17 MILLION HAVE ATTENDED WEEKLY PAPAL AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, DEC 17, 2003 (VIS) - Over 17 million faithful from around the world have attended weekly general audiences during the 25-year pontificate of Pope John Paul II, according to information released by the Prefecture of the Papal Household which organizes the Wednesday audiences.

There have been two high points in the past 25 years. In 1979, the first full year of his pontificate, 1.585 million people attended the Holy Father's 45 Wednesday audiences. During the Great Jubilee Year 2000 just under 1.5 million people were present at Pope John Paul's 45 general audiences.

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