OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 11 JUL 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Richard John Grecco, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Toronto, Canada, as bishop of Charlottetown (area 5,660, population 142,300, Catholics 65,253, priests 54, permanent deacons 1, religious 116), Canada. He succeeds Bishop Joseph Vernon Fougere, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- Appointed Bishop Lewis Zeigler of Gbarnga, Liberia, as coadjutor archbishop of the archdiocese of Monrovia (area 15,971, population 1,822,000, Catholics 139,515, priests 37, religious 51), Liberia. The archbishop-elect was born in Harrisburg, Liberia in 1944, he was ordained a priest in 1974 and consecrated a bishop in 2002.

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SOLUTIONS TO HUMAN PROBLEMS CANNOT BE MERELY TECHNICAL

VATICAN CITY, 12 JUL 2009 (VIS) - Benedict XVI dedicated his remarks prior to the recital of the Angelus at midday today to the recent G8 summit meeting, held in the Italian city of L'Aquila "so harshly tried by the earthquake", and to the publication of his third Encyclical "Caritas in veritate".

The Pope recalled how some of the themes on the G8 agenda were "dramatically urgent" because "there are social inequalities and structural injustices in the world that can no longer be tolerated and which require, apart from immediate interventions, a co-ordinated strategy to seek lasting global solutions.

"During the summit meeting the G8 heads of State and government reiterated the necessary of reaching shared agreements in order to ensure a better future for humankind", he added. "The Church has no technical solutions to offer but, expert in humanity, she offers everyone Sacred Scripture's teaching of the truth about man, and announces the Gospel of love and of justice".

In this context the Holy Father referred to his own recent Encyclical, published shortly before the G8 meeting, in which he speaks of the need for "a new economic project to redesign development in global terms, based on the ethical foundation of responsibility before God and on the human being as creature of God".

"The great Pontiff Paul VI, in his 'Populorum progressio' had already recognised and identified the worldwide reach of the social question. Following the same path, I too felt the need to dedicate 'Caritas in veritate' to this topic, which in our time has become 'a radically anthropological question' in that it implicates the way life itself is conceived, something that biotechnology places increasingly under man's control".

Pope Benedict went on: "The solutions to the current problems of humanity cannot be merely technical, they must take account of all the needs of the person, who has a soul and a body; thus they must take account of the Creator, God. The absolute supremacy of technology, which finds its greatest expression in certain practices that run counter to life, could lead to a grim future for humankind. Acts that do not respect the true dignity of the person, even when they seem to be motivated by a 'choice of love', are in fact the fruit of 'a materialistic and mechanistic understanding of human life' which reduces love without truth to 'an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way'".

Yet, the Holy Father concluded, "however complex the current situation of the world may be, the Church looks to future with hope and reminds Christians that 'announcing Christ is the first and principal factor of development'".

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DIALOGUE TO ACHIEVE TRUE DEMOCRACY IN HONDURAS

VATICAN CITY, 12 JUL 2009 (VIS) - After praying the Angelus this morning the Pope told faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square of the "profound concern" with which he was following recent events in Honduras.

"I would like today to invite you to pray for that dear country so that, by the maternal intercession of Our Lady of Suyapa, the leaders of the nation and all its inhabitants may patiently follow the path of dialogue, mutual understanding and reconciliation.

"This will be possible if, overcoming particularist tendencies, everyone strives to seek the truth and to pursue the common good with tenacity", he added. "This is the condition that will ensure peaceful coexistence and authentic democratic life. To the beloved Honduran people I give assurances of my prayers, and upon them I impart a special apostolic blessing".

Benedict XVI then went on to remind people that tomorrow, Monday, he will be leaving "for a brief period of rest in the mountains. I will travel to Les Combes in Valle d'Aosta, a place made famous by the time my beloved predecessor John Paul II spent there, and one also very close to my heart. In saying 'arrivederci' to St. Peter's Square and to the city of Rome, I invite everyone to accompany me with their prayers.

"Prayer knows no distances or separation. Wherever we are it makes us a single heart and a single soul".

"And on the subject of departures", he concluded, "I take this occasion to reiterate once again eveyrone's obligation to drive carefully and to respect traffic regulations. It is from this that a happy holiday starts!"

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HOLY FATHER BEGINS A BRIEF HOLIDAY IN VALLE D'AOSTA

VATICAN CITY, 13 JUL 2009 (VIS) - At 10.30 a.m. today, Benedict XVI left Rome by plane and, following an hour-long flight, arrived at Caselle airport in the northern Italian city of Turin. From there he travelled by helicopter to the residence of Les Combes in the region of Valle d'Aosta where he will spend a sixteen-day vacation.

As he did in 2005 and 2006, the Pope will stay in a chalet belonging to the Salesian Order, the same as that in which John Paul II often used to spend his holidays. The building, made of wood and stone, has two floors and is surrounded by a large garden. It stands at an altitude of 1200 meters and has views over Mont Blanc and other mountains on the French-Italian frontier as well as over the Italian-Swiss Alps.

The only two public ceremonies scheduled for the Pope's vacation are on Sunday 19 July and Sunday 26 July. On 19 July he will pray the Angelus at Piazza Ruggia in front of the parish church of Sts. Peter and Solutor at Romano Canavese in the diocese of Ivrea. On 26 July he will pray the Angelus in the residence of Les Combes.

Benedict XVI will stay at Les Combes - located some 20 kilometres from the city of Aosta within the municipality of Introd - until 29 July.

Following his vacation in Valle d'Aosta, the Pope will move to his summer residence of Castelgandolfo, 30 kilometres south of Rome, where he will remain until the end of September.

The Pope's next apostolic trip, the thirteenth since the start of his pontificate, will take him to the Czech Republic from 26 to 28 September.

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PROGRESS IN DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS MEXICO - HOLY SEE

VATICAN CITY, 10 JUL 2009 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican the Holy Father received the Letters of Credence of Hector Federico Ling Altamirano, the new ambassador to the Holy See of Mexico, a nation, said the Pope in his remarks, "whose identity has been forged over the centuries in a fruitful relationship with the message of salvation proclaimed by the Catholic Church".

"Faith in Jesus Christ", he went on, "has engendered a culture in Mexico that provides a specific and complete meaning for life, and a hopeful vision of existence, at the same time setting out a series of fundamental principles for the harmonious development of all society".

The Holy Father made reference to the Fourth World Meeting of Families, held some months ago in Mexico City, indicating how it highlighted "the importance of this institution, which is held in such high esteem by the Mexican people. ... Hence it is of vital consequence that families be given adequate assistance, that homes continue to be schools of mutual respect and understanding, seedbeds of human virtues and a reason for hope in the rest of society".

Benedict XVI also noted "the important progress made over recent years in the good relations between the Holy See and Mexico, in a climate of reciprocal autonomy and healthy collaboration". In this context he mentioned the events organised to commemorate the fifteenth anniversary of the re-establishing of diplomatic relations between the two States, which focused, among other things, on "the correct understanding a true democratic State and its duty to protect and support religious freedom in all aspects of its public and social life".

"The truth is that religious freedom is not just one more right among many others, nor a privilege claimed by the Catholic Church. ... It belongs to the essence of each individual, of each people and each nation". It cannot "be restricted to the mere coexistence of citizens who practice their religion privately, or limited to the free exercise of worship, rather it must ensure that believers have full guarantees of being able to express their religious beliefs, at the same time making their contribution to forging the common good and a just social order in all aspects of life, with no restriction or coercion. In this context the Catholic Church, while she supports and encourages this positive vision of the role of religion in society, does not wish to interfere in the due autonomy of civil institutions".

The Pope praised steps being made in Mexico "to foment a more just and united ordering of society and to overcome the contrasts that continue to afflict the country", among them "such serious questions as violence, drug trafficking, and inequality and poverty which are fertile ground for delinquency".

"It cannot be overemphasised that the right to life must be recognised in all its fullness", Pope Benedict concluded. "In this context I joyfully greet the initiative by which Mexico abolished the death penalty in 2005, and the recent measures adopted by some Mexican states to protect human life from its beginnings. These resolute moves in such a fundamental question should be an emblem of your homeland, one of which it can be justly proud".

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