HOLY FATHER BLESSES NEWLY RESTORED FACADE OF ST. PETER'S

VATICAN CITY, OCT 1, 1999 (VIS) - Yesterday evening the Pope blessed the recently restored facade of St. Peter's Basilica during a solemn celebration in St. Peter's Square. He encouraged the tens of thousands of people present to be "living rocks, active members of the spiritual edifice that is the Church."

Present at the ceremony, among others, were Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, president of the Italian Republic and Massimo D'Alema, prime minister, along with various ministers and members of the diplomatic corps and of the Roman Curia.

Prior to the Pope's arrival in the square, a documentary film was shown explaining the history of the basilica and the restoration of the facade. This was followed by a performance by the choir and orchestra of Saint Cecilia.

"We are gathered together here," said the Pope in his address, "to celebrate the joyful culmination of the restoration work" which has lasted for thirty months. "My thanks go especially to ENI (Italy's national hydrocarbon agency) who with great generosity made the restoration work possible, applying to it the most modern technologies."

"As we look in admiration at the phenomenal results of this work," the Holy Father added, "a spontaneous desire to praise the Lord wells up in our hearts. ... The gaze we lift up this evening to the architectural wonders of the facade anticipates that of innumerable pilgrims, who will come here from all parts of the world during the imminent Holy Year."

"May the approaching Jubilee find us ready to announce and witness our faith with more generous dedication," John Paul II requested. "The restoration work reminds us that all believers, each one of us, is called to continuous conversion and to a courageous revision of life, in order to be able to profoundly encounter Christ and fully benefit from the fruits of the Holy Year."

At the end of his address, John Paul II read the formula of benediction and blessed the facade. He then sat upon a small dais in front of the Vatican Basilica, to enjoy the Baroque-style firework and light displays that illuminated the facade as the choir sang Charpentier's "Te Deum."

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APOSTOLIC LETTER PROCLAIMING CO-PATRONESSES OF EUROPE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 1, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today, in English, French, Italian and Latin, was Pope John Paul's "Apostolic Letter Issued 'Motu Proprio' Proclaiming Saint Bridget of Sweden, Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross Co-Patronesses of Europe." The letter is dated October 1.

The Holy Father points out that, "completing what I did on December 31, 1980 when I declared co-patrons of Europe, along with St. Benedict, two saints of the first millennium, the brothers Cyril and Methodius, ... I have decided to add to this group of heavenly patrons three figures equally emblematic of critical moments in the second millennium now drawing to a close."

The Pope then proceeds with a brief biography of each of the three new co-patronesses and their roles in "the unfolding history of the Church." He asks for "renewed devotion ... to these three great women, who in different historical times made so significant a contribution to the growth of the Church and the development of society."

John Paul II "established and declared" the three saints "heavenly co-patronesses of all of Europe," and granted them "all the honors and liturgical privileges belonging by law to the principal patrons of places."

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POPE PROCLAIMS THREE CO-PATRONESSES OF EUROPE AT SYNOD MASS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 1, 1999 (VIS) - At today's opening Mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the Second Special Assembly for Europe, Pope John Paul announced, to applause, that he had "the joy today of proclaiming three new co-patronesses of the European continent: St. Edith Stein, St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Catherine of Siena."

Noting that Europe was already under the "heavenly protection of three great saints: Benedict of Norcia, father of Western monasticism, and the two brothers Cyril and Methodius, apostles of the Slavs," he added: "I wished to include the same number of feminine saints in order to highlight the important role that women had and still have in the ecclesiastical and lay history of the continent up to our day." The Pope pointed out that the three co-patronesses "are linked in a special way to the history of the continent." He also underlined that "all three of them admirably express the synthesis between contemplation and action."

The synod for Europe, which ends October 23, has as its theme: "Jesus Christ, Alive in His Church, Source of Hope for Europe."

"In Christ and in His Church," said the Pope in his homily, "God never ceases listening to the joys and the hopes, the sadness and the anguish of humanity, whom he tries to reach with His loving solicitude even today. ... With the synodal assembly that begins today, the Lord wishes to issue a strong invitation to hope to the Christian people, pilgrims in the countries comprised between the Atlantic and the Urals."

"He, the Emmanuel, the God-with-us, was crucified in lagers and gulags. He has known suffering under the bombings, in the trenches. He has endured wherever man, every human being, has been humiliated, oppressed and violated in his inalienable dignity. Christ endured the passion of the many innocent victims of wars and conflicts which have bloodied the regions of Europe. He knows the serious temptations of the generations, readying to cross the threshold of the third millennium: the enthusiasm aroused by the fall of the ideological barriers and the peaceful revolutions of 1989, unfortunately, seems to have rapidly diminished with its impact with political and economic egotism."

The Holy Father them emphasized that "in this particular social and cultural context, the Church feels the duty to renew with vigor the message of hope entrusted to her by God."

"His invitation of hope," Pope John Paul told the synod fathers and guests present at today's Mass, "is not based on a utopistic ideology, like the ones during the last two centuries that have ended up by undermining human rights, and especially the weakest. It is, on the other hand, the unceasing message of salvation proclaimed by Christ: The Kingdom of God is among you, convert and believe in the Gospel!"

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HOLY FATHER'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR OCTOBER

VATICAN CITY, OCT 1, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father's general prayer intention for October is: "That professors and students of Catholic universities may commit themselves to the development of a culture which is illuminated and vivified by the Christian faith."

His missionary intention is: "That all the baptized, stimulated by the imminent Great Jubilee, may be aware of their vocation to offer full missionary cooperation to Propagation of the Faith."

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MESSAGE TO SONS OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 1, 1999 (VIS) - The Pope wrote a message to Fr. Aurelio Mozzetta, superior general of the Congregation of the Sons of the Immaculate Conception, for the centenary - which falls in the year 2000 - of the death of the founder, Servant of God Fr. Luigi Maria Monti.

In his message, dated September 24, the Holy Father recalls that Fr. Monti was a "splendid figure of consecrated layman, religious and apostle of charity, who was led by ardent love for the Immaculate Virgin to heroically serve Christ in the young, the poor and the suffering."

The Pope writes, "I truly hope that Fr. Monti's example helps his spiritual sons to remain firm in faith, in hope and in charity. This centenary, which commemorates his birth in heaven, represents for the congregation a precious occasion for deepening the spiritual heritage left by (the founder), with a view to adhering with renewed commitment to the original charism."

John Paul II asks that, following in the footsteps of the founder, "the Sons of the Immaculate Conception not fail to deepen their awareness of the mystery of the Most Holy Virgin, making every effort to inspire their own lives in her example."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 1, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received the following participants in the synod for Europe:

- Presidents delegate: Cardinals Franciszek Macharski, archbishop of Krakow, Poland; Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne, Germany and Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
- Relator General: Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid, Spain.
- Secretary General: Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte C.I.C.M., secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.
- Special Secretaries: Archbishop Jozef Miroslaw Zycinski of Lublin, Poland and Bishop Vincent Nichols, auxiliary of Westminster, Great Britain.

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