ST. BRIDGET'S LOVE FOR THE CHURCH, AN EMBLEM FOR ALL

VATICAN CITY, NOV 13, 1999 (VIS) - At 6 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, the Pope presided at the celebration of the first vespers of the 33rd Sunday in ordinary time, 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.

Present at this ecumenical celebration, which took place in memory of St. Bridget, co-patroness of Europe, were the Swedish monarchs King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia.

During his homily, John Paul II underlined that St. Bridget's "active love for the Church of Christ and the witness she gave to the Cross, constitute an emblem and inspiration for us all as we cross the threshold of a new millennium."

The Pope recalled that in the ecumenical celebration of 1991, held to mark the sixth centenary of the canonization of St. Bridget, he said: "For more than twenty-five years Catholics and Lutherans have been making every effort to find a common path. ... A common understanding (of the doctrine of justification) will help us, we are certain, to resolve the other controversies that, directly or indirectly, are connected with it."

"Today, thanks to the Lord, that 'common understanding' I hoped for eight years ago has become a promising reality. On October 31, in the city of Augsburg, the joint declaration was solemnly signed. ... This prize of ecumenical dialogue, a milestone on the road towards full and visible unity, is the result of intense research, meetings and prayer. Nonetheless, there still remains a long road ahead of us. ... We must continue to travel together."

At the end of the celebration, in the presence of the king and queen and the bishops of the Scandanvian countries, the Pope blessed a marble statue of St. Bridget which stands in the square of Casa Santa Marta in Vatican City.

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