REMEMBRANCE: "TO ENSURE THAT NEVER AGAIN WILL EVIL PREVAIL"

VATICAN CITY, MAR 23, 2000 (VIS) - At 12:30 p.m. today, Pope John Paul II arrived at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, a 45-acre complex situated on Har Hazikaron, the Mount of Remembrance, where he was welcomed at the Hall of Remembrance by Prime Minister Ehud Barak, the director of the memorial and the two chief rabbis of Israel.

Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, was created in 1953 in order to commemorate the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust, victims of the Nazis. This State institution is composed of two museums, exhibition halls, outdoor monuments, and documentation and information centers. The archive collection comprises 55 million pages of documents, nearly 100,000 still photographs and thousands of film and video testimonies. The library has more than 80,000 volumes and thousands of periodicals. The Hall of Names features "Pages of Testimony" submitted by family members of victims: to date over three million holocaust victims' names have been registered.

The Hall of Remembrance, where the Pope was welcomed this morning, is the hall where ceremonies are held for official visitors. This is a tent-like structure on whose floor are the names of the six death camps and some of the concentration camps. There is also a memorial flame in front of which there is a crypt containing the ashes of some of the victims.

In addition to this hall, other memorial sites include the Children's Memorial, a tribute to the approximately one and a half million children who died in the Holocaust; The Valley of the Communities, a monument dug in bedrock which commemorates the over 5,000 Jewish communities which were destroyed, and the Avenue and Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, which honors the non-Jews who rescued Jews during the Holocaust.

Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day, established by the Israeli parliament in 1953, takes place on 27th Nissan, which usually occurs at the end of April or beginning of May.
"In this place of memories," the Holy Father told those present, "the mind and heart and soul feel an extreme need for silence. Silence in which to remember. Silence in which to try to make some sense of the memories which come flooding back. Silence because there are no words strong enough to deplore the terrible tragedy of the Shoah. My own personal memories are of all that happened when the Nazis occupied Poland during the War. I remember my Jewish friends and neighbors, some of whom perished, while others survived.

"I have come to Yad Vashem to pay homage to the millions of Jewish people who, stripped of everything, especially of their human dignity, were murdered in the Holocaust."

"We wish to remember," he underscored. "But we wish to remember for a purpose, namely to ensure that never again will evil prevail, as it did for the millions of innocent victims of Nazism. How could man have such utter contempt for man? Because he had reached the point of contempt for God. Only a Godless ideology could plan and carry out the extermination of a whole people."

The Pope added that "the honour given to the 'just gentiles' by the State of Israel at Yad Vashem for having acted heroically to save Jews, sometimes to the point of giving their own lives, is a recognition that not even in the darkest hour is every light extinguished."

"Jews and Christians share an immense spiritual patrimony, flowing from God's self-revelation," he continued. "Our religious teachings and our spiritual experience demand that we overcome evil with good. We remember, but not with any desire for vengeance or as an incentive to hatred. For us, to remember is to pray for peace and justice."

"As Bishop of Rome and Successor of the Apostle Peter, I assure the Jewish people that the Catholic Church, motivated by the Gospel law of truth and love and by no political considerations, is deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians at any time and in any place. The Church rejects racism in any form as a denial of the image of the Creator inherent in every human being."

"I fervently pray," Pope John Paul II concluded, "that our sorrow for the tragedy which the Jewish people suffered in the twentieth century will lead to a new relationship between Christians and Jews. Let us build a new future in which there will be no more anti-Jewish feeling among Christians or anti-Christian feeling among Jews, but rather the mutual respect required of those who adore the one Creator and Lord, and look to Abraham as our common father in faith."

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POPE CELEBRATES MASS IN THE CENACLE OF JERUSALEM

VATICAN CITY, MAR 23, 2000 (VIS) - In the chapel of the Cenacle at 8:30 a.m. today, the Pope celebrated a private Mass with ordinaries of the Holy Land and the cardinals and bishops of his entourage.

The Cenacle is the place where Christ instituted the ordained priesthood and the sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance. The Latin word 'Coenaculum' was used to indicate the dining area, but more generally signified the upper room where guests were welcomed; it is in the upper room that the chapel is located today. The Christian tradition on the authenticity of the Cenacle goes back to the end of the third century. At the present time, the building belongs to the Israeli government. The lower floor houses a cenotaph (a monument honoring a dead person buried elsewhere), called the 'Tomb of David'. It is a place of national pilgrimage for Jews, although the reference to David's last resting place has no historical or archeological foundation. Also on the lower floor, there is an ancient chapel dedicated to the washing of the feet. The cloister of the Franciscan convent of 1335 gives access to the Museum of the Shoah which recalls the victims of Nazi extermination camps.

In his homily, John Paul II recalled, "with deep emotion," the words of consecration that Christ pronounced in this very place during the Last Supper. "In a sense, Peter and the Apostles, in the person of their Successors, have come back today to the Upper Room, to profess the unchanging faith of the Church: 'Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again'."

"Through the Eucharist, Christ builds up the Church. The hands which broke bread for the disciples at the Last Supper were to be stretched out on the cross in order to gather all people to Himself in the eternal Kingdom of His Father. Through the celebration of the Eucharist, He never ceases to draw men and women to be effective members of His body."

John Paul II recalled that "this year of the Great Jubilee is a special opportunity for priests to grow in appreciation of the mystery which they celebrate at the altar. For that reason I wish to sign this year's 'Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday' here in the Upper Room, where the one priesthood of Jesus Christ, in which we all share, was instituted."

Following the celebration of the Eucharist, the Pope made a courtesy visit to the two chief rabbis of Israel, Rabbi Meir Lau and Rabbi Bakshi-Doron. He then travelled to the presidential palace in Jerusalem where he met Ezer Weizman, president of the State of Israel. Following this he went to Yad Vashem, the monument to the memory of the Holocaust.

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JOHN PAUL II APPEALS FOR INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY FOR REFUGEES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 22, 2000 (VIS) - In mid-afternoon today Pope John Paul travelled two miles by car from the Basilica of the Nativity to the Deheisheh Refugee Camp, driving through the camp to the school where today's encounter took place.

It has been estimated that between three and four million people live in the Palestinian Autonomous Territories. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East estimated in 1996 that Palestinian refugees number just over 3.3 million: 1.358,706 in Jordan in 10 refugee camps, 532,438 on the West Bank in 19 camps, 716,930 on the Gaza Strip in 9 camps, 352,668 in Lebanon in 12 camps and 347,391 in Syria in 10 camps.

Representatives of the refugee camp, as well as President Yasser Arafat, attended the meeting with the Pope. The school which hosted the encounter has 1,125 students between the ages of 6 and 15.

"It is important to me that my pilgrimage to the birthplace of Jesus Christ includes this visit to Dheisheh," began the Holy Father. "It is deeply significant that here, close to Bethlehem, I am meeting you, refugees and displaced persons, and representatives of the organizations and agencies involved in a true mission of mercy. Throughout my pontificate I have felt close to the Palestinian people in their sufferings.

"I greet each one of you," John Paul II continued, "and I hope and pray that my visit will bring some comfort in your difficult situation. Please God it will help to draw attention to your continuing plight. You have been deprived of many things which represent basic needs of the human person: proper housing, health care, education and work. Above all you bear the sad memory of what you were forced to leave behind, not just material possessions, but your freedom, the closeness of relatives, and the familiar surroundings and cultural traditions which nourished your personal and family life."

He highlighted the work being done by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and by the presence of the Pontifical Mission for Palestine and many other Catholic organizations.

The Holy Father then affirmed that "the degrading conditions in which refugees often have to live; the continuation over long periods of situations that are barely tolerable in emergencies or for a brief time of transit; the fact that displaced persons are obliged to remain for years in settlement camps: these are the measure of the urgent need for a just solution to the underlying causes of the problem. Only a resolute effort on the part of leaders in the Middle East and in the international community as a whole ' inspired by a higher vision of politics as service of the common good ' can remove the causes of your present situation. My appeal is for greater international solidarity and the political will to meet this challenge." He added that justice is "an inalienable right" of all men and women.

The Pope asked young people "to continue to strive through education to take your rightful place in society, despite the difficulties and handicaps that you have to face because of your refugee status."

He told refugees not to "think that your present condition makes you any less important in God's eyes! Never forget your dignity as His children!"

Pope John Paul urged aid workers and volunteers to "believe in the task that you are fulfilling! Genuine and practical solidarity with those in need is not a favor conceded, it is a demand of our shared humanity and a recognition of the dignity of every human being."

Following this encounter the Pope paid a courtesy call on Yasser Arafat at the president's palace in Bethlehem. Afterwards he travelled by helicopter the short distance to Jerusalem and the apostolic delegation where he had dinner and spent the night.

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TELEGRAM FOR THE DEATH OF CARDINAL PADIYARA

VATICAN CITY, MAR 23, 2000 (VIS) - Below is the text of a telegram sent by the Pope to Archbishop Varkey Vithayathil C.SS.R., of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars, India, for the death of Cardinal Antony Padiyara, archbishop emeritus of that major archdiocese, at age 89:

"Saddened to learn of the death of Cardinal Antony Padiyara, major archbishop emeritus of Ernakulam-Angamaly, I extend heartfelt condolences and the assurance of my spiritual closeness to you, and to the bishops, clergy, religious and laity of the Syro-Malabar Church. In recalling Cardinal Padiyara's generous and committed service as priest and later bishop in Ootacamund, Changanacherry and Ernakulam-Angamaly, I join you in giving thanks to God for the many blessings bestowed upon the Church through his ministry and I pray that the Good Shepherd will grant him eternal rest and bring him into the joy of the Kingdom. I am confident that his example will inspire all the members of the Syro-Malabar Church to grow in their love of Christ and to increase their commitment to serve their brothers and sisters in a spirit of Christian charity. Entrusting all who mourn his passing to the protection of St. Thomas the Apostle, I cordially impart my apostolic Blessing as a pledge of comfort and strength in our Lord Jesus Christ.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 23, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Msgr. Jaime Soto of the clergy of Orange in California (area 2,025, population 2,674,091, Catholics 615,041, priests 272, permanent deacons 48, religious 483), U.S.A., episcopal vicar for hispanic peoples, as auxiliary bishop of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Inglewood, U.S.A., in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1982.

- Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano as pontifical legate at celebrations for the millennium of St. Stephen of Hungary which are due to take place in Budapest on August 20.

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