POPE: MY MINISTRY IS TO BE A MISSIONARY

VATICAN CITY, OCT 17, 1999 (VIS) - Today at noon, before reciting the angelus with the large crowd of faithful which had gathered in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul pointed out that next Sunday is World Mission Day, whose theme is "The Father: Source of the Church's Apostolic Commitment."

"As the Father sent the Son, so the Son sent the Church to the ends of the earth," he continued. "She has one mission, one message of salvation, which comes from God and is destined for all of mankind, so that, redeemed from sin, everyone might become a son of God."

The Pope then remarked that he was "thinking of the many missionaries, priests, religious and lay people who, in every corner of the earth, are witnesses to Christ in the midst of numerous difficulties, and who sometimes pay with their blood for fidelity to their mission. May these brothers and sisters of ours never lack the spiritual and material support of our communities."

"World Mission Day," the Holy Father concluded, "asks all believers to be missionaries in their own sphere of life. The duties of the Church are many, but the mission is one. It is with this spirit that I try to exercise the apostolic ministry that Divine Providence entrusted to me on October 16, 1978." He thanked everyone for their best wishes on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of his election to the papacy, and asked that they "continue to accompany me with prayer."

In remarks made following the angelus prayer, John Paul II noted that today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, and he expressed his "spiritual closeness to all who live in conditions of extreme poverty."

He closed his multi-lingual greetings with words of affection for a group of young Albanians, "ambassadors of peace." He then blessed a large bell they had transported to St. Peter's Square, noting that this "bell of peace was made with cartridges gathered in the Albania region of Zadrima, and it will be placed in Tirana's main square on the first day of 2000."

ANG;MISSION SUNDAY;...;...;VIS;19991018;Word: 350;