OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 8, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Erected the diocese of Awgu (area 1,310, population 600,000, Catholics 360,000, priests 42, religious 34), Nigeria, with territory taken from the diocese of Enugu, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Onitsha. He appointed Fr. John Ifeanyichukwu Okoye of the clergy of Enugu, professor of Holy Scripture and rector of the Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu, as bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Owelli, Nigeria, in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1978.

 - Appointed Fr. Rochus Tatamai M.S.C., chaplain of the basilica of Issoudun, France, as auxiliary of the diocese of Kerema (area 34,000, population 106,898, Catholics 21,555, priests 14, religious 15), Papua New Guinea. The bishop-elect was born in Raduna, Papua New Guinea, in 1962 and ordained a priest in 1989.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUL 8, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Cardinal Karl Lehmann, bishop of Mainz, Germany.

 - Cardinal George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia.

 - Vitaly Litvin, representative of the Russian Federation, on a farewell visit.

- Marcos Martinez Mendieta, ambassador of Paraguay, on a farewell visit.

- Javier Moctezuma Barragan, ambassador of Mexico, on a farewell visit.

- The Council of Cardinals for the Study of Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See,

  This evening he is scheduled to meet in separate audiences:

 - Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

 - Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
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PRESENTATION OF CONSOLIDATED BUDGET OF HOLY SEE

VATICAN CITY, JUL 8, 2005 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office at 11.30 a.m. on Monday, July 11, the consolidated budget of the Holy See for 2004 will be presented during a press conference given by Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, Bishop Franco Croci and Paolo Trombetta, respectively president, secretary and accountant general of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See.
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CATHOLIC CENTERS AND THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL DIALOGUE

VATICAN CITY, JUL 8, 2005 (VIS) - An international meeting of Catholic cultural centers in the Mediterranean has been organized by the Pontifical Council for Culture, in collaboration with the "Hrvatsko Kulturno Drustvo Napredak" Center of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. The theme of the gathering is: "The Challenge of a new Cultural Dialogue in the Context of Globalization."

  The meeting, which was inaugurated in Sarajevo this morning by Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, is due to last until July 10. It is part of a series of encounters - that began in Barcelona, Spain, in 1996 - on the challenges faced by Catholic cultural centers in the Mediterranean.

  Among other themes, participants will consider that of dialogue with Byzantine culture and with Muslims in the light of migration, as well as the challenge of dialogue with the world of non-believers: secularization in the West, and the heritage of communism in the East.

  The "Napredak" (Progress) Center - which includes Nobel prize-winners Ivo Andric (literature) and Vladimir Prelog (science) among its former pupils - was founded in 1902 and is located within the archdiocese of Sarajevo. It remained closed under the communist regime but reopened in 1990. It currently has 20,000 members and 66 branches throughout the world.
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