START OF BEATIFICATION PROCESS FOR SISTER LUCIA

VATICAN CITY, 14 FEB 2008 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique yesterday evening:

  "This evening in the cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided at a Mass marking the third anniversary of the death of Sister Lucia dos Santos. Following the ceremony he announced that the Holy Father Benedict XVI, benevolently accepting a request presented by Bishop Albino Mamede Cleto of Coimbra and shared by many bishops and faithful throughout the world, has waived the five-year waiting period established by canonical norms (art. 9 of "Normae servandae") and granted that, just three years after the death of Sister Lucia (known to the world as one of the three seers of Fatima), the diocesan stage of the cause for her beatification may begin".
OP/BEATIFICATION SISTER LUCIA/SARAIVA        VIS 20080214 (150)

PROMOTING FULL EMPLOYMENT AND DECENT WORK

VATICAN CITY, 14 FEB 2008 (VIS) - On 7 February, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, addressed the 46th session of the Commission for Social Development of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), which was held in New York from 6 to 15 February.

  In his English-language talk, the text of which was made public today, Archbishop Migliore stressed two points: "First, that the lack of full employment and decent work and its associated poverty and social disintegration offend human dignity, and second, that we can only hold the trust of the people if we listen to them and concretely take their needs into account".

  "The Holy See wishes to recall that the compelling needs of the poor have a priority claim on our conscience and on the choices financial leaders make, and as such, it is incumbent upon international fora to provide a platform to the poor because, more often than not, they are left voiceless in the search for solutions to problems that also deeply matter to them".

  The permanent observer expressed the view that "trust, earned rather than given, among all parties is essential in the area of employment". And he concluded: "a lack of mutual trust among parties also means a lack of confidence in the future which, in turn, means the absence of job security. People, especially the young looking for their first job, discover meaning and confidence in the future when they find long-term work with the opportunity for a deserved promotion".
DELSS/EMPLOYMENT/MIGLIORE                VIS 20080214 (270)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 14 FEB 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Archbishop Mario Roberto Cassari, apostolic nuncio to Ivory Coast, as apostolic nuncio to Croatia.

 - Appointed Fr. Jose Francisco Gonzalez Gonzalez, vice rector of the minor seminary of Guadalajara, Mexico, and Fr. Juan Humberto Gutierrez Valencia, canon and rector of the cathedral of Guadalajara, as auxiliaries of the archdiocese of Guadalajara (area 20,827, population 6,773,000, Catholics 6,164,000, priests 1,327, permanent deacons 3, religious 3,349). Bishop-elect Gonzalez was born in Yahualica, Mexico in 1966 and ordained a priest in 1995. Bishop-elect Gutierrez was born in Guadalajara in 1941 and ordained a priest in 1967.

  Ordered the following restructuring to the ecclesiastical circumscriptions of the Latin Church in Slovakia:

 - Erected the metropolitan archdiocese of Bratislava, based in Bratislava, with territory taken from the metropolitan archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava, appointing Bishop Stanislav Zvolensky, auxiliary of Bratislava-Trnava, as metropolitan archbishop of the new archdiocese. The archbishop-elect was born in Trnava in 1958, he was ordained a priest in 1982 and consecrated a bishop in 2004.

 - Erected the archdiocese of Trnava, based in Trnava, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Bratislava, confirming Archbishop Jan Sokol of Bratislava-Trnava, at his own request, as archbishop of Trnava.

 - Erected the new diocese of Zilina, based in Zilina, with territory taken from the dioceses of Nitra and Banska Bystrica, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Bratislava, appointing Bishop Tomas Galis, auxiliary of Banska Bystrica, as first bishop of the new diocese.

 - Ordered the expansion of the diocese of Nitra with nine deaneries from the former archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava, Nitra having ceded nine deaneries to the new diocese of Zilina.
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PRESENTATION OF THE INSTRUCTION "SANCTORUM MATER"

VATICAN CITY, 13 FEB 2008 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office today announced that at 11.30 a.m. on Monday, 18 February, a press conference will be held to present the Instruction of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, "Sanctorum Mater", concerning norms regulating the opening of causes for beatification.

  Participating in the press conference - during which the supplement to the "Index ac status causarum" will also be presented - will be Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., Archbishop Michele Di Ruberto and Msgr. Marcello Bartolucci, respectively president, secretary and under-secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
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TELEGRAM FOR THE DEATH OF FRA' ANDREW BERTIE

VATICAN CITY, 9 FEB 2008 (VIS) - Benedict XVI has sent a telegram of condolence for the death of Fra' Andrew Bertie, prince and grand master of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, who passed away on 7 February at the age of 79.

  In the telegram, addressed to Fra' Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto, ad interim head of the Knights of Malta until the election of a new Grand Master, the Pope expresses his condolences to all members of the Order and highlights "the achievements of this respected man of culture, and the generous commitment he showed in carrying out his exalted role, especially in support of the most needy, as well as his love for the Church and his shining witness to evangelical principles".
TGR/DEATH BERTIE/DALLA TORRE                VIS 20080212 (140)