NTIMATE RELATION EXISTS BETWEEN THE CROSS OF CHRIST AND PAIN

VATICAN CITY, JAN 24, 1999 (VIS) - John Paul II this afternoon visited the sick at the regional Dr. Adolfo Lopez Mateos Hospital in Mexico City. Having greeted the sick people individually, he gave a message to Bishop Jose Lizares Estrada, president of the Episcopal Commission for the Pastoral Care of Healthcare Workers, in which he reflects on the value of pain in the context of the redeeming work of Christ.

"People," writes the Pope in the message read to the sick, "are called to joy and happiness, but daily experience many forms of pain, and illness is the most frequent and most common expression of human suffering. In the face of this situation, one spontaneously asks: "Why do we suffer? For what reason do we suffer? Does it mean anything that people suffer? Can the experience of physical or moral pain be a positive one?"

"For Christians, these are not questions which have no answer. Pain is a mystery. ... It is part of the mystery of the human person, which only becomes clear in Jesus Christ. ... The person finds the answer in so far as they partake in the sufferings of Christ."

This partaking in the life of Christ "carries with it the sharing in his pain." There is an "intimate relationship between the Cross of Jesus - the symbol of supreme pain and the price of our true freedom - and our pain, suffering, affliction, difficulties and torment which can weigh down our souls or take root in our bodies."

The Holy Father states that "we are never alone faced with the mystery of suffering. We live this with Christ, who gives meaning to our whole lives: in moments of joy and peace, as well as in moments of affliction and difficulty. With Christ all has meaning, including suffering and death; without Him, nothing is fully explained, even legitimate pleasures which God has brought together with various times in human life."

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DO NOT LET THE LIGHT OF FAITH BE EXTINGUISHED!

VATICAN CITY, JAN 24, 1999 (VIS) - John Paul II celebrated Mass this morning at the Hermanos Rodriguez speedway in Mexico City, in the presence of well over 1 million people, and invited the faithful not to "let the light of faith be extinguished. Mexico continues to need it to be able to build a more just and fraternal society, in solidarity with all those who have nothing and who hope for a better future."

"May the word of Christ reach those who have not yet heard it! May you have the courage to give witness to the Gospel in the streets and squares, in the valleys and mountains of this nation! Promote the new evangelization, following the guidelines of the Church."

Having evoked the Church's call to conversion, which "becomes more pressing in this time of preparation for the Great Jubilee," the Pope said: "The entire Church must begin the new millennium by helping her children to purify themselves of sin and evil. May she extend her horizons of holiness and faithfulness so as to partake in the grace of Christ."

The Holy Father reminded all, particularly young people, of Christ's invitation to follow him: "Be generous, don't stop answering the Master who is calling. Follow him so as to be, like the apostles, fishers of men." He encouraged parents to be "the first in nourishing the seed of vocation in their children" and bringing them up according to the principles of the Gospel.

Lastly, he entrusted the young people of Mexico and the crusade for life to the protection of Our Lady of Guadalupe. "I entrust to her intercession the poor with their needs and wishes. Before her, with her 'mestizo' face, I lay the desires and hopes of the indigenous peoples with their own culture who hope to obtain their legitimate aspirations and the development to which they have a right. I also entrust the Afro-Americans to her care."

After Mass and before praying the Angelus, the Pontiff said that tomorrow will mark the end of the Week for Prayer for Christian Unity. "Reaching full communion among all believers in Christ is a constant aim of the Church, asking the Father with renewed fervor in preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 that the desire of Christ that they might all be one, might become a reality."

"I have learned with sadness," he added, "of the barbarous assassination of Sr. Maria Aloysius of the Missionaries of Charity, in Sierra Leone, and of the worrisome information about episodes of great violence against the Church in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. No motive can justify the fierce rage against persons and institutions which for years have worked in favor of the good of everyone. Let us pray that the Lord will inspire in everyone sentiments worthy of man, who was created in the image and likeness of God."

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HUMAN HISTORY CANNOT GO AGAINST THE PERSON

VATICAN CITY, JAN 23, 1999 (VIS) - This evening, following a courtesy visit to the president of the republic at his Los Pinos residence, the Pope met with the diplomatic corps.

John Paul II reminded ambassadors that "the Church, faithful to her mission received from her Founder, tirelessly proclaims that the human person must be the focus of all civil and social order, and of all technical and economic systems of development. Human history cannot go against the person."

When on the level of international relations "priority is given to the economy over human values, thus weakening them, freedom and democracy suffer."

The Holy Father said that America will be the continent of hope if "the human communities which compose it, as well as its ruling class, accept a common ethical basis. ... America and the whole of humanity need essential points of reference for all citizens and politicians."

The intangible principles sanctioned by the Ten Commandments "are an obligation for both individuals and societies. These principles and others similar to them must be a dyke against all attempts on life, from the beginning up to its natural end; against wars which are spreading and the use of arms as instruments of destruction; against corruption; ... against the invasive abuse of private life on the part of authorities who approve of forced sterilization or laws which diminish the right to life; against misleading publicity campaigns which condition the truth; ... against monopolies which try to nullify healthy initiatives; ... against the abuse of drugs."

Having highlighted that little attention has been paid to moral principles during this century, the Pope emphasized that "instead of seeing them later violated, their ethical, morally binding strength must be consolidated in the new century and millennium."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 25, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Antonio Vitalino Fernandez Dantas, O.Carm., auxiliary of the patriarchate of Lisbon, as bishop of Beja (area 12,300, population 226,000, Catholics 190,000, priests 57, religious 94), Portugal. He succeeds Bishop Manuel Franco da Costa de Oliveira Falcao, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Beja was accepted by the Holy Father upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Bishop Paul S. Loverde of Ogdensburg, as bishop of Arlington (area 16,935, population 2,115,700, Catholics 311,351, priests 218, religious 289), United States of America.

- Appointed Fr. Philippe Ranaivomanana, as bishop of Ihosy (area 40,990, population 321,500, Catholics 32,500, priests 31, religious 70), Madagascar. The bishop-elect was born in Sarobatra, Madagascar, in 1949, was ordained a priest in 1977, and since 1996 has been vicar general of the diocese of Ansirabe.

On Saturday January 23, it was made public that the Holy Father appointed Bishop Salvatore Gristina, auxiliary of Palermo, as bishop of Acireale (area 665, population 219,578, Catholics 218,323, priests 184, religious 397), Italy.

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TRIP TO MEXICO AND U.S. IS POPE'S 85TH FOREIGN VISIT

VATICAN CITY, JAN 22, 1999 (VIS) - When he departed Rome's Fiumicino Airport at 9 a.m. today for the 10,702 kilometer flight to Mexico City for the closing of the Synod for America, Pope John Paul started his 85th pastoral trip outside of Italy, returning to the country where he made his first foreign trip as Pope.

This is the Holy Father's fourth trip to Mexico. He first visited in late January 1979. Between his second trip in May 1990 and his third in August of 1993, diplomatic relations were established between the Holy See and Mexico at the level of apostolic nunciature for the former and of embassy for the latter. These were announced on September 21, 1992. Previous relations between the two had been established in 1864, but broken off unilaterally by Mexico in 1867.

Mexico has a population of 96 million, of which 89 million, or 92 percent, are Catholics. There are 83 ecclesiastical circumscriptions, 5,462 parishes and 4,359 pastoral centers. These are served by 119 bishops (to which must be added bishop-elect Fernando Chavez Ruvalcaba, named on January 20), 13,141 priests (9,686 diocesan and 3,455 religious), 8,093 religious and 103,875 catechists. There are currently 6,058 minor seminarians and 7,519 major seminarians.

A total of 970,383 students attend Catholic schools in Mexico, including the 3,037 primary and elementary schools, 2,990 middle and secondary and 175 institutes of higher learning.

The archdiocese of Mexico was founded in 1530, a year before the five apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe to two Indians, Juan Diego and his uncle, Juan Bernardino. The shrine bearing her name attracts an average of 20 million pilgrims a year. Our Lady of Guadalupe was named patroness of Mexico in 1737, of the Americas in 1910 and of the Philippines in 1935. For this reason, there are 24 flags representing the Philippines and various countries of the Americas in front of the basilica. Juan Diego was beatified during a Eucharistic celebration in the new basilica on May 6, 1990.

Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera was named archbishop of Mexico in 1995. He was created a cardinal in the consistory of February 1998.
The second leg of Pope John Paul's trip starts on January 26 when he arrives in the U.S. archdiocese of St. Louis. He has been to the United States on six previous occasions: 1979, 1981, 1984, 1987, 1993 for World Youth Day in Denver and in October 1995 when he spoke at the United Nations and visited several dioceses on the U.S. East Coast.

At the end of 1997 the U.S. population was 266,490,000, of which 61,207,914 or 23 percent are Catholics. Ecclesiastical circumscriptions include 34 archdioceses and 157 dioceses, in which there are 19,677 parishes. There are 11 American cardinals (of whom three work in the Roman Curia), 62 archbishops, 377 bishops, 48,097 priests, 93,937 religious and 11,785 permanent deacons.

This is the Holy Father's first visit to St. Louis, which was founded in 1764. The diocese was established in 1826 and raised to the level of metropolitan church in 1847. It covers an area of 15,451 square kilometers and has a population of 2,094,579, of whom 27 percent, or 586,300, are Catholics. There are 239 parishes and 177 churches or missionary stations served by 475 diocesan priests, 408 religious priests and 2,909 religious.

Archbishop Justin Rigali became archbishop of St. Louis in 1994. He had previously worked for many years at the Secretariat of State, including a period as president of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the curial office which trains Vatican diplomats, and had been secretary of the Congregation for Bishops up to this current appointment.

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