OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 7 MAY 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Winona, U.S.A., presented by Bishop Bernard J. Harrington, upon having reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop John M. Quinn.

- Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the diocese of Butuan, Philippines, presented by Bishop Zacharias C. Jimenez, in accordance with canons 411 and 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- Appointed Fr. Lawrence Subrata Howlader C.S.C., master of novices of the Congregation of the Holy Cross in Barisal, as auxiliary of the diocese of Chittagong (area 39,247, population 32,110,000, Catholics 35,238, priests 36, religious 126), Bangladesh. The bishop-elect was born in Noborgram, Bangladesh in 1965 and ordained a priest in 1994.

- Appointed Msgr. Jesus Antonio Lerma Nolasco, vicar general of Tepic, Mexico, as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Mexico (area 1,429, population 8,705,000, Catholics 7,777,583, priests 1,734, permanent deacons 154, religious 7,260), Mexico. The bishop-elect was born in Xalisco, Mexico in 1945 and ordained a priest in 1971.

- Appointed Fr. Cyril Vasil S.J., rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, as Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in Kosice, Slovakia in 1965 and ordained a priest in 1987.
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SWISS GUARD: EXPERIENCING THE UNIVERSALITY OF THE CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, 7 MAY 2009 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Holy Father received the thirty-two new Swiss Guards who were sworn in as members of the corps in a ceremony held yesterday afternoon. The guards were accompanied in their meeting with the Pope by members of their families.

Addressing the new recruits in French, Italian and German, the Pope reminded them that one of their missions is "to watch over the home of the Pope, the Apostolic Palace, ... yet not only over the building itself and its celebrated rooms, but particularly over the people you will meet and to whom you will demonstrate your courtesy and concern: ... over the Pope himself, over the people who live with him, and over his collaborators and guests in the Palace. And your task also touches the life you share with your comrades in arms, who ... have the same duty to serve the Supreme Pontiff 'faithfully, loyally and in good faith' and to give, if necessary, their lives for him".

Turning his attention to the city of Rome, the Pope highlighted its "rich history and culture", at the same time noting how "faith and prayer have over the centuries been transformed into stones and buildings. This is the environment in which we live and that inspires us to take as our model the countless saints who have also lived here, and who help us to progress in our life of faith".

Pope Benedict pointed out that "the centre of the Universal Church" is located in Rome. Here, he continued, "we encounter Christians from all over the globe. The Catholic Church is international. Yet in her multiplicity she is nonetheless one Church, expressing the same confession of faith and tangibly united by her bond to Peter and his Successor, the Pope.

"The Church brings together men and women from very different cultures", he added in conclusion. "They form a community in which people live and believe together and, in the essential things of life, understand once another. This is a very important experience which the Church wishes to pass on to you so that you can make it your own and communicate it to others: the experience that through faith in Jesus Christ and in His love for mankind, even such different worlds can become a single unit, creating bridges of peace and solidarity between peoples".
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POPE RECEIVES THE PRESIDENT OF EL SALVADOR

VATICAN CITY, 7 MAY 2009 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique at midday today:

"This morning, Thursday 7 May, the Holy Father Benedict XVI received in audience Elias Antonio Saca Gonzalez, president of the Republic of El Salvador. The president subsequently went on to meet Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B.

"In the course of the cordial discussions, attention focused on various questions concerning internal issues and the current international situation noting, among other things, the country's commitment to promoting co-operation in the area of trade, to the struggle against organised crime, to the field of education and emigration, and to social promotion.

"Finally, the good relations between Church and State were highlighted, and the hope expressed that they may grow stronger in order to favour spiritual progress, pacification and national development".
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PAPAL GREETINGS TO CATHOLIC DOCTORS, PEOPLE OF HOLY LAND

VATICAN CITY, 6 MAY 2009 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience, the Pope addressed a special greeting to Catholic doctors present among the public. "May your work", he said, "which serves human beings from conception until natural death, always be an eloquent testimony of human and Christian solidarity".

Then, recalling how on Friday he will begin his apostolic trip to the Holy Land, he read out a special English-language message to the people of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories:

"I wish this morning to take the opportunity through this radio and television broadcast to greet all the peoples of those lands. I am eagerly looking forward to being with you and to sharing with you your aspirations and hopes as well as your pains and struggles. I will be coming among you as a pilgrim of peace. My primary intention is to visit the places made holy by the life of Jesus, and, to pray at them for the gift of peace and unity for your families, and all those for whom the Holy Land and the Middle East is home. Among the many religious and civic gatherings which will take place over the course of the week, will be meetings with representatives from the Muslim and Jewish communities with whom great strides have been made in dialogue and cultural exchange. In a special way I warmly greet the Catholics of the region and ask you to join me in praying that the visit will bear much fruit for the spiritual and civic life of all who dwell in the Holy Land. May we all praise God for His goodness. May we all be people of hope. May we all be steadfast in our desire and efforts for peace".
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ST. JOHN DAMASCENE, A LEADING FIGURE OF BYZANTINE THEOLOGY

VATICAN CITY, 6 MAY 2009 (VIS) - In his general audience held this morning in St. Peter's Square, the Pope focused his remarks on St. John Damascene (675-749), "a leading figure in the history of Byzantine theology".

Above all, said Benedict XVI, this saint was "an eye witness to the move from the Greek and Syriac culture shared by the eastern part of the Byzantine Empire, to the novelty of Islam whose military conquests opened a space in the territory today known as the Middle or Near East".

St. John Damascene "was born to a rich Christian family and as a young man held the office ... of economic administrator of the caliphate. Soon, however, dissatisfied with life at court, ... he entered the Monastery of San Saba near Jerusalem around the year 700. ... There he dedicated all his energies to asceticism and writing, not disdaining some pastoral work, of which testimony is to be found in his numerous Homilies. ... Leo XIII proclaimed him a Doctor of the Universal Church in 1890".

The Pope explained how St. John Damascene's fame rests, above all, "on his three 'Discourses against the Iconoclasts' which, following his death, were condemned by the iconoclast Council of Hieria (754)". These Discourses, he went on, represent "the first attempt to legitimise the veneration of sacred images, associating them with the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God in the bosom of the Virgin Mary.

"St. John Damascene", the Holy Father added, "was among the first to make the distinction, in the public and private devotions of Christians, between adoration ('latreia') and veneration ('proskynesis'): the former may only be addressed to God, Who is supremely spiritual, while the latter may use an image to address the person represented in that image".

"It immediately became clear that this distinction was important in order to provide a Christian response to people who insisted that the severe Old Testament ban against the liturgical use of images was universal and perennial. This was a also a subject of great discussion in the Muslim world, which accepts this Hebrew tradition of the complete exclusion of all images from worship. In this context Christians, for their part, discussed the problem and found the justification for the veneration of images".

Benedict XVI went on to highlight how St. John Damascene "remains an important witness of the veneration of icons, which would become one of the most distinctive aspects of Eastern theology and spirituality, even until today. His teaching is part of the tradition of the Universal Church whose sacramental doctrine allows elements taken from nature to become channels of grace, by virtue of the invocation ('epiclesis') of the Holy Spirit, accompanied by the confession of the true faith".

This Syrian saint also admitted "the veneration of the relics of saints, on the basis of the conviction that Christian saints, having been made participants in the resurrection of Christ, may not be simply considered a 'dead'".

Finally, the Pope referred to "the optimism" of St. John Damascene's contemplation of the natural world: the fact that "he saw the good, the beautiful and the true in the visible creation. Such Christian optimism is not ingenuous optimism. It makes allowance for the wound inflicted on human nature by the freedom of choice decreed by God and improperly used by man, with all the consequences of widespread disharmony this has led to. From here arose the need, which the theologian of Damascus saw clearly, for 'nature to be reinforced and renewed' by the descent of the Son of God into the flesh".
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