THE POLISH SECTION OF VATICAN RADIO COMMEMORATES 60 YEARS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 5, 1999 (VIS) - John Paul II has sent a message to the Polish employees of Vatican Radio congratulating them of the occasion of the 60th anniversary of this service.

"During the sad years of the war and occupation and then during the oppression by the communist regime," the Holy Father wrote, "Vatican Radio was for us not only the only Catholic radio station but also one of the few reliable sources of information about the life of the Church and about the world."

After affirming that he has been using the radio for the last 20 years as successor of Peter, he concluded saying, "We can say that because of radio, the pope is nearer to Poland and Poland is nearer to the pope."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 5, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father received in separate audiences today:

- Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, president of the Administration for the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.
- Archbishop Ubaldo Calabresi, apostolic nuncio in Argentina.
- Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, apostolic nuncio in the United States of America, permanent observer at the Organization of American States.
- Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, apostolic nuncio in Paraguay.
- Archbishop Josef Kowalczyk, apostolic nuncio in Polonia.
- Archbishop Francesco Marchisano, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church and the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology with Fr. Carlo Chenis S.D.B., secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church and prof. Fabrizio Bisconti, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archeology.

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