AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Ivo Sanader, prime minister of the Republic of Croatia accompanied by his wife and an entourage.
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FINAL DOCUMENT OF MEETING ON PASTORAL CARE OF THE ROAD

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2007 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples has recently published the final document of the 2nd International Meeting on the Pastoral Care of the Road, which was held in the Vatican on December 1 and 2, 2006.

  The document, published in Italian and English, makes various recommendations, among them that "there be a more thorough examination of pastoral attention for a secure and sustainable mobility that respects life, human persons, their dignity, rights and destiny."

  Also, that "contacts with the social communications media be intensified, in order to invite them to analyze with greater care the messages they transmit daily and to become our allies in the work of education, including road education."

  The document also proposes that "places and occasions of meeting with professionals of the road be created, since, differently from those who use a car for personal or family reasons, they are more sensitive to the feeling of solitude and distance from their family."

  Such meetings, the document suggests, should "be held in places considered by the people involved as 'their own,' like big parking areas and highway stops," so as to create "moments of a more intense spiritual life, with the possibility of growing in the faith."
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FOLLOW PATH TO CHRISTIAN UNITY WITHOUT DISCOURAGEMENT

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2007 (VIS) - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, which begins tomorrow, was the focus of Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of more than 6,000 people.

  "Unity," said the Pope, "is a gift from God and the fruit of the action of His Spirit. For this reason it is important to pray. The closer we draw to Christ, converting ourselves to His love, the closer we also draw to one another."

  The Holy Father recalled the theme of this year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, taken from the Gospel of St. Mark: "He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak." This phrase, he explained "by highlighting two aspects of the mission of each Christian community - announcing the Gospel and giving witness of charity - also underlines how important it is to translate Christ's message into real initiatives of solidarity. This advances the journey towards unity because ... all relief Christians together bring to their fellows, however small, also contributes to making their communion more visible."

  "The road to unity remains long and difficult, but we must not be discouraged, and continue our journey, relying on the sure support of Christ" said the Pope. He also noted how he had had the opportunity to note, over years of meetings with representatives from other Churches and ecclesial communities, "and in a particularly moving way, during my recent visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Istanbul, how deeply felt the desire for unity is. ... That experience and others like it, have brought hope to my heart."

  The Pope mentioned the fact that today, in some countries, is the Day for Dialogue between Jews and Christians, and he recalled some high points in the "mutual friendship" between the two communities, such as Vatican Council II and John Paul II's visit to the synagogue of Rome in April 1986.

  The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity will come to an end on January 25 with the celebration of Vespers presided by the Holy Father in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, in the presence of representatives from other Churches and Christian communities.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 16, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

 - Fr. Francois Jacolin M.D.P., vicar general of the archdiocese of Bourges, France, and pastor of the parish of "La Resurrection" in Chateauroux, as bishop of Mende (area 5,180, population 74,300, Catholics 58,400, priests 126, permanent deacons 5, religious 193), France. The bishop-elect was born in Fontainebleau, France in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1982.

 - Msgr. Leo Boccardi, Holy See permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) and to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development (O.N.U.D.I.), and to the Office of the United Nations in Vienna, Austria, as apostolic nuncio to Sudan, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in San Martino in Pensilis, Italy, in 1953 and ordained a priest in 1979
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WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

VATICAN CITY, JAN 16, 2007 (VIS) - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, traditionally celebrated every year from January 18 to 25, is due to begin on Thursday. The theme for the 2007 initiative is: "He even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

  The texts for reflection and prayer this year have been prepared by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and by the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches.

  "This year's Week of Prayer for Christian Unity," says a communique released by the pontifical council, "brings together two themes, two invitations extended to Christian Churches and people: to pray and strive together for Christian unity, and to join together in responding to human suffering. These two responsibilities are deeply intertwined. Both relate to healing the Body of Christ (the Church), hence the principal text chosen for this year's week of prayer is a story of healing."

  Each day of the Week will have a different theme:

January 18: In the beginning was the Word. "And God said…" (Gen 1).

January 19: The Saving Word of Christ. "He makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak" (Mk 7: 31-37).

January 20: The Holy Spirit gives us the Word. "The Spirit …will testify on my behalf" (Jn 15: 26).

January 21: The silence of the forgotten and the cries of the suffering. "If one member suffers all suffer together" (1 Cor 12: 26).

January 22: God's judgement on our silence. "Just as you did not do it to one of the least of these..." (Mt 25: 45).

January 23: Empowered to speak out. "But the woman ... came in fear and trembling … and told Him the whole truth" (Mk 5: 33).

January 24: Forsakenness. "Why are You so far from helping me?" (Ps 22: 1)

January 25: Resurrection - glorification. "Every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" (Phil 2: 11).

  In the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, January 25, Feast of the Conversion of the Apostle Paul, Benedict XVI will preside at the celebration of Vespers to mark the close of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
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