* Original message posted in: VATICAN.   
   * Crossposted in: IN_CATHOLIC.   
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTY-FIRST YEAR - N. 7   
   ENGLISH   
   WEDNESDAY, 12 JANUARY 2011   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Catherine of Genoa and the Experience of Purgatory   
   - Egyptian Ambassador Received in the Vatican   
   - Papal Message for First Anniversary of Haiti Earthquake   
   - Audiences   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   CATHERINE OF GENOA AND THE EXPERIENCE OF PURGATORY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2011 (VIS) - During this morning's general audience,   
   held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 9,000 faithful, Benedict XVI   
   focused his catechesis on St. Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510), author of two   
   books: "Treatise on Purgatory" and "Dialogues on the Soul and the Body".   
      
     Catherine received a good Christian education in the home before marrying   
   at the age of sixteen, although her married life was not an easy one. At   
   first she led a worldly existence which caused her a profound sense of   
   emptiness and bitterness however, following a unique spiritual experience   
   which made her aware of her own misery and defects and, at the same time, of   
   the goodness of God, she decided to change her life and to begin a journey   
   of purification and mystical communion with the Lord. "The place of her   
   ascent to the mystical heights was the hospital of Pammatone, the largest in   
   Genoa, of which she was director", said the Pope.   
      
     "The period between her conversion and her death was not marked by   
   extraordinary events", said the Holy Father, "but two elements characterised   
   her entire life: on the one hand, mystical experience, profound union with   
   God and, ... on the other, service to others, especially the most needy and   
   abandoned".   
      
     "We must never forget", he went on, "that the more we love God and remain   
   constant in our prayers, the more we will truly manage to love those around   
   us, because in each individual we will see the face of the Lord, Who loves   
   without limit or distinction".   
      
     Benedict XVI then went on to refer to the works of the saint, recalling   
   how, "in her mystical experiences, Catherine never received specific   
   revelations on Purgatory or on the souls being purified there". She did not   
   see Purgatory "as a place of transit in the depths of the earth: it is not   
   an exterior fire, but an interior fire". She did not use the hereafter as a   
   basis "to recount the torments of purgatory and then show the way to   
   purification and conversion; rather, she began from the interior experience   
   of man on his journey towards eternity".   
      
     Thus, for Catherine, "the soul is aware of God's immense love and perfect   
   justice; as a consequence, it suffers for not having responded to that love   
   perfectly, and it is precisely the love of God Himself which purifies the   
   soul from the ravages of sin".   
      
     This mystical saint from Genoa used an image typical of Dionysus the   
   Areopagite: the thread of gold linking the human heart to God, said the   
   Pope. "In this way the heart of man is inundated with the love of God, which   
   becomes his only guide, the only driving force in his life. This situation   
   of elevation towards God and abandonment to His will, as expressed in the   
   image of the thread, is used by Catherine to express the action of divine   
   light on the souls in Purgatory, a light which purifies and raises them   
   towards the splendour of the dazzling rays of God".   
      
     "In their experience of union with God, saints achieve so profound an   
   'understanding' of the divine mysteries, in which love and knowledge almost   
   become one, that they can even help theologians in their studies", said the   
   Pope.   
      
     "St. Catherine's life teaches us that the more we love God and enter into   
   intimate contact with Him through prayer, the more He makes Himself known   
   and enflames our hearts with His love. By writing about Purgatory, the saint   
   reminds us of a fundamental truth of the faith which becomes an invitation   
   for us to pray for the dead, that they may achieve the blessed vision of God   
   in the communion of the saints".   
      
     And Benedict XVI concluded: "The saint's lifelong humble, faithful and   
   generous service in the hospital of Pammatone is a shining ex   
   ample of   
   charity towards everyone, and a special encouragement for women who make a   
   fundamental contribution to society and the Church with their precious   
   efforts, enriched by their sensitivity and the care they show towards the   
   poorest and those most in need".   
   AG/                                                             VIS 20110112   
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   EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR RECEIVED IN THE VATICAN   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2011 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Fr.   
   Federico Lombardi S.J. released the following declaration yesterday evening:   
      
     "This evening Lamia Aly Hamada Mekhemar, the ambassador of the Arab   
   Republic of Egypt to the Holy See, was received in the Vatican by Archbishop   
   Dominique Mamberti, secretary for Relations with States.   
      
     "During the meeting the ambassador, who is to return to Cairo for   
   consultations with the Egyptian foreign ministry, described the concerns of   
   her government at this present difficult time. She was also able to receive   
   information and gather the elements necessary in order to report adequately   
   on the Holy Father's recent remarks concerning, in particular, religious   
   freedom and the protection of Christians in the Middle East.   
      
     "Highlighting how the Holy See shares the emotions of all the people of   
   Egypt, struck by the attack in Alexandria, Archbishop Mamberti gave   
   assurances that the it also fully shares the Egyptian government's concern   
   'to avoid the escalation of religiously motivated conflict and tensions',   
   and appreciates the efforts being made to that end".   
   OP/                                                             VIS 20110112   
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   PAPAL MESSAGE FOR FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF HAITI EARTHQUAKE   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father has written the following   
   Message to mark today's first anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. The   
   Message was read out by Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical   
   Council "Cor Unum", during a commemorative Mass held in Haiti today.   
      
     "In order to mark the first anniversary of the terrible earthquake which   
   struck your country, I join you all, dear Haitians, to assure you of my   
   prayers, particularly for the dead", the Pope writes.   
      
     "I also wish to pronounce a word of hope in the current particularly   
   difficult circumstances. The time has come to rebuild, not only material   
   structures but, and above all, civil, social and religious coexistence. I   
   hope that the Haitian people will become the main actors in their own   
   present and future, also with the support of international aid which has   
   already demonstrated great generosity with economic support and volunteers   
   coming from all parts of the world.   
      
     "I am present among you through Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the   
   Pontifical Council 'Cor Unum'. With his presence and his voice, he brings   
   you my encouragement and affection,. I entrust you to the intercession of   
   Our Lady of Perpetual Help, patroness of Haiti who, I am sure, in heaven, is   
   not indifferent to your prayers. May God bless all Haitians!"   
   MESS/                                                           VIS 20110112   
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   AUDIENCES   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2011 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father   
   received in audience Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne,   
   Germany.   
   AP/                                                                     VIS   
   20110112 (30)   
      
   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 12 JAN 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father:   
      
    - Appointed Archbishop Murilo Sebastiao Ramos Krieger S.C.I. of   
   Florianopolis, Brazil, as metropolitan archbishop of Sao Salvador da Bahia   
   (area 6,241, population 3,879,000, Catholics 2,737,000, priests 295,   
   permanent deacons 78, religious 1,106), Brazil. He succeeds Cardinal Geraldo   
   Majella Agnelo, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same   
   archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.   
      
    - Appointed Bishop Guire Poulard of Les Cayes, Haiti, as archbishop of   
   Port-au-Prince (area 5,500, population 4,044,000, Catholics 2,912,000,   
   priests 284, permanent deacons 2, religious 1,708), Haiti. The   
   archbishop-elect was born in Delatte, Haiti in 1942, he was o   
   rdained a   
   priest in 1972 and consecrated a bishop in 1988.   
      
    - Appointed Msgr. Glandas Marie Erick Toussaint of the clergy of the   
   archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, pastor of the cathedral and director   
   of Caritas in Port-au-Prince, as auxiliary of Port-au-Prince. The   
   bishop-elect was born in Grande Savane in 1965 and ordained a priest in   
   1994.   
   NER:NEA/                                                                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)