OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 5, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Manoel Delson Pedreira da Cruz O.F.M. Cap., definitor general of his order for Latin America, as bishop of Caico (area 9,372, population 266,000, Catholics 253,000, priests 36, permanent deacons 17, religious 76), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Biritinga, Brazil in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1980.
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MAY HUMANITY EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF CHRIST'S BLOOD

VATICAN CITY, JUL 5, 2006 (VIS) - In the greetings he addressed to participants in today's general audience, the Holy Father reminded Polish pilgrims that July is "a month in which we traditionally venerate the Most Precious Blood of Christ."

  He went on: "In the world innocent human blood is continually being spilt. The hearts of men are often full of hate rather than evangelical love, they often contain disdain and arrogance rather than care for mankind,. I ask you to pray that modern humanity may experience the power of the Blood of Christ, spilt on the Cross for our salvation."

  Benedict XVI also greeted participants in a symposium on the defense of creation, shortly to be held in Brazil. "I hope," he said, "that this important initiative, promoted by the Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople, may contribute to promoting an ever greater respect for nature, entrusted by God to the ... responsible hands of man."
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JOHN REVEALS A MYSTERIOUS ACCESS TO GOD

VATICAN CITY, JUL 5, 2006 (VIS) - The Apostle John was the subject of Benedict XVI's catechesis during today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 25,000 people.

  "John was always part of the small group which Jesus took with Him on certain occasions," the Pope explained. Within the Church of Jerusalem, he added, the Apostle "occupied an important position. ... In fact, Paul numbers him among those he called the 'pillars' of that community." Before the Sanhedrin, John affirmed that "'we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.' This frankness in confessing his faith is an example ... for us all to be ready to declare decisively our unshakeable adherence to Christ, putting our faith before all calculation or human interest."

  "According to tradition, John is the 'beloved disciple' who rested his head on the Master's chest during the Last Supper; he was at the foot of the Cross together with Jesus' Mother, and was a witness ... to the presence of the Risen One." Various scholars see in him "the prototype of the disciple of Jesus" Who wishes "to make each of us a disciple living in personal friendship with Him. To do this, it is not enough to follow and listen to Him on the outside, it is necessary to live with Him and like Him. This is only possible in the context of a relationship of great familiarity, pervaded by the warmth of complete trust."

  "In the apocryphal Acts of John," the Holy Father went on, "the Apostle is presented ... as one who communicates the faith in meeting 'souls capable of hope and of being saved.' Everything is inspired by the paradoxical intent of making the invisible visible. Indeed, the Oriental Church calls him 'the Theologian,' in other words, one capable of speaking of divine things in accessible terms, revealing a mysterious access to God through adherence to Christ."

  In the East John, who according to tradition lived in Ephesus, "enjoyed and continues to enjoy great veneration; in Byzantine iconography he is often depicted as a very old man in an attitude of intense contemplation, almost as if calling for silence."

  "Without adequate prayer it is not possible to approach the supreme mystery of God and His revelation," said the Pope, and he concluded by quoting the words of the Patriarch Atenagoras: "John is at the origin of our most exalted spirituality. Like him, the 'silent' experience the mysterious exchange of hearts; they invoke the presence of John and their hearts are aflame."
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