PONTIFICAL ACADEMY: BE CONVINCED THAT LIFE IS A GIFT

VATICAN CITY, MAR 7, 2001 (VIS) - Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life participated last week at the Vatican in their General Assembly, on the theme: "The Culture of Life: Foundations and Dimensions."

During their meetings, participants emphasized the urgent need for society, and youth in particular, to recover the fundamental conviction that life is a gift, thus recovering the creationist concept and vision of life. Another point of discussion was human corporeality: Academy members reaffirmed that the body is not an object, but rather belongs to personal subjectivity. "The recovery of the dignity of the body as 'subject', and not simply material 'object', forms the logical consequence of the biblical concept of the person," the Holy Father said in his discourse last Saturday to the members of the Pontifical Academy.

The family was also highlighted as the place where human life receives its first welcome, its first protection. In addition, participants addressed the topic of ecology, affirming that what has been entrusted to man is not only to be used but also protected through a responsible guardianship of the environment.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 6, 2001 (VIS) - The Holy Father confirmed Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, as president of the Italian Episcopal Conference for another quinquennial term.

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JOHN PAUL II TO BEATIFY 233 SPANISH MARTYRS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 6, 2001 (VIS) - On Sunday, March 11, 2001, second Sunday of Lent, Pope John Paul will celebrate the Eucharist in St. Peter's Square during which he will beatify Servants of God Jose Aparicio Sanz, priest, and 232 companion martyrs: priests, religious and lay people.

According to a note from the Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff which announced the beatification ceremony, "(these Servants of God), having witnessed to the Gospel to the point of shedding their blood, belong to the sowing season of martyrs which has marked the second millennium of Christian life and has made the Church once again a Church of martyrs."

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IN MEMORIAM

VATICAN CITY, MAR 6, 2001 (VIS) - The following prelates died in recent weeks:

- Cardinal Jose Lebrun Moratinos, archbishop emeritus of Caracas, Venezuela, on February 21, at the age of 81.
- Bishop Roberto Carniello, emeritus of Volterra, Italy, on February 26, at the age of 83.
- Bishop Heinrich Machens, former auxiliary of Hildesheim, Germany, on February 17, at the age of 82.
- Bishop Benito Epifanio Rodriguez, former auxiliary of Rosario, Argentina, on February 15, at the age of 97.
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IT IS NECESSARY TO DEFEND AND SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF LIFE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 3, 2001 (VIS) - This morning the Holy Father received the participants of the general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who chose as their theme for reflection: "The culture of life: foundations and dimensions."

The Pope affirmed that "the best way to overcome the dangerous culture of death consists precisely in giving solid foundations and prominent significance to a culture of life which vigorously opposes it. It is not sufficient, even if necessary and proper, to be limited to exposing and denouncing the lethal effects of the culture of death. It is necessary to continually regenerate the inner fabric of contemporary culture."

"The 'Gospel of life'," of which the Encyclical "Evangelium Vitae" speaks, the Holy Father continued, "is a concrete and personal reality, because it consists in announcing the very person of Jesus. ... It involves a fundamental truth that the community of believers, today more than ever, is called to defend and spread."

The Holy Father recalled that "the recovery of the dignity of the body as 'subject', and not simply material 'object', forms the logical consequence of the biblical concept of the person. It involves a unitarian concept of the human being, which many currents of thought, from medieval philosophy to our time, have taught."

The challenges facing humanity today, on one side "from the progress of science and technology, and on the other from the process of the secularization of society, require a passionate and profound effort of reflection on man and on his being in the world and in history. It is necessary to demonstrate a great capacity for dialogue, listening, and proposal, in view of the formation of the conscience. Only thus can life be given to a culture founded on hope and open to the integral progress of every individual in different countries, in a just and sound way. Without a culture that maintains the right to life and promotes the fundamental values of every person, there cannot be a healthy society nor the guarantee of peace and justice."

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