SPORT CAN INCULCATE VALUES SUCH AS LOYALTY, FRIENDSHIP, TEAMWORK

VATICAN CITY, DEC 11, 2000 (VIS) - Pope John Paul this morning welcomed the members of the executive committee of FIFA, the International Federation of Association Football, and told them that they have "a global responsibility, with more than 200 countries and 120 million players involved," and "an immense power ... (that) must be used for the good of the human family."

"You are administrators, certainly, but you are educators as well, since sport can inculcate many higher values such as loyalty, friendship and team spirit," he said. "It is true that football's financial success can help to sustain praiseworthy new initiatives, such as FIFA's 'Charity Project'. But it can also contribute to a culture of selfishness and greed. That is why the finer values of sport must be emphasized and passed on through the bodies represented in your federation."

The Holy Father, speaking in English, pointed out that "as a sport shared by people of different ethnic, racial, economic and social backgrounds, football is an excellent means of promoting the solidarity so greatly needed in a world deeply affected by ethnic and racial tensions. ... Sport is educational because it takes human impulses, even potentially negative ones, and turns them to good purpose. The young can learn to have healthy competition without conflict. ... I express the earnest hope that FIFA will continue at all levels to tackle the problem of violence, which does so much harm to the game."

In concluding, the Pope stressed that "for all its importance as an education for the great challenges of life, football remains a game. It is a form of play, both simple and complex, in which people take joy in the wonderful possibilities of human life - physical, social and spiritual."

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HOMAGE TO MARY IMMACULATE AND THE AKATHISTOS HYMN

VATICAN CITY, DEC 8, 2000 (VIS) - At 4 p.m. today. solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Pope travelled in a convertible car to Rome's central Spanish Steps for the traditional homage to the statue of Mary Immaculate. He was greeted by thousands of faithful who lined the streets leading up the piazza and waiting in the square itself where the statue is located.

After placing a basket of dozens of roses at the foot of the column, atop which is the state of Mary Immaculate, the Holy Father paid homage to the Virgin.

In his prayer, John Paul II said that "today Romans renew their pilgrimage to this square where Blessed Pius IX raised the marian monument in 1856 to recall the promulgation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception (in 1854). ... As I do every year, I willingly join in this traditional floral homage, an eloquent symbol of a chorus of entrustment to the Immaculate Heart of the Mother of Our Lord."

The Holy Father, in his prayer to Mary, asked for help "in the fight against evil and in the commitment to good. Preserve us under your maternal protection, All beautiful and holy Virgin! Help us to go forward in the new millennium wrapped in that humility which made you the chosen one in the eyes of the Most High. May the fruits of this Jubilee Year not be lost! Into your hands we place the future which awaits us, invoking your constant protection on the entire world."

Following this homage to Mary, the Pope went to St. Mary Major Basilica where he presided at the celebration of the Akathistos hymn in which representatives of several Catholic Byzantine Churches participated. The hymn was sung in Greek, Paleoslavonic, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Romanian and Arabic.

At the end of the hymn's 24 verses, John Paul II delivered a brief homily. "Mother of the Risen Lord and Mother of the Church," he said, "Mary precedes us and leads us to the authentic knowledge of God and the encounter with the Redeemer. She shows us the way and shows us her Son. ... We greet her with the title 'full of grace' and we implore her intercession for all the children of the Church who, with this hymn, celebrate her glory."

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THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, AN EXTRAORDINARY PRIVILEGE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 8, 2000 (VIS) - At noon today, solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, Pope John Paul appeared at his study window to recite the angelus with the faithful gathered below in St. Peter's Square.

The Holy Father pointed out that "today we contemplate this humble young girl from Nazareth who was preserved, with an extraordinary and ineffable privilege, from the stain of original sin and from every sin, in order to be the worthy abode of the Word made flesh. In Mary, the new Eve, Mother of the new Adam, the original marvelous plan of the Father's love is re-established in a yet more wondrous way."

"Today's liturgy proposes the Gospel account of the Annunciation," remarked the Pope. "The virgin, answering the angel, proclaimed: 'Behold the handmaiden of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word'. Mary showed her total assent of mind and heart to the divine and mysterious wishes and readied herself to receive, first in faith and then in her womb, the Son of God."

He said that Mary's "'Here I am!'" and her "immediate adherence to the divine will constitute a model for all of us believers, so that, in the great events, as well as in ordinary ones, we entrust ourselves entirely to the Lord. With the witness of her life, Mary encourages us to believe in the fulfillment of the divine promises."

After these reflections, John Paul II prayed the angelus and, following that, greeted numerous groups present in St. Peter's Square, including the Pontifical Academy of Mary Immaculate, Italian Catholic Action and the Work for Religious Assistance for the Ill.

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LETTER TO NEW PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH OF GREEK-MELKITES

VATICAN CITY, DEC 9, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from John Paul II to His Beatitude Gregory III, canonically elected as patriarch of Antioch of Greek-Melkite Catholics in the Holy Synod of Bishops of the Greek-Melkite Catholic Church, which was held in Charfet, Lebanon on November 29, 2000.

In the Letter, written in French and dated December 5, the Pope wrote: "With my warm congratulations and the assurance of an entirely fraternal charity, I welcome with a full heart, venerable brother, your request for ecclesiastic communion, in conformation to the usage and desire of the entire Catholic Church. May the Lord assist you, Beatitude, throughout your new ministry, which I hope to be most fruitful, in union with our brothers in the episcopacy, the Fathers of the Patriarchal Synod!"

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CARDINAL PLACES GOLDEN ROSE IN MARIAN SHRINE AT LORETO

VATICAN CITY, DEC 9, 2000 (VIS) - Today, vigil of the feast of Our Lady of Loreto, in the name of all families throughout the world, Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, offered a golden rose to Our Lady of Loreto in the marian shrine of the same name on Italy's Adriatic coast. The rose, blessed by the Holy Father during the Mass on October 15 for the Jubilee of Families, was presented during a solemn Eucharistic concelebration

A communique released today which highlighted this event explained that "this initiative was born in the context of the Jubilee of Families, who are inspired by the model of the Holy Family of Loreto." It added that members of an Italian family, accompanied by Archbishop Angelo Comastri, prelate of Loreto, had presented the 40 centimeter long rose to the Pope for his blessing on October 15.

Two weddings bands, which mark a couple's commitment to fidelity, form part of the flower's stem. On a cartouche at its base is the prayer: "Queen of Families, make every house a Holy House and every family a Holy Family." This prayer will now be recited every morning in the shrine of Loreto.

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