HOLY FATHER MEETS THE CHILDREN OF LES COMBES

VATICAN CITY, 24 JUL 2009 (VIS) - At around 6.30 p.m. on the evening of Wednesday 22 July, following a day spent working with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., the Pope took his habitual evening stroll in the Italian alpine resort of Les Combes where he is spending a holiday.

  During his walk the Holy Father, at his own request, was able to spend a few minutes with the children of Les Combes. He also conversed with a sick woman to whom he expressed the hope of a prompt recovery. At the end of the meeting Benedict XVI blessed those present.

  Tomorrow, Saturday, the Holy Father will undergo a radiological check-up in his own residence. The hospital of Aosta has sent portable radiology equipment used to carry out routine checks on fractures such as the one Benedict XVI has to his right wrist. Apart from the Pope's personal physician Dr. Patrizio Polisca, also present at the examination will be Dr. Manuel Mancini, the surgeon who operated on the Holy Father last Friday, and Dr. Vincenzo Sessa, director of orthopaedics at Rome's Fatebenefratelli hospital who will follow the healing of the Pope's fracture on his return to Castelgandolfo.

  On a different front, Benedict XVI has expressed, through the apostolic nunciature to the Philippines, his "spiritual closeness" to Corazon Aquino, former president of that country, who has been hospitalised in Manila with colon cancer. The Pope sends the former head of State assurances of recollection in his prayers.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 24 JUL 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Archbishop Giacinto Berloco, apostolic nuncio to Belgium, also as apostolic nuncio to Luxembourg.
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POPE TO PRESIDE AT VESPERS IN THE CATHEDRAL OF AOSTA

VATICAN CITY, 23 JUL 2009 (VIS) - Tomorrow evening, Friday 24 July, Benedict XVI will preside at the celebration of Vespers in the cathedral of Aosta, Italy.

  The Holy Father will cross the city centre by popemobile before moving on to the cathedral. The ceremony there is due to be attended by some 400 people including priests, religious, two lay people from each of Aosta's ninety-three parishes, and representatives from diocesan offices and ecclesial organisations.

  Following Vespers of the day in Italian and in French, the Holy Father will pronounce a homily. At the end of the ceremony he will emerge onto the cathedral's balcony to bless other faithful present. On his return journey to his holiday villa at Les Combes, he will stop to greet elderly people at the old people's home of Introd.

  Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., who is at Les Combes, has announced that Benedict XVI "is well and in good spirits. He is using a tape recorder to dictate his ideas as he finds it difficult to wield a pen, his right hand being in plaster because of his broken wrist".

  Fr. Lombardi also indicated that the Holy Father takes two daily walks near the chalet in which he is staying, one after lunch and the other in the evening.

  Yesterday the Holy Father received Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. They attended to certain pressing matters then had lunch together.

  The Holy See Press Office Director also explained that Benedict XVI "makes regular phone calls to his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger who, in a few day's time, will travel to Castelgandolfo to spend four weeks with the Pope".
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 23 JUL 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

 - Fr. Theodorus van Ruijven C.M., apostolic prefect of Jimma-Bonga, Ethiopia, and apostolic administrator of Nekemte, Ethiopia, as apostolic vicar of Nekemte (area 98,972, population 6,501,000, Catholics 45,000, priests 32, religious 48). The bishop-elect was born in Rijswijk, Holland in 1938 and ordained a priest in 1964.

 - Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu, apostolic nuncio to Angola and to Sao Tome e Principe, as apostolic nuncio to Cuba.
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CONGRESSES AND MEETINGS ON "CARITAS IN VERITATE"

VATICAN CITY, 22 JUL 2009 (VIS) - "Beyond the ideology of crisis. Development, ethics and the market in 'Caritas in veritate'" was the theme of a congress organised by the Magna Charta Foundation to study the Pope's recent Encyclical. The congress, held yesterday, 21 July, in the Roman church of Santa Marta, was attended by, among others, Archbishop-bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi of Trieste, Italy, and Maurizio Sacconi, Italian minister for social affairs and employment.

  Also as part of initiatives to promote Benedict XVI's third Encyclical, at 6 p.m. this evening at the St. Pius X auditorium in Rome a meeting will be held on the theme "'Caritas in veritate', an Encyclical for understanding the future". Among those participating in the event will be Archbishop Rino Fisichella, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University and president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, and Giulio Tremonti, Italian finance minister. The meeting has been organised by the Congregation of Sons of the Immaculate Conception and by the ELEA company.
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