense that the Lord intended; and that it be ever more recognized in its true significance by the brethren not yet in full communion with us."

During a brief ceremony held following the general audience, the Pope was granted honorary citizenship of the German town of Altotting.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 7, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Osvino Jose Both of Novo Hamburgo, Brazil, as archbishop military ordinary for Brazil. The archbishop-elect was born in Tres Arroios, Brazil in 1938, he was ordained a priest in 1967, and consecrated bishop in 1990.

- Appointed Msgr. Rene Coba Galarza, vicar general of Quito, Ecuador, and Fr. Danilo Echeverria Verdesoto, rector of the major seminary 'Nuestra Senora de la Esperanza' in Ibarra, Ecuador, as auxiliaries of the archdiocese of Quito (area 11,167, population 2,210,750, Catholics 1,989,675, priests 482, permanent deacons 3, religious 2,490). Bishop-elect Coba Galarza was born in Quito in 1957 and ordained a priest in 1982. Bishop-elect Echeverria Verdesoto was born in Quito in 1962 and ordained a priest in 1988.

- Appointed Fr. Gregorio Paixao Neto O.S.B., director of the school of the "Sao Bento" monastery in the archdiocese of Sao Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 6,241, population 3,656,156, Catholics 2,595,256, priests 263, permanent deacons 58, religious 1,042). The bishop-elect was born in Aracaju, Brazil in 1962 and ordained a priest in 1986.
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