CARDINAL OTUNGA OF KENYA CELEBRATES 50 YEARS AS A PRIEST

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2000 (VIS) - Made public yesterday was a Letter from Pope John Paul to Cardinal Maurice Michael Otunga, archbishop emeritus of Nairobi, Kenya, who yesterday celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. The papal Letter, written in Latin, was dated September 3, 2000.

Cardinal Otunga was born in Kenya in 1923 and was ordained a priest on October 3, 1950, and a bishop in February, 1957. As coadjutor he succeeded the archbishop of Nairobi on October 24, 1971. He was made a cardinal by Pope Paul VI in the consistory of March 5, 1973.

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POPE EXPRESSES PAIN FOR MURDERED MISSIONARIES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2000 (VIS) - At the end of today's weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father expressed his "pain and prayers" for the murder of two missionaries in Uganda and Burundi, and asked for the release of two others who had been kidnapped on September 6 at the Pamalap Mission in the region of Forecariah, Guinea.

"For several weeks now," he said, "worrisome news has been reaching us of bloody attacks in Guinea against the local population and against the refugees of Liberia and Sierra Leone. In the name of God I ask both for an end to so much violence and that everyone's rights be respected, especially those of refugees, who already live in precarious conditions."

The Holy Father asked for the release of Fathers Franco Manganello and Victor Mosele, kidnapped on September 6 and then expressed his "pain and prayers for the two Gospel workers, brutally assassinated in recent days: Fr. Rafaelle of Bari, Combinian, in Uganda, and Antonio Bargiggia, a lay missionary of the Brothers of the Poor, in Burundi. May the Lord receive in His peace these two faithful servants, who fell in fulfilling the 'greatest commandment', that of love."

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AUDIENCE: THE EUCHARIST, MEMORIAL OF THE MIGHTY WORKS OF GOD

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2000 (VIS) - "The Eucharist, memorial of the 'mirabilia Dei' (mighty works of God)" was the theme of John Paul II's catechesis during the general audience held this morning in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 36,000 pilgrims.

"Among the many aspects of the Eucharist," said the Pope, "the one that particularly stands out is that of 'memorial'," which "is not merely the recollection of past events but the proclamation of the mighty works wrought by God for men. In the liturgical celebration of these events, they become in a certain way present and real."

The Holy Father indicated that "the Eucharist is, then, a memorial of Christ's death, but it is also the presence of His sacrifice and the anticipation of His future glorious coming. It is the sacrament of the continuous salvific closeness of the Risen Lord in history."

"This memorial that generates and nourishes faith is the work of the Holy Spirit. ... There exists, then, an effective remembrance: the interior remembrance that leads to comprehension of God's Word and the sacramental remembrance that is fulfilled in the Eucharist. These are the two realities of salvation that Luke brought together in the wonderful story of the disciples of Emmaus, marked by the explanation of the Scriptures and by the 'breaking of bread'."

The Pope affirmed that "'remembering' is consequently 'bringing to heart' in memory and in affection, but it is also the celebration of a presence. ... In the Eucharist, the Christian feeds the hope of the definitive meeting with his Lord."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, dean of the College of Cardinals, as his special envoy at the closing celebrations for the centenary of the evangelization of Burkina Faso, due to take place at Ouagadougou on January 21, 2001.

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JUBILEE OF BISHOPS TO BE CELEBRATED THIS WEEKEND

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2000 (VIS) - The program has been published for the October 6 to 8 Jubilee of Bishops, which will take place in Rome on the theme "The Bishop: Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World." A highlight of this Jubilee year celebration will be the presence of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima in Rome for this three-day period.

Of the approximately 4,200 bishops in the world, active and retired, an estimated 1,300 will be in Rome for their Jubilee.

At 5 p.m. on Friday, October 6, there will be a penitential celebration, with the possibility of individual confession, in St. John Lateran Basilica. During this rite a collection will be taken up for the poorest Churches in the world.

Saturday, October 7, at 9:30 in the morning there will be a missionary celebration, "Euntes docete," in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls. This will be followed at noon by an audience with Pope John Paul II in the Paul VI Hall.

That same afternoon there will be the recitation of the rosary with the Holy Father before the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The procession will start at 5:45 p.m. inside St. Peter's Basilica, with the statue of Our Lady, accompanied by the Holy Father, and proceed to St. Peter's Square where, at 6 p.m., the Pope will lead the meditations on the mysteries of the rosary. Cardinals and bishops and five families from different continents will join him. The recitation of the fifth mystery will be led by Sr. Lucia and the Carmelite sisters of the monastery of Coimbra, Portugal. Sr. Lucia is the sole survivor of the three children to whom Our Lady appeared in Fatima in 1917.

At the end of this celebration the statue of Mary will cross St. Peter's Square and be brought in procession to the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Joining the procession will be students from the Vatican's Pius X pre-seminary as well as religious who live in Vatican City.
On Sunday, October 8, at 10 a.m. in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul will preside at a Eucharistic concelebration during which he will read the Act of Entrustment to Mary in front of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima. All bishops present will join the Holy Father in the Act of Entrustment.

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 2000 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Cardinal Vincenzo Fagiolo, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on September 22 at the age of 82.
- Cardinal Paul Gouyon, archbishop emeritus of Rennes, France, on September 26 at the age of 89.
- Bishop Laureano Castan Lacoma, bishop emeritus of Siguenza-Guadalajara, Spain, on September 28 at the age of 87.
- Bishop Michael Dallat, auxiliary of Down and Connor, Ireland, on September 25 at the age of 75.
- Bishop Urban Eugen McGarry T.O.R., emeritus of Bhagalpur, India, on September 16 at the age of 89.

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