POPE TO GABON BISHOPS: GENERATE NEW IMPULSE FOR EVANGELIZATION

VATICAN CITY, JUN 5, 2001 (VIS) - Pope John Paul welcomed Gabon's five bishops this morning and spoke to them of the need for a "new thrust" for evangelization, urging them "to go forward enthusiastically on the rough paths of mission," even though the human and material means for doing so are very limited.

The prelates of Gabon, a republic on the west coast of central Africa, were concluding their "ad limina" visit to Rome, during which they spoke with the Holy Father and officials of the Roman Curia on the situation of the Church in their country, where Catholics number 55 percent of the population.

The Pope expressed his "joy at the agreement reached between the Holy See and the Republic of Gabon to work for promoting the common good, guarantee of the spiritual and material well-being of persons." He said he hoped this "spirit of collaboration" would, among other things, "allow Catholic schools to contribute with ever greater efficacy to the human and spiritual education of the youth of your country."

On the subject of the new evangelization, the Holy Father stressed that "the formation of agents of evangelization is of great importance in assuring the future of the Church on the African continent." He noted that the synod for Africa "had emphasized the need to form the laity so that they could assume their irreplaceable role in the Church and in society."

Quoting his Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Africa," the Pope said that "the faithful of your country must always be capable of assuming their civic responsibilities," and must "bring to bear upon the social fabric an influence aimed at changing not only ways of thinking but also the very structures of society, so that they will better reflect God's plan for the human family."

Christian families must "be very aware of their mission in the Church and in society," said John Paul II. He urged "a pastoral ministry for the family adapted to the great problems of life today, notably those which concern respect for human life."

On the topic of young people, the Pope said: "In the difficulties that they encounter, may they never lose confidence in the future, but may they embrace working courageously with their brothers and sisters for the coming of a new world founded on fraternity and justice."

Your closest collaborators in evangelization, the Pope told the bishops, are your priests "whom you must consider as brothers and friends." He exhorted the priests of Gabon "to persevere generously, despite the obstacles, in the commitments undertaken at ordination." He counselled the bishops to give great attention to the pastoral ministry for vocations to the priesthood and to religious life, and said that one of their priorities must be "constituting the teams of formators and spiritual directors."
He had words of praise for the missionary institutes in the country and for the work of men and women religious in parishes, schools and hospitals.

Pope John Paul closed with remarks on the need to continue on the arduous path of Christian unity and on the need, as well, to work closely with the believers of Islam and of the African Traditional Religion.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 5, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father nominated Bishop Patrick O'Donoghue, auxiliary of Westminster, as bishop of Lancaster (area 2,900, population 121,215, Catholics 116,215, priests 192, permanent deacons 39, religious 237), England.

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CENTRALITY OF MAN IN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC PROCESSES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 5, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was the text of a Letter from Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, addressed to Roberto Rojas Lopez, president of the 31st Assembly of the Organization of American States, held in San Jose de Costa Rica from June 3 to 5.

In the Letter to Mr. Rojas, foreign minister of Costa Rica, Cardinal Sodano emphasizes the necessity of preserving the centrality of man "in any political and economic processes, as the Holy Father recently recalled, affirming that 'ethical discernment in the context of globalization must be founded upon two inseparable principles. The first is the inalienable value of the human person, source of all human rights and of every social order. The human being must always be the end and never the means, the subject and not the object, much less a commodity of exchange. The second is the value of human cultures, which no external power has the right to weaken, much less to destroy'."

"The Holy See, glad to be able to again express its support and encouragement to the Organization through these general assemblies," asks God to enlighten "the politicians responsible for the States of the Americas and the Caribbean in order that they make every effort that the multilateral projects influence in an effective way the material and spiritual development of all the members of your peoples."

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