TWO RELIGIOUS TO BE BEATIFIED ON MAY 13 AND 14

VATICAN CITY, MAY 9, 2006 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff made it known today that two religious will be beatified on May 13 and 14, in separate ceremonies due to be held in Holland and Italy respectively.

  Servant of God Maria Teresa di San Giuseppe, nee Anna Maria Tauscher van den Bosch, will be beatified in Roermond, Netherlands on Saturday, May 13. Born to Lutheran parents in 1855 in Sandow, Brandenburg, which is today part of Poland, she was received into the Catholic Church in 1888. In 1891, she founded the Congregation of Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus. She died in Holland in 1938. The decree of the miracle ascribed to her for beatification was made public on December 19, 2005.

  Servant of God Maria della Passione di Nostro Signore Gesu Cristo, nee Grazia Tarallo, will be beatified in the cathedral of Naples, Italy on Sunday, May 14. Born in Barra, Italy in 1866, in 1891 she entered the Institute of Crucified Sisters Adorers of the Holy Eucharist. During the last period of her life the Holy Eucharist was her only source of nourishment. She died in 1912. The decree of the miracle ascribed to her for beatification was made public on December 19, 2005.
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TELEGRAM FOR DEATH OF ITALIAN SOLDIERS IN KABUL

VATICAN CITY, MAY 9, 2006 (VIS) - Given below is the text of the telegram sent by the Holy Father Benedict XVI, through Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, to Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco, military ordinary for Italy, regarding the attack on May 5 in Kabul, Afghanistan in which two Italian soldiers lost their lives.

  The military ordinary read out the Pope's telegram at the beginning of the funeral Mass, held this morning in the Roman church of St. Mary of the Angels.

  "Having learned the news of the ignoble attack on the Italian convoy in Kabul, which caused the death of two soldiers of the Alpine Regiment, the Supreme Pontiff wishes to communicate to parents and relatives an expression of his personal participation in their profound suffering, and to convey his heartfelt condolences for the grave mourning which has once again struck the entire nation of Italy, and especially the armed forces committed to upholding, with generous self-sacrifice, actions of peace among sorely tried peoples. In giving assurances of his fervent prayers that the Lord may welcome to eternal life the young victims who sacrificed their own lives, His Holiness invokes heavenly comfort upon those weeping their dramatic death and sends out his apostolic blessing, with a special thought for the soldiers wounded in the attack."
TGR/KABUL ATTACK/BAGNASCO                    VIS 20060509 (230)