GENERAL AUDIENCE: THE JOY OF THOSE WHO ENTER THE TEMPLE

VATICAN CITY, NOV 7, 2001 (VIS) - In today's general audience, celebrated in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father spoke on Psalm 99, "The joy of those who enter the temple."

In this hymn of thanksgiving, the Pope said, there is "a pressing call to prayer" expressed with a series of imperatives: "'Make a joyful noise ..., serve the Lord with gladness. ... Know that the Lord is God'. (These are) invitations not only to enter the sacred area of the temple ... but also to praise God joyfully."

"The Psalmist calls the entire earth to praise the Lord. ... The world and history are not in the hands of fate, chaos, or a blind destiny. They are, instead, governed by a mysterious God. ... We are all, therefore, in the hands of God, Lord and King, and we all celebrate this, in the faith that He will not let us fall from His hands as Creator and Father."

John Paul II affirmed that in the Psalm there is also a profession of faith, "expressed through a series of attributes which define the intimate reality of God. ... The Lord is God, the Lord is our Creator."
"After the proclamation of the one God, creator and source of the covenant," there is a meditation on the three virtues of goodness, merciful love, and faithfulness, which "characterize the covenant of God with His people; these express a bond which will never be broken, in spite of the murky river of sins, rebellions, and human infidelities. With serene trust in the divine love that will never diminish, the people of God set out in history with their temptations and daily weaknesses."

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POPE WELCOMES LEADERS OF CULTURAL CENTER IN WASHINGTON

VATICAN CITY, NOV 7, 2001 (VIS) - Last evening the Holy Father welcomed to the Vatican Cardinal Adam Maida, archbishop of Detroit, and other leaders and benefactors of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. for the first time since the center's inauguration.

He thanked the cardinal for his report on the Center's "mission of advancing the Church's dialogue with the various forms in which the universal human quest for truth and meaning is expressed."

The Pope added that "The tragic events which have shaken the international community in the past two months have made us all aware once again of the fragility of peace and the need to build a culture of respectful dialogue and cooperation between all the members of the human family. I am confident that the Catholic community in the United States will continue to uphold the value of understanding and dialogue among the followers of the world's religions.

"As you know," he affirmed, "the Church's commitment to this dialogue is ultimately inspired by her conviction that the Gospel message has the power to enlighten all cultures and to act as a saving leaven of unity and peace for all humanity. In a world of growing cultural and religious pluralism, such dialogue is essential for overcoming tragic conflicts inherited from the past, and for insuring that the name of the one God become increasingly what it is: 'a name of peace and a summons to peace'."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 7, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Stephen Rotluanga, C.S.C., director of the Holy Cross Postulants in Agartala, as bishop of Aizawl (area 28,022, population 3,972,965, Catholics 29,794, priests 45, religious 127), India. The bishop-elect was born in Aizawl in 1952, and ordained to the priesthood in 1981.

- Bishop Victor Manuel Perez Rojas, auxiliary of Calabozo, as bishop of San Fernando de Apure (area 76,500, population 539,671, Catholics 512,688, priests 25, religious 63), Venezuela.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 7, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father received today in separate audiences:

- Archbishop George Panikulam, apostolic nuncio in Honduras.
- Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general of His Holiness, with Bishop Vincenzo Apicella, auxiliary of Rome for the western pastoral sector; Fr. Savino Lombardi, F.D.P., Little Work of Divine Providence, commonly called Oriones, pastor of the parish of Santa Maria Mater Dei and a parish vicar.

This evening he is scheduled to receive four prelates of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (B.C.M.S.B.) on the occasion of their "ad limina" visit:
- Archbishop Peter Chung Hoan Ting of Kuching, with Auxiliary Bishop John Ha Tiong Hock.
- Bishop Anthony Lee Kok Hin of Miri.
- Bishop Antony Selvanayagam of Penang.

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HOLY SEE AT U.N. ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

VATICAN CITY, NOV 7, 2001 (VIS) - Yesterday at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Archbishop Renato R. Martino, permanent observer of the Holy See to the U.N., spoke before the Second Committee of the General Assembly on "Sustainable Development and International Economic Cooperation."

He stated that "'At the beginning of a new century, the one issue which most challenges our human and Christian conscience is the poverty of countless millions of men and women'. In repeating these words of the Pope, my Delegation would like first of all to call attention to three points within the discussion of international economic cooperation. Poverty and its eradication are, today more than ever, a pre-eminent issue; the concern for this issue occupies the attention of the international community and of the Holy See; and finally, as this issue challenges the human conscience, it has a clear moral connotation."

"A fundamental ethical principle of the social teaching of the Holy See is the principle of the universal purpose of created goods," noted the apostolic nuncio. He added that "International economic cooperation should be based on the principle of the universal destination of material goods which can offer a starting point of a conceptual way to look for means to eradicate poverty. A successful way of achieving the poverty reduction goal is to promote a more pro-poor growth."

Archbishop Martino also focussed on: problems relative to rural poverty; the need to substantially reduce the obstacles to market access-tariffs; a system of intellectual property rights that allows poor countries to share in the benefits, and the need for the right to food security and to healthy and quality nutrition to always be put before commercial targets.

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