SPECIAL ENVOY TO TWO MISSIONARY CONGRESSES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from the Holy Father to Cardinal Josef Tomko, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, naming him as special envoy to the Sixth Latin American Missionary Congress and the First American Missionary Congress which will be held in Parana, Argentina, from September 28 to October 3. The letter is written in Latin and dated August 20.

The Pontifical Mission accompanying the cardinal will be made up of Msgr. Ramon Macias Alatorre, bureau chief of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples; Fr. Alberto Horacio Casas Riguera, episcopal vicar for liturgy of the archdiocese of Parana and Fr. Ramon Alfredo Dus, spiritual director of the seminary of the same archdiocese.

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POPE ASKS FOR "DECISIVE" STEPS IN RESOLVING DEBT CRISIS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 1999 (VIS) - Made public yesterday afternoon was the message that Pope John Paul gave to the leaders and major supporters of the Jubilee 2000 Debt Campaign, whom he had met earlier in the day at Castelgandolfo. The group is in Rome for a series of meetings on the heavy debt burdens of the poorest countries, which has been a recurring theme in papal messages and speeches in recent years.

"In the Bible," the message starts, "during the Jubilee, the burdens which oppressed and excluded the weakest members of society were to be removed, so that all could share the hope of a new beginning in harmony, according to God's design. Today's world has need of a Jubilee experience. ... Poverty and gross inequalities remain widespread, despite enormous scientific and technological progress."

"The Catholic Church," the Holy Father writes, "looks at the situation with great concern, not because she has any concrete technical model of development to offer, but because she has a moral vision of what the good of individuals and of the human family demands. She has consistently taught that there is a 'social mortgage' on all private property, a concept which today must also be applied to 'intellectual property' and to 'knowledge'. The law of profit alone cannot be applied to that which is essential for the fight against hunger, disease and poverty.

"Debt relief is, of course, only one aspect of the vaster task of fighting poverty," he continues. "Debt relief programs must be accompanied by the introduction of sound economic policies and good governance" and "the benefits which spring from debt relief must reach the poorest."

Emphasizing that debt relief is "urgent," he asks why it is taking so long to resolve this problem. "Why so many hesitations? Why the difficulty in providing the funds needed even for the already agreed initiatives?"

"I appeal to all those involved," John Paul II concludes, "especially the most powerful nations, not to let this opportunity of the Jubilee Year pass without taking a decisive step towards definitively resolving the debt crisis."

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HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION MEETS ON EAST TIMOR EMERGENCY

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 1999 (VIS) - Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello, apostolic nuncio and head of the Holy See delegation to the extraordinary session of the Human Rights Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, addressed the assembly yesterday afternoon.

This session is being held, the archbishop noted in his talk, "to examine the serious violations which have sown the seeds of destruction and death in East Timor since the start of this month" and to express "the disapproval of the international community and the vigorous condemnation of the human rights violations which have been perpetrated."

In his address in French, Archbishop Bertello pointed to the television images broadcast around the world "of the thousands of unarmed and defenseless persons who have been killed," as well as the thousands of deportees. "The Catholic Church has not been spared and has paid a heavy price with the assassination of her priests, religious and community leaders."

He emphasized that "the Timor affair" is not just clan warfare, but the negation "in blood of the majority will of a people," 80 percent of whom voted for independence "in an election organized and supervised by the highest international instance."

The nuncio highlighted Pope John Paul's pleas for peace in this region, and the Holy See's encouragement of dialogue between Indonesia and Portugal, since 1975 when Indonesia annexed the former Portuguese colony.
He underlined that Catholics comprise 90 percent of the faithful and that the Church "has tried to be the voice of the Timorese in defending their identity, has protected the victims of repression and has taken charge of educational and health services, making them available to all citizens. ... When the violence of the anti-independence militias broke out, the Holy See insisted that the United Nations authorize the deployment of an international force."

Noting that the international force was now present, Archbishop Bertello said "it is urgent to have humanitarian aid rapidly reach displaced persons and refugees. ... The international community must watch over their protection." He closed by expressing the Holy See's "confidence" that the international force would accomplish its mission.

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WORLD MEETING ON UNIVERSITY MINISTRIES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 1999 (VIS) - In Rome this morning, Cardinal Pio Laghi, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, inaugurated a world meeting in which delegates involved in pastoral care in universities from 57 bishops' conferences will take part.

The congress, which will close on September 26, was promoted by the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Pontifical Council for Culture in collaboration with the Vicariate of Rome and the Organizing Committee of Jubilee Events for University Professors.

In the course of the meeting, which will serve as a preparation for the world gathering of university professors, scheduled for September 4-10, 2000), the participants will exchange their experiences in the field of university ministry.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 24, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences eight bishops from the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, on their "ad limina" visit:
- Cardinal Aloysius Matthew Ambrozic, archbishop of Toronto, accompanied by his auxiliaries, Bishops John Stephen Knight and Nicola De Angelis C.F.I.C.
- Bishop Joseph Faber MacDonald of Saint John, New Brunswick.
- Bishop Raymond John Lahey of Saint George's.
- Bishop Colin Campbell of Antigonish.
- Bishop James Mathew Wingle of Yarmouth.
- Msgr. Edward Thomas Bromley, diocesan administrator of Grand Falls.

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