AUDIENCE: POPE RECALLS HIS APOSTOLIC TRIP TO AMERICA

VATICAN CITY, FEB 10, 1999 (VIS) - In today's general audience John Paul II recalled his recent apostolic trip to Mexico and the United States during which he closed, at the feet of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the Special Assembly for America of the Synod of Bishops.

The American continent received the Gospel five centuries ago, and now "Christian communities of the north, the center, the south and the Caribbean are called to renewal in the faith, to develop an ever greater solidarity. They are invited to collaborate in coordinated pastoral projects."

The Pope asserted that "the Mexicans answered with unmistakable enthusiasm" his call to conversion and to follow Christ. The meeting with representatives from the various generations of this century at Aztec stadium was "an amazing testimony of how faith can unite generations and can respond to the challenges of all stages of life."

"I am overjoyed," he continued, "to have met with a large number of young people in Mexico and the United States. With their enthusiastic participation ... they showed that they wanted to be the protagonists in a new era of courageous testimony, active solidarity and generous commitment at the service of the Gospel."

The Holy Father observed that during his visit "he met American Catholics who were very active and committed to the defense of life and of the family. ... This trip was, in a certain way, a great call for America to welcome the Gospel of life and family, and to repudiate and reject all forms of violence against the person, from the moment of conception until natural death, with intellectual and moral coherence. No to abortion and euthanasia! End the unnecessary recourse to the death penalty! No to racism, and to the exploitation of children, women and indigenous peoples! May there be an end to the arms trade, drug trafficking and the destruction of the environment!"

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AUDIENCE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 10, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, accompanied by Bishop Vincenzo Apicella, auxiliary of Rome for the western pastoral sector, and Fr. Giorgio Alessandrini, pastor of the Parish of St. Fulgentius.

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VATICAN CITY STATE CELEBRATES 70 YEARS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 10, 1999 (VIS) - Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of Vatican City State as a sovereign entity. On that same date in 1929 the Holy See and the Kingdom of Italy signed the Lateran Pacts, thus ending the "Roman Question" which concerned the relationship between the pontiffs and Italy.

Ratified on June 7, 1929 the Pacts were a triple agreement encompassing a political treaty, a financial convention and a concordat regulating Church-State relations. Vatican City was established as a juridic-political reality, Catholicism became the official religion of Italy and a financial indemnity was paid to the Vatican for the expropriation of the Papal States in 1870.

The international character of the Holy See, which is distinct from Vatican City State, was also established. It is the Holy See which is recognized in international law and which carries out diplomatic relations.

In March of 1947, the Lateran Pacts became Article 7 of the Italian Constitution. The concordat was revised in 1984.

A booklet published by the Vatican's Governorate explains that "the entire territory of Vatican City State is placed under the protection of the Hague Convention of May 14, 1954 concerning the safeguard of cultural goods in case of armed conflict. The State is thus recognized - and this is so also in international discipline - as a moral, artistic and cultural patrimony worthy of being respected and protected as a treasure belonging to humanity. In 1954 Vatican City State was registered in the World Heritage List."

Since 1929 the anniversary of the treaty has been marked as a holiday in the 44 hectare (108.5 acre) Vatican City State.

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HOLY SEE ADDRESSES FORUM ON POPULATION, DEVELOPMENT

VATICAN CITY, FEB 10, 1999 (VIS) - A Holy See delegation is participating in an international forum on population and development, now underway in the Hague, in preparation for the special meeting this summer at the United Nations, five years after the U.N. population conference in Cairo. The five-day meeting ends February 12.

Head of delegation Msgr. Frank Dewane of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum" spoke today at the forum's plenary session.

He recalled that at the 1994 Cairo population conference, "for the first time the linkage between population and development was the focus of consideration. All forms of coercion in the implementation of population policies were rejected. The family was recognized as the fundamental unit of society based on marriage and entitled to comprehensive support and protection."

"In the follow-up process," he went on, "the Holy See calls for a priority treatment of issues regarding development and insists on two important components: education and the reduction of poverty. However, the disproportion between the funds allocated for reproductive health and those allocated for the elimination of widespread endemic disease or for education is noted."

Msgr. Dewane stated that "the role of the family ... is strongly reaffirmed by the Holy See," as is its rejection of "an individualistic concept of sexuality." He also reiterated that it is the parents who have the primary responsibility to educate their children "in matters pertaining to sexuality and reproduction."

The head of delegation decried the "present practice of 'emergency contraception' and use of the RU 486 pill," and said: "These abortive practices, camouflaged as means of contraception, are clearly contrary to national legislative systems which grant legal protection and safeguards to life from the moment of conception. ... The Holy See continues to deplore recourse to sterilization by the exertion of various types of pressure on patients or by seeking to disguise this type of intervention."

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