MEETING IN THE VATICAN FOR SECRETARY OF STATE ALBRIGHT

VATICAN CITY, JUL 28, 1999 (VIS) - At midday today, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls made a declaration on this morning's meeting between Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States, and United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

"The friendly meeting, which lasted for more than an hour, provided the opportunity for an exchange of opinions on various aspects of international affairs. Particular attention was given to the Middle East peace process, to the situation in a number of Asian countries as well as to the longed for normalization in the Balkans.

"The two sides agreed on the necessity to persevere with the efforts presently underway, in order that law and justice may guarantee genuine peace and the true coexistence of peoples everywhere."

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HELL IS THE ULTIMATE CONSEQUENCE OF SIN

VATICAN CITY, JUL 28, 1999 (VIS) - "Hell, as the definitive rejection of God" was the theme of the catechesis of the Holy Father's general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.

The Pope recalled that "God is the Father, infinitely good and merciful. But man, called in freedom to respond to God, can unfortunately choose to definitively reject His love and His pardon, thus removing himself forever from joyous communion with Him. It is to precisely this tragic situation that Christian doctrine refers when it speaks of hell or damnation. ... Nonetheless, in a theological sense, hell is something else: It is the ultimate consequence of sin itself."

"The images with which hell is presented to us by Sacred Scripture must be correctly interpreted. They demonstrate the complete frustration and emptiness of a life without God. More than a physical place, hell is the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God."

John Paul II continued by saying that "'damnation' should not be attributed to God, because in His merciful love He cannot but wish for the salvation of the creatures He has made. In reality it is the creature that closes himself to love. 'Damnation' actually consists in the definitive separation from God."

We, the Pope concluded, cannot know, "without special divine revelation," who has been condemned. "The idea of hell - and still less the incorrect use of biblical images - should not be a cause of anxiety or despair; rather it represents a necessary and healthy reminder that the resurrected Jesus conquered Satan, giving us the Spirit of God so that we too could call Him "Father."

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HOLY SEE DELEGATION AT THE UNISPACE CONFERENCE

VATICAN CITY JUL 28, 1999 (VIS) - Professor Vittorio Canuto, a member of the Holy See delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Exploration and Use of Outer Space (UNISPACE III), which is taking place in Vienna from July 19 to 30, made a speech to the conference on July 21. The speech, published today, is entitled: "Knowledge of space helps to disclose the responsibilities of humanity."

In his talk, the professor highlighted the necessity to transform the discoveries of space exploration from a diagnostic tool of the Cosmos, into a prognostic tool of the repercussions that natural or man-made phenomena have on the planet and its inhabitants.

Professor Canuto asked what humanity had learned, on the eve of the third millennium and after 50 years of space exploration. He said, "the greatest surprise has come from our looking back at our planet from space. Our exploration of outer space has led us to an unavoidable new conclusion. We are damaging our ecological systems by our profligate use of natural and mineral resources."

"This is a fundamental shift from the paradigm of the '70s, when we thought that the limits to economic growth were due to the finite nature of natural resources. The limits concern, in fact, the responsible use of these resources. ... As we venture both conceptually and practically into the conquest of outer space, we must redefine our way of living on this planet itself."

The Holy See delegate went on to recall how human history is marked by "benign" revolutions based on knowledge; from "the invention of agriculture 10,000 years ago, to the industrial revolution two hundred years ago. The key to the third revolution that awaits humanity will be "knowledge based on education." The driving force will not be the land as was the case with the first revolution, nor coal, as it was with the second. It will be "information, ... an intangible public good that must be available to all if the information revolution is to have positive results. ... Individuals create knowledge which is an unlimited resource, the only truly unlimited resource that we have."

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THE "POPULORUM PROGRESSIO" FOUNDATION APPROVES 201 PROJECTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 28, 1999 (VIS) - According to a communique made public today, the administrative council of the 'Populorum Progressio' Foundation met from July 10 to 14 in Manizales, Colombia, in order to study a series of projects and to decide on the level of financial support to offer them.

The aim of the foundation, created by John Paul II in 1992, is to contribute to the human and Christian promotion of the indigenous populations and peasants most in need in Latin America. The administrative council is composed of bishops from Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Guatemala. Present at the meeting, which was presided by Archbishop Fabio Betancur Tirado of Manizales, were Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unem" and of the foundation, and Msgr. Francisco Azcona, under-secretary of the same pontifical council and member of the foundation.

During the course of the meeting, 264 projects from Latin America and the Caribbean region were studied. Of these, 201 were approved for a total cost of 1,800,000 U.S. dollars. This sum will be distributed to the interested parties in the near future.

The communique goes on to say: "Of the 201 projects for 1999, 23.64 percent are in the education sector (construction, communication, vocational training, materials); 19.77 percent are in the area of communal infrastructure (potable water, means of communication, roads, electricity, latrines and multipurpose centers); 43.80 percent are concerned with production (agricultural, artisans, micro-production and community businesses). Health related projects account for 8.14 percent and the housing sector comprises 4.26 percent. A project aimed at civil registration was also approved."

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