PRESENTATION OF CLOSING CEREMONIES FOR THE HOLY YEAR

VATICAN CITY, DEC 19, 2000 (VIS) - In the Holy See Press Office at 11:30 a.m. on Friday December 22, Bishop Piero Marini, master of liturgical ceremonies of the Supreme Pontiff, will speak on the concluding Holy Year ceremonies. The Holy Doors of the patriarchal basilicas of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls, St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran will be closed on January 5, and that of St. Peter's on January 6.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, DEC 19, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed:

- Fr. Piotr Kryk, vicar general of Wroclaw Gdansk of the Byzantine-Ukrainian rite, as apostolic exarch of faithful of the Byzantine-Ukrainian rite in Germany. The bishop-elect was born in Kobylnica Woloska, Poland, in 1945 and ordained a priest in 1971.

- Msgr. Jose Hernan Sanchez Porras of the clergy of the diocese of San Cristobal, Venezuela, secretary general of the Venezuelan Epsicopal Conference, as military ordinary for Venezuela. The bishop-elect was born in Palmira, Venezuela, in 1944 and ordained a priest in 1967.

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JOHN PAUL II THANKS AUSTRIANS FOR CHRISTMAS TREE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 16, 2000 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed a delegation from the Austrian province of Carinthia and from the Church of Gurk-Klagenfurt in Austria, and thanked them for the Jubilee Year Christmas tree which they donated for St. Peter's Square, fulfilling a promise made three years ago.

He had "a special greeting for Bishop Egon Kapellari and all the pilgrims, among whom is the regional governor of Carinthia with an official delegation amd the mayor of Gurk with a group from City Hall."

John Paul II said that, "when in past days I looked out of my study window to St. Peter's Square, the tree inspired me spiritually. I always loved trees in my own country. When one looks at them, they start, in a certain way, to speak. A poet once considered trees as preachers with a deep message: 'They don't preach doctrines or precepts, but announce the fundamental law of life'.

"In the flowering in the springtime, maturing in the summer, in the fruits of autumn and in dying in the winter, a tree tells the mystery of life."

"As do trees," the Pope went on, "men also need deeply anchored roots. Only those rooted in fertile soil have stability. ... He who believes he can live without foundations, lives an uncertain existence which resembles roots without earth."

He closed with a reference to Adam, in the Garden of Eden, as he ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge and to Christ, who died on the tree of the Cross: "From the tree of paradise came death, from the tree of the Cross came life."

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EUROPE MUST RECOVER SPIRITUAL PATRIMONY IN RIGHTS CHARTER

VATICAN CITY, DEC 16, 2000 (VIS) - Made public today was a Letter from Pope John Paul to Cardinal Antonio Maria Javierre Ortas, who today is presiding at an academic meeting in the Old Synod Hall dedicated to the 1200th anniversary of the crowning of the Emperor Charlemagne by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day 800. The meeting was organized by the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.

"The commemoration of this historical event," the Pope wrote, "coincides with the decisive phase of the drafting of the European Union's Charter of Basic Rights" and "it invites us to reflect on the value which the cultural and religious reform promoted by Charlemagne has even today." He highlighted how this reform was a "remarkable synthesis between the culture of classical antiquity, predominantly Roman, and that of the Germanic and Celtic peoples, a synthesis based on the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

Underscoring that "the Charter of Basic Rights is an attempt to synthesize once again ... the basic values which must inspire the coexistence of European peoples," the Holy Father added: "I cannot hide my great disappointment for the fact that not even one reference to God, Who is the supreme source of the dignity of the human person and his basic rights, was inserted into the text. We cannot forget that it was the denial of God and His commandments which created, in the last century, the tyranny of idols, expressed in the glorification of a race, of a class, of the State, of the nation, of the party, instead of the true and living God."

"Notwithstanding many noble efforts," John Paul II went on, "the text of the Charter of Basic Rights, has not satisfied the just expectations of many people. The defense of the rights of the person and the family, in particular, could have been more courageous. ... In many European States they are threatened, for example, by policies favoring abortion, which is legalized almost everywhere, by attitudes which consider euthanasia as ever more possible and, finally, by certain projects of law in the matter of genetic technology which are not sufficiently respectful of the human quality of the embryo."

In closing, the Pope recalled that "Europe, in the search for its identity, must make an energetic efforts to recover the cultural patrimony left by Charlemagne and preserved for more than a millennium."

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JUBILEE PILGRIMS RECEIVED BY THE POPE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 16, 2000 (VIS) - This morning in St. Peter's Square, the Pope received groups of pilgrims from a number of Spanish dioceses, participants in the Jubilee of Fashion, members of the Federation of Italian Fishing Industries and faithful from various Italian parishes.

The Pope greeted pilgrims from Spanish dioceses, including a group from the archdiocese of Toledo led by Archbishop Francisco Alvarez Martinez, who this morning had participated in a Eucharistic celebration in the Hispanic-Mozarabic rite in the Vatican Basilica.

After recalling the Eucharistic celebration in the Spanish-Mozarabic rite that he presided in 1992, John Paul II said: "In the face of the great modern-day challenges you must draw on the abundant spiritual and cultural treasures (of the Mozarabic liturgy) as an aid to strengthen the Christian faith of your people and, at the same time, a secure guide for orienting evangelization in the third millennium in harmony with the spirituality of your ancestors and the characteristics of the Spanish people. Beloved children of Toledo and Spain, do not fear the great trials of the present!"

The Pope told those who work in fashion: "In your work, which calls for imagination and taste, try and transmit love of beauty to others. For this to happen fully, always be animated by those sound moral principles that make up the heritage of every truly human culture."

The Pope then addressed members of the Federation of Italian Fishing Industries: "The sea represents a beautiful image of this world in which our existence unfolds. Humanity plows through the billows of time, advancing towards the shores of eternity. ... I hope that all of you may live your relationship with our natural resources in full respect for the marine environment."

The Pope also had words for the promoters and organizers of the so-called "Derby of the Heart"; a soccer match between a team of singers and one of actors which will take place next Tuesday in Rome's Olympic Stadium. He praised their initiative of sending the funds collected from the event to children who are suffering or in danger, and expressed his desire that this "be a simple but effective contribution that breaks down all barriers of social discrimination and that causes a culture of welcome and solidarity to grow."

Finally, the Holy Father greeted faithful from various Italian dioceses and the "united Scouts" of France.

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