MAN MUST BE THE FOCUS OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

VATICAN CITY, JUN 16, 1999 (VIS) - At noon today in Nice, France, Msgr. Piero Monni, Holy See permanent observer to the World Tourism Organization, addressed the June 15-18 WTO conference on "Evaluating the Economic Impact of Tourism," focussing on the need to put the human person at the center of the tourism industry.

"In the tourism industry," he said, "applying criteria of market forces and profit has, without doubt, positive effects, such as efficiency and professionalism of services offered. However, in this way, one risks seeing tourist activity as just any commercial product, ruled and governed only by the laws of the marketplace."

"All of this can determine not only a lack of attention towards the cultural, spiritual and human needs of the tourist, but can also slow down the development of a tourism which has true quality, and is lasting and compatible with the environment. ... We must reflect ... not only on the economic impact of the phenomenon of tourism, but also on those problems linked to it, such as the cultural, social and environmental impacts. Why? Because at the center of the world of tourism we find man, and because it is to man that tourism offers itself."

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HOLY FATHER TO DEDICATE SHRINE OF DIVINE LOVE ON JULY 4

VATICAN CITY, JUN 16, 1999 (VIS) - According to a Holy See Press Office communique issued today, "the dedication of (Rome's) new shrine of Divine Love, presided over by the Holy Father and scheduled for Sunday June 20, has been postponed to Sunday, July 4."

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POPE'S POSTPONES VISIT TO PATRIARCH KAREKIN I

VATICAN CITY, JUN 16, 1999 (VIS) - Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls made the following declaration this morning from Krakow, Poland, where he is accompanying the Holy Father:

"The hoped-for visit of John Paul II to Patriarch Karekin I cannot take place at this time.

"The Pope hopes to be able to make this visit in the near future to the Catholicos of all Armenians."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 16, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Jose Maria Liborio Camino Saracho, vicar general of Sao Miguel Paulista (area 196, population 2,875,000, Catholics 2,552,000, priests 94, religious 318), Brazil, as auxiliary of the same diocese. The bishop-elect was born in Santurce, Spain, in 1931 and was ordained a priest in 1958.
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PRESIDENT OF ARGENTINA RECEIVES 1999 PATH TO PEACE AWARD

VATICAN CITY, JUN 16, 1999 (VIS) - This evening in New York, President Carlos Saul Menem of Argentina will become the seventh recipient of the Path to Peace Award, bestowed annually by the Path to Peace Foundation in recognition of an individual's outstanding leadership in the international community. The foundation's founder and president is Archbishop Renato Martino, apostolic nuncio and Holy See permanent observer to the United Nations.

According to a communique from the foundation, "the designation of President Menem as this year's honoree acknowledges his leadership among the Argentinean people, especially his efforts in defense of the family and the right to life."

"The Path to Peace Foundation, established in 1991," adds the communique, "is a non-profit foundation providing support for the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, in fulfilling its further humanitarian mandate of keeping the moral standards and message of the Gospel before the universal community and of assisting the Holy Father in encouraging all towards the Path to Peace. ... (The foundation), independent from but in collaboration with the Holy See Mission, directs its activities primarily, albeit not exclusively, to the international stage of the United Nations."

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