PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR ON POPE JOHN PAUL'S VACATION

VATICAN CITY, JUL 16, 2000 (VIS) - Conversing this morning with the journalists who had come to Introd, Les Combes, where the Holy Father has been on vacation since July 10, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls spoke of the Pope's activities and thoughts during the six days spent thus far in Valle d'Aosta.

The Holy Father is staying this year in a new villa, recently built by the Salesians. Navarro-Valls said that, at the angelus, the Pope had profusely thanked all who made his rest period enjoyable, in particular the Salesians. When he saw the new house, however, he protested, asking "was the villa made especially for me?" He felt better when told that the house, which faces Mont Blanc and is surrounded by an enormous garden, would be used during the winter months as a ski stop.

The press office director also commented on the ever-changing weather in the Valle d'Aosta region. "The Pope has a background as a mountain man, he knows the climate changes from one minute to the next. The other day at Fontaney he had a great time because one minute there was snow, then hail, then splendid sunshine."

Navarro-Valls disclosed today that it was Pope John Paul II who personally had written to Italian President Ciampi "to communicate his feelings regarding the prospect of Italy deciding or not on a gesture of clemency with regards to Ali Agca," the Turk who shot the Pope on May 13, 1981 in St. Peter's Square at the start of a weekly general audience. Agca was granted clemency a month ago and extradited to Turkey.

He added that, though the Pope has asked clemency for Ali Agca and others, he never wishes to interfere with a State's autonomy: "States act autonomously. The Pope only wished to communicate his own frame of mind, not to ask or demand anything of the Italian State."

Asked if the Holy Father had received a letter, asking for his intervention in favor of an American prison inmate who has been condemned to death, Navarro-Valls replied that such a letter has not reached the Vatican. However, he added, "the theme of the death penalty is still very much alive for the Pope, particularly within the context of the Jubilee Year." Referring to John Paul's Letter for the Jubilee in Prisons, he said: "That document contained a formal invitation to the world's heads of State and government, and no one can ignore this formal invitation against the death penalty."

The press office director revealed that John Paul II "is thinking about and is anxious to go to Syria and to Greece, to Athens, in the footsteps of St. Paul, though nothing has been decided, nor are there any dates." Regarding a trip to Moscow, he said: "The Pope would like to go to Moscow, but it is clear that a trip to Russia must also have an ecumenical dimension, it cannot only be an event of ceremonies and invitations." He excluded positive developments regarding a trip to Iraq.

More than "summing up what has been accomplished, especially in this Jubilee Year," said Navarro-Valls, "these days the Holy Father is thinking about the future, about commitments he has made, deadlines he must meet. ... He is looking beyond 2000, to next year and the goals awaiting him."

He pointed out that "every morning the Pope is briefed on the world situation and, obviously, the Middle East is at the center of his attention, above all, for the fact that he travelled to the Holy Land in March, during which time he personally met both (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Barak and (PLO leader Yasser) Arafat, the two protagonists in the negotiations (in Washington)."

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