TO GUATEMALAN PILGRIMS: BUILD A BETTER FUTURE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 7, 2000 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall, the Pope received participants in a jubilee pilgrimage from Guatemala who were led by the president of their episcopal conference, Archbishop Victor Hugo Martinez Contreras.

The Holy Father exhorted the faithful to capitalize on "legitimate patriotic feelings in order to promote a common commitment to building a better future for all people; one free from internal tension and discriminations, unified in the needs of each individual or group, strong in the face of adversity and one that creates new spaces for the civilization of love."

"May God abundantly bless your commitment to be faithful to God and the Church," he concluded, "and may the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Assumption, with her maternal concern, defend within you the grace and good intentions of this pilgrimage."

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