OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Damian Dalu of the clergy of the diocese of Iringa, Tanzania, professor of moral theology at the major seminary of Segerea in Dar-es-Salaam, as bishop of Geita (area 10,697, population 880,000, Catholics 141,000, priests 23, religious 32), Tanzania. The bishop-elect was born in Kiponzelo, Tanzania, in 1955 and ordained a priest in 1984.

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ARCHBISHOP TAURAN TRAVELS TO BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2000 (VIS) - This afternoon, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls declared that "Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States, today travelled to Bosnia-Herzegovina at the invitation of the local episcopal conference. He is due to stay until May 12.

"During his stay, he will visit Sarajevo, Mostar and Banja Luka and hold meetings with political figures and various religious leaders."

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JOHN PAUL II WELCOMES 20,000 PILGRIMS IN ST. PETER'S SQUARE

VATICAN CITY, MAY 6, 2000 (VIS) - More than 20,000 faithful from numerous countries were greeted this morning in St. Peter's Square by the Holy Father who had special words for each group of pilgrims.

Speaking Spanish, he first addressed the priests, religious and lay faithful from Uruguay who had celebrated Mass this morning in St. Peter's, after having gone through the Holy Door. He urged them "to faithfully pursue the mission that the Lord has given you and to give joyous witness to Christ in today's society. Your ecclesial path will be strengthened with the celebration next October of your National Eucharistic Congress. I hope and wish that this will be a special moment of grace."

John Paul II then addressed the numerous Italian faithful who had come to Rome on their Jubilee pilgrimage, including a group from the diocese of Arezzo-Cortona-San Sepolcro. He exhorted in particular the priests and religious "to pursue with generosity your commitment according to that spirit of unity and missionary calling which marks the work of all those whom God has called to work in His vineyard."

The Holy Father asked pilgrims from the diocese of Fiesole "to pursue with courage the path of a convinced Christian witness in the places where Providence has placed you. I know that in your last diocesan synod, you decided to mark your ecclesial path, especially regarding family ministry, with the Eucharist. ... Persons, families, parishes and associations, everyone is strengthened by approaching the Eucharist."

Speaking French, the Pope then welcomed the faithful from Switzerland who are in Rome for today's swearing-in ceremony of 35 new Swiss Guards, "especially the Instrumental Union, the contingent of Friboug Grenadiers and the Fanfare of St. Michael's College. "Your musical and instrumental groups allow you to express through music your praise of the Creator."

"I now address a cordial greeting," he continued, "to the participants in the 20th edition of the 'Certamen Ciceronianum' and I hope with all my heart that the study of the Latin language and literature will be a valid instrument for preserving and underscoring the values linked to the culture of ancient Rome, mother of civilizations and teacher of law."

The Holy Father concluded by welcoming Italian pilgrims from Arosio, Fabriago, Bologna, Pozzallo, Castelvetrano and Pesaro.

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THE ECUMENISM OF MARTYRS IS THE MOST CONVINCING

VATICAN CITY, MAY 7, 2000 (VIS) - In Rome's Colosseum at 6 p.m. today, the Pope presided at an ecumenical celebration for witnesses to the faith in the twentieth century. Five thousand people braved the rain to attend the event, in which nineteen representatives of Orthodox, Protestant and Anglican Churches and ecclesial communities took part.

The event began with a 'statio' inside the Colosseum. Then the Book of the Gospel was carried in a procession, led by the Pope and representatives of other Churches, to the place of commemoration, outside the amphitheater.

After the Liturgy of the Word, during which the Gospel of the Beatitudes was read, the Holy Father pronounced his homily.
The Pope confirmed that the number of Christians who gave their lives for Christ in the twentieth century was, perhaps, greater than that of the early Christian period, and that all Churches had been affected.

"The generation to which I belong experienced the horror of war, the concentration camps, persecution. In my homeland, during the Second World War, priests and Christians were deported to extermination camps. In Dachau alone some three thousand priests were interned. ... I myself am a witness of much pain and many trials, having seen these in the years of my youth. My priesthood, from its very beginning, was marked 'by the great sacrifice of countless men and women of my generation'."

The memory of those who experienced persecution, violence and death "must not be forgotten, rather they must be remembered and their lives documented. The names of many are unknown; the names of some have been denigrated by their persecutors, who tried to add disgrace to martyrdom; the names of others have been concealed by their executioners."

John Paul II added: "Countless numbers refused to yield to the cult of the false gods of the twentieth century and were sacrificed by communism, nazism, by the idolatry of State or race. Many others fell in the course of ethnic or tribal wars, because they had rejected a way of thinking foreign to the Gospel of Christ. Some went to their death because, like the Good Shepherd, they decided to remain with their people, despite intimidation."

The Holy Father indicated that "the ecumenism of the martyrs and the witnesses to the faith is the most convincing of all; to the Christians of the twenty-first century it shows the path to unity."

"If we glory in this heritage it is not because of any partisan spirit and still less because of any desire for vengeance upon the persecutors, but in order to make manifest the extraordinary power of God, who has not ceased to act in every time and place. We do this as we ourselves offer pardon, faithful to the example of the countless witnesses killed even as they prayed for their persecutors."

After the homily the commemoration of the witnesses took place. The list of the 12,600 witnesses to the faith of the 20th century grouped them into eight categories covering the memory of Christian faithful from all continents and from different Churches and Christian communities: Christians who witnessed the faith under Soviet totalitarianism; witnesses to the faith who fell victim of Communism in other European countries; confessors of the faith who fell victim of Nazism and Fascism; followers of Christ who gave their lives for announcing the Gospel in Asia and Oceania; Christ's faithful persecuted for hatred of the Catholic faith; witnesses of evangelization in Africa and Madagascar; Christians who gave their lives for love of Christ and their fellows in America and witnesses of the faith in various parts of the world.
At the end of the ceremony, which lasted two and a half hours, the Pope expressed his special thanks for the presence of representatives from other Churches and ecclesial communities and made a call "to keep the memory of our brothers and sisters alive, and to imitate their example."

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40,000 FAITHFUL GATHER IN ST PETER'S FOR REGINA COELI

VATICAN CITY, MAY 7, 2000 (VIS) - Before reciting the Regina Coeli with the 40,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's, Pope John Paul reminded them that "this evening, at the Colosseum, there will be an important Jubilee event: the ecumenical commemoration of the Witnesses to the Faith of the 20th century."

"The century just-concluded," he said, "was marked by many dark shadows; but in their midst there were also splendid lights. So many men and women, Christians of every confession, race and age, witnessed to the faith during persecutions, while in prison, in the midst of deprivations of every type, and many of them even shed their blood to remain faithful to Christ, to the Church, to the Gospel."

The Holy Father went on to say that "it is the very light of Easter which shines in them: it is from Christ's resurrection, in fact, that His disciples receive the strength to follow the Teacher in the hour of trial. For this reason this commemoration was placed with the Easter liturgical season."

"To recall the heroic witnesses of the faith of the 20th century means preparing for the future, assuring a solid foundation for hope. The new generations must know how much the faith cost those who received it as their legacy, in order to receive with gratitude the torch of the Gospel and to illuminate the new century and new millennium with it."

In concluding remarks, John Paul II stated that "it is important to underline that this evening's celebration will have an ecumenical mark: the witness of several Christians of various denominations and ecclesial communities will be proclaimed. Their courage in taking upon themselves the Cross of Christ speaks with a voice that is stronger than that of the factors which divide."

Several thousand members belonging to an estimated 74 Italian bands were among the faithful present in St. Peter's Square today. They arrived in early morning, participated in a Mass in the basilica and then entertained the pilgrims in the square.

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