Vatican City, 29 September 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon Benedict XVI
bid farewell to the staff of the Apostolic Palace of Castelgandolfo where, as
he does every year, he has spent the summer months.
"Everything in this world is transitory", said the Pope. "All things that
begin, even the most positive and beautiful things, inevitably encapsulate
their own conclusion. So it is for the serene and peaceful time I have spent
with you in the
beautiful setting of Castelgandolfo where, once again, I have been able to
breathe a cordial family
Subject: VISnews121001
From: Vatican Information Service - Eng - txt
atmosphere. ... My affectionate greetings go to all the staff and their
families".
The Holy Father went on: "The month of September, which is now behind us,
is always a time for restarting after the summer holidays. For your children
school has opened, for all of you more intense and assiduous work has begun
again. In the Church
too, for many Christian communities throughout the world, what God the Father
gives us is the time of a new pastoral year which begins. Certain significant
events are now upon us: I am thinking of my imminent visit to Loreto by which
I wish to recall
the fiftieth anniversary of Blessed John XXIII's pilgrimage there during which
he entrusted Vatican Council II to the Virgin; I am thinking of the Synod of
Bishops which will reflect on new evangelisation in the world and finally of
the opening - on the
fiftieth anniversary of Vatican Council II - of the Year of Faith which I have
called in order to help all men and women open their hearts and lives to the
Lord Jesus and the Word of salvation.
"Thus to your prayers, dear friends, do I entrust these important ecclesial
events we are called to experience", the Pope added. "May the Virgin Mary, the
Church's Mother and ours, whom we trustingly invoke during the month of
October with the daily
recitation of the Rosary, protect you always", he concluded.
This morning the Holy Father likewise bid farewell to representatives of
the civil and religious authorities of Castelgandolfo. The time spent there,
he told them "has allowed me to enjoy a period of study, prayer and rest. ...
During the summer
Castelgandolfo is transformed into a 'second see' of the Bishop of Rome, which
competes with the 'first' in its capacity to welcome the visitors and pilgrims
who come to pray the Angelus or to attend the Wednesday general audiences".
___________________________________________________________
SOCIAL NETWORKS: PORTALS OF TRUTH AND FAITH; NEW SPACES FOR E
ANGELISATION
Vatican City, 29 September 2012 (VIS) - "One of the most important
challenges facing the task of evangelisation today is that which is emerging
from the digital environment. Pope Benedict XVI calls attention to this
particular topic, in the context
of the Year of Faith, in his choice of theme for the forty-seventh World
Communications Day: 'Social Networks: portals of truth and faith; new spaces
for evangelisation'", reads a communique released today by the Pontifical
Council for Social
Communications.
"The theme suggests a series of important points for reflection. During a
time in which technology has emerged as part of the fabric of connectivity of
human experiences, such as relationships and knowledge, we need to ask: can it
help men and women
meet Christ in faith? It is not enough to find an adequate language, but
rather, it is necessary to learn how to present the Gospel as the answer to
that basic human yearning for meaning and faith, which has already found
expression online", the
English-language communique says.
"Such an approach, which will serve to create a more dynamic and humane
digital world, requires a new way of thinking. It is not simply a question of
how to use the internet as a means of evangelisation, but instead of how to
evangelise in a context
where the lives of people find expression also in the digital arena.
"In particular, we need to be attentive to the emergence and enormous
popularity of social networks, which privilege dialogical and interactive
forms of communication and relationships.
"World Communications Day, the only worldwide celebration called for by
Vatican Council II (Inter Mirifica, 1963), is celebrated in most countries, on
the recommendation of the bishops of the world, on the Sunday before Pentecost
(12 May in 2013).
"The Holy Father’s message for World Communications Day is
traditionally published in conjunction with the Memorial of St. Francis de
Sales, patron of writers (January 24)".
___________________________________________________________
FIRST HEARING IN THE "VATILEAKS" TRIAL
Vatican City, 29 September 2012 (VIS) - At 9.30 a.m. today the Tribunal of
Vatican City State began its first hearing in the trial of Paolo Gabriele and
Claudio Sciarpelletti who are accused, respectively, of aggravated theft and
complicity.
The judicial bench is composed of Giuseppe Dalla Torre, president; Paolo
Papanti-Pelletier, judge, and Venerando Marano, judge.
The promoter of justice of the Tribunal is Nicola Picardi.
The defence lawyers are Cristina Arru for Paolo Gabriele, and Gianluca
Benedetti for Claudio Sciarpelletti.
The accused Gabriele was present at the hearing, the accused Sciarpelletti
was represented by his counsel.
The trial is public and is being followed by a pool of journalists: one
from the "Osservatore Romano" and one from Vatican Radio, as well as eight
others from Italian and foreign media outlets who will take turns in attending
the court hearings.
According to Vatican Radio, at the end of today's sitting Holy See Press
Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. held a brief meeting with the press
during which he summarised the morning's events.
"One important aspect of the first phase", he said, "was the request made
by counsel for Claudio Sciarpelletti to separate the trial against his client
from that against Paolo Gabriele, on the grounds that it was not necessary for
the two cases to be
heard together. The judges accepted his request and therefore the trial
against Sciarpelletti will be dealt with after that against Gabriele.
"Counsel for Paolo Gabriele, Cristina Arru raised a series of objections
before the proceedings began, regarding the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, the
documentation and the evidence thus far presented. Having listened to her
requests, the three
judges retired for approximately one hour and twenty minutes, then emerged to
announce their decision. As I said earlier, they accepted the separation of
Sciarpelletti's trial, decreeing that it should take place after Gabriele's.
They rejected a number
of objections raised by Cristina Arru regarding the jurisdiction of the
Tribunal, the validity of the indictment and other elements, while they
accepted a series of objections relative to the acquisition of statements, for
example those relative to
conversations which that took place in the absence of the defence lawyers, and
other more specific matters".
"In concluding, the president of the Tribunal announced that the trial
would continue with the next hearing, or rather the continuation of this
hearing, at 9 a.m. on 2 October. The first item on the agenda will be the
deposition and cross examination
of Paolo Gabriele, because the accused is the first to speak in the
proceedings. The other witnesses who have been called will then come up to
depose. The president made it known that other sittings may also be held next
week. He spoke of the
possibility of four sittings during the course of the week, the desire being
to expedite the proceedings. Precise forecasts as to the duration and the
conclusion are completely inappropriate because everything obviously depends
on the course of the
debate".
___________________________________________________________
OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS
Vatican City, 1 October 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father:
- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Erfurt,
Germany, presented by Bishop Joachim Wanke, in accordance with canon 401 para.
2 of the Code of Canon Law.
- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Passau,
Germany, presented by Bishop Wilhelm Schraml, upon having reached the age
limit.
- Appointed Msgr. Giampaolo Rizzotti, official of the Congregation for the
Causes of Saints, as bureau chief of the same congregation.
On Saturday 29 September it was made public that he:
- Appointed as members of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace: His
Beatitude Fouad Twal, patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins; Archbishop Pedro
Ricardo Barreto Jimeno S.J. of Huancayo, Peru; Bishop Yves Boivineau of
Annecy, France; Bishop
Michele Pennisi of Piazza Armerina, Italy; Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier,
Germany; Fr. Bonnie Mendes (Pakistan), regional coordinator of Caritas for
Asia and executive director of the Society for Human Development; Rodrigo
Guerra Lopez (Mexico),
director of the Centre for Advanced Social Research; Fayez Georges Nahal
(Egypt), accounting and budget director of the Confederation of African
Football; Juan Somavia (Chile), director general of the International Labour
Organisation; Hania M.
Fedorowicz (Austria), director of formation at the Community Based Conflict
Resolution Institute; Marie-Madeleine Kalala (Democratic Republic of Congo),
lawyer and member of the Panel of the Wise of the African Union; Roza Pati
(U.S.A.),
professor of law and executive director of degree courses in inter-cultural
human rights at the St. Thomas University School of Law in Miami, and
Elizabeth Joyce Villars (Ghana), founder of Camelot Ghana Ltd.
- Appointed as consultors of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace:
Msgr. Peter Klasvogt (Germany), director of the "Kommende" Institute for
Social Studies; Msgr. Martin Schlag (U.S.A.), professor of moral theology at
the Pontifical University
of the Holy Cross; Msgr. Giovanni Manzone (Italy), professor of Church Social
Doctrine and moral theology at the Pontifical Lateran University; Fr. Paolo
Carlotti S.D.B. (Italy), professor of moral theology at the Pontifical
Salesian University;
Lawrence Archibald Honny, president of the justice and peace commission of the
archdiocese of Cape Coast, Ghana; Paul Murray, director of the Catholic
Studies Centre and professor of systematic theology at Durham University,
England; Nicolas Michel,
professor of international law at the Faculty of Jurisprudence of the
University of Geneva, Switzerland; Manfred Spieker, professor of Christian
social sciences at the Institute of Catholic Tehology of the University of
Osnabruck,
Germany, and Takaaki Pio Yasuoka, president of the International Life
Commission (International Catholics Organisation of the Media - ICOM),
Japan.
- Appointed as members of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerant
Peoples, Bishop Alessandro Carmelo Ruffinoni C.S. of Caxias do Sul, Brazil,
and Bishop Vjekoslav Huzjak of Varazdin, Croatia.
- Appointed as consultors of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and
Itinerant Peoples, Msgr. Giancarlo Perego, director general of the "Migrantes"
foundation of the Italian Episcopal Conference, and Msgr. Giacomo Martini,
coordinator of the
"Migrantes" office of the archdiocese of Genoa, Italy.
- Appointed Bishop Franco Agostinelli of Grosseto, Italy, as bishop of
Prato (area 290, population 206,800, Catholics 191,000, priests 144, permanent
deacons 19, religious 284), Italy. He succeeds Bishop Gastone Simoni, whose
resignation from the
pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having
reached the age limit.
- Appointed Msgr. Massimo Camisasca F.S.C.B., superior general of the
Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, as bishop of Reggio Emilia - Guastalla
(area 2,394, population 576,283, Catholics 508,364, priests 308, permanent
deacons 88, religious 378),
Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Milan, Italy in 1946 and ordained a priest
in 1975. Among other roles, he works as a consultor of the Congregation for
the Clergy and of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and
Societies of Apostolic
Life. He succeeds Bishop Adriano Caprioli, whose resignation from the pastoral
care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age
limit.
- Appointed Msgr. Joseph E. Strickland of the clergy of the diocese of
Tyler, U.S.A., delegate of the apostolic administrator of Tyler and chaplain
of the Bishop Gorman Middle and High School, as bishop of Tyler (area 59,472,
population 1,464,000,
Catholics 68,600, priests 97, permanent deacons 88, religious 67). The
bishop-elect was born in Fredericksburg, U.S.A. in 1958 and ordained a priest
in 1985. Among other things, he has served as pastor in various parishes and
worked as defender of the
bond and judicial vicar.
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