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The responsibilities of this office, headed by Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo of Spain as Chamberlain or Camerlengo, are to tend to the temporal goods and rights of the Church during the vacancy between the death of one Pope and the election of the next. It corresponds to the Treasury of the Church. The Camerlengo assumes the regency upon the death of a Pope and makes arrangements for the conclave and papal election.
This office dates back to the 11th century and was virtually untouched until 1934 when Pope Pius XI reorganized it. Subsequently Pope Pius XII did the same in 1945, Pope John XXIII in 1962 and Pope Paul VI in 1975.
This office is strictly financial, coordinating and supervising administration of the temporal goods of the Holy See. Bishop Sergio Sebastiani is the current pro-president.
With the scandal of the Vatican Bank in the sixties, Paul VI established this office on August 15, 1967 to monitor finances. It was reorganized by Pope John Paul II and functions redefined in his Motu Proprio Pastor Bonus on June 28, 1988.
The primary responsibilities of this office are to handle the estate of the Apostolic See under the direction of papal delegates acting with ordinary or extraordinary authorization. The President of this office is Italy's Cardinal Lorenzo Antonetti.
This office (APSA) has its origins dating back to Pope Leo XIII in 1878 but it was not fully defined until August 15, 1967 by Paul VI.
Less than a year later Pope John Paul II announced his elevation to the episcopacy on November 19, 1990 and personally ordained him at St. Peter's as the new Archbishop of Vrhbosna which is Sarajevo on the Feast of the Epiphany - January 6, 1991. His appointment made him Sarajevo's sixth Archbishop since Bosnia-Herzegovina was established as a separate country in 1881 after four centuries of being under Turkish rule.
Just over a year as shepherd of the See and new problems broke out in April 1992 as Muslim, Croat and Serb began a war within the Bosnia-Herzegovina borders that resulted in countless lives lost, churches destroyed and desecrated and tens of thousands left homeless. Through all this turmoil, especially when Sarajevo was captured by the Serbs and snipers created a daily threat, Archbishop Puljic never abandoned the needs of his people. He was singled out by the Holy Father in a November 1992 letter to the Yugoslav bishops in which the Pope communicated about the Archbishop of Sarajevo, "When I laid my hands on you on January 6, 1991, to consecrate the pastoral office of the Church of Sarajevo, I never imagined your cross would so soon become so heavy and your chalice so bitter." No matter how heavy his cross nor bitter his daily chalice of hardships and sorrowful news about the fate of his people and their property, he never relented in pressing the importance of remaining faithful to God and He will see His faithful through the tribulations visiting them. Finally, as the new millennium is about to dawn that faith is being rewarded as new churches rise from the ashes and the faith remains stronger than ever in Bosnia.
He was further honored by the Vicar of Christ by being elevated to the Sacred Conclave of Cardinals during the Consistory of November 26, 1994 when he received the titular church of St. Clare in Vigna Clara. Besides his busy duties in Sarajevo he also serves membership in the Roman Curia on the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. Because of his youth - only 54 years old - the Holy See might be grooming him for higher duties within the Curia but it's highly doubtful for his greatest strengths are his pastoral approach to a people greatly in need of his loving touch during this time of recovery and renewal.
1179 A.D.
Cardinal Lando is chosen to be the antipope Innocent III during the legitimate reign of Pope Alexander III. Lando was chosen to succeed the second of three antipopes Callistus III who died a year earlier. Alexander conquered Innocent and confined him to a the Benedictine Abbey of SS. Trinita of La Cava in Salerno for life where he died of old age.
1623 A.D.
Cardinal Maffeo Barberini is chosen as Pope Urban VIII, 235th successor of Peter. He carried out the work on the sacred texts - the Pontifical and the Breviary. Galileo Galilei was condemned during his pontificate. His papacy lasted 21 years.
1932 A.D.
Pope Pius XI issues his 23rd encyclical Acerba animi dealing with the persecution of the Church in Mexico.
1937 A.D.
Pope Pius XI ushers his final encylical - his 30th on the Rosary Ingravescentibus malis.
1963 A.D.
Pope Paul VI reconvenes the Second Vatican Council, opening the second session in Rome.
1967 A.D.
Pope Paul VI calls the first Bishops Synod worldwide that would last for exactly one month.
The meeting brought together 110 delegates from 53 Episcopal Conferences. Its specific objective was to organize activities for pastoral care in universities during the Jubilee of the year 2000. In this connection, two important events will take place during the Holy Year: the World Youth Day, which will, of course, include many university students; and the Jubilee of the University World, which will be held from September 4-10, 2000.
During his audience with delegates involved in pastoral care, John Paul II requested they rediscover the "original vocation" of universities, which at present runs the risk of being blurred by "diffuse and pragmatic tendencies."
The topic of the Congress -- "The University in Favor of a New Humanism," is integrated "in the delicate point of intersection between the dynamics of learning and the Word of the Gospel." The Holy Father referred to it as a new dialogue, destined "to give abundant fruits," because -- as he himself said --, the Gospel "has an idea of the world and man that constantly emits cultural, humanistic and ethical values that can influence the whole vision of life and history."
"Within this perspective, Vatican Council II stated that the Gospel has the force to renew life and culture continually, in order to purify and elevate these. Given the difficulties, there must be no discouragement in face of the insufficiency of one's own forces," the Pontiff cautioned.
"Within the university context, the advent of new learning and new cultural currents is always linked, either directly or indirectly, to the important questions of man on the meaning of his own being and action, on the value of conscience, (and) on the interpretation of liberty," John Paul II said.
Therefore, the "priority" for Catholic intellectuals must be the fostering of "a new vital synthesis between faith and culture."
"Every apostolic action in the university realm must promote youth's, professors' and all those in the academic world's, personal encounter with Christ," the Pope said. To achieve this objective, it is not wise to restrict the horizon "to the boundaries of the university campus," but rather "to encourage and coordinate the different realities in this field."
Specifically, John Paul II hopes that in every university "there will be a chaplain, the authentic heart of university pastoral care," in order to "cultivate an open and frank dialogue with different aspects (in the) university."
At the same time, the Pontiff hopes that initiatives will be launched "at the national level," and that "in collaboration with pastoral organisms of the Episcopal Conferences, the chaplains of each continent will coordinate and reinforce -- through united efforts, the wealth of the multiplicity of local initiatives." ZE99092702
According to the international news agency "Fides," the group included two deacons from Timor, about 30 years old, who were shortly to be ordained priests; a young theology student; two Canossian nuns: Sister Celeste de Carvalho from Timor, and Sister Erminia Cazzaniga from Italy. In addition to the religious, two orphan girls were killed, who were cared for by the Sisters, and a reporter from Timor, who worked for a Japanese newspaper.
Rather than caused by direct hatred against the Church, the violence was committed for "reasons of criminality and desperation: the militiamen who are retreating, feel humiliated and desperate," "Fides" explained. The bodies of the victims were found by a diocesan priest in a reservoir, near the site of the massacre. Bishop Basilio do Nascimento of Baucau, will preside over the funerals tomorrow.
The news has come as a shock, since in the past few days pastoral agents of the Baucau diocese had described the situation as "quite peaceful." Moreover, within the last few hours the local Church had succeeded in obtaining the return of religious to East Timor.
Fr. Joseph Ageng Marawata, responsible for conducting negotiations with general Keki Syahnakri, chief of the Indonesian forces in Timor, had just reached an agreement that provided for the return to East Timor of all religious transferred to West Timor. The army had authorized the move of all the members of religious congregations who wished to go, and organized two flights between September 27 and 28.
At the meeting, general Syahnakri expressed his sympathy to Fr. Marawata over the death of his fellow Jesuit, Fr. Karl Albrecht. The priest had said that those responsible for killing the religious were soldiers of the Indonesian army and not militiamen, as the eyewitnesses heard them speak in Indonesian and not in Tetun. ZE99092708
On September 30, the Vatican will formally unveil the renovated facade of the basilica, at a ceremony attended by the Italian president and members of the international diplomatic corps. Pope John Paul II-- having recently returned from his summer residence in Castel Gandalfo-- will bless the new facade, a choir will perform the Te Deum of Charpentier, and Eurovision will televise the event.
The renovation process has produced a dramatic change in the appearance of the ancient building, and the enormous facade is now resplendent in bright white stone-- quite unlike the darkened stone that can now be found only on postcards and old pictures of St. Peter's.
The Italian petroleum company ENI, which provided $5.4 million for the renovation process, has already issued a statement proclaiming its "satisfaction and pride" with the results. ENI began the process of restoring the white stone in March 1997, aiming to demonstrate that modern technology can solve environmental problems.
In this case, the restoration provided an enormous challenge: the work subsidized by ENI entailed removing the cumulative effect of several centuries of dust, dirt, and chemical pollution on the stone that had originally been used to build St. Peter's early in the 17th century.
The renovation process involved a careful inch-by-inch inspection of the blackened stone, the use of gentle chemicals, washing with jets of compressed water, and the "artificial whitening" of the stone through the use of a new chemical treatment.
The three posters -- each bearing the words Christ, Millennium, 2000 -- were chosen from thousands of designs submitted by Catholic school children from all over Britain. They will be displayed in prominent spots throughout the country.
CWL national president Anne Fox said that with the nation planning weeklong parties over Christmas and the New Year, the league thought their voice should be heard. "We just felt the Christian message was coming through," said Fox. "So we launched a national competition to design the posters."
"We were most encouraged at the response and the ideas that came out. It is encouraging to see that our children really do think about the true meaning of the millennium," she said. "Of course, the newspapers only ever tell us about children who are in trouble. You never ever hear about the really decent kids." The three children who submitted the winning entries each received a cash prize sponsored by CWL and a computer for their schools.
