AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience:

- Hanna Nasser, mayor of Bethlehem.
- Cardinal Virgilio Noe, archpriest of the Vatican patriarchal basilica, vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City and president of the Fabric of St. Peter's.

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SEMINAR ON THE REDUCTION OF DEBT AND POVERTY

VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2000 (VIS) - The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has organized a seminar to be held from December 3 to 6 on the theme: "From debt relief to poverty reduction." The aim of the gathering is to examine the results of the various efforts inspired by the Pope's appeals to reduce considerably the international debt.

According to a communique released by the council "the response to this appeal ... was concretized in the promotion of many popular initiatives as well as by significant commitments of governments and international institutions." The seminar will focus on "the ways in which debt relief initiatives may lead to concrete measures in the fight against poverty."

The meeting, which will be inaugurated by Archbishop Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will be attended by bishops and experts from more than 20 heavily-indebted countries and by representatives of Catholic organizations involved in the field of development.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 1, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Philip E. Wilson of Wollongong, Australia, as coadjutor archbishop of Adelaide (area 103,600, population 1,254,751, Catholics 266,927, priests 175, permanent deacons 3, priests 529), Australia. The archbishop-elect was born in Cessnock, Australia, in 1950, ordained a priest in 1975 and consecrated a bishop in 1996.

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POPE PLACES ROMAN CHURCH AT DISPOSITION OF PATRIARCHATE

VATICAN CITY, NOV 30, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was Pope John Paul's annual Message to His Holiness Bartholomew I, archbishop of Constantinople and ecumenical patriarch, on the occasion of the celebrations in Fanar, Turkey, of today's feast of St. Andrew, patron of the Church of Constantinople.

Cardinal Edward Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, led the Holy See delegation to the celebrations and gave the message to Patriarch Bartholomew. A similar delegation from the Church of Constantinople attends the celebrations in the Vatican each year on the June 29 feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

The Pope wrote that the mission common to both Churches of "transmitting to future generations and to the world the salvation brought by the One Mediator, Jesus Christ, ... charges us to embrace the cause of the reestablishment of full unity of faith and life."

He recalled that, during the Jubilee Year 2000 "after a long suspension of its work, the Mixed International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches was able to meet in Baltimore for its eighth plenary session. Such a meeting is in itself an important event and was an occasion to underline the complexity of the questions being studied; however, we must note, to our great regret, that it did not allow real progress to be made in our dialogue."

John Paul II reiterated his "resolute intention of continuing the dialogue of truth and charity" and he appealed to Catholics amd Orthodox everywhere "to intensify and affirm their fraternal relations."

"With a pure and free heart," the Message concluded, "in obedience to the will of the one Lord, we must therefore continue our sincere, fraternal and loving search for full communion. It is in this perspective that I am happy to have been able to place at the disposition of the ecumenical patriarchate the ancient and beautiful church of St. Theodore on the Palatine Hill in Rome, so that it might be used for the worship and pastoral activities of the Greek orthodox community of the city, which will have the spiritual assistance necessary for its growth and for the dialogue with all Christians living in Rome."

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ATHLETES CAN TRANSMIT VALUABLE MESSAGES

VATICAN CITY, NOV 30, 2000 (VIS) - This morning in the Paul VI Hall, John Paul II received 7,000 directors, sports people and members of the Roman football team, "Associazione Sportiva Roma Calcio," who came to the Vatican to gain the Jubilee indulgence.

"For you, dear friends," said the Holy Father, "the fact that your association bears the name of Rome, represents a special commitment to live the Christian faith coherently. It is an invitation to bear daily witness, in your own environment, to evangelical love."

When lived in an appropriate way, sport becomes "the ideal environment for the exercise of numerous virtues." However, "it becomes a phenomenon of alienation when feats of ability and physical strength turn into idolatry of the body; when heightened competition reaches the point of considering the adversary as an enemy to be humiliated; when support for a team prevents objective evaluation of people and events, above all, when this degenerates into violence. Furthermore, a predominant commercial interest can turn sport into a mere search for economic gain."

The Pope highlighted a further aspect that "must not be overlooked," that of "the due sanctity of feast days" and the need for families to pass "moments of beneficial relaxation" together.

With reference to football, John Paul II affirmed that "at times, it becomes an occasion for confrontation with worrying episodes of intolerance and aggressiveness that can turn into grievous displays of violence. How important it is, then, to recall proper sporting ethics! How urgent is the responsibility of directors, of athletes, of journalists and of fans!" He concluded by indicating that athletes, "by their example, can transmit messages of great human and spiritual value."

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