CARDINAL KASPER TO GO TO MOSCOW IN FEBRUARY

VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 2004 (VIS) - Joaquin Navarro-Valls, Holy See Press Office director, in a statement released this afternoon, said that "Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, welcoming the invitation of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Russian Federation, will go to Moscow on February 16.

"During his visit, which will end February 20, Cardinal Kasper will meet with the Catholic bishops present in the Russian Federation and the Catholic community in Moscow. During this visit, motivated by feelings of esteem for the Russian Orthodox Church, Cardinal Kasper will be received in audience by His Holiness Alexei II, patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, and will have talks with Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, and with the president of the department for foreign ecclesiastical relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow, in view of the ecumenical dialogue between the two Churches.

"Cardinal Kasper will be accompanied by Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the pontifical council, and by Fr. Jozef M. Maj, an official in this council's Oriental Section."
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POPE HIGHLIGHTS MALTA'S FAMILIES, CHRISTIAN HERITAGE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 2004 (VIS) - Guido De Marco, the president of Malta, was welcomed to the Vatican this morning by Pope John Paul who, in an address in English, told him he was "pleased to welcome you and your family to the Vatican. Your visit brings back vivid memories of my journey to Malta three years ago and the very warm welcome which I received."

The Pope added that his "Jubilee pilgrimage in the footsteps of St. Paul was an occasion for me to appreciate once more your country's ancient Christian heritage, and to encourage your fellow citizens in their efforts to build a society worthy of its noble cultural traditions. Malta's strength has always been its families, which have not only enriched the social fabric but also contributed significantly to the Church's universal mission, not least through their abundant harvest of priestly and religious vocations. May families always find encouragement and support in their work of educating the young who are the future of Malta."
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Guido de Marco, president of Malta, accompanied by his wife and an entourage.

- Three prelates from the Episcopal Conference of France on their "ad limina" visit:

- Archbishop Emile Marcus, P.S.S., of Toulouse.

- Archbishop Pierre-Marie Carre of Albi.

- Archbishop Maurice Frechard, C.S.Sp., of Auch.

- Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, with Bishop Karl Josef Romer and Msgr. Francesco Di Felice, secretary and undersecretary respectively of the same council.
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HOLY FATHER HAS SEEN MEL GIBSON'S FILM "THE PASSION"

VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 2004 (VIS) - The following statement was released this morning by Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls:

"After consultation with the Holy Father's personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, I can confirm that the Pope has had the opportunity to see the film, 'The Passion of the Christ'. The film is the cinematographic recounting of the historical fact of the passion of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel accounts.

"It is the Holy Father's custom not to express public judgments on artistic works, judgments which are always open to diverse evaluations of an aesthetic nature."
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Paul Richard Gallagher, special envoy and permanent observer to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, as apostolic nuncio in Burundi, elevating him at the same time to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in 1954 in Liverpool, England and was ordained a priest in 1977.
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