THIS IS A TIME OF HOPE IN BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

VATICAN CITY, MAR 30, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed 800 faithful from Bosnia-Herzegovina, who are in Rome on a Jubilee pilgrimage led by Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna.

Addressiing them in their language, the Pope recalled his two-day pastoral visit in 1997 when he was able "to personally realize the great tragedy which struck you and other inhabitants over the last decade." He went on to say that "notwithstanding the numerous difficulties faced daily," and "the clouds on the horizon, ... this is a time of hope!" It is up to Christians, he added, to strengthen the promising social renewal "by bringing the seeds of new life contained in the Gospel."

"May your very lives say to everyone that you are Christians! Be the first to offer and welcome pardon, freeing memories from hatred, rancor and a desire for revenge, and recognizing as brothers those who harmed you. Don't let yourselves be won over by evil, but overcome evil with good."

John Paul II said he hoped that the celebration of the Great Jubilee "will bring abundant fruits of conversion and holiness in Catholic communities which live in your region." He urged them "to stay united among yourselves" in order to "rebuild in your land, together with your fellow citizens, a future of peace and hope."

"Bosnia-Herzegovina needs loyal dialogue and active cooperation by all its peoples, as well as respect for the rights and identity of every person and every single group. ... Authentic democracy ... cannot be imported or imposed. Its good functioning depends, in particular, on the measure in which the dignity of the person and the sacredness of human life are respected."

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TO PRIESTS: "A LETTER FROM THE UPPER ROOM"

VATICAN CITY, MAR 30, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was the Holy Father John Paul II's Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2000, which has been published in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese and Polish. The document was signed on March 23 in the Cenacle of Jerusalem, from where, writes the Pope, "dear brother priests, I embrace all of you in spirit and I cordially impart my blessing."

"Today, this visit to the Upper Room," the Pope begins, "gives me an opportunity to survey the entire mystery of the Redemption. It was here that Christ gave us the immense gift of the Eucharist. Here too our priesthood was born. ... I am indeed writing to you from the Upper Room, thinking back to all that took place within these walls on that evening charged with mystery."

John Paul II encourages the priests to "never cease meditating anew on the mystery of that night. We should often return in spirit to this Upper Room, where we priests especially can feel in a sense 'at home'."

"In this holy room I naturally find myself imagining you in all the various parts of the world, with your myriad faces, some younger, some more advanced in years, in all the different emotional states which you are experiencing: for many, thank God, joy and enthusiasm, for others perhaps suffering or weariness or discouragement."

The Holy Father recalls that many priests have been "exemplary disciples, saints, martyrs," and asks "how can we forget, in this Jubilee Year, the many priests who have witnessed to Christ by their lives, even to the shedding of blood? Such martyrdom has accompanied the entire history of the Church; it has also marked the century just passed, a century characterized by different dictatorial regimes hostile to the Church. From the Upper Room, I wish to thank the Lord for the courage of these priests."

"From this place where Christ spoke the words instituting the Eucharist, I invite you, dear priests, to rediscover the 'gift' and the 'mystery' which we have received. To go to the heart of it, we must reflect upon the priesthood of Christ."

The Pope went on: "How can we not return ever anew to this mystery, which contains the entire life of the Church? For two thousand years, this Sacrament has given nourishment to countless believers. It has been the source of a great river of grace. How many saints have found in it not only the pledge, but as it were the foretaste of Heaven!"

"Christ's presence will be expressed in many ways. But of these His Eucharistic presence will certainly be supreme: no mere remembrance, but a 'memorial' which makes present what it commemorates; not a symbolic evocation of the past, but the living presence of the Lord in the midst of His own. The enduring guarantee of this will be the Holy Spirit, constantly poured out in the Eucharistic celebration so that the bread and wine may become the Body and Blood of Christ."

"Let us remain faithful to what the Upper Room 'hands on' to us, to the great gift of Holy Thursday. May we always celebrate the Holy Eucharist with fervor. May we dwell long and often in adoration before Christ in the Eucharist. May we sit at the 'school' of the Eucharist. Through the centuries, countless priests have found in the Eucharist the consolation promised by Jesus on the evening of the Last Supper, the secret to overcoming their solitude, the strength to bear their sufferings, the nourishment to make a new beginning after every discouragement, and the inner energy to bolster their decision to remain faithful. The witness which we give to the People of God in celebrating the Eucharist depends in large part upon our own personal relationship with the Eucharist."

"Let us rediscover our priesthood in the light of the Eucharist!" exclaimed the Pope. "Let us help our communities to rediscover this treasure in the daily celebration of Holy Mass, and especially in the more solemn Sunday assembly. Through your apostolic labors, may love for Christ present in the Eucharist grow stronger. This is a particularly important goal in this Jubilee Year."

After recalling the International Eucharistic Congress, due to take place in Rome from June 18 to 25 on the theme "Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the World, Bread for our Life," John Paul II confirmed that "it will be a highlight of the Great Jubilee, which is meant to be 'an intensely Eucharistic year'. The Congress will emphasize the profound link between the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word and the Eucharist, the Sacrament of Christ's Real Presence."

The Pope concludes his letter from the Upper Room by saying "I embrace you in the Eucharist. May the image of Christ surrounded by His own at the Last Supper fill each of us with a vibrant sense of brotherhood and communion."

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PRESENTATION OF POPE'S HOLY THURSDAY LETTER TO PRIESTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 30, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father John Paul II's Letter to Priests for Holy Thursday 2000 was presented today in the Holy See Press Office by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos and Archbishop Csaba Ternyak, respectively prefect and secretary of the Congregation for the Clergy.

Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos referred to reflections the Pope had made when - on March 23, during the course of his Jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land - he signed the document in the Cenacle or Upper Room. John Paul II asks priests to "always celebrate the Holy Eucharist with fervor. May we dwell long and often in adoration before Christ in the Eucharist." The Pope also expresses the hope that priests find in the Eucharist the secret to overcoming all difficulty, the nourishment to make a new beginning after every discouragement. In helping the faithful to rediscover the treasure of Holy Mass and the presence of Christ in His sacraments, much depends "upon our own personal relationship with the Eucharist."
Archbishop Ternyak spoke of the Jubilee of Priests, which will be held on May 18 to coincide with the Holy Father's 80th birthday. On that day, the Pope will preside at a Mass in St. Peter's Square which "will thus become," said the archbishop, "another Cenacle. The icon of this Cenacle will be the great Eucharistic celebration and although as an image, it may prove 'spectacular', the substance will remain the 'mystery'."

The Mass of May 18 will be preceded by liturgical celebrations, confessions, testimonies and meditations to take place on May 16 and 17 in the Basilicas of St. John Lateran and St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls. On the evening of Tuesday May 16, there will be a 'Via Crucis' (Way of the Cross) for priests in Rome's Circus Maximus.

Archbishop Ternyak added that the participants in the priests' Jubilee will also be able to "reflect on their own identity and ministry," finding support in the figures of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Therese of Lisieux, who "are well known in the Catholic world for their special commitment to priests. St. Catherine wrote many letters in which, with some energy, she reminds priests (the 'ministers of the Redeemer's Blood') of their dignity, of their condition as 'other Christs' and of the consequent moral and spiritual qualities and zeal they must have. ... St. Therese of Lisieux shows herself as a fervent admirer of the priesthood. ... She supports the apostolate of ministers of the altar through prayer, through the offer of herself, through sacrifice."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 30, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Giorgio Zur, Holy See representative to the Russian Federation.
- Dojcilo Maslovaric, ambassador of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, accompanied by his wife, on a farewell visit.
- Sergio Ivan Bucaro Hurtarte, ambassador of Guatemala, on a farewell visit.

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CONGRESS ON TECHNOLOGICAL, ETHICAL FUTURE OF THE MEDIA

VATICAN CITY, MAR 30, 2000 (VIS) - Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, spoke this morning in Rome at a congress organized by the Centre Saint-Louis de France, on the theme "The Media: What Technological and Ethical Future?"

Pointing to the ever-changing and advancing technologies used by the media, the archbishop said that "the Church, thank God, has generally made early use of improvements in media technology." He pointed to the Bible as the first book printed wth moveable type, to the establishment of Vatican Radio and television, which use satellite technology to reach the world, and to its web page on the Internet.

He stated that, while there have been many positive advances in technology, "there are also some potential ethical problems," including measuring the good of technology not as it serves the person, but rather as it serves greed, using technology "not so much for information but for manipulation and control" and using it "to communicate the tawdry and demeaning, if not the downright immoral."

Archbishop Foley announced that his council will publish a study on "Ethics in Communications" in June on the occasion of World Communications Day and the Jubilee Day for Journalists.

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