THE JUBILEE OF THE SICK AND OF HEALTH CARE WORKERS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 26, 2000 (VIS) - On Tuesday, February 1 at 11:30 a.m. in the Holy See Press Office, Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan and Bishop Jose Luis Redrado, O.H. will hold a press conference to present the Jubilee of the Sick and of Health Care Workers, which will take place February 9 to 13.

The president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers will be joined by Fr. Felice Ruffini, M.I., council under-secretary, and by Maurizio Scelli, secretary general of UNITALSI (an Italian association of volunteers who assist the sick during pilgrimages to Marian shrines) and Fr. Marko Ivan Rupnik, S.J., creator of the "Jubilee of the Sick" logo.

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MAN MUST DISCOVER THE WONDER OF CREATION

VATICAN CITY, JAN 26, 2000 (VIS) - "The glory of the Trinity in the creation" was the theme of John Paul II's catechesis during the general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.

"The glory of the Trinity," said the Pope, "shines out in creation. In fact, it is possible to see, in the light of Revelation, how the creative act is associated with the 'Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change'."

John Paul II affirmed that "in Holy Scripture, creation is often also linked to the divine Word which bursts forth and acts. ... At other times, Scripture highlights the role of the Spirit of God in the creative act. ... That same Spirit is symbolically represented in the breath of the mouth of God."

"Faced with the glory of the Trinity in creation, man must contemplate, sing out, rediscover his wonder. ... For believers, contemplating creation also comprehends listening to a message, hearing a paradoxical and silent voice."

The Pope indicated that nature "is a gospel that speaks to us of God." He added that "this capacity to contemplate and know, this discovery of a transcendental presence in creation, must also lead us to rediscover our fraternal relationship with the earth, to which we are bound from the moment of our creation. ... If nature is not violated and humiliated, she will once more become the sister of man."

In his greetings to pilgrims at the audience, Pope John Paul addressed a large group of sick people from all Italy who yesterday participated in a prayer meeting in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. The event was part of an initiative that will be celebrated on the last Tuesday of every month during the Jubilee year: "In the example of the saints, know how to find help in offering your sufferings, united with those of Christ, so that the announcement of salvation may reach all men and women."

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CONCLUSION OF PRAYER WEEK FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

VATICAN CITY, JAN 26, 2000 (VIS) - Yesterday evening in the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the Walls, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee 2000, presided at the second vespers of the feast of the conversion of St. Paul. The event marked the close of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

In his homily, Cardinal Etchegaray stated that "of all prayers, the prayer for unity is without doubt that which, so to say, beseeches the most." He asked the Lord: "Cause us to enter into Your prayer for unity to the point that, together in You, we may be one in Your Spirit and in the glory of Your Father."

"The path to unity," the cardinal went on, "does not initially mean that Christians should look one another more closely in the eye. ... Rather, above all, it means looking together towards the Lord and holding out our hands to Him, in common obedience to the Holy Spirit sent by Him."

He said that "ecumenical prayer is not a purely spiritual practice, reserved for those who cannot do anything else in favor of unity. It must inspire all Christians to discover as well as to embrace the advances (that have been made) at the level of common thought and action."

May this afternoon's prayer, concluded Cardinal Etchegaray, "help us to look with faith at the unity already achieved over a few years: Antioch, Rome, Alexandria, Etchmiadzin, Constantinople, Wittenberg, Canterbury, Geneva, all cities which up until now were distant from one another, now seem to be closer together, because they are closer to Jerusalem, the land of Christ!"

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 26, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Protogenes Jose Luft S.d.C., provincial superior in Brazil for the Servants of Charity, as coadjutor bishop of Barra do Garcas (area 103,830, population 143,000, Catholics 132,000, priests 25, permanent deacons 2, religious 116), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Chapada, Brazil, in 1949 and ordained a priest in 1975.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 26, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Camillo Ruini, his vicar general for the diocese of Rome and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, accompanied by Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Genova, Italy, and vice-president of the same episcopal conference; Archbishop Giuseppe Costanzo of Siracusa, Italy; Bishop Alberto Ablondi of Livorno, Italy, and Msgr. Ennio Antonelli, secretary general of the same episcopal conference.

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