NEWS ABOUT BENEDICT

In the absence of any Benedict items today that are not related to the Loreto visit,
here for the record are the Papal activities described in Vatican bulletins today:


The Holy Father today received bishops of Laos and Cambodia on ad limina visit.

A number of nominations were announced:
- The Holy Father accepted the resignation of Cardinal Paul Poupard, having reached the age limit,
as President of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and named Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi,
prefect of the Ambrosian Library, to succeed him. Ravasi was also named President of the
Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Assets of the Church and Sacred Archeology, and
has been assiged the titular Seat of Villamagna with the rank of Archbishop.

- The Holy Father also accepted the resignation of Mons. Franco Croci, having reached the age limit,
as Secretary of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See, and named Mons. Vincenzo Di Mauro,
who has been in the Admninistration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, elevating him to bishop, with
titular seat in Arpi.

- Mons. Tommaso Caputo, until now chief of protocol at the Secretariat of State, as Apostolic Nuncio
to Malta and Libya.

- Mons. Edward Joseph Adams, until now Apostolic Nuncio to Zimbabwe, as Apostolic Nuncio to the Philippines.

Not among the nominations is the new appointment for Archishop Piero Marini, predicted yesterday by
journalist Andrea Tornielli.


The Pope sent a message of condolence today to the family of Alessandro Benedetti, 26-year-old
trainee of the Gendarmerie (Police Force) of Vatican City, who shot himself in a bathroom of the police
barracks. He was rushed to the hospital but he died one and a half hours later. (Full story in ODDS AND ENDS).


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Episcopal Ordinations
Set for This Month


VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 4, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will perform his first episcopal ordinations as Pontiff, ordaining later this month a former assistant private secretary of Pope John Paul II and other members of the Roman Curia.

According to reports today in the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire, the Pope will ordain Polish Monsignor Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, recently appointed as the Latin-rite coadjutor bishop of Lviv, Ukraine. The ordination will take place Sept. 29, feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Rafael.

Monsignor Mokrzycki, 46, served from 1996 to 2005 as assistant private secretary to John Paul II, and was present at the Pontiff's death. The secretary returned to his post after the election of Benedict XVI.

Also to be ordained by Benedict XVI will be Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, recently appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Culture and president of the Pontifical Commissions for the Cultural Heritage of the Church and Sacred Archaeology.

Others to be ordained include Monsignor Vincenzo Di Mauro, new secretary of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See; Monsignor Francesco Giovanni Brugnaro, appointed archbishop of Camerino-San Severino Marche; Monsignor Tommaso Caputo, appointed apostolic nuncio to Malta and Libya; and Father Sergio Pagano, prefect of the Vatican Secret Archives.