EVENTS FOR 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF HEALTHCARE COUNCIL

VATICAN CITY, 2 FEB 2010 (VIS) - "The Church at the loving service of those who suffer" will be the theme of the celebrations organised to mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers, and the eighteenth World Day of the Sick. The events will take place from 9 to 11 February.

  An international symposium, due to be held on 9 and 10 February in the Vatican's New Synod Hall, will examine two documents by John Paul II: the Apostolic Letter "Salvifici Doloris" on the Christian meaning of human suffering (11 February1984), and the Motu Proprio "Dolentium Hominum" with which that Pontiff established the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers (11 February 1985).

  According to a communique, the symposium will also study the question of suffering from the point of view of Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism, and consider how it is seen and experienced in African and Asian cultures.

  At 10.30 a.m. on 11 February, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, Benedict XVI will preside at the celebration of the Eucharist in the Vatican Basilica. The programme of events for that day, prepared by the pontifical council, also includes the arrival of the reliquary of St. Bernadette Soubirous, prayer before the statue of the Virgin of Lourdes and a visit to the tomb of John Paul II.

  The events organised for that period also include a concert at the Rome's Santa Cecilia Academy, and an exhibition of paintings dedicated to John Paul II and to suffering.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 2 FEB 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, France, as a member of the Congregation for the Clergy.

 - Appointed Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, apostolic nuncio to Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles, and apostolic delegate to Comoros with functions as apostolic delegate to Reunion, as apostolic nuncio to Nigeria.

 - Appointed Bishop Guillermo Orozco Montoya of San Jose del Guaviare, Colombia, as bishop of Girardota (area 2,445, population 212,000, Catholics 191,000, priests 57, permanent deacons 1, religious 75), Colombia.

 - Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Mahajanga, Madagascar presented by Bishop Joseph Ignace Randrianasolo, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Roger Victor Rakotondrajao.

 - Appointed Fr. Justin Kientega of the clergy of Koudougou, Burkina Faso, diocesan bursar, as bishop of Ouahigouya (area 19,126, population 1,200,000, Catholics 100,000, priests 62, religious 112), Burkina Faso. The bishop-elect was born in Temnaore, Burkina Faso in 1959 and ordained a priest in 1987.

 - Appointed Bishop Carlos German Mesa Ruiz of Arauca, Colombia, as bishop of Socorro y San Gil (area 6,734, population 268,000, Catholics 258,233, priests 102, religious 147), Colombia.

 - Appointed Bishop Oscar Armando Campos Contreras, auxiliary of Antequera, Oaxaca,, as bishop of Tehuantepec (area 25,000, population 1,660,000, Catholics 1,340,000, priests 76, religious 125), Mexico.
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