OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 23, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Jesus Maria Cizaurre Berdonces O.A.R., provincial vicar of the Augustinian Recollects in Brazil, as bishop prelate of the territorial prelature Cameta (area 50,648, population 420,000, Catholics 378,000, priests 14, religious 52), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Valtierra-Navarra, Spain, in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1976.

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COMMEMORATION OF ABRAHAM "OUR FATHER IN THE FAITH"

VATICAN CITY, FEB 23, 2000 (VIS) - Following the general audience in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II moved to the Paul VI Hall where he presided at a liturgical celebration in honor of the patriarch Abraham. The event represented the first stage in the Holy Father's journey to places linked with the history of salvation.

The celebration took the form of a Liturgy of the Word with readings from the Old and New Testaments, the Prayer of the Faithful and several other ceremonies such as the procession with the Gospel and the incensing of the image of the Holy Trinity.
Following the first reading and the Holy Father's homily, there were a few moments of meditation, accompanied by images of Ur of the Chaldeans and other places in which Abraham lived.

At the start of his homily, the Holy Father said "our gaze turns towards Abraham, towards the place where he felt God's call and responded to it with the obedience of faith. Together with us, Jews and Muslims also look to the figure of Abraham as a model of unconditional submission to God's will."

The Pope recalled that through faith Abraham emerged victorious from the trial to which he was submitted by God who asked him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. "Abraham's sacrifice," the Pope said, "thus appears as a prophetic announcement of Christ's sacrifice. ... In a certain way, the patriarch Abraham, our father in the faith, unknowingly introduces all believers to God's eternal plan in which the world will be redeemed."

John Paul II went on: "In Abraham's faith, God the Almighty has truly sealed an eternal alliance with the human race, the definitive fulfillment of which is Jesus Christ. The only begotten Son of the Father, of one being with Him, was made Man to introduce us, through humiliation on the Cross and the glory of the Resurrection, to the land of salvation that the merciful God promised humanity from the very beginning."

The Holy Father concluded by highlighting that Mary is the "insuperable model of the redeemed people who are journeying towards the accomplishment of this universal promise." She "personally participated in the ordeal of the Son, believing and standing upright by the cross. ... Faithful to God's people over the generations, she expressed her devotion to His plan of salvation. ... Like Abraham she accepted the sacrifice of the Son."

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GENERAL AUDIENCE: GREETINGS TO PILGRIMS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 23, 2000 (VIS) - The pilgrims who gathered in St. Peter's Square this morning for the general audience did not hear the usual catechesis but rather were greeted in numerous languages by the Holy Father. This weekly event was abbreviated due to the Pope's participation at 10:15 in the Paul VI Hall in what he termed last week "a spiritual pilgrimage to Ur of the Chaldeans" to commemorate Abraham.

He had special words for "the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, meeting in Rome these days. I thank you for the dedication with which you put your knowledge and experience at the service of the Holy See in your important field of investigation." Continuing in English, he welcomed ecumenical groups from Great Britain and Sweden and pilgrims from Hong Kong, Taiwan, the United States and Ireland. "As we reflect on the example of Abraham during this Jubilee Year, let us seek to grow in faith and acceptance of God's saving initiative in our lives."

Greeting the participants in the annual meeting of the Bishop Friends of the Focolare Movement at the Mariapoli Center in Castelgandolfo, the Pope said in Italian: "Faithful to the spirituality of unity and through a constant exchange of experiences, pursue your mission as builders of communion within episcopal conferences, at the center of the priesthood and in diocesan communities."

"I hope that the Great Jubilee," he stated in French, "will be for everyone an experience of faith, with a conversion of heart for a change of life, in view of a renewed evangelical witness. May you rediscover friendship with God and His grace, for fraternal relations with everyone."

At the end of his greetings Pope John Paul told those present that he would be going to the Paul VI Hall to "preside at a liturgical celebration in memory of the patriarch Abraham, our father in the faith." He added that they could follow the commemorative ceremony on the large screens set up in St. Peter's Square, linked via television with the Paul VI Hall.

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, FEB 23, 2000 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Archbishop Martin-Leonard Bakole wa Ilunga, emeritus of Kananga, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on February 3 2000, at the age of 79.
- Bishop Jean de Cambourg, emeritus of Valence, France, on February 13 2000, at the age of 91.
- Bishop Felicien-Patrice Makouaka, emeritus of Franceville, Gabon, February 7 2000, at the age of 78.
- Bishop Anthony Gogo Nwedo C.S.Sp., emeritus of Umuahia, Nigeria, on February 12 2000, at the age of 88.
- Bishop Giovanni Pes, emeritus of Alghero-Bosa, Italy, on January 16 2000, at the age of 83.

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