OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 6, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Heinrich Timmerevers, of the clergy of the diocese of Munster (area 15,286, population 4,212,631, Catholics 2,085,526, priests 1,251, permanent deacons 209, religious 3,808), Germany, pastor of Visbek, as auxiliary bishop of Munster. He succeeds Auxiliary Bishop Max-Georg von Twickel, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with the age limit. The bishop-elect was born in Garrel/Nikolausdorf, Germany, in 1952, and ordained to the priesthood in 1980.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUL 6, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father received today in separate audiences:

- His Beatitude Philippos, patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Eritrea, accompanied by his entourage.
- Cardinal William Wakefield Baum, major penitentiary.
- Archbishop Jose Fernandez Arteaga of Chihuahua, Mexico.
- Toru Twanami, ambassador of Japan, on a farewell visit.
- Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.

This evening he is scheduled to receive Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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"POPULORUM PROGRESSIO" FOUNDATION MEETS IN GUATEMALA

VATICAN CITY, JUL 6, 2001 (VIS) - The annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the "Populorum Progressio" Foundation to determine how to finance various projects presented to the foundation will take place from July 9 to 11 in Vera Paz, Guatemala. The beneficiaries of such funds are the farming, indigenous, mestizo and poor Afro-American communities of Central and Latin America.

Today's communique announcing the meeting states that Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," will participate. Members will examine 308 proposals coming from 19 countries in Latin America and Central America. The projects involve the sectors of professional formation, education, health, water supplies, the production and sale of products, transportation and community development.

The communique appealed for generosity on the part of individuals and institutions because "unfortunately, we have reached the limit of available resources for financing these projects."

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HOLY FATHER WELCOMES 160 NEWLY ORDAINED BISHOPS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 5, 2001 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall, Pope John Paul welcomed 160 bishops ordained between January 1, 2000 and June of this year who are taking part in a meeting promoted by the Congregation for Bishops. The Pope thanked the Legionaries of Christ who are hosting the bishops during "these days of prayer, listening, reflection, ... fraternal communion and a serene and profound study of several themes and practical problems."

"My dear brothers," said the Holy Father, "you are the bishops of the beginning of the new millennium! Certainly we are living in a difficult and complex world. The series of questions, reports and debates that you have faced in these days attests to this. A bishop's ministry is not one marked by triumphalism, but rather by the Cross of Christ. With the sacrament of Orders, in fact, you have been more intimately configured to Christ."

He told them that, "in fulfilling your ministry what should animate you is a great spirit of service. Today more than ever the role of the bishop must be understood in terms of service. ... 'The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel for the Hope of the World': this will be the theme of the 10th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod this coming autumn on the life and ministry of bishops."

John Paul II went on to say that "the bishop must exercise his office and his authority as a service to unity and communion. As bishops, we are called to lead the People of God on the paths of holiness; for this reason we must look to Christ as our model. The success of our pastoral ministry cannot be measured in terms of bureaucratic organization or statistical data: holiness has other criteria for being measured." He stressed that "personal holiness is the condition for the fruitfulness of our ministry as bishops of the Church."

The Pope observed that, "as newly ordained bishops you will not fail to return often to that moving moment, recalling the triple 'munus' entrusted to you: being teachers of the faith, ... administrators of the mysteries of God for the sanctification of souls, and pastors and guides for the People of God."

In conclusion, the Holy Father noted that "apostolic service, as we well know, bears within it joys and hopes, but also difficulties, anxieties amd enormous pastoral challenges. But you are not alone in your ministry because you are united, as Successors of the Apostles, to the Pope, Successor of the Apostle Peter, and with all members of the College of Bishops."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 5, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Djuro Hranic, professor of dogmatic theology at the Theological Institute of Djakovo, as auxiliary bishop of Djakovo-Srijem (area 11,286, population 1,394,720, Catholics 468,134, priests 251, religious 435), Croatia. The bishop-elect was born in Vinkovci, Croatia, in 1961, and ordained to the priesthood in 1986.

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