POPE MENTIONS BLESSEDS GROZDE AND LOZANO GARRIDO

VATICAN CITY, 13 JUN 2010 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus at midday today, the Pope reminded the thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square of two beatifications that took place this morning: that of the young martyr Lojze Grozde in Slovenia, and of Manuel Lozano Garrido, a layman and journalist, in Spain.

  Speaking of Blessed Lojze Grozde, the Holy Father referred to his "particular devotion to the Eucharist which", he said, "nourished his unshakeable faith, his capacity for sacrifice for the salvation of souls, and his apostolate in Catholic Action to lead other young people to Christ".

  Turning then to address Spanish-speaking groups, Benedict XVI described Blessed Manuel Lozano Garrido as a "faithful layman who, through his example and his writings, was able to irradiate his love for God, even amidst the suffering that kept him bound to a wheelchair for nearly twenty-eight years. At the end of his life he also lost his sight, but kept wining hearts for Christ with his serene happiness and his unswerving faith. In him journalists will find eloquent witness of the good that can be done when the pen reflects greatness of soul and places itself at the service of truth and of noble causes".

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SOLID BRIDGES BETWEEN PARTICULAR CHURCHES AND HOLY SEE

VATICAN CITY, 14 JUN 2010 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI received in audience forty members of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, to whom he spoke about "the significance of work in pontifical representations".

  "The service of representation for which you are preparing yourselves", he said, "means participating in that 'sollicitudo omnium ecclesiarum' which characterises the ministry of the Roman Pontiff. ... In this ecclesial perspective, representation involves the need to accept and nourish certain dimensions of one's own priestly life".

  The first of these dimensions is the need "to cultivate full inner adherence to the person of the Pope, his Magisterium and his universal ministry; in other words, complete adherence to the one who has been given the task of strengthening his brothers in the faith. Secondly, it involves attentive care, true 'passion', for ecclesial communion".

  Finally, being a representative of the Roman Pontiff means "having the capacity to be a solid 'bridge', a safe channel of communication between the particular Churches and the Apostolic See, on the one hand giving the Pope and his collaborators an objective, correct and in-depth view of the ecclesial and social reality in which you live while, on the other, undertaking to transmit the norms, indications and guidelines emanating from the Holy See, not bureaucratically but with profound love for the Church, ... at the same time respecting the efforts of bishops and the path of the particular Churches to which you have been sent".

  This service, Pope Benedict went on, requires "compete dedication and generous willingness to sacrifice, if necessary, individual intuitions, personal projects and other possibilities to exercise the priestly ministry".

  If the pontifical representative strives "to enter into harmony with the universal perspective, and to serve the unity of the flock of God, ... he truly becomes a sign of the Pope's presence and charity. And while this is a benefit for the life of all the particular Churches, it is especially so in certain delicate or difficult situations in which, for various reasons, the Christian community finds itself living".

  Thus the work of pontifical representatives is "an authentic priestly service that bears close analogy to the representation of Christ, which is typical of priests. As such, it has an intrinsically sacrificial dimension".

  "The figure and presence of the nuncio, the apostolic delegate and the permanent observer is determined not only by the environment in which they work but, first and foremost, by the One Whom they are called to represent. ... Being spokesman for the Vicar of Christ can be demanding, sometimes extremely arduous, but it is never demeaning or depersonalising. It is, rather, an original way to fulfil one's priestly vocation".

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 14 JUN 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Seven prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, on their "ad limina" visit:

    - Bishop Decio Zandonade S.D.B. of Colatina.

    - Bishop Celio de Oliveira Goulart O.F.M. of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim.

    - Bishop Zanoni Demettino Castro of Sao Mateus.

    - Archbishop Joviano de Lima Junior S.S.S. of Ribeirao Preto.

    - Archbishop Joao Bosco Oliver de Faria of Diamantina.

    - Bishop Hugo Maria von Steekelenberg O.F.M. of Almenara.

    - Bishop Severino Clasen O.F.M. of Aracuai.

 - Archbishop Beniamino Stella, president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

  On Saturday 12 June he received in separate audiences:

 - Five prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, on their "ad limina" visit:

    - Bishop Antonio Carlos Felix of Luz.

    - Archbishop Geraldo Lyrio Rocha of Mariana.

    - Bishop Odilon Guimaraes Moreira of Itabira-Fabriciano.

    - Archbishop Luiz Mancilha Vilela SS.CC. of Vitoria, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Mario Marquez O.F.M. Cap.

 - Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 14 JUN 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Jose Aparecido Goncalves de Almeida, official of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, as under secretary of the same dicastery.

  On Saturday 12 June it was made public that he appointed Archbishop Ruggero Franceschini O.F.M. Cap. of Izmir, Turkey, as apostolic administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of the apostolic vicariate of Anatolia (Catholics 4,345, priests 8, religious 16), Turkey.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 12 JUN 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Archbishop Ruggero Franceschini O.F.M. Cap. of Izmir, Turkey, as apostolic administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of the apostolic vicariate of Anatolia (Catholics 4,345, priests 8, religious 16), Turkey.
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