TO YOUNG PEOPLE: LET THE CROSS BE YOUR SCHOOL OF WISDOM

VATICAN CITY, MAR 24, 2002 (VIS) - This morning in St. Peter's Square the Pope presided at the solemn Palm Sunday Mass which was celebrated by his vicar general, Cardinal Camillo Ruini. Thousands of young people from Rome and other places attended to celebrate the 17th World Youth Day at the diocesan level.

Before Mass, the Pope blessed the olive branches and subsequently the procession took place from the obelisk toward the altar situated in front of St. Peter's basilica. The Holy Father did not take part in the procession due to persistant arthritic pain in his right knee.

In his homily, John Paul II emphasized that the cross was the center of today's liturgy. "You, beloved young people, with your attentive and enthusiastic participation in this solemn celebration, demonstrate that you are not ashamed of the cross. Do not fear Christ's cross. Rather, love it and venerate it because it is the sign of the Redeemor who died and rose from the dead for us."

"The narration of the Passion highlights Christ's fidelity in contrast to human infidelity. ... Man's true strength is found in the fidelity with which he is able to give testimony to the truth, resisting pleasures and threats, misunderstandings and blackmail which may even entail cruel and merciless persecution." As a result, he added, "only if you are willing to do this, you will be what Jesus expects of you, that is, the 'salt of the earth' and 'light of the world'," which is the theme of World Youth Day.

The Holy Father urged young people not to lose "the flavor of being Christians, the flavor of the Gospel. Keep it alive, meditating on the paschal mystery constantly: let the Cross be your school of wisdom. Do not boast of anything else except this sublime subject of truth and love."

"That person whom you have chosen as Teacher," he concluded, "is neither a vendor of illusions, nor a powerful person of this world, nor an astute and clever debater. You know who you have chosen to follow: Christ crucified and resurrected! Christ Who died for us and rose from the dead for us."

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BE INSPIRED BY ETHICAL VALUES, POPE TELLS DOCTORS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 23, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed a delegation of doctors who are in Rome for a Congress to sensitize public opinion to the problem of the prevention of cancer in the digestive tract. He thanked them for their service and said he hoped their profession "will always be inspired by the perennial ethical values which give it its solid foundation."

The Pope noted "the growing availability of technical and pharmacological resources that allow for quickly discerning, in the majority of cases, the symptoms of cancer and thus intervening with greater rapidity and efficacy." He urged doctors "to continue with trust and tenacity in both research and therapy, using the most advanced scientific resources."

"Certainly," he underlined, "we cannot forget that man is a limited and mortal being. One must approach a patient with a healthy realism that avoids arousing in the person who suffers the illusion of the omnipotence of medicine. There are limits that are not humanly possible to overcome; in these cases one must know how to serenely accept one's own human condition, that the believer knows how to read in the light of the divine will."

John Paul II observed that "the complexity of the human person demands that, in giving the necessary treatments, the spirit, as well as the body, be taken into account. It would be presumptuous to count on technology alone. ... The concept of health, very dear to Christian thought, contrasts with a vision of it that reduces it to a purely psycho-physical equilibrium. Such a vision neglects the spiritual dimensions of the person and would end up jeopardizing the true good."

"Informing citizens with respect and truth, especially when they have pathological conditions, constitutes a true and proper mission for those who care for the public health."

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"UNIV 2002": SERVING OTHERS THROUGH STUDY AND WORK

VATICAN CITY, MAR 25, 2002 (VIS) - The Pope received today in audience in the Paul VI Hall 4,000 students from thirty countries who are participating in the international university congress "UNIV 2002." The theme this year is "work, study and service."
The Pope told the young people who take part in formative activities sponsored by the Opus Dei prelature that "study and work presuppose a personal attitude of availability and gift of self that we call, precisely, service. ... With this opening up to your brothers and sisters, beloved young people, each one of you perfects the fundamental aspects of the mission itself, thanks also to study and work."

He went on to say: "In this sense, how useful are the teachings of Blessed Josemaria Escriva, the centenary of whose birth we celebrate this year! He used to love to highlight on many occasions that in the Gospel Jesus is known as the 'carpenter', even as the 'son of a carpenter'.

"'All the dignity of work," continued the Holy Father, recalling what Blessed Escriva wrote, "is founded in love.'" And he added: "When you are faithful to this spiritual itinerary and you work and study seriously, you will really become the salt of the earth and light of the world", which is the theme of the upcoming World Youth Day. "It is a hard road that often contrasts with the mentality of your contemporaries. It certainly means to go against the grain with respect to the behavior and ways that dominate today."

John Paul II urged the students to resist "the temptation of mediocrity and conformism. Only like this will you be able to make life a gift and a service for humanity; only in this way will you help to heal the wounds and the suffering of so many poor and marginalized people still present in this world of ours which is so technologically advanced."

He concluded by saying: "In order for all this to be possible, it is necessary to make prayer a priority. ... Be men and women of generous activity, but at the same time of profound contemplation of the mystery of God. Make the Eucharist the center of your day."

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JOHN PAUL II PRAYS THE ANGELUS, CIRCLES SQUARE IN PAPAL JEEP

VATICAN CITY, MAR 24, 2002 (VIS) - Following today's Palm Sunday Mass, Pope John Paul prayed the Angelus with an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people who had gathered in a sun-drenched St. Peter's Square on an unseasonably cold spring day. At the end of the Marian prayer, the Pope, still vested, surprised the faithful by getting into the white papal jeep and circling the square.

In remarks made before reciting the Angelus, the Holy Father referred to the Annunciation, saying that "we now turn to Mary Most Holy, who beneath the cross of her son, confirmed the 'fiat' she uttered at the announcement made by the angel. May she help us to faithfully follow Jesus, imitating the example of our many brothers and sisters who gave to the Gospel the supreme witness of blood. I am thinking in particular of the missionary martyrs being commemorated today in Italy as is traditional. May the Virgin obtain this coherence and this courage in a special way for you young people, called to undertake fundamental choices for your life."

Pope John Paul then greeted the pilgrims in French, English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Italian.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, MAR 25, 2002 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in audience Jose de Venecia, president of the Filipino Chamber of Congress, accompanied by his wife and an entourage.

On Saturday March 23, the Holy Father received in audience Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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ARCHBISHOP MARTIN ADDRESSES U.N. CONFERENCE ON RACISM

VATICAN CITY, MAR 25, 2002 (VIS) - Made public today was a speech given on March 22 by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Holy See permanent observer, during the debate on racial discrimination at the 58th session of the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The meeting is taking place from March 18 to April 26 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The nuncio remarked that "the events of the past year have brought our attention back to the need for a new vision of how to shape, in our contemporary world, the coexistence of persons, peoples and nations, with their different backgrounds and history."

He went on to say: "The 'moral bankruptcy of racial prejudice and ethnic animosity', to use the words of Pope John Paul II, can only be definitively eliminated through a conscious effort of solidarity and a recognition of the essential unity of the one human family. Terrorism is an affront to human dignity and must be fought vigorously. A fight against terrorism, however, is by definition a right in favor of the rule of law, in favor of relationships between persons and nations that are based on respect for the dignity of every human person and their fundamental human rights."

Archbishop Martin, on the questions of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerances, said that "each generation must say 'no' to racism and construct its 'yes' to seek truth, justice, freedom and love, so that every human person may enjoy his inalienable rights, and every people, peace."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 25, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Erected the diocese of Jhabua (area 22,141, population 4,143,251, Catholics 30,360, priests 46, religious 176), India, with territory taken from the archdioceses of Indore and Udaipur, making it a suffragan of the metropolitan church of Bhopal. He appointed Fr. Chacko Thottumarickal S.V.D., provincial of the Verbite Missionaries in Indore, as first bishop of the new diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Kalloorkad, India in 1949 and was ordained a priest in 1979.

- Appointed Fr. Antonio Palang S.V.D., apostolic administrator of the vicariate of San Jose in Mindoro, Phillipines, as apostolic vicar of the same vicariate. Fr. Palang was born in Concepcion, Phillipines in 1946 and was ordained in 1972.

On Saturday March 23, it was made public that the Holy Father:

- Appointed Fr. Domingo Diaz Martinez, pastor and vicar for the pastoral in the diocese of Queretaro, Mexico, as bishop of Tuxpan (area 18,850, population 2,000,000,Catholics 1,300,000, priests 77, permanent deacons 3, religious 68), Mexico. Fr. Diaz was born in Bravo, Mexico in 1948 and was ordained a priest in 1977.

- Appointed Cardinal Paul Poupard, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture, his special envoy for the closing millennium celebrations in honor of the birth of Pope S. Leone IX, at Eguisheim, France on June 23, 2002.

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