MAY OUTER ORDER REFLECT HARMONIOUS INNER ORDER

VATICAN CITY, JAN 14, 1999 (VIS) - The Pope today received supervisors, officials and officers from the Italian Public Security Inspectorate to the Vatican, to whom he expressed his appreciation for the "good work which ... (you) do with a great sense of responsibility."

"My hope is that external order, which you maintain with attentive vigilance, will be the image of harmonious inner order: an order in thoughts, choices and beliefs; an order in direction in life, human ideals, moral and religious commitment, especially in view of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, which requires intense spiritual preparation."

John Paul II said that many pilgrims and tourists will come to Rome during the Jubilee. It will be necessary "to assure them safety and protection ... in collaboration with other security forces at the service of citizens, especially on the occasion of important celebrations scheduled for the basilica and for St. Peter's Square. ... I know that you are suitably organizing yourselves according to the demands of the Holy Year, making a concerted effort with technical means and human resources. For all this, I am deeply grateful."

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