NEW AMBASSADOR FROM CYPRUS PRESENTS CREDENTIALS TO POPE

VATICAN CITY, JUL 5, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning received the Letters of Credence of Giorgios Poulides, accrediting him as the new ambassador from Cyprus to the Holy See. In his welcome speech, given in English, the Pope said he was "pleased to note that you are the first ambassador from your country to the Holy See who will be resident in the city of Rome."

"You have mentioned the recent signing of the Accession Treaty of the Republic of Cyprus to the European Union," stated the Pope. "This is certainly a significant step for the nation as it starts to make the necessary preparations for taking its place officially in the European economic and political community. And with your nation's deep-seated and long-standing Christian heritage, dating back to the very beginnings of Christianity itself, Cyprus will be in an advantageous position to make Europe ever more aware of its own Christian roots."

Reiterating remarks he made this year to the diplomatic corps, John Paul II said: "'Europe is the bearer of values which have borne fruit for two thousand years in an 'art' of thinking and living from which the whole world has benefited. Among these values Christianity holds a privileged position. ... A Europe which disavowed its past, which denied the fact of religion, and which had no spiritual dimension would be extremely impoverished in the face of the ambitious project which calls upon all its energies: constructing a Europe for all'."

"There is a manifest need in our contemporary world for the legitimate aspirations, traditions and beliefs of people of different backgrounds to be accorded full respect. Only mutual acceptance and sincere dialogue among peoples and groups can sustain the work of maintaining harmonious relations. Genuine peace requires the effective recognition and safeguarding of the dignity and rights of all the members of the human family as the fundamental criterion of policy and action, with special openness to and support of the neediest: the poor, the sick, the young, the old, the laborer, the immigrant."

The Holy Father then referred to "one of the most pressing problems facing Cyprus today: the ongoing division of the island. The Holy See, together with the rest of the international community, was greatly saddened that the plan for peace and reunification presented last year by the Secretary General of the United Nations ... did not gain the necessary consensus with the parties involved and was thus not accepted. ... I am pleased to hear you speak of your government's willingness to sit down once more at the table of dialogue and negotiation, under the auspices of the United Nations."

In closing, the Pope affirmed that "sincere negotiation is required for settling differences in a manner that serves the authentic good of all. ... In all of this, of course, the members of the Catholic community will always be eager to make their contribution along with their fellow Cypriots."

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