"POLAND HAS A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY PRAYERS"

VATICAN CITY, JUN 17, 1999 (VIS) - This afternoon the Pope travelled by helicopter from Czestochowa to Krakow's Balice airport where, at 6 p.m., the departure ceremony took place.

After arriving at the airport, the Holy Father boarded the popemobile and travelled along a stretch of the runway. Halting at the point where the president of the republic was waiting with his wife, the Pope's private secretary, Bishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, gave up his place and John Paul II invited the couple to join him in the popemobile. Together they travelled several more meters to the site prepared for the ceremony.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski of Poland and Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, archbishop of Krakow, both spoke, followed by the Holy Father.

In his speech, the Pope indicated that he had prayed everywhere "that the daily lives of the people who live in the spirit of the Beatitudes will bear fruit for the prosperity of all in this land. I give thanks to God that I have also been able to place this prayer at the feet of Mary, Queen of Poland, at Jasna Gora."

"To all those who are lovingly forging a prosperous future for the homeland I wish to express today my sincere appreciation and gratitude. ... Once more I wish to express my hope that, with God's help and the willing cooperation of everyone, all difficulties will be overcome. I pray to God for this, thinking above all of the spiritual values which the past generations faithfully preserved and which cannot be abandoned amid rightful concerns for the material well-being of the country. As Pope and as a son of this nation, I address to all people of good will, and in a special way to my brothers and sisters in faith, a fervent call to do everything possible to ensure that Poland enters the third millennium not only as a politically stable and economically prosperous state, but also strengthened by the spirit of mutual and social love."

He displayed his gratitude to all the faithful of the Church in Poland for "their great kindness and their warm welcome," and said: "During these days I have visited many dioceses - some for the first time - but I have not been able to go to all the places to which I was invited. So once more I want to assure you that in spirit I have been in the whole of Poland."

"As I return to the Vatican," John Paul II concluded, "I do not abandon the land of my birth. I take with me the image of my homeland, from the Baltic to the Tatra, and I keep in my heart all that I have been granted to experience among my fellow countrymen. I want to assure you once again that Poland and the Polish people have a special place in my thoughts and prayers. I ask you, beloved brothers and sisters, to support me in my Petrine ministry for as long as Divine Providence enables me to carry it out."

The Pope's plane took off at 7 p.m. and, after a flight of two hours, landed at Rome's Ciampino airport. From there the Holy Father travelled by helicopter to the Vatican.

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DECLARATION FROM HOLY SEE PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR

VATICAN CITY, JUN 18, 1999 (VIS) - With reference to various news items that have appeared in the press regarding a letter from the Holy Father to the German bishops on the subject of the presence of Catholic family consultors within the state system, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls today made the following statement:

"I can confirm that the Holy Father has written a letter on this subject to the German episcopacy, whose contents will be made public by the German bishops in the near future."

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TELEGRAM FOR DEATH OF CARDINAL GEORGE BASIL HUME

VATICAN CITY, JUN 18, 1999 (VIS) - The following telegram was sent by Pope John Paul to the archdiocesan administration of the archdiocese of Westminster for the death yesterday at the age of 76 of Cardinal George Basil Hume, O.S.B., archbishop of Westminster:

"With great sadness I have received the news of the death of Cardinal George Basil Hume. I offer prayerful condolences to the auxiliary bishops, priests, religious and laity of the archdiocese of Westminster and to the entire Church in England and Wales. Commending the cardinal's noble soul to our Heavenly Father's eternal love, I thank the Lord for having given the Church a shepherd of great spiritual and moral character, of sensitive and unflinching ecumenical commitment and firm leadership in helping people of all beliefs to face the challenges of the last part of this difficult century. I am confident that the example of the cardinal's devoted service as Benedictine monk and abbot at Ampleforth and as archbishop of Westminster, his untiring work as president of the Bishops' Conference, as well as his witness of dignity and hope in the face of the mystery of suffering and death will inspire all who knew him to ever greater fidelity to the Gospel of salvation. invoking the comforting gifts of the Holy Spirit upon the cardinal's family and upon all who mourn him in the hope of resurrection, I cordially impart my apostolic blessing as a pledge of peace in Our Lord Jesus Christ."

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, JUN 18, 1999 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Bishop Gerard Couturier, emeritus of Hauterive, Canada, on February 2 at the age of 86.
- Bishop Michael Bosco Duraisamy of Salem, India, on June 9 at the age of 70.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 18, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Pierre Nguyen Soan, vicar general and pastor of the cathedral of the diocese of Quy Nhon (area 21,206, population 2,650,000, Catholics 67,700, priests 44, religious 268), Vietnam, as bishop of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Go Thi, Vietnam, in 1936 and was ordained a priest in 1968. He succeeds Bishop Paul Huynh Dong Cac, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese was accepted by the Holy Father on having reached the age limit.
- Fr. Joseph Ngo Quang Kiet, chancellor of the diocese of Lang Son and Cao Bang (area 25,000, population 1,700,000, Catholics 5,000, priests 1, religious 5), Vietnam, as bishop of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in My Son, Vietnam, in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1991.

- Fr.Joseph Tran Xuan Tieu, vicar general and pastor of the cathedral of the diocese of Long Xuyen (area 10,150, population 3,700,000, Catholics 274,000, priests 191, religious 290), Vietnam, as coadjutor bishop of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Phu Oc, Nam Dinh, Vietnam, in 1945 and was ordained a priest in 1974.

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