OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 15, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the eparchy of Idukki of the Siro-Malabars, India with territory taken from the eparchy of Kothamangalam, making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan Church of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Siro-Malabars.

- Appointed Fr. Mathew Anikizhikattil, rector of the Major Seminary of the eparchy of Kothamanglam of the Siro-Malabars as bishop of Idukki. The bishop-elect was born in Kunchithanny, India in 1942 and was ordained a priest in 1971.

- Erected the eparchy of Muvattupuzha of the Siro-Malankars (population 6,600,000, Catholics 18,120, priests 37, religious 97), India with territory taken from the eparchy of Tiruvalla of the Siro-Malankars, making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan Church of Trivandrum of the Siro-Malankars.

- Appointed Bishop Thomas Mar Koorilos Chakkalapadickal, auxiliary of the eparchy of Tiruvalla of the Siro-Malankars, as bishop of the eparchy of Muvattupuzha.

- Appointed Fr. Jose Soares Filho, O.F.M.Cap., general bursar of his order in Rome, as coadjutor bishop of Carolina (area 18,252, population 148,000, Catholics 115,000, priests 8, permanent deacons 1, religious 13), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Itapetim, Brazil in 1956 and was ordained a priest in 1991.

- Accepted the resignation from the office of Auxiliary of the diocese of Eger, Hungary presented by Bishop Endre Kovacs, O.Cist., upon having reached the age limit.

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CARDINAL LOPEZ TRUJILLO IS LEGATE TO WORLD FAMILY ENCOUNTER

VATICAN CITY, JAN 15, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was Pope John Paul's Letter to Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, naming him as his special legate for the celebrations of the Fourth World Encounter of Families, to be held in Manila, the Philippines, from January 23 to 26.

The letter was written in Latin, and dated December 27, 2002. Also published today were the names of those who will be part of the pontifical mission: Msgr. Hernando M. Coronel, secretary general of the Episcopal Conference of the Philippines, and Fr. Gregory Ramon D. Gaston of the archdiocese of Manila.

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GENERAL AUDIENCE CATECHESIS FOCUSSES ON PSALM 119

VATICAN CITY, JAN 15, 2003 (VIS) - During this morning's weekly general audience held in the Paul VI Hall, Pope John Paul II continued his catechesis on the Psalms, focussing on verses 145-152 of Psalm 118 and noting that it is the longest Psalm in the psalter.

The Pope remarked that Psalm 118, "composed of 22 stanzas, corresponding to the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, is a great celebration of God's word as the source of wisdom, life and truth." He added that "in Psalm 118, the words of the prayer and the Word of the Lord form together a constellation which is like the north star of the faith and the trust of the psalmist. His prayer constitutes a dialogue that begins at dawn and continues throughout the day, especially in the difficulties of existence."

"We will entrust our meditation," he went on, "to a great Father of the Church, St. Ambrose. ... Commenting at length on this Psalm, he invites the believer to anticipate dawn, to go to meet the sun of justice: 'Christ will be the first light to shine in the secret of your heart. It is He Who will make the light of the morning shine for you if you meditate on His Word. Let us welcome this call to begin each day by praying to the Lord, that He will come near us and lead us."

"We too welcome St. Ambrose's call," the Holy Father concluded, "and every morning we open our glance to daily life, in its joys and its nightmares, invoking God to stay near us and guide us with His word which infuses serenity and grace."

The Pope summarized his catechesis in French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish and greeted the pilgrim groups present in those languages.

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