NINETEENTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, OCT 22, 1999 - The nineteenth and final general congregation of the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops began at 5 p.m. today, and lasted just under one hour. The president delegate on duty was Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, archbishop of Krakow, Poland. Pope John Paul and 165 synod fathers were in attendance.

During the assembly the names of the members of the post-synodal council were announced, the synod fathers voted on the Final List of Propositions, Cardinal Jan Schotte disclosed the gifts that the participants would receive and there was a final salutation by Cardinal Joachim Meisner, archbishop of Cologne, Germany, and one of the three presidents delegate for this synod.

Those elected to the post-synodal council or appointed to it by the Holy Father are:

- Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, archbishop of Prague (CZECH REPUBLIC). - Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid (SPAIN).
- Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, Archbishop of Genoa (ITALY).
- Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, O.P., Archbishop of Vienna (AUSTRIA).
- Archbishop Nikolaos Foscolos of Athens (GREECE).
- Archbishop Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (VATICAN).
- Archbishop Audrys Juozas Backis of Vilnius (LITHUANIA).
- Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, Apostolic Administrator for European Russia for the Latin Rite (RUSSIA).
- Archbishop Jozef Miroslaw Zycinski of Lublin (POLAND).
- Archbishop Josip Bozanic of Zagreb (CROATIA).
- Archbishop Joseph Dore of Strasbourg (FRANCE).
- Bishop Karl Lehmann of Mainz (GERMANY).
- Bishop Lubomyr Husar M.S.U., Auxiliary Bishop by Special Appointment of the Major Archbishop of Lviv in the Ukraine (UKRAINE).
- Bishop Vincent Nichols, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster (GREAT BRITAIN).

Following the announcement of these names, there was a vote on the Final List of Propositions. the result of which will be announced tomorrow during the meal with the Holy Father.

Cardinal Jan Schotte, secretary general of the Synod of Bishops, then told the assembly that the presidents delegate wished to consult the synod fathers regarding a possible site for the celebratory phase of the synod, where the post-synodal apostolic exhortation would be promulgated.

He also revealed that the synod fathers and other participants in the special assembly for Europe will receive gifts from the Holy Father as a memento of their work these past weeks. The synod fathers who are bishops will receive a silver Latin pectoral cross and chain in commemoration of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000. Other participants will receive the official medal, in bronze or silver, which has been issued on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of Pope John Paul's pontificate.

All synod participants will receive a second gift: a volume containing 669 speeches given by the Holy Father on Europe from the start of his pontificate in October 1978 to August 31, 1999. The speeches were assembled by Msgr. Mario Spezzibottiani, an expert at the synod. Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi, archbishop of Genoa, wrote the presentation.

Cardinal Joachim Meisner closed the nineteenth congregation with words of gratitude to Pope John Paul II.

"With great attention and patience you have followed the debate during the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops. We bishops, dedicated to the Magisterium and immersed in the mandate of preaching, almost tend to lose the attitude of listening. Therefore, on the occasion of this synod, we feel the weight of listening."

The cardinal then recalled that Pope John Paul has brought to term 14 synods - five general, one extraordinary and eight special assemblies.

"You invited," he added, "the participants of each assembly and the prelates on 'ad limina' visit to share at the table of the pontifical house. We admire Your Holiness. We thank you with all our hearts for the participation in our different solicitudes."

"Following the example of Your Holiness," the archbishop of Cologne added, "we bishops must visit and invite the parishes and the communities of our dioceses. And thus, even the parish priests in our territories should visit and invite the associations, families and faithful to common prayer and preaching.

"To you, most Holy Father," Cardinal Meisner concluded, "we give our greatest thanks for your example and authority. With feelings of piety, admiration, and mutual trust we are united to the head of the College of Bishops. ... 'Ad multos annos' (Many more years)."

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, OCT 23, 1999 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano as pontifical legate at the ceremony for the reopening to worship of the Upper Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, and the consecration of its new papal altar, due to take place on November 28, 1999.

- Archbishop Eugenio Sbarbaro, pontifical representative in the Antilles, as apostolic nuncio in Saint Kitts and Nevis.

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DECLARATION ON VERDICT IN ANDREOTTI TRIAL

VATICAN CITY, OCT 23, 1999 (VIS) - Responding to journalists who asked about the acquittal this morning, in Palermo, Italy, of seven-time Italian prime minister Giulio Andreotti, who had been on trial accused of consorting with the mafia, Holy See Press Office Director Joaquin Navarro-Valls said he "repeats the Holy See's satisfaction, expressed one month ago in Perugia, when Senator Andreotti was acquitted at another trial."

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CLOSING MASS FOR THE SPECIAL ASSEMBLY FOR EUROPE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 23, 1999 (VIS) - Today at 10:30 a.m. in St. Peter's Basilica, John Paul II presided at a solemn Eucharistic concelebration with the synod fathers, thus marking the close of the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops whose theme has been, "Jesus Christ, Alive in His Church, the Source of Hope for Europe."

In his homily, the Pope indicated that this synod "closes with the sign of the joyous witness that comes from the experience of Christ, living in His Church. The source of hope, for Europe and for the entire world is Christ, the Word made Flesh, the only mediator between God and man."
"With firm conviction," the Holy Father went on, "the Church reiterates to the men and women of the year 2000, especially those who live submerged in relativism and materialism: welcome Christ into your existence! ... Christ is the future of man."

The Holy Father affirmed that "this announcement of hope, this Good News, is the heart of evangelization." He underlined that the synod fathers' work has adopted "the call of the Spirit to the Churches in Europe to commit themselves to face the new challenges." To the fathers he said, "you have not been afraid to look, with a clear eye, upon the reality of the continent, noting the light as well as the shadow. Furthermore, faced with the problems of the present time, you have indicated useful orientations to make the face of Christ more visible, through more incisive annunciation corroborated by coherent witness.

"In this context, light and consolation shine forth from the saints that fill the history of the European continent." He went on to recall Saints Edith Stein, Bridget of Sweden and Catherine of Siena, whom he has proclaimed co-patronesses of Europe. He also recalled those who, "in the obscurity of family, professional and social life, lived a saintliness no less generous or authentic," as well as those "confessors of the faith and the many martyrs of this last century. All of them ... have built Europe as a spiritual and moral edifice, leaving the most precious of inheritances to future generations."

John Paul II concluded the synod by asking that Europe "guarantee, adhering creatively to its humanistic and Christian traditions, the primacy of ethical and spiritual values. This is a hope that 'comes from the firm conviction that there can be no true and fertile unity for Europe if it is not built on its spiritual foundations'."

Following the Eucharistic concelebration, the Holy Father invited the participants to a fraternal meal at the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.

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SEMINARY FORMATION, A CHARTER OF PRIESTLY LIFE

VATICAN CITY, OCT 25, 1999 (VIS) - Shortly after noon today, in the Clementine Hall, the Pope welcomed professors and seminarians from Paris, accompanied by their archbishop, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger who, he recalled, will celebrate the 20th anniversary of his episcopal ordination on December 8.

John Paul II, addressing them in French, praised "the attention the diocese of Paris gives to priestly formation, the importance of which is capital. The elements acquired during formation ... are for each priest like a charter of his priestly life."

"Your formation in the seminary and your permanent formation," the Pope went on, "make you ready for your mission. What you have started to practice with regularity must remain the rule of your life: meeting the Lord in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, trusting love towards the Church, liturgical and personal prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, fraternal behavior, which is like the soul of the priesthood, and solicitude towards the people of God, especially the poor."

"Through priestly ordination you will be configured to Christ, Head and Pastor," concluded the Pope. "Love the Church, just as the Lord loved it, devoting Himself to her."

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