News Vatican Information Service 10/13/2011

SUMMARY:

- Holy Father Receives the President of Honduras
- Papal Mass for the People of Latin America
- The Relationship between Religion, Nature and Art
- Audiences
- Other Pontifical Acts

________________________________________

HOLY FATHER RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF HONDURAS

VATICAN CITY, 13 OCT 2011 (VIS) - "This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Porfirio Lobo Sosa, president of the Republic of Honduras. The president subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. who was accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States", according to a communique released at midday today by the Holy See Press Office.

  "During the cordial discussions appreciation was expressed for the great contribution the Church makes to development in Honduras, especially in the fields of education and healthcare. Emphasis was also given to the importance of continuing to foment reconciliation, mutual understanding, solidarity and peace in the country, in a persistent search for the common good.

  "The parties went on to take note of the improved situation of Honduras' international relations, as well as giving attention to other questions regarding the international scene".
OP/                                                                                                   VIS 20111013 (160)

PAPAL MASS FOR THE PEOPLE OF LATIN AMERICA

VATICAN CITY, 13 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father is due to celebrate Mass for the people of Latin America for the bicentenary of their independence, according to a communique released by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. The celebration will take place in St. Peter's Basilica at 5.30 p.m. on 12 December, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron of Latin America.

  The communique explains that "this initiative is a gesture of the concern, affection and solidarity felt by the Holy Father towards the peoples and nations of the 'Continent of Hope', as it has been called by Roman Pontiffs from Paul VI to Benedict XVI. It is a clear expression of the pastoral solicitude with which Benedict XVI embraces those peoples, among whom the Gospel of Jesus Christ was sown and brought forth precious fruit. They represent 40 percent of the baptised of the Catholic Church, united in filial devotion to Most Holy Mary, while their local Churches remain in faithful communion with the See of Peter".

  "The initiative is indicative of the original contribution the Catholic Church wishes to make to the commemoration of this bicentenary, in the light of historical truth, so as to throw light on the current situation in Latin America and nourish hope in a future of peace and justice".

  The 12 December Mass will be attended by the Roman Curia, the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See and to the Italian government, Latin American priests religious and citizens who study or reside in Rome, and public figures from the Latin American continent.
COM-AL/                                                                                          VIS 20111013 (270)

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RELIGION, NATURE AND ART

VATICAN CITY, 13 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The relationship between religion, nature and art is being examined in a conference which began today at the Vatican Museums, organised by the Museums and by the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture. The conference, which comes to an end tomorrow, will focus on the concern for nature felt in the Catholic world, also highlighting the presence of ecological awareness, as expressed in art, in other religions and cultures.

  The initiative is entitled "Religion, Nature and Art" and is being held under the patronage of Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State. It is being attended by experts from all over the world, from Finland to Japan, and has been organised by Laura Hobgood-Oster, a professor at Southwestern University, U.S.A., for the International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, and by Fr. Nicola Malpelli and Katherine Aigner for the Vatican Missionary Ethnological Museum.

  The papers being delivered over the two days of the conference will focus on such subjects as "The Entanglement of Religion and Art: Joseph Beuys, Shamanism and Ritual"; "Representation and Conceptions of Nature"; "Global Indigenous Perceptions and the Sacred World"; "Reading Religion and Resistance in Earth Art and the Book of Nature", and "Spirituality-based Environmental Activism, Nature, Art".

  The programme of events also includes a visit to the exhibition "Rituals of Life: the Culture and Spirituality of Aboriginal Australians", which was inaugurated last year at the Missionary Ethnological Museum of the Vatican Museums.
.../                                                                                                      VIS 20111013 (270)

AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 13 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Porfirio Lobo Sosa, president of the Republic of Honduras, accompanied by an entourage.

 - His Beatitude Fouad Twal, patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins.

 - Five prelates from the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference, on their "ad limina" visit:

    - Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishops Julian Charles Porteous, Terence John Gerard Brady and Peter Andrew Comensoli.

    - Archbishop Philip Edward Wilson of Adelaide.
AP:AL/                                                                                             VIS 20111013 (90)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 13 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Luis Antonio Tagle of Imus, Philippines, as metropolitan archbishop of Manila (area 117, population 3,296,000, Catholics 2,884,000, priests 642, permanent deacons 3, religious 1,481), Philippines. He succeeds Cardinal Gaudencio B. Rosales, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
NER/                                                                                                 VIS 20111013 (70)

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 10/12/2011

SUMMARY:

- Human History Is a History of Salvation
- Pope Calls for Respect for Minorities in Egypt
- Other Pontifical Acts

______________________________________

HUMAN HISTORY IS A HISTORY OF SALVATION

VATICAN CITY, 12 OCT 2011 (VIS) - During his general audience this morning the Holy Father dedicated his catechesis to Psalm 126 which, he said, "celebrates the great things which the Lord has done for His people, and which He continues to do for all believers".

  The Psalm "speaks of 'restored fortunes'", the Pope explained, "in other words, fortunes restored to their original state". This was the experience of the People of Israel when they returned to their homeland after the Babylonian exile, which had been such a devastating experience not only in political and social terms but also from a religious and spiritual point of view.

  "Divine intervention often takes unexpected forms which go beyond what man might expect. ... God works marvels in the history of mankind. ... He reveals Himself as the powerful and merciful Lord, the refuge of the oppressed Who does not ignore the cry of the poor. ... Thus, with the liberation of the People of Israel, everyone recognises the great and wondrous things God has done for His People and celebrates the Lord as Saviour".

  However, the Holy Father went on, "the Psalm goes beyond the purely historical and opens to a broader, theological dimension". It uses images which "allude to the mysterious truth of redemption, in which the gift we have received and the gift we await, life and death, intertwine".

  The watercourses of the Neg'eb symbolise divine intervention which, like water, "is capable of transforming the desert into a vast expanse of green grass and flowers", the Pope explained. Later the Psalm also uses the image of peasants cultivating their fields "to speak of salvation. The reference here is to the annual cycle of agriculture: the difficult and arduous time of sowing then the overriding joy of the harvest. ... The seed sprouts and grows".

  "This is the hidden mystery of life, these are the 'great and wondrous things of salvation which the Lord achieves in the history of mankind, but the secret of which is unknown to man. Divine intervention, when fully expressed, has an overpowering dimension, like the watercourses of the Neg'eb and the grain in the fields. This latter image also evokes the disproportion typical of the things of God: disproportion between the fatigue of sowing and the immense joy of the harvest".

  "The Psalmist refers to all these things to speak of salvation. ... The deportation to Babylon, like other situations of suffering and crisis, ... with its doubts and the apparent distance from God is, in reality, ... like a seedbed. In the mystery of Christ and in the light of the New Testament, the message becomes even clearer and more explicit: the believer who passes through the darkness is like the seed of grain that falls to earth and dies, but brings forth much fruit".

  "This Psalm teaches us that ... we must remain hopeful and firm in our faith in God. Our history, though often marked by suffering, uncertainty and moments of crisis, is a history of salvation and 'restoration of fortunes'. In Jesus our exile ends: ... in the mystery of His cross, in death transformed into life, like the seed which splits in the earth and becomes an ear of wheat".

AG/                                                                                                   VIS 20111012 (550)

POPE CALLS FOR RESPECT FOR MINORITIES IN EGYPT

VATICAN CITY, 12 OCT 2011 (VIS) - "I am profoundly saddened by the episodes of violence that took place in Cairo last Sunday", said the Pope today following his customary language greetings at the end of his Wednesday general audience.

  "I share the suffering of the families of the victims and of all the Egyptian people, lacerated by attempts to undermine peaceful coexistence among their communities, a coexistence which it is vital to safeguard, especially in this moment of transition", the Holy Father went on. "I exhort the faithful to pray that that society might enjoy true peace, based on justice and respect for the freedom and dignity of all citizens.

  "I support the efforts made by the civil and religious authorities in Egypt to foster a society in which everyone's human rights are respected, in particular those of minorities, for the benefit of national unity".

  During his greetings to pilgrim groups participating in the audience, the Holy Father also recalled the fact that the month of October is dedicated to the Rosary, inviting the faithful "to discover the beauty of this simple but effective prayer".

AC/                                                                                                   VIS 20111012 (200)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 12 OCT 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Paul-Andre Durocher of Alexandria-Cornwall, Canada, as metropolitan archbishop of Gatineau (area 6,445, population 313,243, Catholics 250,594, priests 71, permanent deacons 1, religious 209), Canada. He succeeds Archbishop Roger Ebacher, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Bishop Jose de la Trinidad Valera Angulo of La Guaira, Venezuela, as bishop of Guanare (area 7,600, population 436,000, Catholics 384,000, priests 26, religious 46), Venezuela. He succeeds Bishop Jose Sorero Valero Ruz, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same bishop the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Bishop Carlos Jose Tissera of San Francisco, Argentina, as bishop of Quilmes (area 503, population 1,198,000, Catholics 1,028,000, priests 100, permanent deacons 84, religious 275), Argentina. He succeeds Bishop Luis Teodorico Stockler, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Fr. Gabriel Zurbriggen, pastor of the cathedral of Rafaela, Argentina, as coadjutor of the territorial prelature of Dean Funes (area 28,700, population 61,995, Catholics 55,930, priests 16, permanent deacons 1, religious 17), Argentina. The bishop-elect was born in Curupaity, Argentina in 1963 and ordained a priest in 1990. He studied at the Gregorian University in Rome before returning to Argentina where he worked as parochial vicar then pastor in various parishes. He teaches theology at the seminaries in Parana and Cordoba and is member of a number of diocesan councils.

NER:NEC/                                                                                       VIS 20111012 (270)

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