POPE WELCOMES PILGRIMS FROM ANTIOCH OF THE SYRIANS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 23, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed His Beatitude Ignatius Moussa I, patriarch of Antioch of the Syrians, and the bishops, priests, religious and faithful of the Church of Antioch of the Syrians who are in Rome on a Jubilee pilgrimage.

The Pope observed that "from the origins of Christianity, the Apostles Peter and Paul were intimately linked to Antioch." He added that the Acts of the Apostles tell us that "'in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians'. How can we not recall the figure of St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who suffered martyrdom in Rome and who, in his Letter to the Romans, affirmed that the Church of Rome presided in charity?"

"The Church of Antioch," he told them, "has a special veneration for her holy Bishop Ignatius, so that all the patriarchs bear this name as their first patriarchal title, thus showing the same attachment to the See of Peter and wishing to follow the example of their illustrious predecessor."

John Paul II encouraged them to "draw from the sacraments ... the spiritual strength to be always faithful to the teaching of the Apostles and to remain witnesses of the Good News."

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