RESPONSIBILITY OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN TIMES OF CRISIS

VATICAN CITY, 16 DEC 2008, (VIS) - Yesterday the XI Colloquium organized by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and the World Islamic Call Society (WICS), a Muslim organization headquartered in Tripoli, Libya, began in Rome.

  In a communique made public yesterday afternoon it was stated that "this initiative forms part of a series of events held in various places, in 1976 and then regularly from 1989 to the present".

  The theme of the meeting in these days, which will culminate tomorrow morning, 17 December, with an audience with Benedict XVI is: "The Responsibility of Religious Leaders, Especially in Times of Crisis".

  The colloquium's five sessions are dedicated to presentations, part Catholic and part Muslim, and the development of three themes of reflection: "Religious Responsibility", "Cultural and Social Responsibility", and "Times of Crisis on the Path of Interreligious Dialogue".

  Twelve Catholic and twelve Muslim dignitaries and experts from various countries are participating in the event, which is presided over by, respectively, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, and the Secretary General of WICS, Mohamed Ahmed Sherif.
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THEMES OF THE NEXT THREE WORLD YOUTH DAYS

VATICAN CITY, 16 DEC 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father has chosen the themes for the next three World Youth Days so as to help build a spiritual itinerary that will culminate in the World Youth Day celebrations scheduled to take place in Madrid, Spain from 16 to 21 August, 2011.

- 24th World Youth Day (2009): "We Have Set Our Hope on the Living God" (1 Tim 4:10)

- 25th World Youth Day (2010): "Good Teacher, What Must I do to Inherit Eternal Life?" (Mk 10:17)

- 26th World Youth Day (2011): "Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith" (cf Col 2:7).
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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, 16 DEC 2008 (VIS) - Following is list of prelates who have died in recent weeks:

- Cardinal Avery Dulles, S.J., of the U.S.A. on 12 December at the age of 90.

- Bishop Elie Amsini Kiswaya, emeritus of Sakania-Kipushi, Democratic Republic of the Congo on 11 December at the age of 80.

- Bishop George Martin Kuzma, emeritus of Van Nuys of the Ruthenians, U.S.A. on 7 December at the age of 83.

- Bishop Jose Maria Larrauri Lafuente, emeritus of Vitoria, Spain on 9 December at the age of 90.

- Bishop Ivan Semedi, emeritus of Mukacevo of the Byzantine Rite, Ukraine on 6 December at the age of 87.
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POPE VISITS ITALIAN EMBASSY TO THE HOLY SEE

VATICAN CITY, 13 DEC 2008, (VIS) - This morning at 10:45, The Holy Father travelled to the Italian Embassy to the Holy See, arriving there a quarter of an hour later.

  The Pope met with the embassy staff and their families in the St. Charles Borromeo Chapel, which had recently been restored. The saint, who received the palace that currently houses the embassy as a gift from his uncle Pope Pius IV, actively worked with that Pope in governing the Church, as Benedict XVI recalled.

  The saint's life, the Holy Father said, "shows the dedication with which he carried out his episcopal ministry, promoting Church reform in the spirit of the Council of Trent, whose directives he carried out in an exemplary manner, always being close to the people, above all during the years of the plague, to the point of being named the 'Protector of Plague Victims' for his generous dedication".

  "St. Charles Borromeo's personal and spiritual experience", said the Pope, "demonstrates how divine grace transforms the heart of persons and makes them capable of a love for their brothers and sisters that can even become self-sacrifice".

  After blessing those present the Holy Father left the chapel to meet with representatives of the diplomatic corps to the Holy See who were accompanied by the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

  Over the years, the Pope noted, the embassy has been visited by three pontiffs: Pius XII, Paul VI, and John Paul II. "The singular attention shown by the pontiffs for this diplomatic site", Benedict XVI affirmed, "would be sufficient to indicate the recognition of the important role that the Italian embassy has and continues to carry out in the intense and unique relations between the Holy See and the Italian Republic, as in the relations of mutual collaboration between the Church and the State in Italy".

  The Holy Father then referred to the Lateran Treaty that regulates the relationship between both institutions in Italy and whose 80th anniversary will be celebrated this coming 11 February.  "It is a very important and meaningful accord in the current world situation in which conflicts and tension among the peoples make it ever more necessary for all those who share the same ideals of justice, solidarity, and peace to work together".

  "This brief visit allows me to reaffirm that the Church is very aware that the distinction between what belongs to Caesar and what belongs to God, that is to say, the distinction between State and Church, is a part of the fundamental structure of Christianity. ... This distinction and autonomy are respected and recognized by the Church which is happy with them, considering them a great progress for humanity and a fundamental condition for its freedom and for fulfilling its universal mission of salvation among the peoples".

  "At the same time", he concluded, "the Church feels the duty, following the dictates of her social doctrine founded 'on the basis of what is in accord with the nature of every human being', of reawakening moral and spiritual forces in society, helping to make the will receptive to the demands of what is good. This is why, when the Church recalls the value that fundamental ethical principles have, not just for private but also and above all public life, she is in fact contributing to the guarantee and promotion of the dignity of the person and the well-being of society and in this sense fulfils the true and proper co-operation that is sought between State and Church".

  On finishing his visit the Pope returned to the Vatican shortly after 12:15.
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UNITED STATES CARDINAL AVERY DULLES DIES

VATICAN CITY, 13 DEC 2008, (VIS) - Benedict XVI sent a telegram to Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop of New York, USA, on hearing that the United States Jesuit Cardinal Avery Dulles had died yesterday. He was 90 years old.

  The Holy father asked Cardinal Egan to convey his condolences "to his family, his confreres in the Society of Jesus, and to the academic community of Fordham University", where Fr. Dulles taught.

  "I join you in commending the late cardinal's noble soul to God, the Father of Mercies, with immense gratitude for the deep learning, serene judgment and unfailing love of the Lord and His Church which marked his entire priestly ministry and his long years of teaching and theological research".

  "At the same time I pray that his convincing personal testimony to the harmony of faith and reason will continue to bear fruit for the conversion of minds and hearts and the progress of the Gospel for many years to come".
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