MODENA: NINTH CENTENARY OF THE CATHEDRAL'S CORNERSTONE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 9, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message from the Holy Father to Archbishop Benito Cocchi, abbot of Modena-Nonantola, Italy, and metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province of Emilia, for the celebration today of the ninth centenary of the laying of the cornerstone of Modena's cathedral.

In the Message, dated May 28, the Pope writes that this cathedral, "the 'Mother' church of all the churches in the archdiocese, is the heart and the very image of the Christian community." It houses the tomb of St. Geminian, the fourth century bishop of Modena, the city's patron saint, and "a man of great prayer and piety, invoked for his power over demons and venerated by the people of Modena as the 'servant of the Gospel' and the 'father of faith'."

"May the celebration of this joyous anniversary," John Paul II went on, "inspire in all believers of the ecclesial community of Modena-Nonantola, a deeper awareness of their Christian dignity and of the duties associated with it."

The Pope praises Abbot Cocchi's initiative in promoting a mission for the whole archdiocese in the year 2000. The message concludes: "I hope with all my heart that (this mission) produce abundant fruit, rekindling the evangelization work of Saint Geminian."

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