VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
   YEAR XXIV - N° 71   
   DATE 15-04-2014   
      
   Summary:   
   - TELEGRAM OF CONDOLENCES FOR THE VICTIMS OF VALPARAISO   
   - PRESENTATION OF THE HOLY SEE'S REPORT ON THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE   
   - DURING HOLY WEEK THE POPE WILL DISTRIBUTE POCKET-SIZED GOSPELS IN A ROMAN   
   PRISON   
   - CARDINAL ORLANDO B. QUEVEDO TAKES POSSESSION OF HIS TITULAR CHURCH   
   - AUDIENCES   
   - OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    TELEGRAM OF CONDOLENCES FOR THE VICTIMS OF VALPARAISO   
    Vatican City, 15 April 2014 (VIS) – Yesterday afternoon Cardinal Secretary of   
   State Pietro Parolin, on behalf of the Holy Father, sent a telegram of   
   condolences to Bishop Gonzalo Duarte Garcia de Cortazar of Valparaiso, Chile,   
   for the fire that over the last 48 hours has devastated the nearby forest,   
   spreading to various zones of the city. It has so far claimed twelve victims   
   and over 10,000 people have had to be evacuated from their homes.   
    “Upon hearing the sad news of the fire that is affecting the city of   
   Valparaiso, Pope Francis wishes to express his spiritual closeness to all the   
   inhabitants, raising prayers for the eternal repose of the souls of the   
   victims of this grave disaster, and sharing in the sorrow of those who have   
   lost their homes and property.   
    “Likewise, offering the support of prayer for the efforts of the emergency   
   services, the Holy Father urges the authorities and all the people to stay   
   firm in the face of adversity, so that through the spirit of fraternal   
   solidarity and charity, the necessary help may reach all those affected”.   
    At the end of the telegram Cardinal Parolin asks the bishop to transmit his   
   most heartfelt condolences to the families of the departed and expresses his   
   paternal care for those afflicted.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    PRESENTATION OF THE HOLY SEE'S REPORT ON THE CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE   
    Vatican City, 15 April 2014 (VIS) – The director of the Holy See Press   
   Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., responding to questions from journalists,   
   today declared that next May, the Holy See – along with Cyprus, Lithuania,   
   Guinea, Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Thailand and Uruguay – will present its   
   Initial Report on the Convention Against Torture (CAT) to the relevant   
   Committee.   
    “It is a standard procedure adhered to by all States party to the   
   Convention”, said Fr. Lombardi. “Considering the types of obligations included   
   in the Convention, the Holy See signed the Convention in 2002 exclusively in   
   the name of and on the part of Vatican City State. For this reason, the Holy   
   See continues to fulfil its obligations on the part of Vatican City State and   
   to present periodical reports, in accordance with the procedures set forth in   
   the Convention”.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    DURING HOLY WEEK THE POPE WILL DISTRIBUTE POCKET-SIZED GOSPELS IN A ROMAN   
   PRISON   
    Vatican City, 15 April 2014 (VIS) – Tomorrow, Holy Wednesday, the detainees   
   in the Roman prison of “Regina Coeli” will receive, as an Easter gift from the   
   Pope, 1200 pocket-sized copies of the Gospel .It is the same volume, also   
   containing the Acts of the Apostles, that the Pope handed out to the   
   participants in the Angelus of Sunday 6 April in St. Peter's Square, and to   
   the faithful who on the same day attended Mass celebrated by the Pope in the   
   church of St. Gregory the Great. Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, Almoner of His   
   Holiness, will be responsible for distributing the Gospels during a visit to   
   the prison.   
    On Holy Thursday, 17 April, Archbishop Krajewski will celebrated Mass “In   
   Cena Domini” at the “Isola dell'Amore Fraterno”, a voluntary association   
   founded in 1996 that works to provide preventative measures, solidarity and   
   assistance for detainees, ex-convicts and those who are socially marginalised   
   or estranged from their families.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    CARDINAL ORLANDO B. QUEVEDO TAKES POSSESSION OF HIS TITULAR CHURCH   
    Vatican City, 15 April 2014 (VIS) – The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of   
   the Supreme Pontiff today announced that on Thursday, 24 April, at 6.00 a.m.,   
   Cardinal Orlando B. Quevedo, O.M.I., archbishop of Cotabato, Philippines, will   
   take possession of the title of St. Mary “Regina Mundi” in Torre Spaccata (Via   
   Alessandro Barbosi, 6).   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    AUDIENCES   
    Vatican City, 15 April 2014 (VIS) – Today the Holy Father received in   
   audience:   
    - Bishop Charbel Georges Merhi of the Congregation of Lebanese Maronite   
   Missionaries, emeritus of Buenos Aires.   
    - Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano and secretary of the Council of   
   Cardinals.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
    Vatican City, 15 April 2014 (VIS) – The Holy Father has:   
    - appointed Rev. Acquirino Francis Kibira as bishop of Kasese (area 3,205,   
   population 610,000, Catholics 292,106, priests 39, religious 66), Uganda. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Kigoto-Bulyansungwe, Uganda in 1958, and was ordained   
   a priest in 1984. He studied sacred scriptures at the Pontifical Biblical   
   Institute, Rome, and has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles,   
   including: lecturer at the Katigondo National major seminary, Masaka; head of   
   permanent formation of the clergy; lecturer and dean of studies at St. Paul's   
   National Seminary Kinyamasika, Fort Portal. He is currently rector of the same   
   national seminary. He succeeds Bishop Egidio Nkaijanabwo, whose resignation   
   upon reaching the age limit was accepted by the Holy Father.   
    - appointed Msgr. Peter Kayode Odetoyinbo as bishop of Abeokuta (area 10,562,   
   population 2,570,000, Catholics 70,125, priest 61, religious 40), Nigeria. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1964. He holds a licentiate and a   
   doctorate in history of the Church from the Pontifical Gregorian University,   
   Rome, has served in a number of pastoral and academic roles: lecturer at the   
   minor seminary of the parishes of St. Patrick and St. Ignatius of Loyola;   
   resident priest in St. Mary's Cathedral of Ibadan; priest of the Church of the   
   Assumption at Bodija; lecturer in history of the Church at the Sts. Peter and   
   Paul seminary and the Dominican Institute; president of the Ibadan Diocesan   
   Priests Association and secretary of the Diocesan Priests of All Yorubaland.   
   He is currently vicar general of the archdiocese of Ibadan.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
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   --- MPost/386 v1.21   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS=Meridian MS=bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)