SYMPOSIUM: CULTURAL CHANGES AT THE DAWN OF THE 21ST CENTURY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 10, 1999 (VIS) - Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, will preside at a symposium on "Cultural Changes and Transcendence at the Dawn of the 21st Century." This will be held in Quebec, Canada, from March 11-14.

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POST-SYNODAL MEETING FOR OCEANIA

VATICAN CITY, MAR 10, 1999 (VIS) - The Council for the Special Assembly for Oceania held its second meeting in the secretariat general of the Synod of Bishops in Rome from March 3 to 5, according to a communique published today. "The meeting's objective," says the communique, "was to work on the various proposals which will be submitted to the Holy Father for the future post-synod apostolic exhortation."

It was presided over by Secretary General Cardinal Jan Schotte, who was joined by 3 cardinals, 5 archbishops, 3 bishops and four synod staff members.

Cardinal Schotte gave an introductory report on the activity of the secretariat since the conclusion of the Oceania synod last fall. A synthesis of the propositions was also presented. The members later worked in two language groups, each of which presented a report in the final session, which included "broad discussion" of these reports.

The third meeting will be held from November 9 to 11, 1999.

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JESUS' RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS FATHER AND THE TRINITARIAN MYSTERY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 10, 1999 (VIS) - At today's general audience held in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke on "Jesus' Relationship With His Father, Revelation of the Trinitarian Mystery."

John Paul II said that the "essential union" between Jesus and the Father not only concerns the activity of the Son "but also that which qualifies his being."

"The Father is He who in the life of the Trinity is the absolute principle, He who has no beginning and from whom divine life emanates." As the Lateran Council states: "It is the Father who generates, the Son who is begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds" from both of them.

Proclaiming that "God is love," St. John offers us a key to understanding "this mystery which infinitely surpasses our intelligence. ... The Son and the Holy Spirit are equal to the Father not as autonomous entities, as if they were three gods, but in that they receive all divine life from the Father, distinct from Him, and from each other in the diversity of the relationships."

Saying that "God is love," added the Holy Father, means that it is the "free and total gift of Himself, to which Christ especially gave witness by his death on the Cross. ... The capacity of loving infinitely, giving Himself without reserve and measure, is for God alone."

This dynamism of the Trinity, concluded the Pope, "is lived by human beings, so that all is directed to the Father, through Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. Thus the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: 'the whole Christian life is a communion with each of the divine persons, without in any way separating them. Everyone who glorifies the Father does so through the Son in the Holy Spirit'."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 10, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the territorial abbey of Saint-Maurice, Switzerland, presented by Bishop Henri Salina of the Canons Regular of the Swiss Congregation of Saint-Maurice, in accordance with Canon 401, paragraph 2, of the Code of Canon Law.

- Erected the diocese of Gwalior (area 33,584, population 5,566,723, Catholics 2,188, priests 27, religious 45), India, taking territory from the diocese of Jhansi, making it suffragan to the Metropolitan church of Bhopal. He also appointed Fr. Joseph Kaithathara as first bishop of Gwalior. The bishop-elect was born in Gothuruth, India, in 1939, was ordained a priest in 1963, and since 1996 has been pastor of St. John's in Gwalior.

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