OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 25, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Luis Teodorico Stockler of Goya, Argentina, as bishop of Quilmes (area 518, population 1,200,000, Catholics 1,00,000, priests 135, permanent deacons 81, religious 300), Argentina.

- Gave his consent to the canonical election by the Synod of Bishops of the Church of Antioch of the Syrians meeting at Charfet, Lebanon, from September 11 to 15, 2001, of Chorbishop Pierre Melki as patriarchal exarch of the Syrian faithful resident in Jerusalem, Palestine and Jordan.

- Appointed as members of the Pontifical Council for the Laity: Cardinals: Ivan Dias, archbishop of Bombay, India, and Claudio Hummes O.F.M., archbishop of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Archbishops Robert Sarah, emeritus of Conakry, Guinea, and secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; Josip Bozanic of Zagreb, Croatia, and Francisco Javier Martinez Fernandez of Cordoba, Spain. Bishop Francesco Lambiasi of Anagni-Alatri and assistant ecclesiastic general at Italian Catholic Action. Carl Anderson, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, U.S.A.; Said. A. Azer, Egypt; Tanios Chahwan, leader of youth pastoral care in the Maronite Patriarchate, Lebanon; Carlos Corsi, Colombia; Maria Eugenia Diaz de Pfennich president of the World Union of Catholic Female Organizations, Mexico; Vladimir Durikovic, member of the movement of Christian families, Slovakia; Crescencia Gabijan Cabilao, Philippines; Christiana Habsburg-Lothringen, Austria; Priscilla Kuye, vice-president of the National Council of the Laity, Nigeria; Yuk Fai Lai, vice-president of the Central Committee of Catholic laity, Hong Kong; Pedro Morais Vieira, member of the secretariat of the Episcopal Commission for the Laity and member of parliament, Angola; Allan Panozza, president of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, Australia; Nicoletta Pisa, president of the International Coordination of Young Catholic Labor, G.B.; Antoinette Prudence, Republic of Mauritius; Jose Maria Riera I Mas, president of the Community of Christian Life, Spain; Jacqueline Sfeir, dean of the faculty of education of the University of Bethlehem; Catherine Soublin, France, and Alexei Youdine, teacher at the St. Thomas Aquinas theological college in Moscow, Russia.

- Appointed as consultors of the Pontifical Council for the Laity: Bishop Mounged El-Hachem of Baalbek - Deir El-Ahmar of the Maronites, Lebanon. Frs. Libero Gerosa, rector of the faculty of theology in Lugano, Switzerland; Jean Mbarga, Cameroon, and Luis Felipe Navarro of the clergy of the prelature of Opus Dei, Spain. Paola Bignardi, president of Italian Catholic Action; Emanuela Di Nunzio, Italy; Luis Fernando Figari, of the movement for Christian Life, Peru; Zbigniew Nosowski, Poland; Jesus Perez Saturnino, Spain, and David Schindler, U.S.A.

On Saturday, February 23, it was made public that he appointed:

- Msgr. Gino Reali of the clergy of Spoleto-Norcia, vicar general of that archdiocese, as bishop of Porto-Santa Rufina (area 2,000, population 260,000, Catholics 254,000, priests 193, permanent deacons 6, religious 1,162), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Monteleone di Spoleto, Italy, in 1948 and ordained a priest in 1971.

- Fr. Vincenzo Battaglia O.F.M., professor of theology at the Pontifical Antonianum Athenaeum, as president of the International Pontifical Marian Academy.

- Bishop Joseph Vu Duy Thong, auxiliary of Thanh-Pho Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, as a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

- As members of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Ministry: Archbishops Carlos Amigo Vallejo O.F.M., of Seville, Spain; Wladyslaw Ziolek of Lodz, Poland; Jose Dimas Cedeno Delgado of Panama, Panama. Bishops Serafim de Sousa Ferreira e Silva of Leiria-Fatima, Portugal; Thumma Bala of Warangal, India; Peter Joseph Connors of Ballarat, Australia; Joseph Leo Charron C.PP.S., of Des Moines, U.S.A.; Jacques Perrier of Tarbes et Lourdes, France; Jacinto Guerrero Torres of Tlaxcala, Mexico; James Mathew Wingle of Yarmouth, Canada. Sisters Maria del Camino Agos Munarriz, superior general of the Hospiatalier Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Rome, and Serafina Dalla Porta, superior general of the Daughters of St. Camillus, Grottaferrata, Italy.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 22, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Florencio Olvera Ochoa of Tabasco, Mexico, as bishop of Cuernavaca (area 4,941, population 2,080,019, Catholics 1,829,341, priests 178, permanent deacons 1, religious 470), Mexico.

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FEAST OF THE CHAIR OF ST. PETER CELEBRATED TODAY

VATICAN CITY, FEB 22, 2002 (VIS) - Today is the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, a traditional celebration of the primacy and authority of St. Peter that dates back to the fourth century.

The word "cathedra" means seat or throne and is the root of the word cathedral, the church where a bishop has his throne and from whence he preaches. Another word for "cathedra" is "sedes" from which comes the word "see" meaning the place from which a bishop governs his diocese. Thus, for example, the Holy See is the see of the bishop of Rome, the Pope.

Throughout its history, the Chair of St. Peter has been considered from two perspectives: That of the chair as symbol (the symbol of Peter's primacy; in ancient times the chair or cathedra was a symbol of authority to teach), and that of the chair as object (the throne of Charles the Bald used by John VIII and his successors).

Throughout the whole of today, Bernini's great bronze reliquary in the Vatican, which contains the Chair of St. Peter, will be illuminated by candles.

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POPE RECEIVES SYRIAN PRESIDENT

VATICAN CITY, FEB 21, 2002 (VIS) - At midday today, Fr. Ciro Benedettini C.P., vice-director of the Holy See Press Office, made the following declaration:

"The Holy Father today received in audience Bashar Al-Assad, president of the Arab Republic of Syria, accompanied by his entourage.

"The Syrian president then met Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano for a cordial encounter in which Farouk Al-Shara, vice-prime minister and foreign minister of Syria, and Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States, also took part.

"In the course of the discussions, opinions were exchanged on the subject of relations between Syria and the Holy See following the Holy Father's historic visit to Damascus last year, and on ways to restore peace to the Middle East, especially the Holy Land, on the basis of the well-known U.N. resolutions."

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TELEGRAMS FOR TRAGEDY IN EGYPT AND FLOODS IN BOLIVIA

VATICAN CITY, FEB 21, 2002 (VIS) - Made public today were two telegrams, sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano in the Pope's name, for the fire on a train in Egypt and the floods provoked by torrential rains in Bolivia, both of which events caused numerous victims:

In the telegram sent to Archbishop Marco Dino Brogi O.F.M., apostolic nuncio in Egypt, the Pope presents his condolences to the families of the victims and express the hope that they find "consolation and solidarity in their fellows."

Through Archbishop Edmundo Abastoflor Montero of La Paz, Bolivia, John Paul II transmits his condolences to the families of the dead and invites public institutions to help those who have lost their homes.

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