VATICAN CITY, 30 JUL 2008 (VIS) - Following are highlights of the activities of Pope Benedict XVI and of the Holy See for the months of January to March 2008. Another summary, covering the period from April to July, will be published tomorrow.
JANUARY
- 4: Holy Father visits the "Dono di Maria" shelter for the poor, located in the Vatican, which Servant of God John Paul II entrusted to the care of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1988.
- 12: Holy Father receives in audience Thomas Yayi Boni, president of the Republic of Benin.
- 19: Holy Father receives in audience Faure Gnassingbe, president of the Republic of Togo.
- 21: Holy Father receives in audience Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta, president of the Democratic Republic of East Timor.
- 21: Presentation of the Pauline Year (due to run from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009) and of various initiatives due to be held at the Roman basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.
- 23: Publication of a Letter from the Pope to the diocese and the city of Rome on the vital importance of education.
- 24: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Slovenian Episcopal Conference at the end of their five-yearly "ad limina" visit.
- 25: Holy Father receives in audience participants in a congress organised by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts to mark the 25th anniversary of the Code of Canon Law.
- 29: Presentation of Benedict XVI's 2008 Lenten Message: "Christ made Himself Poor for you".
FEBRUARY
- 1: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Greek-Catholic Church of Ukraine, at the end of their first "ad limina" visit in 70 years.
- 2: Holy Father receives in audience Fatmir Sejdiu, president of Kosovo.
- 6: Holy Father receives in audience Danilo Turk, president of the Republic of Slovenia.
- 8: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica at the end of their "ad limina" visit.
- 9: Telegram of condolence from the Pope for the death of Fra' Andrew Bertie, prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, who died on 7 February at the age of 79.
- 14: Just three years after the death of Sister Lucia dos Santos (known to the world as one of the three seers of Fatima), Pope Benedict waives the five-year waiting period established by canonical norms (art. 9 of "Normae servandae") and grants that the diocesan stage of the cause for her beatification may begin.
- 18: Presentation of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints' Instruction "Sanctorum Mater" for conducting diocesan or eparchial enquiries in the causes of saints, and of the supplement to the "Index ac status causarum".
- 21: Presentation of the Letters of Credence of Viadeta Jancovic, Serbia's new ambassador to the Holy See.
- 23: Benedict XVI symbolically presents families, teachers and young people with the Letter he wrote on 21 January to the diocese and city of Rome concerning the vital importance of education.
- 24: Holy Father makes a pastoral visit to the Roman parish of Santa Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio.
- 28: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador at the conclusion of their "ad limina" visit.
- 29: Presentation of the Letters of Credence of Mary Ann Glendon, the new ambassador of the United States to the Holy See and former president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
MARCH
- 6: Cardinal Peter Poreku Dery, archbishop emeritus of Tamale, Ghana, dies at the age of 89.
- 6: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Guatemala at the end of their "ad limina" visit.
- 7: Holy Father receives in audience Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
- 9: Holy Father makes a pastoral visit to San Lorenzo in Piscibus, located near St. Peter's Square, part of the San Lorenzo International Youth Centre inaugurated by Pope John Paul II on 13 March 1983.
- 13: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Haiti at the conclusion of their "ad limina" visit.
- 13: Telegram of condolence from the Holy Father to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Iraq, for the death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mossul of the Chaldeans, Iraq, who was kidnapped on 29 February.
- 14: Presentation of the Letters of Credence of Carlos Federico de la Riva Guerra, the new ambassador of Bolivia to the Holy See.
- 14: Telegram of condolence from the Pope for the death at the age of 88 of Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolari Movement.
- 15: Presentation of the Letters of Credence of Miltiadis Hiskakis, the new ambassador of Greece to the Holy See.
- 22: Cardinal Adolfo Antonio Suarez Rivera, archbishop emeritus of Monterrey, Mexico, dies at the age of 81.
.../ACTIVITIES 2008/... VIS 20080730 (840)
