HOLY FATHER'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR NOVEMBER

VATICAN CITY, NOV 1, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father's general prayer intention for November is: "That lay people in the Church, living their own baptismal commitment, accompany with their prayer, counsel and help those who are called by God to the priestly, religious and missionary life."

His missionary intention is: "That elderly people rediscover happily their important role in our common missionary effort."

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ANGELUS REFLECTIONS ON ALL SAINTS DAY

VATICAN CITY, NOV 1, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father, during the angelus, focussed his reflections on today's feast of All Saints, saying that the Saints, "during their earthly life, committed themselves to always doing God's will, loving Him with all their heart and their neighbors as themselves. For this they even suffered trials and persecutions, and now their recompense in heaven is great and eternal."

"This is our future!" he told the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square to pray the angelus. "This is the most authentic and universal vocation of mankind: to form the great family of the children of God. ... Drawing us to this goal is the luminous example of so many brothers and sisters who, over the centuries, the Church has recognized as Blesseds and Saints, proposing them to everyone as models and guides."

John Paul II remarked that "in these days, whoever is able to will visit a cemetery, to pray on the tomb of their dearly beloved. This afternoon I too will go into the Vatican Grottoes to pray a while at the tombs of my predecessors."

After the angelus, the Pope then said: "During today's solemnity I would like to invite you to implore the Lord, through the intercession of all the Saints, for the precious gift of peace for a land which is so dear to us, Chechyna. May our heartfelt prayer obtain for those populations, who have been sorely tried, the grace of harmony, while we also pray that existing tensions find peaceful solutions in the respect of the rights of all citizens."

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POPE LAUDS SIGNING OF DECLARATION ON JUSTIFICATION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 31, 1999 (VIS) - Prior to praying the angelus this morning with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father spoke of the signing today in Augsburg, Germany, by the Catholic Church and the World Lutheran Federation of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.

"This is a milestone on the not easy path of recomposing full unity among Christians," stated John Paul II, "and it is rather significant that it took place in the city in which, in 1530 with the "Confessio Augustana," a decisive page in the Lutheran Reformation was written.

"Such a document," the Pope went on, referring to the joint declaration, "constitutes a secure basis for pursuing ecumenical theological research and for facing the difficulties which remain with a better established hope of resolving them in the future. ... I thank the Lord for this intermediate and important step along the difficult route, but rich with joy, unity and communion among Christians."

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JOHN PAUL II: "BE EVANGELIZED BY THE WORD OF CHRIST"

VATICAN CITY, OCT 31, 1999 (VIS) - This morning, John Paul II visited the Roman parish of St. Benedict Joseph Labre. In his homily during Mass he requested those present to "be aware of the great treasure of the Word of God, a treasure entrusted to the Church as a whole and to each individual member of the faithful. Allow yourselves to be evangelized by the word of Christ in order to become, in your turn, evangelizers of your brothers and sisters."

The Pope made a call to the civil authorities that the family "be encouraged and safeguarded, without being confused with other very different types of union. I call upon ecclesial communities and each individual believer to be ever more committed in support of the family and the values it represents, in the certainty that in this way they are effectively aiding the common good."

The Holy Father demonstrated his joy to the parishioners for having transformed their precarious situation, when they had no fixed place of worship, into "an occasion for truly evangelical witness, following the example of your patron, St. Benedict Joseph Labre."

In imitation of this saint, requested the Pope, "may you too know how to preserve the enthusiasm and manner of the early years of your parochial community, characterized by the announcement of the Gospel from door to door and by the celebration of the Eucharist in the entrance halls of buildings. This must remain your pastoral style - even if now you can rejoice in this beautiful new parish church - in keeping with the aims and methods of the Citizens' Mission."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 3, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Archbishop Joseph Chennoth, apostolic nuncio in the Central African Republic and Chad.

On Tuesday, November 2, he received in separate audiences:

- Six prelates from the western region of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, on their "ad limina" visit:
- Bishop Reynald Rouleau O.M.I., of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson.
- Bishop Douglas Crosby O.M.I., of Labrador City-Schefferville.
- Dom Peter Novecosky O.S.B., abbot emeritus of Saint Peter Muenster.
- Msgr. Gerry Desmond, diocesan administrator of Kamloops.
- Msgr. Arthe Guimond, diocesan administrator of Grouard-McLennan.
- Msgr. Walter Laliberty, diocesan administrator of Saint Paul in Alberta.

On Saturday, October 30, he received in separate audiences:

- Arnoldo Aleman Lacayo, president of the Republic of Nicaragua, accompanied by his wife and an entourage.
- Two prelates from the western region of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, on their "ad limina" visit:
- Bishop James Vernon Weisgerber of Saskatoon.
- Bishop Eugene Cooney of Nelson.
- Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves O.P., prefect of the Congregation for bishops.
- Cardinal Roger Etchegaray and Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, respectively president and secretary general of the Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

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