PAPAL, HOLY SEE HIGHLIGHTS SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER 2010

VATICAN CITY, 30 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Following are highlights of the activities of Pope Benedict XVI and the Holy See for the months of September to December 2010.

SEPTEMBER

2: Holy Father receives in audience Shimon Peres, president of Israel.

3: Publication of the Holy Father's Message for the twenty-sixth World Youth Day, entitled: "Planted and built up in Jesus Christ, firm in the faith". World Youth Day is due to be celebrated in the Spanish capital Madrid during the month of August 2011.

5: Pastoral visit of the Holy Father to the Italian town of Carpineto Romano to mark the two hundredth anniversary of the birth there of Pope Leo XIII (Vincenzo Gioacchino Pecci).

8: At the end of his general audience, the Holy Father Benedict XVI greets Jose Maria Pereira Neves, prime minister of Cape Verde.

10: Holy Father receives in audience Pal Schmitt, president of the Republic of Hungary.

10: Benedict XVI receives a group of prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Northeast region 3) at the end of their "ad limina" visit.

13: Beatification in Granada, Spain, of Servant of God Leopoldo Sanchez Marquez de Alpandeire (ne Francesco), Spanish professed layman of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins.

13: Holy Father receives Letters of Credence of Walter Jurgen Schmid, the new ambassador of Germany to the Holy See.

16-19: Apostolic trip to the United Kingdom for the Beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

20: Vatican Apostolic Library reopens following three years of restoration work.

24: Presentation of Benedict XVI's Letter for the Seventh World Meeting of Families, due to be held in the Italian city of Milan from 30 May to 2 June 2012 on the theme: "The Family: Work and Rest".

29: Publication of the theme chosen by the Pope for the forty-fifth World Day of Social Communications: "Truth, proclamation and authenticity of life in the digital age". His Message for the Day will be published on 24 January 2011, feast of St. Francis of Sales, patron of journalists.

OCTOBER

3: Pastoral visit of the Holy Father to Palermo, Italy, for a regional ecclesial meeting of families and young people.

4: Benedict XVI receives a group of prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (North region 1 and Northeast region) at the end of their "ad limina" visit.

7: Holy Father receives Letters of Credence of Fernando Zegers Santa Cruz, the new ambassador of Chile to the Holy See.

8: Holy Father receives in audience Nicolas Sarkozy, president of France.

8-9: Congress in the Vatican to mark the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

9: Holy Father receives in audience Ivo Josipovic, president of the Republic of Croatia.

10: The Holy Father Benedict XVI presides at a concelebration of the Eucharist with Synod Fathers for the solemn opening of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, on the theme: "The Catholic Church in the Middle East. Communion and Witness. Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul".

15: Benedict XVI sends a Message to Jacques Diouf, director general of the United Nation's Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), for the occasion of World Food Day.

16: Holy Father receives in audience Bronislaw Komorowski, president of the Republic of Poland.

17: In St. Peter's Square, Holy Father canonises Stanislao Soltys, called Kazimierczyk (1433-1489); Andre Bessette (ne Alfred) (1845-1937); Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola (nee Juana Josefa) (1845-1912); Mary of the Cross MacKillop (nee Mary Helen) (1842-1909); Giulia Salzano (1846-1929), and Battista da Varano (nee Camilla), (1458-1524).

18: Holy Father receives Letters of Credence of Cesar Mauricio Velasquez Ossa, the new ambassador of Colombia to the Holy See, and of Manuel Roberto Lopez Becerra, the new ambassador of El Salvador to the Holy See.

18: Publication of the "Letter to Seminarians", written by the Pope to mark the end of the Year for Priests.

21: Holy Father receives Letters of Credence of Han Hong-soon, the new ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Holy See, and of Bogadan Tataru-Cazaban, the new ambassador of Romania to the Holy See.

22: Benedict XVI receives Letters of Credence of Luis Dositeo Latorre Tapia, the new ambassador of Ecuador to the Holy See; of Maja Marija Lovrencic Svetek, the new ambassador of Slovenia to the Holy See, and of Manuel Tomas Fernandes Pereira, the new ambassador of Portugal to the Holy See.

25: Holy Father receives in audience James Alix Michel, president of the Republic of the Seychelles.

26: Presentation of the Pope's Message for the ninety-seventh World Day of Migrants and Refugees which is due to be celebrated on 16 January 2011.

28: Benedict XVI receives a group of prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Northeast region 5) at the end of their "ad limina" visit.

NOVEMBER

6-7: Apostolic trip to the Spanish cities of Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona.

9: Message from the Pope to Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), for that institution's sixty-second general assembly, being held in Assisi, Italy.

11: Presentation of the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Verbum Domini" of Benedict XVI, on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church.

16: Press conference to present the Vatican Television Centre's new high-definition outside-broadcasting equipment.

20: Third ordinary public consistory of Benedict XVI's pontificate, during which he creates twenty-four new cardinals.

22: Message from the Pope to Fr. Hermann Geissler F.S.O., director of the International Centre of Newman Friends, for a symposium organised by the group on the theme: "The Primacy of God in the Life and Writings of Blessed John Henry Newman".

22: Death at the age of 90 of Cardinal Urbano Navarrete S.J., dean of St. Pontian.

23: Press conference to present a new book entitled: "Light of the World. The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times. A conversation of Benedict XVI with Peter Seewald", published by the Vatican Publishing House.

26: Press conference to present the new "Vatican Foundation: Joseph Ratzinger - Benedict XVI".

27: Benedict XVI receives Letters of Credence of Hidekazu Yamaguchi, the new Japanese ambassador to the Holy See.

29: Benedict XVI receives prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines at the end of their "ad limina" visit.

30: Holy Father sends a message to participants in the funeral of Manuela Campagni, one of the "Memores Domini" who serve in his Vatican apartments, who died in a traffic accident on 24 November.

DECEMBER

2: Benedict XVI receives Letters of Credence of Gabor Gyorivanyi, the new Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See.

2: Death at the age of 80 of Cardinal Michele Giordano, archbishop emeritus of Naples, Italy.

3: Benedict XVI receives Letters of Credence of Fernando F. Sanchez Campos, the new ambassador of Costa Rica to the Holy See.

6: Holy Father receives in audience Viktor Orban, prime minister of the Republic of Hungary.

10: Holy Father receives in audience Dalia Grybauskaite, president of the Republic of Lithuania.

12: Holy Father visits the Roman parish of St. Maximilian Kolbe, where he celebrates Mass.

16: Benedict XVI receives Letters of Credence of five new ambassadors to the Holy See: Suresh Prasad Pradhan of Nepal; Royson Mabuku Mukwena of Zambia; Miquel Angel Canturri Montanya of Andorra, Vivianne Fock Tave of Seychelles, and Boubacar Sidiki Toure of Mali.

16: Presentation of the Holy Father's Message for the forty-fourth World Day of Peace. The Day falls on 1 January 2011 and has as its theme: "Religious Freedom. The Path to Peace".

16: Holy Father presides at Vespers in the Vatican Basilica with students of Roman universities.

17: Benedict XVI receives Letters of Credence of Francesco Maria Greco, the new Italian ambassador to the Holy See.

18: Holy Father visits the Vatican Apostolic Library to mark its reopening following three years of restoration work.

18: Publication of the Holy Father's Message for the nineteenth World Day of the Sick which will be held, as is traditional, on 11 February, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.

30: Publication of the Holy Father's "Motu Proprio" om the prevention and countering of illegal activities in the financial and monetary sectors.
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