IN BRIEF

ON 20 NOVEMBER, THE POPE WILL RECEIVE GIORGIO NAPOLITANO, president of the Italian Republic, on an official visit.

MSGR. FRANCESCO FOLLO, PERMANENT OBSERVER of the Holy See to UNESCO, addressed the 175th session of that organization's executive council. Msgr. Follo's talk, delivered on October 11, came during the course of a debate on "the suitability of drawing up an international declaration on scientific ethics."

THE 11th MEETING OF THE SPECIAL COUNCIL for America of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops was held on October 2 and 3. Particular attention was given to two themes: pastoral care of vocations and the promotion of human life from conception to natural end. "The social and ecclesial situation on the continent shows hopeful signs, but also worrying ones," reads a communique released by the Synod of Bishops. Although, on the one hand, the number of diocesan priests increased by 17.66% between 1978 and 2004, "the crisis of democratic structures favors populist and demagogical - often neo-Marxist - forms of government that, for ideological motives, tend to manipulate social promotion."
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