POPE ADDRESSES KOREAN BISHOPS, IN ROME ON "AD LIMINA" VISIT

VATICAN CITY, MAR 24, 2001 (VIS) - Pope John Paul today welcomed the bishops of Korea as they conclude their quinquennial "ad limina" visit to Rome and to the Successor of Peter. He recalled his two visits to their country and remarked on "how the Church has grown and flourished since the time the Gospel seed was first sown there over two centuries ago."

The Pope noted that the background to their visit was formed by the 1998 Synod for Asia and by the "grace-filled experience of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000." He said that the synod "was the occasion for a fruitful and enriching reflection on the challenges posed for evangelization in a continent where Christians form a very small minority."

For an efficacious evangelization, he said, "you have the responsibility of constantly identifying the features of a pastoral plan adapted to the needs and aspirations of God's people. ... The Successors of the Apostles should never be afraid of proclaiming the full truth about Jesus Christ, in all its challenging reality and demands, since the truth has an intrinsic power to draw the human heart to all that is good, noble and beautiful."

"In this regard," continued the Holy Father, "I am especially pleased to learn of efforts to promote the Biblical apostolate. The availability of a modern Korean translation of the Bible ... makes it possible for all the faithful to have direct access to God's saving word."

"By the mandate of Christ," he affirmed, "the bishop is appointed to teach - 'in season and out of season' - the unchanging faith of the Church, as it is to be applied and lived today." He animated them "to support and encourage the work of theologians" and "at the same time you must be concerned to safeguard the authentic interpretation of the Church's teaching and thus ensure that the local Church abides in the truth which alone saves and liberates."

"In your homeland," noted John Paul II, "you face the challenge of an increasingly materialistic mentality which is undermining many of the authentic human values upon which Korean society is traditionally based. This calls for renewed efforts to address the widely-felt crisis of values and to strengthen the sense of the transcendent in the lives of the faithful." He commended the bishops for their initiatives relative to bioethical questions, especially for their "steadfast opposition to abortion, ... a terrible offense against God's gift of life" which "introduces into society a relativistic attitude to all fundamental moral and ethical principles."

He highlighted the "indispensable" role of the laity in the Church and the bishops' "task to discern the gifts of the laity." He then remarked how Korea "is blessed with a high number of priestly vocations. ... The new Pontifical Korean College here in Rome is a sign of your resolve to ensure that priests receive a solid continuing formation."

John Paul, in closing, told the bishops that he rejoices "whenever I hear of progress in advancing reconciliation, mutual understanding and cooperation among all the members of the Korean family. ... To provide material and spiritual solidarity with the Catholic community and the whole population of North Korea, in appropriate ways and with pastoral charity, will undoubtedly prove a positive step towards reconciliation."

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JOHN PAUL II INAUGURATES PONTIFICAL KOREAN COLLEGE

VATICAN CITY, MAR 24, 2001 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon John Paul II inaugurated the Pontifical Korean College, which will be the residence of seminarians preparing for the priesthood and priests taking academic courses at Rome's various pontifical universities. Participating in the celebration of the Word were the prelates of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, who have just concluded their "ad limina" visit, the rector, priests, and the students of the new college.

The Holy Father said that the entire theological and pastoral formation of the college "will be directed towards ensuring that every priest may be Christ for others, a convincing sign of His love and His salvific action. ... Foremost to their care, therefore, must be a constant familiarity with Jesus in the Eucharist, and confident recourse in prayer to His grace and the light of His Word."

John Paul II recalled that this year commemorates the "bicentenary of the great persecution of 1801, which caused the death of more than 300 Christians in your country. Thanks to the courage of those witnesses of faith and of others who followed their example, the Gospel seed, the seed of hope, did not die despite the subsequent wave of persecutions. In fact, it progressively developed, giving solidity to an astonishing growth of the Church in your country."

After remembering the figure of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gon, martyr and patron of Korea, the Holy Father said that he "was faithful until death. ... He exhorted the believers to draw from divine charity the strength to remain united and resist evil. As did the early community, ... so also the Korean Church had to find the secret of its cohesion and growth in adherence to the teaching of the successors of the apostles, in prayer and in the breaking of the bread. This same unity of purpose and the same spirit of charity, I am certain, will be the soul of the Pontifical Korean College."

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EVANGELIZING WITH PROGRAMS OF APPROPRIATE CHRISTIAN FORMATION

VATICAN CITY, MAR 25, 2001 (VIS) - "The Church has the mission of announcing and sharing the great treasure of the 'Gospel of mercy' with all men. Here is the source of joy which permeates this Sunday's liturgy, called precisely 'Laetare Sunday'," the Pope said this morning during the Eucharistic celebration in the Roman parish of St. Dominic.

The Holy Father recalled that in the almost 27 years since its foundation, the parish "has made noteworthy efforts to offer a proper welcome to the many families who live here. It is now necessary to achieve a determined step forward, favoring evangelization in every way, through appropriate programs of Christian formation."

"The challenge before you is demanding," the Pope went on. A program of faith formation is necessary "which involves those who approach the sacraments of Christian initiation and which continues through adolescence and youth, affecting as well their fiances and families. ... An ever more active presence of the laity in organisms of pastoral participation is also to be encouraged."

John Paul II told the parishioners that in their area it is necessary to confront "the challenge of sects. I must tell you to exert yourselves so that the Gospel may be announced to your children and all persons of good will, as the Church has been doing for two thousand years. Offer the truth of the Christian faith with clarity, accompanying it always with a language of love and fraternity, understandable to all."

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VATICAN RADIO: BILATERAL MEETING TO DISCUSS RADIATION EMISSIONS

VATICAN CITY, MAR 24, 2001 (VIS) - Following is the joint declaration, made public today, of the Italy-Holy See Bilateral Commission for the solution of problems tied to the intensity of electromagnetic fields in Santa Maria di Galeria, Vatican Radio's transmission center. The commission met yesterday evening at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The Vatican delegation was presided over by Msgr. Celestino Migliore, under-secretary for Relations with States, and the Italian delegation by Ambassador Umberto Vattani, secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the participation of representatives from the Ministry of Environment and Communications.

"The parties examined the technical protocol on concrete methods of measurement relative to the existing electromagnetic fields.

"The two delegations will meet again at the beginning of next week to establish working methods with the goal of coordinating the findings on the installations with the measurements on Italian territory. In any case, the two parties are also independently qualified to carry out controls and examinations which do not involve breaches of their respective sovereignties.

"All of the participants expressed the desire to immediately address the worries and health concerns of the area's population."

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CARMELITES DEDICATE 2001 TO CELEBRATION OF MARIAN YEAR

VATICAN CITY, MAR 26, 2001 (VIS) - The Pope sent a Message to Fr. Joseph Chalmers, prior general of the Order of Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (O.Carm.), and to Fr. Camillo Maccise, superior general of the Order of Discalced Carmelites of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (O.C.D.), on the occasion of the celebration of a Marian Year in 2001.

In the Message, dated March 25, the Holy Father expresses his joy that the Carmelite Order, in its two branches, old and reformed, has dedicated the year 2001 to the Virgin, "invoked as Flower of Carmel, Mother and Guide in the journey to sanctity." The celebration of the Marian Year coincides with the 750th anniversary of the Virgin's gift of the scapular to St. Simon Stock, prior general of the Order, on July 16, 1251.

"I hope that this Marian Year helps all Carmelite men and women religious and the pious faithful who venerate Mary filially," he concluded, "to grow in her love and radiate in the world the presence of this Lady of silence and prayer, invoked as Mother of mercy, Mother of hope and of grace."

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