PAPAL TELEGRAM TO TORNADO VICTIMS IN JOPLIN

VATICAN CITY, 26 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon, Benedict XVI sent a telegram through Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., to Bishop James Vann Johnston of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, USA after receiving news last Sunday of the tornado that devastated the city of Joplin, Missouri, killing more than 120 persons and wounding over 750 others.

  The text reads that "the Holy Father has followed with deep concern the aftermath of the catastrophic tornado which struck Joplin on Sunday and he asks you to convey to the entire community the assurance of his closeness in prayer. Conscious of the tragic loss of life and the immensity of the work of rebuilding that lies ahead, he asks God, the Father of Mercies, to grant eternal rest to the departed, consolation to the grieving, and strength and hope to the homeless and the injured. Upon the local civil and religious leaders, and upon all involved in the relief efforts, his holiness invokes the divine gifts of wisdom, fortitude, and perseverance in every good".

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 26 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in separate audiences:

  -Archbishop Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

  -Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome.

-Seven prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India on their ad limina visit:

  -Archbishop Francis Kallarakal of Verapoly,

  -Bishop Prasad Gallela of Cuddapah,

  -Bishop Paul Maipan of Khammam,

  - Bishop Anthony Poola of Kurnool,

  - Bishop Joji Govindu of Nalgonda,

  - Bishop Bali Gali of Guntur, and

  - Bishop Moses Doraboina Prakasam of Nellore.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 26 MAY 2011 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father:

  - appointed Msgr. Robert Dwayne Gruss as bishop of Rapid City (area 11,327, population 239,000, Catholics 30,700,  priests 51, permanent deacons 27, religious 60), USA. The bishop-elect was born in Texarkana, Texas, USA in 1955 and was ordained a priest in 1994. He is currently the rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Davenport.

  - appointed Fr. Donald J. Hying as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee (area 12,323, population 2,315,958, Catholics 657,519, priests 651, permanent deacons 165, religious 1,660), USA. The bishop-elect was born in 1963 in West Allis, Wisconsin, USA, and was ordained a priest in 1989. He is currently rector of Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee.

  - granted the confirmation requested of him in accordance with canon 153 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches by Bishop George Alencherry, of Thuckalay of the Syro-Malabars, canonically elected as major archbishop of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, India by the Synod of Bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church meeting in Mount Saint Thomas, Kakkanad-Kochi, in Kerala, India on 24 May. Bishop Alencherry was born in Thuruthy, India in 1945, was ordained a priest in 1972, and consecrated a bishop in 1997.

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