VATICAN CITY, 2 SEP 2008 (VIS) - Following is a list of Pope Benedict's activities during the month of August. It includes the Angelus, general and private audiences, other pontifical acts, letters, messages, telegrams and other news. The activities are presented in chronological order under their respective headings.
ANGELUS
- 3: From Bressanone, Italy, where he is spending a period of rest, Benedict XVI presides at the praying of the Angelus from the cathedral square, recalling that on 6 August 30 years ago Servant of God Pope Paul VI died. The Holy Father gives thanks to God "for his fruitful and courageous pastoral activity" and affirms that "with the passing of the years we gain an ever-greater appreciation of the greatness he showed in presiding over the second part of Vatican Council II, bringing it to a happy conclusion and governing the Church during the delicate post-conciliar period". Following the Angelus, the Pope expresses the hope that the Olympic Games in Peking "may prove a fine example of coexistence among people of very different backgrounds, while respecting their common dignity. May sport once again become a pledge of fraternity and peace among peoples".
- 10: The Pope comments on this Sunday's Gospel reading which recounts how Jesus walked upon the waters and invited Peter to get out of the boat and come to Him. "Only if we take the Lord's hand, if we allow ourselves to be guided by Him, will our journey be right and good", said the Pope. Recalling then his recent apostolic trip to Sydney, Australia, for World Youth Day, he highlighted the contrast between the "true joy" of the young participants and that of others who "seeking false forms of evasion, submit themselves to degrading experiences which not infrequently end in tragedy". Following the Angelus he referred to the situation in Georgia and made a call for a return "to the path of negotiation and respectful and constructive dialogue".
- 15: On the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin the Holy Father affirms that "Mary, assumed into heaven, shows us the final goal of our earthly pilgrimage. She reminds us that all our being - spirit, mind, body - is destined for the fullness of life".
- 17: After highlighting how "one of humankind's great achievements is ... overcoming racism", Benedict XVI invites people to pray "that respect for everyone may everywhere increase, together with a responsible awareness that only through mutual acceptance among all people is it possible to construct a world marked by authentic justice and true peace". The Pope also renews his appeal concerning the situation in Georgia, calling for the opening of "humanitarian corridors between the region of Southern Ossetia and the rest of Georgia" and expresses the hope that "the current truce ... may be consolidated and transformed into a stable peace".
- 24: The Holy Father recalls Peter's profession of faith - "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God" - emphasising how the mission of the Apostle and his successors is to ensure that the Church "never identifies herself with just one nation, with just one culture, but that she remains a Church of all peoples", serving "the inner unity that comes from the peace of God". In this context, and "given the enormous responsibility of such a task", he calls upon the faithful to support him with their prayers. After the Angelus the Pope indicates that faced with "the risk of a progressive deterioration in the climate of trust and collaboration among nations" it is necessary "to gain a deeper awareness of our being united by a single destiny, which in the final analysis is a transcendent destiny".
- 31: Commenting on this Sunday's Gospel reading concerning Peter's rebuke of Jesus when he heard of the imminent Passion, the Holy Father affirms that "in the modern world, where divisive and destructive forces seem to dominate, Christ does not cease to present His own clear invitation to everyone: who wishes to be my disciple must abandon his own selfishness and carry the cross with me". Following the Angelus the Pope refers to the latest episodes of illegal immigration from Africa, calling for an "effective political response". He also calls for the countries of origin of the migrants to show "a sense of responsibility ... so as to eliminate the causes of illegal migration and to uproot the forms of criminality associated with it".
WEDNESDAY GENERAL AUDIENCES
- 13: Having returned from his holiday in the northern Italian city of Bressanone, the Holy Father resumes his Wednesday general audiences from the Apostolic Palace in Castelgandolfo. His catechesis focuses on St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein) and St. Maximilian Kolbe, whose feast days fall in this period. The Pope highlights the fact that both concluded "their earthly journey at Auschwitz. To all appearances their lives could be seen a defeat, but it is precisely in their martyrdom that the splendour of Love, which overcomes the darkness of selfishness and hatred, shines out".
- 20: During the general audience, Benedict XVI recalls how every day the Church presents saints and blesseds for the faithful to evoke and to imitate. Quoting from the theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar he points out that "saints constitute the most important commentary on the Gospel - its enactment in daily life - and hence they represent for us a real means of access to Jesus". He also quotes from the writer Jean Guitton, who described saints as "the 'colours of the spectrum in their relationship to light', because with different shades and emphases each reflects the light of God's sanctity".
- 27: For his general audience the Pope travels to the Vatican where, in the Paul VI Hall, he resumes the series of catechesis dedicated to the figure of St. Paul, a series he began in July for the occasion of the opening of the Pauline Year. The focus of the Pope's remarks today is the biography of the saint. Following the audience, Benedict XVI launches an appeal for Christian communities in the Indian state of Orissa which have been suffering violent attacks "since the deplorable murder of the Hindu leader Swami Lakshmananda Saraswati", and he invites "religious leaders and civil authorities to work together to restore among the members of the various communities the peaceful coexistence and harmony which have always been the distinguishing mark of Indian society".
LETTERS, MESSAGES AND TELEGRAMS
- 2: Publication of a Letter from the Pope, written in Latin and dated 2 June, in which he appoints Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, archbishop of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as his special envoy to celebrations marking the Third American Missionary Congress (CAM3) and the Eighth Latin American Missionary Congress (COMLA8), to be held in Quito, Ecuador, from 12 to 17 August.
- 8: Publication of a Letter from the Holy Father to Cardinal Claudio Hummes O.F.M., prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, for the 50th anniversary of his priestly ordination, which fell on 3 August.
- 13: Message from the Pope to Cardinal Antonio Jose Gonzalez Zumarraga, archbishop emeritus of Quito, Ecuador, for the Third American Missionary Congress (CAM3) and the Eighth Latin American Missionary Congress (COMLA8), to be held in Quito from 12 to 17 August.
- 21: Holy Father sends a Letter of condolence to the diocesan administrator of Bolzano-Bressanone, Italy, for the death on 16 August of Bishop Wilhelm Emil Egger O.F.M. Cap.
- 21: Telegram of condolence to Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, for the victims of a plane crash at Madrid's "Barajas" airport.
- 24: Message signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. to Bishop Francesco Lambiasi of Rimini, Italy, for the occasion of the 29th Meeting for Friendship among Peoples, being held in Rimini from 24 to 30 August on the theme: "Either Protagonists or Nobodies".
OTHER NEWS
- 5: Holy Father travels to Oies in Valle Badia, near the Italian city of Bressanone where he is spending a holiday, to visit the birthplace of St. Joseph Freinademetz, a Verbite missionary in China. He addresses some words to the faithful gathered in the church next to the saint's house.
- 8: Publication of the text of a conversation between the Pope and priests of the diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone, Italy, which took place on 6 August in the cathedral of Bressanone.
- 11: The Pope pronounces some words of thanks at being granted honorary citizenship of Bressanone, Italy. He also expresses his gratitude to the forces of law and order for their services during the two weeks he spent in the locality and bids farewell to the mayor and citizens.
- 13: Benedict XVI pronounces some words at the end of the projection of a short film on pilgrimages in Bavaria presented by a delegation from "Bayerischer Rundfunk".
- 15: For the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin, the Pope celebrates Mass and pronounces a homily in the parish church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castelgandolfo.
- 21: Holy Father pronounces a brief discourse at the end of a ceremony during which the mayor of Castelgandolfo conferred honorary citizenship upon the Pope's brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger.
AUDIENCES
- 22: Holy Father receives in audience Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
- 24: Holy Father receives in audience Archbishop Luis Mariano Montemayor, apostolic nuncio to Senegal and to Cape Verde, and apostolic delegate to Mauritania, accompanied by members of his family.
- 29: Holy Father receives in audience Cardinal Christoph Schonborn O.P., archbishop of Vienna, Austria.
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
- 2: Appointment of Msgr. Jude Thaddeus Okolo as apostolic nuncio to the Central African Republic and to Chad.
- 4: Appointment of Fr. Cosme Hoang Van Dat S.J. as bishop of Bac Ninh, Vietnam.
- 13: Appointment of Professor Lubomir Mlcoch as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.
- 14: The new diocese of Kayanga, Tanzania, is erected with territory taken from the diocese of Rulenge, and made a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Mwanza. Appointment of Msgr. Almachius Vincent Rweyongeza as first bishop of the new diocese. Appointment of Fr. Raphael Balla Guilavogui as bishop of N'Zerekore, Guinea.
- 19: Appointment of Daniel Rudolf Anrig as commander of the Pontifical Swiss Guard.
- 21: Appointment of Cardinal Joachim Meisner as special papal envoy to celebrations making the fourth centenary of the apparition of Blessed Virgin Mary at Siluva, Lithuania.
- 22: Resignation in accordance with canons 411 and 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law of Bishop Georg Weinhold from the office of auxiliary of Dresden-Meissen, Germany.
- 23: Appointment of Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, as special secretary of the Twelfth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, due to be held in the Vatican from 5 to 26 October on the theme "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church". He substitutes the recently-deceased Wilhelm Emil Egger O.F.M. Cap.
BXVI-ACTIVITIES AUGUST/.../... VIS 20080902 (1860)
