HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR: THIS IS THE MOMENT FOR FULL SOLIDARITY WITH THE POPE

Vatican City, 31 May 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, held a meeting with journalist to answer questions on the publication of reserved Vatican documents, an act for which the Pope's personal assistant has been arrested.

Regarding the questions on the pope's possible resignation, a hypothesis maintained by various media outlets, Fr. Lombardi affirmed that those were baseless creations of some journalists, which have no foundation in reality. The Curia has expressed its solidarity with the pontiff and continues to work in full communion with the Successor of Peter: "This is precisely the moment in which to demonstrate esteem and appreciation for the Holy Father and the service he carries out; to show full solidarity with him and thus, to demonstrate communion, unity, and coherence with how this situation is dealt with".

Fr. Lombardi emphasized that it is important that communication regarding this sorrowful event for the Pope and the Church be inspired by rigorous criteria for the truth: "It seems to me", he said, "that there is a line of desire for truth and clarity, a desire for transparency that, although it will take time, continues forward. I thus honestly believe that we are trying to handle this new situation: We are seeking the truth, and trying to objectively understand what may have happened. First, however, it is necessary to be sure to have understood it, in respect for persons and the truth".

Fr. Lombardi explained to the journalists that it will be necessary to wait for a complete picture of the situation, since the investigations and formal questioning are still at a preliminary stage. The agencies involved at this stage are the Vatican magistrate and a Commission of Cardinals.

The director of the Holy See Press Office also explained that yesterday morning the single defendant, Paolo Gabriele, met with his lawyers who will probably request monitored surveillance or house arrest for their client. At the same time, Fr. Lombardi denied details published in the media such as that packets of documents prepared to be sent to specific recipients were found in Gabriele's house. The material found in the personal assistant's possession is already being studied and catalogued, Fr. Lombardi said.

CELEBRATIONS FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI

Vatican City, 31 May 2012 (VIS) - On the solemnity of Corpus Christi next Thursday, 7 June at 7:00pm, the Holy Father will celebrate Mass in the basilica of St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome, of which the pope is bishop. The Pope will then preside over the Eucharistic procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major that will travel along Via Merulana. Those taking part in the procession will include the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, confraternities and sodalities, Eucharistic associations, religious, children receiving First Communion, seminarians, priests, representatives of various parishes, chaplains and prelates of His Holiness, bishops and archbishops, cardinals, and faithful belonging to ecclesial movements and associations.

BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR JUNE

Vatican City, 31 may (VIS).- Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for June is: “That believers may recognize in the Eucharist the living presence of the Risen One who accompanies them in daily life”.

His missionary intention is: "That Christians in Europe may rediscover their true identity and participate with greater enthusiasm in the proclamation of and participate with more enthusiasm in the Gospel".

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 31 May 2012 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father nominated:

- Msgr. Fausto Ramon Mejia Vallejo as bishop of San Francisco de Macoris (area 3,682, population 753,000, Catholics 599,000, priests 60, religious 72, permanent deacons 92), Dominican Republic. The bishop-elect was born in Bejucal, Dominican Republic and was ordained a priest in 1972. He has served as rector of the Santo Cura de Ars Minor Seminary in La Vega, as spiritual director and catechesis instructor for permanent deacons, and as professor in the theology department as well as rector of the Santo Tomas de Aquino Pontifical Seminary. Currently he is the rector of the Cibao Catholic Technological University (UCATECI) in Santo Domingo. He succeeds Bishop Jesus Maria de Jesus Moya, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Bishop Benedetto Tuzia as bishop of the diocese of Orvieto-Todi (area 1,310, population 93,500, Catholics 90,650, priests 132, religious 295, permanent deacons 22), Italy. He was previously Auxiliary Bishop of Rome, Italy.