1975 MARIAN CONGRESS

Pope Paul has chosen Rome as the setting of an international congress devoted to the Blessed Virgin to be held during the 1975 Holy Year.
The international Mariological-Marian Congress will return to Rome for the first time in 20 years. It was last held there during the Marian Year proclaimed by Pope Pius XII in 1954.
The Mariological Congress, described as "strictly scientific in nature," will be held at the Pontifical International Marian Academy, near the Basilica of St Mary Major,' from May 12 to 17, 1975.
Marian scholars will deliver lectures on the theme of "Marian devotion from the 12th to the beginning of the 16th centuries." That will be a logical pursuit of the study of Marian devotion from the two previous congresses.
The Congress in Lisbon in 1967 dwelt on the beginnings of Marian devotion, and the Congress in Zagreb, Yugoslavia, in 1971, studied that devotion from the 6th to the 11th cen • tunics.
The Marian Congress, which promotes devotion to Mary. will study the theme of "The Holy Spirit and Mary" during its sessions from May 18 to 21 at the Marian Academy in Rome.
Vatican Radio commented that Pope Paul had established those dates to "coincide with the Feast of Pentecost," Speaking of the more scientific Mariological Congress, the president of the Marian Academy, Fr Karl° Balic, said over Vatican Radio: "The choice of the site. Rome, was personally made by the Pope, certainly in consideration of the Holy Year and because, about 25 years ago, at the conclusion of the Mariological-Marian Congress, Pope Pius XII proclaimed as a dogma of faith the Assumpti9n of Mary into Heaven."
Fr Balic, a Franciscan, who has headed the Marian Academy for some 30 years, said over Vatican Radio that the 6th to the 12th centuries produced many Marian landmarks: theological writings on the Mother of God and the flourishing of Religious orders, churches and works of art dedicated to her.
Speaking of the relation between the Holy Spirit and Mary, the theme to be developed at the Marian Congress, Fr Balic said that documents of the Second Vatican Council and recent theological finding would deepen devotion to Mary.