THE EUCHARISTIC CELEBRATION IS A MISSIONARY EVENT

VATICAN CITY, JUN 21, 2000 (VIS) - In today's general audience, held in St. Peter's Square in the presence of 40,000 pilgrims, the Pope recalled that this week marks the celebration in Rome of the International Eucharistic Congress, whose theme is: "Jesus Christ, only Savior of the World, Bread for a New Life."

The theme of this week's catechesis was "The Eucharist, Source of the Church's Missionary Commitment." John Paul II affirmed that "the celebration of the Eucharist, Sacrament of the Lord's Passion, is in itself a missionary event that introduces the fertile seed of the new life into the world."

"Each Mass ends with the missionary call to 'go,' inviting the faithful to bring the announcement of the Risen Lord into families, into the workplace, into society, into the whole world."

The Holy Father emphasized that "today it is particularly necessary that, from the celebration of the Eucharist, each Christian community draws the interior conviction and the spiritual strength to emerge and open itself to other communities that are poorer and more in need of support in the fields of evangelization and missionary cooperation. This favors the fertile exchange of reciprocal gifts that enriches the whole Church. It is also very important, using the Eucharist as a starting point, to distinguish missionary vocations and ministries."

After highlighting that "the Eucharist is, furthermore, a permanent school of charity of justice and of peace for the renewal of the world in Christ," he referred to "those individual 'missionaries' and witnesses of faith and love of Christ: the martyrs." Their relics, placed under the altar, "constitute a clear sign of the energy that emanates from Christ's sacrifice."

The Holy Father greeted the "numerous representatives of the World Federation of Nocturnal Adoration, whom I invite to renew their devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during the present Eucharistic Congress."

Finally, he addressed the numerous catechists who are celebrating their Jubilee: "Catechesis is a bastion of Church life, be ever aware of this and accompany your precious service with prayer and the witness of your lives. With affection, I bless and encourage you."

AG;EUCHARIST;...;...;VIS;20000621;Word: 360;

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 21, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Bishop Marin Barisic, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Split-Makarska (area 4,088, population 472,088, Catholics 412,261, priests 360, religious 716), Croatia, as archbishop of the same archdiocese. The archbishop-elect was born in Vidonje in 1947, ordained a priest in 1974 and consecrated a bishop in 1993. He succeeds Archbishop Ante Juric, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese, the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.

AP;...;...;BARISIC; JURIC ;VIS;20000621;Word: 80;

MISSION NAMED TO MILLENNIUM OF CHRISTIANITY IN ICELAND

VATICAN CITY, JUN 21, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was the Holy Father's Letter, written in Latin and dated May 10, 2000, to Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, in which he named him as his special envoy to the celebrations of the millennium of Christianity in Iceland. These will take place in Reykjavik on July 1 and 2.

Also named were the members of the pontifical mission accompanying Cardinal Cassidy: Msgr. James P. Green, counsellor in the apostolic nunciature in Iceland, and Fathers Hjalti Thorkelsson, episcopal vicar of the diocese of Reykjavik for liturgy and catechesis, and Jacob Rolland, chancellor of the same diocese.

JPII-LETTER;MILLENNIUM;...;ICELAND; CASSIDY;VIS;20000621;Word: 120;

PAPAL MESSAGE FOR EXHIBIT "THE GOSPELS OF THE PEOPLES"

VATICAN CITY, JUN 21, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father sent a Message today to Archbishop Jorge Maria Mejia, archivist and librarian of Holy Roman Church, in which he expressed his "cordial and friendly greetings to all participating in the exhibit "The Gospels of the Peoples: The Word and the Image of Christ in Cultures and in History." This exhibition is promoted by the Vatican Apostolic Library, in conjunction with the Italian Ministry for Cultural Patrimony and Activities.

"I hope," wrote John Paul II, "that this interesting exposition - which will offer visitors the chance to review the historical events of Christianity, through the spreading of Gospel texts among the peoples and cultures of antiquity, right up to the modern times - will stimulate believers to take on with an ever more convinced impetus the arduous and fascinating commitment of the new evangelization.

JPII-MESSAGE;EXHIBIT;...;VATICAN LIBRARY; MEJIA;VIS;20000621;Word: 150;