OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 15 JAN 2008 (VIS) - Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, major archbishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians, Ukraine, with the consent of the Synod of the Greek-Catholic Ukrainian Church and in accordance with Canon 85, para. 3 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, has erected the archiepiscopal exarchate of Lutsk of the Ukrainians (area 40,300, Catholics 4,000, priests 10), Ukraine

  The Holy Father has given his consent to the canonical election by the same Synod of Fr. Josaphat Oleg Hovera, rector of the major seminary of Ternopil-Zboriv, Ukraine, as the first exarch of the new exarchate. The bishop-elect was born in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine in 1963 and ordained a priest in 1990.
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WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

VATICAN CITY, 15 JAN 2008 (VIS) - The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, traditionally celebrated every year from January 18 to 25, begins on Friday.

  The theme chosen for this year's initiative, taken from the First Letter of Paul to the Thessalonians, is: "Pray without ceasing". The texts for reflection and prayer have been prepared by the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Commission on Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches.

  Each day of the Week will have a different theme:

18 January: Pray always. "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5, 17).

19 January: Pray always, trusting God alone. "Give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5, 18).

20 January: Pray without ceasing for the conversion of hearts. "Admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted" (1 Thessalonians 5, 14).

21 January: Pray always for justice. "See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all" (1 Thessalonians 5, 15).

22 January: Pray constantly with a patient heart. "Be patient with all of them" (1 Thessalonians 5, 14).

23 January: Pray always for grace to work with God. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5, 16).

24 January: Pray for what we need. "… help the weak" (1 Thessalonians 5, 14).

25 January: Pray always that they all may be one. "Be at peace" (1 Thessalonians 5, 13b)

  Although the traditional period for celebrating this week of prayer is in the month of January, in the southern hemisphere Churches sometimes seek other periods such as, for example, around the time of Pentecost, which is also a symbolically significant date for the unity of the Church, and was suggested by the Faith and Order movement in 1926.

  In the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls at 5.30 p.m. on Friday, 25 January, Feast of the Conversion of the Apostle Paul, Benedict XVI will preside at the celebration of Vespers to mark the close of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 14 JAN 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, archbishop of Genoa, Italy and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference.

 - Eight prelates from the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions (CELRA), on their "ad limina" visit:

    - His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, accompanied by Coadjutor Archbishop Fouad Twal; Bishop Salim Sayegh, patriarchal vicar for Jordan; Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo, patriarchal vicar for Israel; Fr. Umberto Barato O.F.M., patriarchal vicar for Cyprus; and Bishop Kamal Hanna Bathish, patriarchal vicar general emeritus.

    - Bishop Giuseppe Bausardo S.D.B., apostolic vicar of Alexandria, Egypt.

    - Bishop Camillo Ballin M.C.C.I., apostolic vicar of Kuwait.

 - Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, archbishop of Paris, France and president of the Conference of Bishops of France, accompanied by Archbishops Hippolyte Simon of Clermont, and Laurent Ulrich of Chambery, vice-presidents, and by Fr. Antoine Herouard, secretary general.

 On Saturday, 12 January, he received in separate audiences:

 - Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

 - Archbishop Beniamino Stella, president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy.

 - Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
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MISSION OF CHRIST: TO BAPTISE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

VATICAN CITY, 13 JAN 2008 (VIS) - At midday today, having celebrated Mass in the Sistine Chapel where he administered the Sacrament of Baptism to 13 infants, the Holy Father appeared at the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square, to pray the Angelus with the thousands gathered there.

  Before the Marian prayer, the Pope recalled how today's Feast of the Baptism of the Lord closes the liturgical period of Christmas. It was, he said, Christ's "first public appearance" following "thirty years of hidden life in Nazareth".

  His Baptism was, at one and the same time, "christophany and theophany" explained Benedict XVI, "Jesus showed Himself as 'Christ', a Greek term translating the Hebrew 'Messiah' which means anointed, yet He was not anointed with oil like the kings and the high priests of Israel, but with the Holy Spirit". In this context, the Pope referred to the Gospel of St. Matthew which recounts how at the moment of Jesus' Baptism "the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove".

  "The profound significance" of this, the Holy Father went on, "only emerges at the end of Christ's earthly life, in His death and resurrection. By having Himself baptised by John together with sinners, Jesus began to take upon Himself the burden of sin of all humanity, as the Lamb of God Who 'takes away' the sin of the world. This mission He accomplished on the cross, when he also received His 'Baptism'.

  "In fact", he added, "by dying He 'immersed' Himself in the love of the Father and disseminated the Holy Spirit so that believers in Him might be reborn from that never-ending font of new and eternal life. The whole of Christ's mission may be summed up in this way: Baptism in the Holy Spirit to free us from the slavery of death and 'open us to heaven', in other words ... to true and full life".

  After praying the Angelus, Benedict XVI remarked on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees which is being celebrated today and has as its theme young migrants. "Many are the young people", the Pope observed, "who for various reasons are compelled to live far from their families and their countries. Girls and minors are particularly at risk", he said, noting that "some children and adolescents were born and grew up in refugee camps" and that "they too have a right to a future".

  The Holy Father went on to express his appreciation for "those who work in favour of young migrants, their families and their integration into the workplace and schools". He invited ecclesial communities "to welcome with open arms the young, the very young and their parents, seeking to understand their stories and to favour their insertion into society".

  Finally, the Holy Father addressed some words to young immigrants themselves, inviting them to join their peers in building "a more just and fraternal society, undertaking your duties, respecting laws, and never letting yourselves be tempted into violence".
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THE POPE BAPTISES 13 INFANTS IN THE SISTINE CHAPEL

VATICAN CITY, 13 JAN 2008 (VIS) - At 10 a.m. today, Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the Pope presided at Mass in the Sistine Chapel, during which he administered the Sacrament of Baptism to 13 infants, children of Vatican employees.

  "In Baptism", said the Holy Father in his homily, "young human beings receive new life, the life of grace that makes them capable of entering into a personal relationship with the Creator, and this lasts forever, for all eternity.

  "Unfortunately", he added, "man is capable of extinguishing this new life through sin, reducing himself to a situation described by Holy Scripture as 'second death'".

  He continued: "While for other creatures, who are not called to eternity, death means only the end of their earthly lives, in us sin creates an abyss which risks swallowing us up forever, if God in heaven does not stretch out His hand to us".

  The Pope went on to explain the "mystery of Baptism" in these terms: "God wished to save us, and so He went Himself to the bottom of the abyss of death so that all mankind, even those who have fallen so low as no longer to be able to see heaven, may find the hand of God to which to cling, and so come out of the shadows and see the light for which they were created.

  "We all feel, we all have an interior perception that our existence is a desire for a life [of] fullness and salvation. This fullness of life is given to us in Baptism".

  "The aim of Christ's existence", the Pope said, "was precisely that of giving mankind the life of God and His spirit of love, in order to enable each human being to draw from this never-ending source of salvation. ... It is for this reason that Christian parents bring their children to the baptismal font as soon as possible, knowing that the life they have communicated to them invokes a fullness, a salvation, that only God can give. And in this way the parents become God's collaborators, transmitting to their children not only physical but also spiritual life".

  Benedict XVI concluded his homily by addressing the parents of the new-born infants, saying: "Of course, to grow up strong and healthy, these boys and girls will have need of material care and a lot of attention, however what is most necessary, indeed indispensable, to them is to know, love and serve God faithfully, so as to have eternal life. Dear parents, be for them the first witnesses of authentic faith in God!"

  A note issued by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff explains that "the wooden platform with a special altar" usually brought in for the celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord was not used for this year's ceremony in the Sistine Chapel. "It was deemed better to celebrate at the old altar so as not to disturb the beauty and harmony of this architectural masterpiece, maintaining the celebratory aspects of its structure and making use of a possibility contemplated by liturgical norms".

  For this reason, at certain moments during the Mass, the Pope had "his back to the congregation and his gaze on the Cross". Nonetheless, the note explains, "the ordinary Missal was used".
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