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OAS SECRETARY GENERAL SENDS CONGRATULATIONS TO POPE BENEDICT XVI

  April 19, 2005

The Organization of American States (OAS) Acting Secretary General, Luigi R. Einaudi, today extended congratulations to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on his election as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

He said that the "early choice of Pope Benedict XVI was a sign of hope and unity for a world in need of both".

Recalling the principles on which the OAS is founded to promote progress in the Americas, the Acting Secretary General said that with the assumption of the new Pope, the OAS looks forward to continued fruitful association with the Holy See which began through its Permanent Observer Mission to the Organization in 1978.

Reference: E-073/05