POPE TO SIGN 2001 SYNOD EXHORTATION ON OCTOBER 16

VATICAN CITY, SEP 18, 2003 (VIS) - This morning at Castelgandolfo John Paul II received participants in the traditional course of study and formation organized by the Congregation for Bishops for bishops who were recently appointed.

The Pope told the prelates who come from different countries that the pastoral mission that has been entrusted to them "is exalting but today it is also particularly arduous and difficult," due to problems and uncertainties and the fact that many Christians seem to be "disoriented and without hope." For this reason, he added, "we pastors are called to proclaim the Gospel and to be witnesses of hope, with our gaze turned to the Cross, to the mystery of the triumph and fecundity of Christ crucified."

After recalling that the episcopal ministry, in light of theological hope, was the theme of the last Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, celebrated in 2001, the Holy Father announced that on October 16, on the 25th anniversary of his pontificate, he will sign the post-synodal apostolic exhortation.

John Paul II emphasized that the episcopal ministry "calls us to lead a holy life. May you be the live and visible image of the Good Shepherd. Be vigilant over your flock. ... Love the Church more than yourselves! Live in it and for it, giving yourselves entirely to pastoral service."

"Our apostolate," he continued, "must be an overflow of our interior life. ... Be men of prayer! With your example, you will show the primacy of spiritual life, that is, the primacy of grace which is the soul of every apostolate."

The Pope urged the prelates to take care of their "first collaborators, priests" and he spoke about the urgency of "adequate pastoral ministry for vocations at the beginning of the third millennium."

"Vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life are a gift from God that needs to be asked for insistently in prayer. But," he concluded, "they are also the fruit of strong and healthy families and ecclesial communities where the figure of the priest is highly regarded and valued. May the choice of educators in the seminaries be made with the greatest care because only the personal testimony of a joyful and generous life is capable of leading the souls of young people today."

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