PRAY FOR UNITY AT THE THRESHOLD OF THE JUBILEE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 29, 1999 (VIS) - Today, solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, John Paul II celebrated Mass in the Vatican basilica and imposed the pallium on 37 metropolitan archbishops who were appointed during the course of the last year.

In his homily, the Holy Father indicated that "from the day of Pentecost Peter governed the Church, ensuring its faithfulness to the Gospel and directing its first contacts with the world of the Gentiles. ... Paul, one-time persecutor of the newborn Church, touched by the grace of God on the road to Damascus, became the untiring apostle of the people."

Pope John Paul recalled that on today's feast it is a tradition for Popes to impose the pallium on a group of metropolitan archbishops "as a sign of communion with the See of Peter." Addressing the prelates, he said: "Together with you, I wish to greet the Christian communities entrusted to your pastoral care. Under your judicious guidance, they are called to offer courageous testimony of faith in Christ and in His Gospel."

"Furthermore, the longing for unity between Christians is highlighted by the presence of delegates from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople." To them "I extend my warmest considerations and through them I greet the Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I."

The Holy Father stressed that "the approach of the Jubilee of the year 2000 invites us to pray for unity" and to accompany that prayer with "concrete gestures." He continued: "For this reason, I have requested that the calendar for the year 2000 include, on the eve of the feast of the Transfiguration, as requested by His Holiness Bartholomew I, a day of jubilee prayer and fasting. This initiative will stand as a concrete expression, both of our wish to unite ourselves to the initiatives of our brethren in the Orthodox Churches and, at the same time, of our desire that they join in our (initiatives)."

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