GIVE TESTIMONY OF LIFE WITH APOSTOLIC AUDACITY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 9, 2002 (VIS) - This morning John Paul II received 1200 faithful of different dioceses in Poland in the Paul VI Hall, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the reorganization of the administrative structures of the Church in that country.

The Pope expressed his desire that this restructuring of the ecclesiastical provinces encourage "the organization of meetings in the inter-diocesan context, in order to face and resolve, as a community, the questions that cannot be the immediate concern of the plenary assemblies of the episcopal conference." In addition, he requested that this form of collaboration help "to develop a pastoral program that responds to the demands of the new evangelization and the challenges of time and place."

He underlined: "Today it is more necessary than ever to give testimony with one's own life, energetically and with apostolic zeal. It is necessary for the bishops to be close to their faithful and the faithful to their bishops. Let this goal be the object of your petition, prayer and reflection!"

The Holy Father referred to the priests saying: "may they embark on their pastoral mission with zeal in the new dioceses in which they work, which are often far from their homes." He also asked the bishops to take special care with the permanent intellectual and spiritual formation of the priests.

He concluded by saying: "During the second half of the past century, the lay faithful in Poland gave proof time and again of a spirit of sacrifice and of a sincere love for the Church. I pray to God that they continue this beautiful tradition and that they undertake with new determination their evangelical tasks, occupying their rightful place in the Church and in the life of society; the place due to them by virtue of their specific vocation and of the holy sacraments."

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