PAPAL PILGRIMAGE TO HOLY LAND FORESEEN FOR MARCH 2000

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 1999 (VIS) - Today at noon in the Holy See Press Office there was a press conference to present an updated Jubilee calendar of events, along with the charitable initiatives which will be undertaken by the Church, especially the diocese of Rome, during the Holy Year 2000.

Present were Cardinal Etchegaray and Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, respectively president and secretary of the Committee of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, Marcello Sacchetti, president of St. Peter's Club, Msgr. Guerino Di Tora, the head of Caritas in Rome and Volker Goetz, president of the Solidarity Fund.

Archbishop Sepe began the presentation of the New Jubilee calendar by listing the principal changes and new events. He said the calendar has been printed in various languages and sent to all the bishops in the world, as well as to interested offices and institutions.

Events where the Holy Father will be present are marked by an asterisk. From Friday, December 24, 1999, the vigil of Christmas and the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's, through January 6, 2001, the Epiphany and the closing of that same Holy Door, and thus the Holy Year, the Pope is scheduled to participate in 65 events. The introduction to the calendar states that other papal events, however, may be inserted throughout the year.

Among the changes or additions to the Jubilee calendar: Pope John Paul II will personally open the Holy Doors of all four patriarchal basilicas (St. Peter's, St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls); beatification ceremonies go from two to three ( March 5, April 9, September 3), and there are now two canonization ceremonies scheduled (May 21 and October 1: this was moved from November 1; the "request for pardon" ceremony will take place on the First Sunday of Lent, March 12, in St. Peter's, instead of Ash Wednesday, March 8. Four concerts in the Vatican have been added to the calendar: May 18 (Pope John Paul's 80th birthday), June 8, September 23 and October 22.

"The apostolic pilgrimage of the Pope to the Holy Land has also been placed on the Jubilee calendar," Archbishop Sepe pointed out. In fact, a footnote for the month of March 2000 states that the Pope's trip to the Holy Land is foreseen within the last ten days of that month.

Marcello Sacchetti then explained that St. Peter's Club has been performing charitable works in Rome since 1869. They are in charge of collecting Peter's Pence in the diocese of Rome: this offering is then given to the Pope to use for his favorite charities. The Club is also in charge of the chapel located in the Colosseum where Mass is said every Sunday of the year.
Mr. Sacchetti stated that, for the entire Jubilee Year, St. Peter's Club will provide free daily hot meals for the needy who have come to Rome on pilgrimage. These will be available at special kiosks at each of the four patriarchal basilicas (200 meals at St. Peter's, and 100 at each of the other basilicas).

Archbishop Sepe indicated that "in the whole country at the present time, around 400 houses have been made available by various ecclesial bodies. These will offer hospitality at reduced prices, while around 40 will offer free hospitality, for a total of over 26,000 beds."

The director of Caritas in Rome, Guerino Di Tora, said that during the Jubilee, Caritas aims to "upgrade the operation of its services, especially as regards board, lodging and health care."

On the subject of initiatives for the Holy Year in Rome, he announced, among other things: the improvement of services in meals for the poor; the opening of a welcome center for pilgrims infected with the AIDS virus; the publication of a guide to places of worship and prayer for immigrants and the publication of a new edition of the guide to social and health services in the city.

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POPE ENTRUSTS YOUTH WITH BUILDING A WORLD OF PEACE

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 1999 (VIS) - Following today's general audience catechesis, Pope John Paul greeted the pilgrims present in St. Peter's Square in diverse languages, concluding with special words for 3,000 Italian soldiers, their commanders and chaplains.

"I am grateful for your presence," he told the young people. "You are living a period of your life which can offer singular opportunities for human and Christian growth. Military service certainly presents difficulties connected with the exigencies and discipline which characterize it. However, it also offers notable possibilities for inner growth, both for the sacrifices which it demands and for the more vast human horizon to which you are introduced. Make this time of your life an authentic school of formation which makes you more aware as people, capable and honest professionals and courageous Christians."

Then, addressing all the young people present at the general audience, the Holy Father remarked that "we are nearing the Great Jubilee when we will celebrate the 2,000 years since the birth of Christ." He entrusted the youth with the task of "becoming builders of a world of authentic peace and solidarity in hope."

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JOHN PAUL II RECALLS HIS TRIP TO INDIA AND GEORGIA

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 1999 (VIS) - In today's general audience held in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II recalled his apostolic trip to India and Georgia which took place from November 5 to 9.

The Pope indicated that the first stage of his pilgrimage was to New Delhi where he signed and promulgated the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Asia," fruit of the assembly of that continent's Synod of Bishops, which took place at the Vatican in 1998.

This document, affirmed the Pope, "helps us to understand that inter-religious dialogue and the Church's mandate to spread the Gospel to the confines of the earth are not mutually exclusive, rather they complement one another. On the one hand, the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ must always be proclaimed with profound respect for the consciences of those who listen, ... on the other hand, freedom of conscience and the free exercise of religion in society are fundamental human rights."

"Georgia was the second stage of my journey," he continued, "where I returned the visits made to Rome in the past by President Sheverdnadze and His Holiness Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of all Georgia."

This country, added the Holy Father, "is preparing, in a context of newly found independence, to celebrate 3000 years of history (and) faces great social and economic challenges. Nonetheless, it is determined to face them with courage in order to become a dependable member of a united Europe. Christian Georgia has a glorious, millenarian history." John Paul II concluded by saying: "Now, after 70 years of communist repression, ... the small but vigorous Catholic community in the Caucasus is progressively strengthening its life and structure."

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50 MILLION REFUGEES, DISPLACED PERSONS CRY OUT FOR JUSTICE

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy See's permanent observer to the United Nations, Archbishop Renato Martino, spoke before the Third Committee of the 54th session of the U.N.'s General Assembly yesterday on Item 111, Report of the UNHCR, Questions Relating to Refugees, Returnees, Displaced Persons and Humanitarian Questions.

"Uprooted, humiliated, deprived of dignity and identity," he said, "millions stand in unfamiliar surroundings calling for help. There is no security for their lives, no guarantee for their future and hopes for a safe return home vanish with time. These catastrophes are willed, prepared and executed by men against fellow men, against women, children and older persons, against the sick and dying."

Archbishop Martino focussed on the urgent need to create "an effective legal instrument to protect internally displaced persons." He said that "the question of refugees and displaced persons, who have every right to lead a normal life is ... a matter of conscience. Almost fifty million of them appeal to the conscience of the international community, not begging for mercy, but crying for justice."

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CARDINAL SODANO TO ATTEND OSCE MEETING

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 1999 (VIS) - At midday today, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the following declaration:

"On November 18 and 19 in Istanbul, Turkey, a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will be held at the level of heads of State and Government."

"Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano will attend the meeting on behalf of the Holy See. He will be accompanied by Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States; Archbishop Luigi Conti, apostolic nuncio in Turkey and Msgr. Dominique Rezeau, permanent representative to the OSCE in Vienna.

"During his stay in Istanbul, Cardinal Sodano will meet the local Catholic community and the ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Joao Maria Messi O.S.M., of Irece, Brazil, as bishop of Barra do Pirai-Volta Redonda (area 4,768, population 827,986, Catholics 620,989, priests 38, permanent deacons 2, religious 121), Brazil. He succeeds Bishop Waldyr Calheiros de Novaes, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Jose Ubiratan Lopes O.F.M. Cap., pastor of 'Nossa Senhora Aparecida' parish in the diocese of Petropolis, Brazil, as bishop of Itaguai (area 2,549, population 279,000, Catholics 189,200, priests 24, permanent deacons 1, religious 66), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Itambacuri, Brazil, in 1947 and ordained a priest in 1975.

- Appointed Fr. Donald Joseph Leo Pelletier M.S., diocesan administrator of Morondava (area 46,000, population 350,000, Catholics 35,000, priests 22, religious 56), Madagascar, as bishop of the same ecclesiastical circumscription. The bishop-elect was born in Attleboro, U.S.A., in 1931 and ordained a priest in 1956.

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