Vatican City, 30 July 2014 (VIS) –
The following are highlights of the activities of Pope Francis and
the Holy See during the months of January to April 2014.
JANUARY
6: Private visit to the Roman parish of
Sant'Alfonso Maria de' Liguori alla Giustiniana, Rome.
9: The Holy Father receives in audience
Severin Mathias Akeo, the new ambassador of Cote d'Ivoire to the Holy
See, presenting his credential letters.
16: Publication of the Holy Father's
message for the 51st World Day of Prayer for Vocations (11 May) on
the theme “Vocations: Witness to the Truth”.
18: The Holy Father nominates Cardinal
Antonio Canizares Llovera, prefect of the Congregation for Divine
Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as his special envoy to
Panama for the closing ceremony of the jubilee year convoked for the
fifth centenary of the erection of the first diocese (Santa Maria la
Antigua) on the American continent (14-15 February 2014).
19: Pastoral visit to the Roman parish
of “Sacro Cuore di Gesù a Castro Pretorio”.
22: Pope's message to the World
Economic Forum in Davos.
23: Presentation of the Holy Father's
message for the 48th World Day of Social Communication, entitled,
“Communication at the service of an authentic culture of
encounter”.
24: The Holy Father receives in
audience the president of the French Republic, Francois Hollande.
25: Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of
the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum”, visits the areas struck by the
typhoon Haiyan-Yolanda in the Philippines on 8 November 2013.
27 and 30: Audience with prelates of
the Austrian Bishops' Conference, on their “ad limina” visit.
31: Presentation of the Year for
Consecrated Life, convoked by Pope Francis in 2015.
FEBRUARY
3: The Holy Father received in audience
His Highness Tui Atua Tupua Tamasese Efi, head of State of the
Independent State of Samoa.
4: Presentation of the Holy Father's
Lenten message for 2014, entitled “He became poor, so that by his
poverty you might become rich” (cf. 2 Cor 8,9).
6: Publication of the Holy Father's
message, dated 21 January 2014, to the young people preparing for the
29th World Youth Day 2014, on the theme: “Blessed are the poor in
spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.
6: The Holy Father receives in audience
Wafaa Ashraf Moharram Bassim, ambassador of the Arab Republic of
Egypt to the Holy See, presenting her credential letters.
7: Audience with the bishops of the
Polish Episcopal Conference, at the end of their five-yearly “ad
limina” visit.
13: Audience with the bishops of the
Episcopal Conference of Bulgaria, at the end of their five-yearly “ad
limina” visit.
14: The Holy Father meets with ten
thousand engaged couples from all over the world on the feast of St.
Valentine. The encounter, organised by the Pontifical Council for the
Family, takes as its theme “The joy of 'Yes' for ever”.
14: The Pope receives in audience
prelates of the Czech Bishops' Conference at the end of their “ad
limina” visit.
15: Audience with the president of the
Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades.
16: Pastoral visit to the Roman parish
of “San Tommaso Apostolo” in the Infernetto quarter.
17-19: The Pope meets with the Council
of Cardinals, created on 13 April 2013 and confirmed by the
chirograph of 28 September, to assist in the governance of the
Universal Church and to draw up a plan for the revision of the
Apostolic Constitution “Pastor bonus” on the Roman Curia.
20-21: Extraordinary Consistory on the
family.
21: The Holy Father receives in
audience Dilma Rousseff, president of Brazil, on the occasion of the
Consistory in which Archbishop Orani Tempesta of Rio de Janeiro is
created a cardinal.
22: Ordinary Public Consistory for the
creation of 19 new cardinals.
24: Motu proprio, “Fidelis et
dispensator prudens”, (Lk 12,42), by which the Holy Father
constitutes a new framework for the coordination of economic and
administrative matters of the Holy See and Vatican City State.
24: The president of the Republic of
Haiti, Michael Joseph Martelly, is received in audience by Pope
Francis.
25: Publication of a letter addressed
by Pope Francis to families in view of the upcoming Extraordinary
General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, scheduled for October 2014,
on the theme “The pastoral challenges of the family in the context
of evangelisation”.
27: Presentation of the protocol for
the Holy See's participation in Expo Milan 2015, on the theme
“Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”.
MARCH
1: The Holy Father receives in audience
Victor Ponta, prime minister of Romania.
3: Audience with the prelates of the
Spanish Episcopal Conference at the end of their five-yearly “ad
limina” visit.
3: The Pope appoints Msgr. Alfred
Xuereb, official of the Secretariat of State, as prelate secretary
general of the Secretariat for the Economy.
4: The Pope opens the gardens of the
Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo.
10: It is made public that from 13 to
18 August, the Holy Father will make an apostolic trip to the
Republic of Korea, on the occasion of the 6th Asian Youth Day, to be
held in the diocese of Daejeon.
12: Cardinal Jose da Cruz Policarpo,
patriarch emeritus of Lisbon, Portugal, dies at the age of 78.
16: Pastoral visit to the Roman parish
of “Santa Maria dell'Orazione” at Setteville di Guidonia, in the
north sector of the diocese of Rome.
17: Audience with the three prelates of
the Episcopal Conference of East Timor on their “ad limina”
visit.
17: Christina Kirchner, president of
the Argentine Republic, pays a private visit to the Holy Father.
17: Presentation of the “Global
Freedom Network”, an agreement between representatives of the great
world religions to combat modern forms of slavery and human
trafficking, in collaboration with the “Walk Free Foundation”.
20: The Pope receives in audience Filip
Vujanovic, president of the Republic of Montenegro.
20: Agreement signed by the NTT Data
Corporation and the Vatican Apostolic Library to digitally archive
82,000 manuscripts.
21: Pope Francis nominates Cardinal
Ennio Antonelli, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for the
Family, as his special envoy to the celebration of the seventieth
anniversary of the destruction and reconstruction of the Abbey of
Montecassino, Italy.
21: The Holy Father receives in
audience the President of the Republic of Malta, George Abela.
21: Death of His Holiness Mar Ignatius
Zakka I Iwas, Syrian Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East,
at the age of 80.
22: Pope Francis receives in audience
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, president of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria.
22: The Holy Father Francis institutes
the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
22: Msgr. Brian Ferme is appointed as
prelate secretary of the Council for the Economy.
22: The Holy Father appoints Cardinal
Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity,
as his special envoy to the celebration commemorating the 650th
anniversary of the consecration of the Cathedral of Krakow, Poland on
28 March.
24: Audience with the bishops of the
Episcopal Conference of Guinea at the end of their five-yearly “ad
limina” visit.
25: The Holy Father appoints Bishop
Nunzio Galantino of Cassano all'Jonio, Italy, as secretary general of
the Italian Episcopal Conference for a five-year term.
26: Pope Francis receives in audience
Barack H. Obama, president of the United States of America.
27: Pope Francis receives in audience
Karolos Papoulias, president of the Hellenic Republic.
28: The Holy Father receives the
bishops of the Episcopal Conference of Madagascar at the end of their
five-yearly “ad limina” visit.
APRIL
3: The Holy Father receives in audience
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland.
3: Pope Francis receives in audience
the bishops of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Rwanda at the
end of their five-yearly “ad limina” visit.
5: The Holy Father Francis receives in
audience Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, president of the Republic of Liberia.
6: Visit to the Roman parish of St.
Gregory the Great, in the west of the diocese of Rome.
7: Pope Francis receives in audience
the bishops of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference, at the end of their
five-yearly “ad limina” visit.
7: His Majesty Abdullah II Ibn Al
Hussein, King of Jordan, is received in audience by the Holy Father.
8: Death of His Beatitude Cardinal
Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch emeritus of Babylon of the Chaldeans,
Iraq, at the age of 87.
10: The Pope receives in audience
Zvonimir Jankuloski, ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia at the
Holy See, presenting his credential letters.
12: Cardinal Orani Joao Tempesta,
archbishop of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, takes
possession of the title of St. Mary Mother of Providence in Monte
Verde, Via di Donna Olimpia, 35.
17: Holy Mass “in cena Domini” at
the St. Mary of Providence Centre of the Don Carlo Gnocchi
Foundation, Rome.
24: Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo,
O.M.I., archbishop of Cotabato, Philippines, takes of the title of
St. Mary “Regina Mundi” in Torre Spaccata, Via Alessandro
Barbosi, 6.
25: Audience with the bishops of the
Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, from South Africa,
Botswana and Swaziland, at the end of their “ad limina” visit.
26: The Holy Father receives in
audience the prime minister of Ukraine, Arseniy Yatsenyuk.
26: The Holy Father receives in
audience Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado, president of the Republic
of Honduras, with his wife and entourage.
26: Pope Francis receives in audience
Their Majesties King Albert II and Queen Paola of Belgium.
26: Pope Francis receives in audience
Bronislaw Komorowski, president of the Republic of Poland, with his
wife and entourage.
27: Second Sunday of Easter (Divine
Mercy Sunday), canonisation of Blesseds Pope John XXIII and Pope John
Paul II.
27: Cardinal Philippe Nakellentuba
Ouedraogo, archbishop of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, takes possession
of the title of St. Mary the Consoler at Tiburtino, Via de Casal
Bertone, 80.
28: Pope Francis receives Their
Majesties King Carlos I and Queen Sofia of Spain.
28-30: Pope Francis' fourth meeting
with the “Council of Cardinals”, created by the Holy Father to
help with the governance of the universal Church and to draw up a
plan for the revision of the Apostolic Constitution “Pasto bonus”
on the Roman Curia.
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