ANGELUS: DEFEND CREATION, FOOD SUMMIT, ANGOLAN CRISIS

VATICAN CITY, 9 JUN, 2002 (VIS) - Before praying the angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Pope told them that today in Ravenna, Italy, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholemew I celebrated a solemn liturgy, and that tomorrow he and the pope - by means of a special television linkup between Rome and Venice - will sign a joint "Declaration" in defence of creation.

"This event," the Pope went on, "falling a few months after the Day of Prayer for peace in Assisi, when the ecumenical patriarch was at my side, is another example of that shared intent that is a prelude to renewed and full communion. The very histories of Ravenna and Venice call and encourage us to continue along the path towards full unity between western and eastern Christians."

John Paul II went on to say that this morning, at the headquarters of the FAO in Rome, the World Food Summit is being inaugurated; a meeting in which heads of State and government from all over the world will be participating. "Millions of people," he said, "who suffer daily because of hunger and malnutrition hope that this gathering will confirm the commitments made in 1996. May God bless this meeting and illuminate leaders of nations that they may know how to express people's legitimate aspirations and to give fresh impulse to the struggle of the international community against hunger."

After the angelus, the Holy Father made reference to "the dear population of Angola who, following the suffering of a long and bloody civil war, now find themselves facing a dramatic humanitarian crisis because of a lack of food and the most basic medicines, as well as the constant danger of anti-personnel mines disseminated over the whole territory."

The Holy Father concluded by saying: "We ask that the Lord may illuminate all those who have the possibility to contribute to overcoming this tragedy, and that He bring them to act in such a way that the resources of the country may help all its inhabitants and be an aid to the entire continent of Africa."

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