VATICAN CITY, OCT 10, 2003 (VIS) - We conclude our overview of Pope John Paul's pontificate with a review of the highlights from 1999 through October 15, 2003:
1999
JANUARY
- Friday, 8: Audience for Massimo D'Alema, president of Italy's Council of Ministers.
- Friday, 15: Audience for Pandeli Majko, president of Council of Ministers of Albania.
- Monday, 18: Visit by President Leonel Fernandez Reyna of the Dominican Republic. Start of Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.
- Friday, 22: John Paul II leaves on 85th foreign pastoral visit: Mexico City, Mexico and St. Louis, U.S.A. to close Synod for America. Pope signs and dates Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in America." Presents it to bishops the following day.
- Tuesday, 26: Pope John Paul and U.S. President Bill Clinton meet upon Pope's arrival in St. Louis, U.S.A. Presentation of new rite of exorcism of the Roman Book of Rites (from Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments).
FEBRUARY
- Thursday, 4: Holy See and Israel sign "Legal Personality Agreement."
- Monday, 8: New Hungarian Ambassador, Pal Tar, presents Letters of Credence. Holy See Press Office issues final report on 1998 Swiss Guard deaths.
- Thursday, 11: 70th anniversary of founding of Vatican City State.
- Friday, 12: Pope and bishops of Laos, Cambodia meet together for first time. Bishops are in Rome for "ad limina" visit.
- Friday, 19: Audience to Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority.
- Saturday, 20: Pope receives Jason C. Hu, foreign affairs minister of the Republic of China (Taiwan).
MARCH
- Monday, 1: Announcement that Pope has given permission to start the cause of beatification for Mother Teresa of Calcutta, dispensing from norm which states that five years must pass between person's death and start of cause.
- Thursday, 11: Audience for Seyyed Mohammad Khatami: first visit by a president of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Pope John Paul.
- Saturday, 20: Visit by president of Colombia, Andres Pastrana-Arango.
- Thursday, 25: Pope receives President Robert Kotcharian of Armenia, and Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong of Singapore in separate audiences. Holy See statement on NATO bombings of Yugoslavia, which began last evening.
- Monday, 29: Pope and Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro meet.
- Tuesday, 30: High level Vatican meeting studies Kosovo crisis: includes ambassadors to Holy See from NATO member countries and permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
APRIL
- Thursday, 1: Statement on today's mission to Belgrade by Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States.
- Sunday, 4: Easter. Pope writes Letter to Artists: published on April 23 in eight languages.
- Sunday, 18: Papal Letter to His Holiness Alexis II, Patriarch of Moscow and all the Russias, on the occasion of the latter's trip to Belgrade to find peaceful solution to Kosovo conflict.
- Thursday, 22: Pope welcomes President Alvaro Arzu Irigoyen of Guatemala.
- Monday, 26: Visit by Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon.
- Tuesday, 27: Pope writes U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on eve of Annan's departure for Europe to seek peace in Yugoslavia.
- Thursday, 29: Holy See and Cook Islands establish diplomatic ties.
MAY
- Sunday, 2: Capuchin Padre Pio of Pietrelcina is beatified.
- Friday, 7: Pope departs for three-day trip to Romania: 86th foreign apostolic trip. Includes meeting with Orthodox Patriarch Teoctist. Pope participates in Orthodox liturgy, and Patriarch in Catholic liturgy.
- Monday, 10: Pope welcomes Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova. Rugova holds press conference in Holy See Press Office.
- Tuesday, 18: John Paul II turns 79. He welcomes German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
- Sunday, 23: Pentecost. Three priests ordained in Russia, the first in 82 years.
- Sunday, 30: Pope travels to Ancona, 135th trip within Italy.
JUNE
- Thursday, 3: John Paul II receives U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.
- Saturday, 5: Pope leaves for Poland, his 87th foreign pastoral trip. Until June 17.
- Friday, 11: Warsaw, Poland: Pope's first ever address to a national parliament.
- Wednesday, 30: Holy Father's Letter on "Pilgrimages to the Places Linked to the History of Salvation."
JULY
- Thursday, 8: Note is published by Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts on the authentic interpretation of canons dealing with care of Eucharist.
- Monday, 19: Diplomatic Relations with the Lesser Antilles.
AUGUST
- Saturday and Sunday, 7, 8: Cardinal Angelo Sodano represents Pope John Paul at the closing celebrations of the European Youth Meeting, being held in Santiago de Compostela, Spain from August 4-8.
SEPTEMBER
- Saturday, 4: One-day apostolic trip to Salerno, Italy: Pope John Paul's 136th such trip within Italy.
- Sunday, 5: Audience at Castelgandolfo with Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian National Authority.
- Monday, 13: Audiences to Bishop Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, apostolic administrator of Dili, East Timor, and Prime Minister Pakalitha Bethuel Mosisili of Lesotho.
- Thursday, 16: Pope receives President Guido de Marco of the Republic of Malta.
- Saturday, 18: Pope receives King Abdullah Bin Hussein of Jordan.
- Sunday, 19: One-day apostolic trip to Slovenia: the Pope's 88th foreign pastoral trip.
- Thursday, 30: Audience for Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias, president of Venezuela. Holy Father blesses newly restored facade of St. Peter's Basilica in an early evening ceremony, accompanied by fireworks, in St. Peter's Square.
OCTOBER
- Friday, 1: A concelebrated Mass in St. Peter's Basilica opens the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops. During the Mass, Pope John Paul proclaims St. Edith Stein (Benedicta of the Cross), St. Bridget of Sweden and St. Catherine of Siena co-patronesses of Europe.
- Friday, 15: Holy Father's annual Message for World Food Day, on the theme "Young People Against Hunger."
- Saturday, 16: John Paul II marks the 21st anniversary of his election as Pope. His pontificate is the 10th longest in history (St. Peter's is considered the longest).
- Tuesday, 19: Official visit by Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Also, an announcement that a joint team of Catholic and Jewish scholars will be formed to review published volumes of Church archival material covering the World War II period.
- Friday, 22: Final message of European Synod of Bishops.
- Saturday, 23: Closing Mass for Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops.
- Tuesday, 26: Publication of "The Letter of His Holiness John Paul II to the Elderly."
- Thursday, 28: Pope receives Franjo Tudjman, president of Croatia, and Croatia's foreign affairs minister, Mate Granic.
- Friday, 29: Pope grants audience to President Rudolf Schuster of Slovakia, and Slovakia's foreign affairs minister, Eduard Kukan. Holy Father and world's religious leaders gather in St. Peter's Square at conclusion of Inter-religious assembly in the Vatican.
- Sunday, 31: Joint Declaration on the Doctrine Justification signed in Augsburg, Germany by Catholic Church and World Lutheran Federation.
NOVEMBER
- Thursday, 4: Cardinal Cassidy attends enthronement of new Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, Karekin II.
- Friday, 5: Pope leaves for five-day trip to India and Republic of Georgia on his 89th foreign pastoral visit. The Latin, Greek-Orthodox and Armenian patriarchs of Jerusalem announce that Holy Land shrines will be closed November 22 and 23 to express disapproval of the building of a mosque near the basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
- Saturday, 6: John Paul II signs Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation "Ecclesia in Asia" in New Delhi.
- Saturday, 13: Audience to King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden.
- Monday, 15: Visit by President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of the Republic of Algeria.
- Friday, 19: Pope receives Fernando Henrique Cardoso, president of Brazil.
- Monday, 22: Audiences to Carlos Saul Menem, president of Argentina, and Sheikh Hamad Bin Essa Al-Khalifa, emir of Bahrain.
- Tuesday, 23: Audiences to Martti Ahtisaari, president of Finland, and Jordan Sokolov, president of the Bulgarian parliament.
DECEMBER
- Friday, 10: Publication of papal Message to Catholics in China for the Jubilee Year.
- Saturday, 11: John Paul II inaugurates completely restored Sistine Chapel.
- Monday, 13: Audiences to president of Eritrea, Isaias Afwerki, and to His Beatitude Nerses Bedros XIX, patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians.
- Saturday, 18: Audience to Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic.
- Monday, 20: Promulgation of decrees by Congregation for the Causes of Saints: includes Popes Pius IX and John XXIII among those who will be beatified.
- Friday, 24: Pope John Paul II opens Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica, to start the Jubilee Year 2000. Presides at the celebration of Christmas Midnight Mass.
- Saturday, 25: Christmas Day "Urbi et Orbi" Message and Blessing. Pope opens the Holy Door at the patriarchal basilica of St. John Lateran.
- Friday, 31: Vespers and traditional end-of-the-year "Te deum" of thanksgiving in St. Peter's Basilica. At midnight Pope appears at his window and wishes the crowd gathered in St. Peter's Square a Happy New Year, new millennium and Jubilee year. He imparts his "Urbi et Orbi" blessing.
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