MESSAGE TO BARTHOLOMEW I FOR THE FEAST OF ST. ANDREW

VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2010 (VIS) - As is traditional for the Feast of St. Andrew, a Holy See delegation, led by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, has travelled to Istanbul to participate in the celebrations for the saint, patron of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Every year the patriarchate sends a delegation to Rome for the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul Apostles, on 29 June.

  This morning the Holy See delegation attended a divine liturgy presided by His Holiness Bartholomew I, at the Church of St. George at Fanar. At the end of the ceremony Cardinal Koch delivered a special Message to the patriarch from Benedict XVI.

  "In a world characterised by increasing interdependence and solidarity", the Pope writes, "we are called to proclaim the truth of the Gospel with renewed conviction, and to present the risen Lord as the response to the most profound spiritual questions and aspirations of the men and women of today.

  "In order to carry out this great enterprise", he adds, "we must continue along the path towards full communion, showing that we have already united our strengths for a shared witness of the Gospel before the people of our time. For this reason I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Your Holiness and to the Ecumenical Patriarchate for the generous hospitality you offered to delegates of the European Episcopal Conferences who - on the island of Rhodes in October - met with representatives of the Orthodox Churches of Europe for the Catholic-Orthodox Forum on the theme: 'Relations between Church and State: theological and historical perspectives'".

  Benedict XVI concludes his Message by assuring the patriarch of the interest with which he follows "your wise efforts for the good of Orthodoxy and for the promotion of Christian values in many international contexts".
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PAPAL MESSAGE FOR THE DEATH OF MANUELA CAMPAGNI

VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent 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 Wednesday 24 November. The funeral was held yesterday at San Piero in Bagno, Italy, home town of the deceased.

  "Such an abrupt separation, and the way in which she was taken from us, have caused us great suffering which only the faith can console", the Pope writes. "I find much support in thinking of the words which form the name of her community: 'Memores Domini'. Meditating upon these words, upon their significance, I find a sense of peace, because they evoke a profound relationship which is stronger than death. 'Memores Domini' means 'those who remember the Lord'; in other words, people who live in the recollection of God and of Jesus. In this daily recollection, full of faith and love, they find a meaning for all things, for little actions and for great decisions, for work, study and fraternity. ... This is why I find peace in thinking that Manuela is a 'Memor Domini', a person who lives in the recollection of the Lord. This relationship with Him is more profound than the abyss of death. It is a link that nothing can break".
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BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR DECEMBER

VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2010 (VIS) - Benedict XVI's general prayer intention for December is: "That our personal experience of suffering may be an occasion for better understanding the situation of unease and pain which is the lot of many people who are alone, sick or aged, and stir us all to give them generous help".

  His mission intention is: "That the peoples of the earth may open their doors to Christ and to His Gospel of peace, brotherhood and justice".
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CARDINAL TARCISIO BERTONE VISITS KAZAKHSTAN

VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2010 (VIS) - Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. is currently heading the Holy See delegation to the summit of heads of State and government of the fifty-six members of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), being held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 1 and 2 December. The cardinal is being accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States; Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendia, apostolic nuncio to Kazakhstan, and Msgr. Michael W. Banach, Holy See permanent representative to the OSCE.

  On 3 and 4 December Cardinal Bertone, in the company of Archbishop Mamberti, will make a pastoral visit to Kazakhstan during which he will meet with the governmental and religious authorities of the country.

  This morning, during a liturgical celebration in Astana's Orthodox cathedral of the Assumption to mark today's Feast of St. Andrew, the secretary of State pronounced a homily during which he expressed his joy "at being able to carry out the important task entrusted to me by the Holy Father Benedict XVI of giving you a fragment of the relics of the Apostle St. Andrew, which are venerated in the Italian city of Amalfi.

  "The gift, which I am honoured to be able to place in the hands of His Eminence Metropolitan Alexander, comes in response to the devout request that his predecessor Metropolitan Mefodji and Archbishop Tomash Peta, Catholic metropolitan, jointly made to the Pope. The Pontiff, gladly welcoming this ardent desire, has decided to give their respective Churches two fragments of the precious relics. This is a profoundly significant decision, in that it underlines our shared veneration for the Apostles".
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Stephen Reichert O.F.M. Cap. of Mendi, Papua New Guinea, as archbishop of Madang (area 27,792, population 412,000, Catholics 153,000, priests 39, religious 81), Papua New Guinea. The archbishop-elect was born in Leoville, U.S.A. in 1943, he was ordained a priest in 1969 and consecrated a bishop in 1995. He succeeds Archbishop William Joseph Kurtz S.V.D., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

 - Appointed Cardinal Paolo Sardi as patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
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