NUMEROUS PILGRIM GROUPS ARE WELCOMED BY HOLY FATHER

VATICAN CITY, OCT 21, 2000 (VIS) - Thousands of pilgrims, predominantly from Italian dioceses, were welcomed by Pope John Paul this morning in St. Peter's Square. He spoke briefly to each of these groups, and also welcomed the National Association of Firemen, the Lions Club of Caserta, Capuchin Friars from Umbria, and Hungarian students from the Cistercian-run high school in Pecs.

To the pilgrims from the diocesan vicariate of northern Bologna, the Pope recalled his visit there three years ago for the close of the National Eucharistic Congress. "Always keep alive in your souls the memory of that ecclesial event, which was a very important moment on the path of preparation for the Great Jubilee. There is, in fact, at the 'heart' of the Jubilee the Eucharistic Jesus, source and summit of all evangelization."

"The pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles," the Holy Father told the faithful from the diocese of Palestrina, "represents a strong invitation to experience pardon, reconciliation and a renewal of life, It is a call to renew every day the path of faith and participation in the life of the Christian community."

John Paul II told pilgrims from the diocese of Crema: "May the fascinating discovery of the real presence of the Risen Lord through listening to His Word and the 'breaking of bread' motivate you to deepen the communion and pastoral collaboration within your community and to renew your incentive to become proclaimers of the Gospel of salvation."

Concluding remarks were dedicated to members of the Italian Federation of Blood Donor Organizations. He said that "donating blood is a great gesture of solidarity, which ends up involving the deepest aspects of the human personality," and exhorted them "to enrich the various social and health activities with a solid spiritual formation."

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