OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 29, 2007 (VIS) - Holy Father appointed Bishop Rochus Josef Tatamai M.S.C., auxiliary of Kerema, Papua New Guinea, as bishop of Bereina (area 19,146, population 86,500, Catholics 69,000, priests 21, permanent deacons 1, religious 39), Papua New Guinea.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 29, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences nine prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, on their "ad limina" visit:

    - Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jinsuk, archbishop of Seoul, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishops Andrew Yeom Soo jung, Lucas Kim Woon-hoe and Basil Cho Kyu-man.

    - Archbishop Andreas Choi Chang-mou of Kwangju, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong.

    - Bishop Peter Kang U-il of Cheju.

    - Bishop Vincent Ri Pyung-ho of Jeonju.

    - Bishop John Chang Yik of Ch'unch'on, apostolic administrator "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis" of Hamhung.
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SLOVENIAN PRIME MINISTER INVITES POPE TO VISIT HIS COUNTRY

VATICAN CITY, NOV 29, 2007 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique at midday today:

  "This morning, Thursday November 29, 2007, Janez Jansa, prime minister of the Republic of Slovenia, was received in audience by the Holy Father. He subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B.

  "The prime minister expressed the Slovenian nation's recognition for the concern shown it by the Holy See ever since it independence, and he invited the Holy Father to visit Slovenia in 2009, for the occasion of the Year of Young People and for the closure of the National Eucharist Congress.

  "Prime Minister Jansa also outlined the priorities and principal initiatives for the forthcoming six-month Slovenian presidency of the European Union, from January to June 2008. In this context, the Cardinal Secretary of State expressed his hope that the six-month Slovenian presidency may bring positive results and, in particular, peace and stability in the region of southeastern Europe.

  "Finally, a number of bilateral questions were addressed, such as the process of restoring ecclesiastical property nationalized under the communist regime, and the prospects for creating a military ordinariate."
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HOLY FATHER REPLIES TO MUSLIM RELIGIOUS LEADERS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 29, 2007 (VIS) - On October 13, for the occasion of the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr), a group of 138 Muslim religious leaders sent an open letter to the Holy Father Benedict XVI and to other Christian leaders. The letter was entitled: "A Common Word between Us and You."

  The Holy Father has replied with a letter of his own, signed by the Cardinal Secretary of State and addressed to Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal, president of the Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought and one of the signatories of the original letter.

  In expressing his thanks and appreciation for this significant initiative by the eminent group of Muslim figures, the Holy Father reaffirms the importance of dialogue based on effective respect for the dignity of the person, on objective knowledge of the other's religion, on the sharing of religious experience, and on joint commitment to promoting mutual respect and acceptance.

  The Secretary of State's reply also mentions the Holy Father's willingness to receive Prince Ghazi and a delegation of the signatories of the letter, and also highlights the readiness of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue, in collaboration with other specialized pontifical institutes, to organize a working meeting.
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EPHREM THE SYRIAN: THE CULTURAL DIVERSITY OF CHRISTIANITY

VATICAN CITY, NOV 28, 2007 (VIS) - Continuing his series of catecheses on Fathers of the Church, Benedict XVI today dedicated his general audience to the figure of St. Ephrem the Syrian, "the most famous poet of the patristic age." The audience was held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 8,000 people.

  Before discussing St. Ephrem, the Pope remarked how "it is widely believed today that Christianity is a European religion which subsequently exported that continent's culture to other countries. But the truth is much more complex."

  "The roots of the Christian religion," the Pope explained, "are in the Old Testament, hence in Jerusalem and the Semitic world. And Christianity constantly draws nourishment from these Old Testament roots. The spread of Christianity in the early centuries was directed both westwards - to the Greco-Latin world where it later inspired European culture - and eastwards to Persia and India, where it contributed to the formation of a specific culture, in Semitic languages and with its own identity."

  Benedict XVI indicated that "in order demonstrate the one Christian faith's multiplicity of cultural form ever since its inception" he had chosen to focus his audience on St. Ephrem, a theologian and a poet who was born in Nisibis around the year 306 and died in Edessa in 373.

  "Poetry," the Holy Father explained, "enabled him to deepen his theological reflections through the use of paradox and images."

  "Ephrem gave poetry and liturgical hymns a didactic and catechetical character, ... so as to use liturgical feasts as opportunities to spread the doctrine of the Church."

  Benedict XVI dwelt briefly on Ephrem's ideas concerning God the Creator, saying: "Nothing in the Creation is isolated and the world is - alongside Scared Scripture - a Bible of God. Using his freedom wrongly, man overturns the order of the universe."

  For Ephrem, "Jesus' presence in Mary's womb greatly raised the dignity of women ... about whom he always speaks with sensitivity and respect," said the Pope. "Just as there is no Redemption without Jesus, so there is no Incarnation without Mary. And the divine and human dimensions of the mystery of our Redemption are already to be found in the saint's writings."

  Honored in Christian tradition with the title of "harp of the Holy Spirit," Ephrem remained a deacon of the Church throughout his life. "This was a decisive and emblematic choice," said the Holy Father. "He was a deacon, in other words a servant in liturgical ministry and, more radically, in the love of Christ ... as well as in charity towards his brethren who, with great skill, he introduced to a knowledge of the divine Revelation."
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