COLLABORATION BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE FOR GOOD OF MAN

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2007 (VIS) - In the Vatican today, Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy, the Holy Father received the Letters of Credence of Antonio Zanardi Landi, Italy's new ambassador to the Holy See.

  In his talk to the diplomat, the Pope referred to the "mutual collaboration" between Church and State "for the promotion of mankind and the good of the entire national community. In pursuing this goal," he added, "the Church does not aim to acquire power nor does she seek privileges or positions of economic and social advantage.

  "Her only aim," he went on, "is to serve mankind, drawing inspiration, as the supreme norm of behavior, from the words and example of Jesus Christ Who 'went about doing good and healing everyone.' Hence the Catholic Church asks to be considered for her specific nature, and to have the opportunity freely to carry out her special mission for the good, not only of her own faithful, but of all Italians."

  Benedict XVI expressed the hope that collaboration between all components of Italian society may contribute "not only to carefully guarding the cultural and spiritual heritage that distinguishes [Italy] and that is an integral part of its history," but even more so that it may be "a stimulus to seek new ways to face the great challenges that characterize the post-modern age." In this context the Pope mentioned "the defense of life, ... the protection of the rights of the individual and the family, the building of a united world, respect for creation and inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue."

  After recalling that the year 2008 marks the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, the Pope pointed out that this date "could constitute a useful occasion for Italy to offer its own contribution to the creation of a just order in the international arena, at the center of which is ... respect for mankind, for his dignity and for his inalienable rights."

  Quoting from his own Message for World Peace Day 2007, the Holy Father then went on to say that the Declaration of Human Rights "is regarded as a sort of moral commitment assumed by all mankind. There is a profound truth to this, especially if the rights described in the Declaration are held to be based not simply on the decisions of the assembly that approved them, but on man's very nature and his inalienable dignity as a person created by God."

  "Italy," Pope Benedict concluded, "by virtue of its recent election as a member of the Council for Human Rights, and even more so for its own particular tradition of humanity and generosity, cannot but feel committed to the tireless construction of peace and the defense of the dignity of human beings and all their inalienable rights, including the right to religious freedom."
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VATICAN SECRET ARCHIVES: "PROCESSUS CONTRA TEMPLARIOS"

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2007 (VIS) - On October 25 in the Vatican's Old Synod Hall, the presentation will take place of the "Processus contra Templarios," a book published by the Vatican Secret Archives on the subject of the Knights Templar, the medieval military-religious order founded in Jerusalem in 1118 and suppressed by Pope Clement V (1305-1314).

  According to a communique made public yesterday afternoon, the new volume is "a previously unpublished and exclusive edition of the complete acts of the original hearing against the Knights Templar." The book, unique of its kind, will have a print run "rigorously limited to 799 copies" and contains the "faithful reproduction of the original parchments conserved in the Vatican Secret Archives."

  The project, the communique concludes, "is part of the series of 'Exemplaria Praetiosa,' ... the most elaborate and important publication yet undertaken by the Pontifical Archives."

  The new volume will be presented by Archbishop Raffaele Farina S.D.B., archivist and librarian of Holy Roman Church; Bishop Sergio Pagano, prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives, and experts such as the historian Franco Cardini and the archaeologist and author Valerio Massimo Manfredi."
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum."

 - Archbishop Oscar Rizzato, almoner emeritus of His Holiness.

 - Msgr. Walter Brandmuller, president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Fr. Terence John Gerard Brady, pastor of Mosman and Neutral Bay in Sydney, Australia, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Sydney (area 1,264, population 2,228,000, Catholics 597,610, priests 477, permanent deacons 5, religious 1,693). The bishop-elect was born in Rose Bay, Australia in 1947 and ordained a priest in 1983.

 - Appointed Msgr. Antonio Di Donna of the clergy of the archdiocese of Naples, Italy, episcopal vicar and professor of pastoral theology at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 274, population 1,724,000, Catholics 1,716,000, priests 1,012, permanent deacons 210, religious 3,030). The bishop-elect was born in Ercolano, Italy in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1976.

 - Appointed as consultors of the Congregation for Bishops: Archbishops Fernando Filoni, substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, and Mauro Piacenza, secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy.
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