TO SWISS GUARDS: YOUR SERVICE WILL BE REWARDED

VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2000 (VIS) - In the Clementine Hall yesterday afternoon, the Holy Father received in audience the officers and new recruits of the Pontifical Swiss Guard. They will be sworn in today in a ceremony attended by their families and friends.

In his speech in German and French, the Holy Father told the new recruits that they had shown themselves willing to serve the Bishop of Rome for a fixed period of time, guaranteeing him "the necessary security so that he can dedicate himself to mankind and announce the Gospel, freely and without impediments."

Perhaps, said John Paul II addressing the young recruits, you ask yourselves if it is worth the trouble "to serve on the Pontifical Swiss Guard in distant Rome. Will not a young man thus fall behind in the world of work? Will he not thus start a family too late?"

"I want to tell you the truth about this," he continued, "I remain profoundly convinced that you will be rewarded for your service. I am not referring to money, but to a recompense that cannot be paid in money. However, there is a condition: You must comprehend this new phase in your lives as a call from God to put all your strength into service and communion with your companions. With pleasure I offer you a motto to accompany you throughout your service: Whatever you do, do it to the full!"

The Pope asked the guards to demonstrate "not so much with words as through your witness of life, what it personally means for you, to lend service at the Tomb of Peter. I am certain that your experience at the center of the universal Church will deeply mark your hearts. Thus, in future you will be able to transmit to your friends and family at home, the treasure of faith matured in Rome. At the same time you will contribute to further strengthening the bonds between Peter's Successor and your country."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Damian Dalu of the clergy of the diocese of Iringa, Tanzania, professor of moral theology at the major seminary of Segerea in Dar-es-Salaam, as bishop of Geita (area 10,697, population 880,000, Catholics 141,000, priests 23, religious 32), Tanzania. The bishop-elect was born in Kiponzelo, Tanzania, in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1984.

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ARCHBISHOP TAURAN TRAVELS TO BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2000 (VIS) - This afternoon, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls declared that "Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States, today travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina at the invitation of the local episcopal conference. He is due to stay until May 12.

"During his stay, he will visit Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka and hold meetings with political figures and various religious leaders."

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JOHN PAUL II WELCOMES 20,000 PILGRIMS IN ST. PETER'S SQUARE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2000 (VIS) - More than 20,000 faithful from numerous countries were greeted this morning in St. Peter's Square by the Holy Father who had special words for each group of pilgrims.

Speaking Spanish, he first addressed the priests, religious and lay faithful from Uruguay who had celebrated Mass this morning in St. Peter's, after having gone through the Holy Door. He urged them "to faithfully pursue the mission that the Lord has given you and to give joyous witness to Christ in today's society. Your ecclesial path will be strengthened with the celebration next October of your National Eucharistic Congress. I hope and wish that this will be a special moment of grace."

John Paul II then addressed the numerous Italian faithful who had come to Rome on their Jubilee pilgrimage, including a group from the diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-San Sepolcro. He exhorted in particular the priests and religious "to pursue with generosity your commitment according to that spirit of unity and missionary calling which marks the work of all those whom God has called to work in His vineyard."

The Holy Father asked pilgrims from the diocese of Fiesole "to pursue with courage the path of a convinced Christian witness in the places where Providence has placed you. I know that in your last diocesan synod, you decided to mark your ecclesial path, especially regarding family ministry, with the Eucharist. ... Persons, families, parishes and associations, everyone is strengthened by approaching the Eucharist."

Speaking French, the Pope then welcomed the faithful from Switzerland who are in Rome for today's swearing-in ceremony of 35 new Swiss Guards, "especially the Instrumental Union, the contingent of Friboug Grenadiers and the Fanfare of St. Michael's College. "Your musical and instrumental groups allow you to express through music your praise of the Creator."

"I now address a cordial greeting," he continued, "to the participants in the 20th edition of the 'Certamen Ciceronianum' and I hope with all my heart that the study of the Latin language and literature will be a valid instrument for preserving and underscoring the values linked to the culture of ancient Rome, mother of civilizations and teacher of law."

The Holy Father concluded by welcoming Italian pilgrims from Arosio, Fabriago, Bologna, Pozzallo, Castelvetrano and Pesaro.

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THE ECUMENISM OF MARTYRS IS THE MOST CONVINCING

VATICAN CITY, MAY 7, 2000 (VIS) - In Rome's Colosseum at 6 p.m. today, the Pope presided at an ecumenical celebration for witnesses to the faith in the twentieth century. Five thousand people braved the rain to attend the event, in which nineteen representatives of Orthodox, Protestant and Anglican Churches and ecclesial communities took part.

The event began with a 'statio' inside the Colosseum. Then the Book of the Gospel was carried in a procession, led by the Pope and representatives of other Churches, to the place of commemoration, outside the amphitheater.

After the Liturgy of the Word, during which the Gospel of the Beatitudes was read, the Holy Father pronounced his homily.
The Pope confirmed that the number of Christians who gave their lives for Christ in the twentieth century was, perhaps, greater than that of the early Christian period, and that all Churches had been affected.

"The generation to which I belong experienced the horror of war, the concentration camps, persecution. In my homeland, during the Second World War, priests and Christians were deported to extermination camps. In Dachau alone some three thousand priests were interned. ... I myself am a witness of much pain and many trials, having seen these in the years of my youth. My priesthood, from its very beginning, was marked 'by the great sacrifice of countless men and women of my generation'."

The memory of those who experienced persecution, violence and death "must not be forgotten, rather they must be remembered and their lives documented. The names of many are unknown; the names of some have been denigrated by their persecutors, who tried to add disgrace to martyrdom; the names of others have been concealed by their executioners."

John Paul II added: "Countless numbers refused to yield to the cult of the false gods of the twentieth century and were sacrificed by communism, nazism, by the idolatry of State or race. Many others fell in the course of ethnic or tribal wars, because they had rejected a way of thinking foreign to the Gospel of Christ. Some went to their death because, like the Good Shepherd, they decided to remain with their people, despite intimidation."

The Holy Father indicated that "the ecumenism of the martyrs and the witnesses to the faith is the most convincing of all; to the Christians of the twenty-first century it shows the path to unity."

"If we glory in this heritage it is not because of any partisan spirit and still less because of any desire for vengeance upon the persecutors, but in order to make manifest the extraordinary power of God, who has not ceased to act in every time and place. We do this as we ourselves offer pardon, faithful to the example of the countless witnesses killed even as they prayed for their persecutors."

After the homily the commemoration of the witnesses took place. The list of the 12,600 witnesses to the faith of the 20th century grouped them into eight categories covering the memory of Christian faithful from all continents and from different Churches and Christian communities: Christians who witnessed the faith under Soviet totalitarianism; witnesses to the faith who fell victim of Communism in other European countries; confessors of the faith who fell victim of Nazism and Fascism; followers of Christ who gave their lives for announcing the Gospel in Asia and Oceania; Christ's faithful persecuted for hatred of the Catholic faith; witnesses of evangelization in Africa and Madagascar; Christians who gave their lives for love of Christ and their fellows in America and witnesses of the faith in various parts of the world.
At the end of the ceremony, which lasted two and a half hours, the Pope expressed his special thanks for the presence of representatives from other Churches and ecclesial communities and made a call "to keep the memory of our brothers and sisters alive, and to imitate their example."

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40,000 FAITHFUL GATHER IN ST PETER'S FOR REGINA COELI

VATICAN CITY, MAY 7, 2000 (VIS) - Before reciting the Regina Coeli with the 40,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's, Pope John Paul reminded them that "this evening, at the Colosseum, there will be an important Jubilee event: the ecumenical commemoration of the Witnesses to the Faith of the 20th century."

"The century just-concluded," he said, "was marked by many dark shadows; but in their midst there were also splendid lights. So many men and women, Christians of every confession, race and age, witnessed to the faith during persecutions, while in prison, in the midst of deprivations of every type, and many of them even shed their blood to remain faithful to Christ, to the Church, to the Gospel."

The Holy Father went on to say that "it is the very light of Easter which shines in them: it is from Christ's resurrection, in fact, that His disciples receive the strength to follow the Teacher in the hour of trial. For this reason this commemoration was placed with the Easter liturgical season."

"To recall the heroic witnesses of the faith of the 20th century means preparing for the future, assuring a solid foundation for hope. The new generations must know how much the faith cost those who received it as their legacy, in order to receive with gratitude the torch of the Gospel and to illuminate the new century and new millennium with it."

In concluding remarks, John Paul II stated that "it is important to underline that this evening's celebration will have an ecumenical mark: the witness of several Christians of various denominations and ecclesial communities will be proclaimed. Their courage in taking upon themselves the Cross of Christ speaks with a voice that is stronger than that of the factors which divide."

Several thousand members belonging to an estimated 74 Italian bands were among the faithful present in St. Peter's Square today. They arrived in early morning, participated in a Mass in the basilica and then entertained the pilgrims in the square.

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HOLY SEE DELEGATION RETURNS FROM TRIP TO VIETNAM

VATICAN CITY, MAY 8, 2000 (VIS) - A Holy See delegation comprising Msgr. Celestino Migliore, under-secretary for Relations with States, and Msgr. Barnaba Nguyen Van Phuong, bureau chief of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, returned to Rome yesterday following a five-day visit to Vietnam, according to a communique published this afternoon.

The delegation met with members of the Permanent Council of the Episcopal Conference of Vietnam and with government officials.

"With the government authorities, they discussed various aspects of the presence and the life of the Catholic Church in the country. They spoke of the appointments of bishops, for which a answer from the Vietnamese side is awaited in the near future. They also touched upon the theme of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Holy See.

"The delegation visited Phu Cuong. During the Eucharistic celebration on May 4 in the cathedral, the numerous faithful present manifested their deep communion with the Pope."

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SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE ANTILLES EUCHARISTIC CONFERENCE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 8, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was a letter from the Pope in which he names Cardinal Rosalio Jose Castillo Lara S.D.B., president emeritus of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, as his special envoy at celebrations for the Second Regional Eucharistic Conference of the Antilles. The event is due to take place in Castries, St. Lucia, from May 18 to 21. The letter is written in Latin and bears the date of April 10.

The cardinal will be accompanied by Msgrs. Eustace Thomas, vicar general of the diocese of Roseau, Dominica, and Terrence Montrose, vicar general of the diocese of Georgetown, Guyana, and by Fr. Joseph Edward Fox O.P., vice-rector of Rome's St. Thomas Aquinas Pontifical University.

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SPORTS SHOULD PROMOTE HUMAN DIGNITY, PEACE AND TOLERANCE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 8, 2000 (VIS) - The Pope this morning welcomed 150 members from the 51 countries which belong to the European Union of Football Associations (U.E.F.A.). In introductory remarks in Italian, he highlighted the presence of football federations from Eastern Europe "which, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, witness once again to the will for peace and fraternity which animates your federations."

Speaking English, he observed that football is both a "widespread sporting activity which involves a great number of people, in particular, young people" and a "major mass phenomenon involving many individuals and families." He then pointed to the responsibility of organizers and promoters "never to lose sight of the significant educational possibilities which football, like other similar sporting disciplines, can develop.

"In a special way, sportsmen, especially the more famous, should never forget that they in fact become models for the world of youth." They should "carefully develop human and spiritual qualities which will make them truly positive examples in the public mind." And football, he stressed, should "never lose its genuine characteristic of being a sporting activity" nor be "submerged by other concerns, especially economic ones."

Then, in French, John Paul II reminded U.E.F.A. members that they are in Rome on their Jubilee Year pilgrimage. "How can we not see in the Jubilee," he asked, "an invitation to make sports also become an occasion of authentic promotion of the greatness and the dignity of mankind? In this perspective, football structures are called to be a terrain of authentic humanity where young people are inspired to learn life's great values and to spread the great virtues which are at the basis of a worthy, human coexistence, such as tolerance, respect for human dignity, peace and fraternity."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAY 8, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Louis Michel, vice-prime minister and foreign minister of Belgium, accompanied by an entourage.
- Ivica Racan, president of the Croatian council of ministers, accompanied by an entourage.
- His Beatitude Raphael I Bidawid, patriarch of Babylon of the Chaldeans, Iraq.

On Saturday May 6, he received in separate audiences:

- Adolf Ogi, president of Switzerland, accompanied by an entourage.
- Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, accompanied by Archbishop Csaba Ternyak, secretary of the same congregation.
- Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves O.P., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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