MESSAGE TO MUSLIMS AT END OF RAMADAN

VATICAN CITY, JAN 8, 1999 (VIS) - Made public today was the annual message sent by the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue to Muslims on the occasion of Id Al-Fitr (the feast of the Breaking of the Fast) at the end of Ramadan, the monthlong Muslim period of fasting.

The message, in English and French and signed by council president Cardinal Francis Arinze, has been customary since 1967. In 1991, however, it was personally sent by Pope John Paul in 1991 because of the suffering and devastation in the Middle East caused by the Gulf War.

Following are excerpts from the 1999 message, entitled "Christians and Muslims: Witnesses of God's Love and Mercy."

"God loves all human beings, excluding no one. He is the source of all love in the family, in society, in the world. ... God is the Merciful One."

"There are many ways of showing love, expressions of our faithfulness to the Merciful One: almsgiving, ... care for orphans, the aged, the sick, for strangers, as also the commitment to promote human dignity and in favor of human rights, commitment to development, to the fight against the many evils in our society such as illiteracy, the influence of drugs, the abuse of minors, violence against women."

"Offenses against the love of neighbor are also numerous: ignoring the needs of others, refusing the duty of solidarity, hatred, discrimination based on sex, race or religion, injustice in all its forms. There is great convergence between our two religions in condemning such faults.

"God's love for humanity is universal, going beyond political frontiers, beyond the differences of race, culture or religion, beyond political or ideological options, independent of any particular social situation."

"I am addressing to you this message fully conscious that we, both Christians and Muslims, have not always loved and respected each other as God requires of us. ... Nevertheless it is important at the same time to note and to make known the numerous situations where Christians and Muslims live peacefully and fruitfully together."

Cardinal Arinze closed by renewing his "expressions of friendship and esteem."

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ITALIAN HEAD OF GOVERNMENT D'ALEMA VISITS POPE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 8, 1999 (VIS) - At the beginning of the afternoon, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the following declaration following the visit to the Holy Father of Massimo D'Alema, president of the Italian Council of Ministers.

Following the meeting with the Pope, Mr. D'Alema met with Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of state. "Several fundamental expectations of Italian Catholics" were discussed, such as "true recognition of equality among schools with support for non-State schools; more effective policies in favor of the family and the commitment to offer young generations concrete prospectives of insertion into the world of work."

"Satisfaction was expressed once again on the part of the Holy See for the confirmed commitment on the part of the Italians to improve in the early months of the year the carrying out of agreed measures, particularly with regard to the protection of Church cultural patrimony (archives and libraries) and for greater spiritual aid for personnel from the State police force. The existing collaboration for the preparation of the Jubilee of the Year 2000 between the parties was noted with satisfaction."

"A joint committee ... will quickly begin to operate, convinced that it will be able to significantly contribute to the definition of clear guidelines destined to guarantee an ever more correct application of the norms which regulate the free carrying out of the ministry of bishops and, more generally, the relationship between Church and State 'each one in their independent and sovereign sphere."

"In the international field, what was particularly stressed was the convergence of efforts by the Holy See and Italy for peace in areas very tried by conflicts, in Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans."

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POPE RECEIVES STUDENTS, ALUMNI OF NORTH AMERICAN COLLEGE

VATICAN CITY, JAN 8, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received the alumni of the Pontifical North American College, in Rome for their annual reunion, as well as the rector, faculty and students and the priests studying at the Casa Santa Maria dell'Umilta, the site of the first North American College.

"You have returned to Rome," he reminded the alumni, "where your priestly formation took place, to relive the profound experiences which shaped your identity and nourished your spirituality as priests."

The Holy Father recalled that "the Pontifical North American College was founded at a time when Catholics were a small and largely immigrant minority in the United States. Today, thanks to the tireless work of generations of clergy, religious and laity, the Church in your country enjoys unparalleled resources for proclaiming the Gospel and for bringing the rich inheritance of the Church's moral and social teaching to the great debates which are shaping your nation's future.

"The great challenge now facing American Catholics in every sector of national life and culture," he concluded, "is to bear a united and convincing public witness to those truths about the human person and human community which are revealed by God, accessible to reason and embodied in the founding documents of your Republic."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, JAN 8, 1999 (VIS) - The Pope today received in separate audiences:

- Massimo D'Alema, president of the Council of Ministers of Italy, with his wife and entourage.
- Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio in Haiti.

He is scheduled to receive later this evening Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

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