BEATIFICATION OF DON STEFAN WINCENTY FRELICHOWSKI

VATICAN CITY, JUN 7, 1999 (VIS) - At 6:30 p.m. in a large open area at the airport of Torun, the Pope presided at the rite of beatification for Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski (1913-1945), a Polish priest of the diocese of Pelplin and, following that, led an act of devotion in honor of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

After reading a brief biography of Fr. Stefan, the Holy Father read the formula proclaiming him a Blessed and thereafter the devotions in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus took place.

Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski was ordained a priest in 1937. Two years later he was arrested by the Germans and interred in various concentration camps where he became a point of spiritual reference for all the prisoners. In 1945 he covertly assisted typhus sufferers at Dachau, and contracted the disease himself. He died on February 23 of that year, at just 32 years of age.

In his homily, John Paul II indicated that "the Heart of the Saviour (is) the tangible sign of His invincible love and the inexhaustible source of true peace."

"The Church," he said, "lives ceaselessly by the Gospel of peace. She proclaims it to all peoples and nations. Tirelessly she indicates the paths of peace and reconciliation. She ushers in peace by breaking down the walls of prejudice and hostility between people. She does this first of all through the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation; bringing the grace of divine mercy and forgiveness."

Then, speaking of the new Blessed, the Pope said: "His whole life, in fact, is a kind of mirror reflecting the light of that teaching of Christ according to which true happiness is attained only by those who, in union with God, become men and women of peace, peacemakers who bring peace to others."

The Pope affirmed that "societies and nations need men and women of peace, authentic sowers of harmony and mutual respect. ... Both history and the events of our own day show that the world cannot give peace. The world is often powerless. That is why it is necessary to point to Jesus Christ, who by His Death on the Cross has left His peace to mankind. How much innocent blood has been shed in the 20th century, in Europe and throughout the world, because certain political and social systems forsook the principles of Christ that guarantee a just peace. How much innocent blood is being shed under our very eyes. The tragic events in Kosovo have demonstrated this and still are demonstrating this in a very painful way. We are witnesses to how strongly people cry out for and yearn for peace."

"Our memory of the Second World War is still vivid, the wounds inflicted by that cataclysm of history will need much time to be completely healed. May the cry for peace spread out from this place to the entire world! I wish to repeat the words I spoke this year in the Easter 'Urbi et Orbi' message: 'Peace is possible, peace is a duty, peace is a prime responsibility of everyone!'"

PV-POLAND;DEVOTION; BEATIFICATION;...;TORUN ;VIS;19990608;Word: 480;

POPE TO SCHOLARS ON LOVE AND HOPE, FAITH AND REASON

VATICAN CITY, JUN 7, 1999 (VIS) - This afternoon at 5:15 at the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, the Pope met with men and women of science and representatives of academic institutions in Poland, including 13 university rectors. His talk to them focussed on love and hope, and on the "ever-present tension between faith and reason."

After reviewing the history of Copernicus University, which recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding, the Pope said: "At the juncture of two centuries as we are, our thoughts turn alternately to the past and to the future. In the past we seek instruction and directions for our future. In this way we wish to better clarify and give a solid foundation to our hope. Today the world needs hope and is searching for hope! But does not the tragic history of our century, with its wars, its criminal totalitarian ideologies, its concentration camps and gulags, make it easy for us to yield to the temptation of discouragement and despair? ... In order to discover hope, we need to lift our gaze on high."

We must turn to Christ, he said, Who "has shown humanity the most profound truth about God, and at the same time about man. God is love ... is the theme of my present visit to my native Poland. ... This Love which is Gift, is given to man through the act of creation and redemption. ... Precisely this truth about 'God-love' becomes the source of the world's hope and points out the path of our responsibility. Man is able to love, because he was first loved by God. ... The truth about God's love sheds light also on our quest for truth, on our work, on the development of scholarship, on our whole culture. Our research and our work need a guiding idea, a fundamental value, in order to give meaning to and to unite in one direction the efforts of scholars, the reflections of historians, the creativity of artists and the discoveries of scientists, which are all growing at a dizzying rate."

Recalling that today's meeting takes place in "the city of Copernicus," John Paul II said that this Polish astronomer's discovery reminds "us of the ever-present tension between reason and faith. ... The split between reason and faith was the expression of one of humanity's great tragedies. It has many causes, Particularly, beginning in the Enlightenment period, an extreme one-sided rationalism led to the radicalization of positions in the realm of the natural sciences and of philosophy. The resulting split between faith and reason caused irreparable damage not only to religion but also to culture. ... Faith and reason are like 'two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth'. Today we need to work for a reconciliation between faith and reason. ... It appears imperative to reaffirm a basic confidence in human reason and its capacity to know the truth, including absolute and definitive truth."

"Scholarship today," stated the Pope in conclusion, " faces great challenges. The unprecedented development of the sciences and technological progress are raising fundamental questions about the limits of experimentation, the meaning and direction of technological development, the limits of man's tampering with nature and the natural environment. This progress gives rise to both wonderment and fear. Man is becoming ever more fearful of the product of his own intelligence and freedom. He feels endangered. Hence it is more important and timely than ever to recall the fundamental truth that the world is gift from God the Creator, who is Love, and that man as a creature is called to a prudent and responsible dominion over the world of nature, and not its heedless destruction."

PV-POLAND;SCHOLARS; SCIENTISTS;...;TORUN;VIS;19990608;Word: 610;

PAPAL MESSAGE TO MEETING OF MOVEMENTS, ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 1999 (VIS) - Made public this afternoon was a Message from Pope John Paul to the participants in the international meeting of movements and new ecclesial communities, taking place in Speyer, Germany. The encounter was organized by Chiara Lubich, foundress of the Focolare Movement, Andrea Riccardi of the Sant'Egidio Community and Salvatore Martinez, Italian national coordinator of the Renewal in the Holy Spirit.

In this Message, dated June 3, the Pope writes: "It is wonderful and gives joy to see how movements and new communities feel the need to concentrate on ecclesial communion and are making efforts through concrete gestures to communicate to one other the gifts they have received, to support one other in difficulties, and to cooperate in order to face together the challenges of the new evangelization."

He also highlighted the "fruits of conversion, of spiritual rebirth and of holiness that the movements bring to the life of the local Churches."

MESS;MOVEMENTS; ECCLESIAL COMMUNITIES;...;GERMANY ;VIS;19990608;Word: 160;

THE "CRY OF THE POOR" REQUIRES A CONCRETE RESPONSE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 8, 1999 (VIS) - This morning, the Pope travelled 340 kilometers by helicopter from Lichen to Elk in northeastern Poland on the frontier with Lithuania where, at 11 he presided at the Mass of Queen Saint Hedwig in "Plac Sapera."

Present at the Eucharistic celebration were the president of the Republic of Lithuania, Valdas Adamkus, and a large group of pilgrims from that country. Addressing them in his homily, the Holy Father said: "May faith ever be your nation's strength, and may the witness to Christ's love produce spiritual fruits. It is on faith that you must build the future of your country, of your lives, of your identity as Lithuanians and Christians, for the good of the Church, of Europe and of humanity."

The Pope then commented the Gospel passage narrating the meeting of Jesus with Zacchaeus, who promises to give half his goods to the poor. "'The cry of the poor' of all the world rises endlessly from the earth and reaches God. It is the cry of children, women, the elderly, refugees, those who have been wronged, the victims of war, the unemployed."

The cry of the poor, he continued, "requires us to give a concrete and generous response. It requires us to be willing to serve our neighbor. ... Let us strive to listen to this cry. Let us strive to act and live in such a way that in our country no one will be without a roof over their head or bread on the table; that no one will feel alone, left without anyone to care for them. I make this appeal to my fellow countrymen."

"Development and economic progress must never be at the expense of men and women, hindering the meeting of their fundamental needs. The human person must be the subject of development, that is, its most important point of reference. Development and economic progress cannot be pursued at whatever cost! That would not be worthy of man."

Recalling Queen Saint Hedwig, the Pope said: "Her generosity to the poor is well known. Although she was rich, she did not forget the poor. For us she is a model of how to live and put into practice Christ's teaching about love and mercy, about how we must make ourselves like Him."
"There is a great need for people who are poor in spirit, that is, people who are open to the truth and to grace, open to the great things of God; there is a need for big-hearted people who do not let themselves be deceived by the splendor of the riches of this world, and who do not allow these riches to dominate their hearts."

Following the Eucharistic celebration, the Pope travelled to the new curial offices of Elk where he had lunch, after which he was scheduled to journey by helicopter to Wigry, a village of 200 people and site of a Camaldolese monastery surrounded by woods and lakes. The Holy Father will spend the night there and tomorrow will enjoy a day free from public engagements.

PV-POLAND;MASS;...;ELK;VIS;19990608;Word: 520;