AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 22, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Fra Andrew Bertie, prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.
- Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
- Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, president of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See.

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CARDINAL MCCARRICK TO TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS TITULAR SEE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 22, 2001 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff today announced that at 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 28, Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, metropolitan archbishop of Washington (U.S.A.), will take possession of the title of Sts. Nereus and Achilleus in Rome on Via delle Terme di Caracalla, 28.

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NTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND ACCESS TO BASIC MEDICINES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 22, 2001 (VIS) - A meeting of the Council for Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) of the World Trade Organization is currently underway in Geneva, Switzerland. On Wednesday, June 20, work was dedicated entirely to the question of Intellectual Property and Access to Basic Medicines. A Note from the Holy See on this topic was distributed to all members at the June 18-22 meeting by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Holy See permanent observer to the WTO.

The Note states that, among the diseases prevalent in the world today, "the AIDS crisis ... constitutes a global disaster of dramatic magnitude. ... In so many of the poorest countries, lack of basic medicines together with poor health infrastructure, prevents an appropriate response to urgent public health needs." It adds that "the Holy See is aware that the availability of medicines is not the only aspect of access to health. .. This access depends on a series of factors. ... Accessible price, however, always remains a dominant factor."

The Note, recognizing that "the high price of new drugs seems to be determined (in part) by the burden of research and development," affirmed: "It is not possible, however, ethically to justify a rationale of fixing the highest possible prices in order to attract investors and to maintain and strengthen research, while leaving aside consideration of fundamental social factors."

"Within an open free trade system, Intellectual Property rights constitute an exceptional monopoly regime," says the Holy See Note. Abuses by such monopolies for reasons of profit must be curbed. As well, there must be recognition, within the framework of human rights, of each person's right to health.

The Note recommends that "in the case of medicines, the supply stakeholders (scientific institutions, pharmaceutical companies and the governments of developed countries) should work together to ensure an adequate supply of urgently needed drugs at prices adequate to the cost of living in a particular country, especially LDCs (Least Developed Countries) and HIPCs (Heavily Indebted Poorest Countries). They should also be open and flexible in an equitable manner to the granting of voluntary licenses for import, production and distribution of basic drugs. They should not create obstacles to national production of drugs in third countries."

It also suggests "the enactment of an innovative differential pricing system" wherein "luxury and non-essential pharmaceutical products, for example cosmetics, could well share a greater part of the burden of research and development of essential medicines."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 22, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Bishop Denis James Hart, auxiliary of Melbourne (area 27,194, population 3,365,173, Catholics 995,797, priests 647, permanent deacons 1, religious 2,055), Australia, as metropolitan archbishop of the same archdiocese. The archbishop-elect was born in Melbourne in 1941, he was ordained a priest in 1967 and consecrated a bishop in 1997.

- Fr. Misael Vacca Ramirez of the clergy of Garagoa, Colombia, rector of the Juan de Castellanos university institute in Tunja, as the first bishop of Yopal (area 17,725, population 232,908, Catholics 192,450, priests 33, permanent deacons 2, religious 53), Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in Somondoco, Colombia, in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1983.

- Msgr. Vincent M. Rizzotto, vicar general of Galveston-Houston (area 23,257, population 4,442,230, Catholics 908,190, priests 437, permanent deacons 292, religious 779), U.S.A., as auxiliary of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Houston in 1931 and ordained a priest in 1956.

- Archbishop Luigi Ventura, apostolic nuncio in Chile, as apostolic nuncio in Canada.

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ASSOCIATIONS OF FAITHFUL: ECUMENICAL, INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 21, 2001 (VIS) - On June 22 and 23, in the "Aula Magna" of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, a study seminar will be held on the theme: "Associations of faithful: ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue."

The seminar is being promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Laity in collaboration with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.

Cardinal James Francis Stafford, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, will inaugurate the seminar. Later, Bishop Rino Fisichella, auxiliary of Rome, will speak on the theme: "Questions, requirements and challenges in ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue, in the light of the Church's mission in the global and multi-cultural society."

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