POPE RECEIVES SYRIAN PRESIDENT

VATICAN CITY, FEB 21, 2002 (VIS) - At midday today, Fr. Ciro Benedettini C.P., vice-director of the Holy See Press Office, made the following declaration:

"The Holy Father today received in audience Bashar Al-Assad, president of the Arab Republic of Syria, accompanied by his entourage.

"The Syrian president then met Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano for a cordial encounter in which Farouk Al-Shara, vice-prime minister and foreign minister of Syria, and Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, secretary for Relations with States, also took part.

"In the course of the discussions, opinions were exchanged on the subject of relations between Syria and the Holy See following the Holy Father's historic visit to Damascus last year, and on ways to restore peace to the Middle East, especially the Holy Land, on the basis of the well-known U.N. resolutions."

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TELEGRAMS FOR TRAGEDY IN EGYPT AND FLOODS IN BOLIVIA

VATICAN CITY, FEB 21, 2002 (VIS) - Made public today were two telegrams, sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano in the Pope's name, for the fire on a train in Egypt and the floods provoked by torrential rains in Bolivia, both of which events caused numerous victims:

In the telegram sent to Archbishop Marco Dino Brogi O.F.M., apostolic nuncio in Egypt, the Pope presents his condolences to the families of the victims and express the hope that they find "consolation and solidarity in their fellows."

Through Archbishop Edmundo Abastoflor Montero of La Paz, Bolivia, John Paul II transmits his condolences to the families of the dead and invites public institutions to help those who have lost their homes.

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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, FEB 21, 2002 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Fr. Miguel Delgado Galindo, official at the Pontifical Council for the Laity, as bureau chief of the same council.

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 21, 2002 (VIS) - In the Vatican from February 25 to 27, the eighth general assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life will be held on the theme: "Nature and dignity of the human being as a foundation for the right to life."

Over the three days, specialists in philosophy, ethics, law and theology will hold discussions on the theme of the gathering. A communique on the subject reads: "The subject matter was prepared by the group of relators during earlier meetings. They reflected at length on the various viewpoints and implications of this immense and delicate topic."

On the one hand, says the communique, "there exists a desire to discover the laws that govern the cosmos and the biosphere in order to be able to control them and, in this way, create new technologies. On the other hand, today, many widespread schools of thought reject the concept of nature in the ontological sense, as an essential and perennial structure of the human being." In the same way, "the concept of natural law in the ethical sense is frequently contested and thus the concept of natural rights is not admitted as the basis of the positive law created by legislatures at national and international level."

"The right to life is the discriminating and fundamental limit in the progress driven by the impulse of modern technology. This is the cardinal point of law and the first cornerstone on which society is built."

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VATICAN ARCHIVES UP TO 1939 TO BE OPENED

VATICAN CITY, FEB 20, 2002 (VIS) - The Pope has decreed that, as from the beginning of 2003, it will be possible to consult documents concerning Germany and relative to the period 1922-1939 contained in the archives of the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State and in the Secret Vatican Archives.

At present, by order of John Paul II in 1984, consultation of documents in the Vatican archives extends up to 1922, the end of the pontificate of Benedict XV.

A note on the subject made public by Fr. Sergio Pagano B., prefect of the Secret Vatican Archives, and Fr. Marcel Chappin S.J., keeper of the Historical Archives of the Secretariat of State, states that this is an "exceptional" move on the part of John Paul II through which he aims "to put an end to unjust and thoughtless speculation."

"The Holy Father's decision," reads the note, "thus aims to meet the many requests for access to Vatican documentation on a pontificate as important as was that of Pius XI (1922-1939) during which, among other things, ... totalitarian States and despotic governments came into being, in prelude to the Second World War."

Once the Vatican Archives for the period of the pontificate of Pius XI are fully opened (in 2005), the Holy Father also wishes to open access "to Vatican-German documentary sources for the pontificate of Pius XII (1939-1958), ... bearing in mind that during Pius XII's pontificate the Second World War took place and with it the deportation of the Jews and the tragedy of the Shoah." The note furthermore announces the publication of information concerning prisoners of the last world war (1939-1945). Thus, the note concludes, historians may become aware as soon as possible of "the great works of charity and assistance undertaken by Pius XII for the many prisoners and other victims of war, irrespective of their nationality, religion or race."

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