HOMAGE TO JOHN PAUL II: "ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE POPE"

VATICAN CITY, MAR 31, 2001 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received the members of Enciclopedia Italiana Treccani, who offered a gift of the three volumes of the "Encyclopedia of the Popes" which he termed "one of the most significant cultural fruits of the Jubilee Year."

The Encyclopedia, produced by 137 collaborators from 12 different countries, offers an ample view of the two millennia of Christianity and "is destined to furnish a substantial contribution not only to the history of the Church, but to culture itself, at the dawn of the Third Millennium."

"Through the succession of many different Pontiffs, diverse in background, culture, and lifestyle, the papacy, though continually renewing itself, has maintained its essential identity in the historical development of its function."

John Paul II concluded his discourse affirming that "the 'Encyclopedia of the Popes' highlights the vital historical relationship which connects the papacy in a special way to Italy, in the fulfillment of a truly universal ministry, that which is Catholic."

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