JOHN PAUL II, THE FIRST POPE TO VISIT EGYPT

VATICAN CITY, FEB 24, 2000 (VIS) - This morning, John Paul II travelled to the Arab Republic of Egypt where he is to make a Jubilee pilgrimage to Mount Sinai, one of the places linked to the history of salvation. This journey, the 90th outside Italy of his pontificate, represents the first visit by a Pope to that country.

According to the latest Statistical Yearbook of the Church, updated to December 31 1998, Egypt, the most populous country in Africa after Nigeria and the most populous of the Arab world, has 65.9 million inhabitants, the great majority of whom are Muslims. Under ten percent of Egyptians belong to the Orthodox Coptic Church (Coptic, from the name the ancient Greeks gave to Egypt), and there are 222,000 Catholics who represent 0.34 percent of the total population. The Catholics are divided into seven rites: Coptic, Greek, Maronite, Syrian, Armenian, Chaldean and Latin.

There are 14 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 219 parishes and 201 other pastoral centers. There are 15 bishops (as of 31 December 1999), 445 priests, 1,299 religious, one lay member of a secular institute and 1,376 catechists. Major seminarians number 111.

The central moment of this papal trip will be the ceremony on Mount Sinai, during which the Holy Father will commemorate the alliance between God and Moses and the journey of the Jewish people from slavery under the pharaohs to the Promised Land.

Furthermore, the Pope will meet Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and make two courtesy visits: the first to His Holiness Shenouda III, Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark, and the second to Grand Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi of Al-Azhar University. This university was founded as a mosque-school of Shiite theology by the Fatimids (a dynasty of caliphs) in 973, four years after their entry into Egypt. From the 19th century it was challenged by competition from Western educational systems, but it now plays a role as arbiter of modern Islamic thought. Al-Azhar is committed to spreading Islam throughout the world and it is through the university that Egypt exercises its religious influence.

The Bible recalls Egypt as being the place of God's prodigies but also that of slavery under the pharaohs, as the country to which the Holy Family fled and as a harsh and foreign land. It was here that the first schism in the Christian world took place, following the Council of Chalcedon in 451.

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THE VALUE OF A DEMOCRACY LIES IN VALUES IT ESPOUSES

VATICAN CITY, FEB 24, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was the Holy Father's Message, dated February 23 and written in English, to the participants in the Sixth Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, currently meeting in Rome on the theme "Democracy - Reality and Responsibility."

The Pope underscores the academy's "important contribution" in spreading the Church's social doctrine" so that "it is brought to bear witness on the different cultural, economic and political situations facing men and women."

On the theme of democracy, John Paul II writes: "At the dawning of the Third Millennium, a serious question confronts democracy. There is a tendency to see intellectual relativism as the necessary corollary of democratic forms of political life. In such a view, truth is determined by the majority and varies in accordance with passing cultural and political trends." In contrast, he writes "those who are convinced that certain truths are absolute and immutable are considered unreasonable and unreliable."

"As Christians we firmly believe that 'if there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activity, then ideas and convictions can be easily manipulated for reasons of power. ... A democracy without values easily turns into open or thinly disguised totalitarianism. ... The value of a democracy stands or falls with the values which it embodies and promotes'."

Touching upon "the phenomenon of globalization," the Pope stresses that only "the free and responsible participation of all citizens in public affairs" leads to "healthy" political communities. However, he warns, "smaller social units ... must not be namelessly absorbed into a greater conglomeration. ... Rather, the proper autonomy of each social class and organization, each in its own sphere, must be defended and upheld. This is nothing other than the principle of subsidiarity."

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POPE ARRIVES IN EGYPT AT START OF FIRST JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 24, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul began his 90th foreign apostolic trip this morning at 9:40 when he left Rome's Fiumicino Airport for the Arab Republic of Egypt. After a flight of over three hours and 2,206 kilometers, he arrived in the capital of Egypt, Cairo, to start his first Jubilee Year pilgrimage.

The Holy Father was welcomed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, His Holiness Pope Shenouda, His Beatitude Patriarch Stephanos II Ghattas, and Grand Sheikh Mohammed Sayed Tantawi. He thanked President Mubarak "for making it possible for me to come here and to go where God revealed His name to Moses and gave His Law as a sign of His great mercy and kindness towards His creatures."

Addressing the assembled guests in English, the Pope remarked that "this is the land of a five thousand year-old civilization known throughout the world for its monuments and its knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. This is the land where different cultures met and mingled, making Egypt famous for its wisdom and learning."

He spoke of those nurtured in Alexandria in Christian times: "ecclesiastical writers like Clement and Origen, and great Fathers of the Church such as Athanasius and Cyril," and Catherine of Alexandria. He underscored that Egypt "was the birthplace of monasticism."

"The advent of Islam," continued John Paul II, "brought splendors of art and learning which have had a determining influence on the Arab world and Africa. The people of Egypt have for centuries pursued the ideal of national unity. Differences of religion were never barriers, but a form of mutual enrichment in the service of one national community."

"The unity and harmony of the nation are a precious value which all citizens should cherish, and which political and religious leaders must continually promote in justice and respect for the rights of all," said the Pope in concluding remarks. Lauding Egypt's president for his "commitment to peace at home and throughout the Middle East, he said that "all reasonable men and women appreciate the efforts made so far, and hope that goodwill and justice will prevail, so that all peoples of this unique area of the world will see their rights respected and their legitimate aspirations fulfilled."

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CONGRESS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF VATICAN COUNCIL II

VATICAN CITY, FEB 24, 2000 (VIS) - A conference held in the Holy See Press Office at midday today presented a congress on the implementation of the measures of Vatican Council II (1962-1965). The congress is being promoted by the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee 2000 and will be held in the Vatican from February 25 to 27.

Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, secretary general of the Jubilee Committee, made clear that the principal motive for the congress is to respond to the Holy Father's call, in "Tertio millennio adveniente," for an examination of conscience on the "reception of the council."

Archbishop Sepe said that the congress has a dual aim: "to comprehend what has emerged as a result of the council" and "to verify how much of its teachings and of the guidance of its documents has been put into effect." These documents include constitutions, decrees and declarations.

Bishop Rino Fisichella, auxiliary of Rome, stated that "putting Vatican Council II into effect touches a series of questions that go from the reform of theological studies to the formation of clergy, from the commitment of lay people to catechesis, from the ecumenical movement to interreligious dialogue, from religious liberty to inculturation."

The principal object of analysis, continued Bishop Fisichella, will not be "the four constitutions, but a number of other specific points: the primacy of God's Word in the life of the faithful ('Dei verbum,' assigned to Fr. Albert Vanhoye S.J., secretary of the Pontifical Biblical Commission); the ecclesiology of communion ('Lumen gentium,' assigned to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith); liturgy as the source and culmination of Christian life ('Sacrosanctum concilium,' assigned to Bishop Pere Tena Garriga, auxiliary of Barcelona, Spain) and dialogue with the world and discernment of truth ('Gaudium et spes,' assigned to Bishop Angelo Scola, rector of the Pontifical Lateran University).

Just over 200 invited guests will attend the congress, which is not open to the public. The participants include 20 cardinals and 40 bishops as well as theologians, historians, catechists, priests, religious and lay people from various parts of the world. John Paul II, who participated directly in the working group that prepared 'Gaudium et spes', will present the conclusions on Sunday evening.

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