AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, APR 28, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome.

 - Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, dean emeritus of the College of Cardinals.

 - Archbishop Angelo Comastri, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City and president of the Fabric of St. Peter's.

 - Five members of the presidency of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM):

    - Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, archbishop of Santiago de Chile, president.

    - Bishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Texcoco, Mexico, first vice president.

    - Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Vitoria de Conquista, Brazil, second vice president.

    - Archbishop Pedro Rubiano Saenz of Bogata, Colombia, treasurer.

    - Bishop Andres Stanovnik O.F.M. Cap., of Reconquista, Argentina, secretary general.
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IN BRIEF

THE HOLY SEE PERMANENT OBSERVER TO UNESCO, Msgr. Francesco Follo spoke yesterday in Paris, France, on the project for a Convention on the Protection of the Diversity of Cultural Contents and Artistic Expressions, during the plenary assembly of the executive council of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. "The international community," said Msgr. Follo, "must recognize cultural assets of religious interest as being an integral part of the cultural and artistic heritage of the entire world, not only in their aesthetic aspects, but also as specific historical expressions of the witness of faith and of spiritual values."

FROM APRIL 18 TO 25 IN BANGKOK, THAILAND, the 11th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice was held. During his address to the congress on April 25, Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, apostolic nuncio to Thailand, made reference to some themes associated with crime prevention and criminal justice that are of particular concern to the Holy See: trafficking in human beings, the sale and possession of firearms, corruption, crimes in post conflict situations, and the effective implementation of U.N. rules concerning the just treatment of prisoners and minors.
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