MUSICAL PARADE MARKING THE HOLY FATHER'S BIRTHDAY

VATICAN CITY, MAY 22, 2007 (VIS) - The International Association of Friends of Sacred Music is promoting a musical parade, due to take place in Rome from May 25 to 27 and to involve 16 marching bands from Austria and Germany. The event is intended to mark Benedict XVI's 80th birthday which fell in April.

  According to a communique made public by the association, thanks to the great success of the event in 2006, it is being repeated this year in order to fill the streets of the Eternal City with "folklore, music and joy."

  The event will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 25, with a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. At 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 26, the musical parade start out from Via della Conciliazione marching along some of the surrounding streets before reaching St. Peter's Square at around 6 p.m. There the bands will then line up in a circle and play Beethoven's "Hymn to Joy."

  On Sunday, May 27, the bands will gather in Piazza del Sant'Uffizio and, at midday, participate in the Regina Coeli prayer with the Pope in St. Peter's Square. Having received the Holy Father's greeting, they will play "Grosser Gott wir loben Dich."
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HOLY SEE AND ISRAEL: IMPORTANT PROGRESS AND HOPE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 22, 2007 (VIS) - Yesterday in the Vatican, the Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the Holy See and the State of Israel held a plenary session in order to continue negotiations on article 10, para. 2 of the "Fundamental Agreement between the Holy See and the State of Israel" of December 30 1993.

  According to a communique made public by the working commission late yesterday afternoon, the Holy See delegation was led by Msgr. Pietro Parolin, under-secretary for Relations with States, while the Israeli delegation was headed by Aaron Abramovich, director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

  "The talks," the English-language communique reads, "took place in an atmosphere of great cordiality, mutual understanding and good will, and produced important progress and hope for yet further advances in the coming months. The next meeting of the plenary will take place in the first half of December this year, in Israel, and in the meantime the commission will continue upon its task at the 'working level'."
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