POPE RECEIVES BISHOPS OF BELARUS AT END OF AD LIMINA VISIT

VATICAN CITY, FEB 10, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed the prelates of Belarus, including Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev at the conclusion of their "ad limina" visit, and spoke to them of the many challenges they face - and of the positive initiatives they have taken - in the years since the fall of communism.

"I still vividly remember our meeting in April 1997," said the Pope. "It was a moment of deep joy to learn of the springtime of ecclesial life in your country, following the winter of violent persecution that lasted for several decades. At that time there were still the effects of systematic atheism on your peoples, especially the young, and of the almost total destruction of ecclesiastical structures and the forced closing of places of Christian formation."

He told the prelates that, as they plan their pastoral priorities, it is important to focus on the family, marriage and young people, but also on "the insertion of Belarus in the vast context of the European continent" because "the consequences of delaying this weigh on the economic rebuilding and, above all in the countryside, the growth of poverty."

The Holy Father underscored that the first priority for the bishops must be the family which, he added, is undergoing a profound crisis worldwide. Repeating what he told families recently gathered in Manila for the Fourth World Encounter of Families, he stated: "It is necessary to witness with conviction and coherence to the truth about the family, founded on marriage. The family is a great good, necessary for the life, development and future of mankind."

John Paul II noted that Belarus has a population of almost 10 million people, of whom 20 percent live in the capital Minsk. Only 10 percent of Byelorussians are Catholic.

Among the prelates' priorities, he added, there must be attention to young people, many of whom live in cities and seek employment. "The demographic crisis without precedent," he went on, "is a strong challenge for announcing the Gospel of life; and the phenomena of marginalization, including alcoholism, which has recently aggravated, await urgent and efficacious answers."

He stated that the Catholic Church is seeking to do its best to help in these and other areas, but remarked that the personnel - priests, religious, catechists - to do so is small. In fact, he pointed out, Belarus is assisted by the Churches in neighboring countries.

The Holy Father then turned to the task, just begun by the bishops, of translating into Byelorussian sacred texts, including the Roman Missal. He highlighted the need for everyone to make prayer a daily and frequent part of their lives and he encouraged the bishops and faithful to pray for the success of the task of translating sacred texts, for the initiatives undertaken by the Catholic Church in Belarus, for an increase of pastoral workers, especially candidates to the priesthood and religious life, and for a fruitful ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox Church.

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