PROMULGATION OF DECREES BY CONGREGATION FOR CAUSES OF SAINTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 27, 2000 (VIS) - Today in the Consistory Hall, the following decrees were promulgated in the presence of the Holy Father, John Paul II, the members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the postulators of the respective causes:

- One decree regarding the heroic virtue of Servant of God Francesco Saverio Seelos, German, priest of the Congregation of the Holy Redeemer (1819-1867).

- Three decrees regarding the martyrdom of the Servants of God:
- Nicola Bunkerd Kitbamrung, Thai, diocesan priest, martyred for the faith in Thailand in 1944.
- Andrea, lay catechist, protomartyr of Vietnam, born c. 1625 or 1626, martyred for the faith in Vietnam in 1644.
- Pietro Calungsod, Filippino, lay catechist, martyred for the faith in Guam in 1672.

- One decree regarding a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Katharine Mary Drexel, American, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored People (1858-1955).

- Six decrees regarding miracles attributed to the intercession of Servants of God:
- John XXIII (ne Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli), Italian, Pope (1881-1963).
- Columba (ne Joseph Marmion), Irish, priest of the Order of St. Benedict (1858-1923).
- Giorgio Preca, Maltese, diocesan priest and founder of the Society for Christian Doctrine (1880-1962).
- Maria Teresa Chiramel Mankidiyan, Indian, foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family (1876-1926).
- Marie Elizabeth Hesselblad, Swedish, foundress of the Order of the Most Holy Savior and of St. Bridget (1870-1957).
- Francesco Saverio Seelos, German, priest of the Congregation of the Holy Redeemer (1819-1867).

Among those present for the promulgation of the decrees were Archbishops Jose Saraiva Martins and Joseph Nowak, respectively prefect and secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

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PUBLICATION OF POPE'S MESSAGE FOR LENT 2000

VATICAN CITY, JAN 27, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was John Paul II's message for Lent 2000, the theme of which is "I am with you always, to the close of the age." Selections from the text, which bears the date of September 21, 1999 and is published in Italian, English, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese, are given below:

"This year, the celebration of Lent, a time of conversion and reconciliation, takes on a particular character, occurring as it does during the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. The time of Lent is in fact the culminating point of the journey of conversion and reconciliation which the Jubilee, the year of the Lord's favor, offers to all the faithful, so that they can renew their fidelity to Christ and proclaim his mystery of salvation with renewed ardor in the new millennium."

"We were dead through sin, this is how St. Paul describes the situation of man without Christ. ... This is a slavery which man experiences every day, as he perceives its deep roots in his own heart. Sometimes it shows itself in dramatic and unusual ways, as happened in the course of the great tragedies of the twentieth century, which deeply marked the lives of countless communities and individuals, the victims of cruel violence. Forced deportations, the systematic elimination of peoples, contempt for the fundamental rights of the person: these are the tragedies which even today humiliate humanity. In daily life too we see all sorts of forms of fraud, hatred, the destruction of others, and lies of which man is both the victim and source. Humanity is marked by sin. Its tragic condition reminds us of the cry of alarm uttered by the Apostle to the nations: 'None is righteous, no, not one'.

"In the face of the darkness of sin and man's incapacity to free himself on his own, there appears in all its splendor the saving work of Christ. ... He shared in human life 'unto death, even death on a cross,' to ransom mankind from the slavery of evil and restore humanity to its original dignity as children of God. ... In the Risen Lord, death's power is broken and mankind is enabled, through faith, to enter into communion with God."

"The Jubilee is the time of grace in which we are invited to open ourselves in a particular way to the mercy of the Father, who in the Son has stooped down to man, and to reconciliation, the great gift of Christ. ... God offers his mercy to whoever is willing to accept it, even to the distant and doubtful. The people of our time, tired of mediocrity and false hopes, are thus given an opportunity to set out on the path that leads to fullness of life. ... During the Holy Year the Church offers various opportunities for personal and community reconciliation. Each diocese has designated special places where the faithful can go in order to experience a particular presence of God. ... Particular significance attaches to pilgrimage to the Holy Land and to Rome, which are special places of encounter with God, because of their unique role in the history of salvation. ... I too hope, precisely during Lent of the year 2000, to be a pilgrim in the Holy Land, to the places where our faith began, in order to celebrate the two-thousandth Jubilee of the Incarnation."

"The path of conversion leads to reconciliation with God and to fullness of new life in Christ. A life of faith, hope and love. ... The grace of the Jubilee above all impels us to renew our personal faith. ... For Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, Abraham is the exemplar of the believer: trusting in the promise, he follows the voice of God calling him to set out on unknown paths. ... Through the grace of the Jubilee, the Lord likewise invites us to renew our hope. ... Through the virtue of hope, Christians bear witness to the fact that, beyond all evil and beyond every limit, history bears within itself a seed of good which the Lord will cause to germinate in its fullness. ... Through the Jubilee, finally, the Lord asks us to rekindle our charity. ... The Christian community knows that faith without works is dead. Thus, through charity, Christians make visible God's love for man revealed in Christ, and make manifest Christ's presence in the world 'to the close of the age.' ... During Lent, everyone ' rich and poor ' is invited to make Christ's love present through generous works of charity. During this Jubilee Year our charity is called in a particular way to manifest Christ's love to our brothers and sisters who lack the necessities of life, who suffer hunger, violence or injustice. ... How can we ask for the grace of the Jubilee if we are insensitive to the needs of the poor, if we do not work to ensure that all have what is necessary to lead a decent life?"

"'I am with you always, to the close of the age.' These words of Jesus assure us that, in proclaiming and living the Gospel of charity, we are not alone."

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LENT MESSAGE CALLS FOR A CONVERSION OF HEART

VATICAN CITY, JAN 27, 2000 (VIS) - At midday today in the Holy See Press Office, Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum," presented the Pope's Message for Lent 2000, whose theme is "I am with you always, to the close of the age."

In the message, said the archbishop, the Holy Father "confronts the problem of evil at the roots," and "seeks to reinforce the call to combat sin," inspiring us to interior conversion.
Archbishop Cordes affirmed that the message "is not the customary call to give help to the needy. ... In the first instance, it considers man's relationship with God."

Archbishop Angelo Massafra O.F.M., metropolitan of Scutari and apostolic administrator of Sappa, Albania, then spoke of the "human catastrophe" which that country has had to bear over the last three years.

"The Catholic Church in Albania," he said, "through the work of Caritas at both national and diocesan level, is summoned by the tragic events of history to a great and outstanding witness of solidarity towards Kosovar refugees, without overlooking normal pastoral service."

Archbishop Massafra made two appeals: "No more assistance, rather investments in north and northeast Albania, in order to create work opportunities. Let us build a small church in each of the mountain villages for the Jubilee 2000."

At the close of the press conference, the fifth edition of the Catholic Aid Directory was presented. The book lists organizations that carry out charitable work within the field of operations of "Cor Unum." In addition to the book, a compact disc has been issued, allowing more rapid retrieval of addresses. Other information given includes whether the organizations listed finance projects, what countries/regions they operate in, and what type of projects are involved. The names, addresses and other information relative to the organizations appear in the language of their country of origin.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 27, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Richard Joseph Malone, of the clergy of Boston (area 6,382, population 3,764,400, Catholics 2,002,322, priests 1,770, permanent deacons 187, religious 3,979), U.S.A. and archdiocesan secretary for education, as auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese. The bishop-elect was born at Salem, U.S.A., in 1946 and ordained a priest in 1972.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 27, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and special envoy to the 12th centenary celebrations for the construction of the cathedral at Aachen, Germany.
- Archbishop Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
- Archbishop Louis-Marie Bille of Lyon, France, president of the French Episcopal Conference, accompanied by Bishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Montpellier, France, and Msgr. Bernard Lagoutte, respectively vice-president and secretary general of the same episcopal conference.

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POPE TO INAUGURATE PARKING LOT AND NEW MUSEUM ENTRANCE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 27, 2000 (VIS) - On Monday, January 31, Pope John Paul will inaugurate the new underground parking lot for tourist busses and cars which was built on Janiculum Hill for the Jubilee Year, and a week later he will inaugurate and bless the new entrance to the Vatican Museums.

On January 31, in the presence of civil and ecclesiastical authorities, the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See, and representatives of the company who built the parking lot, the Holy Father will arrive by car at level "0" and take an elevator to the fifth floor. Here he will greet those present and make a speech.

Work on the new entrance to the Vatican Museums, which the Pope will inaugurate on February 7, began in mid-1997. A new entrance was deemed necessary to accommodate the ever-increasing number of visitors to the Museums, which has gone from 1.5 million annually twenty years ago to more than 3 million annually at the moment. The former entrance to the museums has become the new exit.

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