WORLD YOUTH DAY: "THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S JUBILEE"

VATICAN CITY, JAN 15, 2000 (VIS) - Today, John Paul II received in audience 300 participants in the second meeting of people involved in pastoral ministry to young people. Representatives from various episcopal conferences and from ecclesial movements, associations and communities are all taking part in the meeting which is promoted by the Pontifical Council for the Laity and is dedicated to preparations for the fifteenth World Youth Day.

The Pope greeted the participants and reminded them that World Youth Days, which began in 1985, "now constitute an important engagement in the pilgrimage of the younger generations." The Pope continued, saying that this year in particular "World Youth Day has its place within the spiritual itinerary of the Jubilee and thus becomes the 'Young People's Jubilee': a privileged moment to contemplate together the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God, ... and to discover what consequences derive in everyday life, from such a strong spiritual experience.

"I pray to God," the Pope went on, "that, for all participants, the coming World Youth Day may be a stimulus to unitedly profess the faith at the start of the third millennium. In this city and in this Church of Rome ... the youth of world the will meet to fix their eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of the faith, and to give Him the response of their Christian commitment."
The Pope concluded: "I am certain that when they leave to re-embark on their life journeys, they will be workers of the new evangelization, builders of a civilization of love. In fact, their principal task is to 'ferry' the Gospel into the first century of the new millennium, pervading everyday life with the unchangeable values contained in this eternal and unchangeable 'Book of Life'."

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THE EUCHARIST: CENTER OF LIFE IN THE ECCLESIAL COMMUNITY

VATICAN CITY, JAN 15, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received the rector and students of Rome's diocesan seminary "Almo Collegio Capranica," for the occasion of the feast of their patroness, St. Agnes, which falls on January 21.

The Pope confirmed that the Jubilee should stimulate them "above all, to rediscover the deep significance of life as a giving of oneself. The young man preparing himself for the priesthood must take on a kind of disinterested love, making it his own, a love expressed by a fundamental orientation and by concrete choices of openness towards God and towards our brothers and sisters."

After highlighting that the Eucharist is the "source and the culmination" of the spiritual relationship and the "center of the life and mission of all ecclesial communities," John Paul II recalled the importance that human, spiritual and intellectual formation holds for the seminarian.

The Pope concluded by saying: "The itinerary of your preparation for the priesthood is developed within the community context. ... Live your community experience, not as a transitory phase linked to the years in the seminary, but rather as a structure for your entire priestly lives. The vocational plan that embraces the whole life of the priest, is a community plan. Each vocation is always a convocation, in other words, a call from God to live and to 'be with others and for others'."

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GREETINGS TO AN ECUMENICAL DELEGATION FROM FINLAND

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2000 (VIS) - John Paul II today received an ecumenical delegation from the Churches of Finland. He told them that their visit "builds upon the promising initiatives that have brought Orthodox, Lutheran and Catholic Christians closer together in recent times. It encourages me to pursue the path towards unity which the Successor of the Apostle Peter must be the first to take."

The Pope requested that tomorrow, upon passing through the Holy Door of St. Paul's Outside the Walls, "may we take another step closer to the unity in Christ which Peter and Paul proclaimed, and which the Lord Himself so clearly wills. I am deeply grateful to you for the commitment of mind and will with which you pursue the ecumenical task."

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POPE MAKES AN APPEAL ON BEHALF OF LEPERS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 16, 2000 (VIS) - At midday today, after praying the angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope greeted participants in a congress on Hansen's disease. The congress, which was held yesterday in the Vatican, was promoted by the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers and the Italian Association of the Friends of Raoul Follereau.
"I wish to express my appreciation for their commitment in support of those struck by leprosy, of whom there are still around fifteen million in the world today.

"I trust that the year 2000 will mark a decisive step forward for the healing and recovery of these, our brothers. In fact, leprosy is curable with medicines that are relatively inexpensive but that are often beyond the reach of the sick due to their great poverty. In the final analysis, the most dangerous 'leprosy' is misery, which must be combatted on an economic level and, above all, through a deep-rooted conversion from the logic of egoism to that of solidarity. May the Holy Year arouse in Christian souls a generous openness towards all our brothers and sisters in need."

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THE JUBILEE HAS A STRONGLY ECUMENICAL CHARACTER

VATICAN CITY, JAN 16, 2000 (VIS) - Prior to praying the angelus, the Pope reminded the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square that on Tuesday, January 18, the Prayer Week for Christian Unity begins. "On the occasion of the Jubilee year," said the Pope, "this takes on an even greater importance. The Great Jubilee 2000 has a strongly ecumenical character."

The Pope continued: "In order to underscore this fundamental aspect of the Holy Year we, together with a delegation representing numerous Churches and ecclesial communities, will go to the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls to open the Holy Door in a solemn ecumenical celebration."

John Paul II said that "only with God's help is it possible to progress along the road to unity, overcoming the divisions created in the Christian world during the course of the second millennium. I give thanks to God that, in the Basilica of St. Paul, I will have the joy to meet and pray with representatives from the principal Churches and ecclesial communities. To them, I would now like to extend a cordial welcome. We will ask pardon from God and from one another for the sins perpetrated against the unity of the Church. At the same time, we will give thanks for progress made along the path to reconciliation, especially over the last century. I invite all believers to unite in our prayer in order that the start of the third millennium may see a promising development in ecumenical relations."

After affirming that this year the theme for the Prayer Week is taken from an expression of St. Paul: "Blessed be God ... who has blessed us in Christ," the Holy Father explained that this theme "has been prepared in the Middle East by a work group which represents the various Christian confessions present in the land of Jesus." He concluded by recalling that tomorrow Italy celebrates the Day for religious dialogue between Jews and Christians.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Felipe Perez Roque, foreign minister of Cuba.
- Archbishop Paul Fouad Tabet, apostolic nuncio in Greece.
- Metropolitan Archbishop Timotheos of Vostra, secretary general of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
- Irawan Abidin, ambassador of Indonesia, accompanied by his wife, on a farewell visit.
- Jorge Siles Salinas, ambassador of Bolivia, accompanied by his wife, on a farewell visit.
- Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte C.I.C.M., president of the Central Labor Office of the Holy See, accompanied by Archbishop Giovanni De Andrea and Gio Maria Poles, respectively vice-president and director of the same office.

On Saturday, January 15, he received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Paolo Romeo, apostolic nuncio in Canada.
- Bishop Jerzy Mazur S.V.D., apostolic administrator of Eastern Siberia.
- Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, accompanied by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, Msgr. Alfonso Badini Confalonieri and Giorgio Stoppa, respectively secretary and delegates of the administration.
- Cardinal Luca Moreira Neves O.P., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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DECLARATION ON VISIT OF CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2000 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls today made the following declaration:

"The Holy Father today received Felipe Perez Roque, the foreign minister of Cuba. Later, the minister also met with Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano and Archbishop Jean Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States.

"The meetings provided an opportunity to evaluate the development of Church-State relations in Cuba.

"On this subject, the minister emphasized his government's willingness to support mutual and harmonious collaboration.

"For its part, the Holy See expressed its hope for ever greater religious liberty, in accordance with declarations made by the Holy Father during his historic visit of January 1998.

"The convergence of views regarding the international political situation was also noted, as was the need for greater solidarity in support of the poorest countries."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Gerald Isaac Lobo, episcopal vicar of the diocese of Mangalore, India, and pastor of the parish of St. Monica at Kumbla, as bishop of Shimoga (area 21,405, population 4,247,881, Catholics 25,405, priests 37, religious 157), India. The bishop-elect was born at Agrar, India, in 1949 and ordained a priest in 1977.

On Saturday, January 15, it was made public that he:

- Appointed as consultors of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims, which is part of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue: Frs. Matthew Kukah, Nigeria; James Channan O.P., Pakistan; Jean-Marie Gaudeul M. Afr., France. Also, Vincenzo Buonomo, Italy, and Yussef Kamal El-Hage, Lebanon.

- Appointed His Beatitude Jean Pierre XVIII Kasparian, patriarch emeritus of Cilicia of the Armenians, as member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.
- Appointed as consultors of the Congregation for Bishops: Frs. Domingo Javier Andres Gutierrez C.M.F., president of the "Utriusque Iuris" Institute of the Pontifical Lateran University; Gianfranco Ghirlanda S.J., dean of the faculty of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University; Edward Kaczynski O.P., rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas; Donato Valentini S.D.B., lecturer in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Salesian University.

- Appointed as consultors of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers: Msgr. Sergio Pintor of the archdiocese of Oristano, Italy, director of the Italian Episcopal Conference's national office for pastoral assistance in the field of health care; Fr. Ernesto Scirpoli of the diocese of Biella, Italy. Also, Fernando S. Antezana Aranibar, former assistant director general of the World Health Organization, Bolivia and Maurizio Scelli, secretary general of UNITALSI, Italy.

- Gave his blessing to the election, canonically carried out by the Synod of Bishops of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church, meeting at Roboueh, Lebanon, on January 14, 2000, of Fr. Joseph Kallas S.M.S.P., as archbishop of Beirut and Gibail of the Greek-Melkites (Catholics 200,000, priests 70, religious 313), Lebanon. The archbishop-elect was born at Fiki, Lebanon, in 1931 and ordained a priest in 1958.

- Gave his blessing to the election canonically carried out by the Synod of Bishops of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church, meeting at Roboueh, Lebanon, on January 14, 2000, of Fr. Nicholas Sawaf, of the clergy of Aleppo of the Greek-Melkites, Syria, as archbishop of Lattaquie of the Greek Melkites (Catholics 10,000, priests 18, religious 24), Syria. The archbishop-elect was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1943 and ordained a priest in 1968.

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