PROGRAM FOR POPE'S JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE IN GREECE, SYRIA AND MALTA

VATICAN CITY, APR 19, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was the itinerary for Pope John Paul's six-day Jubilee pilgrimage in Greece, Syria and Malta in the footsteps of St. Paul Apostle. The May 4 to 9 trip by the Holy Father, during which he is scheduled to speak on 18 occasions, will be his 93rd apostolic trip outside of Italy.

The Pope is scheduled to depart Rome at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 4 and, after a two-hour flight, will arrive in Athens where he will go directly to the Presidential Palace for a welcome ceremony in the garden and a courtesy call on the president of the Hellenic Republic.

At 1:30 p.m. he will go to the Orthodox Archdiocesan Palace of Athens and pay a courtesy visit to His Beatitude Christodoulos, archbishop of Athens and primate of Greece. An hour later he will arrive at the apostolic nunciature in Athens and meet with and address the Catholic Bishops of Greece. At 5:45 p.m. the Pope will visit the Catholic Cathedral of Athens and at 6:30 will make a pilgrimage to the Areopagus of Athens in memory of St. Paul. At 7:45 p.m. he will return to the nunciature and His Beatitude Christodoulos will make a courtesy call on the Pope.

On Saturday, May 5 at 8:15 a.m. the Pope will preside at Mass at the Sport Palace in the complex of the Olympic Center of Athens. At 11:45 there will be a farewell ceremony at the Athens Airport and the Holy Father will depart for Damascus, Syria.

A welcome ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at the International Airport of Damascus, during which the Holy Father will give a speech. At 5:45 p.m. that day he will arrive at the Presidential Palace and pay a courtesy visit to the president of the Syrian Arab Republic. Just over one hour later the Pope will arrive at the Greek-Orthodox Cathedral of Damascus where there will be an ecumenical meeting and a speech by the Pope.

On Sunday, May 6, at 9:30 a.m. John Paul II will preside at a Eucharistic celebration in the Abbassyin Stadium of Damascus. Following this he will recite the Regina Coeli and make some brief remarks. After Mass he is scheduled to go to the Greek-Catholic Patriarchate of Damascus where, at 1 p.m., a meeting will commence with the patriarchs and bishops of Syria.

At 5 p.m. the Holy Father is scheduled to arrive at the Syrian-Orthodox Cathedral of Damascus for a meeting with and speech to the clergy, religious and Christian laity of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches of Syria. At 6:15 p.m., the Pope will go to the Omayyad Great Mosque of Damascus for a visit to the St. John the Baptist Memorial and a meeting with Muslim leaders, whom he will address.

On Monday, May 7 there will be a private Mass at 7:30 a.m. in the chapel of the nunciature in Damascus. At 9:15 Pope John Paul is scheduled to visit the Church of St. Paul on the Wall in the Bab Kissan gate of the Old Walls of Damascus. Following this he will go to the St. Paul Memorial of Damascus.

At 10:15 a.m. the Pope will depart by car for the one-hour trip to Qunaytra where he will visit the Greek-Orthodox Church. A prayer for peace is scheduled at the Church in the Golan Heights.
At noon the Holy Father will depart for Damascus, arriving at the nunciature around 1 p.m. At 5:40 p.m. he will arrive at the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of Damascus for a meeting with and speech to youth.

Tuesday, May 8, John Paul II will again say a private morning Mass in the chapel of the nunciature. At 11 a.m. there will be farewell ceremony at the Damascus Airport and the Pope will leave a half-hour later for Malta.

The Pope is scheduled to arrive at Malta's Gudja International Airport at 2 p.m. where there will be a welcome ceremony and speeches. At 6 p.m. that same day he will go to the Presidential Palace in the Maltese capital of Valletta and pay a courtesy call on the president of the republic.

Wednesday, May 9 is the final day of the Holy Father's Jubilee pilgrimage. At 9:30 a.m. he will preside at a concelebrated Mass with beatifications at the "Granaries" of Floriana. At 12:45 the Pope will go the apostolic nunciature in Rabat where he will meet with the bishops of Malta.

At 4:30 that afternoon he will arrive at the Church of the Center of the Society of Christian Doctrine in Hamrun where he will visit the tomb of the Venerable Fr. George Preca and meet with and speak to the members of the "Societas Doctrinae Cristianae" in the Center's auditorium.

At 6:30 p.m. the Pope will go to Gudja International Airport where he will depart for Rome at 7 p.m., arriving at Ciampino Airport after a flight of one and a half hours.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 19, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Bishop German Pavon Puente of Tulcan, Ecuador, as bishop of Ambato (area 3,844, population 434,465, Catholics 394,516, priests 81, permanent deacons 2, religious 249), Ecuador.

- Fr. Elio Alevi Perez Tapia, S.D.B., vicar of the Salesian Inspectorate "Santa Rosa da Lima," as bishop prelate of Juli (area 17,527, population 385,411, Catholics 300,000, priests 12, religious 32), Peru. The bishop-elect was born in Huambos, Peru, in 1946, and ordained to the priesthood in 1975.

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HOLY THURSDAY: CHRISM AND "CENA DOMINI" MASSES

VATICAN CITY, APR 12, 2001 (VIS) - At 9:30 this morning, Holy Thursday, John Paul II presided in the Vatican Basilica over the concelebration of the Chrism Mass, during which priestly vows were renewed and the oils used for catechumens, to anoint the sick, and for confirmation were blessed.

In his homily the Pope affirmed that the renewal of priestly vows "is a rite which acquires full value and significance as an expression of the journey of sanctity, to which the Lord has called us on the path of the priesthood. It is a journey which each makes in a very personal way, seen by God alone, Who searches and knows hearts. Nevertheless, in today's liturgy, the Church offers us the consoling opportunity to join together, and to sustain one another."

"This fraternal solidarity," the Holy Father continued, "cannot but become a concrete commitment to carry one another's burdens in the ordinary circumstances of life and ministry. If it is true, in fact, that no one can become holy in another's place, it is likewise true that each can and must become so with and for others, after the model of Christ."

At 5:30 p.m. in the basilica of St. John Lateran, John Paul II presided over the concelebration of the Mass "in cena Domini" or the Lord's Supper. During the liturgy, the Holy Father washed the feet of twelve priests, and at the presentation of the gifts received an offering for the earthquake victims in El Salvador.

The Pope affirmed that the Eucharist "is not simply the memorial of a past rite but the living representation of the Savior's supreme gesture." It is "the sacramental presence of the sacrificed body and the spilt blood of the new Lamb! In the Eucharist salvation and love are offered to all mankind. How could we not be fascinated by this mystery?".

With the washing of the feet, "Jesus reminds His disciples in every age that they must bear witness to the Eucharist in loving service to others. ... The washing of the feet is intended to be an exemplary act, which in Christ's death on the Cross and in His Resurrection has its interpretative key and fullest explanation. ... Genuine participation in the Mass cannot but produce fraternal love in the individual believer and in the whole ecclesial community."

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HOLY SATURDAY: BAPTISM AND CONFIRMATION OF SIX CATECHUMENS

VATICAN CITY, APR 14, 2001 (VIS) - Today, Holy Saturday, at 8:00 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, John Paul II presided over the solemn Easter Vigil. During the liturgy, the Holy Father administered the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation to six catechumens, five women and one man, from Italy, China, Japan, the United States, Peru, and Albania.

The vigil began in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica with the blessing of the fire and the lighting of the Easter Candle. After the procession to the altar with the Easter Candle and the singing of the Exsultet, the Pope presided over the Liturgy of the Word, the Baptismal Liturgy, and the Liturgy of the Eucharist concelebrated with numerous cardinals.

In his homily, the Pope recalled that the women who, at the break of dawn, rushed to the tomb where Jesus had been buried "did not yet know that this was the dawn of the most important day of history. They could not have known that they themselves, would be the first witnesses of Jesus' Resurrection."
"On this night, it is not darkness that dominates," John Paul II emphasized, "but the blinding brightness of a sudden light that breaks through with the startling news of the Lord's Resurrection."

The Holy Father went on to address the catechumens, saying that their presence "is indicative of the variety of cultures and peoples who have opened their hearts to the Gospel. On this night death gives way to life for you too, as for all the baptized. Sin is erased and a new life begins. Persevere to the end in fidelity and love."

"Yes, dear Brothers and Sisters," the Holy Father concluded, "Jesus lives and we live in Him. For ever. This is the gift of this night, which has definitively revealed to the world the power of Christ, Son of the Virgin Mary, whom He gave to us as Mother at the foot of the Cross. This Vigil makes us part of a day that knows no end. The day of Christ's Passover, which for humanity is the beginning of a renewed springtime of hope."

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GOOD FRIDAY: CONFESSIONS, LORD'S PASSION, WAY OF THE CROSS

VATICAN CITY, APR 13, 2001 (VIS) - As has become customary on Good Friday, John Paul II heard the confessions of various faithful in the Vatican Basilica shortly after 12 noon.

At 5:00 p.m. in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father presided over the celebration of the Lord's Passion. During the Liturgy of the Word, the Passion according to John was read, after which Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M. Cap, preacher of the Papal Household, gave the homily. The Liturgy of the Passion continued with the universal prayer and veneration of the Cross, and concluded with Holy Communion.

At 9:15 p.m. at the Colosseum, the Holy Father presided over the procession of the Way of the Cross. The meditation texts proposed for the 14 stations were composed by Servant of God Cardinal John Henry Newman, the bicentennial of whose birth is marked this year. John Paul II followed the ceremony kneeling on an area of the Palatine Hill which overlooks the Colosseum, and carried the cross for the last two stations, not just the final one as originally planned. During the other stations, the Cross was carried by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Pope's vicar for the diocese of Rome, by a Roman family, a young woman from Rwanda, a woman from Bangkok, a woman from the Dominican Republic, and two Franciscan friars from the Holy Land.

At the end of the last station the Holy Father, laying aside the written text, addressed the faithful spontaneously with additional words: "'Ecce lignum crucis, in quo salus mundi pependit! Venite adoremus!' Today, for the first time in this Third Millennium, this confession was proclaimed in St. Peter's Basilica. In this same day, Good Friday, the same moving truth was proclaimed on all the continents, in all the countries of the world. 'Ecce lignum crucis!'"

"The Church of Christ confesses this divine and human reality: 'Crux, ave Crux! Adoramus te, Christe, et benedicimus tibi, quia per sanctam crucem tuam redemisti mundum'. ... May this truth ... be for us the light and strength of this time which we began a few months ago. Ave Crux! Ave Crux of the Roman Colosseum! Ave at the dawn of the Third Millennium! Ave across all the years and centuries of this new time which opens before us! Praised be Jesus Christ!"

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