AUDIENCE WITH FRANCISCAN SISTERS OF MARY IMMACULATE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 17, 2000 (VIS) - This morning, the Pope received the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate from various parts of Italy, Brazil, the Philippines and India, who are taking part in their general chapter.

The Holy Father affirmed that their charism must stimulate them to be missionaries in the fields of "training and education of children and youth, catechesis, collaboration in pastoral activity in parishes and missions and in all those initiatives of solidarity and assistance that not only harmonize with the spirit of the Institute but, above all, are more responsive to the needs of the Church of our time."

"You are, first of all, Franciscans" he said. "The first characteristic element of your life and apostolic activity is the Franciscan ideal. ... In the school of Francis and Clare of Assisi, each Franciscan sister of Mary Immaculate is called to bear witness to humanity in the third millennium of the transforming power of the Gospel announced through word and example, bringing the Good News of reconciliation and salvation to all."

John Paul II indicated that "the second fundamental element" of their religious identity "is Marian spirituality. ... Consequently, may Mary Immaculate be your guide, your inspirational model, your constant support on the daily journey, a refuge in the inevitable difficulties and a delight in moments of joy and sharing."

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PRESENTATION OF HOLY SEE'S CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 17, 2000 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office on Friday June 23 at 11:30 a.m., Archbishop Sergio Sebastiani, president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, will present the Holy See's consolidated financial statement for 1999.

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THEME FOR 34TH WORLD DAY OF PEACE IS PUBLISHED

VATICAN CITY, JUN 17, 2000 (VIS) - The theme chosen by Pope John Paul for the 34th World Day of Peace, to take place on January 1, 2001 is "Dialogue between cultures for a civilization of love and peace." The year 2001 has been proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Year of Dialogue Between Cultures.

The communique which published the 2001 theme states that "a vision of culture as a line of defense against recent 'globalization' tendencies and as a way to keep alive particular beliefs and usages is accompanied, sometimes, by anxiety for a possible 'clash of cultures' in which power and strength constitute the only criteria of evaluation. Against such general lines, a sincere, open and peaceful dialogue between cultures is suggested, a dialogue which recognizes in the search for the truth an inspiration written in human nature."

"All cultures are called to build a civilization of peace and love. As John Paul II affirmed in his speech for the 50th General Assembly of the U.N.: 'We must conquer our fear of the future. But we can only conquer it totally if we do so together. ... The answer to that fear ...is the common effort to build a civilization of love based on the universal values of peace, solidarity, justice and liberty'."

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THE JUBILEE: AN OCCASION TO REDISCOVER THE LOVE OF GOD

VATICAN CITY, JUN 17, 2000 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father received 1,100 pilgrims from Italy and other countries who have come to Rome for the Jubilee.

Speaking French to participants in a meeting of the world organization of former pupils of Catholic schools, he requested that their own children and the youth of today may benefit from the same intellectual, human and moral formation that they had received because, "they must learn, from the older generations, the points of reference in order for their lives to be beautiful and full of hope."

To a group of faithful from various Italian parishes, John Paul II expressed the hope that "the marvelous days of your jubilee pilgrimage that have brought you to meet Christ, ... may constitute for each of you a joyful occasion to rediscover God's love and a renewed experience of your belonging to His great family that is the Church."

The Pope also greeted members of the military academy of the Ecuadorian ministry of defense. Speaking to them in Spanish, he said "to cross the Holy Door is to demonstrate the will to approach God and, consequently, to live in accordance with the teaching of the Gospel. May this gesture, accompanied by works of piety and charity, bring you the grace necessary to carry out your family and professional duties, giving witness of your union with Christ and your belonging to His Church."

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EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS BEGINS WITH A CALL FOR UNITY

VATICAN CITY, JUN 18, 2000 (VIS) - At 6:30 p.m. in St. Peter's Square, the Pope presided at the second vespers of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, on the occasion of the opening of the 47th International Eucharistic Congress whose theme is "Jesus Christ, One Savior of the World, Bread for a New Life."

"The Church," said the Holy Father in his homily, "summoned together for the International Eucharistic Congress, turns at this time to the Upper Room and there remains in pensive adoration. She relives the great mystery of the Incarnation, concentrating her gaze upon the Sacrament in which Christ consigned us the commemoration of His passion."

John Paul II affirmed that "the minds and hearts of so many faithful throughout the world turn towards this square. I invite everyone, individual believers and ecclesial communities from all corners of the earth, to share with us this moment of elevated Eucharistic spirituality. I especially ask children and the sick, as well as the contemplative orders, to offer their prayers for the happy and successful outcome of this world Eucharistic meeting.

"The call arises from the Eucharistic Congress to renew our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Sacrament of the altar: 'Ave, verum corpus!' At the same time comes the urgent appeal for the reconciliation and unity of all believers: 'One body ... one faith, one baptism!' Unfortunately, contrasts and divisions continue to lacerate the Body of Christ and prevent Christians from different confessions from sharing the single bread of the Eucharist. Consequently, together we invoke the healing power of divine mercy, so abundant in this Jubilee year."

More than one hundred Italian and foreign confraternities took part in the opening ceremony, among them the Spanish confraternity of Our Lady of Suffering of the Piarists of Granada, whom the Pope greeted at the end of his homily.

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EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IS THE "HEART" OF THE JUBILEE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 18, 2000 (VIS) - Speaking to 50,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square this morning to recite the Angelus, Pope John Paul reflected on the International Eucharistic Congress, which he opens this evening with vespers in the square, and said "we have reached the heart of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000."

"Within the period of a week," he added, "we celebrate two solemnities - the Most Holy Trinity and Corpus Domini - in which the nature of this Holy Year, which is both trinitarian and Eucharistic, is fully manifested. Prepared by a three-year period of reflection on Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Father, the Jubilee's objective is to give thanks and praise to the divine Trinity, from which all comes and to which all returns, in the world and in history."

The Holy Father remarked that "the 'way', the 'door' of access to the mystery of God's love is only one: Jesus, who was born, died and arose to give life to every man. Before dying on the cross, a victim of expiation for our sins, He left the Church the memorial of His redemptive sacrifice: the sacrament of the Eucharist."

John Paul II then highlighted several events of the week-long Eucharistic congress, whose theme is "Jesus Christ, One Savior of the World, Bread for a New Life": the meeting on "The Eucharist and the Face of Christ", the Jubilee of Italian catechists, the procession on the June 22 feast of Corpus Domini from St. John Lateran Basilica to that of St. Mary Major and the closing of the congress on Sunday evening, June 25 with the "statio orbis" in St. Peter's Square.

After reciting the angelus, the Pope greeted the faithful in St. Peter's Square in several languages.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 17, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Camille Lembi Zaneli of the clergy of Lisala, Democratic Republic of the Congo, pastor in the archdiocese of Fort-de-France, Martinique, Antilles, as bishop of Isangi (area 50,000, population 630,700, Catholics 100,086, priests 18, religious 25), Democratic Republic of the Congo. The bishop-elect was born in Zongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1950 and ordained a priest in 1979.

- Msgr. Elio Tinti, rector of the regional seminary in Bologna, Italy, as bishop of Carpi (area 415, population 115,447, Catholics 113,362, priests 59, permanent deacons 4, religious 80), Italy. The bishop-elect was born in Bologna in 1936 and ordained a priest in 1960.

- Fr. Jorge Solorzano Perez of the clergy of Managua, episcopal vicar for pastoral ministries of Managua (area 5,210, population 2,271,100, Catholics 1,816,880, priests 122, religious 590), Nicaragua, as auxiliary of the same archdiocese. The bishop-elect was born in San Andres de la Palanca, Nicaragua, in 1961 and ordained a priest in 1985.

- Msgr. Gervais Banshimiyubusa of the diocese of Muyinga, Burundi, rector of the major seminary of Gitega, as coadjutor of Ngozi (area 3,810, population 1,000,000, Catholics 750,000, priests 62, religious 155), Burundi. The bishop-elect was born in Gisuru, Burundi, in 1952 and ordained a priest in 1981.

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POPE PRAISES ROACO'S AID TO ORIENTAL CHURCHES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 19, 2000 (VIS) - The Pope this morning welcomed the members of ROACO, the Italian acronym for the Assembly of Works of Assistance to the Oriental Churches, an organism within the Congregation for Oriental Churches, on the occasion of their second annual plenary session. He praised their work which, in recent years, has "responded in a more careful and attentive way to the demands and urgent needs of the Catholic Oriental Churches."

John Paul II recalled his recent pilgrimages to Mount Sinai and to Mount Nebo and the Holy Land where he met with the hierarchy and the faithful of the Oriental Churches. "What the Lord allowed me to experience in those days," he said, "prompts me to recommend to you and to all the Catholic faithful to always take to heart the Christian communities of the Holy Land and to support them in their needs."

He remarked that the Jubilee has been marked by the presence in Rome of a "significant number of representatives of Oriental Catholic Churches. ... In this way Rome makes visible the universality of the Church in the variety of rites and traditions."

"On this particular occasion," stated the Holy Father, "I repeat my invitation to all of you to make every effort possible to come to the aid of populations divided by fraternal conflicts or those of the Middle East still searching for stable paths of justice and freedom. The Jubilee invites us to concrete signs of fraternal charity which will open 'our eyes to the needs of all who live in poverty and marginalization'."

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TO THE MISSIONARIES OF FR. KOLBE: BE WITNESSES OF HOPE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 19, 2000 (VIS) - At midday today, the Pope received participants in the general chapter of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Immaculate-Fr. Kolbe, and expressed his desire that their work these days may "consolidate you in your commitment of consecration to God, that you may be leavening of wisdom and witnesses of hope in today's world."

The Pope recalled with joy that the sisters are present in Italy, Luxembourg, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, California and Poland "where, in order to keep alive the legacy of the martyr Maximilian Kolbe, you are completing work on a 'spiritual center' at Auschwitz that aims to offer a message of hope to all who visit to that place: symbol of the most terrible negations of human dignity perpetrated during the 20th century."

"With Franciscan zeal, spread the truth of the Gospel in the hearts and lives of the brothers and sisters that you meet in your daily ecclesial service. ... Your apostolate must derive from incessant prayer and from a communal life that represents a continuous search for God and His work in complex earthly reality."

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, JUN 19, 2000 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Cardinal Paul Zoungrana M. Afr., archbishop emeritus of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, on June 4, at the age of 82.
- Bishop John Brewer of Lancaster, Great Britain, on June 10, at the age of 70.
- Bishop Paul Huynh Dong Cac, emeritus of Quy Nhon, Vietnam, on June 3, at the age of 77.
- Bishop Jose del Carmen Valle Gallardo, emeritus of Iquique, Chile, on June 10, at the age of 91.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 19, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Said Musa, prime minister of Belize, accompanied by his entourage.
- Cardinals Rosalio Jose Castillo Lara S,D.B., president emeritus of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and Edmund Casimir Szoka, current president of this pontifical commission; Archbishop Baltazar Porras Cardoso of Merida, Venezuela, president of the Venezuelan Episcopal Conference, and Bishop Ubaldo Ramon Santana Sequera F.M.I., of Ciudad Guayana, vice-president of the same conference.

On Saturday June 17, he received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne of Lima, Peru.
- Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves O.P., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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