Wednesday, November 25, 2015

The Pope greets victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, before commencing his eleventh apostolic trip


Vatican City, 25 November 2015 (VIS) – This morning the Holy Father departed for Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic, on the eleventh apostolic trip of his papacy.

At 7.15 a.m., before leaving for Rome's Fiumicino airport, he received in the Domus Sanctae Marthae eleven women and six children from a Refuge House for victims of domestic violence and trafficking for the purposes of prostitution, according to the Apostolic Almoner. The women were Italian, Nigerian, Romanian and Ukrainian, and are housed in a structure managed by a religious congregation in a village in the Lazio region.

Following the audience, the Pope travelled by car to Fiumicino where he departed for Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, where he is expected to arrive shortly after 3 p.m. (Rome), 5 p.m. local time. He will be received by the president of the Republic, Uhuru Kenyatta, and by the cardinal archbishop of Nairobi John Njue, along with the president of the Episcopal Conference Bishop Philip A. Anyolo and other representatives of the episcopate.

He will then transfer to the State House of Nairobi, where the welcome ceremony and courtesy visit to President Uhuru Kenyatta will take place. Subsequently, in the garden of the State House, he will meet with the authorities and the diplomatic corps, along with other figures from the political, economic and cultural spheres, after which he will pronounce his first discourse on African soil.

Cardinal Lopez Rodriguez, Pope's special envoy to Cumana


Vatican City, 25 November 2015 (VIS) – In a letter published today, written in Latin and dated 9 November, the Holy Father appoints Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, archbishop of Santo Domingo, as his special envoy to the celebration of the fifth centenary of Cumana, Venezuela, the birthplace of the evangelisation of South America, to be held on 27 November.


Other Pontifical Acts


Vatican City, 25 November 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:

- accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Nazare, Brazil, presented by Bishop Severino Vatista de Franca, O.F.M. Cap., in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Campanha, Brazil, presented by Bishop Diamantino Prata de Carvalho, O.F.M., upon reaching the age limit. He is succeeded by Bishop Pedro Cunha Cruz, coadjutor of the same diocese.

- appointed Bishop Edmar Paron, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Sao Paulo, Brazil, as bishop of Paranagua (area 11,537, population 507,000, Catholics 391,000, priests 29, deacons 1, religious 42), Brazil.

- appointed Msgr. Roberto Filippini as bishop of Pescia (area 224, population 121,637, Catholics 112,920, priests 67, deacons 8, religious 80), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in 1948 in Vinci, Italy, and was ordained a priest in 1973. He holds a licentiate in scripture, and has served as parish priest, diocesan vicar, head of the inter-diocesan school of theology in Camaiore, Lucca, and rector of the “Santa Caterina” archiepiscopal seminary in Pisa. He is currently spiritual father of the same “Santa Caterina” seminary and chaplain of the prison of Pisa.