OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 19, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Jose Haring O.F.M., pastor of the parish of St. Anthony in Aracaju, Brazil, as bishop of Limoeiro do Norte (area 18,316, population 556,000, Catholics 525,000, priests 28, religious 73), Brazil. The bishop-elect was born in Gronau, Germany, in 1940 and ordained a priest in 1967.

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PAPAL MESSAGE FOR WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY 2000

VATICAN CITY, JAN 19, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul's Message for the 34th World Communications Day will be presented in the Holy See Press Office on Monday, January 24, at 11:30 a.m. by Archbishop John Foley and Bishop Pierfranco Pastore, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. The theme of the message is: "Announcing Christ in the Media at the Dawn of the New Millennium."

The jubilee celebrations for journalists and for those involved in the entertainment industry will also be presented that day during the press conference.

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THE POPE INVITES US TO REFLECT ON THE MYSTERY OF THE TRINITY

VATICAN CITY, JAN 19, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father's catechesis today was the first in a series on the contemplation of the mystery of God. This theme is in keeping with the Apostolic Letter "Tertio millennio adveniente" where the Pope wrote that the aim of the celebration of this Jubilee year is "to give glory to the Trinity, from whom everything in the world and in history comes and to whom everything returns."

Speaking to the faithful gathered in the Paul VI Hall for the general audience, the Pope said: "Drawing inspiration from an image of the Book of the Apocalypse, we can compare this task to the journey of a pilgrim along the banks of the river of God, in other words, of His presence and His revelation in the history of men."

John Paul II said that today "we will consider the two extremities of that river, the source and the estuary, uniting them in a single horizon. The Holy Trinity lies at the very roots of existence and of history and is present in their final culmination. It constitutes the beginning and the end of the history of salvation. Between the two extremes" the vicissitudes of life take place, marked by sin and by grace.

"The mystery of the Trinity," he went on, "far from being a dry and intellectual truth, is life that abides within us and sustains us. In this Jubilee year, our reflections spring from this trinitarian life which precedes and lays the foundation for the creation."

The Pope added that God "is love in His innermost life, where the trinitarian energy is precisely the expression of the eternal love with which the Father begets the Son and both of Them mutually give Themselves in the Holy Spirit. This is love in relation to the world."

He concluded: "If the eyes of our heart, illuminated by the revelation, become sufficiently pure and penetrating, they become capable of finding, within the faith, this mystery in which everything that exists has its roots and foundation."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 18, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Fr Aurelio Jose Kuhn O.F.M., pastor in the archdiocese of Rosario, Argentina, as bishop of the territorial prelature of Dean Funes (area 28,700, population 54,064, Catholics 51,500, priests 11, religious 8), Argentina. The bishop-elect was born in Aldea Santa Maria, Argentina, in 1938 and ordained a priest in 1963. He succeeds Bishop Lucas Luis Donnelly O. de M., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Bishop Roger Lawrence Schwietz O.M.I,, of Duluth, U.S.A., as coadjutor archbishop of Anchorage (area 359,832 population 384,209, Catholics 28,723, priests 31, permanent deacons 12, religious 55), U.S.A. The archbishop-elect was born in Saint Paul, U.S.A., in 1940 and ordained a priest in 1967.

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POPE OPENS FOURTH AND FINAL HOLY DOOR OF JUBILEE 2000

VATICAN CITY, JAN 18, 2000 (VIS) - At 11 this morning, in the presence of representatives of 23 Christian Churches, communions and organizations, Pope John Paul opened the fourth and final Holy Door of the Jubilee Year 2000 at the patriarchal basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the Walls, and presided at an ecumenical celebration.

In his homily, the Pope recalled that "the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity starts today in Rome with this celebration which sees us united here. I wanted the opening of the Holy Door in this basilica to coincide with this event ... in order to underline the ecumenical dimension which must mark the Jubilee Year. At the start of the new Christian millennium in this year of grace which invites us to a more radical conversion to the Gospel, we must turn with ever more heartfelt supplication to the Holy Spirit, asking for the grace of our unity."

"We, representatives of diverse peoples and nations, of various Churches and ecclesial communities," he continued, "know that we are still divided brothers, but we have put ourselves with a decisive conviction on the path which leads to full unity of the Body of Christ."

"Welcome to this encounter which marks a step forward towards unity in the Spirit in which 'we have been baptized'," affirmed the Holy Father. "We have received one Baptism. This places a sacramental bond of unity among those who, through it have been regenerated."

"Christ is the door to our salvation, which leads to reconciliation, peace and unity. .. The humble symbol of a door which opens bears within it an extraordinary richness of meaning: it proclaims to all that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life."

Recalling St. Paul's words that "we are all baptized in One Spirit to form one body," Pope John Paul asked: "Can a body be divided? Can the Church, the Body of Christ, be divided? From the first Councils, Christians have professed together that the Church is 'one, holy, Catholic and apostolic'. With Paul, they know that one alone is the body, one alone is the Spirit, one alone is the hope to which we have been called."

"In this year of grace," he observed, "the awareness of our own responsibility for the divisions which mark the history of the mystical body of Christ must grow in each of us."

The Holy Father said that "in this basilica built to honor St. Paul, ... we ask pardon of Christ for all that in the history of the Church has prejudiced His plan for unity. With trust we ask Him, the door of life, the door of salvation, the door of peace, to sustain our steps, to make lasting the progress already undertaken, to grant us the support of His Spirit, so that our commitment may be ever more authentic and efficacious."
"My wish in this solemn moment," John Paul II concluded, "is that the year of grace 2000 will be for all of Christ's disciples an occasion for a new impulse for the ecumenical commitment."

At the end of his homily, the Pope said, in off-the-cuff remarks: "'Unitade! Unitade!' This cry that I heard during my visit to Bucharest comes back to me now as a powerful echo. 'Unitade! Unitade!' the people cried during the celebration of the Eucharist. All Christians, Catholics, Orthodox and evangelical Protestants, cried together 'Unitade! Unitade!' Thank-you for this voice, for this consoling voice of our brothers and our sisters. Perhaps we too can leave this basilica, shouting like them: 'Unita, unita; Unite, Unity.' Thank-you."

Following the ceremony, there was a lunch at St. Paul's Abbey for all participants. After lunch, the Holy Father spoke briefly, naming each delegate present and thanking them personally for their participation in today's ecumenical service.

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