COMMUNICATE THE GOSPEL WITH CURRENT LANGUAGE AND SENSITIVITY

VATICAN CITY, NOV 9, 2002 (VIS) - At noon today in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father received participants in the congress for representatives of the fields of communication and culture, promoted by the Italian Episcopal Conference. During the past days, they have considered the theme, "Communication and culture: new paths for evangelization in the third millennium."

The Pope said that those who work in these fields are called to "read and interpret the current times and to search for ways to communicate the Gospel in the language and sensitivity of contemporary man."

The field of communication needs "people with the gift of faith who know how to interpret current cultural issues, committing themselves to live this era of communication not as a time of alienation and disorientation but as a beautiful time to search for the truth and to develop communion among people and different groups."

John Paul II urged them to fix their gaze on Jesus and to listen to His teachings "so that the proliferation of rooftop antennae ... may be a sign of communication which is growing in the service of man and the integral progress of humanity."

"The testimony of believers," he added, "finds a vast field of expression in the worlds of the media and culture. ... It is the duty of the lay faithful to give an example of professionalism and authentic Christian conscience."

The Pope asked those who work in the media and contribute to culture to be conscious of their responsibilities, "especially to the most defenseless subjects, who are frequently exposed without any guidance to violent programs and to a deformed vision of man, family and life." For this reason, he said, public authorities and associations must ensure that "the media maintain intact their primary purpose of service to people and society."

"The absence of control and vigilance is not a guarantee of liberty, as many would like to make others believe, and it ends rather in indiscriminately promoting the use of extremely powerful instruments which, if used inappropriately, produce disastrous effects in the consciences of people and in the life of society. In a communications system, ever more complex and extensive," he ended, "clear and just guidelines are useful, guidelines that guarantee pluralism, freedom, participation by and respect for users."

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ANGELUS: WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR DEFENDING CREATION

VATICAN CITY, NOV 10, 2002 (VIS) - Before praying the Angelus today, the Pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square that on this second Sunday in November Italy celebrates Thanksgiving Day which is promoted by the National Confederation of Farmers.

John Paul II affirmed that we must give thanks to God for "the gifts received throughout the year and to the men and women who harvested them from the earth with their work. Farmers, often not taken into consideration in industrial societies, deserve appreciation for the important service that they provide to every human family."

"Taking care of creation," he continued, "is a duty for which everyone should feel responsible. ... In this sense, an authentic cultural change is necessary: we must go from the indiscriminate exploitation of resources to the responsible administration of the goods that creation offers to us."

The Holy Father recalled that the United Nations declared 2002 "The Year of the Mountain." "Mountains," he said, "are always capable of fascinating the human soul, to the point that in the Bible they are considered a privileged place to encounter God. In this way, they become a symbol of the elevation of the human being to the Creator."

"However," he ended, "mountains are not only places of rest and vacation; for many people, they are an environment of daily work, faced often in loneliness and isolation. The mountains are everyone's patrimony, and they must be respected, loved and attentively safeguarded by everyone. They are a common good whose integrity is precious for all of humanity."

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HOLY SEE INTERVENTIONS AT U.N. ON REFUGEES, HUMAN RIGHTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 9, 2002 (VIS) - Archbishop Renato Martino, head of the Holy See Permanent Observer Delegation to the United Nations, spoke in recent days on refugees and on human rights. On November 7 he addressed the Third Committee of the General Assembly on the Report of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and on November 8 he spoke on Item 109, Human Rights Questions.

On the question of refugees he expressed pleasure that the "persons of concern" to the UNHCR had decreased slightly from 21.1 million in 2000 to 19.8 million in 2001 but noted that, "according to statistics compiled by the U.N., there are as many as 50 million internally displaced persons throughout the world."

"My Delegation is distressed," emphasized the archbishop, "that the Report states that some people found borders that were closed to many or suffered violence, xenophobia and the denial of fundamental rights." He said "the Holy See realizes that the world has gone through many changes in the past year," and assured that the Catholic Church, through a variety of agencies, would continue to help refugees and displaced persons. All agencies and institutions that do similar work, he stated, should "continue to put a 'human face' on the refugee and migrant, not dealing with quotas or numbers but reaching out to help people in need."

Speaking yesterday at the U.N. on human rights, the president-designate of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace stressed that "the Holy See has always defended and promoted respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms for all peoples. ... The Holy See is especially concerned that in many parts of the world, discriminatory or intolerant policies continue with regard to minorities in States having an official religion. Additional matters of concern are the combining of ethnic and religious persecution in many parts of the world and the blatant disregard and disrespect for churches, religious shrines and sites."

Archbishop Martino affirmed that "the right to life, the right to freedom of religion or belief and respect for religious and cultural heritage are the basic premises for human existence. The fact that there are still many places today where the right to gather for worship is either not recognized or is limited to members of one religion alone or where religious belief is pushed aside in the name of development or 'modern thought' is a sad commentary on any claim to a more just, peaceful world where fundamental rights and freedoms are more widely promoted and respected."

In conclusion, the apostolic nuncio reiterated the Holy See's firm "conviction that recourse to violence, in the name of religious belief, is a perversion of the very teaching of the major religions."

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PAPAL MESSAGE TO CHARISMATICS MEETING IN ROME

VATICAN CITY, NOV 9, 2002 (VIS) - Made public today was the Holy Father's Message to the Conference of the Catholic Fraternity of Charismatic Covenant Communities and Fellowships, which is currently meeting in Rome and celebrating 35 years of Catholic Charismatic Renewal within the Church.
"Your contribution to the life of the Church," said the Pope's Message, dated November 7, "through your faithful witness to the presence and action of the Holy Spirit has helped many people to rediscover in their own lives the beauty of the grace given to them at Baptism" and "has helped them to know the power of the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit conferred at Confirmation."

"Your reflection on Family Life, Youth and Human Promotion," he added, "cannot fail to open your hearts and minds to the needs of humanity as it struggles to find purpose in a world too often troubled by a 'crisis of meaning'. You are fully aware of the urgency of a new evangelization, an evangelization of culture, in order that life may be marked by hope rather than by fear or skepticism."

Pope John Paul encouraged members "to make your communities living signs of hope" because "to be authentic witnesses to hope means to be authentic witnesses to the truth and vision of life entrusted to and proclaimed by the Church. Communion in faith and life, in heartfelt union with the Successors of the Apostles, is itself a powerful witness to the anchor of truth which the world so needs."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 11, 2002 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in audience four prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Eastern Region II) on their "ad limina" visit:
- Bishop Helio Goncalves Heleno of Caratinga.
- Bishop Jose Belvino do Nascimento of Divinopolis.
- Bishop Jose Geraldo Oliveira do Valle, C.S.S., of Guaxupe.
- Bishop Francisco Barrosco Filho of Oliveira.

On Saturday November 9, the Holy Father received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Blasco Francisco Collaco, apostolic nuncio in South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and apostolic delegate in Botswana.
- Five prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Eastern Region II) on their "ad limina" visit:
- Archbishop Aloisio Roque Opperman, S.C.I., of Uberaba.
- Archbishop Eurico dos Santos Veloso of Juiz de Fora.
- Archbishop Ricardo Pedro Chaves Pinto Filho, O.Praem., of Pouso Alegre, accompanied by auxiliary Bishop Jose Francisco Rezende Dias.
- Bishop Aldo Gerna, M.C.C.I., of Sao Mateus.
- Archbishop Francesco Monterisi, secretary of the Congregation for Bishops.

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PAPAL MESSAGE: COMMITMENT OF LAY PEOPLE TO CHARITY

VATICAN CITY, NOV 11, 2002 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message that the Pope wrote to Bishop Michele Pennisi of Piazza Armerina, Italy on the occasion of the celebration of a congress November 9 and 10 in Enna, Sicily on the theme, "The spirituality and commitment of lay people in charity, foundation for justice and authentic human promotion."

In the Message, which is dated November 8, the Pope writes that "charity brings about a spirit of fraternity in the Church, called to be a home and school of communion."
"In the vast field of this renewed 'imagination of charity', lay Christians have an irreplaceable role and are called to animate with the evangelical spirit all fields of social life. For this reason, they will have to keep their gaze fixed on Christ, being ever more capable of authentic contemplative prayer. It is necessary to constantly start with Him and to recognize His face in our most needy and marginalized brothers."

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SCIENCE HELPS US APPRECIATE "THE WONDER OF BEING HUMAN"

VATICAN CITY, NOV 11, 2002 (VIS) - Pope John Paul today addressed the plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences as it meets in the Vatican on the theme "The Cultural Values of Science."

The Pope remarked that "it is thanks to science that we have a greater understanding today of man's place in the universe, of the connections between human history and the history of the cosmos, ... of the remarkable complexity and at the same time the astonishing coordination of the life processes themselves. It is thanks to science that we are able to appreciate ever more what one member of this Academy has called 'the wonder of being human'."

The Holy Father pointed out that "this knowledge represents an extraordinary and profound value for the entire human family, and it is of immeasurable significance for the disciplines of theology and philosophy ... as they seek an ever more complete understanding of the wealth of human knowledge and Biblical revelation."

He noted that because scientists "'know more', they are called to 'serve more'." They must responsibly use their freedom of research, he added, "for the benefit of the entire human family. Here I am thinking not only of the dangers involved in a science devoid of an ethic firmly grounded in the nature of the human person, ... (but also) of the enormous benefits that science can bring to the peoples of the world through basic research and technological applications." The scientific community, in seeking the common good, must "protect its legitimate authority from economic and political pressures" and "not give in to the forces of consensus or to the quest for profit."

In closing remarks, John Paul II urged scientists to ask themselves if they can do more to help the world's peoples, "to do more to increase levels of instruction and improve health conditions, study strategies for a more equitable distribution of resources, facilitate the free circulation of information. ... Can they not make their voices heard more clearly and with greater authority in the cause of world peace?"

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 11, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Created the new ecclesiastical circumscription of Gandhinagar (area 30,588, population 7,270,466, Catholics 14,000, priests 41, religious 76), India, with territory taken from the diocese of Ahmedabad, elevating it at the same time to the rank of metropolitan archdiocese. The new ecclesiastical province, divided from the ecclesiastical province of Bombay, will include the suffragan dioceses of Ahmedabad, Baroda and Rajkot of the Syro-Malabars. The Holy Father transferred Bishop Stanislaus Fernandes, S.J. of the diocese of Ahmedabad, to the new metropolitan see of Gandhinagar.

- Appointed Fr. Thomas Ignatius Macwan, episcopal vicar for the district of Anand-Kheda, as bishop of Ahmedabad (area 15,282, population 8,292,709, Catholics 62,000, priests 141, religious 342), India. The bishop-elect was born in Bhavnagar, India in 1952 and was ordained a priest in 1988.

- Accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Masan, Korea, presented by Bishop Michael Pak Jeong-il, upon having reached the age limit. Coadjutor Bishop Francis Xavier Ahn Myong-ok succeeds him.

It was made public on Saturday November 9 that the Holy Father appointed:

- Bishop Emmanuel Bushu of Yagoua, Cameroon and Bishop Boniface Choi Ki-san of Inch'on, Korea as members of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.

- Lieutenant Colonel Elmar Theodor Mader, vice commander of the Swiss Guard, as captain commander.

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