POPE "EMBRACES" THE CHURCH'S MISSIONARIES

VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 1999 (VIS) - "In welcoming you," the Holy Father told the national directors and staff members of the Pontifical Missionary Works, whom he received in audience this morning, "I wish to embrace all those who work, pray and suffer for the Church's evangelizing mission."

"I am thinking especially," he added, "of those who, in the midst of difficulties of every type, persevere faithfully where the Spirit has sent them, even to the point, at times, of offering up their lives. Let us thank the Lord for this generous witness of theirs, aware as we are that 'sanguis martyrum, semen christianorum'."

The Pope also recalled that today's meeting "takes place in proximity to the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, the celebration of salvation which the Father has offered to all mankind. It thus comes spontaneously to mind, once again, that 'the mission of Christ the Redeemer, entrusted to the Church, is still far from completion'."

"The theme of your meeting this year," he pointed out, "is 'Missionary Cooperation in the Year 2000: enthusiastic promotion, vocations, personnel, spiritual and material assistance'." He encouraged them in their commitment to promote and form missionaries of the People of God, "a commitment which you already fulfill with great generosity. Among other things, this is shown by the continued increase in your central solidarity fund, made up principally of small contributions from so many people - the 'poor widows' of the Gospel - who offer out of their poverty."

There are four branches of the Pontifical Missionary Works, which come under the jurisdiction of the congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples: Propagation of the Faith, St. Peter Apostle, the Society of the Holy Childhood and the Pontifical Missionary Union.

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AUDIENCE WITH A DELEGATION FROM THE BARCELONA FOOTBALL CLUB

VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 1999 (VIS) - At midday today the Pope received a delegation from the Barcelona Football Club, on the celebration of its centenary.

In his speech John Paul II encouraged the sportsmen to "continue to glorify the world of sport, bringing to it not only the cream of your physical strength ... but also and above all promoting those attitudes that flow from the most noble human virtues: Solidarity, loyalty, correct behavior and respect for others who must be considered as competitors and never as adversaries or rivals. In the same way it is necessary to foster good will, patience, perseverance, equilibrium, moderation, self-control and the spirit of sacrifice; fundamental elements of any sporting commitment and ones that guarantee the athlete success and distinction."

Speaking in Catalan, the Holy Father added: "In this centenary year my hope is that participation in the various tournaments may elevate your spirits to the highest goals. That in this effort towards spiritual and moral growth you may be accompanied always by the maternal protection of the Virgin of Mercy, patron saint of Barcelona, who has welcomed you so often in the past when you offered Her your trophies."
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- His Beatitude Raphael I Bidawid, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, and his entourage.
- Archbishop Luigi Travaglino, apostolic nuncio in Nicaragua.
- Three prelates from the Kenya Episcopal Conference on their "ad limina" visit:
- Archbishop Raphael S. Ndingi Mwana'a Nzeki of Nairobi.
- Archbishop John Njenga of Mombasa.
- Bishop John Christopher Mahon, S.P.S. of Lodwar.
- Archbishop Julian Herranz, Bishop Bruno Bertagna and Fr. Marino Maccarelli, O.S.M. respectively president, secretary and under-secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts.

He is scheduled to meet later this evening with Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., emeritus of Vercelli, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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HOLY FATHER WELCOMES PATRIARCH BIDAWID, IRAQI DELEGATION

VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 1999 (VIS) - The following declaration was made today by Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls on the visit to the Pope by an Iraqi delegation:

"The Pope today received an Iraqi delegation led by His Beatitude Raphael I Bidawid, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans and composed of Mr. Hussein Ismail Hayder, imam of the mosque of Khadum (Shi'ite), Mr. Abdul Latif Hemim Mohammed, president of the Administrative Council of the Iraqi Islamic Bank (Sunni), and Mr. Samer Said Al-Najar of the Ministry of Religious Affairs. The aim of the mission was to pay homage to His Holiness and thank him for the solicitude he shows for the condition of the Iraqi people.

"Following the meeting with the Holy Father, the delegation was received by the Secretary of State (Cardinal Angelo Sodano) and by Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States.

"The meetings also offered the possibility of examining the situation in the country, and allowed the Holy See to reaffirm the necessity that it is, above all, the Iraqi people who should be the center of efforts by the international community to reach a just and definitive solution to the crisis as soon as possible."

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PAPAL TELEGRAM OF CONGRATULATIONS TO ITALIAN PRESIDENT-ELECT

VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 1999 (VIS) - Following is the text of the telegram sent by Pope John Paul II to Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, who was elected yesterday as the tenth president of the Republic of Italy, and who will take office next week:

"I ask Your Excellency to accept my most sincere congratulations upon your election as president of the Republic of Italy, which occurred with such broad consensus in the first round of voting. Cordially wishing you every success in the exalted office of supreme guarantor of national unity, I invoke continuous divine assistance upon you for an enlightened and efficacious action of promoting the common good in line with the authentic civil and Christian values of the Italian people. It is with these sentiments that I send to you and your wife an apostolic blessing that I willingly extend to the whole Italian people."

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OTHER PONTIFIC AL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 14, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father nominated Fr. Joseph Roduit of the Regular Canons of the Swiss Congregation of Saint-Maurice as ordinary abbot of the territorial abbey of Saint-Maurice (area 100, population 6,574, Catholics 5,881, priests 77, religious 147), Switzerland. The abbot-elect was born in Saillon, Switzerland in 1939, was ordained a priest in 1965 and since 1994 he has been master of novices in the same monastery.
On Thursday, May 13, it was made public that the Holy Father appointed Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne, Germany, as his special envoy at the consecration ceremony of the new parish church in Astana, Kazakhstan, which will take place June 25 1999.

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