CHRISTIANITY, A DECISIVE FACTOR IN EUROPE'S FORMATION

VATICAN CITY, FEB 14, 2004 (VIS) - A group of pilgrims from Slovakia, accompanied by Cardinals Jan Korec and Jozef Tomko and by President Rudolf Schuster, was welcomed to the Vatican today by John Paul II who recalled the three times he visited their country: in 1990 after the fall of the communist regime, in 1995 and again in 2003.

Noting that their visit coincides with the feast today of Cyril and Methodius, the Slav brothers and saints who are patrons of Slovakia and co-patrons of Europe, the Pope said that "the witness of these two great apostles of the Slavs is a strong reminder to rediscover the roots of the European identity of your people, roots that you share with other nations on the continent." Your faith, he told the Slovak pilgrims, represents the richest and most solid patrimony of your people. Safeguard and nourish it, he said: "It must not be hidden, but proclaimed and witness to with courage."

The Holy Father pointed out that Jesus taught the disciples to be "'the salt of the earth, .and the light of the world'. Being 'salt' and 'light' means making the Gospel truth shine in your daily personal and community choices. It means keeping unchanged the spiritual legacy of Saints Cyril and Methodius by opposing the widespread tendency to conform to homologous and standardized models.

"Slovakia and Europe of the Third Millennium," he underscored, "have become enriched by many cultural contributions but it would be deleterious to forget that Christianity contributed in a decisive manner to the formation of the continent. You, dear Slovaks, offer your significant contribution to the hoped-for building of European unity, making yourselves the voice of those human and spiritual values which have given meaning to your history. It is indispensable for these ideals that you have lived with coherence to continue to guide a free Europe that offers solidarity, capable of harmonizing its diverse cultural and religious traditions."
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HELP THE VICTIMS OF ANTI-PERSONNEL LAND MINES

VATICAN CITY, FEB 14, 2004 (VIS) - Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, permanent observer to the Office of the United Nations and Specialized Institutions, spoke on February 10 in Geneva at the first meeting of the permanent Committee of experts on the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on their Destruction.

In his talk, published today, Archbishop Tomasi said that "when there has been the lack of knowledge, of ability or of will to take political decisions or practical measures to prevent production and dissemination of anti-personnel mines, national authorities and the international community have no right to avoid their respective responsibility for a comprehensive treatment of the tragic consequences mines cause."

After emphasizing that victims of anti-personnel mines "are innocent witnesses of a wrong approach to security," the permanent observer added: "In most cases the citizens of the country that employs this arm are those who suffer most its disastrous consequences." For this reason, he urged that in the First Review Conference which will take place in Nairobi, Kenya "the plight and a program of assistance to victims of anti-personnel mines should take a prominent place in the reflection."

"Healing entire populations of the consequences of war and armed conflicts, especially the people that have been most affected and victimized, is the best investment in building up true security and a durable peace."
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, FEB 13, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Julian Herranz, president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, accompanied by Bishop Bruno Bertagna and Msgr. Bernard A. Hebda, respectively secretary and undersecretary of this pontifical council.

This afternoon the Holy Father is scheduled to receive in separate audiences:

- Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, apostolic nuncio in Haiti.

- Mario Baccini, Italian undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, with his family.

- Bishop Bernard Charrier of Tulle, France on his "ad limina" visit.

- A group of prelates from the French Episcopal Conference on their "ad limina" visit.
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CARDINAL ROSSI: A PASTOR AND DIPLOMAT, NOURISHED BY FAITH

VATICAN CITY, FEB 13, 2004 (VIS) - Pope John Paul delivered the homily at the funeral this morning in St. Peter's Basilica of Cardinal Opilio Rossi, 93, who died four days ago in Rome after a life dedicated to service in the Roman Curia and in the Vatican's diplomatic corps.

The Pope underscored that it was "faith which animated the long and fecund priestly ministry of Cardinal Opilio Rossi. How many times did he celebrate the divine Sacrifice, drawing from the Eucharist the light and inner strength needed for his daily choices and for his apostolate!"

Noting that his episcopal motto was "Omnia in Christo" ("All in Christ"), the Pope said: "We can say that, even within the limits of human fragility, this total tension towards Christ was behind the tireless service he gave to the Holy See in the pontifical representations in diverse countries in America and Europe, and again within the milieu of the Roman Curia.

"During the dramatic moments of World War II," he continued, "Fr. Opilio Rossi, then an auditor in the pontifical representative in Berlin, gave everything he had, along with the late apostolic nuncio, Msgr. Orsenigo, to assist many suffering brothers and sisters, giving them courage and nourishing in them faith and Christian hope. It was an enriching experience of humanity and solidarity towards the weakest. He then sought, over the course of his life, to transmit this experience to new generations. He was in fact convinced that young people must draw from the history of the 20th century an important lesson: that is, that hatred, disdain for others, violence, and exasperated nationalism bring forth only tears and blood."

John Paul II then recalled that Cardinal Rossi returned to the Roman Curia where he became the first president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and that he himself called the cardinal to preside over the Permanent Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.

"Wherever he undertook his pastoral and diplomatic ministry," concluded the Pope, Cardinal Rossi "knew how to become close to everyone."
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 13, 2004 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Roland Minnerath, professor of Church History in the Faculty of Theology at the State University of Strasbourg, France, as metropolitan archbishop of Dijon (area 8,760, population 506,783, Catholics 408,973, priests 222, permanent deacons 28, religious 398), France. The archbishop-elect was born in 1946 in Sarreguemines, France and was ordained a priest in 1978. He succeeds Archbishop Michel Coloni whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted upon having reached the age limit.
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