UNITY AND HARMONY: THE SECRET OF TRUE PEACE AND PROGRESS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 27, 2001 (VIS) - Pope John Paul arrived at the Lviv International Airport this evening shortly after 6 p.m. and was welcomed by civil and religious authorities who came to bid him farewell as he departs for Rome, thus ending his 94th foreign apostolic trip. Following the playing of the pontifical hymn, the Ukrainian national song and remarks by Ukraine's President Leonid Kuchma, Pope John Paul gave a farewell speech.

"The moment of farewell has arrived," he began. "Upon my arrival, I felt embraced by the affection of the city of Kiev with its golden domes and tapestry of gardens. I then experienced the traditional hospitality of Lviv, a city of famous monuments, rich in Christian memories. I am now sad to leave this land, which is a crossroads of peoples and cultures, where over a thousand years ago the Gospel began the course that led it to spread and take root in the historical and cultural fabric of the peoples of Eastern Europe. To each and every one of you I say again: Thank you!

"Thank you, Ukraine, who defended Europe in your untiring and heroic struggle against invaders," the Holy Father continued. "Thank you, civil and military authorities, and all of you who in different ways and with great generosity have cooperated in ensuring the successful outcome of my visit. Thank you, dear brothers and sisters, who are part of this Christian community, 'faithful unto death'. It has been my long-standing wish to express my admiration and appreciation for the heroic witness that you have borne during the long winter of persecution in the past century."

Extending "respectful and heartfelt greeting to the brothers and sisters and to the Pastors of the venerable Orthodox Church," the Pope said he wished "peace to you, people of Ukraine, who with tenacious and harmonious dedication have at last recovered your freedom, and have begun the work of rediscovering your truest roots. You are committed to an arduous path of reforms aimed at giving everyone the possibility of following and practicing their own faith, culture and convictions in a framework of freedom and justice.

"Even if you still feel the painful scars of the tremendous wounds inflicted over endless years of oppression, dictatorship and totalitarianism, during which the rights of the people were denied and trampled upon, look with confidence to the future. This is the opportune time! This is the time for hope and daring! My hope is that Ukraine will be able fully to become a part of the Europe which will take in the entire continent from the Atlantic to the Urals."

John Paul II affirmed that, "in this important and significant transition, the Church, conscious of her mission, will not fail to exhort the faithful to cooperate actively with the State in the promotion of the common good. ... Furthermore, Christians know that they are by right an integral part of the Ukrainian nation. They are so by virtue of a thousand-year history, which began with the baptism of Volodymyr and Kievan Rus' in 988 in the waters of the Dnieper river; but they are especially so today, because of the baptism of blood which they received in the course of the tremendous persecutions of the 20th century: in those terrible years countless were the witnesses to the faith, not only Catholics but also Orthodox and Reformed Christians, who underwent deprivations of all kinds for love of Christ, in many cases even to the sacrifice of their lives."

In concluding remarks, the Pope urged "Unity and harmony! This is the secret of peace and the condition for true and stable social progress. It is thanks to this combination of intentions and actions that Ukraine, homeland of faith and dialogue, will see its dignity recognized in the community of nations."

John Paul's plane left Lviv at 7 p.m. local time for the three-hour flight to Rome. A helicopter brought him back to Vatican City.

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MATRIMONIAL FIDELITY AND CHASTITY TO PREVENT AIDS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 28, 2001 (VIS) - Archbishop Javier Lozano Barragan, president of the Pontifical Council for the Health Care Ministry and head of the Holy See delegation to the 26th Special Session of the General Assembly of the U.N., addressed the assembly yesterday. This session was held June 25-27 and examined the problem of AIDS.

In his address, which was published today, Archbishop Lozano recalled that "12 percent of those who provide care to AIDS sufferers worldwide are Catholic ecclesial bodies while 13 percent are Catholic non-governmental organizations."

Faced with the scourge of AIDS, he said, "two actions are required: prevention and cure. Both are extremely important, though it is better to prevent than to cure. ... As regards sexually-transmitted AIDS, the most profound and at the same time most effective form of prevention is education in the true values of life, of love and of sex."

"It cannot have escaped anyone," said the archbishop, "that sexual liberty increases the risk of infection. It is in this context that the values of matrimonial fidelity and chastity must be understood. Thus, prevention and the instruction it involves must be accomplished with respect for man's dignity and his transcendent destiny, excluding campaigns that imply models of behavior which destroy life and favor a spread of the disease."

The head of the Holy See delegation highlighted the fact that infection with AIDS is conditioned by poverty. Thus "a decisive factor in fighting (poverty) will be a greater international social justice that supplants economic concerns as the only horizon of ruthless globalization. The Pope exhorts governments and the scientific community to continue research into the disease. Unfortunately, in many countries, it is impossible to care for AIDS patients due to the high cost of patent medicines."

"In order for the fight against AIDS to be more effective, the Holy See suggests; ... dedicating sufficient resources to combat the scourge; increasing both classroom and extra-curricula education in the values of life, of love and of sex; insisting on the equality of men and women; eliminating all forms of discrimination against AIDS sufferers and giving them spiritual support. The Holy See also recommends increasing the number of care centers and providing adequate information and education about AIDS." Furthermore, concluded the archbishop, "it is necessary to ask industrialized countries, while avoiding any form of colonialism, to give help to those countries that need it in this campaign; to eradicate sexual exploitation, especially when linked to tourism and migration and to lower as much as possible the price of antiretroviral AIDS drugs."

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JUNE 29: CARDINAL RATZINGER CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF PRIESTHOOD

VATICAN CITY, JUN 28, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was Pope John Paul's Letter to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to congratulate him on the 50th anniversary tomorrow of his ordination to the priesthood. The Letter, written in Latin and translated into Italian, is dated June 20.

The Pope writes that "the fact that your Jubilee anniversary coincides with the liturgical solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul brings to my mind the vision of broad spiritual and ecclesial horizons: a personal holiness driven to the ultimate sacrifice, a missionary thrust linked with the constant concern for unity and the necessary integration between spiritual charism and institutional ministry.

"These are horizons that you, venerable brother, have attentively explored in your theological research: in Peter shone forth the principle of unity, founded on the Prince of the Apostles' faith which was solid as a rock; in Paul, (we see) the intrinsic demand of the Gospel to call each man and every people to obedience in faith."

The Holy Father highlighted Cardinal Ratzinger's "brilliant philosophical and especially theological studies," his "precocious call to teaching roles in the most important German universities," his nomination as a bishop by Pope Paul VI and subsequent appointment to the archdiocese of Munchen und Freising and his elevation as cardinal.

John Paul II also underscored how, nearly 20 years ago, he asked Cardinal Ratzinger "to be prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Since then you have not ceased in lavishing your intellectual and moral energies to promote and be guardian of the doctrine of the faith and morals of the entire Catholic universe."
The Pope concludes by expressing his "great gratitude for the impressive mass of work you have undertaken" and "for the spirit of humility and self-denial which has constantly marked your activity."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 28, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Fr. Robert Maloney, superior general of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), as a member of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

- Appointed Sr. Rita Burley, superior general of the Handmaidens of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and president of the international union of superiors general, as a member of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum."

- Appointed Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, apostolic nuncio in Angola, as apostolic nuncio in Chile.

- Appointed Archbishop Luigi Gatti, apostolic nuncio in Malta and Libya, as apostolic nuncio in Lebanon.

- Appointed Msgr. Giuseppe De Andrea, charge d'affaires at the apostolic nunciature for Kuwait, Bahrain and Yemen, as apostolic nuncio in the same countries, at the same time elevating him to the dignity of archbishop. The archbishop-elect was born in Rivarolo Canavese, Italy in 1930 and ordained a priest in 1953.

- Erected a new exarchate for Syrian-Catholic faithful living in Venezuela. He appointed Chorbishop Antoine Chahda of the archieparchy of Alep, Syria, as apostolic exarch without the title of bishop of the new exarchate. The exarch-elect was born in Aleppo in 1946 and ordained a priest in 1973.

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34 METROPOLITAN ARCHBISHOPS TO RECEIVE PALLIUM TOMORROW

VATICAN CITY, JUN 28, 2001 (VIS) - In St. Peter's Square at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, June 29, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, thirty four metropolitan archbishops will receive the pallium from the hands of Pope John Paul II. The new metropolitans are:

1. Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, archbishop of Washington, U.S.A.

2. Archbishop Arthe Guimond of Grouard-McLennan, Canada.

3. Archbishop Laurent Ulrich of Chambery, France.

4. Archbishop Pierre-Marie Carre of Albi, France.

5. Archbishop Vincent Michael Concessao of Delhi, India.

6. Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Agra, India.

7. Archbishop Pietro Brollo of Udine, Italy.

8. Archbishop Ubaldo Ramon Santana Sequera F.M.I. of Maracaibo, Venezuela.

9. Archbishop Wojciech Ziemba of Bialystok, Poland.

10. Archbishop Tome Makhweliha S.C.I. of Nampula, Mozambique.

11. Archbishop Ivan Devcic of Rijeka, Croatia.

12. Archbishop Carmelo Ferraro of Agrigento, Italy.

13. Archbishop Brendan Michael O'Brien of Saint John's, Newfoundland, Canada.

14. Archbishop Anselme Titianma Sanon of Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.

15. Archbishop Seraphin Rouamba of Koupela, Burkina Faso.

16. Archbishop Francois Garnier of Cambrai, France.

17. Archbishop Agostino Superbo of Potenza-Muro Lucano-Marisco Nuovo, Italy.

18. Archbishop Damiao Antonio Franklin of Luanda, Angola.

19. Archbishop Antonio Cantisani of Catanzaro-Squillace, Italy.

20. Archbishop Giuseppe Agostino of Cosenza-Bisignano, Italy.

21. Archbishop Anatole Milandou of Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo.
22. Archbishop Dadeus Grings of Porto Alegre, Brazil.

23. Archbishop Celso Jose Pinto Da Silva of Teresina, Brazil.

24. Archbishop Cristian Caro Cordero of Puerto Montt, Chile.

25. Archbishop Roger Lawrence Schwietz O.M.I. of Anchorage, U.S.A.

26. Archbishop Edward Joseph Gilbert C.SS.R. of Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.

27. Archbishop Charles Kambale Mbogha A.A. of Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

28. Archbishop Ennio Antonelli of Firenze, Italy.

29. Archbishop Stanislav Hocevar S.D.B. of Belgrade, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

30. Archbishop George Pell of Sydney, Australia.

31. Archbishop Geraldo Majela de Castro O. Praem of Montes Claros, Brazil.

32. Archbishop Felipe Aguirre Franco of Acapulco, Mexico.

33. Archbishop Antonio Buoncristiani of Siena-Colle di Val d'Elsa-Montalcino, Italy.

34. Archbishop Luis Abilio Sebastiani Aguirre S.M. of Ayacucho, Peru.

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