* Original message posted in: VATICAN.   
   * Crossposted in: IN_CATHOLIC.   
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTIETH YEAR - N. 231   
   ENGLISH   
   WEDNESDAY, 29 DECEMBER 2010   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Catherine of Bologna: Spiritual Weapons against Evil   
   - Special Envoy to Closing of Jubilee Year of Vietnam Church   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   CATHERINE OF BOLOGNA: SPIRITUAL WEAPONS AGAINST EVIL   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 29 DEC 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father dedicated his catechesis   
   during today's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of   
   8,000 people, to St. Catherine of Bologna (1413-1463).   
      
     Born to a noble family in the Italian city of Bologna, at the age of ten   
   she moved to Ferrara where she entered the court of Niccolo III d'Este as a   
   maid of honour. There she received a very careful education which would   
   later serve her during her monastic life when "she used the cultural and   
   artistic knowledge acquired over those years to great advantage", the Pope   
   said.   
      
     In 1427, at the age of fourteen, she left the court to dedicate herself to   
   religious life in a community of young women. Two years later the leader of   
   this group founded an Augustinian convent, but Catherine and a number of   
   others preferred Franciscan spirituality and transformed the community into   
   Poor Clares.   
      
     The saint "made great spiritual progress in this new phase of her life,   
   though she also had to face great trails", the Pope explained. "She   
   experienced the night of the spirit, tormented even by the temptation of   
   disbelief in the Eucharist. After much suffering, the Lord consoled her. In   
   a vision He gave her the clear awareness of the real Eucharistic presence".   
   In another vision God revealed the forgiveness of her sins, giving Catherine   
   a "powerful experience of divine mercy".   
      
     In 1431 the saint had yet another vision, this time of the Final   
   Judgement, which led her "to intensify her prayers and penance for the   
   salvation of sinners. Satan continued to assail her as she increasingly   
   entrusted herself to the Lord and the Virgin Mary. In her writings,   
   Catherine left us essential notes on this mysterious struggle, from which,   
   by the grace of God, she emerged victorious".   
      
     These notes are contained in her one written work, the "Treatise on the   
   Seven Spiritual Weapons" in which Catherine teaches that to combat evil it   
   is necessary: "(1) to be careful always to do good; (2) to believe that we   
   can never achieve anything truly good by ourselves; (3) to trust in God and,   
   for His love, never to fear the battle against evil, either in the world or   
   in ourselves; (4) to meditate frequently on the events and words of Jesus'   
   life, especially His passion and death; (5) to remember that we must die;   
   (6) to keep the benefits of heaven firmly in our minds, (7) to be familiar   
   with Holy Scripture, keeping it in our hearts to guide all our thoughts and   
   actions".   
      
     "In her convent Catherine, though used to the court of Ferrara, ...   
   performed even the most humble tasks with love and ready obedience", said   
   the Holy Father, recalling also that, out of obedience, the saint "accepted   
   the job of mistress of novices, although she felt she was incapable of   
   carrying out the role". In the same spirit she agreed to move to Bologna as   
   abbess of a new monastery though she would have preferred to end her days in   
   Ferrara.   
      
     Catherine died on 9 March 1463 and was canonised by Pope Clement XI in   
   1712. "With her words and life", Benedict XVI concluded, "she strongly   
   invites us always to allow ourselves to be guided by God, to do His will   
   every day even if it does not always correspond to our own plans, and to   
   trust in His Providence which never abandons us. In this perspective, St.   
   Catherine also invites us to rediscover the value of the virtue of   
   obedience".   
   AG/                                                                     VIS   
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   SPECIAL ENVOY TO CLOSING OF JUBILEE YEAR OF VIETNAM CHURCH   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 29 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Made public yesterday afternoon was a   
   Letter from the Pope, written in Latin and dated 21 December, in which he   
   appoints Cardinal Ivan Dias, prefect of t   
   he Congregation for the   
   Evangelisation of Peoples, as his special envoy to the closing celebrations   
   of the Jubilee Year of the Church in Vietnam, called to mark the 350th   
   anniversary of the creation of the first two apostolic vicariates in the   
   country, and the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic   
   hierarchy. The celebrations are due to take place at the Marian shrine of   
   LaVang from 4 to 6 January 2011.   
      
     The cardinal will be accompanied by Fr. Antoine Duong Quynh, chancellor of   
   the archdiocese of Hue, Vietnam, and rector of the cathedral of Phu Cam in   
   Hue; and by Fr. Francois Xavier Vu Phan Long O.F.M., secretary of the   
   biblical commission of the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam.   
   BXVI-LETTER/                                                    VIS 20101229   
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   AUDIENCES   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 29 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Following today's general audience, the   
   Holy Father received Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, apostolic nuncio to   
   India and to Nepal.   
   AP/                                                                     VIS   
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   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 29 DEC 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:   
      
    - As members of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum": Cardinal Peter Kodwo   
   Appiah Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace;   
   Archbishop Douglas Young S.V.D. of Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea; Msgr.   
   Manfred Ertl, currently consultor of the same dicastery; Laurence de la   
   Brosse, president of the "Association Internationale des Charites"; Fr.   
   Simon T. Faddoul, president of Caritas Lebanon; Michael Thio Yauw Beng,   
   president of the "Societe de Saint Vincent de Paul   Conseil General   
   International"; Roberto H. Tarazona Ponte, "Asistente de la Oficina de   
   Asesoria Pastoral de Caritas" in Peru; Henrietta T. de Villa, currently   
   consultor of the same dicastery, and Carlos Augusto de Oliveira Camargo,   
   currently consultor of the same dicastery.   
      
    - As consultors of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum": Fr. Paolo Asolan,   
   professor at the "Redemptor Hominis" Pontifical Institute of Rome's   
   Pontifical Lateran University; Fr. Silverio Nieto Nunez, director of the   
   "Servicio Juridico Civil" of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, and Paolo   
   Luca Beccegato, head of the international unit of Caritas Italy.   
      
    - As members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith: Cardinal   
   Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,   
   and Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting   
   Christian Unity.   
      
    - As members of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches: His Beatitude   
   Cardinal Antonios Naguib, Patriarch of Alexandria of the Copts, Egypt;   
   Cardinal Francesco Monterisi, archpriest of the papal basilica of St. Paul's   
   Outside-the-Walls, and Cardinal Kurt Koch.   
      
    - As members of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of   
   the Sacraments: Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz, archbishop of Warsaw, Poland;   
   Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, archbishop of Colombo, Sri   
   Lanka; Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B.; Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, prefect of   
   the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura; Cardinal Mauro Piacenza,   
   prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, and Cardinal Velasio De Paolis   
   C.S., president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See.   
      
    - As members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints: Cardinal   
   Francesco Monterisi; Cardinal Fortunato Baldelli, penitentiary major of the   
   Apostolic Penitentiary; Cardinal Paolo Sardi, vice chamberlain of Holy Roman   
   Church and patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.   
      
    - As a member of the Congregation for Bishops: Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke.   
      
    - As members of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples:   
   Cardinal Medardo Joseph Mazombwe, archbishop emeritus of Lusaka, Zambia;   
   Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith Patabendige Don, and Cardinal Robert Sarah,   
   president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum".   
      
    - As members of the Congregation for the Clergy: Cardinal Donald William   
   Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, U.S.A., and Cardinal Kazimierz Nycz.   
      
    - As a member of the Cong   
   regation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and   
   Societies of Apostolic Life: Cardinal Paolo Sardi.   
      
    - As a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education: Cardinal Mauro   
   Piacenza.   
      
    - As a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura: Cardinal   
   Velasio De Paolis C.S.   
      
    - As members of the Pontifical Council for the Laity: Cardinal Paolo Romeo   
   of Palermo, Italy; Cardinal Robert Sarah, and Cardinal Paolo Sardi.   
      
    - As members of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity:   
   Cardinal Donald William Wuerl, and Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B.   
      
    - As a member of the presidential committee of the Pontifical Council for   
   the Family: Cardinal Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga, archbishop emeritus Quito,   
   Ecuador.   
      
    - As members of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: Cardinal   
   Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of   
   Congo; Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany,   
   and Cardinal Robert Sarah.   
      
    - As a member of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum": Cardinal Medardo Joseph   
   Mazombwe.   
      
    - As a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants   
   and Itinerant Peoples: His Beatitude Cardinal Antonios Naguib.   
      
    - As members of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts: Cardinal   
   Raymond Leo Burke, and Cardinal Velasio De Paolis C.S.   
      
    - As members of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue:   
   Cardinal Kurt Koch, and Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the   
   Pontifical Council for Culture, of the Pontifical Commission for the   
   Cultural Patrimony of the Church, and of the Pontifical Commission for   
   Sacred Archaeology.   
      
    - As members of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications: Cardinal   
   Raymundo Damasceno Assis, archbishop of Aparecida, Brazil, and Cardinal   
   Mauro Piacenza.   
      
    - As a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation:   
   Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi.   
      
    - As a counsellor of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America: Cardinal   
   Francesco Monterisi.   
      
    - As members of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America: Cardinal Raul   
   Eduardo Vela Chiriboga; Cardinal Paolo Romeo, and Cardinal Raymundo   
   Damasceno Assis.   
      
    - Msgr. Marcello Bartolucci, under secretary of the Congregation for the   
   Causes of Saints, as secretary of the same congregation, at the same time   
   elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in   
   Bastia Umbra, Italy in 1944 and ordained a priest in 1968.   
      
    - Fr. Boguslaw Turek C.S.M.A., bureau chief of the Congregation for the   
   Causes of Saints, as under secretary of the same congregation.   
      
    - Msgr. Celso Morga Iruzubieta of the clergy of the diocese of Calahorra y   
   La Calzada - Logrono, Spain, under secretary of the Congregation for the   
   Clergy, as secretary of the same congregation, at the same time elevating   
   him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in 1948 and   
   ordained a priest in 1972.   
      
    - Msgr. Serge Poitras of the clergy of the diocese of Chicoutimi, Canada,   
   official of the Congregation for Bishops, as adjunct under secretary of the   
   same congregation.   
   NA/                                                                     VIS   
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    - Origin: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede (1:396/3)    
   --- timEd/2 1.10.y2k+   
    * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS-Meridian, MS-bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)