OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 11, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Eric Aumonier, auxiliary of Paris, France, as bishop of Versailles (area 2,270, population 1,342,000, Catholics 906,000, priests 295, permanent deacons 40, religious 698), France. He succeeds Bishop Jean-Charles Thomas, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted in accordance with Canon 401, para. 2, of the Code of Canon Law.

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 11, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Archbishop Louis-Marie Bille of Lyon, France, president of the Conference of Bishops of France, accompanied by Bishop Jean-Pierre Ricard of Montpellier and Msgr. Bernard Lagoutte, respectively vice-president and secretary of the same episcopal conference.

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POPE THANKS JUBILEE ORGANIZERS AND HELPERS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 11, 2001 (VIS) - This morning, the Pope received members of the Presidential Council and the Committee for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, as well as civil and military authorities and their collaborators, all of whom cooperated in the organization and celebration of the Holy Year.

"At the start of the 21st century and the third millennium," said the Pope, "the Jubilee indicated Christ, humanity's only hope and salvation, as a fixed point from which to set out anew."

The Holy Father went on, saying that this meeting offered him the chance to thank once more each of those present and the organizations they represent because, "with your effective collaboration, you have contributed to the success of each stage of the jubilee journey."

"I also ask," he went on, "those who generously offered their own spiritual contribution through prayer and suffering - the elderly, the sick, male and female religious of the contemplative life - to continue in this precious mission so that the seeds sown during the Jubilee may continue to produce abundant fruit in the coming years."

The Pope affirmed that, with the closure of the Jubilee Year on January 6, "we have been left a precious legacy that must be passed on to future generations, following two principal directions: First of all, continuing to keep Christ at the center of personal and social life. If we genuinely lived the Jubilee, this will be seen in the fruits of sanctity we bring to everyday life. In the second place, to all places we must bring the witness of a charity that is expressed through forgiveness, service, willingness and sharing."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 10, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

- Appointed Bishop Eduardo Benes de Sales Rodrigues, auxiliary of Porto Alegre, Brazil, as bishop of Lorena (area 5,055, population 306,000, Catholics 289,000, priests 43, permanent deacons 18, religious 130), Brazil. He succeeds Bishop Joao Hipolito de Morais whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

- Appointed Fr. John Choi Young-su, director of "Peace Radio," as auxiliary of the archdiocese of Taegu (area 9,128, population 4,397,791, Catholics 342,263, priests 249, religious 1,073), Korea. The bishop-elect was born in Manchuria in 1942 and ordained a priest in 1970.

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AUDIENCE: FREE THE OPPRESSED AND MAKE JUSTICE REIGN

VATICAN CITY, JAN 10, 2001 (VIS) - In today's general audience which was held in the Paul VI Hall, the Holy Father spoke on the "Commitment to freedom and justice."

The prophets, said John Paul II, remind us "that we must commit ourselves to free the oppressed and bring justice to reign. ... The service of charity coherently associated with faith and the liturgy, the commitment to justice, the struggle against all forms of oppression and the protection of individual dignity are not, for Christians, expressions of philanthropy motivated purely by the fact of belonging to the human family. Rather, they are choices and actions of a profoundly religious nature, they are true sacrifices and pleasing to God."

Church commitment to reflection on this matter, he continued, "should receive a special impulse from the experience of the Jubilee. In its biblical roots, such commitment is a celebration of solidarity" that "could be expressed, as I have repeatedly suggested, in the total eradication or at least reduction of the international debt of poor countries."

Another Jubilee commitment he added, is freedom from all forms of slavery and the promotion of a just, free and united society. "Lived in this way, the recently-concluded Jubilee will continue to produce abundant fruits of justice, freedom and love."

After reading summaries of his catechesis in different languages, the Pope addressed a group of Croatian pilgrims in their own language. He expressed the hope that "this extraordinary event of faith and grace may help the Christians of our time to give witness of God's immense love for men. May they know how to lead a life permeated by sanctity and to work with tireless and generous charity, as I wrote in my Apostolic letter 'Novo millennio ineunte'."

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