AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JUN 13, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president of the Committee and of the Presidential Council for the Great Jubilee 2000, accompanied by Archbishop Crescenzio Sepe, secretary general of the same committee and presidential council.

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NEW AMBASSADOR FROM FRANCE PRESENTS LETTERS OF CREDENCE

VATICAN CITY, JUN 10, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed France's new ambassador to the Holy See, Alain Dejammet, who presented his Letters of Credence. The Pope spoke to him of the role of the European Union, the tasks facing governments and institutions in today's world of globalization, and of the need to constantly defend human rights, including first and foremost, the rights to life and religious freedom.

The Pope remarked that in several weeks France will assume the presidency of the European Union which this years marks the 50th anniversary of its founding. "The European Union is both a stake and a challenge: it opens the way to a future of peace and solidarity and to ever more intense collaboration among the different countries of the continent and those of the rest of the world."

People and institutions are called, he said, to have the common good at heart, "exercising their mission as a service to populations, in respect for the rules of fair play, justice and probity, essential for every man, but in a special way for those who work in the public sector. It could also be an obstacle to occult networks that hope to profit from the great European market to launder money from every sort of traffic which is an affront to man, in particular in the area of drugs, the arms trade and the exploitation of persons, especially women and children."

In building Europe, affirmed John Paul II, there must not be "a community of interests, but rather a community founded on values and mutual trust, placing man at the center of all endeavors." He urged "assistance to those nations which are coming out of a period of isolation, to help the citizens acquire the political maturity needed for public life."

On the question of human rights, the Holy Father remarked that "human rights are the foundation of the recognition of the human being and of social cohesion." They must be guaranteed by the public instance, he said, quoting Pope John XXIII, because "'they derive directly from our natural dignity and for this reason they are universal, inalienable and inviolable'. Among these, the right to life and to respect for life is primordial, as is support for the family, the basic cell of society."

He asked how individuals could place their trust in people and institutions unless they "guarantee each person's most precious good, his very life?" Decisions on matters of life cannot be "purely arbitrary decisions." It is a "duty" and an "honor" for countries to defend life, human dignity and human rights and to see that no one is marginalized.

On the freedom of religion, he said that "to mock religious beliefs, to discredit one form or another of religious practice and values ... is a form of exclusion contrary to the respect for basic human values. ... This can only engender a climate of tension, intolerance, opposition or suspicion, which is not propitious to social peace."

The Pope then turned to the topic of youth, thanking all those who, "with patience and tenacity, guide young people and create conditions so that learning may be accessible to everyone and the scourges which mark modern society, such as violence and drugs, may be contained."

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CARDINAL ZOUNGRANA WAS "A GREAT SON OF AFRICA"

VATICAN CITY, JUN 10, 2000 (VIS) - Cardinal Jozef Tomko, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, presided at the funeral Mass today in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, for Cardinal Paul Zoungrana, archbishop emeritus of Ouagadougou.

In his homily in French, the prefect called Cardinal Zoungrana "a great son of Africa, ... a son of the Universal Church" and "a builder of the Church-Family." With his death, said the cardinal, "a glorious era for Africa and the Church in Africa comes to an end."
Pointing to the growth of the Church in Africa during the last century, Cardinal Tomko noted that "from 2 million baptized in 1900, African Catholics today number 110 million. Africa has gone from no native clergy at all, to 26,000 priests today. And there are nearly 20,000 candidates to the priesthood in the seminaries."

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IMITATE BLESSED EDMUND'S LOVE FOR GOD AND MANKIND

VATICAN CITY, JUN 10, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul welcomed various groups of pilgrims this morning in the Paul VI Hall, including faithful from several Italian dioceses, senior citizens from Santa Maria del Cedro, members of the Verona Association of Heart Transplants and the Sisters, Handmaidens of the Virgin, Mother of God.

Addressing the Polish Sisters in their language, he recalled that they were founded 150 years ago by Blessed Edmund Bojanowski, whom the Pope beatified during his June 1999 trip to his homeland. He said that Blessed Edmund "loved God and loved man. He was a man of prayer. His great love for mankind, manifested through heroic acts, was born from a profound union with God through prayer. From this he drew the strength to serve man. That love grew in him, on his knees, to produce fruit."

Through the life and works of Blessed Edmund, affirmed the Holy Father, "God wishes to tell you that holiness, aiming for holiness, is the most important task of consecrated persons. ... You are called to give a personal and community witness of holiness." He urged them to "imitate Christ Himself, who was totally submissive to the will of the Father; imitate Jesus in His prayer, to which He dedicated long hours; imitate Jesus in His love for mankind."

"At this point," stated the Pope, "I wish to underline your service, full of self-denial, towards those in need. ... In dozens of countries on all continents, you care for children, the ill, persons who are elderly, alone or poor. ... Today's meeting is a special occasion for me to tell you of my gratitude for this apostolate of charity, which is the most efficacious proclamation of Christ to the world."

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ONLY THOSE WHO LIVE WHAT THEY PROFESS CAN HOPE TO BE HEARD

VATICAN CITY, JUN 10, 2000 (VIS) - At 6:30 this evening, the vigil of Pentecost, the Pope presided at the Eucharist in St. Peter's Square. During the Jubilee Year, on the occasion of this solemnity, the Church is celebrating the "Day of Reflection and Prayer On the Duties of Catholics Towards Other Men: Announcing Christ, Witnessing and Dialogue."

With the arrival of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, John Paul II recalled in his homily, "began the double witness: that of the Holy Spirit and that of the Apostles. The witness of the Spirit is divine in itself: it proceeds from the depth of the Trinitarian mystery. The witness of the Apostles is human: it transmits, in the light of revelation, their experience of living next to Jesus."

"What is decisive for the efficacy of proclamation," affirmed the Holy Father, "is a witness that is lived. Only a believer who lives what he professes with his lips, has the hope of being heard." When it is not possible to explicitly announce Jesus Christ, "the witness of a respectful, chaste life, detached from riches and free in the face of the powers of this world, in a word, the witness of holiness, even if offered in silence, can reveal all its strength of conviction."

Furthermore, he added, "it is clear that firmness in witnessing to Christ with the strength of the Holy Spirit does not impede one from collaborating in service to mankind with those belonging to other religions. ... If the children of the Church will know how to remain open to the action of the Holy Spirit, He will help them to communicate, in a way that respects other religious convictions, the one and universal message of salvation in Christ."

Pope John Paul gave thanks to God for "the witness of the first community in Jerusalem which, through generations of martyrs and confessors, became throughout the centuries the legacy of countless men and women through the world."

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