His Excellency Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, Substitute of the Secretariat of State, will confer Pontifical Honors upon several persons associated with the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations and the Path to Peace Foundation at a ceremony on 20 June 2002.

Those to be invested in the Order of Saint Gregory the Great are: Dr. Alfonso Andria (Italy); Dr. Jude T. Barbera (New York); Dr. Ugo Carpinelli (Italy); Mr. Shim Wai Lew (New York); Mrs. Amelia Massimi (New Jersey); Mrs. Berta McCann (New York); Mr. Daniel Meehan (Wisconsin); Mrs. Claire Mulholland (New Jersey); Mr. Sho Okagawa (New York); Dr. Augusto Strianese (Italy); and Mr. Francesco Totino (New Jersey).

Five of the sixteen honorees are being promoted in the Order: Mrs. Florence D’Urso ( New York); Mrs. Frederick Massimi ( New Jersey); Mr. Martin J. Moran (New York); Mrs. Mary Therese Moran ( New York); and Mr. E. Lisk Wyckoff (New York).

The ceremony, which will take place at 5:00 P.M. at the Church of Our Savior, Park Avenue and 38^th Street in New York City, will include the investiture or the promotion of sixteen men and women, three from Italy and thirteen from the United States, in the Order of Saint Gregory the Great. This Papal Honor was instituted by Pope Gregory XVI in 1831 after his holy predecessor, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, and is most frequently bestowed as a special mark of favor of the Holy See upon persons who diligently serve the Church on the local level.

New York, June 19, 2002

[01027-02.01] [Original text: English]