LIVE WITH RENEWED VIGOR THE FRANCISCAN CHARISM

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed 250 participants in the General Chapter of the Friars Minor Capuchins. In his speech to them, he remarked that their "religious family, from the very beginning, has been marked by the commitment - the legacy of St. Francis - to a great love for the Church and a filial obedience and fidelity to her pastors."
He stated that among "the multiple gifts with which the Holy Spirit has enriched the Church are the single religious institutes.. ... In following Christ and adhering to His person, what merits being placed into special evidence today is 'the fidelity to the founding charism, and subsequent spiritual heritage of each institute'."

Referring in particular to the Franciscans, the Pope stated: "Two aspects in particular you must always bear in mind: in the first place, the priority and centrality, as St. Francis wished, of Gospel fraternity, which marks you as friars and makes you an Order of brothers." He underlined what is "typical of the Franciscan-Capuchin charism: the spirit of prayer, obedience and simplicity, poverty and austerity, contact with the people, closeness to the needy, zeal for evangelization, joy and Christian hope."
"In the second place," John Paul II continued, "you see the opportunity to underline the coherent, practical and concrete behavior of St. Francis. It is necessary to turn to deeds, to values lived, to the method of direct witnessing. You know well the criteria your founder loved to refer to: 'plus exemplo quam verbo', with example more than words."

In closing remarks, he expressed his "esteem and gratitude" for the Franciscan witness throughout the world.

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FELLOW POLES JOIN POPE JOHN PAUL IN EVENING PRAYER SERVICE

VATICAN CITY, JULY 7, 2000 (VIS) - Calling it a "touching encounter," Pope John Paul spent two hours in St. Peter's Square last evening with 30,000 of his fellow Poles for an evening prayer service. He spoke to and prayed with them and listened to testimonials and musical performances, many executed by men and women wearing colorful native costumes.

In his talk, he spoke of the "Polish millennium - the millennium of the baptism of our nation," underscoring the Christian history of Poland and naming many of the country's great events and persons, including Church leaders, kings, queens, military leaders and saints. "Let us accept their witness, not to glorify ourselves, but to first render glory to the Lord and then to accept, with awareness, this legacy and pass it on to future generations."

The Holy Father told the Polish faithful that their pilgrimage to Rome was "to renew and enrich, with the faith of the Apostles, ... your own faith. ... Today the world, and even our fatherland, has great need of men and women of mature faith, who courageously confess Christ in every place and every situation. There is need for authentic heralds of the Gospel and messengers of truth. Of people who believe and who love and transform this love of God into authentic service to mankind. The greatest treasure which we can transmit to the younger generations at the threshold of the third millennium is our faith. Blessed is the nation which walks in the light of the Gospel, which lives the truth of God and which attains the knowledge of the Cross."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Cardinal Fiorenzo Angelini.
- Nicola Mancino, president of the senate of the Italian Republic, with his wife and entourage.
- J. Fernand Tanguay, ambassador oof Canada, on a farewell visit.

This evening he is scheduled to receive Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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TELEGRAM FOR ACCIDENT IN SPAIN WHICH KILLED 27 STUDENTS

VATICAN CITY, JULY 7, 2000 (VIS) - Following is the text of the telegram sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, in Pope John Paul's name, for the accident yesterday afternoon in Spain which took the lives of 27 students of two religious institutes:

"The Holy Father, greatly saddened by the news of the traffic accident which occurred in the vicinity of Soria and which caused the deaths of 27 persons as well as numerous wounded, for the most part young students from the colleges of San Esteve in Ripollet and Modolell in Villadecamps, as well as teachers and those who accompanied them who were going to a summer camp organized by the Brothers of Christian Instruction of St. Gabriel, offers prayers for the repose of the souls of the deceased. Likewise, the Holy Father expresses his deep sympathy to the relatives of the victims and to the organizers of this formative activity, together with his heartfelt expression of closeness and comfort and of great concern and he hopes that the wounded will heal soon. In these moments of pain he imparts his heartfelt and comforting apostolic blessing as a sign of hope in the Risen Christ."

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DEFEND, PROMOTE AND LOVE THE LIFE OF EVERY HUMAN BEING

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2000 (VIS) - At noon today in St. Peter's Basilica, John Paul II welcomed 6,000 Catholic doctors and members of their families, who are in Rome for the Jubilee of Doctors and who also have been participating in the 20th World Congress of Catholic Doctors, which began July 3 in Rome.

The participants in the medical congress, including scientists from around the world, are members of the International Federation of Catholic Medical Associations, the Association of Italian Catholic Doctors and the European Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.

The Holy Father underscored that "the theme of the congress, 'Medicine and Human Rights', is very important not only for the cultural effort which links the progress of medicine with the ethical and juridical needs of the human person, but also because it is a current topic because of the effective or potential violations of the basic right to life on which all other rights of the person rest."

"Your mission as doctors," he pointed out, "places you in daily contact with the mysterious and stupendous reality of human life, encouraging you to bear the sufferings and hopes of so many of our brothers and sisters." He added that they must offer the ill, "not only medical care and technical services, ... but also that special spiritual medicine which consists of the warmth of authentic human contact. ... The patient must be helped to rediscover not only physical well-being but also psychological and moral well-being."

"You know well, dear Catholic doctors, that your indispensable mission is to defend, promote and love the life of every human being, from its beginning to its natural end." The Pope remarked that society today "is often dominated by an abortion culture" which attacks human life at its inception and which leads to a mentality condoning euthanasia, an attack on life at its very end.

"You know," the Holy Father went on, "that a Catholic is never allowed to be an accomplice in a presumed right to abortion or to euthanasia. Legislation favoring such crimes, being intrinsically immoral, can never be a moral imperative for the doctor, who can make use of the right of conscientious objector."
Pope John Paul then turned to the "many worrisome forms of attacks on health and life, which should be courageously faced by every person truly respectful of life": the destruction, suffering and death caused by wars and conflicts, as well as epidemics and illnesses. "There is a vast field of action open to you," he told the doctors. There is also much to be done, he added, to assist those countries where poor people have insufficient health care and medicine, or are dying of diseases, "in the face of a general indifference." "Make your hearts sensitive to these silent appeals!"

The Pope then urged the researchers in biomedical sciences, present at today's audience, "to generously offer their contribution to assure mankind of the conditions for better health, always respecting the dignity and sacredness of human life."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 7, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Gebhard Furst, director of the academy of the diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, as bishop of the same diocese (area 19,514, population 5,000,000, Catholics 2,043,672, priests 1,211, religious 3,444, permanent deacons 207), Federal Republic of Germany. The bishop-elect was born in 1948 in Bietigheim, Germany and was ordained a priest in 1977.

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