Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Pope's video message on the eve of his trip to Sarajevo


Vatican City, 2 June 2015 (VIS) – Pope Francis has sent a video message to the population and the faithful of Bosnia and Herzegovina in view of his upcoming apostolic trip to the capital Sarajevo on Saturday 6 June. The following is the full text of the message.

“Dear brothers and sisters,

In just a few days I will travel to Sarajevo to be with you. This thought brings me joy, and I wish to extend my most cordial greetings to all of you who live in this city and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

I will come among you, with the help of God, to confirm the faith of Catholics, to support ecumenical and interreligious dialogue, and above all to encourage peaceful coexistence in your country. I invite you to join me in prayer so that this apostolic trip may bear the desired fruits for the Christian community and for society as a whole.

'Peace be with you'. This is the motto of my visit. They are the words with which the risen Jesus greeted his disciples when he appeared in their midst in the Cenacle, on the eve of Passover. It is He, the Lord, our strength and our hope, Who gives us His peace, so that we might welcome it in our heart and spread it with joy and with love.

For my part, I prepare to come among you as a brother, as a messenger of peace, to express to everyone – to everyone! – my respect and friendship. I would like to announce God's mercy, tenderness to every person, to every family and to every community.

Dear brethren of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I assure you all of my affection and my strong spiritual closeness. I encourage you, Catholics, to be witnesses of faith and God's love for your fellow citizens, working for a society that makes its way towards peace in fraternity and mutual collaboration.

As I await our encounter, I invoke upon Sarajevo and the entire country the Lord's blessing and the maternal protection of the Virgin Mary. Thank you!”

Audiences


Vatican City, 2 June 2015 (VIS) – Today, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Cardinal Agostino Vallini, vicar general of His Holiness for the diocese of Rome;

- Archbishop Ivo Scapolo, apostolic nuncio in Chile;

- Michel Roy, secretary general of Caritas Internationalis.


Other Pontifical Acts

Vatican City, 2 June 2015 (VIS) – The Holy Father has appointed the following members of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology: Bishop Carlos Alberto de Pinho Moreiro Azevedo, delegate of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Professor Marcello Rotili, ordinary professor of Christian and medieval archaeology at the University of Naples II; Professor Paolo Liverani, associate professor of topography of ancient Italy at the University of Florence.

In memoriam


Vatican City, 2 June 2015 (VIS) – The following prelates have died in recent weeks:

- Bishop Thomas Joseph Connolly, emeritus of Baker, U.S.A., on 24 April at the age of 92.

- Archbishop Raymond Roussin, S. M., emeritus of Vancouver, Canada, on 24 April at the age of 75.
- Cardinal Giovanni Canestri, archbishop emeritus of Genoa, Italy, on 29 April at the age of 96.

- Bishop Symphorian Thomas Keeprath, O.F.M. Cap., emeritus of Jullundur, India, on 3 May at the age of 84.
- Archbishop Vicente Joaquim Zico, C.M., emeritus of Belem do Para, Brazil, on 4 May at the age of 88.

- Bishop Nicolas Huynh Van Nghi, emeritus of Phan Thiet, Vietnam, on 6 May at the age of 88.

- Bishop Jozef Pazdur, auxiliary emeritus of Wroclaw, Poland, on 7 May at the age of 90.

- Archbishop Geraldo Majela (Joao Jose) de Castro, O. Praem, emeritus of Montes Claros, Brazil, on 14 of May at the age of 84.

- Archbishop Andre Lacrampe, Ist. Prado, emeritus of Besancon, France, on 15 May at the age of 73.

- Bishop Dominik Toth, auxiliary emeritus of Bratislava, Slovakia, on 16 May at the age of 89.

- Bishop Manfred Muller, emeritus of Regensburg, Germany, on 20 May at the age of 88.

- Bishop Guido Plante, P.M.E., emeritus of Choluteca, Honduras, on 24 May at the age of 78.

- Bishop Robert Lebel, emeritus of Valleyfield, Canada, on 25 May at the age of 90.

- Bishop Peter Celestine Elampassery, O.F.M. Cap., emeritus of Jammu-Srinagar, India, on 27 May at the age of 76.