CELEBRATION FOR THE FIFTH CENTENARY OF ST. JOHN OF AVILA

VATICAN CITY, MAY 31, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was a message from the Pope to Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid, Spain, and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The message is for the occasion of today's national pilgrimage of Spanish bishops and priests to Montilla in Cordoba, Spain, in homage to St. John of Avila on the 5th centenary of his birth. The relics of the saint are preserved at Montilla.

"The celebration of this gathering," writes the Pope, "must represent a fresh display of gratitude to the Lord for the gift of His presence among His people through the priestly ministry, of which St. John of Avila is an ever-current model."

The Holy Father affirms that "the example of (St. John of Avila's) life and his saintliness is the best lesson that he continues to impart to priests today, (who are) also called to give renewed impetus to evangelization in circumstances that are often disconcerting for the rapidity of change or the almost unbridgeable differences between mentalities and cultures, sometimes combined in the same environment."

The Holy Father made clear his desire that this gathering "reinforce the bonds of fraternity between priests and the intimate communion with their bishops and strengthen their vocation, that they may better and more generously serve God's people who reside in the various parts of Spain."

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