VATICAN : BEATIFICATION OF BURJAN AND OTHER NEWS

VIS REPORTS: BLESSED HILDEGARD BURJAN: MOTHER AND POLITICIAN

VATICAN  CITY, 31 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon in Vienna, Austria, Cardinal  Christoph Schonborn, archbishop of that city, presided at a Mass of  thanksgiving for Sunday's beatification of Hildegard Burjan in the cathedral  of St. Stephen. In his remarks following the Angelus prayer on Sunday,  Benedict XVI had reminded faithful how the new blessed had borne "magnificent  witness to the Gospel".
 (IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO VATICANA)
   A Vatican Radio transmission dedicated to Blessed Hildegard explained that  she was born into a Jewish family 1883 in the then Prussian city of Gorlitz,  and studied philosophy at the University of Zurich. She married and, some time  later following a period of illness, discovered the Christian faith and was  baptised in 1909. She moved to Vienna where she became a member of the  Austrian parliament, dedicating her political activity to serving the Gospel  in support of workers and the oppressed, in keeping with the teachings of  Pope Leo XIII's Encyclical "Rerum novarum".

   In 1912 she founded the Association of Christian Women Home Workers, offering  help to the hungry, creating a support network for families and combating  child labour. In 1919 she founded the Congregation of Sisters of  "Caritas Socialis". In her dedication to the family she also gave  birth to a daughter, against the advice of doctors who recommended an  abortion for health reasons. She thirsted after justice, seeing the Face of  Jesus in the poor and suffering. "We cannot help people with money and  small offerings", she would say, "rather we must give them the  confidence that they are capable of doing something for themselves".

   In his homily yesterday, Cardinal Schonborn noted that Hildegard Burjan is  proof that sanctity is also possible in political life. She "announced  the Gospel through action", he said. "Her beatification comes at a  good time to highlight that action is a core issue. ... Hildegard was a  convincing Christian because, without too many words, she acted. In our own  time we must again learn to understand what it means to be disciples, and to  this end what we need are not theories, but examples of people who speak through  their actions".
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COMMUNIQUE CONCERNING ARTICLE IN  "CORRIERE DELLA SERA"

VATICAN  CITY, 31 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico  Lombardi S.J. today released a communique in response to questions from  journalists about an article published in today's edition of the Italian  newspaper "Corriere dell Sera" entitled "Dalla Congregazione  dei Santi 1.6 milioni al 'Madoff dei Parioli'" (1.6 Million from the  Congregation for the Causes of Saints to the 'Madoff of the Parioli'").  The text of the communique is given below.

   "Fr. Francesco Maria Ricci, who is mentioned in the article, is a  Dominican religious who works on behalf of his order. He does not in any way  belong to the Congregation for the Causes of Saint. It must be made clear  that Postulators are 'clients' of the Congregation, with which they interact  in order to promote the causes they are handling, but they are by no means  part of the Congregation. It is important, then, to highlight the fact that  the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, its prefect Cardinal Amato and its  officials are not involved in any way with the events about which the article  speaks".
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BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR FEBRUARY

VATICAN  CITY, 31 JAN 2012 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for  February is: "That all peoples may have access to water and other  resources needed for daily life".

   His mission intention is: "That the Lord may sustain the efforts of  health workers assisting the sick and elderly in the world's poorest  regions".
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN  CITY, 31 JAN 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 -  Appointed Bishop Francesco Moraglia of La Spezia-Sarzana-Brugnato, Italy, as  patriarch of Venice (area 871, population 375,790, Catholics 372,032, priests  394, permanent deacons 29, religious 755), Italy.

 -  Appointed Bishop Filippo Iannone O. Carm. of Sora-Aquino-Pontecorvo, Italy,  as vice gerent of the diocese of Rome (area 881, population 2,816,706,  Catholics 2,473,000, priests 4,922, permanent deacons 116, religious 27,375),  conferring upon him the dignity of archbishop.

 -  Appointed Msgr. Matteo Maria Zuppi of the clergy of the diocese of Rome,  pastor of the parish of "Santi Simone e Giuda in Torre Angela", and  Msgr. Lorenzo Leuzzi of the clergy of the diocese of Rome, director of the  vicariate of Rome's office for pastoral care in universities, rector of the church  of "San Gregorio Nazianzeno in Montecitorio" and chaplain of the  Italian parliament, as auxiliaries of Rome. Bishop-elect Zuppi was born in  Rome in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1981. He has served in various pastoral  offices within the diocese of Rome Bishop-elect Leuzzi was born in Traini,  Italy in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1984. Before becoming a priest he  qualified as a medical doctor. He has worked in pastoral care in his native  region of Puglia and in Rome, and is author of a number of books.

 -  Appointed Fr. Vincent Harolimana, rector of the St. Pius X Minor Seminary in  the diocese of Nyundo, Rwanda, as bishop of Ruhengeri (area 1,762, population  989,000, Catholics 488,000, priests 57, religious 82), Rwanda. The  bishop-elect was born in Mpembe, Rwanda in 1962 and ordained a priest in  1990. He studied in Rome where he gained a doctorate in dogmatic theology,  and is a visiting professor of that subject at a number of institutions in  Rwanda.

 -  Appointed Msgr. Jozef Hal'ko of the clergy of the archdiocese of Bratislava,  Slovakia, spokesperson for the archbishop and director of pastoral care for  the Hungarian minority, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese (area 3,759,  population 769,768, Catholics 484,749, priests 528, permanent deacons 5,  religious 925). The bishop-elect was born in Bratislava in 1964 and ordained  a priest in 1994. He studied in Rome and has worked as a professor of  ecclesiastical history at the Roman Catholic Theological Faculty of Sts.  Cyril and Methodius in Bratislava.

 -  Accepted the resignation from the office of auxiliary of the archdiocese of  Katowice, Poland, presented by Bishop Gerard Bernacki, in accordance with  canons 411 and 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

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