THE BLESSED TRINITY OPERATES IN THE INCARNATION

VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2000 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square, the Pope spoke on "the glory of the Trinity in the Incarnation."

"The glory of the Trinity," said John Paul II to the 40,000 pilgrims present, "is manifested in time and space and reaches its high point in Jesus, in His Incarnation and in His story."

The Pope indicated that "the Holy Spirit also participates in the Incarnation and it is precisely this intervention that renders that generation unique and unrepeatable. ... The Father, the Son and the Spirit are, therefore, present and operate in the Incarnation in order to involve us in Their life."

"To know God and His Son," he said, recalling the Encyclical "Evangelium vitae," "is to accept the mystery of the loving communion of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit into one's own life, which even now is open to eternal life because it shares in the life of God. Eternal life is therefore the life of God Himself and at the same time the life of the children of God. As they ponder this unexpected and inexpressible truth which comes to us from God in Christ, believers cannot fail to be filled with ever new wonder and unbounded gratitude."

The Holy Father affirmed that "in the Incarnation, we contemplate the trinitarian love that takes shape in Jesus, a love that does not remain closed in a perfect circle of light and glory but radiates out in man's flesh and history. It pervades all men and women, regenerating them and rendering them sons in the Son."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Jean Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris, France.

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PRESS CONFERENCE ON WORLD YOUTH DAY

VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2000 (VIS) - Cardinals James Francis Stafford, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and Camillo Ruini, the Holy Father's vicar general for the diocese of Rome and president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), will preside at a press conference on the 15th World Youth Day on Monday, April 10 at 12 noon in the Holy See Press Office.

Also scheduled to participate are: Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, secretary general of the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000; Bishop Cesare Nosiglia, president of the Italian committee for World Youth Day 2000; Msgr. Renato Boccardo, head of the Youth Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; Lorenzo Serri, secretary general of the Italian committee for the youth day and Fr. Claudio Giuliodori, director of the office of social communications of the CEI and head of the press office for World Youth Day 2000.

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MULTI-LINGUAL GREETINGS TO PILGRIMS AT GENERAL AUDIENCE

VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2000 (VIS) - As is customary following the general audience catechesis in Italian, and summaries in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German, Pope John Paul greeted the pilgrims at the audience in numerous languages.

Addressing each group in its own language, the Pope had special words about Lent, the meaning of pilgrimage and of the Jubilee indulgence for the faithful from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia.

Speaking Russian, he extended "a cordial welcome to the delegation from the Russian government involved in the TACIS project. I thank you for your visit and, while I wish a positive outcome for your Italian meetings, I ask for you and your dear ones, copious blessings from heaven." TACIS is a program of European Union assistance to countries in Eastern and Central Europe and those which were formerly members of the Soviet Union.

The Holy Father concluded in Italian, remarking that "Saturday, April 8 is the International Day of the Rom and the 'Sinti', dedicated this year to the condition of the gypsies who were victims of the conflict in Kosovo. I hope that this day manages to promote the full respect of the human dignity of these brothers of ours, favoring their adequate insertion into society. With special joy I am looking forward to the encounter which I will have on the occasion of the Jubilee celebrations for migrants and itinerant peoples, at the start of June."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 5, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Luciano Bergamin C.R.L., superior general of the Lateran Canons Regular in Brazil, as auxiliary of the diocese of Santo Amaro (area 600, population 2,891,000, Catholics 2,400,000, priests 114, religious 228), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Loira, Italy, in 1944 and ordained a priest in 1969.

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