POPE JOHN PAUL RELIVES JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE TO MOUNT SINAI

VATICAN CITY, MAR 1, 2000 (VIS) - Due to the rainy weather, today's general audience took place in both St. Peter's Basilica and the Paul VI Hall where, in the presence of more than 23,000 pilgrims, the Holy Father gave his weekly catechesis in Italian, as well as summaries in other languages, and concluded with multi-lingual greetings.

The Pope focussed on his just-completed pilgrimage to Egypt "in the footsteps of Moses." Expressing his "great joy" at the trip, he stated that "the culminating moment of this extraordinary experience was the trip to the foot of Mount Sinai, the Holy Mountain; it is holy because on it, God revealed Himself to His servant Moses; He revealed His name, and He gave His people His Law, the Ten Commandments."

John Paul II renewed his gratitude to the president and people of Egypt "for their warm welcome and hospitality," to the "fervent Catholic community - a small group but ardent in their Gospel witness," and to Coptic Catholic Patriarch Stephanos II Ghattas. He also underscored his encounters with the leaders and faithful of other Churches and ecumenical communities, the Great Sheikh of Al-Azhar, His Holiness, Patriarch Shenouda III of the Orthodox Coptic Church and Archbishop Damianos and the monks of St. Catherine's Monastery.

The Holy Father then focussed on the Law which God gave to Moses and to His people on Mount Sinai, saying that "the Ten Commandments are the law of life and freedom. They are written on the human heart as the universal moral law, valid in every time and place. They save man from the destructive forces of selfishness, hatred and falsehood. To keep the Commandments is to be faithful to God, but it is also to be faithful to ourselves, to our true nature, and our deepest aspirations."

"Mount Sinai," said John Paul II in closing, "reminds me today of another mountain which, God willing, I will have the joy of visiting at the end of this month: the Mount of the Beatitudes in Galilee. ... The Beatitudes are the Gospel completion of the Law given on Sinai."

AG;PILGRIMAGE SINAI;...;...;VIS;20000301;Word: 350;

CONFERENCE TO PRESENT DOCUMENT "MEMORY AND RECONCILIATION"

VATICAN CITY, MAR 1, 2000 (VIS) - On Tuesday, March 7 at 11:30 a.m. in the Holy See Press Office, there will be a conference to present both the document, "Memory and Reconciliation: The Church and Faults of the Past," edited by the International Theological Commission, and the March 12th Day of Pardon. The document will be published in Italian, English, French, German and Spanish.

Scheduled to take part in the conference are: Cardinals Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and president of the International Theological Commission, and Roger Etchegaray, president of the committee for the Jubilee Year 2000; Bishop Piero Marini, master of liturgical celebrations; Fr. Georges Marie Martin Cottier, O.P., theologian of the papal household and Msgr. Bruno Forte. member of the theological commission.

OP;DOCUMENT; PARDON;...;RATZINGER; ETCHEGARAY;VIS;20000301;Word: 140;

ANNUAL MESSAGE FOR HISPANIC-AMERICAN DAY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 1, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was the annual Message from the Presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America on the occasion of Hispanic-American Day, which is traditionally celebrated in early March by the dioceses of Spain and dedicated to their sister churches in America.

Dated January 6, 2000, feast of the Epiphany, the Message is signed by Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves and Bishop Cipriano Calderon, respectively president and vice president of the commission. The theme of this year's celebration is: "Priests of 2000, Missionary Priests."

"The discovery of America, which began a new era in the history of mankind," starts the Message, "constitutes without doubt a fundamental element in evaluating the millennium which has just concluded."

The evangelization of America by Spain and Portugal, which lasted for well over 500 years, must be continued in the third millennium with "renewed vigor," states the Message. The program for this evangelization, laid out in the Holy Father's Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation, "'Ecclesia in America', is a program which intends to make America, a continent which was evangelized throughout 500 years, a continent which will now evangelize."

"Every priest," it says, referring to the theme, "is called to look beyond the boundaries of his own diocese or nation, since he participates, by virtue of the Sacrament of Orders, in the missionary solicitude of the Church, with the aim of bringing to the ends of the earth the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

The Message concludes, citing "Ecclesia in America": "Jesus Christ is the 'good news' of salvation made known to people yesterday, today and forever, but He is also the first and greatest evangelizer. ... The Church in America must speak increasingly of Jesus Christ, the human face of God and the divine face of man."

COM-AL;HISPANIC-AMERICAN DAY;...;NEVES;VIS;20000301;Word: 300;

ITINERARY FOR PAPAL TRIP TO THE HOLY LAND

VATICAN CITY, MAR 1, 2000 (VIS) - Made public this afternoon was an outline of Pope John Paul's itinerary for his March 20-26 pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

He will leave Rome on March 20, arriving in Amman, Jordan, after a four-hour plane flight. His schedule will be as follows: March 21: Amman to Tel Aviv, Israel, to Jerusalem; March 22: Jerusalem-Bethlehem-Jerusalem; March 23: Jerusalem; March 24: Jerusalem-Korazin-Capernaum-Jerusalem; March 25: Jerusalem-Nazareth-Jerusalem; March 26: Jerusalem-Tel Aviv-Rome.

OP;ITINERARY; HOLY LAND;...;...;VIS;20000301;Word: 80;

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 1, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Archbishop Manuel Monteiro De Castro, apostolic nuncio in South Africa, Namibia, Swaziland, and Lesotho, and apostolic delegate in Botswana, as apostolic nuncio in Spain and the Principality of Andorra.

- Appointed Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, apostolic nuncio in Venezuela, as apostolic nuncio in Mexico.

- Appointed Msgr. Claude Pierre Charles Schockert, diocesan administrator of the diocese of Nancy, as bishop of Belfort-Montbeliard (area 1,471; population 319,000; Catholics 269,000; priests 123, religious 81, permanent deacons 8), France. The bishop-elect was born in Foug, France in 1940 and was ordained in 1965. He succeeds Bishop Eugene Lecrosnier, whose resignation to the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit

NN; NER; RE;...;...;... ;VIS;20000301;Word: 140;