OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Erected the new diocese of Cartago (area 3,105, population 378,523, Catholics 272,388, priests 70, religious 53),  Costa Rica, with territory taken from the archdiocese of San Jose de Costa Rica and from the diocese of Limon, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of San Jose de Costa Rica. He appointed Bishop Jose Francisco Ulloa Rojas of Limon as first bishop of the new diocese.

 - Appointed Msgr. Elmar Fischer, vicar general of Feldkirch (area 2,601, population 375,543, Catholics 267,950, priests 225, permanent deacons 18, priests 403), Austria, as bishop of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Feldkirch in 1936 and ordained a priest in 1961.

 - Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Kansas City-Saint Joseph, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Raymond James Boland in accordance with Canon 401, para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Robert W. Finn.

 - Appointed Msgr. Peter Doyle, of the clergy of the diocese of Portsmouth, Great Britain, vicar general, as bishop of Northampton (area 5,532, population 2,000,769, Catholics 173,539, priests 127, permanent deacons 25, religious 224), Great Britain. The bishop-elect was born in Blackburn, Great Britain, in 1944 and ordained a priest in 1968.
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FOUNDATION HOSTS MEETING ON DEVELOPMENT IN VATICAN

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2005 (VIS) - The Centesimus Annus "Pro Pontifice" Foundation, instituted by Pope John Paul in June 1993, has organized a two-day  international meeting in the Vatican entitled "The World System in the 21st Century: Subsidiarity and Cooperation for Development." The meeting will be held in the Vatican, starting the afternoon of May 27.

  Alberto Quadrio Curzio, president of the foundation's Scientific Committee and dean of the political science faculty at Milan's Sacred Heart Catholic University, will preside at the May 27 meeting. Speakers that day will include Italian Supreme Court Judge Giovanni Maria Flick who will talk on "Human Rights and Globalization: A European Perspective," Moshe Syrquin, professor of economics at the University of Miami, who will speak on "Globalization: Too Much or To Little" and Alberto Curzio whose talk is entitled "The European Union as an Institutional Model in a Globalized World."

  Cardinal Attilio Nicora, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, will open the May 28 sessions. The morning will include a round table on "Promoting Development in the 21st Century: Values, Actors and Instruments," followed by a debate. The morning will close with a talk by a representative of the United Nations on "The Way the World Is: Evils and Angels in Development."

  Cardinal Nicora will close the two-day event with Mass the afternoon of May 28 in the Santa Martha Residence in the Vatican.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Martin Drennan, auxiliary of Dublin, Ireland, as bishop of Galway and Kilmacduagh (area 2,610, population 105,079, Catholics 102,425, priests 113, religious 277), Ireland. He succeeds Bishop James McLoughlin whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

  On Saturday, May 21, it was made public that he appointed Fr. Juan Jose Pineda Fasquelle C.M.F., professor at the major national seminary of Tegucigalpa, Honduras, director of pastoral care at the Catholic University of Honduras and secretary of the archbishop of Tegucigalpa, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Tegucigalpa (area 23,106, population 2,135,516, Catholics 1,601,637, priests 165, permanent deacons 1, religious 503). The bishop-elect was born in Tegucigalpa in 1960 and ordained to the priesthood in 1988.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2005 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Georgi Parvanov, president of the Republic of Bulgaria, accompanied by his wife and an entourage.

 - Two prelates from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi, on their "ad limina" visit:

    - Archbishop Simon Ntamwana of Gitega.

    - Bishop Jean Ntagwarara of Bubanza.

 - Vlado Buchkovski, prime minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, accompanied by his wife and an entourage.

  On Saturday, May 21, he received in separate audiences:

 - Superiors and officials of the Secretariat of State.

 - Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
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PAPAL LETTER TO SPANISH BISHOPS FOR NATIONAL PILGRIMAGE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2005 (VIS) - Made public today was a letter from the Holy Father to the Spanish bishops on the occasion of the national pilgrimage to the shrine of Pilar de Zaragoza to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception and the 50th anniversary of the consecration of Spain to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

  "Mary Immaculate," he writes in the Letter dated May 19,  "reflects the mercy of the Father. Conceived without sin, she was capable of pardoning even those who abandoned and wounded her Son at the foot of the Cross. As our Advocate, she helps us in our needs and intercedes for us to her Son."

   "Accompanied by the paternal solicitude of Joseph," he adds, "Mary welcomed her Son. In the home at Nazareth Jesus reached maturity in a family that was humanly splendid and marked by the divine mystery, one that has been a model for all families. In this respect, in domestic coexistence the family realizes its vocation of human and Christian life, sharing joys and expectations in a climate of understanding and reciprocal help. Thus, the human person, who is born, grows and is formed in the family, is capable of undertaking with certainty the path of goodness, without letting himself or herself be disoriented by methods or ideologies foreign to the human person."

   Benedict XVI said he knows "the Catholic Church in Spain is disposed to take firm steps in her evangelizing projects. Thus, it is to be hoped that she will be understood and accepted in her natural truth and mission because it is a question of promoting the common good for everyone, with respect both to persons and to society. In effect, the transmission of the faith and religious practices of believers cannot remain confined to the purely private sphere."
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