RADIO VATICANA REPORT: Pope Benedict on Friday met individually with several bishops from India, who are in Rome on their ad limina visits. There are 30 ecclesiastical provinces of the Catholic Church in India, including give 5 of the Syro-Malabar rite and 2 of the Syro-Malankara.“The Holy Father has expressed his concern for us, and we represent the Holy Father and his thoughts in our own dioceses,” said Bishop Raphy Manjaly of the Diocese of Varanasi. “We want to convey, and also give people an experience of that compassion of Christ which the Holy Father expresses so often in his writings and his speeches.”
Catholics make up less than 2% of the population in India, but Bishop Manjaly said the Church’s mission extends to the entire country.
“We consider that we are pastors, not only for the few Catholics who are in our dioceses, but we have a flock which comprises the entirety of humanity,” he told Vatican Radio. “So our charity, our concern, or work is for the whole of humanity, and for people without the confines of religion, or caste, or creed. We are meant for all.” source: radio vaticana
TELEGRAMS FOR ACCIDENTS IN ZANZIBAR AND BUENOS AIRES
VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father has sent two telegrams of condolence for separate tragedies of recent days, one in Zanzibar and the other in Argentina. In the case of Zanzibar, where the sinking of a ferryboat led to the deaths of 240 people, a telegram sent in the Pope's name by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. expresses the Holy Father's sadness upon hearing the news of so many human lives lost. The telegram also expresses Benedict XVI's closeness to those affected by the tragedy, especially the relatives of the victims, and gives assurances of his prayers to the Lord asking consolation for those who suffer, and for all the people of Tanzania.
For the second accident, in which a train collided with a bus on the outskirts of the Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires killing eleven people and injuring more than 200, Cardinal Bertone sent a telegram to Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio S.J., archbishop of Buenos Aires. The text reads: "Deeply pained by the sad news of the railway accident in the neighbourhood of Flores, the Supreme Pontiff wishes to send an expression of his closeness and affection, while at the same time praying fervently to God for the eternal repose of the deceased". In closing, Benedict XVI sends his apostolic blessing as a sign of hope in the risen Christ.
TGR/
VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2011 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:
- Archbishop Thomas E. Gullickson, apostolic nuncio to Ukraine.
- Eleven prelates from the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, on their "ad limina" visit:
- Archbishop Albert D'Souza of Agra.
- Archbishop Vincent Michael Concessao of Delhi, accompanied by AuxiliaryBishop Franco Mulakkal.
- Bishop Isidore Fernandes of Allahabad.
- Bishop Anthony Fernandes of Bareilly.
- Bishop Oswald Lewis of Jaipur.
- Bishop Frederick D'Souza of Jhansi.
- Bishop Gerald John Mathias of Lucknow.
- Bishop Francis Kalist of Meerut.
- Bishop Raphy Manjaly of Varanasi.
- Bishop Peter Celestine Elampassery O.F.M. Cap. of Jammu-Srinagar.
AP:AL/
VATICAN CITY, 16 SEP 2011 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:
- Bishop Rudolf Balaz of Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, on 27 July at the age of 70.
- Bishop William Leonard D'Mello of Karwar, India, on 19 July at the age of 80.
- Bishop Henrique Johannpotter O.F.M., emeritus of Bacabal, Brazil, on 19 July at the age of 78.
- Archbishop Georges Kwaiter B.S., emeritus of Saida of the Greek-Melkites,Lebanon, on 26 July at the age of 83.
- Bishop Paul Marchand S.M.M. of Timmins, Canada, on 24 July at the age of 74.
- Bishop Cesare Mazzolari M.C.C.J. of Rumbek, Kenya, on 16 July at the age of 74.
- Archbishop Pedro Claro Meurice Estiu, emeritus of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, on 21 July at the age of 79.
- Bishop Slavomir Miklovs, emeritus of Krizevci, Croatia, on 21 July at the age of 77.
- Archbishop Pietro Sambi, apostolic nuncio to the United States of America, on 27 July at the age of 73.
- Bishop Francis John Spence, emeritus of Kingston, Canada, on 27 July at the age of 85.
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