HOLY FATHER WELCOMES PILGRIMS FROM DIOCESE OF PADUA

VATICAN CITY, MAR 3, 2000 (VIS) - Faithful from the diocese of Padua, Italy, accompanied by their bishop, were welcomed this morning by the Holy Father who underscored how theirs was "a Church rich in saints and martyrs, old and noble traditions, priestly and religious vocations and generous institutions."

He also extended "a fraternal greeting to the Orthodox bishop of Cherson, Ionathan, secretary of the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and to the representative of the Romanian metropolitan of Craiova, who are taking part in this encounter."

"We are living the year of the Great Jubilee," the Pope told the 4,500 people gathered in St. Peter's Basilica, "which offers the faithful the possibility of drawing copiously from the treasure of God's graces and mercy which have been entrusted to the Church. The Lord asks those who long for a courageous inner renewal, to approach Him with trust."

John Paul II remarked that "following Christ with generous love demands an intense and constant interior growth. To this end, it is necessary to assiduously cultivate prayer, to participate as frequently as possible in the Eucharist and in the sacrament of Penance, and to exercise the evangelical virtues, above all, charity."

Highlighting the "great tradition of sanctity of the Church in Padua," the Pope named many of "the numerous examples of witness to the faith," calling them "the glories of your diocese." He urged the faithful to draw from "their examples and their enthusiastic teachings. ... you will thus be prepared to face with trust and hope the difficulties of our time and the challenges of the new evangelization."

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