VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXII - # 139
DATE 23-07-2015

Summary:
- The Patriarch of Baghdad awarded the international "La Traglia" prize
- Other Pontifical Acts

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 The Patriarch of Baghdad awarded the international "La Traglia" prize
 Vatican City, 23 July 2015 (VIS) - His Beatitude Louis Raphael I Sako,
Patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Baghdad, Iraq, will receive the
international "La Traglia - Ethnic Groups and Communities" award from the
Italian city of Jelsi on 27 July. The prize, in its eighth edition this year, is
awarded to those who played a distinguished role in the promotion and attention
to tradition, the environment, the defence of human rights and the cultural and
religious identity of small communities and ethnic groups.
 Previous winners include the Sioux-Lakota chief Birgil Kills Straight, Tara
Gandhi, the Dalai Lama and Gino Strada (founder of Emergency). In 2015, a year
after Pope Francis' visit to the Italian region of Molise, where Jelsi is
located, and reflecting his concern over the conflicts in the Middle East, the
organisers of "La Traglia" wished to draw attention to the contemporary
martyrdom of Christians in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Egypt, by presenting the award
to Patriarch Sako, for his commitment to interreligious dialogue in favour of
unity with the other Churches present in Iraq and with the Christians of the
Middle East.

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 Other Pontifical Acts
 Vatican City, 23 July 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father has appointed Fr. John Moon
Hee Jong as auxiliary of the diocese of Suwon (area 5,371, population 7,721,286,
Catholics 825,735, priests 481, religious 1,703), Korea. The bishop-elect was
born in Gyeonggi-do, Korea in 1966 and was ordained a priest in 1994. He holds a
licentiate in liturgy from the St. Anselm Pontifical Athenaeum, Rome, and has
served in a number of pastoral roles in the diocese of Suwon, including parish
vicar, parish priests and spiritual director of the Catholic University (major
seminary). He is currently diocesan director of the department for
evangelisation, lecturer at the major seminary and parish priest.

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