SIXTEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 18, 1999 (VIS) - The sixteenth general congregation was held today from 9 a.m. to 12:30, and was presided over by Cardinal Paul Poupard, president delegate on duty. During the meeting, the unified list of propositions and the draft of the message were presented. The message itself was discussed. Pope John Paul II was present, as were 159 synod fathers.

It is expected that the working groups will meet this evening from 5 to 7 p.m. in order to prepare collective amendments to the propositions.

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HOLY FATHER'S ANNUAL MESSAGE FOR WORLD FOOD DAY

VATICAN CITY, OCT 15, 1999 (VIS) - Made public this afternoon was the Holy Father's annual message for World Food Day. Dated October 11 and written in French, it was sent on the Pope's behalf by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano to Jacques Diouf, director general of the United Nation's Rome-based Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO).

The message states that the 1999 theme of this world day, "'Young People Against Hunger', shows (FAO's) intention to call young people to commit themselves ever more resolutely in the fight against hunger, as well as for a greater justice in sharing the benefits of development and for a greater solidarity among nations, a perspective which constitutes one of FAO's primary objectives."

Saying that the Church has confidence in young people, it adds: "His Holiness thus invites youth who aspire to live in a world of fraternity and peace to act in all circumstances by love for one's neighbor, so as to create conditions of peace, a peace which young people must make their best friend, living with it in an invisible friendship."

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THE JUBILEE IS AN OCCASION TO GROW IN FAITH

VATICAN CITY, OCT 15, 1999 (VIS) - This evening, the Pope requested rectors, professors and students of the ecclesiastical universities of Rome, to make the Jubilee of the year 2000 an "occasion, not just to deepen theological knowledge, but above all to grow in faith in Jesus Christ."

John Paul II pronounced these words in his homily during the Mass celebrated in the Vatican basilica by Cardinal Pio Laghi, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education. The Mass marked the beginning of the academic year in the ecclesiastical universities.

"The act of faith, considered in its entirety," affirmed the Holy Father, "must necessarily translate itself into concrete stances and decisions. In this way it is possible to overcome the apparent clash between faith and action. Faith understood in its full sense is not an abstract quality, separated from everyday life, rather it includes every dimension of the individual."

The Holy Father underlined that St. Teresa of Avila, whose feast day falls today, represents "an eloquent example of this synthesis of faith and action. ... Her mystical experience, like that of all saints, clearly shows that, in those who seek God, everything tends towards the only center: the integral response to God that is communicated to Him."

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BE PASSIONATE BELIEVERS IN CHRIST, JOHN PAUL II TELLS FAITHFUL

VATICAN CITY, OCT 17, 1999 (VIS) - This morning John Paul II visited the Roman parish of St. Francis of Assisi at Monte Mario and, in his homily, he called upon the faithful to be "passionate believers in Christ, capable of giving testimony to faith with their lives."

The Pope expressed his delight at the activities organized by the young people of the parish, and at the fact that adults participate in the pastoral ministry to youth. He said: "For young people, having by their side mature adults who know how to propose to them exalted goals and who are capable of listening to them and of giving them satisfactory answers to the basic existential questions, is a guarantee for their future and for enriching the Church and society."

After referring to World Youth Day, to be held in Rome in 2000, the Holy Father affirmed that "it is necessary to make preparations in order to offer a warm welcome to the young people who will come to Rome for that occasion. We entrust to the Lord, through the intercession of Mary, the success of this great event and the spiritual fruits which it will not fail to produce."

The Pope expressed his hope that the parishioners may soon have a church larger than the present one, and he encouraged them to "draw, from the smallness of the building, the incentive to be a living community, committed to taking the Gospel everywhere. Be a missionary parish!"

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 18, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Antonio Lucibello, apostolic nuncio in Paraguay.
- Bishop Jose de Jesus Quintero Diaz of Tibu, Colombia.

The following participants in the Synod for Europe were invited to lunch by the Holy Father:

- Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte C.I.C.M., secretary general of the Synod of Bishops.
- Mijo Beccaria, president of the "Bureau International Catholique de l'Enfance", France.
- Sr. Irina Ioana Bota O.S.B.M., provincial superior in Romania for the order of Basilian Sisters and president of the Romanian Conference of Superiors Major, Romania.
- Sr. Rita Burley A.C.I., superior general of the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and president of the International Union of Superiors General, Great Britain.
- Sr. Tekla Famiglietti O.SS.S., abbess general of the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget, Italy.
- Sr. Judith Frei O.S.B., abbess of the monastery of Benedictine Sisters at Rietberg, Germany.
- Sanja Horvat, health-care worker and student at the Theological Institute of Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.
- Irina Ilovaisky Giorgi-Alberti, editor of "La Pensee Russe," France. - Chiara Lubich, foundress and president of the Focolare Movement, Italy.
- Sr. Jolanta Olech U.S.J.K., superior general of the Ursuline Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Agony and president of the Conference of Superiors Major of Women's Institutes in Poland.
- Sr. Enrica Rosanna F.M.A., professor at the Pontifical Faculty for Educational Sciences "Auxilium," Rome.
- Rosemary Ann Smith of the Secular Institute of "Caritas Christi," Great Britain.
- Sr. Kornelia Zoric S.F.I.C., superior general of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Dubrovnik, Croatia.

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POPE: MY MINISTRY IS TO BE A MISSIONARY

VATICAN CITY, OCT 17, 1999 (VIS) - Today at noon, before reciting the angelus with the large crowd of faithful which had gathered in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul pointed out that next Sunday is World Mission Day, whose theme is "The Father: Source of the Church's Apostolic Commitment."

"As the Father sent the Son, so the Son sent the Church to the ends of the earth," he continued. "She has one mission, one message of salvation, which comes from God and is destined for all of mankind, so that, redeemed from sin, everyone might become a son of God."

The Pope then remarked that he was "thinking of the many missionaries, priests, religious and lay people who, in every corner of the earth, are witnesses to Christ in the midst of numerous difficulties, and who sometimes pay with their blood for fidelity to their mission. May these brothers and sisters of ours never lack the spiritual and material support of our communities."

"World Mission Day," the Holy Father concluded, "asks all believers to be missionaries in their own sphere of life. The duties of the Church are many, but the mission is one. It is with this spirit that I try to exercise the apostolic ministry that Divine Providence entrusted to me on October 16, 1978." He thanked everyone for their best wishes on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of his election to the papacy, and asked that they "continue to accompany me with prayer."

In remarks made following the angelus prayer, John Paul II noted that today is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, and he expressed his "spiritual closeness to all who live in conditions of extreme poverty."

He closed his multi-lingual greetings with words of affection for a group of young Albanians, "ambassadors of peace." He then blessed a large bell they had transported to St. Peter's Square, noting that this "bell of peace was made with cartridges gathered in the Albania region of Zadrima, and it will be placed in Tirana's main square on the first day of 2000."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 18, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father granted the ecclesial communion as requested of him by His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX Tarmouni, canonically elected as patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians, by the Synod of Bishops of the Armenian Catholic Church.

On Saturday, October 16, it was made public that the Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Anicetus Bongsu Antonius Sinaga O.F.M. Cap., of Sibolga, Indonesia, as a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments.

- Appointed as consultors of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments: For the section on Divine Worship: Frs. Alberto Aranda Cervantes M.Sp.S., professor of liturgy and liturgical promoter at the 'Secretariado Nacional de Pastoral Liturgica', Mexico; Jean Evenou of the diocese of Vannes, France; Robert Godding S.J., director of the Bollandist Society, Brussels, Belgium; Msgr. Enzo Lodi, professor emeritus of liturgy at the 'Studio Teologico Accademico', Bologna, Italy; Frs. Marco Navoni, professor of the Ambrosian Library, Milan, Italy; Marc Ouellet P.S.S., professor of theology at the John Paul II Institute of the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome; Gabriele Ramis, president of the 'Asociacion Espanola de profesores de liturgia', Spain and teacher at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute, Rome; Pedro Ignacio Rovalo S.J., director of the magazine, 'Revista de Pastoral Liturgica', Mexico City, Mexico; Daniel Saulnier O.S.B., monk at the Abbey of Solesmes, France and Albert Tran-Phuc-Nhan, member of the Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam. For the section on the Discipline of Sacraments: Fr. Manuel Arroba Conde C.M.F., professor of canonical law at the Pontifical Lateran University, Rome; Msgrs. Carlos Jose Errazuriz MacKenna, professor of canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, Rome; Mario Giannecchini, prelate auditor emeritus of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota and Bernard de Lanversin, prelate auditor emeritus of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota; Fr. Michele Pellerey S.D.B., rector of the Pontifical Salesian University, Rome and Msgr. Igino Ragni, prelate auditor emeritus of the Tribunal of the Roman Rota.
- Appointed as members of the Pontifical Commission for Historical Sciences: Professors Ugo Baldini and Elena Cavalcanti; Fr. Enrico Dal Covolo S.D.B.; Eamon Duffy; Giulia Gasparro Sfameni; Fr. Gabriele Guarda Geywitz O.S.B.; Carlo Renato Salinas Araneda; Fr. Giuseppe Ignazio Saranyana Closa; Giovanni Maria Vian.

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