MARY IS THE SAFE GUIDE OF THE CHURCH'S WAY

VATICAN CITY, OCT 29, 2002 (VIS) - Today at noon the Pope addressed participants in the seventh public session of the Pontifical Academies which is dedicated this year to reflections prepared by the International Marian and Immaculate Mary Pontifical Academies on the theme "Mary, 'bright dawn and safe guide' of the new evangelization."

In his speech, John Paul II said that "the theme of this session considers expressions with which I conclude the Apostolic Letter 'Novo Millenio Ineunte', entrusted to Mary, Mother of God and Mother of all creatures, the destiny of the new millennium and the way of the Church."

In order to learn to contemplate and love the face of Christ, underlined the Pope, "we must turn to Mary who, fully accepting God's plan, 'shaped' her Son in a singular way, guiding him step by step as he grew up. .... Mary is truly the bright dawn of the new evangelization, the sure guide of the Church's way in the third millennium."

The Pope encouraged them to continue to conduct "interdisciplinary research that develops mariological reflection, searching for new sources, as well as traditional ones, to obtain other suggestions for theological research."

After recalling that the 150th anniversary of the dogmatic proclamation of Mary's Immaculate Conception will be celebrated in 2004, John Paul II said that the two Marian Pontifical Academies "are called to offer all of their contributions so that this anniversary may be an occasion of a renewed theological, cultural and spiritual effort in order to communicate to the men and women of our time the most authentic meaning and message of this truth of faith."

As is custom during the public sessions, the Pope presented the award of the Pontifical Academies. This year he bestowed the prize on Rosa Cali for her doctoral thesis entitled "The Anti-mariological Texts in the exegesis of the Fathers of Nicea at Calcedonia." And he offered, "as a sign of appreciation and encouragement, a medal of his Pontificate to Fr. Stanislaw Bogusz Matula and Sister Philomena D'Souza, for their prestigious studies."

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ANNUAL MESSAGE TO HINDUS FOR THE FEAST OF DIWALI

VATICAN CITY, OCT 29, 2002 (VIS) - Made public today was the annual message sent by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue to Hindus on the occasion of the feast of Diwali. Diwali, a moveable feast, is a celebration of renewal as Hindus believe that on this occasion the divine power has overcome the darkness of the world.

The 2002 Message was signed by Cardinal Francis Arinze when he was president of the pontifical council. On October 1, he was named prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments.

The cardinal said that it was customary for him "to invite friends of different religions on the occasion of their respective feasts, to joint reflection on various aspects of our life, in society and in the world at large." He asked if religious festivals were not perhaps "expressions of the desire of human beings to conquer darkness by light, evil by good, untruth by truth and death by life?" He noted that Hindus and Christians attach great value to life in all its stages.

"Technology," wrote Cardinal Arinze, "has made great progress in our days. Life has perhaps become safer, easier and longer. ... But does technology help us to value human life? With the progress of technology life paradoxically seems to be more threatened than ever. ... Modern genetic science has become a tool in the hands of man. He can use it or abuse it. Tempted at times to become a manipulator of life, or even an agent of death, man needs to rediscover his fundamental place in creation, namely, that he is created by God and God is the sole Creator of all that exists."
The cardinal's closing remarks were dedicated to the inter-religious meeting held this past January in Assisi. He underscored how the participants, from different religious traditions, "made a common commitment in favor of promoting each single life and the whole of life. ... Only to the degree that ethical and religious considerations will prevail in the whole of society can we hope that the principle of respect for life will be enshrined in society's attitudes and laws."

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PAPAL MESSAGE TO MISSIONARIES OF MARIANHILL

VATICAN CITY, OCT 29, 2002 (VIS) - A Message by the Holy Father to the Missionaries of Marianhill on the occasion of their General Chapter was published today. The Pope, writing in English, recalls that the "Congregation is the fruit of the many gifts bestowed by God on your founder, Abbot Franz Pfanner."

"In accordance with the theme chosen for your General Chapter, 'Revisiting our identity and spirituality as a new era dawns'," he notes, "your path into the future is the path of a genuine renewal of your consecrated life, in a new season of spiritual and apostolic growth." He observes that they proclaim the Gospel of Christ in "an increasingly globalized world which in many ways is troubled by a 'crisis of identity' and by 'ambiguous thinking'."

"In the new era that is unfolding," writes the Pope, "you must be true missionaries and true saints, for holiness is at the very heart of your vocation. As your founder knew, holiness must be actively sought for and prayed for. ... In fidelity to the Benedictine-Trappist tradition on which your consecrated life is founded, your missionary apostolate will flourish and produce fruit to the degree that it is firmly rooted in the tenet 'Ora et Labora'." This tenet, he says, will help "you achieve ... 'the equilibrium of the contemplative missionary, the witness who remains immersed in prayer even while grappling with his urgent active commitment'."

The Holy Father concludes: "In a world where human drama is too often marked by poverty, division and violence, following Christ demands that consecrated persons respond courageously to the Spirit's call to a continual conversion, in order to give new vigor to the prophetic dimension of their vocation."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 29, 2002 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in audience Archbishop Paolo Romeo, apostolic nuncio in Italy.

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NEW WEB SITE OF THE VATICAN APOSTOLIC LIBRARY PRESENTED

VATICAN CITY, OCT 29, 2002 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office, the new web site of the Vatican Apostolic Library was presented. The site is the result of collaboration between the Holy See and Hewlitt-Packard.

Participants in the press conference included Cardinal Jorge Maria Mejia, librarian of Holy Roman Church, Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, secretary of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, Frs. Raffaele Farina and Ambrogio Piazzoni, prefect and vice-prefect of the Library, and Nicola Aliperti, administrator delegate from Hewlitt-Packard Italy.

Cardinal Mejia explained that on the Vatican web site (www.vatican.va) there will now be a special new site for the Apostolic Library, fully accessible to the public, where the following five sections can be found: 1. History and Structure 2. Catalogue 3. Services 4. Treasures of the Library 5. Other information.

With these new sections, the cardinal explained, "We wanted to provide access to practical information (hours, services, offices, background, criteria for admission, etc.) and to reproductions and photocopies. In addition, it seemed necessary to briefly describe our history and to exhibit some of our bibliographic and artistic treasures."

Fr. Raffaele Farina made reference to the new features of the library's present computer system. He explained that since the year 2000, projects have been under way to digitize and catalogue descriptions of the graphic material (prints, illustrations and drawings) of the Print Library and the numismatic material (coins and medals) of the Numismatic Library.

In addition, the data base, he added, offers a public catalogue which contains descriptions of books and magazines, prints, illustrations, drawings, copper engravings, photographs, coins and medals and even musical scores, recordings and CDs, for a total of 700,000 bibliographic entries. Presently the manuscripts are being digitally catalogued. Descriptions of these manuscripts will be available shortly on the web with respective illustrative materials.

The prefect of the Library concluded by indicating that "the Library's internal network offers experts the opportunity to make bibliographic consultations in all the principal European languages. It also allows them to access the sources of Latin Patrology, classical Greek and Latin texts and some periodicals, as well as the entire collection of the 'Osservatore Romano.' These services can be consulted shortly by users of the network which connects the Roman Curia's dicasteries."

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