PAPAL LETTER MARKS ANNIVERSARY OF MOTHER FRANCES CABRINI

VATICAN CITY, JUL 15, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was Pope John Paul's Message to Mother Lina Colombini, superior general of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of their foundress, St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, and the 50th anniversary of her proclamation as patroness of emigrants. The Message bears the date of May 31.

The Pope recalls that Frances Cabrini was born and baptized on July 15, 1850 "to a family rich in faith and piety." She entered the House of Providence in Codogno, Italy, where "she promised to dedicate herself totally to the Lord (in missionary work). There she received the religious habit and later, while keeping the name of Frances, added the name of Xavier in memory of the great Jesuit missionary and patron of missions."

With her bishop's approval she founded the Salesian Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in 1880. In 1888 the order received pontifical approval and became known as the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Mother Cabrini asked "evangelical obedience, mortification, renunciation, a vigilant heart and inner silence," wrote the Pope, and there was "a surprising flowering of vocations."

In answer to Pope Leo XIII's request to "go West, not East," as a missionary, Mother Cabrini undertook her evangelizing work in the United States, but also visited, as part of her apostolate to migrants, Nicaragua, Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain and England. The Holy Father recalled that Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini was beatified by Pius XI in 1938, canonized by Pius XII in 1946 and proclaimed patroness of migrants during the 1950 Holy Year.

Observing that "prayer, ... long periods of time in front of the tabernacle," and seeking God's will were the source of Mother Cabrini's strength and dedication to the causes of migrants, the Pope wrote: "May the search for the will of the divine Spouse also be for you, dear sisters, the focal point of your existence."

He thanked them for "incarnating, with creativity and generosity the spirit of Mother Cabrini in the unheard-of and modern situations of migrants." He also thanked them for their work "in favor of the poor and defenseless," noting especially their apostolate among the "favelas" of Brazil, the street children and in promoting the dignity of women.

MESS;MOTHER CABRINI; MIGRANTS;...;COLOMBINI;VIS;20000717;Word: 380;

PRESS OFFICE DIRECTOR ON POPE JOHN PAUL'S VACATION

VATICAN CITY, JUL 16, 2000 (VIS) - Conversing this morning with the journalists who had come to Introd, Les Combes, where the Holy Father has been on vacation since July 10, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls spoke of the Pope's activities and thoughts during the six days spent thus far in Valle d'Aosta.

The Holy Father is staying this year in a new villa, recently built by the Salesians. Navarro-Valls said that, at the angelus, the Pope had profusely thanked all who made his rest period enjoyable, in particular the Salesians. When he saw the new house, however, he protested, asking "was the villa made especially for me?" He felt better when told that the house, which faces Mont Blanc and is surrounded by an enormous garden, would be used during the winter months as a ski stop.

The press office director also commented on the ever-changing weather in the Valle d'Aosta region. "The Pope has a background as a mountain man, he knows the climate changes from one minute to the next. The other day at Fontaney he had a great time because one minute there was snow, then hail, then splendid sunshine."

Navarro-Valls disclosed today that it was Pope John Paul II who personally had written to Italian President Ciampi "to communicate his feelings regarding the prospect of Italy deciding or not on a gesture of clemency with regards to Ali Agca," the Turk who shot the Pope on May 13, 1981 in St. Peter's Square at the start of a weekly general audience. Agca was granted clemency a month ago and extradited to Turkey.

He added that, though the Pope has asked clemency for Ali Agca and others, he never wishes to interfere with a State's autonomy: "States act autonomously. The Pope only wished to communicate his own frame of mind, not to ask or demand anything of the Italian State."

Asked if the Holy Father had received a letter, asking for his intervention in favor of an American prison inmate who has been condemned to death, Navarro-Valls replied that such a letter has not reached the Vatican. However, he added, "the theme of the death penalty is still very much alive for the Pope, particularly within the context of the Jubilee Year." Referring to John Paul's Letter for the Jubilee in Prisons, he said: "That document contained a formal invitation to the world's heads of State and government, and no one can ignore this formal invitation against the death penalty."

The press office director revealed that John Paul II "is thinking about and is anxious to go to Syria and to Greece, to Athens, in the footsteps of St. Paul, though nothing has been decided, nor are there any dates." Regarding a trip to Moscow, he said: "The Pope would like to go to Moscow, but it is clear that a trip to Russia must also have an ecumenical dimension, it cannot only be an event of ceremonies and invitations." He excluded positive developments regarding a trip to Iraq.

More than "summing up what has been accomplished, especially in this Jubilee Year," said Navarro-Valls, "these days the Holy Father is thinking about the future, about commitments he has made, deadlines he must meet. ... He is looking beyond 2000, to next year and the goals awaiting him."

He pointed out that "every morning the Pope is briefed on the world situation and, obviously, the Middle East is at the center of his attention, above all, for the fact that he travelled to the Holy Land in March, during which time he personally met both (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Barak and (PLO leader Yasser) Arafat, the two protagonists in the negotiations (in Washington)."

OP;JOURNALISTS; NAVARRO-VALLS;...;INTROD ;VIS;20000717;Word: 620;

POPE RECITES ANGELUS FROM VACATION VILLA IN INTROD

VATICAN CITY, JULY 16, 2000 (VIS) - Today at noon, from the summer villa in Introd, in Italy's northern region of Valle d'Aosta where he is vacationing, Pope John Paul recited the angelus with about 5,0000 faithful who had gathered there. "I thank the Lord," he said, "for giving me the possibility again this year of spending some time in this evocative mountain location, which calls to mind the majestic presence of God."

"From this serene setting," said the Pope, speaking before the angelus, "I would like to extend a cordial thought to everyone who is on vacation in this valley and elsewhere, in the mountains or at the sea. I invite everyone to make these days of well-earned summer rest a time of interior enrichment and beneficial family relaxation. I am also thinking of those who cannot take a vacation and have remained at home. In a special way I extend an affectionate greeting to those who are ill, to older people, to those in prison and to those who are alone. I assure each one of you remembrance in my daily prayers."

The Holy Father then recalled that "today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. On that mountain, which is in Israel near Haifa, the holy prophet Elias strenuously defended the integrity and purity of the faith of the people chosen in the living God. On that same mountain, in the 12th century after Christ, a number of hermits gathered together, dedicating themselves to contemplation and penance. It was from their spiritual experience that the Carmelite order had its beginnings.

"Carmel," he said in conclusion, "symbolically indicates the mount of full adhesion to the divine will and of our eternal salvation. We are all called to climb this spiritual mountain, ceaselessly and courageously."

Following the recitation of the angelus, the Pope greeted the pilgrims present in different languages, noting especially the presence of Carmelites and Benedictines.

ANG;VACATIONS; MT CARMEL;...;INTROD;VIS;20000717;Word: 320;

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUL 15, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation to the pastoral governing of the diocese of Morombe, Madagascar, presented by Bishop Alwin Albert Hafner, M.S.F. in conformity with Canon 401, para 2, of the Code of Canon Law.
- Appointed Fr. Victor Agbanou, diocesan administrator and professor of Sacred Scripture at the Major Seminary of Ouidah, Benin, as bishop of Lokossa (area 4,635, population 979,210, Catholics 83,452, priests 56, religious 88), Benin. The bishop-elect was born in 1945 in the diocese of Lokossa and was ordained a priest in 1974.

- Appointed Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, archbishop of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as his special envoy to the concluding celebrations of the Fourth National Eucharistic Congress of Uruguay, which will take place on October 15 in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.

RE; NER; NA;...;...;HAFNER; AGBANOU; LOPEZ;VIS;20000717;Word: 130;