POPE GREETS CATHOLIC DOCTORS, YOUTH, THE ILL, NEWLYWEDS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 14, 2001 (VIS) - At the end of his general audience catechesis in Italian, and summaries in five other languages, Pope John Paul had greetings in a number of languages for the more than 7,000 faithful present today in the Paul VI Hall.

After welcoming pilgrims in Hungarian, Croatian, Czech and Slovakian, and speaking to them about the Lenten season, the Pope then greeted the Pistoia regional Association of Italian Catholic Doctors. He encouraged them in their "precious service to life, the basic value in which the wisdom and love of God are mirrored. Respect for life from conception to its natural decline is a decisive criteria for evaluating the civilization of a people." He expressed his "best wishes" to the doctors "for your generous commitment to your noble mission."

The Holy Father told young people that he hoped that the grace of Lent would help them "to rediscover the gift of following Christ and imitating the filial adherence of Jesus to the will of the Father."

He exhorted those who are ill "to sustain through prayer and the offering up of your sufferings the Lenten path that the Church is following."

To newlyweds, the Pope said: "I hope you put the Lord at the center of your families. He walks with you, thus making you always credible witnesses of His love, in every sphere of life."

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