OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUN 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Manuel A. Cruz of the clergy of the archdiocese of Newark, U.S.A., archdiocesan director for health pastoral care, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 1,328, population 2,914,000, Catholics 1,357,000, priests 834, permanent deacons 196, religious 1,146). The bishop-elect was born in Havana, Cuba in 1953 and ordained a priest in 1980.

  On Saturday 7 June, it was made public that he appointed:

 - Cardinal Ennio Antonelli, archbishop of Florence, Italy, as president of the Pontifical Council for the Family.

 - Msgr. Aldo Giordano, secretary general of the Council of European Episcopal Conferences (CCEE), as special envoy and permanent observer of the Holy See to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

 - Massimo Bufacchi as director of the Labour Office of the Apostolic See.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUN 2008 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

 - Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, apostolic nuncio to Korea and Mongolia.

 - Five prelates from the Catholic Bishop's Conference of Bangladesh, on their "ad limina" visit:

    - Archbishop Paulinus Costa of Dhaka, accompanied by Auxiliary Bishop Theotonius Gomes C.S.C.

    - Bishop Patrick D'Rozario C.S.C. of Chittagong.

    - Bishop Moses Costa C.S.C. of Dinajpur.

    - Bishop Bejoy Nicephorus D'Cruze O.M.I. of Khulna.

  On Saturday 7 June, he received in separate audiences:

 - Four prelates from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, on their "ad limina" visit:

    - Bishop Paul Tan Chee Ing S.J. of Melaka-Johor, Malaysia, accompanied by Bishop emeritus James Chan Soon Cheong.

    - Bishop Julius Dusin Gitom of Sandakan, Malaysia.

    - Bishop Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, Brunei Darussalam.

 - Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
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PROGRAMME OF PAPAL VISIT TO SANTA MARIA LEUCA AND BRINDISI

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUN 2008 (VIS) - Made public today was the programme of Benedict XVI's forthcoming pastoral visit to the Italian towns of Santa Maria di Leuca and Brindisi, due to take place on 14 and 15 June.

  At 3.30 p.m. on Saturday 14 June the Holy Father will depart from Rome's Ciampino airport, landing an hour later at the Fortunato Cesari military airfield in Galatina. From there he will travel by helicopter to the heliport of Punta Ristola at Santa Maria di Leuca and thence by car to the shrine of Santa Maria 'de finibus terrae".

  At 5.30 p.m. he will celebrate Mass at the shrine and pronounce a homily. He will then return to Punta Ristola to board a helicopter for Brindisi where at 8.30 p.m. he is scheduled to meet with young people. The Holy Father will spend that night at the residence of the archbishop of Brindisi-Ostuni.

  At 9.15 a.m. on Sunday 15 June, the Pope will meet with local Benedictine and Carmelite cloistered nuns in the chapel of the archbishopric. At 10 a.m. he will celebrate Mass and pronounce a homily on the Sant'Apollinare quay of the port of Brindisi. After praying the Angelus, he will return to the archbishop's residence for lunch with bishops of the Puglia region. At 4.45 p.m. he is scheduled to meet with priests in the city cathedral.

  The Pope will begin his return journey to Rome from the airport of Brindisi-Casale at 5.45 p.m. He is scheduled to land at Ciampino an hour later, and from there to travel to the Vatican by car.
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UNITY WITH CHRIST, THE SECRET OF PRIESTLY MINISTRY

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUN 2008 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican, the Pope received students from the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the institution which trains candidates for the Holy See diplomatic service. They were accompanied by Archbishop Beniamino Stella, president of the academy.

  "Apart from the necessary juridical, theological and diplomatic training", the Pope told them, "what is most important is that your lives and activities should reflect a faithful love for Christ and for the Church which arouses in you a friendly pastoral concern towards everyone".

  "Unity with Christ is the secret of authentic success for the ministry of each priest. Whatever work you undertake in the Church, ensure that you always remain His true friends, faithful friends who have met Him and have learned to love Him above all else. Communion with Him, the divine Master of our souls, will ensure you serenity and peace even in the most complex and difficult moments".

  Faced with the danger "of losing the meaning of life", and of "a certain contemporary culture that casts doubt upon any kind of absolute value, even the possibility of recognising truth and goodness", said Pope Benedict, "we must bear witness to the presence of God, a God Who understands man and knows how to speak to his heart".

"You must proclaim - with your lives even before than with your words - the joyful and consoling announcement of the Gospel of love, in places sometimes very far removed from the Christian experience", the Holy Father told his audience. "Announce the Truth that is Christ! May prayer, meditation and listening to the Word of God be your daily bread".

  He went on: "May the celebration of the Eucharist be the core and the focus of your every day and of your entire ministry. ... It is not possible to approach the Lord every day, to pronounce these tremendous moving words, 'this is my Body, this is my Blood', ... to take the Body and Blood of the Lord in our hands, without allowing ourselves to be seized by Him, ... without allowing His infinite love to change us within. May the Eucharist become a school of life for you, in which Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross teaches you to give yourselves totally to your fellow man.

  "In undertaking their mission, pontifical representatives are called to offer to others this testimony of welcome, fruit of their constant union with Christ", he concluded.
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MERCY: SUMMARY OF THE ENTIRE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE

VATICAN CITY, 8 JUN 2008 (VIS) - At midday today, Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study overlooking St. Peter's Square, in order to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered there.

  Quoting a phrase of the Prophet Hosea - "I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" - the Pope said "this is a keyword, one of the words that introduces us into the heart of Holy Scripture".

  "The context in which Jesus makes this phrase His own", the Pope continued, "is the calling of Matthew, who by profession was a publican, in other words a tax collector for the Roman imperial authorities and for that reason considered by the Jews as a public sinner". When Jesus, accompanied by His disciples, went to sit at dinner with Matthew, the Pharisees were scandalised but He told them: 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ... I have come to call not the righteous but sinners'".

  "At this point, Matthew the Evangelist, ever attentive to the link between the Old and New Testaments, puts Hosea's prophecy on Jesus' lips: 'Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy not sacrifice'. The importance of this expression of the prophet is such that the Lord later uses it again in a different context, concerning the observation of the Sabbath. On this occasion too He takes it upon Himself to interpret the precept, revealing Himself as the 'Lord' of legal institutions. Turning to the Pharisees, He adds: 'If you had known what this means - I desire mercy not sacrifice - you would not have condemned the guiltless'".

  "Thus", the Holy Father added, "Jesus, the Word made flesh, has, so to say, 'identified' Himself in this oracle of Hosea. He made it His own with all His heart and carried it out with His actions, even at the cost of upsetting the sensibilities of the leaders of His people. This word of God has come to us, through the Gospels, as one of the summaries of the entire Christian message: true religion consists in loving God and neighbour. This is what gives value to worship and to the practice of precepts".

  After praying the Angelus, the Pope recalled the Polish miners who lost their lives in a recent accident at a mine in Borynia. "I pray for the grace of eternal rest for them", he said, "spiritual comfort for their families, and a speedy recovery for the injured. May merciful God protect us from sudden death!"
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