EXHIBITION ON STS. PETER AND PAUL

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2000 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office at 11:30 a.m. on Friday May 26, there will be the presentation of the exhibition entitled "Peter and Paul. History, Worship, Memory in the First Centuries." The exhibit will run from June 30 to December 10 in Rome's chancellory building.

Taking part in the presentation will be Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, secretary general of the Committee for the Great Jubilee 2000; Bishop Stanislaw Rylko, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and Francesco Buranelli, director of the Pontifical Monuments, Museums and Galleries.

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SEMINAR ON "PROMOTING HUMAN DIGNITY IN OCEANIA"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2000 (VIS) - The Third Continental Seminar promoted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on the theme "Promoting Human Dignity in Oceania" is currently underway in Melbourne, Australia, according to a communique published today by this council.

The 150 participants, including 10 archbishops and bishops, priests, religious and laity, come from Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The communique states that "the themes that are being treated regard in a special way the major ethical questions implied in the processes of economic and financial globalization and the need for a new re-proposal of values of social justice and of solidarity."

Archbishop Francois Xavier Van Thuan and Bishop Diarmuid Martin, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, are also participating in the seminar. Work concludes tomorrow with a report on globalization by Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago, U.S.A.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 23, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the diocese of Bongaigaon (area 13,630, population 5,242,716, Catholics 61,024, priests 26, religious 77), India, with territory taken from the archdiocese of Guwahati, making it a suffragan of the same metropolitan church. He appointed Fr. Thomas Pulloppillil, of the clergy of Tezpur, India, administrator of Guwahati, as first bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Nadukani, India, in 1954 and ordained a priest in 1981.

- Appointed Fr. John Thattunkal S.S.C., rector of the Cottolengo Minor Seminary at Nagar, as bishop of Cochin (area 235, population 648,355, Catholics 164,714, priests 91, religious 443), India. The bishop-elect was born in Vallethodu, India, in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1974.

- Appointed Bishop Patrick Le Gal of Tulle, France, as military ordinary of France.

- Appointed Fr. Rainer Klug of the clergy of Freiburg im Breisgau (area 16,229, population 4,450,000, Catholics 2,160,650, priests 1,432, permanent deacons 158, religious 3,193), Germany, dean of the "Mittlerer Oberrhein-Pforzheim" region and administrator of the parish of St. Francis at Karlsruhe, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese. The bishop-elect was born in Costanza, Germany, in 1938 and ordained a priest in 1969.

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TELEGRAM FOR THE DEATH OF FORMER ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY

VATICAN CITY, MAY 20, 2000 (VIS) - Following is the telegram sent by Pope John Paul to the Most Reverend and Right Honorable George Leonard Carey, archbishop of Canterbury, upon the death of his predecessor:

"Having received the sad news of the death of Lord Coggan, former archbishop of Canterbury, I offer my condolences to Your Grace and to the Anglican community and I join you in commending your predecessor's noble soul to our heavenly Father's eternal love. Remembering Archbishop Coggan's presence at the ceremony of inauguration of my own pontificate, I thank God for his significant contribution to Anglican-Catholic relations. May the memory of the late archbishop inspire us to trust that 'he who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ'."

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