HOLY FATHER RECEIVES PRESIDENT OF KAZAKHSTAN

VATICAN CITY, 6 NOV 2009 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique at midday today:

  "Today, Friday 6 November 2009, His Holiness Benedict XVI received in audience Nursultan Nazarbayev, president of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Mr Nazarbayev subsequently went on to meet Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. and Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.

  "During the course of the cordial discussions, attention turned to questions concerning the economic crisis in the light of the Encyclical 'Caritas in Veritate', to inter-religious dialogue and to the promotion of peace, on the eve of Kazakhstan's presidency of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

  "At a bilateral level consideration was given, with satisfaction, to the good relations that exist between the Holy See and the Republic of Kazakhstan, and to certain themes concerning the current situation of life in the country. Mention was also made of the peaceful coexistence between faithful of various religions, and the hope expressed that believers may have an ever more active role in the life of the nation and in favour of the common good".
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 6 NOV 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

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

    - Bishop Jacyr Francisco Braido C.S. of Santos.

    - Bishop Manuel Parrado Carral of Sao Miguel Paulista, accompanied by Bishop emeritus Fernando Legal S.D.B.

    - Bishop Caetano Ferrari O.F.M. of Bauru.

    - Bishop Sergio Krzywy of Aracatuba.

  This evening he is scheduled to receive in separate audiences:

 - Cardinal William Joseph Levada, perfect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

 - Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 6 NOV 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

 - Fr. Giuseppe Sandri M.C.C.J., provincial superior of the Combonian Missionaries in South Africa, as bishop of Witbank (area 56,886, population 2,614,000, Catholics 103,278, priests 38, permanent deacons 8), South Africa. The bishop-elect was born in Faedo, Italy in 1946 and ordained a priest in 1972.

 - Fr. Vincent Nguyen of the clergy of the archdiocese of Toronto, Canada, adjunct judicial vicar and vice chancellor, and Fr. William Terrence McGrattan of the clergy of the diocese of London, Canada, rector of the Saint Peter major seminary, as auxiliaries of the archdiocese of Toronto (area 13,000, population 5,556,000, Catholics 1,889,000, priests 835, permanent deacons 110, religious 1,176). Bishop-elect Nguyen was born in Vietnam in 1966 and ordained a priest in 1988. Bishop-elect McGrattan was born in London, Canada in 1956 and ordained a priest in 1987.
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MASS FOR DECEASED CARDINALS AND BISHOPS

VATICAN CITY, 5 NOV 2009 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican Basilica the Pope presided at the traditional November Mass for the souls of cardinals and bishops who died over the course of the year. Members of the College of Cardinals concelebrated with the Holy Father.

  At the beginning of his homily, Benedict XVI recalled the names of the cardinals who passed away during the last twelve months: Avery Dulles, Pio Laghi, Stephanos II Ghattas, Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, Paul Joseph Pham Dinh Tung, Umberto Betti, and Jean Margeot, expressing his affection for them and for the many archbishops and bishops who also died this year.

  "In these our venerated brothers we like to recognise the servants of whom the gospel parable speaks", said the Pope in his homily, "faithful servants whom the master, returning from the wedding banquet, finds watchful and alert; pastors who have served the Church, assuring the necessary care for Christ's flock, witnesses of the Gospel who, in their variety of gifts and tasks, gave proof of assiduous vigilance, of generous dedication to the cause of the Kingdom of God".

  Separation from loved ones is painful, observed the Holy Father, and death "is an enigma charged with anxiety". Yet, "for believers, however it comes, it is always illuminated by the 'hope of immortality'. The faith sustains us in these moments full of human sadness and distress".

  Commenting then on the First Letter of St. Peter, the second reading of today's Mass, Benedict XVI noted how it encourages us "during our earthly pilgrimage to maintain the prospect of hope, a 'living hope', alive in our hearts, ... because God in His great mercy has regenerated us 'through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead'.

  "This", he added, "is the reason we must be 'full of joy', even if we are afflicted by suffering. If, indeed, we persevere in goodness, then our faith, purified by many trials, will one day shine forth in all its splendour and resound to our praise, glory and honour when Jesus appears in His glory".

  And the Holy Father concluded: "Here is the reason for our hope, which already brings us to exult 'with an indescribable and glorious joy' as we journey towards the goal of our faith: the salvation of souls".
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FRIENDSHIP AND DIALOGUE BETWEEN CHURCH AND ARTISTS

VATICAN CITY, 5 NOV 2009 (VIS) - At midday today in the Holy See Press Office, Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church, and Antonio Paolucci, director of the Vatican Museums, held a press conference to present Benedict XVI's forthcoming meeting with artists, due to take place on 21 November in the Sistine Chapel.

  Archbishop Ravasi recalled how the meeting, promoted by his dicastery, is to be celebrated on the tenth anniversary of John Paul II's Letter to Artists of 4 April 1999, and the forty-fifth anniversary of Paul VI's meeting with artists of 7 May 1964.

  "The event", he explained, "is not like a general audience of the Holy Father, open to any artist or exclusively to Christian-inspired artists, rather it aims to be representative of the desire for dialogue between the Church and the world of the arts, a dialogue which must necessarily develop over various stages and using various means".

  The 255 artists who have accepted the invitation to attend come from various continents and are divided into five categories: painting and sculpture; architecture; literature and poetry; music and song; cinema, theatre, dance and photography.

  The Sistine Chapel Choir will sing at the beginning and end of the 21 November meeting and, before the Pope's address, extracts of John Paul II's Letter to Artists will be read out to the assembly. After the meeting, a reception will be held in the "Braccio Nuovo" of the Vatican Museums during which the artists will receive a medal in the Pope's name to commemorate the event.
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