OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 30 JUL 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Luiz Antonio Guedes of Bauru, Brazil, as bishop of Campo Limpo (area 1,560, population 2,992,000, Catholics 2,735,000, priests 172, permanent deacons 19, religious 535), Brazil. He succeeds Bishop Emilio Pignoli, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
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PAPAL, HOLY SEE HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2008: JANUARY - MARCH

VATICAN CITY, 30 JUL 2008 (VIS) - Following are highlights of the activities of Pope Benedict XVI and of the Holy See for the months of January to March 2008. Another summary, covering the period from April to July, will be published tomorrow.

JANUARY

 - 4: Holy Father visits the "Dono di Maria" shelter for the poor, located in the Vatican, which Servant of God John Paul II entrusted to the care of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta in 1988.

 - 12: Holy Father receives in audience Thomas Yayi Boni, president of the Republic of Benin.

 - 19: Holy Father receives in audience Faure Gnassingbe, president of the Republic of Togo.

 - 21: Holy Father receives in audience Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta, president of the Democratic Republic of East Timor.

 - 21: Presentation of the Pauline Year (due to run from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009) and of various initiatives due to be held at the Roman basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.

 - 23: Publication of a Letter from the Pope to the diocese and the city of Rome on the vital importance of education.

 - 24: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Slovenian Episcopal Conference at the end of their five-yearly "ad limina" visit.

 - 25: Holy Father receives in audience participants in a congress organised by the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts to mark the 25th anniversary of the Code of Canon Law.

 - 29: Presentation of Benedict XVI's 2008 Lenten Message: "Christ made Himself Poor for you".

FEBRUARY

 - 1: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Greek-Catholic Church of Ukraine, at the end of their first "ad limina" visit in 70 years.

 - 2: Holy Father receives in audience Fatmir Sejdiu, president of Kosovo.

 - 6: Holy Father receives in audience Danilo Turk, president of the Republic of Slovenia.

 - 8: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica at the end of their "ad limina" visit.

 - 9: Telegram of condolence from the Pope for the death of Fra' Andrew Bertie, prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, who died on 7 February at the age of 79.

 - 14: Just three years after the death of Sister Lucia dos Santos (known to the world as one of the three seers of Fatima), Pope Benedict waives the five-year waiting period established by canonical norms (art. 9 of "Normae servandae") and grants that the diocesan stage of the cause for her beatification may begin.

 - 18: Presentation of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints' Instruction "Sanctorum Mater" for conducting diocesan or eparchial enquiries in the causes of saints, and of the supplement to the "Index ac status causarum".

 - 21: Presentation of the Letters of Credence of Viadeta Jancovic, Serbia's new ambassador to the Holy See.

 - 23: Benedict XVI symbolically presents families, teachers and young people with the Letter he wrote on 21 January to the diocese and city of Rome concerning the vital importance of education.

 - 24: Holy Father makes a pastoral visit to the Roman parish of Santa Maria Liberatrice a Monte Testaccio.

 - 28: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador at the conclusion of their "ad limina" visit.

 - 29: Presentation of the Letters of Credence of Mary Ann Glendon, the new ambassador of the United States to the Holy See and former president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

MARCH

 - 6: Cardinal Peter Poreku Dery, archbishop emeritus of Tamale, Ghana, dies at the age of 89.

 - 6: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Guatemala at the end of their "ad limina" visit.

 - 7: Holy Father receives in audience Jean-Claude Juncker, prime minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

 - 9: Holy Father makes a pastoral visit to San Lorenzo in Piscibus, located near St. Peter's Square, part of the San Lorenzo International Youth Centre inaugurated by Pope John Paul II on 13 March 1983.

 - 13: Holy Father receives in audience prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Haiti at the conclusion of their "ad limina" visit.

 - 13: Telegram of condolence from the Holy Father to Cardinal Emmanuel III Delly, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Iraq, for the death of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mossul of the Chaldeans, Iraq, who was kidnapped on 29 February.

 - 14: Presentation of the Letters of Credence of Carlos Federico de la Riva Guerra, the new ambassador of Bolivia to the Holy See.

 - 14: Telegram of condolence from the Pope for the death at the age of 88 of Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolari Movement.

 - 15: Presentation of the Letters of Credence of Miltiadis Hiskakis, the new ambassador of Greece to the Holy See.

 - 22: Cardinal Adolfo Antonio Suarez Rivera, archbishop emeritus of Monterrey, Mexico, dies at the age of 81.
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TWO HUNDRED DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FOR LATIN AMERICA

VATICAN CITY, 29 JUL 2008 (VIS) - The administrative council of the "Populorum Progressio" Foundation, which met in Guadalajara, Mexico, from 9 to 12 July, has approved 2,108,300 dollars of financial aid for 200 new development projects in support of poor indigenous mixed race and Afro-American rural communities of Latin America and the Caribbean, according to a communique released by the foundation yesterday.

  "Indigenous peoples and 'campesinos' represent a high percentage of the population of Latin America. The rapid process of urbanisation of the continent and the imposition of a post-modern culture have isolated these peoples from the social context and from the development to which others have had access. Thus they have been largely marginalised and lack protection, on many occasions unjustly losing ownership of their lands. The efforts of the ecclesial community to defend and assist these peoples have been broadly supported by recent Popes: from Paul VI to Servant of God John Paul II to Benedict XVI. And one sign of such concern is the Pontifical 'Populorum Progressio' Foundation", established on 13 February 1992.

  This year the countries that presented the greatest number of projects were Brazil (39), Colombia (35), Peru (27) and Ecuador (18). A large part of the money distributed is the fruit of the generosity of the Italian Church and the Italian Episcopal Conference, although "Populorum Progressio" is examining the possibility of involving benefactors from the American content in order to increase and diversify its sources of income. From its inception to the present, the foundation has raised more than 24 million dollars, distributed to more than 2,200 projects.

  "The projects presented to the foundation - prepared by the various ecclesial communities and by pastoral groups within dioceses - are first approved by diocesan bishops then examined by the administrative council", the communique explains. "They are all aimed at the integral development of peoples and involve the following sectors: 29.9 percent to agriculture, livestock and small businesses; 33.2 percent to public service infrastructures such as the supply of drinking water, fencing, toilets and communal halls; 19.46 percent to the building of schools, houses and health centres; 12.3 percent to professional training, communication, tools and publications; 5.14 percent to healthcare: medical equipment and staff training".

  At the end of the meeting, a new president and vice president of the administrative council were elected, respectively, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, and Archbishop Edmundo Luis Flavio Abastoflor Montero of La Paz, Bolivia.
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HOLY FATHER BEGINS HIS VACATION IN BRESSANONE

VATICAN CITY, 28 JUL 2008 (VIS) - This morning, the Holy Father travelled by car from his summer residence at Castelgandolfo to Rome's Ciampino airport, where at 10.35 a.m. he boarded a plane for Bolzano. Landing in that city's "Dolomitas" airport at 11.20 a.m., he then travelled by car to Bressanone where he will remain until 11 August.

  Pope Benedict will be staying in the seminary of Bressanone, a small city in north-eastern Italy where he spent a number of holidays between 1970 and 2004.

  On Sunday 3 August and Sunday 10 August, Benedict XVI will preside at the praying of the Angelus in the cathedral square of Bressanone.

  General audiences will resume, following the Pope's return, from Wednesday 13 August.

  From 15 August, on Sundays and Solemnities the praying of the Angelus will take place at the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo.
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FOCOLARI: MAINTAIN SPIRITUAL HERITAGE OF CHIARA LUBICH

VATICAN CITY, 27 JUL 2008 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus today, Benedict XVI addressed some remarks to participants in the general assembly of the "Focolari" Movement, who have just elected as their president Maria Voce, a former collaborator of the late Chiara Lubich, and as co-president Giancarlo Faletti, joint head of the Focolari in Rome.

  "As I express my happiness at the election of the new leaders", said the Pope, "I encourage you all, dear brothers and sisters, to continue joyfully and courageously along the path of the spiritual heritage of Chiara Lubich, as enshrined in your Statues, increasing communion in families, in communities and in all areas of society".

  The Holy Father then addressed greetings to people currently on holiday, expressing the hope that "they may spend days of serenity and of beneficial physical and spiritual relaxation. However, I do not forget those who are unable to enjoy a period of rest and vacation: I am thinking of the sick in hospital and rest homes, of prisoners, of the elderly, of those who are alone, and of everyone who spends the summer in the heat of the city. To each of them I give assurances of my closeness and a mention in my prayers".
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