OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 19, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Archbishop Dominique Francois Joseph Mamberti, apostolic nuncio in Sudan, as apostolic nuncio in Eritrea.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, FEB 19, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, FEB 19, 2004 (VIS) - In recent weeks the following prelates died:

- Cardinal Opilio Rossi on February 9 at age 93.

- Bishop Guido Maria Casullo, emeritus of Candido Mendes, Brazil on January 10 at age 94.

- Bishop Noel Desmond Daly, emeritus of Sandhurst, Australia on January 14 at age 74.

- Bishop Walter Jansen, former auxiliary of Cologne, Germany on January 29 at age 80.

- Archbishop Denis Eugene Hurley, O.M.I., emeritus of Durban, South Africa on February 13 at age 88.

- Bishop Paul Mukanga Mambe of Kindu, Democratic Republic of Congo on January 26 at age 74.

- Bishop Gabriel Marie Joseph Matagrin, emeritus of Grenoble, France on February 2, 2004 at 85.

- Bishop Francis Xavier Mugadzi of Gweru, Zimbabwe on February 6, 2004 at age 72.

- Bishop Timothee Pirigisha Mukombe, emeritus of Kasongo, Democratic Republic of Congo on February 12 at age 83.

- Bishop Angel Adolfo Polachini Rodr¡guez, emeritus of Guanare, Venezuela on January 10 at age 84.

- Bishop Maurice J.A. Pourchet, emeritus of Saint-Flour, France on January 2 at age 97.

- Archbishop Candido Genaro Rubiolo, emeritus of Mendoza, Argentina on February 9 at age 83.

- Bishop George Henry Speltz, emeritus of Saint Cloud, U.S.A. on February 1 at age 91.

- Bishop Leonce Albert Van Peteghem, emeritus of Gent, Belgium on January 7 at age 87.

- Bishop Franz Zak, emeritus of Sankt Polten, Austria on January 28 at age 86.
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GENERAL AUDIENCE: SUMMARIZE ALL THINGS IN CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, FEB 18, 2004 (VIS) - During this Wednesday's general audience which took place in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke about the canticle, "God the Savior," which opens the Letter to the Ephesians and is recited on Mondays in the liturgy of the Vespers.

John Paul II said that this text exalts "the marvelous work of God, carried out for us through Christ. . In this transcendent plan which includes creation and redemption, the world and human history, God pre-established 'in his benevolence that we should summarize all things in Christ'."

"The supremacy of Christ extends, therefore, to the world as well as to that more specific horizon which is the Church. Christ fulfills the function of 'fullness'." And the Pope continued, quoting Ephesians 1, 9: "For He has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of His will, according to his purpose which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth."

The Holy Father affirmed that the hymn emphasizes "the exaltation of the 'redemption through the blood' of the cross, the 'forgiveness of sins,' the abundant effusion 'of the riches of His grace'." It also highlights the divine filiation of every Christian and "the 'knowledge of the mystery of God's will' through which one enters into the intimacy of the same trinitarian life."
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 18, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Carlo Ellena, "fidei donum" priest of the archdiocese of Turin, Italy and executive secretary of the "Northeast 5" of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil, as bishop of Ze Doca (area 40,000, population 300,000, Catholics 260,000, priests 20, religious 31), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Valperga, Italy in 1938 and was ordained a priest in 1962.
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