IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, APR 20, 2001 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Bishop Vittorio Bernardetto, emeritus of Susa, Italy, on March 7 at the age of 75.
- Archbishop Joseph Cunnane, emeritus of Tuam, Ireland, on March 8 at the age of 87.
- Archbishop Alessandro Maria Gottardi, emeritus of Trento, Italy, on March 24 at the age of 88.
- Bishop Porfirio R. Iligan, emeritus of Masbate, the Philippines, on March 6 at the age of 78.
- Bishop Eliseu Simoes Mendes, emeritus of Campo Mourao, Brazil, on March 2 at the age of 85.
- Bishop Antonio Pagano, emeritus of Ischia, Italy, on March 9 at the age of 78.
- Archbishop Antonio Valentini, emeritus of Chieti-Vasto, Italy, on March 18 at the age of 79.
- Bishop Adriano Jaime Miriam Veigle, T.O.R., prelate emeritus of Borba, Brazil, on April 3 at the age of 88.

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POPE SENDS GREETINGS TO EUROPEAN ECUMENICAL MEETING

VATICAN CITY, APR 20, 2001 (VIS) - Made public early this afternoon was a Letter from Pope John Paul to Cardinal Miroslav Vlk, archbishop of Prague and outgoing president of the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe, on the occasion of the European Ecumenical Meeting in Strasbourg, France, which began yesterday and ends April 22.

In the Letter, written in French and dated April 13, the Pope states that "this meeting, jointly organized by the Council of Episcopal Conferences of Europe and the Council of Churches of Europe, is the happy fruit of an intense collaboration among diverse ecclesial organisms of the European continent."

The Holy Father goes on to note that the words of Jesus - "'I am with you always, to the close of the age' - which have accompanied the Church of Christ for two millennia, are also the theme of the ecumenical meeting in Strasbourg."

He points out that "the unity for which the Lord prayed in the Cenacle is a condition for the credibility of the Christian witness. Today, more than ever, we must bring our reflection to bear on this profound relation which plays a decisive role for the impact which the Christian message can have in the world. A clear proclamation of the Gospel is especially urgent in Europe. Woven with different cultures, traditions and values linked to the countries which make it up, Europe can be neither understood nor built without taking into account the roots which are its original identity; not can it build itself in rejecting the Christian spirituality which permeates it."

John Paul II closes by sending his "very best wishes" to all those participating in the Strasbourg encounter.

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PROGRAM FOR POPE'S JUBILEE PILGRIMAGE IN GREECE, SYRIA AND MALTA

VATICAN CITY, APR 19, 2001 (VIS) - Made public today was the itinerary for Pope John Paul's six-day Jubilee pilgrimage in Greece, Syria and Malta in the footsteps of St. Paul Apostle. The May 4 to 9 trip by the Holy Father, during which he is scheduled to speak on 18 occasions, will be his 93rd apostolic trip outside of Italy.

The Pope is scheduled to depart Rome at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 4 and, after a two-hour flight, will arrive in Athens where he will go directly to the Presidential Palace for a welcome ceremony in the garden and a courtesy call on the president of the Hellenic Republic.

At 1:30 p.m. he will go to the Orthodox Archdiocesan Palace of Athens and pay a courtesy visit to His Beatitude Christodoulos, archbishop of Athens and primate of Greece. An hour later he will arrive at the apostolic nunciature in Athens and meet with and address the Catholic Bishops of Greece. At 5:45 p.m. the Pope will visit the Catholic Cathedral of Athens and at 6:30 will make a pilgrimage to the Areopagus of Athens in memory of St. Paul. At 7:45 p.m. he will return to the nunciature and His Beatitude Christodoulos will make a courtesy call on the Pope.

On Saturday, May 5 at 8:15 a.m. the Pope will preside at Mass at the Sport Palace in the complex of the Olympic Center of Athens. At 11:45 there will be a farewell ceremony at the Athens Airport and the Holy Father will depart for Damascus, Syria.

A welcome ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at the International Airport of Damascus, during which the Holy Father will give a speech. At 5:45 p.m. that day he will arrive at the Presidential Palace and pay a courtesy visit to the president of the Syrian Arab Republic. Just over one hour later the Pope will arrive at the Greek-Orthodox Cathedral of Damascus where there will be an ecumenical meeting and a speech by the Pope.

On Sunday, May 6, at 9:30 a.m. John Paul II will preside at a Eucharistic celebration in the Abbassyin Stadium of Damascus. Following this he will recite the Regina Coeli and make some brief remarks. After Mass he is scheduled to go to the Greek-Catholic Patriarchate of Damascus where, at 1 p.m., a meeting will commence with the patriarchs and bishops of Syria.

At 5 p.m. the Holy Father is scheduled to arrive at the Syrian-Orthodox Cathedral of Damascus for a meeting with and speech to the clergy, religious and Christian laity of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches of Syria. At 6:15 p.m., the Pope will go to the Omayyad Great Mosque of Damascus for a visit to the St. John the Baptist Memorial and a meeting with Muslim leaders, whom he will address.

On Monday, May 7 there will be a private Mass at 7:30 a.m. in the chapel of the nunciature in Damascus. At 9:15 Pope John Paul is scheduled to visit the Church of St. Paul on the Wall in the Bab Kissan gate of the Old Walls of Damascus. Following this he will go to the St. Paul Memorial of Damascus.

At 10:15 a.m. the Pope will depart by car for the one-hour trip to Qunaytra where he will visit the Greek-Orthodox Church. A prayer for peace is scheduled at the Church in the Golan Heights.
At noon the Holy Father will depart for Damascus, arriving at the nunciature around 1 p.m. At 5:40 p.m. he will arrive at the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of Damascus for a meeting with and speech to youth.

Tuesday, May 8, John Paul II will again say a private morning Mass in the chapel of the nunciature. At 11 a.m. there will be farewell ceremony at the Damascus Airport and the Pope will leave a half-hour later for Malta.

The Pope is scheduled to arrive at Malta's Gudja International Airport at 2 p.m. where there will be a welcome ceremony and speeches. At 6 p.m. that same day he will go to the Presidential Palace in the Maltese capital of Valletta and pay a courtesy call on the president of the republic.

Wednesday, May 9 is the final day of the Holy Father's Jubilee pilgrimage. At 9:30 a.m. he will preside at a concelebrated Mass with beatifications at the "Granaries" of Floriana. At 12:45 the Pope will go the apostolic nunciature in Rabat where he will meet with the bishops of Malta.

At 4:30 that afternoon he will arrive at the Church of the Center of the Society of Christian Doctrine in Hamrun where he will visit the tomb of the Venerable Fr. George Preca and meet with and speak to the members of the "Societas Doctrinae Cristianae" in the Center's auditorium.

At 6:30 p.m. the Pope will go to Gudja International Airport where he will depart for Rome at 7 p.m., arriving at Ciampino Airport after a flight of one and a half hours.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, APR 19, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Bishop German Pavon Puente of Tulcan, Ecuador, as bishop of Ambato (area 3,844, population 434,465, Catholics 394,516, priests 81, permanent deacons 2, religious 249), Ecuador.

- Fr. Elio Alevi Perez Tapia, S.D.B., vicar of the Salesian Inspectorate "Santa Rosa da Lima," as bishop prelate of Juli (area 17,527, population 385,411, Catholics 300,000, priests 12, religious 32), Peru. The bishop-elect was born in Huambos, Peru, in 1946, and ordained to the priesthood in 1975.

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HOLY THURSDAY: CHRISM AND "CENA DOMINI" MASSES

VATICAN CITY, APR 12, 2001 (VIS) - At 9:30 this morning, Holy Thursday, John Paul II presided in the Vatican Basilica over the concelebration of the Chrism Mass, during which priestly vows were renewed and the oils used for catechumens, to anoint the sick, and for confirmation were blessed.

In his homily the Pope affirmed that the renewal of priestly vows "is a rite which acquires full value and significance as an expression of the journey of sanctity, to which the Lord has called us on the path of the priesthood. It is a journey which each makes in a very personal way, seen by God alone, Who searches and knows hearts. Nevertheless, in today's liturgy, the Church offers us the consoling opportunity to join together, and to sustain one another."

"This fraternal solidarity," the Holy Father continued, "cannot but become a concrete commitment to carry one another's burdens in the ordinary circumstances of life and ministry. If it is true, in fact, that no one can become holy in another's place, it is likewise true that each can and must become so with and for others, after the model of Christ."

At 5:30 p.m. in the basilica of St. John Lateran, John Paul II presided over the concelebration of the Mass "in cena Domini" or the Lord's Supper. During the liturgy, the Holy Father washed the feet of twelve priests, and at the presentation of the gifts received an offering for the earthquake victims in El Salvador.

The Pope affirmed that the Eucharist "is not simply the memorial of a past rite but the living representation of the Savior's supreme gesture." It is "the sacramental presence of the sacrificed body and the spilt blood of the new Lamb! In the Eucharist salvation and love are offered to all mankind. How could we not be fascinated by this mystery?".

With the washing of the feet, "Jesus reminds His disciples in every age that they must bear witness to the Eucharist in loving service to others. ... The washing of the feet is intended to be an exemplary act, which in Christ's death on the Cross and in His Resurrection has its interpretative key and fullest explanation. ... Genuine participation in the Mass cannot but produce fraternal love in the individual believer and in the whole ecclesial community."

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