ECUMENICAL ACT IN BETHLEHEM FOR THE OPENING OF HOLY YEAR

VATICAN CITY, DEC 4, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was a message from the Holy Father to the apostolic delegation which is participating in a solemn ecumenical act for the opening of the Jubilee Year in Bethlehem.

In the message, which is written in English, the Pope expresses his "joy" that this event is being held, an event in which "the highest representatives of the Christians of the Holy Land are gathering in ... preparation for the opening of the Jubilee year, commemorating the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of our Lord."

"Before the eyes of the Christians of the Holy Land, and indeed of all Christians throughout the world, this meeting in Bethlehem testifies that the places in which Jesus spent his earthly life, bore his witness, died and rose again, are a constant reminder of the grace that we have received in Him and an urgent invitation to us to strengthen our will and commitment to be faithful to His prayer: 'Ut omnes unum sint'."

The Holy Father concludes by affirming that "by a happy coincidence today's ecumenical celebration is being attended by the secretaries of the Christian world communions. To them too I send my cordial greeting and my encouragement for their efforts to extend the bonds of brotherhood and cooperation."

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TO INTEGRATE THE DISABLED: LOVE, SOLIDARITY, HUMAN RIGHTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 4, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning addressed the participants in a congress on "The Family and the Integration of the Disabled in Childhood and Adolescence." He focussed on the need for families and society to show love and solidarity towards the disabled and to not deprive them of their "inalienable, inviolable human rights."

"When difficulties, problems or illness strike in childhood," stated the Pope, "it is then that the values of faith can come to the aid of human values, so that primary human dignity, even of the disabled, is recognized and respected. ... The arrival of a suffering child is without doubt a distressing event for the family, which is intimately shaken by it." Parents must give this child special care and express "deep esteem for his human dignity. ... While this is true for every child, it takes on a singular urgency when the child is little and needs everything, is ill, suffering or handicapped."

The Holy Father underlined that "the family is the place par excellence where the gift of life is received as such, and the child's dignity is recognized with expressions of special care and tenderness. Above all when the children are the most needy and exposed to the risk of being rejected by others, it is the family who can, with greater efficacy, ensure their equal dignity with respect to healthy children."

John Paul II expressed "the Church's gratitude" for all who care for, love and support disabled children and adolescents. He also pointed to "the examples of extraordinary dedication on the part of countless parents towards their children" and "the multiple initiatives of families ready to accept with generous zeal disabled children as foster or adoptive parents."

Then, the Pope forcefully stated that "every person is the subject of basic rights which are inalienable, inviolable and indivisible. Every person: Therefore, even the disabled who, precisely because of their handicap, might meet greater difficulties in concretely exercising such rights."

He also emphasized that, while the Church and society have "specific roles" in developing solidarity for the disabled, "it is up to the family above all ... to understand that the value of existence transcends that of efficiency."

This three-day meeting, which ended today, was organized by the Pontifical Council for the Family and its president, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, together with the Special Family Education Center (CEFAES) of Madrid and the Leopoldo Program of Venezuela.

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PANAMA'S ROLE IS TO BE A LINK BETWEEN PEOPLES

VATICAN CITY, DEC 4, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received the Letters of Credence of the new Panamanian ambassador, Edda Martinelli de Dutari, to whom he expressed his happiness at the new government's intention to "continue" and "increase" relations between Panama and the Holy See.

Referring to a "moment of great importance for Panama, that is, the restoration, in the coming days, of sovereignty over the canal that bears its name, together with the surrounding land," the Holy Father said: "This event brings with it great consequences, both juridical and practical as well as economic and political. However, it also carries ... an emblematic significance, reaffirming the historical and geographical identity of your country, which is called to play an important role of communication and linkage between the peoples of the world.

"All of this," he continued, "seems to be an invitation for Panama to distinguish itself precisely because its people are welcoming, open to dialogue and have deep Christian roots." Consequently, with the restoration of sovereignty, it is necessary to avoid that "external interests or pressure end up detracting from the benefits that this magnificent historical opportunity can bring to citizens, favoring the development of projects that aim to: eradicate the poverty from which a part of the population suffers; ensure ever greater respect for the dignity of the various ethnic groups; improve education; speed up the exercise of judicial power and render more humane and just the situation of prisoners in order to facilitate their reinsertion into society and, in the final analysis, provide the means necessary for the integral development of the Panamanian people."

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ANGELUS REFLECTIONS ON ADVENT, IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

VATICAN CITY, DEC 5, 1999 (VIS) - Speaking to the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the angelus with him, Pope John Paul reflected today on the season of Advent, and on the December 8 solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.

He began by citing the words in today's Gospel of John the Baptist "who cried out in the desert: 'Prepare the way for the Lord, set straight His paths'." The Pope said that "preparing the way for the Lord this year means preparing oneself to cross the threshold of the Holy Door, and thus to receive the superabundance of grace that Christ has brought to the world and which the Jubilee Year will place at everyone's disposition."

"Straighten out the Lord's paths." continued the Holy Father. "To meet our Redeemer means 'converting oneself', walking, that is, towards the Lord with joyous faith, abandoning those ways of thinking and living which impede us from following Him fully."

"In the face of the good news of a God who, for love of us, reveals Himself and takes on our human condition, we cannot fail to open our hearts to repentance; we cannot close ourselves in pride and hypocrisy, precluding the possibility of finding true peace. The shadow of the Holy Door, which is now near, reminds us that God is overflowing with tender and merciful love."

After meditating on the coming of the Redeemer, John Paul II spoke of His mother Mary and the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. He observed that "in Mary, 'full of grace' is what God intends to fulfill in every man. The Mother of the Redeemer was preserved from sin and filled with divine grace. Her spiritual beauty invites us to trust and to hope."

After praying the angelus, the Pope greeted blood donor organizers from the Italian Red Cross "who are gathered to remind the public of the need to donate blood. In Rome provisions are in short supply, and this situation will become more worrisome with the influx of so many pilgrims for the Jubilee." He urged those who could do so to donate blood, "thus performing an act of concrete solidarity."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 4, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. George Panikulam, counsellor at the Holy See Mission to the United Nations, New York, as apostolic nuncio in Honduras, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in Puthenchira, India, in 1942 and ordained a priest in 1967.

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HOLY SEE EXPRESSES POSITION AT WTO CONFERENCE IN SEATTLE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 4, 1999 (VIS) - The position paper presented on December 2 by the Holy See delegation at the just-concluded World Trade Organization (WTO) conference in Seattle was released this morning.

It underlined that a rule-based Multilateral Trade System "will only be accomplished when the LDCs (Least Developed Countries) are able to integrate themselves within the international community, while keeping their ability to promote the human and sustainable development of their citizens." He also noted that "it is especially striking that the LDCs' share of international trade is still only about half of one percent, having declined since 1990."

The paper stated that the "inability of LDCs ... to take advantage of opportunities provided by the existing WTO programs includes ... a shortage of skilled personnel able to tackle the complexity of WTO structures and rules, the inability to upgrade domestic regulations, weak institutional infrastructure, ... and the high cost of maintaining missions in Geneva."

"There are some sensitive questions concerning developed countries," it added, "as well as middle income and poor countries, such as human rights, labor questions, environmental degradation, biotechnology and health which .... need to be handled in a spirit of prudence and cooperation, while seeking a broad and long term consensus on the basics of human sustainable development."

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MESSAGE FOR WORLD DAY OF MIGRANTS AND REFUGEES

VATICAN CITY, DEC 6, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was a message from the Pope for the 76th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, which will be held during 2000.

The Pope writes that during the Jubilee, pilgrims "will learn to open their hearts to everyone, especially to those who are different: the guest, the stranger, the immigrant, the refugee, those who profess another religion, the non-believer."

Referring to the phenomenon of globalization, John Paul II recalled that "it accelerates the flow of capital and the exchange of goods and services between people, and inevitably has an influence on human mobility."

"Nonetheless," he adds, "globalization produces new rifts. Within the framework of a liberalism that is not adequately checked, the chasm between 'emerging' States and those States which are 'losing out' grows deeper. The former have at their disposal both capital and technology, ... while the latter do not have easy access to the resources necessary for adequate human development." The Pope recalls what he wrote in his message for World Youth Day 1998: "The challenge of our times is to guarantee globalization in solidarity, globalization without marginalization."

"Each day," he continues, "thousands of people face dramatic risks in order to escape from a life without a future. Unfortunately, the realty they find in the nations to which they flee often gives rise to further delusions." Furthermore, States are tending to "tighten their borders" and another problem that must be addressed is that of illegal immigrants, "victims of organized crime and unscrupulous entrepreneurs."

Returning to the subject of globalization, the Pope underlined that this process "could represent an opportunity, if cultural differences are welcomed as an opportunity for meeting and dialogue, and if the unequal distribution of the world's resources provokes a new awareness of the required solidarity."

"In this Jubilee year ... the invitation to hospitality is current and urgent. How can the baptized accept Christ if they close the door to the stranger who appears before them?"

The figure of the exile, the refugee, the deportee, the illegal immigrant, the emigrant in all societies requires from believers a "change of mentality and of life, ... Such conversion surely includes, in its highest and most demanding motivation, the effective recognition of the rights of migrants."

"Working for the unity of the human family," the Holy Father concludes, "means committing oneself to refusing all discrimination, whether based on race, culture or religion, as being contrary to God's design."

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THE CHRISTIAN LIFE MOVEMENT HOLDS ITS FIRST PLENARY

VATICAN CITY, DEC 6, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received members of the Christian Life Movement, founded in Peru fourteen years ago, who are presently in Rome for their first plenary assembly. The movement has a presence in various American countries and incorporates other groups and associations who are committed to evangelization.

The Pope encouraged those present to prepare their hearts, at the threshold of the Jubilee, "to receive God's mercy and to promote a deep and coherent spirit of Christian life in your own communities and your apostolic activities."

"In the education of the young," he said, "ensure that the spirit of initiative be united with faithfulness to the Gospel, that culture be opened to a sense of transcendence and that poverty, in all its forms, may receive a ray of hope through charity and true solidarity. In this way you will be true craftsmen of reconciliation in today's world."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 6 DEC, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop John Raphael Quinn, emeritus of San Francisco, U.S.A.
- Professor Herbert Schambeck.
- Cardinal Eduardo Martnez Somalo, Archbishop Silvano Nesti Piergiorgio, Fr. Jesus Torres Llorente and Msgr. Juan Jose Dorronsoro, respectively prefect, seccretary and under-secretaries of the Congregation for the Institutes of Consecrated Lif and Societies of Apostolic Life.

On Saturday, December 4, he received in separate audiences:
- Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer O.S.B., archbishop emeritus of Vienna, Austria.
- Cardinal Pio Laghi, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Catholic Education.

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20-YEAR RESTORATION OF SISTINE CHAPEL IS COMPLETED

VATICAN CITY, DEC 6, 1999 (VIS) - A communique released today by the Vatican Museums announces that, with the cleaning of the frescoes on the side walls of the Sistine chapel, which depict the life of Moses and Christ, as well as adjacent works, the restoration of the Sistine chapel, which began in 1979, has been completed.

This final phase lasted five years, was executed by the Vatican Museums' Painting Restoration Laboratory and was made possible by a contribution from the group, Patrons of the Vatican Museums.

A press conference on the restoration process will take place in the Sistine Chapel at 4 p.m. on Friday, December 10, for accredited journalists. Those participating in the conference include: Cardinal Edmund Szoka, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State; Francesco Buranelli, regent director general of the Pontifical Monuments, Museums and Galleries; Fr. Allen Duston, international coordinator for relations with the Patrons of the Vatican Museums, and Arnold Nesselrath, Nazzareno Gabrielli and Maurizio De Luca of the Vatican Museums.

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REPORT ISSUED ON ORIENTAL CHURCHES MEETING IN BOSTON

VATICAN CITY, DEC 6, 1999 (VIS) - A synthesis of the work undertaken November 7-12 in Boston, U.S.A., during the first meeting of bishops and major superiors of the Oriental Catholic Churches of America and Oceania, organized by the Congregation for Oriental Churches, was released today.

The report listed the members in attendance, including several officials from the Roman Curia and the specific topics discussed each day, with emphasis given to the liturgy, development and problems of the Oriental Churches in the lands to which members have migrated from their country of origin. It was noted that each day the Divine Liturgy was celebrated in one of the rites represented: Maronite, Armenian, Syriac and Byzantine rites, as well as the Roman Rite of the archbishop host, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston.

The participants listed what they saw as priorities for the Oriental Churches: "formation of the clergy, with attention given to safeguarding their specific Eastern nature as well as the special care that should be given to spiritual direction; a catechesis project which privileges adult catechesis and the ever-deeper bond with liturgical symbols and texts; a commitment to help the re-birth and development of monasticism which - as the Holy Father recalls in 'Orientale Lumen' - has always been the very soul of the Oriental Churches."

The participants asked that, "where they do not already exist, specific commissions be created within episcopal conferences to deal with questions regarding Catholic Oriental Churches and their relationship with the Latin Church." They also asked that meetings such as this one in Boston become frequent, preferably regular.

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, DEC 6, 1999 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Archbishop Habib Bacha M.S.S.P., of Beirut and Gibail of the Greek Melkites, Lebanon, on November 23, at the age of 68.
- Archbishop Jacques Delaporte of Cambrai, France, on November 21, at the age of 73.
- Archbishop Ambrose Rayappan, emeritus of Pondicherry and Cuddalore, India, on November 24, at the age of 98.

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