Subject: VISnews 110316   
   Organization: VIS - Ufficio Stampa della Santa Sede   
   From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt    
      
   VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE   
      
   TWENTY FIRST YEAR - N. 51   
   ENGLISH   
   WEDNESDAY, 16 MARCH 2011   
      
   SUMMARY:   
      
   - Message for the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unification   
   - Other Pontifical Acts   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   MESSAGE FOR THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITALIAN UNIFICATION   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 16 MAR 2011 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message from the   
   Holy Father addressed to Giorgio Napolitano, president of the Italian   
   Republic, for the 150th anniversary of the political unity of Italy, which   
   falls tomorrow 17 March.   
      
     In the Message, which Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B.   
   delivered to President Napolitano during a visit to the Quirinal Palace this   
   morning, Benedict XVI highlights Christianity's contribution to building   
   Italian identity "through the efforts of the Church and of her educational   
   and care institutions, which established rules of behaviour, institutional   
   structures and social relationships; but also through her vast artistic   
   activity". In this context he also mentions the influence of such saints as   
   Francis of Assisi and Catherine of Siena.   
      
     "For complex historical, cultural and political reasons, the Italian   
   'Risorgimento' has been seen as a movement against the Church, against   
   Catholicism and sometimes even against religion in general", the Holy Father   
   says. However he also mentions the contribution to the formation of the   
   unified State made by Catholic figures such as Gioberti, Rosmini and   
   Manzoni.   
      
     Going on then to refer to the so-called "Roman Question" and "the divisive   
   effects it had on the individual and collective conscience of Italian   
   Catholics", Benedict XVI nonetheless notes that "no conflict took place in   
   society, which was marked by a profound friendship between the civil and   
   ecclesial communities. The national identity of the Italians, so strongly   
   rooted in Catholic traditions, constituted, in effect, the most solid   
   foundation for the political unity that had been achieved".   
      
     "The fundamental contribution of Italian Catholics to the republican   
   Constitution of 1947 is well known", Pope Benedict writes. "This was the   
   starting point for the highly significant involvement of Italian Catholics   
   in politics, ... and in civil society, offering their fundamental   
   contribution to the growth of the country, demonstrating their absolute   
   faithfulness to the State and dedication to the common good, and projecting   
   Italy towards Europe".   
      
     "For her part the Church, thanks also to the broad-ranging freedom she was   
   guaranteed by the Lateran Pacts of 1929, has continued to make an effective   
   contribution to the common good through her institutions and activities. ...   
   The conclusion of an agreement revising the Lateran Pacts, signed on 18   
   February 1984, marked the move to a new stage in relations between the   
   Church and the State of Italy. ... The agreement, which contributed greatly   
   to defining the healthy secularism that characterises the Italian State and   
   its juridical system, highlighted two overriding principles which must   
   regulate relations between the Church and the political community: the   
   separation of spheres and collaboration. ... The Church is aware not only of   
   the contribution she makes to civil society for the common good, but also of   
   what she herself receives from civil society".   
      
     "Contemplating the long course of history", the Pope concludes his Letter,   
   "we must recognise that the Italian nation has always had a sense of the   
   duty, but at the same time the unique privilege, arising from the fact that   
   the See of Peter's Successor, and therefore the centre of Catholicism, is in   
   Italy, in Rome. And the national community has always responded to this   
   awareness by expressing is affectionate closeness, solidarity and assistance   
   towards the Apostolic See, so as to foster its freedom and help create the   
   conditions favourable for the exercise of spiritual ministry in the world by   
   Peter's Successor, who is Bishop of Rome and Primate of Italy".   
   MESS/                                                                   VIS   
   20110316 (580)   
      
   OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 16 MAR 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Thomas A.   
   Daly of the clergy of the archdiocese of San Francisco, U.S.A., director of   
   priestly vocations and president of the Marin Catholic High School in   
   Kentfield, as auxiliary of San Jose in California (area 3,367, population   
   1,837,075, Catholics 667,474, priests 343, permanent deacons 20, religious   
   583), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in San Francisco in 1960 and ordained   
   a priest in 1987.   
   NEA/                                                                    VIS   
   20110316 (80)   
   _____________________________________________   
      
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