POPE RECEIVES SECRETARY GENERAL OF LEAGUE OF ARAB STATES

VATICAN CITY, 25 APR 2009 (VIS) - Yesterday evening the Holy See Press Office released a communique concerning the Holy Father's audience with Amr Moussa, secretary general of the League of Arab States. Amr Moussa and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the League of Arab States and the Secretariat of State.

  "During the cordial meetings", reads the English-language communique, "emphasis was placed on the importance of the agreement, which is intended to foster increased co-operation between the two parties with a view to promoting peace and justice in the world. Particular importance was given to the role of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue.

  "Finally, there was an exchange of views on the international situation, especially in the Middle East, and on the need to find a just solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to the other conflicts which afflict the region".
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PRIME MINISTER OF ST. VINCENT AND GRENADINES MEETS THE POPE

VATICAN CITY, 25 APR 2009 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique at midday today:

  "This morning, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Ralph Everard Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The prime minister subsequently went on to met Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., who was accompanied by Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

  "The cordial discussions served to review the main political questions concerning the region, and to examine the social, ethical and religious issues that particularly affect the country".
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RELIGION AND THE OVERALL FORMATION OF THE PERSON

VATICAN CITY, 25 APR 2009 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, Benedict XVI received participants in a meeting of Italian Catholic teachers of religion. The teachers were accompanied by Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

  "The teaching of Catholic religion is an inherent part of the history of education in Italy", said the Pope. The large number of pupils "who choose to study this subject is, furthermore, a sign of the exceptional importance it has in the educational process and an indication of the high levels of quality achieved".

  "Focusing on man created in God's image is, in fact, what daily distinguishes your work, in unity of purpose with other educators and teachers", said the Holy Father. He then recalled words he had pronounced at the 2006 Italian ecclesial congress in Verona when, touching on the "fundamental and decisive question" of education, he had highlighted the need "'to broaden the horizon of our rationality, open it to the great questions of truth and goodness, and unite theology, philosophy and science, respecting their reciprocal autonomy but also aware of the intrinsic unity that holds them together'. The religious dimension is, indeed, intrinsic to culture, it helps in the overall formation of the person and enables knowledge to be transformed into life wisdom".

  "Thanks to the teaching of Catholic religion, then, school and society are enriched with what is a true workshop of culture and of humanity, in which, by examining the significant contributions Christianity has made, people are enabled to discover goodness and grow in responsibility, to seek to confront their views and refine their critical sense, and to draw from the gifts of the past in order to better understand the present and to project themselves towards the future".

  The Pope then went on to refer to the current Pauline Year, observing that in the teaching of the Apostle of the Gentiles "religious formation is not separate from human formation. The final Letters of his epistolary, the so-called 'pastoral Letters' are full of significant references to social and civil life, aspects which Christ's disciples must keep well to mind. St. Paul is a true master, concerned both for the salvation and for the human and civil formation of people educated in a mentality of faith. ... The religious dimension is, then, not an appendage but an inherent part of the person".

  In closing, Benedict XVI praised the teachers' work. "Far from being a form of interference or a restriction on freedom", he told them, "your presence is a fine example of that positive spirit of secularism which enables constructive civil coexistence to be promoted, founded on reciprocal respect and faithful dialogue, values that a country always needs".
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CARDINAL SARAIVA TO COMMEMORATE OUR LADY OF EUROPE

VATICAN CITY, 25 APR 2009 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from the Holy Father to Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, appointing him as special papal envoy to the closing celebrations of the Jubilee Year marking the seventh centenary of veneration of Our Lady of Europe. The event is due to take place in Gibraltar on 5 May. The Letter, written in Latin, is dated 31 March.

  The cardinal will be accompanied on his mission by two members of the clergy of the diocese of Gibraltar: Msgr. Paul Charles Bear, vicar general, Fr. Charles Azzopardi, apostolic vicar for youth.
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NEGOTIATIONS ON ISRAEL-HOLY SEE ECONOMIC AGREEMENT

VATICAN CITY, 25 APR 2009 (VIS) - The Bilateral Permanent Working Commission between the State of Israel and the Holy See met on 23 April at the ministry of foreign affairs in Jerusalem to continue negotiations on the economic agreement concerning fiscal and property matters, according to a communique released today by the Holy See Press Office.

  "The meeting was characterised by great cordiality and a spirit of co-operation", the English-language communique reads. "Meaningful progress was achieved by receiving a report from a working group, and the delegations renewed their joint commitment to conclude the agreement as soon as possible. The commission will next meet at plenary level on 30 April at Israel's ministry of foreign affairs".
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