TELEGRAM FOR CAR BOMB EXPLOSION IN COLOMBIA

VATICAN CITY, FEB 8, 2003 (VIS) - Following is the telegram of condolences for victims of a car bomb in Bogota, Colombia sent today by Pope John Paul, through Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, to Cardinal Pedro Rubiano Saenz, archbishop of Bogota:

"The Holy Father John Paul II, deeply grieved, received the sad news of the abhorrent attack carried out in Bogota with a car bomb which caused many deaths and countless injuries. In this circumstance, he expresses once again his energetic condemnation of these actions against the life and dignity of people, and their peaceful coexistence.

"The Pope, while he offers prayers for the eternal repose of the souls of those who died, asks Your Eminence to convey his most heartfelt sympathy to the families who mourn their loved ones, victims of such unjustifiable violence, together with the assurance of his prayers for the speedy and total recovery of the injured.

"At the same time, His Holiness trusts that the different public institutions and citizens, so sensitive to the value of life and the rights of the person, will reject this permanent form of violence that offends the human and Christian conscience. In these moments, he asks the Lord to grant to the beloved Colombian people serenity and strength in the face of this adversity that disturbs the social peace, so that they may live together as sons and daughters of the same homeland, overcoming this trial with courage and civic responsibility. With these sentiments, he bestows upon you the consoling apostolic blessing in this painful hour."

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PONTIFICAL YEARBOOK FOR 2003 IS PRESENTED TO HOLY FATHER

VATICAN CITY, FEB 8, 2003 (VIS) - Cardinal Angelo Sodano, secretary of State and Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, substitute for General Affairs, together with those who prepared and printed the Pontifical yearbook for 2003 presented the first copy of the new volume this morning to the Holy Father, who thanked everyone for their participation in its preparation.

A statistical note about the yearbook accompanied the announcement of today's presentation to the Pope.

During 2002 diplomatic relations were established with Qatar, bringing to 175 the number of States with which the Holy See has relations. Among the ecclesiastical circumscriptions created were: 1 new metropolitan, 10 new episcopal sees, 1 apostolic exarch, 2 apostolic vicariates, 1 personal apostolic administration and 1 mission "sui iuris." Nine metropolitan sees were raised, as were 4 episcopal sees, 1 apostolic vicariate and 1 apostolic prefecture. One hundred fifty-eight bishops were appointed.

Baptized Catholics worldwide have gone from 757 million in 1978 to 1,061,000,000 in 2001. There was an increase in Africa of 148 percent, as well as notable growth in Asia, America and Oceania, whereas in Europe the numbers remained rather stable.

Those involved in pastoral work number 4,270,069: 4,649 bishops; 405,067 priests (of whom 266,448 are diocesan); 29,204 permanent deacons; 54,970 non priests professed religious; 792,317 professed religious; 31,512 members of secular institutes; 139,078 lay missionaries and 2,813,252 catechists. In addition to religious of active life, there are 51,973 professed nuns of contemplative life.

The number of religious priests declined from 139,397 to 138,619 in 2001, whereas diocesan priests increased by 667. Permanent deacons have increased by 4.9 percent, members of secular institutes by 2.7 percent, lay missionaries by 10.1 percent and catechists by 6.5 percent.

Candidates to the priesthood increased from 2000 to 2001, going from 110,583 to 112,244. Increases were most significant in Asia, Africa and the Americas, whereas in Europe and Oceania there was a slight drop.

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TO A WORLD MARKED BY TENSIONS, PROCLAIM THE GOSPEL OF PEACE

VATICAN CITY, FEB 8, 2003 (VIS) - This morning in the Clementine Hall, the Holy Father received 300 bishops, priests and friends of the Community of Sant'Egidio who are holding a meeting on the theme "The Gospel of Peace" to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the founding of the community by Prof. Andrea Riccardi.

The Pope called their theme "all the more important and heartfelt given the moment we are going through, marked by tensions and winds of war. It becomes, thus, ever more urgent to announce the 'Gospel of Peace' to a mankind that is strongly tempted by hatred and violence."

He said that "efforts must be multiplied. We cannot stop in the face of terrorist attacks, nor the threats that arise on the horizon. We cannot resign ourselves, almost as if war were inevitable. To the cause of peace, dear friends, offer the contribution of your experience, an experience of true fraternity that leads to recognizing in each other a brother to love unconditionally."

Pope John Paul reiterated in part what he said in his Message for the World Day of Peace 2003: "Peace is not essentially about structures but about people. Certain structures and mechanisms of peace - juridical, political, economic - are of course necessary and do exist, but they have been derived from nothing other than the accumulated wisdom and experience of innumerable gestures of peace made by men and women throughout history who have kept hope and have not given in to discouragement. Gestures of peace spring from the lives of people who foster peace first of all in their own hearts."

"Continue," he stated, "to work so that prayers for peace are intensified everywhere and are accompanied by concrete action in favor of reconciliation and solidarity among men and peoples."

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POPE RECEIVES BISHOPS OF BELARUS AT END OF AD LIMINA VISIT

VATICAN CITY, FEB 10, 2003 (VIS) - The Holy Father this morning welcomed the prelates of Belarus, including Cardinal Kazimierz Swiatek, archbishop of Minsk-Mohilev at the conclusion of their "ad limina" visit, and spoke to them of the many challenges they face - and of the positive initiatives they have taken - in the years since the fall of communism.

"I still vividly remember our meeting in April 1997," said the Pope. "It was a moment of deep joy to learn of the springtime of ecclesial life in your country, following the winter of violent persecution that lasted for several decades. At that time there were still the effects of systematic atheism on your peoples, especially the young, and of the almost total destruction of ecclesiastical structures and the forced closing of places of Christian formation."

He told the prelates that, as they plan their pastoral priorities, it is important to focus on the family, marriage and young people, but also on "the insertion of Belarus in the vast context of the European continent" because "the consequences of delaying this weigh on the economic rebuilding and, above all in the countryside, the growth of poverty."

The Holy Father underscored that the first priority for the bishops must be the family which, he added, is undergoing a profound crisis worldwide. Repeating what he told families recently gathered in Manila for the Fourth World Encounter of Families, he stated: "It is necessary to witness with conviction and coherence to the truth about the family, founded on marriage. The family is a great good, necessary for the life, development and future of mankind."

John Paul II noted that Belarus has a population of almost 10 million people, of whom 20 percent live in the capital Minsk. Only 10 percent of Byelorussians are Catholic.

Among the prelates' priorities, he added, there must be attention to young people, many of whom live in cities and seek employment. "The demographic crisis without precedent," he went on, "is a strong challenge for announcing the Gospel of life; and the phenomena of marginalization, including alcoholism, which has recently aggravated, await urgent and efficacious answers."

He stated that the Catholic Church is seeking to do its best to help in these and other areas, but remarked that the personnel - priests, religious, catechists - to do so is small. In fact, he pointed out, Belarus is assisted by the Churches in neighboring countries.

The Holy Father then turned to the task, just begun by the bishops, of translating into Byelorussian sacred texts, including the Roman Missal. He highlighted the need for everyone to make prayer a daily and frequent part of their lives and he encouraged the bishops and faithful to pray for the success of the task of translating sacred texts, for the initiatives undertaken by the Catholic Church in Belarus, for an increase of pastoral workers, especially candidates to the priesthood and religious life, and for a fruitful ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox Church.

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CARDINAL ETCHEGARAY, PAPAL ENVOY, DEPARTS FOR IRAQ

VATICAN CITY, FEB 9, 2003 (VIS) - Joaquin Navarro-Valls, director of the Holy See Press Office, made the following statement today to journalists:

"Tomorrow, Monday February 10, 2003, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, will depart for Baghdad as a special envoy of His Holiness John Paul II, accompanied by Mons. Franco Coppola, nunciature councillor in service to the Secretariat of State.

"The purpose of the Pontifical Mission is to demonstrate to everyone the Holy Father's concern for peace and to help the Iraqi authorities to seriously reflect on their commitment to effective international cooperation, based on justice and international law, in view of assuring the supreme good of peace to their population."

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