GENERAL AUDIENCE: THE LORD SUSTAINS THOSE WHO TRUST IN HIM

VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2001 (VIS) - During the catechesis of today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square, the Pope explained the significance of the words of Psalm 5: "In the morning Thou dost hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for Thee, and watch."

The words of the Psalm, the Holy Father said, are "the song of the faithful at the beginning of the day. The underlying tone of this supplication is marked by tension and anxiety arising from impending danger and disappointment."

John Paul II recalled that in the Psalms of "supplication" three people appear. "Above all 'God' appears, the 'Thou' par excellance of the Psalm, to whom the person praying addresses himself with faith. ... The Lord is a consistent God, rigorous in confronting injustice," who is on the side "of those who follow the ways of truth and love."

The second person, he continued, is "the one praying, (who) presents himself as 'I'," and entrusts himself to God and to "His 'great mercy'. He is certain that the doors of the temple, the place of communion and divine intimacy, impeded by the impious, are opened wide before him."

The Pope then noted that the "third actor of this daily drama: are the 'enemies,' the 'evildoers' ... a hostile group, the symbol of evil in the world."

"After this harsh and realistic picture of the perversity which attacks the just, the Psalmist invokes divine condemnation in a verse (v.11), which the Christian liturgy omits, wishing in this way to conform to the New Testament revelation of merciful love, which offers also to the wicked the possibility of conversion. The prayer of the Psalmist recognizes at this point an ending full of light and peace, after the dark profile of the sinner."

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CARDINAL DIAS TO TAKE POSSESSION OF TITLE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2001 (VIS) - The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has announced that on Sunday, June 3, the Solemnity of Pentecost, at 12:00 noon, Cardinal Ivan Dias, metropolitan archbishop of Bombay, India, will take possession of the Title of Holy Spirit alla Ferratella, on Via R. Scotellaro, 11, Rome.

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THE RIGHT TO ADEQUATE NUTRITION IS A BASIC HUMAN RIGHT

VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2001 (VIS) - Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, Holy See permanent observer to the Rome-based United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, addressed the inaugural assembly of the 27th session of FAO's Intergovernmental Committee on Food Security, which is meeting from May 28 to June 1. The Rome meeting is in preparation for the "World Food Summit - Five Years Later" in November.

The archbishop focused his talk on the need to recognize that the right to adequate nutrition is a basic human right. He expressed the Holy See's enduring interest in the serious problems of hunger, malnutrition and food security, adding that this interest is based on "our evaluations of an ethical order, which is proper to the nature and mission of the Holy See." "Above all," he said, "we believe that the right to nutrition is fully an economic and social right."

Underscoring that hunger and malnutrition are contradictions in a world which is living through "unprecedented progress and development," Archbishop Marchetto said that it is up to national leaders - or intergovernmental institutions and international agencies when States fail in their duty - to act on these problems and to guarantee food security to both individuals and peoples.

The Holy See observer also underscored that improper nutrition - or a lack of food - is both a cause and effect of poverty. "In an efficacious action against poverty, the question of food security must be considered along with the more vast objectives of protection of the environment and therefore of the various ecosystems."

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POPE SENDS CARDINAL LAGHI AS SPECIAL ENVOY TO JERUSALEM

VATICAN CITY, MAY 30, 2001 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls published the following declaration this morning:

"The Holy Father, in his solicitude for the Holy Land, has sent Cardinal Pio Laghi to Jerusalem as his special envoy, accompanied by Msgr. Giovanni d'Aniello, nunciature counsellor in the service of the Secretary of State. The delegation left Rome this morning, May 30, 2001.

"During their stay in the Holy Land, the Cardinal will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and the President of the Palestinian Authority Yassar Arafat. He will give them a Message signed by the Holy Father, with the goal of encouraging the parties to a cease-fire and the renewal of dialogue."

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