OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 30, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Cardinal Jan P. Schotte, C.I.C.M., as a member of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.

- Appointed Eugenio Borgognoni, director of the Administrative Department of the Governatorate, as the director of the Department of Accounts of the State for a period of five years.

- Appointed Massimo Stoppa as "ad interim" director of the Department of Telecommunications. Mr. Stoppa retains his title as director of Technical Services of the State.

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Yangon, Myanmar, presented by Archbishop Gabriel Thohey Mahn-Gaby upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Bishop Sotero Phamo of Loikaw, Myanmar, as apostolic
administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of Yangon, Myanmar.

On Saturday September 29 it was made public that the Holy Father appointed Cardinal Francis Arinze, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, as his special envoy to the celebrations of the Third National Eucharistic Congress which will take place in Ibadan, Nigeria from November 15 - 17, 2002.

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PLENARY SESSION OF THE INTERNATIONAL THEOLOGICAL COMMISSION

VATICAN CITY, SEP 27, 2002 (VIS) - The International Theological Commission will celebrate its last annual plenary session of the sixth quinquennial from September 30 to October 4 in the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, president, will preside and Fr. Georges Cottier, O.P., secretary general, will guide the assembly's discussions.

According to a communique made public today, the presentation of and final vote on the text regarding certain questions about the diaconate are scheduled to take place during the workshops. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith requested the study and will receive the definitive text.

Later the final draft of the text "Accepting God's self gift: Revelation and inculturation" will be presented and voted on.

The communique indicates that different chapters of the "Instrumentum laboris" whose title is, "Communion and Stewardship: Human Persons created in the Image of God," will be disclosed. The subcommission that prepared the text will send the final draft to all members of the commission for a final vote.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 27, 2002 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Rino Passigato, apostolic nuncio in Peru.
- Six prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Northeast 2) on their "ad limina" visit:
- Bishop Jose Gonzalez Alonso of Cajazeiras.
- Bishop Jaime Vieira Rocha of Caico.
- Bishop Valerio Breda, S.D.B., of Penedo.
- Bishop Antonio Muniz Fernandes, O.Carm., of Guarabira.
- Bishop Irineu Roque Scherer of Garanhuns.
- Bishop Adriano Ciocca Vasino of Floresta.
- Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, deacon of the College of Cardinals.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 26, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Antonio Maria Rouco Varela of Madrid, Spain.
- Bishop Matias Patricio de Macedo of Campina Grande, Brazil, on his "ad limina" visit.
- Bishop Bernardino Marchio of Pesqueira, Brazil on his "ad limina" visit.

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THE HANDICAPPED, SPECIAL WITNESSES OF GOD'S TENDERNESS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 26, 2002 (VIS) - This morning in Castelgandolfo, the Holy Father welcomed 250 members of the international association "Faith and Light" and, in his address to them in French, thanked them for their work with handicapped people.

"Born in Lourdes," the Pope remarked, "your movement has received much of the grace of this special place where the sick and the handicapped take first place. In welcoming these 'little ones' marked by a mental handicap, you see in them the special witness of God's tenderness. ... I am also thinking about their relatives who, thanks to you, feel supported in their suffering and who see their distress change into hope, in order to welcome in humanity and faith their handicapped children."

"I would like to thank you again," affirmed the Pope, "for your witness in our society, called to discover ever more the dignity of the handicapped, to welcome them and to integrate them into social life, even if much remains to be done for the dignity of every human being to be truly respected and for there to no longer be attacks on the gift of life, especially when it is a question of children who are handicapped."

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