PAPAL MUSIC CD, "ABBA PATER", SET FOR MARCH 23 RELEASE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 16, 1999 (VIS) - A music CD entitled "Abba Father," featuring Pope John Paul as he prays, chants or delivers homilies to backgrounds of original compositions for orchestra and chorus, will be released by Vatican Radio on March 23, just days before Palm Sunday 1999.

Vatican Radio, Pauline Media and Sony Classical are collaborating on the CD, which includes 11 selections with the Pope's voice in Italian, English, French, Spanish and Latin. The Roman Academy Choir and Pablo Colino's Choir provide the vocal setting for a number of the selections.

Fr. Pasquale Borgomeo, S.J., director general of Vatican Radio, explained that the audio-visual section of Pauline Media approached Vatican Radio, saying that it wished to celebrate in a special way 1999, the third and last year of preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000 and the year dedicated the God the Father. He suggested a CD with the Pope's voice, and outlined the project. Sony Classical was chosen to provide worldwide distribution.

The director general said the inspiration came from Pope John Paul's words at the angelus last November 29, the first Sunday of Advent and the day on which the Bull of Indiction for the Jubilee Year 2000 was read: "This is the year of God the Father. I invite everyone to make a spiritual pilgrimage towards the house of the heavenly Father, who is so rich in mercy; a journey of conversion, undertaken in charity, in sharing with the poor and in dialogue with our neighbors."

The Pope's invitation was the catalyst for the content and title of the CD - Abba and Pater are, respectively, Aramaic and Latin for Father - as well as for the choice of the Holy Father, symbolically the head of a large family, as leader of this spiritual pilgrimage. The idea, said Fr. Borgomeo, "was to have a pastoral dialectic with the people making this pilgrimage to the Father's house, to help them discover along the way, the treasures of our faith such as the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, and the Psalms, all of which are on the CD."

"'Abba Pater'," remarked Fr. Borgomeo, "proposes a pilgrimage that is universal, rather than solitary, a pilgrimage led by the Pope himself, one that is open to all people through a variety of expressions, languages, voices and sounds, a pilgrimage that is interior rather than showy, one that is aimed at searching, praying and meditating on the real meaning of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000."

"Alongside divinely inspired words and ancient, yet always new, spiritual texts that help us rediscover and revitalize our faith in God and our love for humanity," he added, "contemporary music, which draws its inspiration from them, can open up prayerful spaces and prepare our hearts to listen more. With this wish, we send 'Abba Pater' out into the world, ... into a world so tirelessly travelled by the pilgrim Pope, who extends his invitation to all humanity and who embraces all of humanity on the threshold of the Third Millennium."

Vatican Radio's director stressed that, while the messenger, Pope John Paul, is important, what truly matters is the message as we undertake our pilgrimage.

The readings and prayers which the Pope recites were chosen from Vatican Radio's vast archives covering John Paul's 20-year pontificate. For example, the first track, "Seek His Face," comes from the Pope's visit to St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Rome on March 2, 1980. The "Our Father" was recited in St. Peter's Basilica in March 1995. Track Five, "Come, Holy Spirit, Come," contains words from a January 1, 1998 homily. A libretto accompanying the CD explains the text and original setting for each track.

A promotional CD containing five selections was sent to the nuncios around the world who, in turn, gave it to the respective episcopal conferences. Sony will assist the conferences in distribution. An audio sample from the album will shortly be available on Sony's web site.

A press conference to present "Abba Pater" will be held in the Holy See Press Office on March 17. It will be a rare afternoon conference, given the time difference with the United States, with whom a live linkup is scheduled.

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