THE POPE'S DAY, 6/28/08
The Holy Father met today with
- H.E. Aníbal Cavaco Silva, President of Portugal, with Mrs. Cavaco, and a delegation.
- the Hon. Giovanni Alemanno, Mayor of Rome
- H.E. Leonida L. Vera, Ambassador of the Philippines, on a farewell visit.
- His Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, and his delegation. Address in Italian.
This evening, the Holy Father presides at ecumenical Vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul outside the Walls
on the eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, at which he will formally open the Pauline Year.
WITH THE PRESIDENT OF PORTUGAL
The Vatican Press Office released this communique, translated here:
This morning, the Holy Father Benedict XVI granted an audience to the President of the Republic of Portugal, His Excellency Anibal Cavaco Silva, who later met also with Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Secretary of State to His Holiness, and Mons. Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with Other States.
During the cordial conversations, they reviewed various issues of common interest about the current situation in Portugal. Underscoring the good relations between the Catholic Church and Portugal, they dwelt on the actual applications of the 2004 Concordat between the Holy See and Portugal.
The conversations also touched on some aspects of the international scene today, particularly in Europe, and Portugal's commitment in behalf of some African and Asian nations.
WITH THE MAYOR OF ROME
An invitation to address
the City Council of Rome
Translated from the
Italian service of
Among the Holy Father's audiences was one with teh Mayor of Rome,. Gianni Alemanno. During their 45-minute meeting, the mayor invited the Pope to address a special session of the City Council.
Luca Collodi interviewed Alemanno about this shortly before the audience:
MAYOR ALEMANNO: First of all, it is important that this invitation was a bipartisan decision, which included the majority among the opposition party. The order of the day to present the motion was signed by teh party chiefs of the Popolo della Liberta (the party of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi adn Alemanno himself], the Partito Democratico [ex-Mayor Walter Veltroni's party, the major opposition today], Italia dei Valori and all the minor groups from left and right. There were only two votes against it, so it was substantially a unanimous invitation, as obviously this could not simply be a partisan invitation.
[And who, one might ask, were those two opponents?]
Our intention is to listen to the Holy Father and with him, face the universal role of the city of Rome, which derives from its role as the international center of Catholicism. What better opportunity to do that?
[Earlier stories in the Italian media indicated that the invitation to the Pope was a way of making up for the failure of the previous City Council to come to his support about his right to address an academic convocation at La Sapienza University last January.]
Mr. Mayor, how then does the presence of the Church count for a person who is charged with the responsibility of administering a metropolis like Rome?
This is a city that has another state located within its territory, just as we have within us a strong message linked to the identity of a Church that has clear and definite values which are universally valid. That has to be central from many viewpoints.
The Pope has a new Vicar for Rome, Cardinal Vallini. Have you anything to say to him?
Yesterday I telephoned Cardinal Ruini to express my sentiments at his retirement as Vicar, and today I was able to call Cardinal Vallini to extend my filial greetings. I know that his work, like that of Cardinal Ruini's, will be fundamental for the further development of the city.
WITH PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW I
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 28/06/2008 20:10]