OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 27, 2006 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello S.D.B., auxiliary of Santiago de Chile, as metropolitan archbishop of Concepcion (area 11,330, population 1,164,000, Catholics 606,000, priests 129, permanent deacons 21, religious 295), Chile. The archbishop-elect was born in Campiglia dei Berici, Italy, in 1942, he was ordained a priest in 1970 and consecrated a bishop in 1996. He succeeds Archbishop Antonio Moreno Casamitjana, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

  On Saturday, December 23, it was made public that the Holy Father appointed Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care, as his special envoy to celebrations marking the 15th World Day of the Sick, due to take place in Seoul, Korea, on February 11, 2007.
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IN BRIEF

FOLLOWING THE OIL PIPELINE EXPLOSION ON THE OUTSKIRTS of Lagos, Nigeria, which occurred on December 26 and left hundreds dead, the Pope sent a telegram of condolence, through Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., to Cardinal Anthony Olunbunmi Okogie, archbishop of Lagos.

THE HOLY FATHER SENT A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE to Catholics living in the Middle East, assuring them of his "spiritual closeness," and communicating his hope that this period of the liturgical calendar "may mark an end to, or at least a respite from, so much suffering and give many families the supplementary hope necessary to persevere in the arduous task of promoting peace in a world still so torn and divided." The Pope also expresses the hope that circumstances will enable him to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

THE POPE SENT A MESSAGE, THROUGH CARDINAL SECRETARY OF STATE Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., to young people participating in a European meeting promoted by the Taize Community, being celebrated in Zagreb, Croatia from December 28 2006 to January 1, 2007. "In the land of Croatia, marked in recent years by conflict," reads the Message, "you are a sign of new hope and a demonstration of the fact that the young look forward to a new humanity, founded on the recognition of all people, whatever their nationality or religion."

ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 23, DURING A BRIEF CEREMONY attended by Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., and Camillo Ruini, respectively secretary of State and vicar general for the diocese of Rome, the managing director of Italian State Railways and the mayor of Rome inaugurated two plaques dedicated to Servant of God John Paul II in Rome's central Termini Station. The plaques are 12 meters high and have been placed at the busiest parts of the station building.
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MESSAGE TO POPE FROM PRESIDENT AHMADINEJAD

VATICAN CITY, DEC 27, 2006 (VIS) - Following today's general audience, Benedict XVI received Manouchehr Mottaki and Rahim Mashai, respectively foreign minister and vice president of Iran, who gave the Holy Father a message from the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to a communique from the Holy See Press Office.

  "During the meeting," the communique reads, "the Iranian representatives expressed their best wishes to the Pope, and their satisfaction for 50 years of diplomatic relations between Iran and the Holy See.

  "For his part, the Holy Father also expressed his best wishes and reaffirmed the role the Holy See intends to play for peace in the world, not as a political but as a religious and moral authority, appealing to consciences so that the problems of peoples are always resolved through dialogue, in mutual understanding and in peace."
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GLORY OF GOD IS THE SALVATION OF MAN

VATICAN CITY, DEC 27, 2006 (VIS) - Christmas was once again the theme of the Pope's catechesis during today's general audience, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall.

  "Today's audience is taking place in a Christmas atmosphere pervaded with joy for the birth of the Savior," he began. "The words of John the Evangelist resound in our hearts, ... 'the Word became flesh.' ... God came to dwell among us, He came for us, to stay with us." But "a question traverses these two thousand years of Christian history: Why did He do it? Why did God become man?

  "The song of the angels over the manger in Bethlehem," the Pope proceeded, "helps us to answer this question: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.' ... The term 'glory' indicates the splendor of God which inspires the grateful praise of His creatures. ... 'Peace' summarizes the fullness of the messianic gifts: salvation, ... identified with Christ Himself ... Who is our peace." The reference to the men and women loved by the Lord makes the Christmas message even more explicit, "with the birth of Jesus, God has manifested His love towards everyone."

  "God's glory is expressed, then, in the salvation of man, whom God so loved 'that He gave His only Son.' ... Hence, love is the ultimate reason for the incarnation of Christ." In this context, the Holy Father recalled the words of the theologian H. U. von Balthasar: "God is not primarily absolute power, but absolute love, the sovereignty of which is not expressed in keeping what it has for itself, but in letting it go."

  "The God we contemplate in the manger is God-Love," Pope Benedict concluded. "The announcement of the angels is, for us, also an invitation: 'let there be' Glory to God in the highest, 'let there be' peace on earth among men with whom He is pleased. The only way to glorify God and to build peace in the world consists in the humble and trusting acceptance of the gift of Christmas: love."
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THE POPE REMEMBERS THOSE WHO SUFFER PERSECUTION

VATICAN CITY, DEC 26, 2006 (VIS) - At midday, before praying the Angelus with thousands of people gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope recalled how today is the feast of St. Stephen, deacon and protomartyr.

  At first sight, the fact that the feast of the protomartyr falls the day after Christmas "may leave some people surprised," said the Holy Father, "because of the striking contrast between the peace and joy of Bethlehem and the drama of Stephen, stoned to death in Jerusalem during the first persecution against the nascent Church."

  However, he went on, it must be remembered that "the Baby Jesus lying in the manger ... will save humanity by dying on the cross."

  "In the first four centuries of Christianity, all the saints venerated by the Church were martyrs," said Benedict XVI. "For believers, the day of death - and even more so the day of martyrdom - is not the end of everything but the 'transit' towards eternal life, the day of definitive birth, in Latin 'dies natalis.' ... If Jesus had not been born on earth, mankind would not have been able to be born in heaven. It is precisely because Jesus was born, that we can be 'reborn'."

  The Pope entrusted "those who undergo persecution and suffering in witnessing and serving the Gospel" to the Virgin Mary "who held the Redeemer in her arms in Bethlehem" and after He was removed from the cross.

  "With particular spiritual closeness," he concluded, "I think also of those Catholics who maintain their faithfulness to the See of Peter without giving way to compromise, at times even at the cost of great suffering. All the Church admires their example and prays that they may find the strength to persevere, in the knowledge that their tribulations are a source of victory, even when they may appear as failures."
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