PRIESTS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO MEET IN HOLY LAND

VATICAN CITY, APR 27, 1999 (VIS) - The Fourth International Meeting of Priests, organized by the Congregation for the Clergy in preparation for the Jubilee Year 2000, will take place in the Holy Land June 22-27, and will welcome priests from throughout the world.

The priests will meet from June 22 to 24 in Nazareth, and from June 25 to 27 in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. There are talks, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, individual confession and personal witnesses scheduled for the first three days. On June 25 and 26, there will be Masses and visits to holy places, and on Sunday, the 27th, there will be a solemn Mass with priestly ordinations.

Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, explains in an interview that these international meetings "are a strong exhortation for all the faithful, who are called to pray for the holiness of priests and for vocations to the priesthood: we cannot speak of the new evangelization without good priests."

Previous international meetings of priests took place in Fatima in 1996, in Yamoussoukro in 1997 and in Guadalupe in 1998.

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CCEE APPEALS FOR END TO CONFLICT IN KOSOVO

VATICAN CITY, APR 27, 1999 (VIS) - Made public yesterday afternoon in Italian, English, French and German was an appeal from the president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE), Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, archbishop of Prague, for an end to the conflict in Kosovo. The CCEE comprises the presidents of the 34 episcopal conferences in Europe.

Following are excerpts from that appeal:

"As President of the Council of Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Europe (CCEE), together with my brother bishops and all Christians, I am following with profound sadness and compassion the fate of the men and women who have been hit by the war in Kosovo and Serbia. Our solidarity is directed particularly to those people who are the victims of forced expulsion and suppression for the mere fact that they are of a specific nationality. Not only are the atrocious acts of violence inflicted on them during their flight a crime, but their very expulsion as such is criminal. We are aware of the struggle of conscience in those responsible among the politicians and military who have decided to use force of arms to defend unarmed people who are exposed to the blind fury of the murderer, to horrendous violence and to the systematic destruction of their homes and their land. All people - of whatever country, race or religious persuasion - have the inalienable right to a home and land."

"The appeals for peace made by those responsible for the Church, beginning with Pope John Paul II, have so far remained unheard. ... We are following with great hope the efforts of the United Nations mediators and leading Russian politicians."

"We insist in our appeal to those implicated in the armed struggle that they should consider everything possible to silence the weapons and prepare the ground for effective talks for peace."

"We thank the governments and citizens of all those countries that have not remained indifferent to the fate of exiles and refugees and have opened their own frontiers, at least for a time. They have given back the chance of a life with some human dignity."

"We feel united with all those, and especially the Muslims, who are suffering, and we invite everyone to pray for a rapid and just solution to the conflict."

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JOHN PAUL II TO BEATIFY PADRE PIO ON MAY 2

VATICAN CITY, APR 27, 1999 (VIS) - On Sunday May 2, at 9:30 a.m., the Holy Father will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Square and will proclaim as Blessed Servant of God Pio da Pietralcina (Francesco Forgione), priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin.

According to a note from the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, the faithful also gathered in St. John Lateran Square in Rome and in the town of San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, opposite the church and convent of the Capuchin Friars, will join those in St. Peter's Square through a video linkup. Padre Pio lived in San Giovanni Rotondo from 1916 until his death in 1968. It was there that he founded the "House for the Relief of Suffering" in 1956.

Before the beatification ceremony in St. Peter's Square there will be a time of preparation, with songs, prayers, and readings of works of the Servant of God. At the end of Mass, the Holy Father will go to St. John Lateran Square, where he will briefly address the faithful present, pray the Regina Coeli and impart the apostolic blessing.

Images of the new Blessed, hanging on the facades of both St. John Lateran and St. Peter's, will be unveiled after the beatification rite and, following that, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar general for Rome, will celebrate Mass at St. John. At the end of Mass there, as the faithful await the arrival of the Holy Father, his earlier homily will be transmitted by television.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 27, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Bishop Jesus E. Catala Ibanez, auxiliary of Valencia, as bishop of Alcala de Henares (area 2,586, population 725,000, Catholics 640,000, priests 184, religious 607), Spain.

- Bishop Francesco Pio Tamburrino of Teggiano-Policastro, Italy, as secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, elevating him to the dignity of archbishop.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, APR 27, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Cardinal Paulos Tzadua, archbishop emeritus of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
- Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, C.S., apostolic nuncio in Ethiopia and Eritrea; apostolic delegate in Djibouti.
- A group of ten prelates from Ethiopia and Eritrea:
- Bishop Kidane-Mariam Teklehaimanot of Adigrat, Ethiopia.
- Bishop Luca Milesi, O.F.M.Cap., of Barentu, Eritrea.
- Bishop Tesfamariam Bedho of Keren, Eritrea.
- Bishop Domenico Crescentino Marinozzi, O.F.M.Cap., apostolic vicar of Soddo-Hosanna, Ethiopia.
- Bishop Yohannes Woldegiorgis, apostolic vicar of Meki, Ethiopia.
- Bishop Woldetensae Ghebreghiorgis, apostolic vicar of Harar, Ethiopia.
- Bishop Lorenzo Ceresoli, M.C.C.I., apostolic vicar of Awasa, Ethiopia.
- Bishop Leonardus Dobbelaar, C.M., apostolic vicar of Nekemte, Ethiopia.
- Bishop Berhane-Yesus Demerew Souraphiel, C.M., "sede vacante" apostolic administrator of Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.
- Fr. Theo van Ruyven C.M., apostolic prefect of Jimma-Bonga, Ethiopia.

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PRESENTATION OF INITIATIVES FOR JUBILEE YEAR 2000

VATICAN CITY, APR 27, 1999 (VIS) - On Friday April 30 at 11:30 a.m. at the Holy See Press Office, there will be a presentation of some initiatives for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. Cardinal Roger Etchegaray and Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, respectively president and secretary of the Central Committee of the Great Jubilee, are among some those scheduled to speak at the press conference.

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