POPE ADDRESSES ROME'S FILIPINO COMMUNITY

VATICAN CITY, FEB 24, 2002 (VIS) - Today, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar general for the diocese of Rome, presided at Mass for Rome's Filipino community in the Basilica of "S. Pudenziana al Viminale."

As Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls announced yesterday, John Paul II's pastoral visit to this basilica has been postponed, due to arthritic pain in his right knee.

The homily, which the Holy Father had prepared, was read by Cardinal Ruini. "With great joy," he began, "I greet those who work in Rome's Philippine Catholic chaplaincy, better known as 'Sentro Pilipino.' It coordinates the 38 pastoral centers spread around the city, meeting the spiritual, moral and social needs of tens of thousands of Filipino immigrants."

Commenting on the first reading of today's Mass which was taken from the Book of Genesis in which "God promised Abraham two things which seemed impossible: a son and a land," the Pope affirms that, in blessing the patriarch with these two things, "God offers him a life that is bigger than death. ... The promise to Abraham is fulfilled only when death itself is destroyed; and death is destroyed when Christ is raised to new life."

"'Leave your country, your family and your father's house!' God says to Abraham. Many of you have done just that: you have left home and family, so that in your own way you may become a blessing for those you love back in the Philippines, contributing to their economic support, providing greater opportunities culturally and socially for your children and families. The separation is difficult and the cost is high, but it is a price you are willing to pay in a difficult and often unjust world."

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