THE PATH TOWARDS UNITY IS THE CHURCH'S PATH

VATICAN CITY, DEC 2, 2000 (VIS) - Bishops who are friends of the Focolare Movement and who are holding their annual meeting in Rome, were welcomed today by the Holy Father in what has become a traditional appointment. They have been reflecting on the theme "The cry of the abandoned Christ: light on the path to full communion among Churches."

The Pope thanked the bishops and their communities "for the tenacious work you undertake in favor of unity among all believers in Christ. ... I am happy that you have been able to reflect and pray together for this great objective, for which the Catholic Church has repeatedly affirmed her irrevocable commitment. The ecumenical path, in fact, is the path of the Church."

"You have meditated," he said, referring to their theme, " on the anguish experienced by Christ in Gethsemane when He felt alone and abandoned in fully carrying out the mission that the Father had entrusted to Him. ... The ecumenical path thus finds its decisive model in the extreme offering of the Son of God Who, for love of His brothers, bore every division, conquering in Himself the sin of the disunity of His followers."

John Paul II observed that "we, witnesses of His redeeming sacrifice, are called to become ever more profoundly His instruments and ministers of unity and sanctification. Above all with prayer, because reconciliation and the recomposition of the unity of the divisions in the Church are a gift from on high."

In closing, the Pope affirmed that "unity is also a patient and far-sighted victory of faith and charity. We must allow the Lord, who is the doctor of souls, to heal us inside from every egoism."

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PROGRAM OF EVENTS FOR JUBILEE OF WORLD OF ENTERTAINMENT

VATICAN CITY, DEC 2, 2000 (VIS) - Released today was a tentative calendar of events for the December 15 to 17 Jubilee of the World of Entertainment.

On Friday December 15 at 9 a.m. a welcome gathering is scheduled to take place at the basilica of St. Mary Major, followed by greetings from Archbishop John Foley and Bishop Pierfranco Pastore, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, and a marian celebration. In the afternoon, at the basilica of Holy Cross in Jerusalem, participants will renew their baptismal vows and take part in a penitential celebration. Archbishop Stephen Fumio Hamao is scheduled to preside. He will be joined by Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M.Cap. preacher of the papal household. There will be a procession from Holy Cross in Jerusalem to St. John Lateran where a Eucharistic celebration will take place.

On Saturday, December 16, starting at 9 a.m., street artists will parade from Rome's central Piazza del Popolo to the Church of St. Ignatius where there will be an ecumenical celebration presided over by Cardinal Edward Cassidy. In the afternoon Cardinal Poupard will lead celebrations at the Titanus Studios where those in the world of entertainment will be given the opportunity to express, through their art, the reasons which persuaded them to accept the Holy Father's invitation to participate in the Jubilee.

At 8 a.m. on Sunday, December 17, artists will process from Castel Sant'Angelo to St. Peter's Square. At 9:30, Pope John Paul will preside at a Eucharistic celebration inside St. Peter's Basilica (not at St. Paul's as previously announced), after which he will recite the angelus in the square.

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EVANGELIZATION MUST BE OPEN TO ALL

VATICAN CITY, DEC 2, 2000 (VIS) - This morning in St. Peter's Square, the Holy Father received 20,000 pilgrims from various groups who have come to Rome to celebrate the Jubilee and to meet the Pope.

Speaking of new evangelization, John Paul II said that "everyone - from priests to catechists, from parents to children, from the consecrated to the married - has the responsibility of reiterating to the world the ever pertinent announcement of Christ, Who died and rose again for our sake. This announcement must ring out with profound ardor, through an evangelization that is open to all, that is new in its methods and proposals."

The Pope thanked members of the Circle of St. Peter and the Association of Sts. Peter and Paul, "for their constant and silent service to my person and my universal petrine ministry."

Going on to address members of the "Centesimus Annus-Pro Pontifice" Foundation, who were accompanied by members of their families, the Pope thanked them for their contribution "to a deepening of ecclesial Magisterium in the service of justice and peace." He added: "You prepared yourselves for this Jubilee meeting with an important international congress on 'Ethics and Finance,' whose final document you have presented to me today."

The Holy Father also greeted members of the National Association of Professional Divers. "As testimony of the celebration of your Jubilee," he said, "you have asked me to bless a statue representing Christ of the Deep. You will submerge this image of the Redeemer in the waters of the island of Giglio, Italy, in memory of the fallen members of your daring profession."

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ASSIST THE DISABLED TO REALIZE THEIR FULL POTENTIAL

VATICAN CITY, DEC 3, 2000 (VIS) - As their Jubilee came to a close, celebrations for the disabled were held this afternoon in the Paul VI Hall. Pope John Paul arrived in the middle of the four-hour program, listening to witnesses given by some of the handicapped and their care-givers as well as addressing those present in the hall.

"The festivities this afternoon," he said, "show that the integration of disabled persons has made progress, even though much remains to be done. There are, in fact, several urgent matters upon which we should reflect a while. Above all is the right that every handicapped man and woman has, in every country of the world, to a dignified life. It is not just a matter of satisfying specific needs, but more a question of gaining recognition for one's own desires to be welcomed and to autonomy. Integration must become part of our mentality and culture and at the same time legislators and government leaders must not fail to give this cause their coherent support."

The Holy Father added that "scientific research, for its part, is called to guarantee every possible form of prevention, safeguarding life and health. When a disability cannot be eliminated, it is always possible to release the potential that disability does not erase."

He underscored that the disabled must be guaranteed their rights "to study, work, to have a home and to the breaking down of barriers, and not just architectural ones!" And he urged those families, communities and associations who have the disabled in their midst or tend to them to continue to care for them "with respect and love."

John Paul II concluded: "'Blessed are the poor, the afflicted, those who are persecuted for justice's sake' for their reward in Heaven will be great! And herein lies the paradox of Christian hope: what seems to be a human ruin, in the divine plan is always a project of salvation."

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POPE APPEALS FOR DIGNITY OF DISABLED TO BE RECOGNIZED

VATICAN CITY, DEC 3, 2000 (VIS) - Today, the first Sunday of Advent, in the basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, the Pope presided at a Eucharistic celebration marking the occasion of the Jubilee of the Disabled.
The Pope told the disabled and their families that, with the start of Advent, "the Christian community prepares itself for the second coming of the Lord, focussing on those people that Jesus Himself favored, those whom society marginalizes and does not take into consideration."

"We know that the disabled man or woman - who is a unique and unrepeatable person of equal and inviolable dignity - requires not only care, but above all a love that becomes recognition, respect and integration. ... We wish to feel that we participate in your struggles and in the inevitable moments of discomfort, in order to illuminate them with the light of faith and with the hope of solidarity and of love."

The Pope said that their presence reaffirmed "that disability is not only need, it is also and above all a stimulus and an incentive. ... Your reality questions those concepts of life that are linked only to satisfaction, appearances, speed and efficiency."

"On this solemn occasion, I would like to ask those who hold political responsibility at all levels, to work towards assuring the living conditions and opportunities necessary for your dignity, dear disabled brothers and sisters, to be effectively recognized and safeguarded. In a society so rich in scientific and technical knowledge, it is possible and and a duty to do more in the various ways that civil coexistence demands: from biomedical research to prevent disability, to care, to assistance, to rehabilitation, to new social integration. Nonetheless, though your civil, social and spiritual rights must be defended, it is even more important to protect human relationships, relationships of support, friendship and sharing."

Prior to praying the angelus, the Holy Father gave the assurance that, of all the Jubilee celebrations, today's was "one of the most meaningful and, to me, most dear," and he encouraged "the multiple associations that mature and spread a mentality open to social integration. ... Indeed, the aim of today's event is to reaffirm that a united society is possible if, in others, we learn to recognize and encounter, always and above all, the person."

Finally, John Paul II greeted the disabled, their families and care-givers in six languages.

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