ECUMENICAL CELEBRATION IN HONOR OF ST. BRIDGET

VATICAN CITY, NOV 10, 1999 (VIS) - At 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 13, in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father will preside at the celebration of the first vespers of the 33rd Sunday "per annum", with Dr. Karl Gustav Hammar, Lutheran archbishop of Uppsala, Sweden, Dr. Jukka Paarma, Lutheran archbishop of Turku, Finland, and two Catholic bishops, Anders Arborelius O.C.D., of Stockholm, Sweden, and Czeslaw Kozon of Copenhagen, Denmark.

A communique from the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff states: "This celebration intends to honor St. Bridget of Sweden, recently proclaimed co-patroness of Europe, and highlight her work for and commitment to 'the unity of the faith and the Church,' as recalled by Pope Boniface IX in his Bull of Canonization 'Ab origine mundi' on October 7, 1391.

"The celebration is inspired by the prayer of St. Bridget, which is common to Catholic and Lutheran faithful in Northern Europe: 'Lord, show me Your way and make me happy to follow it,' and seeks, on the eve of the Great Jubilee of the year 2000, to be an important moment of communion on the path to the unity of all believers in Christ."

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