POPE WELCOMES SERRA INTERNATIONAL ON JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 7, 2000 (VIS) - This morning in St. Peter's Basilica the Holy Father welcomed 2,500 members of Serra International, a worldwide volunteer organization of Catholics whose primary aim is to foster vocations to the priesthood and to encourage spiritual growth.

"Your baptismal calling leads you towards others," the Pope told them. "It is essentially a missionary calling, as you have learned from the example of Blessed Junipero Serra, the great evangelizer of California. Following in his footsteps, you have come to share in the heartfelt concern of Christ Himself: 'The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few!'."

He pointed out that "amid all the complexity of the present time, now, at the dawn of a new millennium, we need to recognize the search for meaning - a real yet often silent search - which is spreading through society. There is an unexpressed sense of need for Christ. ... In order to respond to this need, the whole Church must become completely ministerial, a community of heralds and witnesses, rich in laborers for the harvest."

"Dear Serrans," remarked John Paul II, "you are committed in a special way to promoting vocations. Never forget that yours must be above all a commitment to prayer" which "moves the heart of God, ... which is a powerful key to resolving the vocations question" and "is also a school of life." He highlighted the efforts of Serra International "to spread an authentic culture of vocations."

"Within the People of God," the Pope affirmed, "there is a specific mission awaiting each one. Because the needs of the 'harvest' are so great, all the members of God's People must grow in the awareness of 'being called'.

He urged Serrans to "continue giving their contribution, in full harmony with your bishops," to be close to priests and "to meet the needs, with the charity that distinguishes you, of vocations among the poor."

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AUDIENCES

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

- Cardinal Serafim Fernandes de Araujo, archbishop of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
- Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger, archbishop of Paris.

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THE AKATHISTOS HYMN: A COMMEMORATION OF THE INCARNATION

VATICAN CITY, DEC 7, 2000 (VIS) - In keeping with tradition, on the afternoon of December 8, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Father, after placing a floral tribute before the statue of Mary Immaculate in Rome's Piazza di Spagna, will travel to St. Mary Major Basilica. There, in this Jubilee year, the Akathistos hymn will be sung.

An explanatory note published today states that the celebration will be presided by the Pope and that representatives of various Byzantine-Catholic Churches will attend. The ancient Akathistos hymn of the Christian-Byzantine tradition will be sung in Greek, Paleoslavonic, Hungarian, Romanian and Arabic.
The Akathistos hymn - from the Greek "a-kathistos," meaning "without sitting" - is a song of supplication and praise in commemoration of the mystery of the Incarnation. The name derives from the fact that people must stand while the hymn is being sung. It is composed of 24 verses grouped into four parts. The first 12 verses, using much poetical symbolism, deal with the theme of the Annunciation while the second 12 refer to the participation of Mary Mother of God (Theotokos) in the redemption and in the restoration of humanity to the mysteries of Christ.

In the Byzantine-rite Churches, the hymn is sung on the evening of the Friday preceding the fifth Saturday of Lent, which normally falls near March 25, Feast of the Annunciation.

In addition to the liturgical celebration of the Akathistos hymn, it is sung in special circumstances to implore the protection of the Mother of God and it is particularly appropriate, the note concludes, for the celebration of the Great Jubilee.

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, DEC 7, 2000 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Bishop Heinrich Pachowiak, former auxiliary of Hildesheim, Germany, on November 22, at the age of 84.
- Bishop Godofredo P. Pedernal, emeritus of Borongan, Philippines, on November 25, at the age of 85.
- Bishop Eduard Schick, emeritus of Fulda, Germany, on November 20, at the age of 94. - Bishop Macario Tinti, emeritus of Fabriano-Matelica, Italy, on November 30, at the age of 100.

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