GENERAL AUDIENCE: GLORY OF THE TRINITY AT PENTECOST

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - In today's general audience which was held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 40,000 pilgrims, John Paul II spoke on "the glory of the Trinity at Pentecost."

The Pope recalled that "Christian Pentecost celebrates the effusion of the Holy Spirit" which "is made manifest, given and communicated as a divine person."

"As a support to witness and as a font of unity in plurality," said the Pope, "the whole Trinity is involved in the inrush of the Holy Spirit, which poured forth upon the first community and on the Church of all times as a seal of the New Covenant announced by the prophets. By virtue of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles announce the Risen Christ and all believers, in the diversity of their languages - and therefore of their cultures and history - profess the one faith in the Lord."

Pentecost, continued the Pope, makes the glory of the Trinity shine forth: (the glory) "of the Risen Christ who shows Himself in His glorious body, of the Father, who is the source of the apostolic mission and of the Holy Spirit, which surges forth as gift of peace."

The Holy Father affirmed that the symbolic breath "means to evoke the act of the Creator. ... The Risen Christ communicates another breath of life, the 'Holy Spirit.' Redemption is a new creation, a divine work in which the Church is called to collaborate through the ministry of reconciliation."

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JOHN PAUL II TO RECEIVE CHARTER OF RIGHTS OF REFUGEES

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - A communique issued today by the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People listed some of the highlights of the forthcoming Jubilee of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples, to be held in Rome as well as in various dioceses of the world from June 1 to 3.

"The Jubilee year," observes the press release, "starting with its biblical roots, explicitly brings to mind an element which is very dear to all those forced to abandon their homes and countries: being freed and returning to one's own land."

The communique states that special regard will be given to the world's refugees on June 1 and 2. On these dates "attention will be focussed on those persons forced to emigrate against their will, that is, to the more than 50 million refugees, displaced persons, repatriated people, those asking for asylum and others in similar situations." The focal point will be the Mass on June 2 in St. Peter's Square presided over by Pope John Paul.
Tomorrow afternoon, at the Oratory of the Church of St. Francis of Caravita in Rome, there will be an encounter-reflection on the theme of reconciliation for refugees and for workers and humanitarians involved in this pastoral ministry. On this occasion a "Jubilee Charter for the Rights of Refugees" will be issued. This declaration of solidarity with refugees will be given by a refugee to the Holy Father during the Offertory of the papal Mass on June 2.

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CELEBRATION FOR THE FIFTH CENTENARY OF ST. JOHN OF AVILA

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was a message from the Pope to Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid, Spain, and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The message is for the occasion of today's national pilgrimage of Spanish bishops and priests to Montilla in Cordoba, Spain, in homage to St. John of Avila on the 5th centenary of his birth. The relics of the saint are preserved at Montilla.

"The celebration of this gathering," writes the Pope, "must represent a fresh display of gratitude to the Lord for the gift of His presence among His people through the priestly ministry, of which St. John of Avila is an ever-current model."

The Holy Father affirms that "the example of (St. John of Avila's) life and his saintliness is the best lesson that he continues to impart to priests today, (who are) also called to give renewed impetus to evangelization in circumstances that are often disconcerting for the rapidity of change or the almost unbridgeable differences between mentalities and cultures, sometimes combined in the same environment."

The Holy Father made clear his desire that this gathering "reinforce the bonds of fraternity between priests and the intimate communion with their bishops and strengthen their vocation, that they may better and more generously serve God's people who reside in the various parts of Spain."

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POPE THANKS UKRAINIANS FOR THEIR SUFFERINGS FOR THE FAITH

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - During the weekly general audience, held this morning in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father had special words for a group of pilgrims from the archdiocese of Lviv of the Latins, Ukraine, led by Archbishop Marian Jaworski. He said he was "moved" and "delighted" by their presence, adding "we are all witnesses of the great works of God and the great signs of Divine Providence."

Speaking Ukrainian, the Pope underlined that their pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul was to express "gratitude to God above all for the gift of the faith received in Baptism and to ask that it be strengthened.

"You know well the value of this gift. For decades you paid for your fidelity to God with suffering and humiliations of various kinds, you were discriminated against and have undergone painful persecutions. It is with emotion that I think of the multitude of laity and ecclesiastics who had the courage and strength to persevere right up to the end next to Christ and His Church, notwithstanding prison, deportation to concentration camps and forced labor camps. How many of them paid with their lives for this fidelity to God, to the Catholic Church and to the Apostolic See. For this the Church today thanks you and your brothers of the Oriental rite."

He asked the faithful "to preserve deep in your memories the witness of these martyrs and transmit it to future generations."

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HOLY FATHER'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR JUNE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father's general prayer intention for June is: "That Christ - adored and celebrated in the Eucharist - may increasingly be welcomed and shared as Bread of life for the good of the world."

His missionary intention is: "That in China priests, religious men and women, and the laity may be animated by an apostolic and Catholic spirit."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Archbishop Jose Carlos Melo C.M., auxiliary of Sao Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, as coadjutor archbishop of Maceio (area 8,545, population 1,680,220, Catholics 1,180,000, priests 92, permanent deacons 28, religious 269), Brazil.

- Fr. Fernando Antonio Saburido O.S.B., vicar general of Olinda and Recife (area 4,305, population 3,350,000, Catholics 3,119,000, priests 194, religious 784), Brazil, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese. The bishop-elect was born in Cabo, Brazil, in 1947 and ordained a priest in 1983.

- Fr. Milton Antonio dos Santos S.D.B., director of the 'Santa Teresinha' College at Sao Paulo, Brazil, as bishop of Corumba (area 62,890, population 101,887, Catholics 76,415, priests 11, religious 24), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born at Campos do Jordao, Brazil, in 1946 and ordained a priest in 1974.

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CALENDAR OF JUBILEE EVENTS FOR THE MONTH OF JUNE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - Following is the calendar of Jubilee events scheduled for the month of June:

- Thursday 1: Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. Jubilee of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.

- Friday, 2: Papal Mass in St. Peter's Square for Jubilee of Migrants.

- Sunday 4: Seventh Sunday of Easter. Day of Social Communications and the Jubilee of Journalists. Cardinal Roger Etchegaray presides Mass at 10 a.m. in the Paul VI Hall for Journalists. Holy Father greets journalists after Mass.

- Thursday, 8: Evening concert in the Paul VI Hall with the Vienna Philharmonic.

- Saturday, 10: Vigil of Pentecost. Papal Mass at 6:30 p.m. in St. Peter's Square.

- Sunday 18: Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Celebration of the opening of the 47th International Eucharistic Congress in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

- Thursday 22: Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Massat 7 p.m. followed by Eucharistic procession from St. John Lateran Basilica to St. Mary Major Basilica.

- Sunday 25: Closing of the International Eucharistic Congress. The Pope will preside at a "statio orbis" at 6:30 p.m. in St. Peter's Square to conclude the Eucharistic congress.

- Thursday 29: Solemnity of the Apostles Peter and Paul. Celebration of Mass and the imposition of the Pallium on metropolitan archbishops in St. Peter's Basilica.

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