AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Felipe Perez Roque, foreign minister of Cuba.
- Archbishop Paul Fouad Tabet, apostolic nuncio in Greece.
- Metropolitan Archbishop Timotheos of Vostra, secretary general of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
- Irawan Abidin, ambassador of Indonesia, accompanied by his wife, on a farewell visit.
- Jorge Siles Salinas, ambassador of Bolivia, accompanied by his wife, on a farewell visit.
- Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte C.I.C.M., president of the Central Labor Office of the Holy See, accompanied by Archbishop Giovanni De Andrea and Gio Maria Poles, respectively vice-president and director of the same office.

On Saturday, January 15, he received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Paolo Romeo, apostolic nuncio in Canada.
- Bishop Jerzy Mazur S.V.D., apostolic administrator of Eastern Siberia.
- Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See, accompanied by Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli, Msgr. Alfonso Badini Confalonieri and Giorgio Stoppa, respectively secretary and delegates of the administration.
- Cardinal Luca Moreira Neves O.P., prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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DECLARATION ON VISIT OF CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTER

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2000 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls today made the following declaration:

"The Holy Father today received Felipe Perez Roque, the foreign minister of Cuba. Later, the minister also met with Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano and Archbishop Jean Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States.

"The meetings provided an opportunity to evaluate the development of Church-State relations in Cuba.

"On this subject, the minister emphasized his government's willingness to support mutual and harmonious collaboration.

"For its part, the Holy See expressed its hope for ever greater religious liberty, in accordance with declarations made by the Holy Father during his historic visit of January 1998.

"The convergence of views regarding the international political situation was also noted, as was the need for greater solidarity in support of the poorest countries."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 17, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Gerald Isaac Lobo, episcopal vicar of the diocese of Mangalore, India, and pastor of the parish of St. Monica at Kumbla, as bishop of Shimoga (area 21,405, population 4,247,881, Catholics 25,405, priests 37, religious 157), India. The bishop-elect was born at Agrar, India, in 1949 and ordained a priest in 1977.

On Saturday, January 15, it was made public that he:

- Appointed as consultors of the Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims, which is part of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue: Frs. Matthew Kukah, Nigeria; James Channan O.P., Pakistan; Jean-Marie Gaudeul M. Afr., France. Also, Vincenzo Buonomo, Italy, and Yussef Kamal El-Hage, Lebanon.

- Appointed His Beatitude Jean Pierre XVIII Kasparian, patriarch emeritus of Cilicia of the Armenians, as member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.
- Appointed as consultors of the Congregation for Bishops: Frs. Domingo Javier Andres Gutierrez C.M.F., president of the "Utriusque Iuris" Institute of the Pontifical Lateran University; Gianfranco Ghirlanda S.J., dean of the faculty of canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University; Edward Kaczynski O.P., rector of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas; Donato Valentini S.D.B., lecturer in dogmatic theology at the Pontifical Salesian University.

- Appointed as consultors of the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Assistance to Health Care Workers: Msgr. Sergio Pintor of the archdiocese of Oristano, Italy, director of the Italian Episcopal Conference's national office for pastoral assistance in the field of health care; Fr. Ernesto Scirpoli of the diocese of Biella, Italy. Also, Fernando S. Antezana Aranibar, former assistant director general of the World Health Organization, Bolivia and Maurizio Scelli, secretary general of UNITALSI, Italy.

- Gave his blessing to the election, canonically carried out by the Synod of Bishops of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church, meeting at Roboueh, Lebanon, on January 14, 2000, of Fr. Joseph Kallas S.M.S.P., as archbishop of Beirut and Gibail of the Greek-Melkites (Catholics 200,000, priests 70, religious 313), Lebanon. The archbishop-elect was born at Fiki, Lebanon, in 1931 and ordained a priest in 1958.

- Gave his blessing to the election canonically carried out by the Synod of Bishops of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church, meeting at Roboueh, Lebanon, on January 14, 2000, of Fr. Nicholas Sawaf, of the clergy of Aleppo of the Greek-Melkites, Syria, as archbishop of Lattaquie of the Greek Melkites (Catholics 10,000, priests 18, religious 24), Syria. The archbishop-elect was born in Aleppo, Syria, in 1943 and ordained a priest in 1968.

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MAY THE CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE GUIDE US IN THE HOLY YEAR

VATICAN CITY. JAN 14, 2000 (VIS) - Today, John Paul II received commanders and officers of the General Inspectorate for Public Security at the Vatican, thanking them for their service to the Holy See and to his own person.

The Holy Father stated that they were called "to a greater commitment in order to ensure that celebrations and events associated with the Jubilee take place smoothly and propitiously. The external order which you attentively safeguard cannot but favor an interior order, diffused with serenity and peace."

After recalling that the Christmas period has recently come to a close, a period in which "we spiritually encountered Christ, born for us on Holy Night," the Pope said: "May this spiritual experience accompany us through the entire Holy Year! May the Great Jubilee be a time ... of reconciliation with God and with our brothers and sisters. In this way, I trust that each of you live the coming months in the best possible of ways, welcoming the gifts of grace that this salvational event offers us. I hope that within yourselves, you experience that peace announced by the angels at Bethlehem for all men and women of good will."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 14, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Pablo Puente, apostolic nuncio in Great Britain.
- Archbishop Peter Stephan Zurbriggen, apostolic nuncio in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
- Archbishop Hans Schwemmer, apostolic nuncio in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
- Bishop Jayme Henrique Chemello of Pelotas, Brazil, president of the Brazilian Episcopal Conference, accompanied by Archbishop Marcelo Pinto Carvalheira of Paraiba, Brazil, and Bishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis, auxiliary of Brasilia, Brazil, respectively vice-president and secretary general of the same episcopal conference.
- Cardinal Lucas Moreira Neves O.P., president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and Bishop Cipriano Calderon Polo, vice-president of the same commission.

This evening he is scheduled to receive Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B., emeritus of Vercelli, Italy, and secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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