VATICAN: POPE: PREPARATIONS FOR WELCOME TO GERMANY- OTHER NEWS










Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday arrives in Germany for his third visit to his homeland since becoming Pope. This week’s apostolic journey will be his first State Visit to the country, and will take him to the capital, Berlin.

“It makes me proud to be a host for Pope Benedict XVI,” said Archbishop Rainer-Maria Woelki of Berlin. “In the last weeks, I jumped on the bandwagon of preparations, and experienced so much cheerful anticipation in the communities and facilities, even by those who are really busy with them.”

Unlike his previous visits to Germany, which were to predominantly Catholic areas of the country, this trip takes him to the heartland of Protestant Germany. In the capital itself, even professed Christians are a minority. Archbishop Woelki noted protests have even been planned at the Pope’s arrival.

“I once again invite everyone to listen first to what the Pope has to say, and then to pass judgement,” the Archbishop said. “When Benedict XVI lands in Berlin on September 22, he will be welcomed as the Vatican’s head of state, as well as the highest priest of the Catholic Church. But he also visits Berlin as a great European, and universal intellectual and example of belief. I am convinced that it is worth it to listen to what he has to say, even as a critical mind, even when not everyone agrees with everything.”

source: RADIO VATICANA




POPE IMPOSES THE PALLIUM ON CARDINAL SCOLA

VATICAN CITY, 21 SEP 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo, Benedict XVI imposed the pallium on Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan, Italy. The pallium is an embroidered woollen band worn by metropolitan archbishops as a symbol of their authority and their communion with Rome. The ecclesiastical province of which Cardinal Scola is metropolitan archbishop includes the ten dioceses in the Italian region of Lombardy: Milan,Bergamo, Brescia, Como, Crema, Cremona, Lodi, Mantua, Pavia and Vigevano.

.../ VIS 20110921 (90)

(image source: Radio vaticana)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 21 SEP 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the archdiocese ofIndianapolis, U.S.A., presented by Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein O.S.B., in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

- Appointed Bishop Leonardo Ulrich Steiner O.F.M., prelate of Sao Felix, Brazil and secretary general of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, as auxiliary of Brasilia (area 5,814, population 2,196,000, Catholics 1,507,000, priests 294, permanent deacons 70, religious 652), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born inForquilhinha, Brazil in 1950. He made his religious profession in the order of Friars Minor in 1976 and was ordained a priest in 1978. Following studies in Brazil andRome he worked as a vice pastor and pastor, then as formator, master of novices and professor of philosophy. He was ordained a bishop in 2005.

- Appointed Bishop Giuseppe Versaldi of Alessandria, Italy, as president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. He succeeds Cardinal Velasio De Paolis C.S., whose resignation from the same office the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda of the clergy of the diocese of Astorga,Spain, administrator general of the bishopric of Astorga, secretary of the diocesan council for economic affairs and pastor of thirteen parishes, as secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.

- Appointed Marco Buonocore, head archivist of the Vatican Apostolic Library, as president of the Pontifical Roman Academy of Archaeology.

Comments