GREETINGS AT THE END OF THE GENERAL AUDIENCE

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 1999 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall, the pilgrims present were greeted in their various languages by John Paul II.

"In Slovakia on Monday you celebrated Saints Cyril and Methodius, your evangelizers," he told a group of Slovak pilgrims. "Pray for yourselves and for your nation, that it may remain faithful to the Christian heritage of your fathers."

After greetings in Italian to young people, the sick and the recently married, the Pope blessed "with affection, the altar boys who, in this period, are assisting the priests in St. Peter's basilica."

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GENERAL AUDIENCE: JUDGEMENT AND MERCY

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 1999 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father spoke on the subject of "Judgement and Mercy." He said that, even though they may appear to be "two irreconcilable realities," nonetheless Holy Scripture unites them and presents them in such a way that one cannot exist without the other.

"The sense of divine justice is discerned progressively throughout the Old Testament, starting from situations in which those who have acted well feel unjustly threatened. ... Scripture understands intervention in support of the oppressed as being, above all, justice, that is, God's faithfulness to the promises He made to Israel."

John Paul II recalled that, from the viewpoint of salvation, the figure of the Messiah assumes "the functions of rule and judgement, for the prosperity and growth of the community and of its individual members."

In the New Testament "divine justice is linked with Christ's saving work. ... Only those who refuse salvation, offered by God in His limitless mercy, will be condemned because they will have condemned themselves."

The Pope explained that judgement and mercy are understood as two "dimensions of the same mystery of love. ... (Love) spurs us to have faith in the day of judgement, eliminating all fear. In imitation of this divine justice, human justice too must be exercised according to a law of liberty in which mercy must prevail."

He concluded: "In revealing to us the fullness of the Father's mercy, Jesus also taught us that this Father, so just and merciful, may be reached only through the experience of mercy which must mark our relationship with our brothers and sisters.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Zurab Zhvania, president of the parliament of the Republic of Georgia.

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HOLY FATHER LEAVES TODAY FOR MOUNTAIN VACATION

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 1999 (VIS) - Pope John Paul leaves this afternoon for a vacation period in Les Combes in the northern Italian region of Valle'd'Aosta. He is scheduled to leave the Vatican by car at 5 p.m. today for Rome's Fiumicino Airport, where he will depart a half hour later. He arrives at the Torino-Caselle Airport at 6:30 p.m. and will immediately depart by helicopter for Les Combes.

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ACADEMY MEMBER SPEAKS ON SCIENCE AT THE SERVICE OF MAN

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 1999 (VIS) - The World Conference on Science, jointly organized by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization and by the International Council of Scientific Unions, was held in Budapest from June 26 to July 1. Prof. Paul Marie Germain, a member of the Holy See delegation, addressed the assembly on June 30.

In his speech in French, made public today, Prof. Germain, who is a member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, explained the history, scope and activities of the pontifical academy to the conference.

The precursor of the actual academy was the "Linceorum Academia," founded in Rome in 1603. Over the years it has had different names but was re-established in 1936 by Pope Pius XI, who gave it its current name. Currently, it is the only academy of a supranational character which exists in the world. Germain recalled that it was founded "to promote progress in the mathematical, physical and natural sciences."

He explained that "the academy is an independent body placed under the direct responsibility of the Pope, not the Curia. Its members are chosen on the basis of the originality, quality and scope of their scientific work, their moral personality, without distinction of ethnic group or religion. Catholics are in the minority. There are 80 members. All disciplines and all continents are represented and there is (a favorable) proportion of women."

The Holy See delegate pointed out that the subjects studied by academicians are quite varied, ranging from "knowledge of recent discoveries" to "reflections on philosophical questions" and on "the interaction of the application of sciences in societies." And he recalled, among other activities, the academy's "remarkable initiative" in 1982 of inviting science academies from the whole world to a meeting in Rome to discuss nuclear weapons.

"You can understand," he stated, "why the Holy See accepted with enthusiasm and appreciation to participate in this conference. The Vatican has no laboratories, no industrial enterprises, no army; but the it does have an immense concern for all of mankind and a great interest in scientific ventures, which are a significant and stimulating phase of mankind on the move."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Bishop Berhane-Yesus Demerew Souraphiel C.M., apostolic administrator "sede vacante" of Addis Abeba (area 300,600, population 17,007,000, Catholics 51,127, priests 172, religious 516), Ethiopia, as metropolitan archbishop of the same metropolitan archeparchy. The archbishop-elect was born in Tchela Claka, Ethiopia, in 1948 and ordained a priest in 1976.

- Fr. Emilio Patriarca, of the archdiocesan clergy of Milan and "fidei donum" missionary in Zambia, as bishop of Monze (area 62,160, population 752,000, Catholics 130,000, priests 65, religious 165), Zambia. The bishop-elect was born in Varese, Italy, in 1937, ordained a priest in 1962 and since 1995 has been assistant pastor in the parish of Santa Maria at Choma, diocese of Monze.

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