AUDIENCE: GOD IS THE JOY AND HOPE OF THE LOWLY

VATICAN CITY, MAR 20, 2002 (VIS) - In this Wednesday's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II spoke about the first book of Samuel, in which a sterile woman, Anna, gives birth to Samuel by the grace of God and sings a canticle of thanksgiving to the Lord after offering Him her son.

Mary, who "while remaining a virgin, begets a child by the work of the Holy Spirit", will make Anna's canticle of thanksgiving her own. This is why it is called the "Magnificat of the Old Testament," he said.

The Pope explained that in the hymn, there are two themes which are worth highlighting. "The first theme will be dominant in Mary's Magnificat and this is the change of destiny affected by God. The strong are humiliated, the weak 'invested with strength'; the satiated go in desperate search of food'. ... It is a profession of faith made by the two mothers in relation to the Lord of history, Who comes to the defense of the least, of the miserable and unhappy, and of the offended and humiliated."

"The other theme which we wish to emphasize," he concluded, "is also related to the figure of Anna; 'The sterile woman gives birth seven times, while the mother of many children withers away'. The Lord, Who changes destinies, is the same Lord Who is at the root of life and death. ... A horizon, almost 'paschal', of resurrection is opened up. Isaias will sing: 'Your dead will live again, your bodies will come back to life, those who dwell in dust will awake and give cries of joy; because the luminous dew is your dew, and the earth will cast shadows from its bosom.'"

After the audience, as he greeted the Italian-speaking pilgrims who were present, the Holy Father recalled professor and economist Marco Biagi, "cruelly murdered yesterday in Bologna outside his house, upon returning to work. While I express my spiritual closeness to the family in this moment of tragic sorrow, I elevate my prayer for the repose of the soul of the deceased. In firmly deploring this new manifestation of senseless violence, I hope that a climate of understanding is created among the social parties in the dear nation of Italy, for a peaceful solution to the present problems."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 20, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Fr. Felix Lazaro Sh.P., dean of the College of Arts and Humanities and professor of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University in Puerto Rico, as coadjutor of Ponce (area 2,045, population 604,210, Catholics 483,000, priests 116, permanent deacons 71, religious 277), Puerto Rico. The bishop-elect was born in Logrono, Spain in 1936 and ordained a priest in 1961.

- Accepted the resignation as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Sao Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, presented by Bishop Joao d'Avila Moreira Lima, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Jozef De Kesel, episcopal vicar of the diocese of Gand, Belgium as auxiliary bishop of Malines-Bruxelles (area 3,700, population 2,514,185, Catholics 1,800,000, priests 2120, permanent deacons 101, religious 4908), Belgium. The bishop-elect was born in Gand, Belgium in 1947 and was ordained a priest in 1965.

- Accepted the resignations presented by Auxiliary Bishops Luc De Hovre and Paul Lanneau of the archdiocese of Malines-Bruxelles upon having reached the age limit.

It was made public on March 19, 2002 that the Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Julian Lopez Martin of Cuidad Rodrigo, Spain, as bishop of the diocese of Leon (area 9,620, population 319,104, Catholics 316,504, priests 467, permanent deacons 2, religious 1018), Spain. He also accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese presented by Bishop Antonio Vilaplana Molina, upon having reached the age limit.

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JOURNALISTS TO WRITE VIA CRUCIS MEDITATIONS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 20, 2001 (VIS) - This year the texts of the Meditations for the Way of the Cross that the Holy Father presides every Good Friday evening at the Colosseum have been prepared by 14 journalists. Those selected normally cover the Vatican for both print and electronic media and are all accredited to the Holy See Press Office.

The journalists are: John M. Thavis, United States; Alexej M. Bukalov, Russia; Henri Tincq, France; Gregory Burke, United States; Angel Gomez Fuentes, Spain; Erich B. Kusch, Germany; Hiroshi Miyahira, Japan; Jacek Moskwa, Poland; Marina Ricci, Italy; Aura Miguel Vistas, Portugal; Luigi Accattoli, Italy; Sophie De Ravinel, France; Valentina Alazraki, Mexico, and Marie Czernin, Germany.

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