OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 12, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Fr. Zeno Hastenteufel, of the clergy of Porto Alegre, professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of the same archdiocese, as bishop of Frederico Westphalen (area 11,473, population 661,000, Catholics 550,000, priests 64, religious 164), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Linha Rodrigues da Rosa in 1946, and ordained to the priesthood in 1972. He succeeds Bishop Bruno Maldaner, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted in accordance with the age limit.

- Appointed as auxiliary bishops of Seoul (area 3,768, population 12,358, Catholics 1,299,904, priests 827, religious 2,904), Korea, Fr. Joseph Lee Han-Taek, S.J., president of Sogang University, in Seoul, and Fr. Andrew Yeom Soo-Jung, pastor at Mok-dong in the archdiocese of Seoul. They succeed Auxiliary Bishop Paul Kim Ok-kyun, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted in conformity with the age limit. Bishop-elect Lee Han-Taek, S.J., was born in Ansong in 1934, and ordained to the priesthood in 1971. Bishop-elect Yeom Soo-Jung was born in Ansong in 1943, and ordained to the priesthood in 1970.

- Erected the Apostolic Prefecture of Mongo (area 533,840, population 1,528,136, Catholics 3,796, priests 7, religious 13), Chad, with territory taken from the archdiocese of N'Djamena and the diocese of Sarh. He appointed Fr. Henry Coudray, S.J., episcopal vicar of the eastern sector of N'Djamena, as first apostolic prefect of Mongo.

- Appointed Fr. Fernando Antonio Brochini, C.S.S., provincial of the Sao Jose Brazilian province of the Congregation of the Most Holy Stigmata of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as coadjutor bishop of Jaboticabal (area 5,335, population 449,000, Catholics 404,000, priests 49, permanent deacons 1, religious 84), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Rio Claro, in 1946, and ordained to the priesthood in 1973.

- Appointed Fr. Dorick McGowan Wright, vicar general and pastor of the Cathedral of Belize City-Belmopan (area 22,965, population 230,000, Catholics 132,940, priests 43, permanent deacons 1, religious 81), Belize, as auxiliary of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Belize City in 1945, and ordained to the priesthood in 1975.

- Appointed Fr. Donald George Sproxton, of the clergy of the archdiocese of Perth, Australia, pastor of Saint Gerard Majella's Parish in Mirrabooka, as auxiliary of Perth (area 427,377, population 1,383,507, Catholics 380,282, priests 251, permanent deacons 2, religious 861). The bishop-elect was born in Subiaco, Western Australia, in 1953, and ordained to the priesthood in 1977.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 13, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, apostolic nuncio in Georgia and Armenia, as apostolic nuncio in Azerbaijan.

- Msgr. Adolfo Tito Yllana, nunciature counsellor, as apostolic nuncio in Papua New Guinea, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in Naga City, the Philippines, in 1948, and ordained to the priesthood in 1972.

- Bishop Wilhelm Schraml, auxiliary of Regensburg, as bishop of Passau (area 5,442, population 588,372, Catholics 540,567, priests 458, permanent deacons 11, religious 1,057), Germany.

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MEETING ON FUTURE OF CHRISTIANS IN HOLY LAND

VATICAN CITY, DEC 13, 2001 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Holy Father presided over a meeting on "The Future of Christians in the Holy Land," which seeks, the Pope said, "to reaffirm, once more, the interest and concern with which the Holy See follows the situation in the Holy Land, sharing, through a particular spiritual closeness, the drama of those peoples, for so long tried by acts of violence and discrimination."

"Unfortunately, we find ourselves meeting in a moment which I do not hesitate to call 'dramatic', both for the peoples who live in those dear regions, and for our brethren in the Faith, who seem crushed by the weight of two diverse extremisms which, independently from the reasons that fuel them, are disfiguring the face of the Holy Land."

The Pope recalled that at the beginning of the Jubilee of 2000, the patriarchs and those responsible for the Christian communities of the Holy Land launched a "message of faith, of hope, and of charity," inviting "all of those living in the Holy Land and in the entire world to live in justice and peace. How we would have wished that this message had been promptly heard and carried out!"

"To you, dear brothers in the episcopate in the Holy Land, belongs the important task of continuing to be witnesses of the presence of the love of God in that land and the bearers of His message in milieux of Islamic or Hebrew majority."

John Paul II concluded his discourse affirming that the presence of a representation of various world bishops is "a testimony that, in this your difficult task, you are not alone: the entire Church is with you. The whole Church shares your concerns, supports your daily efforts, is close to the suffering of your faithful, and, through prayer, keeps hope alive."

After the Pope's discourse, Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano affirmed that "our first duty is to cooperate in restoring a climate of peace, between Israelis and Palestinians." The work of peace, he said, "has always been supported, in these sad years, by the entire Church and in particular by the Apostolic See."

The Cardinal recalled that the wounds of the Holy Land are "the fruit of more than 50 years of a painful tension, which dates back to the famous plan initiated by the U.N. in 1947 for the partitioning of Palestine. It is a story of tears and blood, which has always urged the supreme pontiffs ... to an intense activity to help those peoples to find a peaceful solution to their grave problems." Under the direction of this pontifical teaching, he said, "diplomatic action has been thus strengthened ... to propose concrete solutions to the present conflict insisting above all on the necessity of a truce and a resuming of negotiations between the parties, unfortunately brusquely interrupted a year ago."
Following this, the Secretary of State focused upon the theme of the meeting: the future of Christians in the Holy Land. "Statistics tell us," he said, "that (the number of Christians) is not many, due to the continual emigrations to which they are compelled by the difficult conditions of life: ... 117,000 Catholics, in Israel and the Palestinian territories, out of a population of 6,100,000 inhabitants. Beyond this we know that there is a considerable presence of other Christians, especially of the Greek-Orthodox patriarchate. It is true," he continued, that "altogether Christians make up less than 3 percent of the population. ... The majority of Christians are of Palestinian origin and a small number are also of Hebrew origin. ... They live in a characteristic religious context and we must examine how to help them in their dialogue with the Hebrew and Islamic worlds. Many suffer, and therefore we must consider how to concretely assist them."

"The Holy See," he concluded, "has kept their situation well in mind in the two noted agreements which were signed, respectively, with the State of Israel in 1993, and with the Palestinian Authority in 2000. ... Together we will seek to bring our contribution of solidarity to our brethren in the Holy Land, and in particular to those so tried in Jerusalem. May they know that they are not alone!"

Various discourses are scheduled throughout the day-long meeting. His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, will speak on "The situation of Christians in the Holy Land since September 28, 2000" (the start of the second Intifada). Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, will address "Dialogue between Islam and Christianity since September 11, 2001." Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States, will discuss "The peace process and the status of the City of Jerusalem."

Cardinal Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace will then focus upon "The question of refugees," while, in conclusion, His Beatitude Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, will speak on "The specific contribution of the Catholic Church."

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