THE LAITY: LIGHT AND HOPE FOR THE CHURCH AND SOCIETY

VATICAN CITY, NOV 26, 2000 (VIS) - At the end of the Mass in St. Peter's Square this morning to celebrate the World Congress of the Lay Apostolate, and before reciting the angelus, Pope John Paul reflected on the Vatican Council II documents promulgated 35 years ago, including the decree on the apostolate of the laity.

Addressing an estimated 40,000 faithful gathered in the square on a cold and rainy day, the Pope pointed out that he had given to several representatives of the laity copies of Vatican Council II documents. "Today, as then, I wish to symbolically entrust the council patrimony especially to you, dear lay people, apostles of the third millennium, recalling that it was precisely to the laity - government leaders, scientists and intellectuals, artists, women, workers, young people, the poor and the ill - that the Council gave its concluding message destined for all of mankind.

Greeting the pilgrims in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Polish, the Holy Father encouraged "the lay faithful to study the Council's teaching, to love and live its message. In this way the laity will be the light and hope for the Church and for society. May Christ, the Eternal King, guide and strengthen you always!"

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