POPE PRAISES ACTIVE AND SPIRITUAL ECUMENISM OF ST. BRIDGET

VATICAN CITY, OCT 5, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father presided yesterday afternoon at 6 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica at an ecumenical celebration of vespers on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the birth of St. Bridget of Sweden, co-patroness of Europe. High-level representatives of the Lutheran Church participated in the ceremony. The king and queen of Sweden were represented by their daughter Princess Victoria.

"I would like to emphasize," said the Pope in his homily, "another aspect of the personality of this great missionary of the faith, ... her active and determined efforts for the unity of Christians. During a complex and difficult time in Church and European history ... she did not cease to work for the cohesion and authentic progress of the unity of believers."

After John Paul II recalled the message that he had delivered a few days earlier to the sisters of the Order of St. Bridget in which he defined the saint as a "women of unity who is a witness to ecumenism for us," he indicated that her ecumenism, "spiritual and at the same time active," was "a spiritual heritage to strive for, a common commitment to follow with joyful generosity."

"As unity in the Church is a grace from the Spirit," concluded the Pope, "we must pray constantly for it and then build it up with tireless tenacity, each person offering their own personal contribution."

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INTERNATIONAL VATICAN CONGRESS ON CATECHESIS TO BE CELEBRATED

VATICAN CITY, OCT 5, 2002 (VIS) - From October 8 to 11, an International Congress on Catechesis, organized by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Clergy, will be celebrated in the New Synod Hall in the Vatican.

According to a communique published today by both congregations, the congress marks the tenth anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the fifth anniversary of the publication of the General Directory for Catechesis.

Among those invited are the editors of both documents, presidents of the commissions for the Doctrine of the Faith and the catechesis of the Episcopal Conferences, and directors of the National Offices of Catechesis.

"The Congress," says the communique, "will reflect on ... the today and the tomorrow of evangelization and catechesis in the world, delineating ... the many problems ... that afflict Christian communities at the beginning of the third millennium."

"There is no doubt that the phenomenon of secularism, ambiguous fascination with the New Age and sects, the syncretist appropriation of the faith, religious and cultural pluralism, poverty, the loss of human rights, including the loss of religious freedom, are serious challenges for the unity and oneness ... of the proclamation of the Gospel message."

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HOLY FATHER CANONIZES JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA DE BALAGUER

VATICAN CITY, OCT 6, 2002 (VIS) - Before a multitude of more than 350,000 people that packed St. Peter's Square and Via della Conciliazione, John Paul II canonized Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei, during a solemn ceremony this morning.

Forty-two cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests concelebrated with the Holy Father, including Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Other concelebrants included Cardinals Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid (the diocese where the new saint lived until he moved to Rome and where he founded Opus Dei in 1928), Angelo Sodano, secretary of state, Camillo Ruini, vicar for Rome, Joachim Meissner and Roger Etchegaray. Bishop Javier Echevarria, prelate of Opus Dei, was also present.

More than 400 ecclesiastical authorities were seated to the left of the altar, including cardinals, archbishops and bishops, representatives of different Church movements and superiors of religious orders. Also present were delegations from various countries and personalities from the world of art, politics and culture.

During the ceremony, a relic of the new saint was on exhibit in St. Peter's Square.

John Paul II began his homily in Italian and Spanish, recalling that St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer "allowed himself to be docilely guided by the Holy Spirit, convinced that the will of God could be accomplished only in this way.
"That basic Christian truth," he continued, "was a recurring theme in his preaching. He never ceased to invite his spiritual children to invoke the Holy Spirit so that ... their relationship with God and their family, social and professional life were not separated but constituted one existence, 'holy and full of God'."

The Pope reiterated that the teachings of the new saint were "timely and urgent" today and he explained that "the believer ... is called to forge a uninterrupted and vital relationship with the Lord" because "he is called to be a saint and to collaborate in the salvation of humanity."

Afterward, the Holy Father quoted the reading from Genesis, saying "it reminds us that the Creator entrusted the earth to man so that he would 'cultivate' it and 'take care' of it. Believers, living in different realities of the world, contribute to carrying out the universal divine plan. Work and any other activity completed with the help of grace may become the means of daily sanctification."

The Pope recalled that, "As Josemaria Escriva used to affirm, the daily life of a Christian who has faith, when he works or rests, when he prays or when he sleeps, in every moment, is a life in which God is always present. This supernatural vision of life opens up a horizon extraordinarily rich in the prospect of salvation because in the context of the apparent monotony of normal earthly occurrences, God is near us and we can cooperate with his plan of salvation. Therefore, what Vatican Council II affirms can be more easily understood, that is, that 'the Christian message does not distance men from building the world, ... on the contrary, it obliges them to carry this out as a duty'."

The Pope emphasized that St. Josemaria Escriva "continues to remind us not to allow ourselves to be scared when faced by a materialistic culture that threatens to dissolve the most genuine identity of Christ's disciples" and in which the founder of Opus Dei "liked to reiterate with vigor that the Christian faith is opposed to conformism and interior inertia."

"Following in his footsteps," he exclaimed, "spread the awareness that all are called to sanctity in society, without the distinction of race, class, culture or age." And he added that the new saint "felt a passionate call within himself to evangelize all environments" and he transmitted it to "his entire spiritual family, so that they would offer to the Church a valid contribution of communion and apostolic service."

Following Mass, John Paul II prayed the Angelus with the pilgrims and faithful present for the canonization, and recalled that his love for the Virgin was "a prominent part of the legacy" left behind by St. Josemaria Escriva to his spiritual sons and daughters. The Pope went on to greet those present in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, Polish and Portuguese.

In conclusion, the Holy Father crossed St. Peter's Square and went down the broad Via della Conciliazione in an open car in order to greet the many pilgrims who came from more than 80 countries to attend the ceremony.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 7, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Andrzej Dziega, dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at Catholic University of Lublin, Poland as bishop of Sandomierz (area 7,850, population 728,145, Catholics 708,105, priests 541, religious 238), Poland. The bishop-elect was born in 1952 in Radzyn Podlaski, Poland and was ordained a priest in 1977. He succeeds Bishop Waclaw Swierzawski whose resignation the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.

On Saturday October 5, it was made public that the Holy Father assented to the election canonically undertaken by the Synod of Bishops of the Coptic Church, which met on September 29, 2002, of Rev. Ibrahim Isaac Sidrak, to the episcopal see of Minya of the Copts. The bishop-elect succeeds Bishop Antonios Naguib who resigned from the pastoral care of the same eparchy for health reasons in conformity with Canon 210, para. 2, of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches.

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ORTHODOX PATRIARCH TEOCTIST WELCOMED BY JOHN PAUL II

VATICAN CITY, OCT 7, 2002 (VIS) - At the end of the audience in St. Peter's Square this morning for the pilgrims who came for the canonization of Blessed Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer, Pope John Paul II welcomed His Beatitude Teoctist, the Orthodox patriarch of Romania, who is in Rome for a visit.

"Beatitude and dear brother," said the Pope in Romanian, "You are making this visit animated by the sentiments and the hopes that I myself feel." He added that he wanted the patriarch's visit "to begin in the framework of this general audience, in the presence of so many faithful from throughout the world."
"Your current visit," the Holy Father continued, speaking in Italian, "is a purifying act of our memories of division, of often strong confrontation, of acts and words that have led to painful separations. The future, in any case, is not a dark and unknown tunnel. It is lit by God's grace: on it the invigorating light of the Spirit shines in a consoling way. This certainty prevails not only over every human discouragement or fatigue that at times hinders our steps; it convinces us above all that noting is impossible for God, and that, therefore, if we will be worthy of it, He will grant us the gift of full unity."

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LOVE FOR GOD'S WILL WAS PARAMOUNT IN ST. JOSEMARIA

VATICAN CITY, OCT 7, 2002 (VIS) - At the end of the Mass this morning in St. Peter's Square, presided over by Bishop Javier Echevarria, the prelate of Opus Dei, Pope John Paul addressed the faithful who had come to Rome from many countries for yesterday's canonization of Blessed Josemaria Escriva.

"Love for God's will," said the Pope in Italian, "stood out in the founder of Opus Dei. There was a sure criteria for holiness: faithfulness in fulfilling the divine will right up to the final consequences. The Lord has a plan for each one of us, He entrusts to each one an earthly mission. ... St. Josemaria was chosen by the Lord to proclaim the universal call to holiness and to indicate that everyday life, common activities, are the path to holiness. One could say that he was the saint of the ordinary."

Speaking Spanish, the Holy Father noted that "Escriva de Balaguer was a saint of great humanity. Everyone who dealt with him, from whatever culture or social condition, felt that he was like a father, totally committed to the service of others because he was convinced that every soul was a marvelous treasure; indeed, every man was worth all of Christ's blood."

The Pope remarked in English that "St. Josemaria was profoundly convinced that Christian life entails a mission and an apostolate: we are in the world to save it with Christ. ... His message impels the Christian to act in places where the future of society is being shaped. From the laity's active presence in all the professions and at the most advanced frontiers of development, there can only come a positive contribution to the strengthening of that harmony between faith and culture which is one of the greatest needs of our time."

In concluding remarks in French, John Paul II observed that "St. Josemaria Escriva spent his life in the service of the Church. In his writings, priests, the laity who followed the most diverse paths, and men and women religious found a stimulating source of inspiration."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 7, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Cardinal Ricardo Maria Carles Gordo, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain.
- Archbishop Manuel Montiero de Castro, apostolic nuncio in Spain and in the Principality of Andorra.
- Archbishop Francesco Marchisano, president of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Patrimony of the Church and of the Pontifical Commission of Sacred Archeology, archpriest of the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City, and president of the Fabric of St. Peter's, together with Bishop Vittorio Lanzani, delegate of the Fabric of St. Peter's and vicar of the archpriest of the Vatican basilica.

On Saturday, October 5, he received in separate audiences:

- Ana Palacio Vallelersundi, foreign minister of Spain, and an entourage.
- Archbishop Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio in Ivory Coast, Niger and Burkina Faso.
- Five prelates from the Episcopal Conference of Chile on their "ad limina" visit:
- Bishop Juan Luis Ysern de Arce of San Carlos de Ancud, accompanied by his coadjutor, Bishop Juan Florindo Agurto Munoz.
- Bishop Tomas Osvaldo Gonzalez Morales.
- Bishop Sixto Jose Parzinger Foidl of Villarrica.
- Bishop Alejandro Coic Karmelic of Osorno.
- Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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