AUDIENCE WITH PILGRIMS IN ROME FOR BEATIFICATIONS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 1999 (VIS) - At midday today in the Paul VI Hall the Holy Father received pilgrims who had come to Rome for the beatification of the priests Ferdinando Maria Baccilieri, Edward Joannes Maria Poppe, Arcangelo Tadini and of the religious Mariano da Roccacasale, Diego Oddi and Nicola da Gesturi.

In his address, the Pope invited the faithful to give thanks to God "for the precious gift of these new Blesseds." He added: "You will return to your countries and your homes with the firm commitment to follow the example of the new Blesseds."

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POPE BEATIFIES SIX SERVANTS OF GOD

VATICAN CITY, OCT 3, 1999 (VIS) - This morning, during the celebration of Mass in St. Peter's Square, the Pope beatified six Servants of God, five Italians and a Belgian, whom he called in his homily "faithful workers in the vineyard of the Lord."

The Holy Father spoke first of Ferdinando Maria Baccilieri (1821-1893), priest of the Third Order of the Servants of Mary, founder of the Sisters Servants of Mary of Galeazza. "As a poor 'rural priest,' as he loved to call himself, he gathered souls through his preaching, in which he expressed his own deep interior conviction. In this way he became a living icon of the Good Shepherd."

Speaking of Blessed Edward Maria Joannes Poppe (1890-1924), priest, the Pope said: "He is today a model for priests, especially for those of his own country, Belgium. He invites them to conform their lives to that of Christ the Shepherd, in order to be like Him; 'ardent priests' who love God and their brothers and sisters."

Referring to Blessed Arcangelo Tadini (1846-1912), priest, founder of the Sisters Workers of the Holy House of Nazareth, he recalled that, "in the school of the Eucharist he learned to break the bread of the Word of God, to exercise charity, to respond with pastoral dynamism to the social and religious challenges that characterized the end of last century."

John Paul II said that "the poor and humble life" of Blessed Mariano da Roccacasale (1778-1866), religious of the Order of Friars Minor, "following the example of Francis and Clare of Assisi, was constantly directed towards his fellow man. He desired to hear and share the sufferings of all, and then present them to the Lord during the long hours of adoration before the Eucharist."
"That same Franciscan spirituality, centered on an evangelically poor and simple life, also characterized Diego Oddi," (1839-1919) who "was a true angel of peace and goodness to all those who met him, especially because he knew how to attend the poorest and most sorely tried."

Speaking of Blessed Nicola da Gesturi (1882-1958), religious of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin, the Pope emphasized that he was "a man of silence. ... Liberated from the superfluous and in search of the essential, he did not allow himself to be distracted by useless and destructive details, and wished to be a testimony of the presence of the Word Incarnate beside all men."

At the end of Mass and before praying the Angelus, the Holy Father greeted pilgrims who had participated in the beatification ceremony and asked everyone to support the synod fathers of the Special Assembly for Europe with prayer and recitation of the Rosary, "which the Church encourages in this month of October."

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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences:

- Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, president of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State and special envoy at the celebrations for the 450th anniversary of the arrival of St. Francis Xavier in Kagoshima, Japan.
- Cardinal Rosalio Jose Castillo Lara S.D.B., special envoy at the Colombian Third National Eucharistic Congress.

The following synod fathers were invited to lunch:

- Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general of Rome.
- Cardinal Vinko Puljic, archbishop of Vrhbosna, Bosnia- Herzegovina.
- Archbishop Giuseppe Germano Bernardini O.F.M. Cap., of Izmir, Turkey.
- Archbishop Franc Perko of Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
- Archbishop Giuseppe Costanzo of Siracusa, Italy.
- Archbishop Benigno Luigi Papa O.F.M., of Taranto, Italy.
- Archbishop Josip Bozanic of Zagreb, Croatia.
- Archbishop Angelo Massafra O.F.M., of Shkodre, Albania.
- Bishop Joakim Herbut of Skopje-Prizren, Macedonia.
- Bishop Attilo Nicora, emeritus of Verona, Italy.
- Bishop Petru Gherghel of Iasi, Romania.
- Bishop Amedee Grab O.S.B. of Chur, Switzerland.
- Bishop Agostino Superbo, emeritus of Altamura-Gravina-Acquaviva delle Fonti, Italy.

On Saturday, October 4, he received Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

That same day, the following synod participants were invited to lunch:

- Cardinal Jozef Glemp, archbishop of Warsaw, Poland.
- Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev, Belarus.
- Archbishop Marian Jaworski of Lviv of the Latins, Ukraine.
- Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, apostolic administrator of European Russia.
- Archbishop Janis Pujats of Riga, Latvia.
- Archbishop Tadeusz Goclowski C.M., of Gdansk, Poland.
- Archbishop Josef Michalik of Przemysl of the Latins, Poland.
- Bishop Alfons Nossol of Opole, Poland.
- Bishop Andrzej Wojciech Suski of Torun, Poland.
- Bishop Sofron Mudry O.S.B.M., of Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.
- Bishop Lubomyr Husar M.S.U., auxiliary with special faculties to the major archbishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians.
- Bishop Adam Lepa, auxiliary of Lodz, Poland.
- Bishop Stanislaw Padewski O.F.M. Cap., auxiliary of Lviv of the Latins, Ukraine.
- Fr. Czeslaw Parzyszek S.A.C., provincial superior of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, Poland.

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JOHN PAUL II'S PASTORAL VISIT TO INDIA AND GEORGIA

VATICAN CITY, OCT 4, 1999 (VIS) - The program of John Paul II's pastoral visit to India and Georgia, due to take place from November 5 to 9, has been made public.

The Pope will arrive in New Delhi on the evening of Friday, November 5. During his stay in that city he will sign the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation of the Special Assembly for Asia. He will celebrate a Mass for the conclusion of the synod and will meet representatives from other religions and other Christian confessions.

On Monday, November 8, he will travel to Tbilisi, Georgia, where he will meet with His Holiness Ilia II, Catholicos Patriarch of all Georgia, and with members of the Holy Synod. On November 9 the Holy Father will meet representatives from the world of culture and science and that same evening will return to Rome.

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HOLY FATHER BLESSES NEWLY RESTORED FACADE OF ST. PETER'S

VATICAN CITY, OCT 1, 1999 (VIS) - Yesterday evening the Pope blessed the recently restored facade of St. Peter's Basilica during a solemn celebration in St. Peter's Square. He encouraged the tens of thousands of people present to be "living rocks, active members of the spiritual edifice that is the Church."

Present at the ceremony, among others, were Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, president of the Italian Republic and Massimo D'Alema, prime minister, along with various ministers and members of the diplomatic corps and of the Roman Curia.

Prior to the Pope's arrival in the square, a documentary film was shown explaining the history of the basilica and the restoration of the facade. This was followed by a performance by the choir and orchestra of Saint Cecilia.

"We are gathered together here," said the Pope in his address, "to celebrate the joyful culmination of the restoration work" which has lasted for thirty months. "My thanks go especially to ENI (Italy's national hydrocarbon agency) who with great generosity made the restoration work possible, applying to it the most modern technologies."

"As we look in admiration at the phenomenal results of this work," the Holy Father added, "a spontaneous desire to praise the Lord wells up in our hearts. ... The gaze we lift up this evening to the architectural wonders of the facade anticipates that of innumerable pilgrims, who will come here from all parts of the world during the imminent Holy Year."

"May the approaching Jubilee find us ready to announce and witness our faith with more generous dedication," John Paul II requested. "The restoration work reminds us that all believers, each one of us, is called to continuous conversion and to a courageous revision of life, in order to be able to profoundly encounter Christ and fully benefit from the fruits of the Holy Year."

At the end of his address, John Paul II read the formula of benediction and blessed the facade. He then sat upon a small dais in front of the Vatican Basilica, to enjoy the Baroque-style firework and light displays that illuminated the facade as the choir sang Charpentier's "Te Deum."

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