MESSAGE TO SYMPOSIUM OF AFRICAN EPISCOPAL CONFERENCES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 6, 2000 (VIS) - Published today was a Message from Pope John Paul to Archbishop Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kisangani, Democratic Republic of the Congo, who is president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, which is now meeting near Rome for its 12th plenary assembly.

The Pope's Message, written in French and dated October 4, recalls that the theme of the plenary is "The Church-Family of God, place and sacrament of reconciliation, pardon and peace in Africa."

The Holy Father also recalls that it has been six years since the Synod for Africa, and five since the promulgation of the Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Africa." He writes that "the overall situation on the continent, as it was expressed in that document, has not substantially changed since then. Numerous nations continue to be theatres of conflicts whose innocent victims are the populations. ... These conflicts, due both to internal and external causes, constitute disdain for the human person, his rights and dignity. This attitude is in great part at the origin of many other evils which afflict the continent, such as economic under-development, poverty, forced migrations, the spreading of AIDS and pandemics that were thought to be totally eradicated, the pillaging of natural resources and the degradation of the environment."

John Paul II points out that "the history filled with the sufferings of the African people is also that of the Church on this continent," and he lists the persecutions and assassinations of religious and lay people, and the sacking or destruction of Church structures. He highlighted the "sad news" of the recent and "unexpected death" of Archbishop Kataliko of Bukavu.

The Holy Father goes on to say that the current symposium is an occasion to prepare a fitting pastoral and "to confirm the option of the Church as the family of God." He writes that the Church is engaged in numerous fields for the good of the men and women of Africa, "notably to contribute to reconciliation among persons and peoples, as well as to establish justice, solidarity, democracy and peace."

For the Church to give authentic witness, says the Pope, "there must be a spiritually and humanly well-formed laity, taking the place that is rightfully theirs in public life in order to be the salt of the earth." He adds that, to build a better world, "it is first up to the Africans themselves to take into their own hands the future of their nations, I invite the international community not to abandon Africa."

John Paul II closes by "strongly exhorting all leaders to seek tirelessly and with sincerity the paths of reconciliation."

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SPECIAL ENVOY TO EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN URUGUAY

VATICAN CITY, OCT 6, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was Pope John Paul's Letter to Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez, the Pope's special envoy to the concluding celebrations of the Fourth National Eucharistic Congress of Uruguay, which will take place in Colonia del Sacramento on Sunday, October 15. The Letter, written in Latin, is dated September 1.

Joining the archbishop of Santo Domingo as members of the pontifical mission will be Msgrs. Silvano Berlanda, vicar general of the diocese of Mercedes and president of the "Hogar Sacerdotal Jacinto Vera" Commission, and Martin Perez Eseremini, vicar general of the archdiocese of Montevideo and rector of the "Christo Rey" inter-diocesan seminary.

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POPE PRESIDES AT FUNERAL FOR CARDINAL RIGHI-LAMBERTINI

VATICAN CITY, OCT 6, 2000 (VIS) - This morning, at the Altar of the Cathedra in St. Peter's Basilica, John Paul II presided at the funeral of Cardinal Righi-Lambertini, who died yesterday in Rome at the age of 94. Members of the College of Cardinals concelebrated with the Holy Father.

In his homily, the Pope recalled that Cardinal Righi-Lambertini had been apostolic nuncio in Lebanon, Chile, Italy and France. "Cardinal Righi-Lambertini's pastoral and diplomatic work," he said, "generally took place in silence and without commotion. Precisely for this reason it was even more effective and fruitful, constantly inspired in the faith in divide providence and the optimism in the vision of human affairs that he learned at the school of Blessed John XXIII."

"For all the good that he, with the help of God's grace, was able to do in the various fields in which he carried out his precious pastoral and diplomatic activity, we give thanks to the Lord. We trust that our venerated brother, for the good done during his earthly life, may now meet face to face with Jesus, Whom he so loved and served in his brothers."

The Pope entrusted the spirit of the deceased "to Most Holy Mary, Queen of the Apostles and Mother of the Church, whom dear Cardinal Egano Righi-Lambertini tenderly loved and invoked. How often he was seen walking through the Vatican gardens, reciting the Rosary!"

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 6, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Emil Constantinescu, president of Romania, accompanied by his entourage.

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EIGHTH POST-SYNODAL MEETING FOR AFRICA

VATICAN CITY, OCT 6, (VIS) - The eighth meeting of the Post-synodal Council of the General Secretariat for the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops met in Rome on September 29, according to a communique published by the secretariat this morning.

The secretary general, Cardinal Jan P. Schotte, C.I.C.M., presided over the meeting, which included prelates from Madagascar, Tanzania, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Africa, Egypt and Zambia, as well as four officials of the Synod of Bishops.

On the agenda for this eighth meeting were: a discussion on the current situation in Africa; a report on the application of the post-synodal document "Ecclesia in Africa" and a discussion of future plans for circulating the document; the activity of the general secretariat since the previous post-synodal meeting in 1999; reports on work for the tenth general ordinary synod, scheduled for October 2001, and on previous synods.

Council members presented an account of the situation in their own nations. They pointed out, said the communique, "that in several regions of Africa, conflicts of various types persist, thus making it difficult for pastors to dedicate themselves with freedom and tranquillity to normal apostolic activity, given the extreme difficulty of meeting and communicating. In other situations, different types of unrest were observed in the political and social fields or in relations with other religions."

Positive developments regarding local celebrations for the Jubilee Year were also noted.

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