SANTO PADRE CALLS FOR END TO TENSIONS IN MINDANAO

VATICAN CITY, MAR 29, 2000 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience, Pope John Paul said "I wish to turn my thoughts to the dear populations of the Philippines where, on the large island of Mindanao, the tensions have intensified, causing violent clashes."

"I am praying for all the inhabitants of that region and, in particular, for the political and military leaders, that the Lord might enlighten them and move them to do everything possible to put an end to the violence by seeking peaceful solutions to the existing problems."

"I express my closeness and solidarity," the Holy Father said in closing, "to the families who are suffering for this situation."

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POPE RECALLS HIS JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND

VATICAN CITY, MAR 29, 2000 (VIS) - During today's general audience, which was held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 60,000 pilgrims, the Pope recalled his Jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land which took place from March 20 to 26, saying, "it was like a return to the source, to the roots of faith and of the Church."

John Paul II said that the first stage of his pilgrimage, his visit to Mount Nebo "was a continuation of the pilgrimage to the Sinai: from the top of Mount Nebo, Moses gazed upon the Holy Land."

He said that in Bethlehem, which this year "is the center of the Christian world's attention, ... I celebrated Mass in the central square. ... In the afternoon, I knelt with emotion in the Grotto of the Nativity where I felt the spiritual presence of the whole Church."

"The memory of Jerusalem," he continued, "is indelibly marked on my soul." There "the central and culminating event of the history of salvation occurred: Christ's paschal mystery." In the Cenacle "I celebrated the Eucharist in the same place that it was instituted by Christ."

The Pope indicated that on Sunday, in the Holy Sepulchre itself, he renewed "the announcement of salvation that crosses the centuries and millennia: Christ is Risen! This was the culminating moment of my pilgrimage. Consequently, in the afternoon, I felt the need to pray at Calvary, where Christ spilt His blood for humanity."

Jerusalem, "holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims, ... is called to become a symbol of peace for those who believe in the God of Abraham and follow His law. May men make haste to put this design into effect."

"At Yad Vashem, the Shoah Memorial, I paid homage to the millions of Jewish victims of Nazism. Once more I expressed deep pain for that terrible tragedy and confirmed that 'we wish to remember' in order to commit ourselves together - Jews, Christians and men and women of good faith - in defeating evil with good and so walk along the path of peace."

John Paul II recalled that "the ecumenical meeting that took place in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, with intense participation from all sides, marked an important step along the road to full unity between Christians. ... I invite all to pray that the process of understanding and collaboration between Christians from various Churches may consolidate and develop."

Finally, the Holy Father referred to the Mass on the Mount of the Beatitudes at the Sea of Galilee, "with many young people from the Holy Land and the whole world. A moment full of hope!"

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 29, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Alfonso Delgado Evers of Posadas, Argentina, as metropolitan archbishop of San Juan de Cuyo (area 96,650, population 562,720, Catholics 547,000, priests 79, permanent deacons 10, religious 87), Argentina. The archbishop-elect was born in Rosario, Argentina, in 1942, ordained a priest in 1970 and consecrated bishop in 1986. He succeeds Archbishop Italo Severino Di Stefano, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Antonio Wagner da Silva S.C.I., pastor of the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Joinville, Brazil, and provincial councillor, as coadjutor bishop of Guarapuava (area 27,830, population 574,735, Catholics 413,499, priests 75, religious 155), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Formiga, Brazil, in 1944 and ordained a priest in 1971.

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