PUBLICATION OF APOSTOLIC LETTER "NOVO MILLENNIO INEUNTE"

VATICAN CITY, JAN 3, 2001 (VIS) - Following the Eucharistic celebration of Saturday, January 6, Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord and the final day of the Great Jubilee 2000, John Paul II will sign the Apostolic Letter "Novo millennio ineunte" (At the start of the new millennium).

In the Holy See Press Office at 11:30 on Monday, January 8, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray and Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, respectively president and secretary of the Central Committee for the Great Jubilee, will discuss the apostolic letter and present a conclusive assessment of the activities of the Jubilee Committee.

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IN BETHLEHEM, GOD'S INFINITE LOVE FOR MAN IS MADE MANIFEST

VATICAN CITY, JAN 3, 2001 (VIS) - In this year's first general audience, which was held in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II affirmed that "the Christmas period presents Christians once again with the mystery of Jesus and His work of salvation. Before the manger, the Church adores the glorious mystery of the Incarnation."

"In the grotto of Bethlehem, the infinite love that God has for all human beings is expressed with disarming simplicity. In the manger, we contemplate God Who became man for our sake."

The Holy Father recalled that St. Francis of Assisi sought to "convey this message again, through the nativity scene enacted at Greccio on December 25, 1223. ... His intuition is astonishing: the nativity scene is not only a new Bethlehem because it re-evokes the historical event and focusses attention on its message, but it is also an occasion of consolation and happiness: It is the day of joy, the time of exultation."

"The nativity scene celebrates the alliance between God and man, between earth and heaven." In Bethlehem "we see visible testimony of the fraternity that must unite those who are brothers in faith, because they are children of the one heavenly Father."

The Pope concluded by saying: "Comforted by the gift of the birth of the Savior, let us intensify our efforts in these last days of the Holy Year. Let us open our hearts to Christ, the one and universal way that leads to God. Thus we will be able to advance into the new year with solid confidence."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 3, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Cruzeiro do Sul, Brazil, presented by Bishop Luis Herbst C.S.Sp. upon having reached the age limit. He is succeeded by Bishop Mose Joao Pontelo C.S.Sp., coadjutor of the same diocese.

- Appointed Fr. Redovino Rizzardo C.S., director of the Scalabrinian spiritual center of Guapore, Brazil, as coadjutor bishop of Dourados (area 68,300, population 660,000, Catholics 534,600, priests 85, religious 155), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Bento Goncalves, Brazil, in 1939 and ordained a priest in 1967.

- Appointed Frs. Pedro Luiz Stringhini of the clergy of the archdiocese of Sao Paulo, Brazil, professor of Holy Scripture and vice-rector of the "Nossa Senhora da Assuncao" faculty of theology in Sao Paulo; and Manuel Parrado Carral of the clergy of Santo Andre, Brazil, rector of the theological seminary of that diocese, as auxiliaries of Sao Paulo (area 1,645, population 8,892,960, Catholics 6,669,720, priests 903, permanent deacons 1, religious 3,673). Bishop-elect Stringhini was born in Laranjal Paulista, Brazil, in 1953 and ordained a priest in 1980. Bishop-elect Parrado Carral was born in San Roman, Spain, in 1946 and ordained a priest in 1972.

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