OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 5, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father gave his assent to the election canonically carried out by the synod of bishops of the Armenian Church, meeting in Rome from September 19 to 27, 2000, of:

- Archpriest Nechan Karakeheyan, ordinary for Greece and "protosincello" (vicar) for Armenian Catholics in Western Europe, as bishop of Ispahan of the Armenian Catholics (Catholics 2,200, priests 2, religious 6), Iran. The bishop-elect was born in Piraeus, Greece, in 1932 and ordained a priest in 1960.

- Fr. Jean Teyrouz of the institute of the patriarchal clergy of Bzommar, as auxiliary bishop to the Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians for the patriarchal eparchy (Catholics 4,000, priests 2, religious 2). The bishop-elect was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1941 and ordained a priest in 1965.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 5, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Renato Raffaele Martino, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York.
- Archbishop Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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ANGELUS WITH PILGRIMS IN ST. PETER'S SQUARE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 5, 2001 (VIS) - At midday today, the Pope appeared at the window of his private study overlooking St. Peter's Square and prayed the angelus with thousands of faithful who were waiting to pass through the Holy Door in the Vatican Basilica.

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HOLY FATHER RECEIVES PARTICIPANTS IN TWO GENERAL CHAPTERS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 5, 2001 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received participants in the general chapters of the Dominican Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Sisters, Handmaidens of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Agony.

To the Dominican Sisters, the Pope recalled that "evangelization is the specific aim of your institute. ... Indeed, social and cultural transformations demand a renewed and creative commitment to the apostolate. The vast spiritual heritage to which you are the heirs will help you to find the most suitable ways for adequately transmitting the Gospel to the men and women of today."

He told the Handmaidens of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that "more than ever, contemporary men and women need to draw from the source of the most sacred heart of Jesus. Only there can they find peace in those moments of anguish that modern-day secular culture renders ever less bearable."

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