July 16
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel
Patron Saint of the Carmelite Orders
OR today.
No papal stories in this issue, apart from a couple of routine episcopal nominations.
Page 1 stories; Russia opposes stronger sanctions against Iran; exiled Honduras president
calls on his supporters to revolt; former Liberian President faces the International Court
of Justice in his trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the neighboring country
of Sierra Leone during the 1991-2003 civil war in which he openly supported anti-government
rebels; and an editorial commentary by the director of the Vatican Museum on the initiative
for the great museums of Europe, including the Vatican Museums, to have evening hours to
accommodate local residents only, who feel crowded out of their own museums by the daytime
tourist crowds. The Vatican will try it out on July 24 from 7-11 p.m.
THE POPE IS ON VACATION - DAY 4
But even while the Pope is on vacation, the government of the Church goes on, and today,
the Vatican confirmed a few Curial nominations anticipated earlier by Andrea Tornielli of
Il Giornale. The most important changes are:
- Mons. Carlo Maria Vigano as Secretary of the Vatican Governatorate in place of
- Mons. Renato Boccardo, who has been named Archbishop of Spoleto-Norcia.
- Mons. Peter Brian Wells, till now head of the English section at the Secretariat of State,
to counselor for General Affairs, in place of
- Mons. Gabriele Caccia, who has been named Apostolic Nuncio to Lebanon.
The other nominations involve transferring a few Italian bishops from their present diocese
to another.
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Incidental note: Rorate caeli blog yesterday cited a Spanish site Rumores de Angeles that says Andrea
Tornielli may be named to succeed Fr. Federico Lombardi as the Vatican Press Office director. He would
be very well-qualified and knowledgeable, both as a competent, reliable and objective journalist and as
the author of quite a few authoritative papal biographies (including one on Benedict XVI shortly after
the April 20-05 conclave) and other books on religion.
Pope mourns victims
of Iran plane crash
VATICAN CITY, JULY 16, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI has expressed his condolences about a plane crash in Iran that killed all 168 people on board.
The Pope affirmed this in a telegram sent through his secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, after receiving the news of Wednesday's "great loss of life in the air tragedy over Jannat Abad near Qazvin."
The aircraft, a Russian model Tupolev Tu-154, was traveling from Tehran, Iran, to Yerevan, Armenia's capital, when it caught fire 16 minutes after take-off.
The Caspian Airlines flight dived into a field and exploded, sending wreckage over a 200-yard area.
The Holy Father offered "heartfelt condolences to the civil authorities and the families of the victims."
The English-language telegram, sent to the apostolic nuncio of Iran, Archbishop Jean-Paul Gobel, stated that the Pontiff "prays for the eternal repose of the dead and implores the almighty and merciful God's gifts of comfort and strength on those who mourn the loss of their loved ones."
The majority of the passengers were Iranian, many from the ethnic Armenian community.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 17/07/2009 06:23]