POPE MEETS AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER AND KOREAN PRESIDENT

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUL 2009 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique at midday today:

"Today, 9 July, the Holy Father received in audience Kevin Rudd, prime minister of Australia, who subsequently went on to meet with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B.

"During the cordial discussions mention was made of the Holy Father's trip to Sydney in July 2008 for World Youth Day, recollecting the great spirit of collaboration between the ecclesiastical and civil authorities that characterised the organisation of that event. Attention also focused on the current international and regional situation, with reference to both respect for religious liberty and environmental problems".

The Holy See Press Office also released another communique today, concerning the Pope's subsequent meeting with Lee Myung-bak, president of the Republic of Korea:

"The cordial discussions", the text reads, "provided an opportunity for an exchange of ideas on certain themes of common interest, among them the effects of the world economic crisis, especially on the poorest countries, and the political and social situation on the Korean peninsula.

"At a bilateral level, mention was made of the good relations that exist between the Republic of Korea and the Holy See, as well as of ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue, and of co-operation between Church and State in the educational and social fields".

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUL 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUL 2009 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Gerard Coliche of the clergy of the archdiocese of Lille, France, episcopal vicar for the apostolate of the laity and for communications, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 2,288, population 1,600,000, Catholics 1,072,700, priests 572, permanent deacons 65, religious 893). The bishop-elect was born in Beziers, France in 1940 and ordained a priest in 1970.

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CARITAS IN VERITATE: BUILDING A WORLD OF JUSTICE AND PEACE

VATICAN CITY, 8 JUL 2009 (VIS) - In today's general audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke about his third Encyclical "Caritas in veritate", which was officially published yesterday.

The Encyclical, explained the Holy Father, highlights the fact that "charity in truth is the principal driving force behind the authentic development of every person and of all humanity. ... Only with charity, illuminated by reason and by faith, is it possible to pursue development goals that possess a more humane and humanising value".

The document, he went on, "intensifies Church analysis and reflection on social themes of vital interest to humankind in our century. In a special way it harks back to what Paul VI wrote more than forty years ago in his 'Populorum progressio'".

"Caritas in veritate", said Benedict XVI, "does not seek to offer technical solutions to the enormous social problems of the modern world. ...What it does do is recall the fundamental principles that are indispensable for building human development over coming years". Among these principles it highlights "concern for the life of man, seen as the centre of all true progress; respect for the right to religious freedom; ... and the rejection of a Promethean vision of human beings which sees them as the sole architects of their own destiny".

"Upright men and women are needed, both in politics and in the economy, people sincerely concerned for the common good", he said. Referring then specifically to "world emergencies", the Pope spoke of the urgent need to call "public opinion to the drama of hunger and of food security", which "must be faced decisively, eliminating the structural causes which produce it and promoting agricultural development in the poorest countries".

"The economy needs ethics in order to function correctly. It needs to recover the important contribution of the principle of gratuitousness and the 'logic of giving' in the economy and in the market, where profit cannot be the only rule. But this is possible only through commitment on the part of everyone, economists and politicians, producers and consumers, and it presupposes a formation of consciences capable of strengthening moral criteria in the elaboration of political and economic projects".

Another necessity, the Holy Father proceeded, "is for all humankind to practice a different lifestyle, one in which each individual's duties towards the environment are linked to his or her duties towards human beings, considered both in themselves and in relation to others".

Finally, "faced with the vast and profound problems of today's world", he said, "I indicated the need for a world political authority regulated by law, one that observes the principles of subsidiarity and solidarity and is firmly directed towards attaining the common good, while respecting the great moral and religious traditions of humanity".

The Pope asked the faithful to pray that "this Encyclical may help humankind to feel itself to be a single family, committed to creating a world of justice and peace". He also called upon them to pray for "the heads of State and government of the G8 who are currently meeting in L'Aquila, Italy. May this important world summit generate decisions and directives that serve the true progress of all peoples, especially the poorest".

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MOTU PROPRIO ECCLESIAE UNITATEM

VATICAN CITY, 8 JUL 2009 (VIS) - Given below is an English-language translation from the Italian of the Apostolic Letter "Motu Proprio data" of Pope Benedict XVI, "Ecclesiae unitatem". The document concerns the structure of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" which deals with questions involving the Society of Saint Pius X and which as of now becomes dependent upon the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The original text of the Motu Proprio is written in Latin:

1. The duty to safeguard the unity of the Church, with the solicitude to offer everyone help in responding appropriately to this vocation and divine grace, is the particular responsibility of the Successor of the Apostle Peter, who is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of the unity of both bishops and faithful. The supreme and fundamental priority of the Church in all times - to lead mankind to the meeting with God - must be supported by the commitment to achieve a shared witness of faith among all Christians.

2. Faithful to this mandate, following the act of 30 June 1988 by which Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre illicitly conferred episcopal ordination upon four priests, on 2 July 1988 Pope John Paul II of venerable memory established the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" whose task it is "to collaborate with the bishops, with the departments of the Roman Curia and with the circles concerned, for the purpose of facilitating full ecclesial communion of priests, seminarians, religious communities or individuals until now linked in various ways to the Society founded by Msgr. Lefebvre, who may wish to remain united to the Successor Peter in the Catholic Church, while preserving their spiritual and liturgical traditions, in the light of the Protocol signed on 5 May last by Cardinal Ratzinger and Msgr. Lefebvre".

3. In keeping with this, faithfully adhering to that duty to serve the universal communion of the Church, also in her visible manifestation, and making every effort to ensure that those who truly desire unity have the possibility to remain in it or to rediscover it, I decided, with the Motu Proprio "Summorum Pontificum", to expand and update through more precise and detailed norms the general indications already contained in the Motu Proprio "Ecclesia Dei" concerning the possibility of using the 1962"Missale Romanum".

4. In the same spirit, and with the same commitment to favouring the repair of all fractures and divisions within the Church, and to healing a wound that is ever more painfully felt within the ecclesiastical structure, I decided to remit the excommunication of the four bishops illicitly ordained by Msgr. Lefebvre. In making that decision my intention was to remove an impediment that could hinder the opening of a door to dialogue and thus invite the four bishops and the Society of Saint Pius X to rediscover the path to full communion with the Church. As I explained in my Letter to Catholic bishops of 10 March this year, the remission of the excommunication was a measure taken in the field of ecclesiastical discipline, to free individuals from the burden of conscience constituted by the most serious of ecclesiastical penalties. However it is clear that the doctrinal questions remain, and until they are clarified the Society has no canonical status in the Church, and its ministers cannot legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church.

5. Precisely because the problems that now have to be examined with the Society are essentially doctrinal in nature, I have decided - twenty-one years after the Motu Proprio "Ecclesia Dei" and in keeping with what I had intended to do - to reconsider the structure of the Commission "Ecclesia Dei", joining it closely to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

6. The Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" will, then, have the following configuration:

(a) The president of the Commission is the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

(b) The Commission has its own staff, composed of the secretary and officials.

(c) It will be the task of the president, with the assistance of the secretary, to submit the principal cases and questions of a doctrinal nature for study and discernment according to the ordinary requirements of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and to submit the results thereof to the superior dispositions of the Supreme Pontiff.

7. With this decision I wish in particular to show paternal solicitude towards the Society of Saint Pius X, with the aim of rediscovering the full communion of the Church.

To everyone I address a pressing invitation to pray ceaselessly to the Lord, by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, "ut unum sint".

From Rome, at St. Peter's, 2 July 2009, fifth year of Our Pontificate.

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