News Vatican Information Service 07/19/2011

SUMMARY:

- Aid for the People of the Horn of Africa
- Other Pontifical Acts

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AID FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE HORN OF AFRICA

VATICAN CITY, 19 JUL 2011 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" today released the following communique:

  "As the Holy Father Benedict XVI recalled in an appeal he made following the Angelus on Sunday 17 July, the famine caused by a drought in the Horn of Africa is provoking a critical humanitarian emergency. Around ten million people are suffering, and hundreds of thousands of refugees risk dying because of a lack of basic necessities. Somalia and northern Kenya are the worst struck areas.

  "As a sign of his closeness and concern the Pope has, via the Pontifical Council 'Cor Unum', sent the sum of euro 50,000 to Bishop Giorgio Bertin O.F.M., apostolic administrator of Mogadishu, who is directly involved in bringing assistance to the people affected".
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 19 JUL 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, as a counsellor of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

 - Appointed as members of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America: Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop emeritus of Santiago de Chile, Chile; Cardinal Julio Terrazas Sandoval C.SS.R., archbishop of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia; Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga S.D.B., archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne, archbishop of Lima, Peru, and Cardinal Hummes O.F.M., prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Clergy.

 - Appointed Joseph F. X. Zahra, a member of the governing council of the "Centesimus Annus-Pro Pontefice" Foundation, as international reviser of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.

 - Appointed as members of the Academic Council of the Holy See's Agency for the Evaluation and Promotion of Quality in Universities and Ecclesiastical Faculties (AVEPRO): Fr. Gabino Uribarri Bilbao S.J., dean of the faculty of theology at the Pontifical University of "Comillias" in Madrid, Spain; Pascal Mueller-Jourdan, professor of theology at the faculty of theology in the "Universtie Catholique de l'Ouest", Angers, France, and Sigrid Muller, vice dean of the "Katholisch-Theologische Fakultat" at the University of Vienna, Austria.

 - Appointed Archbishop Charles J. Chaput O.F.M. Cap. of Denver, U.S.A., as archbishop of Philadelphia (area 5,652, population 3,892,194, Catholics 1,464,938, priests 988, permanent deacons 234, religious 3,244), U.S.A. He succeeds Cardinal Justin F. Rigali, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Fr. Gregory John Hartmayer O.F.M. Conv., pastor of the parish of St. John Vianney at Lithia Springs in the archdiocese of Atlanta, U.S.A., as bishop of Savannah (area 95,928, population 2,904,000, Catholics 84,500, priests 104, permanent deacons 56, religious 114), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Buffalo, U.S.A. in 1951 and ordained a priest in 1979. He succeeds Bishop John Kevin Boland, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
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You can find more information at: www.visnews.org

The news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used, in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:
V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.
Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City

News Vatican Information Service 07/08/2011

SUMMARY:

- The Pope Arrives in Castelgandolfo to Begin His Holiday
- Declaration Concerning Independence of Southern Sudan
- Other Pontifical Acts

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THE POPE ARRIVES IN CASTELGANDOLFO TO BEGIN HIS HOLIDAY

VATICAN CITY, 8 JUL 2011 (VIS) - At 6 p.m. yesterday, shortly after his arrival at the Pontifical Villas in Castelgandolfo, the Pope addressed some brief remarks to people gathered there to greet him.

  "Thank you and good evening to you all, dear friends", he said. "I have arrived here to begin my holidays. Here I have everything: the mountain, the lake, ... a beautiful church with a recently restored facade and good people. I am so happy to be here. Let us hope the Lord grants us a peaceful holiday. My heartfelt blessing to you all. May Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, bless you. Good evening and thank you".
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DECLARATION CONCERNING INDEPENDENCE OF SOUTHERN SUDAN

VATICAN CITY, 8 JUL 2011 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. today released the following declaration:

  "Tomorrow 9 July, the new Republic of South Sudan will be proclaimed in the city of Juba. For this solemn occasion, the Holy Father has sent an official delegation headed by Cardinal John Njue, archbishop of Nairobi and president of the Kenya Episcopal Conference. The delegation, which will also include Archbishop Leo Boccardi, apostolic nuncio to Sudan, and Msgr. Javier Herrera Corona, secretary of the apostolic nunciature to Kenya, will bring the authorities of the new State, and all its citizens many of whom are Catholic, best wishes for peace and prosperity.

  "As Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, said yesterday when receiving a Sudanese parliamentary delegation led by Ahmed Ibrahim Elthair, president of the Sudanese National Assembly, peace, reconciliation and respect for universal rights (especially religious liberty) are the fundamental pillars upon which to construct the new socio-political circumstances of the region, and vital conditions in order to be able to look to a future of hope.

  "The Holy See, which has had stable diplomatic relations with the authorities of Khartoum since 1972 and will give due consideration to any request from the government of Southern Sudan, invites the international community to support Sudan and the new independent State so that, through frank, peaceful and constructive dialogue, they may find just and equitable solutions to outstanding questions; at the same time she expresses the hope that those peoples will enjoy a journey of peace, freedom and development".
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 8 JUL 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Fr. Dionisio Hisiilenapo of the clergy of the diocese of Ondjiva, Angola, executive secretary of the Episcopal Conference of Angola and Sao Tome, as bishop of Namibe (area 97,097, population 1,202,928, Catholics 272,154, priests 15, religious 35), Angola. The bishop-elect was born in Epumbu, Angola in 1966 and ordained a priest in 1998.

 - Erected the new diocese of Sylhet (area 12,595, population 8,261,614, Catholics 17,000, priests 21, religious 33) Bangladesh, with territory taken from the archdiocese of Dhaka, making it a suffragan of the same metropolitan church. He appointed Bishop Bejoy Nicephorus D'Cruze O.M.I. of Khulna, Bangladesh, as first bishop of the new diocese.

 - Appointed Bishop Paulinus Chukwuemeka Ezeokafor, auxiliary and diocesan administrator of Awka, Nigeria, as bishop of the same diocese (area 1,551, population 1,431,000, Catholics 723,551, priests 298, religious 163).

 - Transferred the diocese of Kingstown, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, from the ecclesiastical province of Castries, Saint Lucia, to that of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

 - Appointed Msgr. Charles Jason Gordon of the clergy of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, moderator of the archdiocesan Curia as bishop of Bridgetown (area 430, population 277,000, Catholics 11,000, priests 11, religious 14), Barbados, and of Kingstown (area 388, population 120,000, Catholics 15,469, priests 11, religious 14), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The bishop-elect was born in Port of Spain in 1959 and ordained a priest in 1991.

 - Appointed Fr. Joseph Harris C.S.Sp., pastor and judicial vicar for the clergy of the archdiocese of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, as coadjutor archbishop of the same archdiocese (area 5,128, population 1,262,400, Catholics 289,460, priests 107, religious 141). The archbishop-elect was born in Trinidad in 1942 and ordained a priest in 1968.
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You can find more information at: www.visnews.org

The news items contained in the Vatican Information Service may be used, in part or in their entirety, by quoting the source:
V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.
Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City