POPE ASKS SOLIDARITY FOR PEOPLES OF SOUTHERN LEBANON

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2000 (VIS) - Following is the text of a letter from the Holy Father to His Beatitude Cardinal Nasrallah-Pierre Sfeir, patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, regarding the situation in his country, Lebanon. The letter is written in French and bears today's date:

"Having been informed of the evolution of events in your country, I wish to express my solidarity to you and I invite all Christians to unite in solidarity with the populations in the region of southern Lebanon who fear for their future because of the situation which has been created in recent days.

"I feel compelled to remind all leaders of the grave duty to respect the rights of individuals and peoples, and not to commit acts which could place at risk the lives of persons as well as the coexistence of the community.

"I pray to God to illuminate minds and hearts so that all the civil populations will be spared new massacres and the sovereignty of each country will be guaranteed so that everyone can look to the future with great hope.

"As a sign of comfort, I send Your Eminence, as well as all the faithful in Christ, my Apostolic Blessing, asking God to send you an abundance of His goodness on all the Lebanese."

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GENERAL AUDIENCE: THE TRINITY IS PRESENT IN THE ASCENSION

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2000 (VIS) - In this morning's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 50,000 people, John Paul II spoke on "the glory of the Trinity in the Ascension."

"Christ," recalled the Pope, "after having travelled the road of history and after having entered the shadows of death, ... returns to the glory which from all eternity He has shared with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and He brings redeemed humanity with Him."

The Holy Father indicated that "before the glorious Christ of the Ascension, we pause to contemplate the presence of the entire Trinity." In the Risen Christ's farewell to the Apostles "there appears, above all, the Father's plan of salvation, (the Father) Who, in the Scriptures, had announced the death and resurrection of the Son, source of forgiveness and liberation. However, in those same words of the Risen Christ, the Holy Spirit may also be discerned, whose presence will be a source of strength and apostolic witness. ... Consequently, the entire Trinity is present at the moment the Church comes into being."

"The Ascension is, then," he concluded, "a Trinitarian epiphany that indicates the goal towards which individual and universal history travel. Although our mortal body dissolves in the dust of the earth, all our redeemed self reaches out towards heaven, towards God, following Christ as a guide."

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"ETHICS IN SOCIAL COMMUNICATIONS" TO BE PRESENTED MAY 30

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2000 (VIS) - Archbishop John Foley, president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, will preside at a press conference on Tuesday, May 30, in the Holy See Press Office for the presentation of the document "Ethics in Social Communications," which has been prepared by this council.

Joining him for the presentation will be Bishop Pierfranco Pastore and Angelo Scelzo, respectively council secretary and under-secretary. The document will be published in Italian, French, English, Spanish, German and Portuguese.

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JOHN PAUL II WRITES TO BISHOPS OF ERITREA AND ETHIOPIA

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2000 (VIS) - Following is the text of a letter written by Pope John Paul, dated May 23 and published this afternoon, to Archbishop Berhane-Yesus Demerew Souraphiel, C.M., of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, president of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Episcopal Conference:

"In this time of trial, I am particularly close to all the bishops of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Episcopal Conference and to those entrusted to their pastoral care.

"As the conflict grows worse and innocent people, already hungry and deprived, are forced to leave their homes and land, I cannot but ask those in power to spare them from more suffering and to resume respect for the territorial integrity of your countries. I pray daily to the Lord that men of good will may return to dialogue through respect for the principles of international law, and allow themselves to be led by the spirit of divine wisdom, so that they may be instruments of peace.

"I want to assure you that the Holy See will continue to ask the international community to help in the search for conditions which will allow a cease-fire and the flow of humanitarian aid.

"Africa has a right to peace and solidarity, especially your two countries, heirs to a rich tradition of Christian culture, who for so long lived together in mutual respect and harmony.

"I greet you all affectionately in the Lord and I impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of peace in our Risen Saviour."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Julianus Kemo Sunarko S.J., director of the Institute of Research and Social Development and president of Caritas Indonesia, as bishop of Purwokerto (area 15,336, population 13,062,800, Catholics 70,668, priests 34, religious 185), Indonesia. The bishop-elect was born in Klepu, Indonesia, in 1941 and ordained a priest in 1975.

- Archbishop Blasco Francisco Collaco, apostolic nuncio in Bulgaria, as apostolic nuncio in South Africa and Namibia and apostolic delegate in Botswana.

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