NOTICE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 23, 2003 (VIS) - The Vatican Information service wishes our readers a very Happy and Holy Christmas. As previously advised, the next service will be transmitted on December 29.
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, DEC 23, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- His Beatitude, Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

- Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and of the Governatorate of Vatican City State.

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MIGRATION IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF PEACE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 23, 2003 (VIS) - Made public today was a Message by the Holy Father for the 90th World Day of Migrants and Refugees which will be celebrated throughout 2004 in local churches on a date established by the respective episcopal conferences. This year's theme is: 'Migration in the perspective of peace.'

The Pope writes in the message, dated December 15, that 'unfortunately we are used to witnessing the hopeless journey of immigrants, the desperate escape of refugees, their arrival by any means in the richest countries, seeking to satisfy their personal and family needs. Therefore the question is: How can we talk about peace when situations of tension are reported in so many regions of the world? And how can the phenomenon of migration contribute to building up peace among men?'

After emphasizing that peace 'is not only the absence of conflicts,' the Holy Father encourages 'gestures and concrete efforts of forgiveness and reconciliation, overcoming differences and division. ' There can be no peace without justice and respect for human rights.'

'Creating specific peaceful conditions for migrants and refugees means working seriously to safeguard above all the right not to emigrate, that is to live in peace and dignity in one's own country.'

John Paul II recalls that 'the right to emigrate also exists. ' It is up to governments to regulate the flow of migrants with full respect for the dignity of people and the needs of their families, keeping in mind the needs of the societies that accept these migrants.'

'May no one be insensitive to the conditions in which so many migrants live!' exclaims the Holy Father. After underscoring that we must 'recognize the great effort made by so many public and private organizations to alleviate the troubling situations in many regions of the world,' he writes: 'We must never cease to denounce the traffic of those who, without scruples, abandon people at sea, in precarious boats, people who are desperately seeking a more certain future.'

The Pope indicates that despite these problems, migrants can 'offer a valid contribution in order to establish peace. Migrations can facilitate exchange and understanding among cultures, as well as among people and communities.'

'If the gradual integration of all immigrants is promoted ' there is less of a risk that immigrants form ghettos where they are isolated from the social context, which sometimes results in the desire to gradually take over the territory.'

John Paul II concludes the message by affirming that 'if the 'dream' of a peaceful world is shared by many, if the contribution of migrants and refugees is valued, humanity will be able to become a family and our land will be truly be a 'common house'.'

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, DEC 20, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father received in separate audiences:

- Ibrahim Rugova, president of the provisional institutions of Kosovo, and an entourage.

- Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

- Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.

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DECREES OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CAUSES OF SAINTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 20, 2003 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall in the presence of the Holy Father, members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the postulators of the respective causes, 18 new decrees were promulgated. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the congregation, read a discourse about the lives of the Blesseds and Servants of God.

The decrees concern the following causes:

MIRACLES

- Blessed Jose Manyanet y Vives, Spanish, priest and founder of the Congregation of the Sons and Daughters of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (1833-1901).

- Blessed Nimatullah Al-Hardini, Lebanese, ne Yusuf Kassab, priest of the Lebanese Maronite Order (1808-1858).

- Blessed Paola Elisabetta, Italian, nee Costanza Cerioli, widow and foundress of the Holy Family Institute and the Congregation of the Holy Family (1816-1865).

- Blessed Gianna Beretta Molla, Italian, mother of a family (1922-1962).

- Venerable Servant of God August Czartoryski, French, priest of the Society of St. John Bosco (1858-1893).

- Venerable Servant of God Maria Guadalupe, Mexican, nee Anastasia Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, cofoundress of the Congregation of the Servants of St. Margaret Mary of the Poor (1878-1963).

- Venerable Servant of God Nemesia Valle, Italian, nee Giulia, religious of the Institute of Charity (1847-1916).

- Venerable Servant of God Eusebia Palomino Yenes, Spanish, religious of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary, Helper (1899-1935).

- Venerable Servant of God Ludovica de Angelis, Italian, nee Antonina, religious of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy (1880-1962).

- Venerable Servant of God Carl of Austria, Austrian, emperor and king (1887-1922).

- Venerable Servant of God Alesandrina Maria da Costa, Portuguese, lay, of the Union of Salesian Cooperators (1904-1955).

HEROIC VIRTUES

- Servant of God Clemente Augusto von Galen, cardinal, German, bishop of Munster (1878-1946).

- Servant of God Luigi Biraghi, Italian, diocesan priest, founder of the Institute of the Religious of St. Marcelina (1801-1879).

- Servant of God Luigi Monza, diocesan priest, founder of the secular Institute of the Little Apostolic Sisters of Charity (1898-1954).

- Servant of God Benigno of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Italian, nee Angelo Calvi, priest of the Discalced Carmelites (1909-1937).

- Servant of God Maria Teresa of Jesus, Italian, nee Maria Scrilli, foundress of the Congregation of the Religious of Our Lady of Carmel
(1825-1889).

- Servant of God Rita Amada de Jesus, Portuguese, nee Rita Lopes de Almeida, foundress of the Institute of the Sisters of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (1848-1913).

- Servant of God Maria Nazarena, Italian, nee Maria Majone, cofoundress of the Congregation of the Religious Daughters of the Divine Zeal (1869-1939).

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