POPE TO VISIT ROME TOWN HALL ON 9 MARCH

VATICAN CITY, 20 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Accepting an invitation from the mayor and local council of Rome, the Holy Father will visit the town hall of that city on Monday 9 March, where he will participate in an extraordinary session of the council dedicated to the theme of "the universal value of Rome, capital of Catholicism and of its values".
OP/VISIT LOCAL AUTHORITIES/ROME            VIS 20090120 (80)

CATALOGUE OF HEBREW MANUSCRIPTS IN THE VATICAN LIBRARY

VATICAN CITY, 20 JAN 2009 (VIS) - A communique made public today announces that at 10 a.m. on 30 January in the conference hall at Via dell'Ospedale 1, Rome, a presentation will take place of a newly-published book entitled "Hebrew Manuscripts in the Vatican Library: Catalogue".

  Among those participating in the event will be Cardinal Raffaele Farina S.D.B., archivist and librarian of Holy Roman Church; Mordechay Lewy, ambassador of Israel to the Holy See; Msgr. Cesare Pasini, prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Library, and Benjamin Richler, former director of the Institute of Microfilmed Hebrew Manuscripts of the Jewish National and University Library.

  According to the communique the book, published by the Vatican Library, represents a significant example of co-operation between the cultural institutions of the Holy See and of Israel. It is a catalogue of all Vatican manuscripts in Hebrew script - a total of around 800 items distributed over eleven collections - edited by the technical staff of the National Library of Israel whose job it is to conserve and study microfilmed Hebrew manuscripts located in various parts of the world.

  The new volume is of particular importance because it comes more than fifty years after the inventory prepared by Umberto Cassuto (Moshe David Cassuto 1883-1951), and is the first catalogue to appear since the "Catalogus" published in the eighteenth-century by Giuseppe Simonio Assemani, "First Custodian" of the Vatican Library.
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SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF PALESTINE AND ISRAEL

VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2009 (VIS) - On 16 January, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations in New York, participated in the tenth emergency special session of the U.N. General Assembly dedicated to: "Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory: draft resolution (A/ES-10/L.21)".

  Speaking English, Archbishop Migliore turned his attention to "the dramatic situation in Gaza and some Israeli cities", expressing his solidarity "with the civilians in those regions who bear the brunt of a cruel conflict". He also highlighted the need "to step up the pace of the joint diplomatic efforts and ensure that urgent humanitarian assistance reaches those in need.

  "The Holy See asks that Security Council resolution 1860, of 8 January, which calls for an immediate and enduring ceasefire as well as for unimpeded humanitarian assistance, be implemented fully", he added. "In the past few days we have witnessed a practical failure from all sides to respect the distinction of civilians from military targets. Within the context of this resolution, we call on all parties to fully abide by the requirements of international humanitarian law, in order to ensure the protection of civilians".

  Over sixty years of coexistence, he went on, Israelis and Palestinians have "witnessed a long succession of conflict, but also of dialogue, including the Madrid meetings, the Oslo Accords, the Wye Memorandum, the peace process of the Quartet, the road map and the Annapolis Conference with their two State solution. Unfortunately, however, the many efforts to establish peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples have so far failed", he noted.

  "The United Nations has the weighty task to get the parties to respect the ceasefire, pave the way to negotiations and agreements between them and ensure humanitarian assistance. In particular, this General Assembly can assist the parties in the conflict to discover new patterns for establishing peace, patterns based on mutual acceptance and co-operation amid diversity".
DELSS/ISRAEL PALESTINE CONFLICT/U.N.:MIGLIORE        VIS 20090119 (340)

CELEBRATIONS FOR THE ANNIVERSARY OF ST. FRUCTUOSUS

VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from the Pope, written in Latin and dated 10 December 2008, in which he appoints Cardinal Julian Herranz, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, as his special envoy to celebrations marking the 1750th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Fructuosus and the deacons St. Augurius and St. Eulogius, known as the proto-martyrs of Tarragona. The event is due to be held in that Spanish city on 24 and 25 January.

  The cardinal will be accompanied on his mission by Msgr. Miquel Barbara Angles, vicar general of the archdiocese of Tarragona and canon of the cathedral, and by Msgr. Joaquim Fortuny Vizcarro, penitentiary canon of the cathedral of Tarragona and diocesan bursar.
BXVI-LETTER/SPECIAL ENVOY/TARRAGONA:HERRANZ    VIS 20090119 (140)

DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS

VATICAN CITY, 17 JAN 2009 (VIS) - Today, during a private audience with Archbishop Angelo Amato S.D.B., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Pope authorised the congregation to promulgate the following decrees:

MIRACLES

 - Servant of God Ciriaco Maria Sancha y Hervas, Spanish cardinal archbishop of Toledo, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Cardinal Sancha (1833-1909).

 - Servant of God Carlo Gnocchi, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the "Pro Juventute" Foundation (1902-1956).

 - Servant of God Bernardo Francisco de Hoyos, Spanish professed priest of the Company of Jesus (1711-1735).

 - Servant of God Raphael Rafiringa (ne Louis), Madagascan professed religious of the Institute of Brothers of Christian Schools (1856-1919).

 - Servant of God Eustachio Kugler, (ne Joseph), German professed religious of the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God (1867-1946).

HEROIC VIRTUES

 - Servant of God Juan de Palafox y Mendoza, Spanish bishop of Osma (1600-1659).

 - Servant of God Robert Spiske, diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters of St. Hedwig (1821-1888).

 - Servant of God Carolina Beltrami, Italian foundress of the Institute of "Immaculatine" Sisters of Alessandria (1869-1932).

 - Servant of God Mary of the Immaculate e Conception Salvat y Romerio (nee Maria Isabella), Spanish superior general of the Institute of Sisters of the Company of the Cross (1926-1998).

 - Servant of God Liberata Ferrarons y Vives, Spanish laywoman of the Third Order of Carmelites (1803-1842).

  In the course of a private audience with Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. on 22 December 2008, the Pope authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate a decree regarding the heroic virtues of Servant of God Jose Tous y Soler, Spanish professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins and founder of the Capuchin sisters of the Mother of the Divine Shepherd (1811-1871).
CSS/DECREES/AMATO                        VIS 20090119 (320)