PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN REPUBLIC GUEST OF THE POPE

Vatican City, 12 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father welcomed Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Republic of Italy, and his wife, Clio Maria Bittoni to the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. They met briefly in the Apostolic Palace's Garden of the Moor, later conversing along the parapets of the gardens.

At 6:00pm the president and the Holy Father attended a concert of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, directed by Maestro Daniel Barenboim, whom they greeted after the performance. Afterwards the president of the Republic and his wife dined with the Pope in his private apartments.

UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE OF MUSIC, HOPE FOR PEACE

Vatican City, 12 July 2012 (VIS) - "It pleases me to welcome an orchestra such as this one, which was born of the conviction, or better yet, of the experience that music unites persons, over and above any division". With these words the Pope thanked Director Daniel Barenboim and the musicians of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra for the concert given in the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo to celebrate the feast of St. Benedict, patron of Europe.

"Music", the pontiff continued, "is the harmony of differences ... from the multiplicity of tones of the various instruments a symphony can arise. However, this doesn't happen magically or automatically. It comes only from ... a patient and laborious commitment, which requires time and sacrifices in the effort to listen to one another, avoiding excessive egoism and privileging the best success of the whole".

"In these moments I am thinking of the great symphony of peace between the peoples that is never complete. My generation, like that of Director Barenboim's parents', lived the tragedy of the Second World war and the Shoah. It is highly meaningful that the maestro desired to bring a to life a project like the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra: a group in which musicians from Israel, Palestine, and other Arabic nations play; Jewish, Muslim, and Christian persons. The numerous acknowledgements that have been conferred on you and this orchestra demonstrate your professional excellence as well as your ethical and spiritual commitment".

Continuing, the Pope emphasized that the symphonies that were performed, Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth, express two aspects of life: "drama and peace; humanity's struggle against adversity and its enlightening immersion in a bucolic environment... The message I would like to draw from it for today is this: to achieve peace we must dedicate ourselves to dialogue with a personal and communal conversion, patiently seeking possible areas of understanding".

"I wish and pray that each of you", he concluded, "continue sowing the hope for peace in the world through the universal language of music".

SPOKESPERSONS OF EUROPEAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES MEET IN COLOGNE

Vatican City, 12 July 2012 (VIS) - Members of the press and spokespersons of the European Episcopal conferences met in Cologne, Germany to discuss the relationship between the media and the Catholic Church.

Bishops, priests, and laypersons from across the continent are participating in the various sessions of the meeting, which will take place from 11 to 14 July. It will deal with, among other themes, communication regarding financial issues related to the life of the churches. A special session will be held dedicated to the Year of Faith and the media projects of the various episcopal conferences related to this event.

ISLAMIC-CATHOLIC LIAISON COMMITTEE MEETING

Vatican City, 11 July 2012 (VIS) - The Islamic-Catholic Liaison Committee held an extraordinary meeting in Rome on 10 July 2012, corresponding to Shaban 20, 1433. The meeting was presided over for the Catholic side by His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and for the Muslim side by H.E. Prof. Dr. Hamid bin Ahmad Al-Rifaie, president of the International Islamic Forum for Dialogue.

The participants exchanged views about the relations between Christians and Muslim in the current situation of the world. In order to continue their deliberations and in the continuity of the dialogue existing since 1995, the two parties agreed to hold the next meeting of the Committee in Rome, in the first week of July 2013, corresponding to the first week of Shaban 1434, for two full working days. Eight participants from each side will participate in the meeting, which will have the theme "Believers in front of Materialism and Secularism",

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

Vatican City, 11 July 2012 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Antonio Carlos Altieri, S.D.B., as archbishop of Passo Fundo (area 12,000, population 537,000, Catholics 425,000, priests 150, religious 415), Brazil. Archbishop Altieri, formerly bishop of Caraguatatuba, succeeds Archbishop Pedro Ercilio Simon, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Passo Fundo the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- Appointed Bishop Marek Jedraszewski as archbishop of Lodz (area 5,200, population 1,502,000, Catholics 1,421,500, priests 767, religious 778), Poland. Formerly auxiliary bishop of Poznan, Poland, he succeeds Archbishop Wladyslaw Ziolek, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese of Lodz the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Elias Gonsalves, director of Social Work of the archdiocese of Bombay, as bishop of the diocese of Amravati (area 46,447, population 10,634,000, Catholics 5,622, priests 32, religious 230), India. The bishop-elect was born in Chulne of the Vasai diocese in 1961 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1990. He has a bachelor's degree in history and economics from Bombay University and a diploma in social development and community building from the Coady Institute in Nova Scotia, Canada. He has served as pastor of several parishes. The diocese of Amravati has been vacant since 11 November 2010, when Bishop Daniel Lourdes was appointed to the diocese of Nashik, India.

- Appointed Msgr. Philip Anthony Egan of the clergy of the diocese of Shrewsbury, as bishop of Portsmouth (area 6,339, population 2,524,000, Catholics 192,000, priests 189, permanent deacons 43, religious 363), England. The bishop-elect was born in Altrincham in the diocese of Chester in 1955 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1984. After graduate studies in theology at Boston College in the United States, he served as professor of fundamental theology and academic dean at St. Mary's College, Oscott in Birmingham, England. In 2008 he became pastor of Our Lady and St. Christopher in Stockport and, in 2010, vicar general of the diocese of Shrewsbury. He succeeds Bishop Crispian Hollis, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Portsmouth the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.