POPE AND CURIA TO START LENTEN RETREAT ON SUNDAY

VATICAN CITY, FEB 17, 1999 (VIS) - The annual Lenten retreat of the Roman Curia, in the presence of the Holy Father, will start on February 21, the first Sunday of Lent, in the Clementine Hall of the Vatican, and conclude on Saturday morning, February 27. All papal audiences, including the Wednesday general audience, will be suspended during this period.

The retreat will be preached by Bishop Andre-Mutien Leonard of Namur. It will start on Sunday at 6 p.m. with vespers, and there will be two sessions daily, morning and afternoon, which will include prayers, meditation, the rosary, adoration and benediction.

Papal spiritual exercises originated with Pope Pius XI in 1929, following the publication that year of his Encyclical "Mens Nostra," in which he indicated his intention of starting annual retreats with members of the Roman Curia. For a number of years the retreats took place during the first week of Advent; Paul VI changed the date to the first week in Lent. In 1976, the then-Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, preached the spiritual exercises for Paul VI.

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