IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, AUG 3, 2000 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Bishop Francesco Amadio, emeritus of Rieti, Italy, on July 15, at the age of 86.
- Bishop Pompeu Bezerra Bessa, emeritus of Limoeiro do Norte, Brazil, on July 23, at the age of 76.
- Archbishop-bishop Johannes Dyba of Fulda, Germany, on July 23, at the age of 70.
- Bishop Agustin Adolfo Herrera, emeritus of San Francisco, Argentina, on July 18, at the age of 87.
- Bishop Heinrich von Soden-Fraunhofen, former auxiliary of Munchen und Freising, Germany, on July 23, at the age of 79.

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FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR WORLD YOUTH DAY

VATICAN CITY, AUG 3, 2000 (VIS) - Work is coming to a conclusion on the site around Rome's Tor Vergata university where around a million and a half young people are due to congregate for the closing phase of World Youth Day on August 19 and 20.

A 36 meter-high wooden cross and a stage of 2,000 square meters dominate the vast area of green fields where young people from all over the world will come together for a prayer vigil on Saturday, August 19 and Mass, to be presided by the Pope on Sunday, August 20.

As is traditional on pilgrimages, the young people will cover the last 5 or 10 kilometers to the gathering point on foot. Bottled water will be distributed at intervals of one kilometer and there will be toilets and first-aid posts available.

During World Youth Day (which runs from August 15 to 20) 20,000 coaches are expected to arrive. These will be directed to 19 welcome points located in the principal areas of the city.

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SATURDAY EVENING PRAYER VIGIL IN ST. JOHN LATERAN

VATICAN CITY, AUG 3, 2000 (VIS) - The prayer vigil in answer to the appeal by Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople will take place on Saturday, August 5 in the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

According to the Jubilee calendar, the prayer vigil was to have taken place in St. Mary Major, however because of the traditional August 5 celebrations being held there, the site of the event had to be changed.

The prayer vigil will begin at 6:30 p.m. and be presided by Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The diocesan community of Rome has been invited to participate as have pilgrims, pastors and faithful from other Churches and ecclesial communities in the city.

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AUGUST 12 - 15: INTERNATIONAL YOUTH FORUM

VATICAN CITY, AUG 2, 2000 (VIS) - For the occasion of World Youth Day, the 7th International Youth Forum is to be held from August 12 to 15 in Rome's Casa Maria Mater Ecclesiae. The Forums are organized by the youth section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

The theme of the meeting has been taken from John Paul II's Letter concerning pilgrimage to the places linked to the history of salvation (June 29 1999): "I say it to everyone: Let us set out in the footsteps of Christ!"

Each episcopal conference will send two young people as representatives to the forum. Delegates from the most important Catholic youth groups, movements and associations have also been invited. The average age of participants is 23-24 years. Alongside them, around 30 people who work in the field of pastoral ministry to youth will also attend; they will follow the work as 'observers.'
During the course of the meeting, delegates will prepare a message addressed to young people all over the world. This will be read during World Youth Day, in the presence of the Holy Father.

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PRESENCE OF THE HOLY TRINITY IS REFLECTED IN CREATION

VATICAN CITY, AUG 2, 2000 (VIS) - "Listening to the Word and the Spirit in cosmic revelation" was the theme of John Paul II's catechesis during today's general audience which was held in St. Peter's Square.

The Pope affirmed that "in creation, many have recognized, though still imperfectly, the presence of its Architect and Lord." Muslim and Jewish tradition have also discovered God's presence in creation.

"Biblical revelation is placed in the setting of humanity's broad experience of religious sentiment and prayer, giving it a divine seal. By communicating to us the mystery of the Trinity, revelation helps us to comprehend, in creation itself, not only the sign of the Father, source of all life, but also that of the Son and of the Spirit."

The Holy Father highlighted that "if it is in fact true that 'the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are not three principles of creation but one principle,' it is also nonetheless true that 'each divine Person performs the common work according to His unique personal property'."

"In the light of Christian faith," he concluded, "the creation particularly evokes the Holy Spirit in the dynamism that marks the relationship between things, within the macrocosm and the microcosm, and that is manifest above all wherever life is born and develops. ... Christians well know that such evocation of the Spirit would be unacceptable if it referred to a kind of 'anima mundi' in the pantheistic sense. However, aside from this error, it remains true that all forms of life, of animation and of love lead back, in the final analysis, to that Spirit which, Genesis says, moved 'over the face of the waters'."

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