PAPAL MESSAGE FOR BRAZILIAN CHURCH'S "FRATERNITY CAMPAIGN"

VATICAN CITY, FEB 17, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was the Holy Father's annual video message for the traditional Lenten "Fraternity Campaign," promoted by the Church in Brazil. The theme this year is "Fraternity and Unemployment." The message will be shown this evening on Brazilian television.

The Pope, quoting in part from "Tertio Millennio Adveniente," writes: "We are unmistakably journeying towards e Jubilee of the Year 2000 and, in this perspective, 'it has to be said that a commitment to justice and peace in a world like ours, marked by so many conflicts and intolerable social and economic equalities, is a necessary condition for the preparation and celebration of the Jubilee."

Having cited the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, he adds: "Certainly, to be able to work in the Lord's vineyard is a divine gift from God. This vision of the ultimate possession of the heavenly kingdom reinforces the need to understand the right to work in this world. ... Bread is 'the fruit of the earth and of the work of human hands', but the disconcerting worldwide phenomenon of unemployment and under-employment, must once again call on the conscience of every Christian, in the face of the anguishing question asked by the Fraternity Campaign: Are you without work ... Why?"

Pope John Paul closed his message "with a blessing for all who are listening."

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