HOLY FATHER TO PROCLAIM FIVE BLESSEDS ON SUNDAY

VATICAN CITY, APR 4, 2000 (VIS) - On Sunday, April 9, the Fifth Sunday of Lent at 10 a.m. in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul will celebrate Mass during which he will proclaim as Blesseds five Servants of God.

The future Blesseds are: Mariano de Jesus Euse Hoyos (1845-1926), Colombian, priest; Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867), German, priest of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer; Anna Rosa Gattorno (1831-1900), Italian, religious, foundress of the Institute of the Daughters of St. Anne; Maria Elisabetta Hesselblad (1870-1957), Swedish, virgin, foundress of the Order of the Most Holy Savior of St. Bridget; Mariam Thresia Chiramel Mankidiyan (1876-1926), Indian, virgin, foundress of the Congregation of the Holy Family.

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JOHN PAUL II TO TRAVEL TO FATIMA MAY 12 - 13

VATICAN CITY, APR 4, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul's itinerary for his May 12-13 apostolic trip to Fatima, the 92nd foreign trip of his pontificate, was made public yesterday afternoon.

He is scheduled to leave Rome's Fiumicino Airport at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 12 for Lisbon, arriving in early evening in Portugal's capital where he will be met by and have a personal meeting with the president of the republic. Shortly before 7 he will go by helicopter to Fatima, landing at a soccer field named for him. From there he will go to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.

On Saturday May 13, at 9:30 a.m. the Holy Father will celebrate Mass on the esplanade of the shrine, in front of the basilica, during which he will beatify Jacinta and Francesco, the shepherd children of Fatima who, along with their cousin Lucia, now a Carmelite nun, saw the Blessed Virgin on the spot where the shrine is today. Mary appeared to the children six times between May 13 and October 13, 1917.

Lucia was ten when Mary appeared. Francisco was 9 and died at the age of 11 in 1919. Jacinta was 7 at the time of the apparitions; she died in 1920. Both children are buried in the basilica at Fatima.

Pope John Paul is scheduled to leave Portugal at 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, May 13.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 4, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father erected the diocese of Carupano (area 5,638, population 399,892, Catholics 383,896, priests 17, religious 22), Venezuela, with territory taken from the archdiocese of Cumana, making it a suffragan of the same metropolitan church. He appointed Bishop Manuel Felipe Diaz Sanchez, auxiliary of Cumana, as the bishop of the new diocese.

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DATA FROM THE 1998 STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF THE CHURCH

VATICAN CITY, APR 4, 2000 (VIS) - Between the years 1978 and 1998, the number of bishops in the world increased from 3,714 to 4,439. This is one of the statistics contained in the Statistical Yearbook of the Church for 1998, which is to be published in the next few days.

Of the continents, America had the largest number of bishops -1,672 - representing 37.7 percent of the total. Europe had 32.9 percent (1,459); Asia 13.9 percent (617); Africa 12.9 percent (575) and Oceania 2.6 percent (116).

The number of priests, both diocesan and religious, dropped between 1978 and 1998. In 1998, the total number was 404,626 of whom 264,202 were diocesan and 140,424 religious. Between 1978 and 1998, the number of diocesan priests grew strongly in Africa and also grew, though less strongly, in Asia and America. In contrast to this, there was a considerable drop in numbers in Europe and a smaller drop in Oceania.

Though there was a drop in numbers of priests, especially in Europe and North America, there was considerable growth in the numbers of permanent deacons, both religious and diocesan; lay members of secular institutes; lay missionaries and catechists.

The number of candidates to the priesthood grew in Africa and America, especially Latin America. In western Europe the numbers remained static, while in eastern Europe they grew strongly.

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NAVARRO-VALLS TO RECEIVE THE "GRAN CRISOL" PRIZE

VATICAN CITY, APR 4, 2000 (VIS) - This afternoon in the John Paul II Hall of the Holy See Press Office, Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls will be awarded the "Gran Crisol" prize. This award is given annually by a group of businessmen from Catalonia, Spain, the "Gresol Empresarial de la Catalunya nova," to figures of international prominence and prestige who, through their work, have furthered social progress and achieved recognition.

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, APR 4, 2000 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Cardinal Antony Padiyara, major archbishop emeritus of Ernakulam-Angamaly of the Syro-Malabars on March 23, at the age of 79.
- Bishop Francois Abraha, emeritus of Asmara, Eritrea, on March 26, at the age of 81.
- Archbishop Alfredo Bruniera, apostolic nuncio and former vice-president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum", on March 26, at the age of 93.
- Archbishop James William Gleeson, emeritus of Adelaide, Australia, on March 21, at the age 79.
- Bishop Achille Palmerini, emeritus of Isemia-Veneto, on March 22, at the age of 93.
- Archbishop Remigio Ragonesi, vice-gerent emeritus of Rome, on March 22, at the age of 79.

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