POPE EXPRESSES "SHOCK" AT "INHUMAN TERRORIST ATTACKS" ON U.S.

VATICAN CITY, SEP 12, 2001 (VIS) - Following is the text of the telegram sent yesterday afternoon by Pope John Paul to U.S. President George W. Bush, following terrorist attacks earlier in the morning in Washington, D.C. and New York City, causing an untold number of victims and incalculable damage:

"Shocked by the unspeakable horror of today's inhuman terrorist attacks against innocent people in different parts of the United States I hurry to express to you and your fellow citizens my profound sorrow and my closeness in prayer for the nation at this dark and tragic moment. Commending the victims to Almighty God's eternal mercy, I implore His strength upon all involved in rescue efforts and in caring for the survivors. I beg God to sustain you and the American people in this hour of suffering and trial."

Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls also released a statement yesterday regarding the news of the tragedy which occurred in the United States:

"The Holy Father has been constantly informed of the events related to this enormous tragedy. From the very first moment He prayed to God to give eternal repose to the souls of the many, many victims and courage and comfort to their families.

"The Holy Father wished immediately to send a message to the president of the United States to express his closeness and that of the entire Church to him and to the American people in this moment of suffering and trial.

"The Holy Father expresses great condemnation for this violence which only destroys."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, SEP 12, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father received today in audience Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne, Germany.

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MAJOR SEMINARY TO BE INAUGURATED IN BELARUS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 12, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was the text of a Letter from John Paul II to Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev, Belarus, on the occasion of the upcoming inauguration of the Interdiocesan Major Seminary of Pinsk.

In the Letter, written in Latin and dated July 25, John Paul II expressed his hope that the seminary "become, in the first place, a house of unceasing invocation for vocations and for priests."

The Holy Father noted the importance of "the care of aspiring priests: it supposes above all an insistent and faithful prayer to the 'Lord of the harvest', to 'send out laborers into His harvest', and then requires a patient and attentive educative action, which accompanies and sustains every individual called in his human and Christian growth."

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POPE: SORROW AND CONDEMNATION FOR YESTERDAY'S TRAGEDY IN U.S.

VATICAN CITY, SEP 12, 2001 (VIS) - The Pope dedicated today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, to yesterday's tragedy in the United States, expressing his very great condemnation and his assurance of spiritual closeness to the families of the dead and the injured.

Following is a large part of the text read by the Holy Father, which replaced the traditional catechesis of the general audience:

"I cannot begin this audience without expressing my profound sorrow at the terrorist attacks which yesterday brought death and destruction to America, causing thousands of victims and injuring countless people. To the President of the United States and to all American citizens I express my heartfelt sorrow. In the face of such unspeakable horror we cannot but be deeply disturbed. I add my voice to all the voices raised in these hours to express indignant condemnation, and I strongly reiterate that the ways of violence will never lead to genuine solutions to humanity's problems.
"Yesterday was a dark day in the history of humanity, a terrible affront to human dignity. After receiving the news, I followed with intense concern the developing situation, with heartfelt prayers to the Lord. How is it possible to commit acts of such savage cruelty? The human heart has depths from which schemes of unheard-of ferocity sometimes emerge, capable of destroying in a moment the normal daily life of a people. But faith comes to our aid at these times when words seem to fail. Christ's word is the only one that can give a response to the questions which trouble our spirit. Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say. Christian hope is based on this truth; at this time our prayerful trust draws strength from it.

"With deeply felt sympathy I address myself to the beloved people of the United States in this moment of distress and consternation, when the courage of so many men and women of good will is being sorely tested."

Before the conclusion of the audience, the Pope and the faithful prayed for the Churches of the East and the West, and, in particular, for the Church in the United States and for heads of state "so order that, not allowing themselves to be dominated by hatred and the spirit of retaliation, they do everything possible to keep weapons of destruction from sowing new hatred and new death and strive to bring light to the darkness of human affairs with works of peace."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, SEP 12, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Luis Sainz Hinojosa, O.F.M., as auxiliary to the archbishop of Cochabamba (area 32,306, population 1,230,259, Catholics 1,057,637, priests 277, permanent deacons 11, religious 1,122), Bolivia. The bishop-elect was born in Tiquipaya, in 1936, and ordained to the priesthood in 1962.

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