HOLY THURSDAY: CHRISM AND "CENA DOMINI" MASSES

VATICAN CITY, APR 12, 2001 (VIS) - At 9:30 this morning, Holy Thursday, John Paul II presided in the Vatican Basilica over the concelebration of the Chrism Mass, during which priestly vows were renewed and the oils used for catechumens, to anoint the sick, and for confirmation were blessed.

In his homily the Pope affirmed that the renewal of priestly vows "is a rite which acquires full value and significance as an expression of the journey of sanctity, to which the Lord has called us on the path of the priesthood. It is a journey which each makes in a very personal way, seen by God alone, Who searches and knows hearts. Nevertheless, in today's liturgy, the Church offers us the consoling opportunity to join together, and to sustain one another."

"This fraternal solidarity," the Holy Father continued, "cannot but become a concrete commitment to carry one another's burdens in the ordinary circumstances of life and ministry. If it is true, in fact, that no one can become holy in another's place, it is likewise true that each can and must become so with and for others, after the model of Christ."

At 5:30 p.m. in the basilica of St. John Lateran, John Paul II presided over the concelebration of the Mass "in cena Domini" or the Lord's Supper. During the liturgy, the Holy Father washed the feet of twelve priests, and at the presentation of the gifts received an offering for the earthquake victims in El Salvador.

The Pope affirmed that the Eucharist "is not simply the memorial of a past rite but the living representation of the Savior's supreme gesture." It is "the sacramental presence of the sacrificed body and the spilt blood of the new Lamb! In the Eucharist salvation and love are offered to all mankind. How could we not be fascinated by this mystery?".

With the washing of the feet, "Jesus reminds His disciples in every age that they must bear witness to the Eucharist in loving service to others. ... The washing of the feet is intended to be an exemplary act, which in Christ's death on the Cross and in His Resurrection has its interpretative key and fullest explanation. ... Genuine participation in the Mass cannot but produce fraternal love in the individual believer and in the whole ecclesial community."

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HOLY SATURDAY: BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION OF SIX CATECHUMENS

VATICAN CITY, APR 14, 2001 (VIS) - Today, Holy Saturday, at 8:00 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, John Paul II presided over the solemn Easter Vigil. During the liturgy, the Holy Father administered the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation to six catechumens, five women and one man, from Italy, China, Japan, the United States, Peru, and Albania.

The vigil began in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica with the blessing of the fire and the lighting of the Easter Candle. After the procession to the altar with the Easter Candle and the singing of the Exsultet, the Pope presided over the Liturgy of the Word, the Baptismal Liturgy, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist concelebrated with numerous cardinals.

In his homily, the Pope recalled that the women who, at the break of dawn, rushed to the tomb where Jesus had been buried "did not yet know that this was the dawn of the most important day of history. They could not have known that they themselves, would be the first witnesses of Jesus' Resurrection."
"On this night, it is not darkness that dominates," John Paul II emphasized, "but the blinding brightness of a sudden light that breaks through with the startling news of the Lord's Resurrection."

The Holy Father went on to address the catechumens, saying that their presence "is indicative of the variety of cultures and peoples who have opened their hearts to the Gospel. On this night death gives way to life for you too, as for all the baptized. Sin is erased and a new life begins. Persevere to the end in fidelity and love."

"Yes, dear Brothers and Sisters," the Holy Father concluded, "Jesus lives and we live in Him. For ever. This is the gift of this night, which has definitively revealed to the world the power of Christ, Son of the Virgin Mary, whom He gave to us as Mother at the foot of the Cross. This Vigil makes us part of a day that knows no end. The day of Christ's Passover, which for humanity is the beginning of a renewed springtime of hope."

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GOOD FRIDAY: CONFESSIONS, LORD'S PASSION, WAY OF THE CROSS

VATICAN CITY, APR 13, 2001 (VIS) - As has become customary on Good Friday, John Paul II heard the confessions of various faithful in the Vatican Basilica shortly after 12 noon.

At 5:00 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father presided over the celebration of the Lord's Passion. During the Liturgy of the Word, the Passion according to John was read, after which Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap, preacher of the Papal Household, gave the homily. The Liturgy of the Passion continued with the universal prayer and veneration of the Cross, and concluded with Holy Communion.

At 9:15 p.m. at the Colosseum, the Holy Father presided over the procession of the Way of the Cross. The meditation texts proposed for the 14 stations were composed by Servant of God Cardinal John Henry Newman, the bicentennial of whose birth is marked this year. John Paul II followed the ceremony kneeling on an area of the Palatine Hill which overlooks the Colosseum, and carried the cross for the last two stations, not just the final one as originally planned. During the other stations, the Cross was carried by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for the diocese of Rome, by a Roman family, a young woman from Rwanda, a woman from Bangkok, a woman from the Dominican Republic, and two Franciscan friars from the Holy Land.

At the end of the last station the Holy Father, laying aside the written text, addressed the faithful spontaneously with additional words: "'Ecce lignum crucis, in quo salus mundi pependit! Venite adoremus!' Today, for the first time in this Third Millennium, this confession was proclaimed in St. Peter's Basilica. In this same day, Good Friday, the same moving truth was proclaimed on all the continents, in all the countries of the world. 'Ecce lignum crucis!'"

"The Church of Christ confesses this divine and human reality: 'Crux, ave Crux! Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum'. ... May this truth ... be for us the light and strength of this time which we began a few months ago. Ave Crux! Ave Crux of the Roman Colosseum! Ave at the dawn of the Third Millennium! Ave across all the years and centuries of this new time which opens before us! Praised be Jesus Christ!"

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EASTER SUNDAY: MASS AND "URBI ET ORBI" BLESSING

VATICAN CITY, APR 15, 2001 (VIS) - At 10:30 this morning, in a St. Peter's Square bedecked in flowers and filled with 100,000 pilgrims from throughout the world, John Paul II celebrated the first Easter Mass of the Third Millennium, which this year coincides with the Orthodox Easter.

At the beginning of the celebration of the Eucharist, a deacon, standing before the icon of the Most Holy Savior, called the "Archeropita" (meaning "not painted by human hands"), announced the Resurrection of the Lord. The icon, kept in Rome in the Chapel of the Oratory of St. Lawrence, the Sancta Sanctorum of the Shrine of the Holy Stairs, was brought to St. Peter's Square today.

The Holy Father expressed his hope that the Resurrection of the Lord can be celebrated in respect for different cultures "not only in a day of shared celebration, but in the fullness of communion among all Churches."

"May the Easter proclamation," said the Holy Father in his "Urbi et Orbi" Message, "reach all the peoples of the earth and may all people of good will feel themselves called to an active role in this day which the Lord has made, the day of His Resurrection, when the Church, filled with joy, proclaims that the Lord is truly risen."

"As the new millennium begins its course, we wish to hand on to the younger generation the certitude that is basic to our lives: Christ is risen and in Him all creation rises to new life."

"Men and women of the Third Millennium, the Easter gift of light that scatters the darkness of fear and sadness is for everyone; everyone is offered the gift of the peace of the Risen Christ, who breaks the chains of violence and hatred.
"Rediscover today with joy and wonder that the world is no longer a slave to the inevitable. This world of ours can change: peace is possible even where for too long there has been fighting and death, as in the Holy Land and Jerusalem; it is possible in the Balkans, no longer condemned to a worrying uncertainty that risks causing the failure of all proposals for agreement.

"And you, Africa, a continent tormented by conflicts constantly threatening, raise your head confidently, trusting in the power of the Risen Christ. With His help, you too, Asia, the cradle of age-old spiritual traditions, can win the challenge of tolerance and solidarity; and you, Latin America, filled with youthful promise, only in Christ will you find the capacity and courage needed for a development respectful of every human being.

"Men and women of every continent, draw from His tomb, empty now forever, the strength needed to defeat the powers of evil and death, and to place all research and all technical and social progress at the service of a better future for all."

After the "Urbi et Orbi" Blessing, John Paul II wished Happy Easter in 61 languages to all those who participated in the ceremony in St. Peter's Square and to those listening via radio and television.

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LETTER TO PRESIDENT OF PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR THE LAITY

VATICAN CITY, APR 17, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was John Paul II's Letter, dated April 5, to Cardinal James Francis Stafford, president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, regarding the statutes of the Neocatechumenal Way.

The Pope recalls his January 24, 1997 meeting with the founders of the Neocatechumenal Way, and how in that encounter he joined in their prayer of praise and thanksgiving to the Lord for the "precious" fruits brought forth by the Way in its 30 years of life, emphasizing the importance "of certain essential accomplishments, upon which depends the very existence of the Way. Among these, is the draft of a specific normative set of statutes with a view to formal juridical recognition."

"In the Apostolic Exhortation 'Christifideles laici'," the Holy Father writes, "I recalled that 'no charism dispenses a person from reference and submission to the Pastors of the Church' and I referred to what is written in the Dogmatic Constitution 'Lumen Gentium': 'Those who have charge over the Church should judge the genuineness and proper use of these gifts, through their office not indeed to extinguish the Spirit, but to test all things and hold fast to what is good.'"

John Paul II emphasizes that "it is not, therefore, an easy process of recognizing and welcoming charisms. It requires a profound discernment of God's will and must be accompanied by constant prayer." The culmination of this process, the Holy Father goes on to write, is "the official act of recognition and approval of the statutes as a clear and sure rule of life."

"I entrusted this task," John Paul II concludes, "to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, due to the authority within their jurisdiction, ... as well as for the particular experience that it has in this area. Upon this is based the hope of a happy outcome to the proceeding, now in its final phase."

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REGINA COELI: IN JESUS THE HOPE OF HUMANITY IS RENEWED

VATICAN CITY, APR 16, 2001 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father left the Vatican for his residence at Castelgandolfo, where at noon, from the balcony of the inner courtyard of the Pontifical Palace, he led the faithful present in the recitation of the Regina Coeli, the prayer which substitutes the Angelus during the Easter season.

Before this prayer, the Pope indicated his desire to spend, as he traditionally does, some days at Castelgandolfo. He had hoped to do so last Christmas, he said, but "it was not possible for me, due to the numerous commitments of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, which called a great many pilgrims to Rome."

The Holy Father dedicated a particular greeting to the "people who, on the contrary, cannot fully enjoy the joy of these Easter celebrations, because they are in difficulty, or are experiencing moments of suffering and solitude." He assured everyone of remembrance in his prayers.

"On this Easter Monday feast day, called Angel Monday," the Pope continued, "the liturgy still strongly notes the echo of the heavenly messenger's words to the women who ran to the tomb; 'Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead'. We hear this invitation as also directed to us, to 'make haste' and to 'go' to announce the Gospel to the men of our time. ... May Mary ... help us in this demanding mission which belongs to every baptized person. May she especially support us in faithfully giving witness that Christ is truly risen, and in Him the hope of humanity is renewed."

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VOICE OF REASON AND CONSCIENCE MUST REPLACE SOUND OF ARMS

VATICAN CITY, APR 18, 2001 (VIS) - At the end of today's general audience in St. Peter's Square, the Pope told the 20,000 pilgrims present that, "while the light of the Risen Christ shines over the whole universe, we cannot fail to feel solidarity with our brothers in the Middle East who are enduring a maelstrom of armed violence and retaliation."

"The voice of reason and conscience must take the place of the sound of arms," added the Holy Father. "Sincere attention to the legitimate aspirations of all the peoples and scrupulous observance of international law are the only means capable of leading the sides back to the negotiating tables and tracing a path of fraternity for those populations.

"May God speak to the heart of those who kill and have mercy on those who suffer such violence! Tu nobis, Victor Rex, miserere!"

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CONTEMPLATING THE FACE OF THE RISEN CHRIST

VATICAN CITY, APR 18, 2001 (VIS) - This week's Wednesday general audience was held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 20,000 pilgrims from numerous countries around the world. The Holy Father's catechesis, given in Italian, with summaries in French, English, German, Spanish and Portuguese, focussed on "Contemplating the Face of the Risen Christ."

The Pope said that "today's audience is diffused with the luminous joy of Easter, ... a profound and inextinguishable joy, founded on the gift given by the Risen Christ of the new and eternal covenant. ... It is a joy which lasts not only throughout the Easter octave, ... but for fifty days, right up to Pentecost."

"In this splendid framework of the light and happiness proper to Easter time," he went on, "today we wish to pause and reflect together on the face of the Risen One, resuming and putting into practice what I did not hesitate to indicate as the 'essential nucleus' of the great legacy left to us by the Jubilee of the Year 2000."

John Paul II remarked that "just as we contemplated the suffering face of Christ on Good Friday and Holy Saturday, now we turn our glance, filled with faith and grateful love, to the face of the Risen One."

He went on to say that "Christ reveals Himself to us today as he did to the disciples on the road to Emmaus: through the Scriptures and through His Body and Blood which he gives to us in the Eucharist. He asks us to bear witness to Him, by our words and by the example of our lives."

"Christ has many things to explain regarding His and our destiny," the Pope concluded. "Above all He reveals that every human life must go through His Cross to enter into glory. But Christ fulfills something more: He breaks for us the bread of sharing, offering this Eucharistic meal in which the Scriptures take on their full meaning and reveal the unique and shining traits of the face of the Redeemer."

In multi-lingual greetings after the catechesis, John Paul II greeted the newly ordained deacons of the Pontifical Irish College and the bishop and pilgrims from the diocese of Nanterre, France, who came to the Rome at the end of their diocesan synod. He also had special words for groups from Croatia, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Hungary.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 18, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Charles Kambale Mbogha, A.A., of Isiro-Niangara, Democratic Republic of the Congo, as metropolitan archbishop of Bukavu (area 8,815, population 1,620,000, Catholics 831,562, priests 172, religious 517), Democratic Republic of the Congo. The archbishop-elect was born in Kilubo in 1942, was ordained a priest in 1969 and a bishop in 1990.

- Appointed Fr. Dulcenio Fontes de Matos, pastor of the Cathedral of Estancia, Brazil, as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Aracaju (area 7,048, population 963,598, Catholics 739,631, priests 106, permanent deacons 1, religious 162), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Lagarto, Brazil, in 1958, and ordained to the priesthood in 1985.

On Tuesday, April 17, it was announced that he appointed Archbishop Paolo Romeo, apostolic nuncio in Canada, as apostolic nuncio in Italy and the Republic of San Marino.

On Saturday, April 14, it was made public that he accepted the resignation of Bishop Yves-Georges-Rene Ramousse, M.E.P., from the pastoral care of the apostolic vicariate of Phnom-Penh, Cambodia, in conformity with canon 401, para. 2, of the Code of Canon Law. He is succeeded by Coadjutor Bishop Emile Destombes, M.E.P.

On Thursday, April 12, the following appointments were announced:

- Msgr. Arthur Roche, of the clergy of Leeds, England, secretary general of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, and Msgr. George Stack, administrator of Westminster Cathedral, England, as auxiliaries of the archbishop of Westminster (area 22,000, population 4,415,000, Catholics 460,000, priests 770, permanent deacons 4, religious 1,901), England. Bishop-elect Roche was born in Batley Carr, England, in 1950, and ordained to the priesthood in 1975. Bishop-elect Stack was born in Cork, Ireland, in 1946, and ordained to the priesthood in 1972.

- Fr. Filippo Iannone, O.Carm., vicar general of the archdiocese of Naples (area 274, population 1,600,000, Catholics 1,592,235, priests 987, permanent deacons 159, religious 3,004), Italy, as auxiliary bishop of the same archdiocese. The bishop-elect was born in Naples in 1957, and ordained to the priesthood in 1982.

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