LIGHTING OF CHRISTMAS TREE IN ST. PETER'S SQUARE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 18, 2001 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony took place in St. Peter's Square. This year's tree was donated by Romania.

Participating in the ceremony were President Ion Iliescu, of Romania, Catholic Bishop Ioan Robu of Bucharest, Orthodox Prelate Vicientu Ploiesteanu, and Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, president of the Governorate of Vatican City State.

The spruce tree, which comes from the woods of Transylvania, measures 25 meters high, 8 meters in diameter, and weighs 5.5 tons. Before the tree lighting, President Iliescu and Cardinal Szoka each made a brief speech, and, in conclusion, a choir sang various Romanian traditional songs. The tree is located next to the Nativity Scene, which is under construction and will be opened on the night of December 24.

After the ceremony, the president of Romania, accompanied by a delegation, attended a Christmas concert given by a children's choir of Radio Romania, in the Basilica of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, DEC 17, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Cardinal Jorge Arturo Medina Estevez, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments.
- Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, pro-major penitentiary.
- Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, with Bishop Francisco Gil Hellin and Msgr. Francesco Di Felice, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the same pontifical council.

On Saturday, December 15, he received in separate audiences:

- Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo, president of the Republic of Nicaragua, accompanied by his wife and an entourage.
- Cardinal William Wakefield Baum, major penitentiary emeritus.
- Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
- Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, with Bishop Marc Ouellet and Msgr. Francesco Eleuterio Fortino, respectively secretary and under-secretary of the same pontifical council.
- Cardinal Jozef Glemp, archbishop of Warsaw and president of the Polish Episcopal Conference.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 18, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Bishop Juan Bautista Gavilan Velazquez of Concepcion, as bishop of Coronel Oviedo (area 12,327, population 522,000, Catholics 430,000, priests 36, permanent deacons 2, religious 137), Paraguay.

- Fr. Joseph Anthony Zziwa, of the clergy of the diocese of Kiyinda-Mityana, Uganda, vice-rector and professor of Church History at the National Seminary of Ggaba, as coadjutor bishop of Kiyinda-Mityana (area 11,965, population 677,000, Catholics 316,000, priests 77, religious 129). The bishop-elect was born in Mubende, Uganda, in 1956, and ordained to the priesthood in 1980.

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