POPE FRANCIS MEETS WITH THE HEADS OF THE DICASTERIES OF THE ROMAN CURIA

Vatican City, 10 September 2013 (VIS) – This morning in the Sala Bolonia in the Apostolic Palace the Holy Father presided over a meeting of all the heads of the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the president of the Governorate and the cardinal vicar general of Rome.

The Pope has met personally with all the heads of the dicasteries during recent months and has spoken at length with each of them. He will now preside over a joint meeting of all the heads, as he completes the sixth month of his pontificate.

A meeting in order to listen to the considerations and advice offered by the highest-ranking figures in the Roman Curia and the Pope's main collaborators in Rome fits naturally within the context of the implementation of suggestions presented by the cardinals to the congregations in preparation for the Conclave and the Holy Father's reflections on the government of the Church. Another key event on this theme will be the forthcoming meeting of the Group of Eight cardinals in early October.

THE POPE VISITS REFUGEES

Vatican City, 10 September 2013 (VIS) – Today at 3.30 p.m. the Holy Father will make a private visit to the Centro Astalli in Rome, the Italian seat of the Jesuit Refugee Service. This Centre currently admits 700 refugees from different parts of the world, among whom there are some Syrian families forced to flee their homes due to the current conflict.

Francis will meet with three hundred refugees in the Church of Jesus in Rome, where he will visit the tomb of Fr. Pedro Arrupe, who founded the Jesuit Refugee Service in 1981 and who was superior general of the Company of Jesus at that time. The Holy Father will then transfer to the dining hall of the Centre where he will meet with another four hundred refugees.

The Centro Astalli Foundation was established in 2000, with the main aim of helping to promote a culture of welcome and solidarity, beginning with the protection of human rights.

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 10 September 2013 (VIS) - Today, the Holy Father:

- appointed Bishop Luis Alberto Fernandez as bishop of Rafaela (area 38,320, population ,282,453 Catholics 258,741, priests 43, permanent deacons 15, religious 46), Argentina. Bishop Fernandez, previously auxiliary of Buenos Aires, was born in Buenos Aires in 1946, was ordained to the priesthood in 1975, and received episcopal ordination in 2009.

IN MEMORIAM

Vatican City, 10 September 2013 (VIS) – The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Archbishop Florentinus Sului Hajang Hau, M.S.F. of Samarinda, Indonesia on 8 July at the age of 64.

- Cardinal Simon Ignatius Pimenta, archbishop emeritus of Bombay, India, on 19 July at the age of 93.

- Bishop Jude Speyrer, emeritus of Lake Charles, Louisiana, USA, on 21 July at the age of 84.

- Bishop Bellino Giusto Ghirard, emeritus of Rodez (-Vabres), France, on 26 July at the age of 78.

- Bishop George Kinzie Fitzsimons, emeritus of Salina, Kansas, USA, on 28 July at the age of 84.

- Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, archbishop emeritus of Ravenna-Cervia, Italy, on 28 July at the age of 99.

- Archbishop Ludwig Averkamp, emeritus of Hamburg, Germany, on 29 July at the age of 86.

- Archbishop Antonio Moreno Casamitjana, emeritus of Concepción (Santísima Concepción), Chile, on 31 July at the age of 86.

- Bishop Charles-Omer Valois, emeritus of Saint-Jerome, Quebec, Canada on 4 August at the age of 89.

- Archbishop Jaime Luiz Coelho, emeritus of Maringa, Parana, Brazil on 5 August at the age of 97.

- Bishop Luís Gonzaga Ferreira da Silva, S.J., emeritus of Lichinga, Mozambique, on 7 August at the age of 90.

- Bishop Johannes Willem Maria Bluyssen (Bluijssen) emeritus of 's-Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc), Netherlands, on 8 August at the age of 87.

- Bishop Leon Aime Taverdet, F.M.C., emeritus of Langres, France, on 8 August at the age of 90.

- Bishop Joaquim Rufino do Rego, emeritus of Parnaíba, Piaui, Brazil, on 10 August at the age of 87.

- Bishop Francis Joseph Gossman, emeritus of Raleigh, North Carolina, USA, on 12 August at the age of 83.

- Archbishop Rene Fernandez Apaza, emeritus of Cochabamba, Bolivia, on 14 August at the age of 89.

- Bishop Carlos Prada Sanmiguel, emeritus of Duitama-Sogamoso, Colombia on 16 August at the age of 73.

- Bishop Joseph Hoang Van Tiem, S.D.B., of Bùi Chu, Vietnam on 17 August at the age of 74.

- Bishop Thomas Nguyen Van Tan, of Vinh Long, Vietnam on 17 August at the age of 72.

- Bishop William Dermott Molloy McDermott, emeritus of Huancavelica, Peru, on 19 August at the age of 83.

- Bishop Filippo Strofaldi, emeritus of Ischia, Italy, on 24 August at the age of 73.

- Bishop Domenico Crusco, emeritus of San Marco Argentano-Scalea, Italy, on 25 August at the age of 79.

- Cardinal Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, archbishop emeritus of Lusaka, Zambia, on 29 August at the age of 81.

- Bishop William John Brennan, emeritus of Wagga Wagga, Australia, on 31 August at the age of 75.

- Bishop Joaquim Justino Carreira of Guarulhos, Sao Paulo, Brazil on 1 September at the age of 63.

- Bishop Jose Guadalupe Padilla Lozano, emeritus of Veracruz, Mexico on 8 September at the age of 92.