OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 9, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Christopher Henry Toohey, of the clergy of the archdiocese of Sydney, Australia, director of the Office for Education of the adults of the same archdiocese, as bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes (area 414,398, population 121,816, Catholics 36,804, priests 25, religious 72), Australia. The bishop-elect was born in Balmain, Australia, in 1952, and ordained to the priesthood in 1982.

On Saturday, July 7, it was made public that the Holy Father appointed Fr. Pierre-Antoine Paulo, O.M.I., superior of the Missions of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in the archdiocese of Cartagena, Colombia, as coadjutor bishop of Port-de-Paix (area 4,500, population 435,000, Catholics 280,000, priests 37, religious 88), Haiti. The bishop-elect was born in Camp Perrin, Haiti, in 1944. He professed his first vows in 1963, his perpetual vows in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1969.

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CARDINAL SARAIVA IS ENVOY TO BRAZIL'S EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 9, 2001 (VIS) - The Pontifical Letter in which Pope John Paul names Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins as his special envoy to the celebrations of the 14th National Brazilian Eucharistic Congress was published today. The letter, written in Latin, was dated May 20, 2001. The congress will take place in Campanis, Brazil, from July 19 to 22.

Also published today were the names of the other members of the Pontifical Mission who will be joining the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints: Msgr. Jose Machado Couto, apostolic protonotary, a pastor in Helvetia, Campinas and a consultor of the Congregation for Catholic Education; Msgr. Stefano Migliorelli, official of the Secretariat of State; Msgr. Claudio Jovine, official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and Fr. Alvaro Augusto Ambiel, pastor of the cathedral of Campinas.

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POPE LEAVES FOR 12-DAY VACATION IN NORTHERN ITALY

VATICAN CITY, JUL 9, 2001 (VIS) - At 10 this morning Pope John Paul left by car for Rome's Ciampino Airport where his plane left at 10:30 for northern Italy's Valle d'Aosta region. He arrived at 11:40 at the Saint-Christophe Airport in Aosta and was accompanied to the villa in Les Combes which will be his home until early evening of July 20.

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CUBA: STRIVE FOR JUSTICE, FREEDOM, AND RECONCILIATION

VATICAN CITY, JUL 6, 2001 (VIS) - This morning John Paul II received the bishops of the Cuban Episcopal Conference at the conclusion of their "ad limina" visit, and affirmed that their visit reminds him of his apostolic visit to Cuba in 1998.

"It pleases me to know," the Pope said, "that since then certain things of particular value have improved for you, such as the restoration of the Christmas celebration, the possibility of carrying out various processions, which belong to the rich popular devotion, a greater participation of Catholics in the life of the country, the presence of Cuban youth in the 15th World Youth Day in Rome during this past Jubilee Year and a notable increase in the participation of the faithful in the sacraments."

The Holy Father spoke of the urgency to "present the unfathomable richness of Christian spirituality at the beginnings of this new millennium, to a world tired of old ideologies which have lost their initial attractiveness and have left in many a profound void and a lack of life's meaning."

"As I affirmed during my pastoral visit to Cuba," he continued, "the Church must present to Christians and to those interested in the good of the Cuban people, the teachings of her social doctrine." In this light, the Pope recalled that these teachings must "be considered integrally, from the right to life of the unborn child up to natural death, without excluding any individual or social rights, such as the right to nutrition, health, education, the right to exercise freedom of movement, expression and association."

The Pope exhorted the Cuban prelates to continue to work patiently "in favor of justice, of the true freedom of the sons of God and of reconciliation between all Cubans, those who live on the island and those in other countries, and not to neglect conciliatory efforts which allow an ever greater increase in the charitable action of the Church in the human promotion of the people."

After thanking the priests and men and women religious who serve the Cuban people, the Pope urged them to "facilitate ever more the entrance of new priests and religious, that they may dedicate themselves to the mission in your beautiful island."

"A reason for hope," he added, "is the constant increase in vocations. In this respect, and to facilitate this process, it is necessary to think about creating minor seminaries, where possible, that receive youth before they have finished their philosophical-theological studies, in order to offer them an integral formation based upon Christian moral principles."

Finally, the Holy Father emphasized that in Cuba "there is no lack of committed laity who make an effort in their milieux to lead a lifestyle coherent with their faith." He exhorted the bishops to continue to "strongly proclaim the teachings on marriage and the family, the acceptance of children as God's gift and the springtime of society."

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HOLY SEE HAD NET SURPLUS OF $8.5 MILLION FOR 2000

VATICAN CITY, JUL 6, 2001 (VIS) - Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani, president of the Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, announced this morning at a conference to present the Consolidated Financial Statement of the Holy See that there was a net surplus of $8.5 million for the fiscal year 2000. Saying that the surplus came from "a favorable monetary situation," he said the exchange rate used was 2,080 lire to $1. The 1999 surplus was $5 million. This is the eighth consecutive year for a surplus.

The cardinal explained that a Consolidated Financial Statement "represents the sum of all the expenses and income of the diverse Vatican Administrations" which he divided into four categories: 1. Institutional Activity (Secretariat of State, Congregations, Councils, Tribunals, Synod of Bishops and various offices), which closed with a deficit; 2. Financial Activity (seven consolidated administrations, the largest of which is the Extraordinary Section of APSA - Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See), which closed with a net gain; 3. the real estate sector, which had a net gain and 4. Activity of Media Institutions (Vatican Radio, the Vatican Printing Press/L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Publishing House and the Vatican Television Center). This category closed with a deficit.

However, the president of the economic prefecture singled out Vatican Radio "for applause in view of the enormous activity undertaken during the Jubilee Year" when it transmitted 24,000 hours in 60 languages.

Cardinal Sebastiani underscored that there were elevated expenses due to the Jubilee Year 2000 which necessitated an increase in personnel in many curial offices, especially media offices. About 70 additional people were hired to work in the Roman Curia during the Holy Year. In addition to the "greater general and administrative expenditures," he said there were also "repairs and maintenance of the nunciatures of our papal representatives."

The cardinal concluded by saying that he had presented the Consolidated Financial Statement to Pope John Paul on June 22 and to the Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, which met yesterday.

A communique released this afternoon by the Council of Cardinals stated that Vatican City State, an entity financially separate from the Holy See, had a net gain for the year 2000. The report also announced that Peter's Pence for the year 2000 amounted to $63.6 million: this is $8.3 million more than the previous year.

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