SEMINARIANS MUST BE PROTAGONISTS OF THEIR PRIESTLY FORMATION

VATICAN CITY, NOV 16, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received a group of 360 seminarians, rectors and professors from Sicily's major seminaries, together with Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, archbishop of Palermo and the prelates of Sicily's 18 dioceses in which the seminaries are present. He stressed the role of bishops, superiors and professors in the formation of seminarians, but added that "the candidate to the priesthood himself must be a protagonist of his formation."

The Holy Father praised initiatives in Sicily aimed at the formation of seminarians as well as the permanent formation of priests. With respect to ongoing formation, he quoted his 1992 Apostolic Exhortation "Pastores Dabo Vobis": "With priests who have just come out of the seminary, a certain sense of 'having had enough' is quite understandable, when faced with new times of study and meeting. But the idea that priestly formation ends on the day one leaves the seminary is false and dangerous, and needs to be totally rejected."

The Pope expressed gratitude for the increase of priestly vocations in Sicily but added that prayers and a pastoral ministry for vocations in parishes, schools and families is an ongoing process. "There must also be." he said, "a qualitative growth, through constant attention to the human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation of the young aspirants (to the priesthood)."

"Human formation is the foundation of the entire priestly formation process and it is important for the seminary to be a privileged place in which are cultivated the human qualities necessary for building well-balanced and mature, strong and free personalities, capable of allowing one, as a priest, to bear the weight of pastoral responsibilities."

John Paul II noted that "human formation is completed in spiritual formation" and he underlined the importance of listening to the Word of God, prayer, the generous giving of oneself, a sense of Church, priestly obedience, and a willingness to live poverty and celibacy.

"In the current socio-cultural context," he went on, "marked by a widespread religious indifference and distrust in the real capacities of reason to reach objective and universal truth, ... intellectual formation demands a high level of commitment in studies, in full fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church."

The Holy Father dedicated closing remarks to pastoral formation, saying this "is the ultimate objective of the entire formative period in the seminary as it aims 'at forming true pastors of souls in the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, teacher, priest and pastor."

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BRAZILIAN BISHOPS: HELP THE FAMILY ESPECIALLY

VATICAN CITY NOV 16, 2002 (VIS) - In his speech to prelates from Eastern Region II of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, who just completed their "ad limina" visit, the Pope spoke about the need to especially support families, resisting "the harmful threats of an individualist culture."

After recalling that during his pontificate he has insisted on the importance of the family's role in society, John Paul II emphasized that in addition to the values of the Brazilian tradition, such as respect, solidarity and privacy, other social factors exist which threaten to "de-stabilize the family nucleus."

"A lack of moral values," he said, "opens the door to infidelity and the dissolution of marriage. The civil laws that promote divorce and threaten life by trying to introduce abortion officially; the population control campaigns that ... encourage thousands of women to be sterilized and to use contraception, especially in the north, have dramatic consequences."

In addition, he continued, "there are many attempts, in public opinion and civil legislation, at equating the family with mere de facto unions and at recognizing same sex unions as marriages. These and other anomalies urge us to proclaim with pastoral firmness the truth on marriage and family. It would be a serious pastoral omission not to do so."

"It is necessary to give a firm response to this situation, especially through more incisive educational and catechetic activity. ... In this sense, I would like to recall the need to respect the inalienable dignity of the woman, in order to strengthen her important role, in the home as well as in society in general."

The Holy Father underscored that one cannot "forget that the family must bear witness to its own values before itself and society. ... Married couples must be the first to give testimony to the grandeur of conjugal and family life, founded in fidelity to the commitment assumed before God. Thanks to the sacrament of matrimony, human love acquires supernatural value."

The Pope asked those who work in the pastoral ninistry for families to give a "new impulse to the defense and promotion of the institution of family" through the teachings of the Church, courses for those getting married and encounters with couples leading an exemplary married life or with priests experienced in dealing with married couples.

John Paul II said that "the contrasting opinions of theologians, priests and religious, disclosed extensively by the media, on premarital relations, birth control, the admission of divorced people to the sacraments, homosexuality and lesbianism, artificial insemination or the use of abortive practices or euthanasia, show the great uncertainty and confusion that disturb and numb the conscience of many faithful."
At the end of his speech, the Holy Father referred to marriage annulments. The ecclesiastical judge, he affirmed, must keep in mind that "to authentically apply the norms, the credibility of the revealed faith and peace of consciences are also at stake. ... I hope that in this delicate interdisciplinary process," he concluded, "faithfulness to the revealed truth on marriage and the family, interpreted in an accurate way by the Magisterium of the Church, is always the point of reference and the true stimulus for a profound renewal of this sector in ecclesiastical life."

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ANGELUS: ITALY CELEBRATES DAY OF THE MIGRANT

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 2002 - Before reciting the Angelus today with the faithful gathered below his apartment window overlooking St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul noted that Italy today celebrates the Day of Migrants, adding that this is "an annual appointment that invites the ecclesial and civil communities to reflect on this important and complex social phenomenon."

"We live in an era of profound changes," said the Pope, "that touch persons, ethnic groups and peoples. Even today we note serious inequalities, especially between the north and south of the world. This causes the earth, which is ever more a 'global village', to be unfortunately for some a place of poverty and deprivation, while great wealth is concentrated in the hands of others. In this context, 'the other one' risks being considered a competitor, all the more so if they are 'different' in language, nationality and culture."

The Holy Father added that "for this reason it is important to spread a spirit of welcoming, translated into social behavior of attention, especially towards the needy. ... I hope that families, associations and the ecclesial and civil communities will become ever more places of hospitality, civil coexistence and fertile dialogue. May immigrants, for their part, know how to respect the law of the State that welcomes them and thus contribute to a better insertion in the new social context."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 16, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed F. Alapati Mataeliga, coordinator of the Pastoral Center of the archdiocese of Samoa-Apia, Independent State of Samoa as metropolitan archbishop of the same archdiocese (area 2,922, population 183,000, Catholics 30,336, priests 50, religious 117). The archbishop-elect was born in 1953 on Savaii Island, Samoa and was ordained a priest in 1977. He succeeds Cardinal Pio Taofinu'u, S.M., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. Cosimo Semeraro, S.D.B., as secretary of the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences and Fr. Vittorino Grossi, O.S.A., as a member of the same Pontifical Committee.

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LUTHERAN DELEGATION FROM NORWAY WELCOMED IN VATICAN

VATICAN CITY, NOV 16, 2002 (VIS) - Bishop Finn Wagle and a delegation from the Lutheran diocese of Nidaros in Norway, in Rome for the feast day of St. Olav, patron of Norway, were welcomed to the Vatican this morning by the Holy Father.

The Pope recalled his visit to Norway and the Scandinavian nations in 1989, and said that "the ecumenical service in the cathedral of Nidaros ... was a sign of new and deeper ecumenical relations between us, improved relations which, in 1993, enabled the Lutheran Church to allow the Catholic community to celebrate in the old cathedral the 150th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Catholic Church in Norway."

"We are committed," stated John Paul II, "to moving further ahead on the path to reconciliation. The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification between the Lutheran World Federation and the Catholic Church, signed in 1999, paves the way for a more extensive common witness. It brings us a step closer to the full visible unity which is the goal of our dialogue."

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DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN THE HOLY SEE AND QATAR

VATICAN CITY, NOV 18, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy See and the State of Qatar, eager to develop relations of mutual friendship and to promote international cooperation, have decided to establish diplomatic relations at the level of apostolic nunciature on behalf of the Holy See and embassy on behalf of Qatar, according to what was established at the Convention of Vienna, Austria on diplomatic relations on April 18, 1961.

Qatar has an area of 11,437 square kilometers and its capital is Doha. The population is made up of Bedouin Arabs, although the majority of its almost 800,000 inhabitants are immigrant workers from neighboring Arab states and Iran, Pakistan, India, and the Philippines.

The official religion is Islam. Many immigrant workers are Christians, and of these 45,000 are Catholics who come from different nations, mostly from the Philippines, India and other countries on the Indian subcontinent.

Qatar is part of the apostolic vicariate of Arabia, entrusted to Bishop Giovanni Bernard Gremoli, O.F.M.Cap., who resides in Abu Dhabi, a shiekdom and the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The only existing parish at the moment is in the charge of four priests, two diocesan priests and two Capuchins.

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POPE SHARES PAIN OF VICTIMS OF "VILE ATTACK" IN HEBRON

VATICAN CITY, NOV 17, 2002 (VIS) - In remarks made in several languages after praying the Angelus with pilgrims assembled in St. Peter's Square, the Pope referred to the victims of last Friday's attack in Hebron, and also recalled, in a comment made in French, the victims of automobile accidents.

"I wish to express," he said, "my deeply felt participation in the pain of the relatives of those who, last Friday, were the victims of a vile attack in Hebron, in the Holy Land, as people had just finished praying several steps away from the tomb of the one whom we recognize as our common father in the faith, the Patriarch Abraham. While I invoke eternal repose for the souls of those who died, I ask the Lord to instill in everyone the courage necessary to rediscover the path of justice and peace."

The Holy Father then recalled that "every year we are asked on this Sunday to remember the victims of automobile accidents. While praying especially to the Lord to welcome in His love all those who died tragically in an automobile accident, I entrust to Our Lady's tenderness the many who are wounded, often in a lasting way, as well as their families, and I call for solidarity on everyone's part. Finally, and earnestly, I ask drivers to show respect for each other, and a willingness to be prudent and responsible in their conduct."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 18, 2002 (VIS) - Today the Holy Father received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop George Pell of Sydney, Australia.

- Archbishop Maurice Marie-Sainte of Fort-de-France, Saint-Pierre, Martinique on his "ad limina" visit.
- Five prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Southern Region III-IV) on their "ad limina" visit:

- Bishop Orlando Brandes of Joinville.

- Bishop Luiz Carlos Eccel of Cacador.

- Bishop Joao Oneres Marchiori of Lages.

- Bishop Osorio Bebber, O.F.M. Cap., of Joacaba.

- Bishop Tito Buss, emeritus of Rio do Sul.

- Bishop Domenico Calcagno of Savona-Noli, Italy and an entourage.

On Saturday November 16, the Holy Father received in separate audiences:

- Three prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (Eastern Region II) on their "ad limina" visit:

- Bishop Ugo Maria Van Steekelenburg, O.F.M., of Almenara.

- Bishop Dario Campos, O.F.M., of Aracuai.

- Bishop Jose Mauro Pereira Bastos, C.P., of Janauba.

- Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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MESSAGE FROM COLOMBIA ON RELEASE OF KIDNAP VICTIMS

VATICAN CITY, NOV 18, 2002 (VIS) - The Permanent Committee of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia made public today a message, dated November 15, the day that Bishop Jorge Enrique Carvajal of Zipaquira, president of CELAM, and Fr. Desiderio Orjuela were released after being kidnapped on November 11.

In the message, Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Saenz, archbishop of Bogota and president of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia, and Bishop Fabian Marulanda Lopez, secretary general of the episcopate, write that the kidnapping "has provoked an enormous reaction of rejection ... and a public declaration of solidarity and recognition of the Church as an institution that has made significant contributions to the cause of reconciliation and peace."

The release of the two victims, reads the message, was possible "thanks to uninterrupted prayer. We express our recognition to the president of the republic and to his government, to the National Security Forces, especially the Army and the national police."

"The understanding and solidarity expressed in messages and communiques sent from within and outside the country, have emphasized the unity of the Colombian people and the faith of their Christian communities, as well as their confidence in and love for the Church. While we express our satisfaction that this painful event has been overcome, we make an appeal that the country might soon have ready the news of an accord that puts an end to the kidnapping of so many Colombians."

After stressing that kidnapping is "a detestable act, an atrocious crime, an offense that violates the basic rights of freedom, life, dignity and the security of the person," they write that "it is the duty of the State and responsibility of all citizens to prevent extreme cases of the crime. For this reason, while we condemn all expressions of violence, we urge everyone to confront decisively the phenomena that are at the root of criminal conduct, among them poverty, unemployment, injustice and corruption."

"Our message endeavors to carry to all those who have been kidnapped a voice of solidarity. We give them the assurance that we will continue to be committed to fighting for the elimination of this scourge that has deprived them of the joy of living in freedom. ... We conclude this message by repeating once again the call to pray insistently for peace in Colombia and for the release of everyone who has been kidnapped."

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